What are we reading?

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

ArizonaTank

#5550
Quote from: Gusington on October 05, 2021, 11:54:56 AM
I personally always enjoy reading about Victorian explorers/adventurers...even the saucy parts in the convents.

You might enjoy the 1990 movie about Burton's 1858 expedition with John Speke to find the source of the Nile and the strained friendship / rivalry between the two. The movie is called "Mountains of the Moon." It's not a great movie, but covers the history pretty well.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100196/
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Gusington

^Thanks, I remember when that came out - never saw it though.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Gusington

About to start The Ultimate Evil: The Search for the Sons of Sam by Maury Terry.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

ArizonaTank

#5553
Just starting "Kings of the Air: French Aces and Airmen of the Great War" by Ian Summer

Most of the books I've read about the WWI air war over the Western Front were written by British writers, and often gave little consideration to the French.

But French aviation was in a very advanced state during WWI, and you could argue was superior to the British air service in many areas. So I wanted to get a book that concentrated on the French.

This book seems to be exactly what I was looking for. Only a chapter in, but so far very happy with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Air-French-Airmen-Great/dp/1783463384/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=kings+of+the+air&qid=1633908701&sr=8-3
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Gusington

^Thanks, just added that to my cart.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

WallysWorld

#5555
I'm in the middle of the second book of Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative trilogy and I can't recommend the series enough. I've read James M. McPherson's book over and over and it's super good. But since I enjoyed Foote in the PBS Civil War series, I thought I would try his books and I'm very happy I did. The details in Foote's books are fantastic obviously with three huge books in the series. I'm just at the point that the Confederates are about to launch Pickett's charge. I learned quite a bit of new stuff in Foote's books as for example Foote went into details about the New Mexico campaign which I never read before.

I also managed to buy the fourth volume of Christer Bergström's Eastern Front air war series Black Cross Red Star -- Air War Over the Eastern Front: Volume 4: Stalingrad to Kuban 1942-1943. Looking forward to reading it once I'm done Foote's series.
"I used to be with it, but then they changed what *it* was. Now what I'm with isn't *it* and what *it* is seems weird and scary to me." - Abraham Simpson

Toonces

I recently finished Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield.  I think that's the fourth of his books I've read, and they've all been truly fantastic.

The book is a fictional story about the Long Range Desert Group in North Africa during WW2.  They have a mission to kill Rommel that becomes quite the cluster-f as the book goes on.  I don't know much about the North Africa campaigns, nor about the LRDG, so it was all new material to me.  Very highly recommended!
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Gusington

^I have Killing Rommel on my list, but I want to read Pressfield's The Lion's Gate first.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Toonces

I started reading Lion's Gate and switched to Killing Rommel.  Lion's Gate didn't immediately resonate with me.  It's historical based on interviews so it's not as fast moving as his fiction.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

pochepiller

Strategy and tactics quarterly
On Alexander The Great.

Toonces

Quote from: Gusington on December 02, 2021, 10:34:03 PM
Hmm, didn't know that...

Don't let me stop you.  I liked what I read, but it just wasn't quite what I was expecting, and I have a few of this books in my Kindle waiting to be read so I just moved on.

I haven't read a bad book by Pressfield yet, so I'm sure there's a very good story in there.

"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Gusington

Yeah he has become one of my favorite writers.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

ArizonaTank

#5563
On the advice of friend, I recently finished The Longships by Frans Bengtsson.

This is a historical fiction novel about the life and times of a Danish chieftain who spends a good part of his time "a-Viking" around 1000 AD.

The book is an adventure story that ranges from the cold waters off the Danish coast, to Ireland, to Spain and Russia. In some ways I felt it was like what a Horatio Hornblower novel would be like if Hornblower had been a Dane in 1000 AD. Plenty of action and great characters.

It is an older book, with English translation from the Swedish from the 1950s, but is still widely available. Apparently at one point in the 1950s, it was the most widely read book in Sweden.

It is very good.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Long-Ships-audiobook/dp/B077SM99ZZ/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1638563875&sr=1-3

As a side note, this book has nothing to do with the 1964 movie of the same name. That movie, staring Richard Widmark is pretty "weak tea" in my book. The movie kinda, sorta feels like the plot is related to the book...but not really close.
Johannes "Honus" Wagner
"The Flying Dutchman"
Shortstop: Pittsburgh Pirates 1900-1917
Rated as the 2nd most valuable player of all time by Bill James.

Toonces

I read that a few years ago and agree, it's a fantastic book.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs