Recommended Reads.

[Catkins]

SNIP> First book of the series I read was "One Shot", long before the film - that I haven't seen - appeared and I was 'in' at that point  <SNIP

 

 

Just to inform you that the film has some minor plot deviation from the film, but all in all the book and film are both good (so long as you forget that Tom Cruise isn't tall enough to play Reacher) !

[Ohmisterporter]

If you like crime writers try Simon Kernick. his Relentless had me hooked, I think I finished reading it at three in the morning and had to get up for work at five thirty. A sci-fi book I enjoyed was Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle, though I didn't enjoy his other books as much. For historical fiction I don't think you can beat George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman series; the eponymous fearful hero finds himself in events that really happened, with his own contribution usually vital but not suitable for stuffy Victorian tastes. 

Sticking to a railway theme, Tom Rolt's Railway Adventure together with the aforementioned Chronicles of Pendre Sidings give a good picture of the Talyllyn Railway preservation struggles. Further afield Couplings to the Khyber by Berridge (?) was one of my favourites, though difficult to find. 

[45156]

I'll give it a whirl - do you feel that either of those two books would be a good "introduction" to her writing?

Bringing home the stars is the first of two novels in a series.

 

I'm going to ask - what "age range" are the books aimed at?

Not childrens books at all - they are quite heavy Science Fiction with a quite sinister touch to them - they are well worth a read

[Nick C]

Just to inform you that the film has some minor plot deviation from the film, but all in all the book and film are both good (so long as you forget that Tom Cruise isn't tall enough to play Reacher) !

 

That was the part of the film that really disappointed me - having read most of the books, I had a very clear mental image of what Reacher looked like, as Child describes him really well - and Cruise is almost completely opposite!

[Big James]

Just started reading again Conn Iggulden’s Caesar series it’s probably 60% facts to 40% fiction but it makes for an easy read and is very good. Anyone in the lookout for something different though should try the Sub Rosa series by Steven saylor it uses real roman court cases to build a believable narrative.

 

Big James

[Ray Von]

Cheers Big James, the Sub Rosa series in particular sounds like a fascinating read. It's on my ever-growing list.

 

I have ordered a copy of "Bringing Home the Stars" (I hope it's the right one and not the biography of a celebrity chauffer...) :-)

[New Haven Neil]

I'd recommend anything by Terry Pratchett -- absolutely ANYTHING he's written!

 

My wife would agree having them all, but I just cannot get away with him - I feel he is not half as clever as he thinks he is.  He's no Douglas Adams.

[wollastonblue]

For laugh out loud funny, and things that change your knowledge of history Stephen Clarke's 1000 years of annoying the french is brilliant. 

[D9020 Nimbus]

As far as railway accidents are concerned, an alternative to "Red For Danger" is "Railway Accidents of the 20th Century" by J A B Hamilton. For more recent accidents, there are a number of books by Stanley Hall, of which "Danger Signals" is one.

[Ray Von]

If you like crime writers try Simon Kernick. his Relentless had me hooked, I think I finished reading it at three in the morning and had to get up for work at five thirty. A sci-fi book I enjoyed was Robert Silverberg's Lord Valentine's Castle, though I didn't enjoy his other books as much. For historical fiction I don't think you can beat George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman series; the eponymous fearful hero finds himself in events that really happened, with his own contribution usually vital but not suitable for stuffy Victorian tastes. 

Sticking to a railway theme, Tom Rolt's Railway Adventure together with the aforementioned Chronicles of Pendre Sidings give a good picture of the Talyllyn Railway preservation struggles. Further afield Couplings to the Khyber by Berridge (?) was one of my favourites, though difficult to find.

 

There is currently a film on "Talking Pictures" the "The Royal Flash" could that be the same character?

[Ohmisterporter]

There was a film of Royal Flash with Malcolm McDowell as Flashman. Roughly based on The Prisoner of Zenda. 

[Ray Von]

I think that's the one!

[dseagull]

For those who like their war novels; 

 

 

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes

 

Fire Support Base Matterhorn: a fortress carved out of the grey-green mountain jungle. Cold monsoon clouds wreath its mile-high summit, concealing a battery of 105-mm howitzers surrounded by deep bunkers, carefully constructed fields of fire and the 180 marines of Bravo Company. Just three kilometres from Laos and two from North Vietnam, there is no more isolated outpost of America's increasingly desperate war in Vietnam.

Second Lieutenant Waino Mellas, 21 years old and just a few days into his 13-month tour, has barely arrived at Matterhorn before Bravo Company is ordered to abandon their mountain and sent deep in-country in pursuit of a North Vietnamese Army unit of unknown size.

Beyond the relative safety of the perimeter wire, Mellas will face disease, starvation, leeches, tigers and an almost invisible enemy. Beneath the endless jungle canopy, Bravo Company will confront competing ambitions, duplicitous officers and simmering racial tensions. Behind them, always, Matterhorn. The impregnable mountain fortress they built and then abandoned, without a shot, to the North Vietnamese Army...

 

One of those books I wish that I hadn't read, so that I could have the joy of reading it again for the first time. Absolutely superb. 

[Kelly]

Love anything by Pratchett. About the only books I tend to return to reading again and again. Some work better as audio books partially due to his embuggerance as he called it meaning he had to dictate rather than type for later books.

 

Have always enjoyed the reacher books, yet to get the latest however.

 

Otherwise, Sarah j. Mass and robin hobb books are good reads if you like fantasy. The rivers of London series is quite good too.

[Guest]

Any book by Tom Sharp. Do not read in public and do not read if you have any “prudishness” in you. They are seriously laugh out loud funny. Wilt is a good starting point (ignore the unfunny Mel & Griff film). His later works/sequels tend to not be so good.

