TSF Book Club
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Just finished Claudius by Douglas Jackson . Not quite up to Conn Igguldens level of writing but still a very good read and well worth a look .
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I have just started Emperor - Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden.
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[quote name='taniwharugby' timestamp='1355969325' post='333291']<br />
I have just started Emperor - Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden.<br />
[/quote]Great series that . I have just started re reading the Conqueror series -
I really enjoyed the Conqueror series although I stillhave the last one to go...
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I doubt you will be disappointed when you do read it , I enjoyed it as much as I did the first three .
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Just about to finish Beevor's "The Second World War". I really like the way the guy writes, his books are always good factually, with enough personal stuff in there to get a good feel, and he's obviously a pretty good researcher.<br />
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It's not really providing much in the way of new info (but then i have read a LOT of WWII history books, (my father-in-law is Polish, and a history nut, his library on WWII is extensive), but its a very nice commentary of the whole period, and how things in different theatres linked together. He's not overly kind to the main protagonists on either side, especially the Generals (Montgomery, MacArthur and Mark Clarke take a battering).<br />
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For the casually interested, or the "beginner" i reckon it's a pretty good starting point. -
Luigi if you like the Reacher novels (which I've just started given your comment, I like a bit of silly pap from time to time), try the Richard Stark novels, I think they're excellent, tight, well written books about an anti hero called Parker - a career criminal. They're all quite old so a bit dated but prices and amounts aside, they've aged well.
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For those that are or about to become Cornwell fans may I suggest that you read each series in chronological order and don't bother with the later editions as they all follow a similar line;<br />
<br />- Tall, misunderstood, battiling adversity, hero.<br />
- Irish sidekick who is initially at odds with 1) (above)<br />
- Eventual triumph in bloody encounter<br />
- Rinse & repeat.<br />
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This said by something of a Cornwell fan. In general I read and like his novels, it's just that the earlier editions of any of the various series offer a lot more than the later ones.<br />
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If you like noir(ish) thrillers then there are two series to consider in distinctly different settings. Denis Lehane writing his series of Kenzie/Gennaro books. One of which - Gone Baby Gone has been filmed. All set in 1990s/2000s Boston.<br />
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Secondly Phillip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series about sometime cop, sometime PI in pre and post war Berlin and then onward to Argentina and so on. Start off with the Omnibus edition named Berlin Noir.
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[quote name='Dodge' timestamp='1357737486' post='336372']<br />
Luigi if you like the Reacher novels (which I've just started given your comment, I like a bit of silly pap from time to time), try the Richard Stark novels, I think they're excellent, tight, well written books about an anti hero called Parker - a career criminal. They're all quite old so a bit dated but prices and amounts aside, they've aged well.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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Yes, I've read some Parker. Similar style to Reacher and good fun. I think there's a film coming too. Not sure how either character would fare in the modern world though. I can't see modern law enforcement tolerating a 6.5 250lb throwback like Reacher killing and maiming his way round the US, no matter how righteous his shit is. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1357749455' post='336388']<br />
Yes, I've read some Parker. Similar style to Reacher and good fun. I think there's a film coming too. Not sure how either character would fare in the modern world though. I can't see modern law enforcement tolerating a 6.5 250lb throwback like Reacher killing and maiming his way round the US, no matter how righteous his shit is.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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I know what you mean about faring in the modern world, I just read the first Bourne novel and all the way through I was thinking this book would be a third as long if they had smart phones. Still entertaining though. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1357749455' post='336388']<br />
Yes, I've read some Parker. Similar style to Reacher and good fun. I think there's a film coming too. Not sure how either character would fare in the modern world though. I can't see modern law enforcement tolerating a 6.5 250lb throwback like Reacher killing and maiming his way round the US, no matter how righteous his shit is.<br />
[/quote]the Mel Gibson film, Payback was based on Point Blank which was one of the earliest Parker books, I thought it was pretty good actually. -
[quote name='Dodge' timestamp='1357765150' post='336417']<br />
