TSF Book Club
-
<p>From Wiki:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>North Korea:</strong></p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_North_Korea' title="Geography of North Korea">Area</a> - Total 120,540 km<sup>2</sup> (<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area' title="List of countries and dependencies by area">98th</a>)</p>
<p>46,528 sq mi - Water (%) 4.87</p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_North_Korea' title="Demographics of North Korea">Population</a> - 2011 estimate 24,554,000<sup><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea#cite_note-unfpa-3'><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup>(<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population' title="List of countries by population">48th</a>) - 2011 census 24,052,231<sup><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea#cite_note-Nkorea2008-4'><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<p>Density 198.3/km<sup>2 </sup>513.8/sq mi</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>New Zealand:</strong></p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_New_Zealand' title="Geography of New Zealand">Area</a> - Total 268,021 km<sup>2</sup> (<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area' title="List of countries and dependencies by area">75th</a>)</p>
<p>103,483 sq mi - Water (%) 1.6<sup><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand#cite_note-10'><span>[</span>n 4<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<p><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_Zealand' title="Demographics of New Zealand">Population</a> - June 2013 estimate 4,468,200<sup><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand#cite_note-11'><span>[</span>7<span>]</span></a></sup>(<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population' title="List of countries by population">122nd</a>) - 2006 census 4,027,947<sup><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand#cite_note-12'><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a></sup></p>
<p>Density 16.5/km<sup>2</sup> (<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_population_density' title="List of sovereign states and dependent territories by population density">202nd</a>) 42.7/sq mi</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So (in round figures) NZ has twice the area and 20% of the population, and 10% the population density.</p> -
-
<p>Been through a few books lately </p>
<p>No easy day, the story of the Bin Laden raid. It was ok, easy enough to read.</p>
<p>Winters Bone, really enjoyed it. Meth has replaced moonshine in the Ozark's with appalling consequences.</p>
<p>Worm the first digital war by Mark Bowden, he's one of my favourite writers and this was up to his usual standard . Was an eye opener for someone like me who knows next to nothing about how computers work.If you followed the story of the Conficker virus this would be well worth a read.</p>
<p>American Sniper by Chris Kyle, better in a lot of ways than no easy day. While the author was not a particularly likable guy I was pretty shocked to see some nutter killed him earlier in the year.</p>
<p>All hell let loose by Max Hastings, it covered a lot of stuff I didn't know about but not in great detail. The French don't come out particularly well and he doesn't gloss over the allies many many failings. I enjoyed Nemesis more though.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-time="1372146473" data-cid="374823" data-author="Dodge"><p>I've read the Eagle series and they're quite fun but they're a bit simple and formulaic, especially compared to Iggulden. Maybe worth trying the Shardlake novels by C J Sansom - I liked his Winter in Madrid book too.<br><br>On an entirely separate subject, I've just finished Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. It is literally the best non fiction book I've ever read, if you ever were suspicious of homeopaths, or big pharma companies, or cosmetic companies, of vitamin supplements or NUTRITIONISTS (seriously, i had no idea how much of a racket this is) then this is the book for you, it is a genuinely impressive and incredibly well written analysis of how placebo works, on what Western Medicine could learn from the alternative therapies etc. If you read one non fiction / science book in your life I implore you to make it this one, you will feel different about the world around you and you will become an insufferable know all at parties. You must read this book, in fact I love it so much I might start a thread about it.</p></blockquote><br>Thanks Dodge, those Shardlake books were excellent. I reckon they got better and better as the series went on. The final novel set around the sinking of the Mary Rose was bloody awesome.<br><br>I've just picked up a copy of Winter in Madrid too, am looking forward to reading it next.
-
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="jegga" data-cid="390282" data-time="1378980791">
<div>
<p>Been through a few books lately </p>
<p>No easy day, the story of the Bin Laden raid. It was ok, easy enough to read.</p>
<p>Winters Bone, really enjoyed it. Meth has replaced moonshine in the Ozark's with appalling consequences.</p>
<p>Worm the first digital war by Mark Bowden, he's one of my favourite writers and this was up to his usual standard . Was an eye opener for someone like me who knows next to nothing about how computers work.If you followed the story of the Conficker virus this would be well worth a read.</p>
<p>American Sniper by Chris Kyle, better in a lot of ways than no easy day. While the author was not a particularly likable guy I was pretty shocked to see some nutter killed him earlier in the year.</p>
<p>All hell let loose by Max Hastings, it covered a lot of stuff I didn't know about but not in great detail. The French don't come out particularly well and he doesn't gloss over the allies many many failings. I enjoyed Nemesis more though.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Some of those look worth a read. I'm a fan of Mark Bowden as well so will be reading that one soon. I'm not sure about Max Hastings anymore, I feel he's gone over the peak and is on the way down, unfortunately.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm currently reading The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe ... I'm actually surprised I've never read it before ... it's a good book. I'm also reading a book called Reamde by Neil Stephenson and I'm about half way through and am unsure of what it's actually about. However, it is a bloody cracking book. It's the first Neil Stephenson book I've read and I'll probably read some more when I'm finished.</p> -
Nepia the Bowden one is very good, when I read the Hastings one I kind of got the feeling he was trying to show off all his obscure knowledge of ww2 and the tone of the book was pretty negative throughout.. I got it on sale I got mixed up and thought I was grabbing Beevors latest book which I'm guessing is much better. I heard Freyberg gets a lot of attention in that one.
