What are we reading?

Started by Martok, March 05, 2012, 01:13:59 PM

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Silent Disapproval Robot

#660
Just started Deck Z: The Titanic.  It's about a zombie outbreak on the Titanic.  I bought it when it was on as one of Amazon's daily Kindle specials for $1.95 or something.  I'm only about 1/4 of the way in so far, but I'm enjoying it more than I would've expected to.  Stupid, yes, but fun and decently written so far.     

EDIT: Well, after a promising start, the book turned into a steaming turd about 1/3rd of the way in.  Once the protagonist got on board the Titanic, it's almost as if a different author took over.  Stilted dialogue, boring action scenes, cliches and poor pacing.  Shame as the build up was decent.

Longdan

Reading Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam by Frederik Logevall, professor of International Studies at Cornell.
About the interaction between the Vietnamese (all types), French and USA from 1919 until the mid 60's.  An area of special interest for myself.
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bob48

That sounds good. I've had a long-time interest in the French Indo-China period. The obvious books are those by Bernard Fall, but 'The Last Valley' is also an excellent, informative, and more recently written book.

The Howard Simpson book on Dien Bien Phu is pretty good as well, although I've yet to get my hands on a copy of the Jules Roy book of the siege.
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

Longdan

It is tough slogging to read of the lost opportunities and missed chances.  Things did not have to turn out the way that they did.
With so many people rationalising after the fact and trying to make themselves look good it is really hard to sense the truth.
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bob48

Thats certainly true of the French command following Dien Bien Phu. Unfortunately, the wrong conclusions were drawn after Na San with regards to 'Air Heads'.
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

Greybriar

I am re-reading The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

TheCommandTent

I am finally reading the last installment in Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, Death of Kings.
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

Staggerwing

I just started reading Shadow of Freedom, the new Honorverse book, on my Kindle Paperwhite.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Longdan

Funny thing was I read Bernard Falls' book before I went over to have a look meself.
Should have stayed home.
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Silent Disapproval Robot

I just started The Odin Mission, a novel about a British Sgt. fighting in Norway in 1940.  Enjoying it so far.  It's the first in a series of four novels so far.  I ended up buying them of the Chapters Kobo site in Canada as they were $4.34 each there vs. $9.34 off of Amazon.  Converting to Kindle .mobi format was painless.


Arctic Blast

I'm about 200 pages in to Wars of the Roses by Trevor Royle.

Staggerwing

Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on March 23, 2013, 09:25:18 PM
I just started The Odin Mission, a novel about a British Sgt. fighting in Norway in 1940.  Enjoying it so far.  It's the first in a series of four novels so far.  I ended up buying them of the Chapters Kobo site in Canada as they were $4.34 each there vs. $9.34 off of Amazon.  Converting to Kindle .mobi format was painless.


Hmm. Looks like the novel is only available as a used hard or soft cover import here in the USofA and the Kindle version not available at all. Drat.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

bob48

Quote from: Longdan on March 23, 2013, 08:56:41 PM
Funny thing was I read Bernard Falls' book before I went over to have a look meself.
Should have stayed home.

You've been to Dien Bien Phu?
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

undercovergeek

Just finishing the blood angels 2nd omnibus and then moving onto the ultramarines one

Longdan

Quote from: bob48 on March 24, 2013, 05:55:55 AM
Quote from: Longdan on March 23, 2013, 08:56:41 PM
Funny thing was I read Bernard Falls' book before I went over to have a look meself.
Should have stayed home.

You've been to Dien Bien Phu?

Oh no.  But I spent some time working along the Thai-Laotian-Cambodian border region in the mid '70's.  Things were rather disorganised
there at that time and it was too exciting for a simple prairie boy like me.  Pretty country. Don't like the food.
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