the Mel Gibson film, Payback was based on Point Blank which was one of the earliest Parker books, I thought it was pretty good actually.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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That makes sense. Enjoyed it too. -
Have just finished reading [i]Watership Down [/i]to my daughter.<br />
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A little way in and I realise it's a fairly grown up book - lots of violence, death and (later on) unmarried sex. (Quote from Ms boo jr when one of the rabbits mated with the new does pretty much straightaway "but they're not even married" ... my reply was along the lines that rabbits get married very quickly ... and often ... but I may not have added the last bit out loud ...).<br />
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Also lots of really "literary" decriptions of wind in the autumnal sunsets and leaves in hedgerows etc etc which got a little waffly and didn't impress her. So much more of an adult book than I recall.<br />
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So probably just a wee bit beyond a nine year old ... but I recall reading it myself when I was only a little older.<br />
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Otherwise she was hooked. Loved it. And frankly so did I. A great story, and at the end she said, half smiling, "I'm not crying! I'm not crying!"<br />
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And is still bringing it up in conversation ("what was your favourite part?", "which was your favourite rabbit?", "Kehaar was funny: '[i]all da leetle Peegveeg's runaway' [/i]".)<br />
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Fully recommend it to parents reading to kids (given appropriate "parental guidance") or just to read (or re-read) for it's own sake. -
Unbroken by Laura Hildebrandt (sp), who also wrote seabiscuit. Cracker read. and another book along the same lines, can't remember the title exactly, but something like "The Man who broke INTO Auschwitz". Both prisoner of war books from WW2, one a Tommy who gets captured in the dessert and ends up in Germany, the other a Yankl Pilot who ends up in Japan. The parallels in the book are amazing once they are both repatriated. <br />
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Both read within days once started, really good hooked into books. -
[quote name='booboo' timestamp='1357806715' post='336525']<br />
Have just finished reading [i]Watership Down [/i]to my daughter.<br />
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A little way in and I realise it's a fairly grown up book - lots of violence, death and (later on) unmarried sex. (Quote from Ms boo jr when one of the rabbits mated with the new does pretty much straightaway "but they're not even married" ... my reply was along the lines that rabbits get married very quickly ... and often ... but I may not have added the last bit out loud ...).<br />
<br />
Also lots of really "literary" decriptions of wind in the autumnal sunsets and leaves in hedgerows etc etc which got a little waffly and didn't impress her. So much more of an adult book than I recall.<br />
<br />
So probably just a wee bit beyond a nine year old ... but I recall reading it myself when I was only a little older.<br />
<br />
Otherwise she was hooked. Loved it. And frankly so did I. A great story, and at the end she said, half smiling, "I'm not crying! I'm not crying!"<br />
<br />
And is still bringing it up in conversation ("what was your favourite part?", "which was your favourite rabbit?", "Kehaar was funny: '[i]all da leetle Peegveeg's runaway' [/i]".)<br />
<br />
Fully recommend it to parents reading to kids (given appropriate "parental guidance") or just to read (or re-read) for it's own sake.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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I read that a year or so ago and enjoyed it, but I just found another of his books and I have no idea if he ever reached those heights again. This ones about a huge bear. -
[quote name='booboo' timestamp='1357945138' post='336744']<br />
Have to say I've never read another book of his. But I reckon [i]Watership Down[/i] is a classic in the '[i]must[/i] read at some stage of your life' category.<br />
[/quote]<br />
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The story of the flight from disaster and the heroic refugees in search of a new home is a timeless classic. Yep, probably my favourite children's book if it is a children's book at all. Adams borrows a lot of ideas and language from Virgil's Aeneid so it's no surprise some of the sex and violence crept in too. -
[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1355356319' post='332394']<br />
MacBride has just released a couple of teaser short stories featuring Steel and MCrae to keep the pot boiling. I don't think it'll be long before he's back. And yes, the DI Steel character is pure gold.<br />
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Just downloaded one of these short stories for free from the Isle of Jura Whisky website. They run a writer's retreat which MacBride went to and wrote a short McRae story which he published there for free.<br />
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The new novel comes out in a few days and is set 2 years down the track from Shatter the Bones. -
A really good childrens book for boys is The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall . Read it again a little while ago and enjoyed it as much as I did thirty years ago . Also I still love to read Biggles books when the chance presents itself .