-
Also check out the film of right stuff, I grabbed it on DVD a while ago and it's as good as the book. Really well cast, especially Yeager .<br>
I saw a review of a book about those early astronauts wives apparently a fair amount of them are divorced now but they all keep in touch. NASA had them on a very short leash to get the best image they could for the astronauts. -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="jegga" data-cid="390385" data-time="1379033076">
<div>
<p>Nepia the Bowden one is very good, when I read the Hastings one I kind of got the feeling he was trying to show off all his obscure knowledge of ww2 and the tone of the book was pretty negative throughout.. I got it on sale I got mixed up and thought I was grabbing Beevors latest book which I'm guessing is much better. I heard Freyberg gets a lot of attention in that one.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm weary of Beevor now after reading Crete. I was a huge fan after reading Stalingrad and Berlin. But, I used all the same sources as Beevor did for Crete for my MA thesis (and surprisingly kept most of them and my notes) and I don't think a bunch of his conclusions regarding Freyberg are valid (even with an inherent bias as a NZer) and I found that he was selective in his accounts of many of the different battles and skirmishes choosing to completely disregard some regimental histories (rather than utilise them as a tool through a particular lens). He seemed to move a step from 'these are the errors made' which is fair enough, to a more personal attack.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, Stalingrad and Berlin are still cracking books that I'll recommend to anyone with an interest in the subject. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm definitely keen to watch The Right Stuff when I finish the book.</p> -
I didn't know he'd done a book about Crete, shame if its not any good because Stalingrad and Berlin were awesome. <br><br>
I saw a book at paper plus today about the standoff between kiwi and Tito s troops at Trieste , that's something I've been interested in hearing about. Apparently Tito was promised the area as a reward for joining the allies and they reneged on the deal. I'm probably wrong on the details though. -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="jegga" data-cid="390402" data-time="1379040960">
<div>
<p>I didn't know he'd done a book about Crete, shame if its not any good because Stalingrad and Berlin were awesome.<br><br>
I saw a book at paper plus today about the standoff between kiwi and Tito s troops at Trieste , that's something I've been interested in hearing about. Apparently Tito was promised the area as a reward for joining the allies and they reneged on the deal. I'm probably wrong on the details though.</p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>TBF I think that Beevor has a great writing style, and his books open up history to a bunch of people that don't usually read history. Crete is probably worth reading as it is an easy read (in comparison with some of the books on Greece/Crete out there), you just need to remember he's taken a line in regards to the command structures/leaders on Crete and his focus is Freyberg (whereas the various company commanders deserve more inspection IMHO).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I've read about Trieste a bit - good to see there is book about it, from my memory your details seem spot on. We were nearly involved in the first battle of the cold war.</p> -
<p>jesus, committing to a new fiction series is harder than committing to a woman. I am in the hunt for a new series to read, and could do with some help.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since I finished the Malazan books I have read:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>David Gemmels "Troy" series (nice easy and fun read, the story is pretty well told I think)</p>
<p>Conn iggulden's "Conquerer" series (another story well told)</p>
<p>And I am just finishing Richard Morgan's "Woken Furies". Made me realise I haven't read any science fiction for ages (the last was Stephen Donaldson's "Gap" series) and I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, anyone got any suggestions for a few Sci Fi novels? Not really knowing any good authors is seriously hampering me.</p> -
<p>Under the Dome by Stephen King. First Stephen King book I have read (or at least I remember reading). The plot is about a small town cut off from the outside world due to an invisible force-field. A load of characters but there is culling as the story progresses. Ending was so-so but a fun 806 page read. The tv series was naff. 8/10</p>
-
<p>M4L - Peter Hamilton (Fallen Dragon is a good standalone novel) and the late Iain M Banks (Culture novels) are two quality sci fi writers. If you want to check out some older sci fi then James Blish is pretty cool (<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_Flight'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_Flight</a>). A mate got me his 'Okie' series and I enjoyed it a lot. A cool story and really interesting to read his ideas for the future etc.</p>
-
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="391933" data-time="1379499801">
<div>
<p><span style="font-size:12px;">So, anyone got any suggestions for a few Sci Fi novels? Not really knowing any good authors is seriously hampering me.</span></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<p>Alistair Reynolds does some good sci fi style books, Revelation Space was v good & he's written a LOT which is nice if you decide you like his style.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also, its probably been mentioned, but Iain M Banks. Fucking genius.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On fantasy, Joe Abercrombie, very dark humour style akin to a lot of Malazan, but less confusing. And try The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch </p> -
<p>yea, i randomly chose the Void trilogy by Peter Hamilton, and it's fucking great. Almost polished it off already, and will move straight into the Night's Dawn trilogy, which is supposed to be even better</p>
-
<p>Did you catch the Commonwealth Saga (2 books) before the Void series? The two Saga books are primo (better than the void ones imo). The Night's Dawn series is bad-ass. </p>
-
<p>doh, just saw the word 'randomly'!</p>