Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted

I'll get the ball rolling with a light glance at Nazi Germany and the afters.

 

Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt.

 

The best bits are about how Germany dealt with Nazi mass murderers after the war. (Spoiler: not as severely as you might expect.)

 

Other highlights include the exposure of the lie that Nazi-backed states had no choice about deporting Jews. It turns out that, wherever local officials stalled or refused, they stood a good chance of preventing mass murder.

 

Anyone got anything good lined up for the beach?

Posted

It was a while back, but The Martian by Andy Weir is the most recent fiction I've read (I'm currently on the David Mitchell collection of Guardian articles). It's a phenomenal book which I would recommend to anyone who likes suspense / sci-fi.

WARNING: These links may contain spoilers so avoid if you're wanting to read it)

 

I should add that the film has the most astonishing cast you're likely to find anywhere on a filmset right now - the potential for screwing it up is huge, but if they get it right it could be astounding.

Posted

Just finished Any Human Heart by William Boyd, fantastic book. Now moving onto Brave New World by Aldous Huxley which I've been meaning to read for about 8 years.

  • 3 months later...
Posted

That's for after I've finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

 

Set in the future where people practically live their lives in virtual reality on the internet this lad wins a multi billion dollar quest/competition launched by some Bill Gates/Steve Jobs type upon his death......

 

A bit childish but strangely gripping and probably not so unrealistic....

Posted

Bad Blood by Colm Toibin. Some of these people who bang on about Celtic/Rangers and all that garbage should give it a go. Not earth shattering, not especially revelatory but the sheer banality and pointless waste of life among people who just want to get on with theirs is striking in an interestingly understated way.

Posted

just finnished the last jack reacher which was enjoyable if a little formulaic and predictable currently reading "fighter boys " a biography of the RAF fighter command upto 1945 mianly focused on the battle of Britain

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...
Posted

Anyone any recomendations, coming up to my holiday in the next 6 weeks and need ideas.

Mainly in to autobiographies, sports stars etc.

  • 7 months later...
Posted

Quality as ever. I struggle to finish a book nowadays with kids, a deteriorating attention span and so much TV to watch but I always nail these in a few days..

 

http://www.michaelconnelly.com/novels/the-wrong-side-of-goodbye/

 

I might give these a go. I had no idea you'd purloined your username from a book. I thought you were actually called Harry Bosch.

Posted

Quality as ever. I struggle to finish a book nowadays with kids, a deteriorating attention span and so much TV to watch but I always nail these in a few days..

 

http://www.michaelconnelly.com/novels/the-wrong-side-of-goodbye/

 

I can't keep going with novels either, however I do read a lot and I stick to short stories. Currently reading a lot of shorts by Richard Matheson (I recommend I Am Legend, seriously - that bag of :censored:e that WIll Smith was in was a farce) and Phillip K. Dick.

Posted

 

I can't keep going with novels either, however I do read a lot and I stick to short stories. Currently reading a lot of shorts by Richard Matheson (I recommend I Am Legend, seriously - that bag of :censored:e that WIll Smith was in was a farce) and Phillip K. Dick.

 

Must be catching. I haven't read a book for a while - probably the longest I've gone without for about 20+ years. One explanation is I read a lot (of :censored:e) at work. Another is I've got plenty of attention for short form reading (on here, Twitter or in the LRB and the papers) but none for the longer form. Short stories are ace - I've had the JG Ballard anthology on the go for a while.

Posted

I studied Literature as an undergraduate and fell completely out of love with reading for a long time. I only started reading for fun again a couple of years ago and have fired through a load of stuff since.

Posted

I studied Literature as an undergraduate and fell completely out of love with reading for a long time. I only started reading for fun again a couple of years ago and have fired through a load of stuff since.

 

Exactly why I chose not to study Eng Lit - didn't want some crusty communist university types telling me what a book says and doesn't say.

Posted

 

I might give these a go. I had no idea you'd purloined your username from a book. I thought you were actually called Harry Bosch.

 

Loads to go at if you read all his stuff from the beginning. Mainly Harry Bosch but a few stand alones and shorter series - he cleverly combines characters throughout and even gets them working together in a few....

Posted

 

I can't keep going with novels either, however I do read a lot and I stick to short stories. Currently reading a lot of shorts by Richard Matheson (I recommend I Am Legend, seriously - that bag of :censored:e that WIll Smith was in was a farce) and Phillip K. Dick.

 

I'll give them a go. Need to try and finish the third in Conn Iggulden's War of the Roses trilogy that I started before the Bosch book first... I'll report back about February :grin:

  • 7 years later...
Posted

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nowhere-Run-ridiculous-semi-professional-football-ebook/dp/B0BML3CYBQ?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=2c9e1f70-604e-4e3d-b3a5-cf9c466d4ec7

 

'A funny, heartwarming story, packed with memorable characters that you'll want to cheer all the way. Ave it!'
PETER KAY

--

'I decide to do what any sensible adult would do and take the spare key from the secretary's office and hide in the outside storage unit. Locked away in the icy cold shipping container I gather my thoughts and start to consider my next move. I start to feel much calmer, until Winnie opens the unit to find me sat in the dark squashed against a disused hotplate, a ball bag and multiple packets of unopened socks. He takes a canister of Deep Heat and an old knee support and closes me back in. It's a moment we'll never mention to each other again.'

On the second oldest football pitch in the world, Jonathan Sayer stands atop a beer crate to address the assembled fans of Ashton United FC. As his initial optimism begins to slip through his fingers, the new co-chairman and co-owner (alongside his dad) starts to realise the scale of the challenge ahead.

Battling to keep the club afloat, a record number of games without a win sees hope turn to despair as Jonathan contends with a mutiny from a group of octogenarian supporters, constant battles with the local council and a star striker who arrives on crutches despite somehow passing his medical.

As the on-pitch form continues to deteriorate and rifts appear between him and his father, Jonathan begins to make some increasingly desperate decisions: sinking his savings into an ever-spiralling wage bill, hiding in a freezing outdoor storage unit to avoid questions and even seriously contemplating bringing in a local priest to lift the 'Boxing Day Curse' by performing a late-night exorcism on the pitch.

Chronicling the euphoric highs and bitter disappointments of the less glamourous side of the beautiful game,
 Nowhere to Run is the hilarious, heart-warming tale of life in the hot seat of a non-league football club.

'Beautifully written and engaging... funny, warm and entertaining. And stupid. Really stupid. I loved it!'
MATT LUCAS

'Eat your heart out, Sheikh Mansour.'
MICHAEL CALVIN

'Best thing I've read about Ashton and I was born there.'
JUSTIN MOORHOUSE

  • 5 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...