Reading: The Book Thread

[Noggin]

Rats and The Fog was James Herbert, not Mr King. Similar heyday in terms of popularity I'd guess but Herbert definitively won the prize for gore and unnecessary sex scenes, perfect for early teenagers going by my school. I like Stephen King books generally, he's a good writer, but very long winded and can't write an ending to save his life.

Ahh, ok, I'm sure one of them wrote under a pseudonym ? Only cos I read a lot of an author only to find out that it was (I think/possibly) Stephen King ??

I read the Fog and Rats before I was 13 I think, so then didn't read more of his!! (I don't remember Rats as badly as I remember The Fog - and that has definitely triggered some fears in fog ever since )

Wish I could remember the name of the writer that freaked me out in my late 20's - I really liked the books, but the psyche part was clever and delayed!! LOL

Stephen King wrote some books as Richard Bachmann

Nope, definitely don't know that name and I think I'd remember the name if I saw it! I'll see if I can find a book that I remember to find the author!

[Noggin]

Dean Koontz - well pretty sure as I'm not up for looking at any of the books! I can finally sleep with the light off

[Noggin]

@Supermofo

Dean Koontz - well pretty sure as I'm not up for looking at any of the books! I can finally sleep with the light off

[MingtheMerciless]

Just started "A hole in the Sky" by Peter F Hamilton. Set on a failing Arkship, early days yet but so far so good (if a tad formulaic).

Finished, now want book 2, a very enjoyable sci-fi romp. Not to deep or self analysing but very readable.

[MingtheMerciless]

SHROUD, Adrian Tchaikovsky, not finished yet but utterly brilliant so far.

[Mr Moofo]

Currently about 3/4 of the way through Rebel Hearts by Kevin Toolis.
I was hoping for an insight into the IRA and a critique for its members and leaders.
Unfortunately so far, it has been a book written by a Republican fanboy, who seems to be able to justify all the IRA’s actions including shooting touts and killing innocents. It is however interesting for the subjects he doesn’t cover.

[Count Steer]

I think my wife is getting the travel bug again.

She ordered and is reading 'The Hopeless Biker*' by Miles Moreland.

40 year old passes bike test (2nd time) and promptly buys a BMW RT from Park Lane BMW. Rides away (and says the bike felt like it was looking after him), does a journey or two, then decides to ride to Istanbul.

Has since ridden twice around the world.

More info when I get my hands on it.

* Probably thought I'd written a sneaky biography under a pseudonym.

[Count Steer]

Just finished 'This Way Up - when maps go wrong (and why it matters) by the MapMen (Mark Cooper- Jones and Jay Foreman).

Quite funny (although the style of humour gets a bit wearing towards the end). All about 'wrong' maps through the ages and their impact, all in a lighthearted manner, but I did learn a fair bit*.

(I am a maps geek though).

They have a MapMen YouTube output. Again, the humour might not be to everyone's taste but it's very on point for current YouTube stuff and quite slickly produced. Worth a dip if you're interested in maps (and probably even if not).

* Hadn't thought about this but it's obvs when you do. In the UK how do you know which way is south? Look for a satellite dish. (Not going to work where there are no buildings ).

[ZRX61]

Almost finished Grenadiers by Kurt *Panzer* Meyer, Learned a few things about the battle for Caen that US/Brit history doesn't mention. next up is Panzer Leader by Gen Heinz Guderian.

[gremlin]

Almost finished Grenadiers by Kurt *Panzer* Meyer, Learned a few things about the battle for Caen that US/Brit history doesn't mention. next up is Panzer Leader by Gen Heinz Guderian.

Oddly, I'm reading something similar, but from the opposite viewpoint.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442801/ ... 0552177917

History of the SRY from D-Day to VE Day.

[v8-powered]

Old Man Sailing, by John Passmore.

Ex-Fleet Street journo who wanted to dodge Covid lock down, so jumped on his sailboat and disappeared in to international waters.
A good read....

[gremlin]

Old Man Sailing, by John Passmore.

Ex-Fleet Street journo who wanted to dodge Covid lock down, so jumped on his sailboat and disappeared in to international waters.
A good read....

