What book are you reading now?

[OldSolduer]

Legion of the Damned by Sven Hassel.

He was in the German Army, WWII, in the 27th Panzer (Penal) Regiment.

 

[Lightguns]

Legion of the Damned by Sven Hassel.

He was in the German Army, WWII, in the 27th Panzer (Penal) Regiment.

Read it, excellent book but the author's CV is dubious as he has been Id'd as Danish Nazi in the occupation police and never served a day fighting anyone but Danish objectors.

 

[OldSolduer]

Read it, excellent book but the author's CV is dubious as he has been Id'd as Danish Nazi in the occupation police and never served a day fighting anyone but Danish objectors.

Really?  I did not realize that. Thanks!!

 

[Danjanou]

Yup but it is entertaining. The others he wrote less so.

Just finished Dance With Dragons, now hav a long wait unitl George Martin gets off his *** and finishes book 6. :'(

Just started into When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa  by Peter Godwin. He's a journalist who gre up in Rhodesia  and returned several times after 1980 often to visit his parents who remained there and to cover political events. This one covers the Land grabs of white farmers by Mugabe's "wovits" ( War Vets)  and trhe rise of the opposition to Mugabe's 30 year rul by the MDC. So far not a bad read and interesting as Godwins PC left leaning bias is apparently put to the test by the stark reality of Mugabe's Communist Dictatorship.

 

[larry Strong]

I have just started reading "1812 The march on Moscow" by Paul B Austin. It is the first book of a trilogy.

As described by this review:

This account of the 1812 campaign is like no other in the English language. Austin has combined descriptive prose with quotes from primary sources to produce a readable account. It is similar to the approach that was used by French historians such as Lachouque, Hourtoulle and Houssaye. By using present tense he brilliantly combines his own prose with extracts from memoirs and letters into a story-like telling of the history that transports the reader back two hundred years. We are there observing Napoleon throughout the campaign; we see what those around him and elsewhere in the Grande Armée saw and we `experience' what they experienced.

Larry

 

[estoguy]

I read an interesting little text book from the 50s called "Basic Aeronautics".  Nice little primer.  I was surprised to read in the introduction that this aimed towards high schools. Of course, some is dated, but still interesting. Even learned a couple of things. 

 

[dangerboy]

In preparation for going to see the movie and as my annual holiday tradition I am reading the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books.  I think I will stick to just these ones, I have the other ones but I don't enjoy them as much.

 

[FJAG]

Coming to the end of George RR Martin's latest Game of Thrones book "A Dance with Dragons".

I've liked the series to this point but this last book is getting kind of draggy. Still good imagery and interesting characters to follow but the plot doesn't seem to be heading anywhere (which I presume is the point if you have several more books you want to sell)

:cheers:

 

[PMedMoe]

Coming to the end of George RR Martin's latest Game of Thrones book "A Dance with Dragons".

I've liked the series to this point but this last book is getting kind of draggy. Still good imagery and interesting characters to follow but the plot doesn't seem to be heading anywhere (which I presume is the point if you have several more books you want to sell)

I'm about a third of the way through it and definitely not reading it with the same enthusiasm with which I read the others.  :nod:

 

[KerryBlue]

I picked up the Dog's are eating them now: Our war in Afghanistan a few weeks ago, so far I haven't read much because of exams but its a pretty good book. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in foreign affairs.

 

[cupper]

Starting into David Baldacci's latest, "King and Maxwell". Biggest problem is that I I have the characters from the TV series stuck in my head, which really sucks.

Just finished "A Captain's Duty" by Captain Richard Phillips. He spoke at a conference I was at last month. Very interesting perspective on what happened, and how you never really know what you are capable of and how much you can endure.

 

[dimsum]

I'm about a third of the way through it and definitely not reading it with the same enthusiasm with which I read the others.  :nod:

I read that way back and I agree with FJAG; it's getting too draggy (maybe because they're throwing in more and more characters).  If the HBO series will have 2 seasons dedicated to the 3rd book, I shudder to think how many seasons it'd take to make ADWD.

 

[mariomike]

"Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry"
http://www.mwotrc.com/rr2013_06/Public_Cowboy.htm

The amazing story of a remarkable career.

 

[a_majoor]

Early Christmas present:

"The War That Ended Peace: The Road To 1914" by Margaret Macmillan

Very nice compliment to "August 1919"

 

[cjette1]

Just finished Contact Charlie by Chris Wattie. It's a pretty interesting read.

 

[UnwiseCritic]

Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson. As much as I knew about how imperial powers at that time betrayed the Arabs and lawrence. I was not aware that the Jews and Palestinians had struck a real deal. But a 5 minute meeting between French and British ruined that opportunity.

 

[dangerboy]

Using the holiday to catch up on my reading.  I have just started "Dune" by Frank Herbert, I have never read it and people were telling me to as it is considered a classic. Only a few chapters in, seems ok nothing spectacular, maybe it will pick up.

 

[FJAG]

Using the holiday to catch up on my reading.  I have just started "Dune" by Frank Herbert, I have never read it and people were telling me to as it is considered a classic. Only a few chapters in, seems ok nothing spectacular, maybe it will pick up.

I've always found "Dune" okay but Frank Herbert's sequels (Messiah, Children etc) somewhat tedious.

On the other hand the prequels and related books written by Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert with Kevin J Anderson I've always found much better written and more entertaining than the the original series.

If you find that the book doesn't measure up for you, I would suggest you might give "Dune: The Butlerian Jihad" a try. If you like that one there are plenty more in the series.

:subbies:

 

[dimsum]

I've been on a bit of a sci-fi kick lately; I've been to this independent bookstore enough that the owners know me there.  It's an odd feeling, almost like when a bartender knows your drink although with none of the health/guilt issues 

Currently reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie which is a pretty good sci-fi mystery story so far.  I've been really impressed with the stuff by Kim Stanley Robinson (2312, Shaman - not sci-fi but still very good) and Iain M. Banks (the Culture series, especially Hydrogen Sonata). 

Figured that if I was at the beach checking out the scenery soaking up the rays, I might as well look smart doing it    ;D

 

[dangerboy]

Started reading "The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914" by Margaret MacMillan. http://www.amazon.ca/War-That-Ended-Peace-Road/dp/0670064041/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390667956&sr=8-1&keywords=the+war+that+ended+peace

Only a few chapters in but so far she is doing a good job explaining the situation and personalities in the era of 1900 - 1914.  It turns out there may be more to the start of WWI than what we are taught in school, that the Kaiser was to blame and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand started it all  .