[Kelly]

Any book by Tom Sharp. Do not read in public and do not read if you have any “prudishness” in you. They are seriously laugh out loud funny. Wilt is a good starting point (ignore the unfunny Mel & Griff film). His later works/sequels tend to not be so good.

 

It is Tom Sharpe iirc. But, yes good books some of them I found. Tom Holt also if you like funny fiction.

[sb67]

Another war story, Parachute Infantry - David Webster, an account of his experiences from D day through to the end of the war. A book I found very hard to put down.

 

I'm now reading Pele's autobiography, amazing footballer who first played football with a rolled up sock in the streets!

 

Steve.

[Ray Von]

Another war story, Parachute Infantry - David Webster, an account of his experiences from D day through to the end of the war. A book I found very hard to put down.

I'm now reading Pele's autobiography, amazing footballer who first played football with a rolled up sock in the streets!

Steve.

I used to read a lot of first and second world war books, "Forgotten Voices" "The Last Tommy" etc, packed away from last house move and still boxed unfortunately. "Operation Mincemeat" by Ben MacIntyre I cannot recommend highly enough, an amazing story, morbid and fascinating - almost unbelievable, and at the same time deeply sad.

 

I started reading "The Dam Busters Raid" by John Sweetman on finishing MacIntyre's book - I'm afraid I read only half of it. Very much a facts and figures work, with lots of interesting and surprising information, but not a page turner (not for me anyway.) I shelved it at chapter eight, almost exactly halfway through - at this point the aircraft were just preparing for the first wave of attacks, that gives you some idea of the exhaustive detail of the previous seven chapters which covered the inception, design and opposition to the bomb itself, followed by approval, testing, redesign, more opposition, aircraft redesign etc. I don't like leaving a book unfinished, and maybe I'll return to it - the fact that it's in very fine print and 300 odd pages probably didn't help. I would recommend it, but only to those with a special interest in the subject matter, for the casual reader I found it very hard going.

 

I don't think that I own a single book relating to sports, not being that way inclined - the closest I can pick out after a quick scan of my shelves is "Alive" by Piers Paul Read (How's that for tenuous?!)

Edited January 19, 2019 by Ray Von

[Ohmisterporter]

There have been quite a number of authors writing about the navy in the days of sail, Napoleonic War and so forth, but in my opinion* none can match Patrick O'Brien. His Aubrey and Maturin series is written in a style that you will either love or find a struggle though. Using language and phraseology that was in use at the time the books are set adds something that Forrester and others do not match. The reader learns there is more to sailing a frigate than "Put her about" that appears so often in books and films. O'Brien's first in the series is Master and Commander, the name given to the film that bears little resemblance to the book; it is rather a combination of bits from the whole series but still enjoyable for all that.

 

*other opinions are available.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Ohmisterporter

[uax6]

For laugh out loud funny, and things that change your knowledge of history Stephen Clarke's 1000 years of annoying the french is brilliant. 

 

I have to say that I am not one for fiction books, I find them really quite hard to get into, but I have to say that I enjoy Stephen Clarke's 'Merde' series. Having a French wife I can really see what he is getting at...

 

Andy G

[uax6]

As far as railway accidents are concerned, an alternative to "Red For Danger" is "Railway Accidents of the 20th Century" by J A B Hamilton. For more recent accidents, there are a number of books by Stanley Hall, of which "Danger Signals" is one.

 

Railway Accidents by Vaughn (spelling? That old Western signalman bloke) is quite a good read, a bit biased to the western, but still a good read. His Signalmans series is also a good read.

Stanley Hall Red for Danger (two vols) is also a good read.

 

Andy G

Edited January 19, 2019 by uax6

[sb67]

I used to read a lot of first and second world war books, "Forgotten Voices" "The Last Tommy" etc, packed away from last house move and still boxed unfortunately. "Operation Mincemeat" by Ben MacIntyre I cannot recommend highly enough, an amazing story, morbid and fascinating - almost unbelievable, and at the same time deeply sad.

I started reading "The Dam Busters Raid" by John Sweetman on finishing MacIntyre's book - I'm afraid I read only half of it. Very much a facts and figures work, with lots of interesting and surprising information, but not a page turner (not for me anyway.) I shelved it at chapter eight, almost exactly halfway through - at this point the aircraft were just preparing for the first wave of attacks, that gives you some idea of the exhaustive detail of the previous seven chapters which covered the inception, design and opposition to the bomb itself, followed by approval, testing, redesign, more opposition, aircraft redesign etc. I don't like leaving a book unfinished, and maybe I'll return to it - the fact that it's in very fine print and 300 odd pages probably didn't help. I would recommend it, but only to those with a special interest in the subject matter, for the casual reader I found it very hard going.

I don't think that I own a single book relating to sports, not being that way inclined - the closest I can pick out after a quick scan of my shelves is "Alive" by Piers Paul Read (How's that for tenuous?!)

There was a documentary on operation mincmeat on the tv a while back, as you say a fascinating story, I love the secret stuf that we never knew went on. I've also got The secret war by Max Hastings on the go, that is full of unbelivable stuff about secret stuff from WW2.

Steve.

[Ray Von]

"Red for danger" by LTC Rolt. A book you can read (and learn from) over and over again - my favourite railway book.

 

 

 

 

Brit15

Halfway through, and really enjoying reading it. The information is well presented without making a trivia of those who sadly lost their lives, very respectfully written.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Ray Von

[Ray Von]

"Bringing Home the Stars" by Jennifer Kirk arrived today - signed no less! :-)

[Kelly]

"Bringing Home the Stars" by Jennifer Kirk arrived today - signed no less! :-)

Are the books available as ebooks do you know? (Jenny?).

 

I tend not to buy books now unless they're specific authors in hardback, all others I get as ebooks to save space (precious commodity in a bed flat).