Avoids isolation and the inability to interact with other people by going sailing single-handedly. There's a delicious irony.

[Supermofo]

Learned a few things about the battle for Caen that US/Brit history doesn't mention.

Does US history actually cover Caen? Cos all I've ever seen is ill informed whinges about Monty and useless Brits. Usual Normandy history by Americans tends to go

Bloody Omaha
More Omaha
Utah - Meh, 2 pages
Back to Omaha
Brave 101st, 82nd who?
Omaha again
Bloody Monty
Brits drinking tea
Omaha
Cobra - USA, USA, USA

[Supermofo]

Just finished Steve Parrish's book and tbh it was a bit of a slog at the end. My Bro bought it as a present so thought I'd give it a go, but I finished it thinking that overall the bloke is a bit (a lot) of a tit. I've read a few racers books and all go into detail about racing, the bikes, the will to win etc but this never really goes into detail at all about the bikes/racing, the closest he got to that was with the truck racing. It's mainly a book about '..and then I dropped a fake shit in the salad' or '...Then I ruined several peoples TT experience in the B&B by putting laxatives in the milk' etc. I'm not adverse to jokes and mucking about but it seems to drive him more than anything else and a lot of it was pretty shitty as opposed to funny when you thought about some of the outcomes. At the start of the book he mentions he thought he was a 'mistake' but doesn't want the book to be a woe is me story, but to me at least, it comes across as him compensating by being an arse a lot of the time.

Also what was noticeable compared to other books is his obvious deference to other riders especially Sheene. Doohan, Rainy, Foggy, Rossi, Marc, Lorenzo etc would never say so and so was better than me, it's part of the winning mentality. But he does it a fair amount. Fair play I suppose and he was obviously talented as a racer and does have some good insights on the commentary he's done, but in the book it's all lost in him trying to make jokes all the time. I don't feel like I gleaned anything from his racing in the book other than a very light overview.

All in all pretty disappointing.

[Horse]

PS I like the sound of one of his other books 'Yoga for people who can't be bothered to do it'.

If I can get bothered enough to start reading books again, that sounds perfect for me !

Perhaps you need this:

.

[Horse]

'A town like Alice'

Oddly absorbing

[ZRX61]

Does US history actually cover Caen? Cos all I've ever seen is ill informed whinges about Monty and useless Brits.

Caen was mostly the Canucks & their commander was replaced shortly after. The kept stopping at the slightest sign of the Germans. At one point their attack ground to a halt because of a single Tiger.
The Germans weren't actually in Caen, just all around it & they couldn't figure out why the hell the allies bombed the crap out of the place killing thousands of French. (.. oh wait )

Probably going to give Max Hastings Normandy book a read after. His Vietnam book was excellent.

[Supermofo]

Does US history actually cover Caen? Cos all I've ever seen is ill informed whinges about Monty and useless Brits.

Caen was mostly the Canucks & their commander was replaced shortly after. The kept stopping at the slightest sign of the Germans. At one point their attack ground to a halt because of a single Tiger.
The Germans weren't actually in Caen, just all around it & they couldn't figure out why the hell the allies bombed the crap out of the place killing thousands of French. (.. oh wait )

Probably going to give Max Hastings Normandy book a read after. His Vietnam book was excellent.

The Canuck effort in Normandy is even less regarded by the yanks than ours. Read a good book about Operation Totalize a few years back

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Book ... gLFLfD_BwE

Not keen on some of Max's stuff, some good, some bad. If you mean his latest book on Sword, this gets much better feedback from historians.
https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/prod ... gIMxfD_BwE

[ZRX61]

Oddly, I'm reading something similar, but from the opposite viewpoint.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442801/ ... 0552177917

History of the SRY from D-Day to VE Day.

They're mentioned in Meyers book. I just ordered that JH book & his Normandy book.

[gremlin]

Oddly, I'm reading something similar, but from the opposite viewpoint.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/442801/ ... 0552177917

History of the SRY from D-Day to VE Day.

They're mentioned in Meyers book. I just ordered that JH book & his Normandy book.

He writes well. Some military historians can be a bit dry.