Books and literature recommendations

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Gob
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Gob »

Just finished reading this, absolute cracker of a book!

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“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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BoSoxGal
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by BoSoxGal »

I loved the Lad stories!

I just preordered Go Set a Watchman, which releases July 14. I'm planning to read it at the beach on vacation.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Gob
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Gob »

Half way though this weighty tome.
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Dominic Sandbrook's magnificent account of the late 1970s in Britain - the book behind the major BB2 series The Seventies


In this gloriously colourful book, Dominic Sandbrook recreates the extraordinary period of the late 1970s in all its chaos and contradiction, revealing it as a decisive point in our recent history. Across the country, a profound argument about the future of the nation was being played out, not just in families and schools but in everything from episodes of Doctor Who to singles by the Clash. These years saw the peak of trade union power and the apogee of an old working-class Britain - but also the birth of home computers, the rise of the ready meal and the triumph of the Grantham grocer's daughter who would change our history forever.

Reviews:


'Magnificent ... if you lived through the late Seventies - or, for that matter, even if you didn't - don't miss this book' Mail on Sunday


'Sandbrook has created a specific style of narrative history, blending high politics, social change and popular culture ... always readable and assured ... Anyone who genuinely believes we have never been so badly governed should read this splendid book' Stephen Robinson, Sunday Times


'[Sandbrook] has a remarkable ability to turn a sow's ear into a sulk purse. His subject is depressing, but the book itself is a joy ... [it] benefits from an exceptional cast of characters ... As a storyteller, Sandbrook is, without doubt, superb ... [he] is an engaging history capable of impressive insight ... When discussing politics, Sandbrook is masterful ... Seasons in the Sun is a familiar story, yet seldom has it been told with such verve' Gerard DeGroot, Seven


'A brilliant historian ... I had never fully appreciated what a truly horrible period it was until reading Sandbrook ... You can see all these strange individuals - Thatcher, Rotten, Larkin, Benn - less as free agents expressing their own thoughts, than as the inevitable consequence of the economic and political decline which Sandbrook so skilfully depicts' A. N. Wilson, Spectator

'Nuanced ... Sandbrook has rummaged deep into the cultural life of the era to remind us how rich it was, from Bowie to Dennis Potter, Martin Amis to William Golding' Damian Whitworth, The Times

'Sharply and fluently written ... entertaining ... By making you quite nostalgic for the present, Sandbrook has done a public service' Evening Standard
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

liberty
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by liberty »

A good yarn, a good series and fairly accurate history:

The Last Kingdom

Last_Kingdom_uk
‘I had been given a perfect childhood, perfect, at least, to the ideas of a boy. I was raised among men, I was free, I ran wild, was encumbered by no laws, was troubled by no priests and was encouraged to violence.’ Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of 9th Century Northumbria, but orphaned at ten, adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred’s fate is indissolubly bound up with Alfred, King of Wessex, who rules over the last English kingdom when the Danes have overrun Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia.

That war, with its massacres, defeats and betrayals, is the background to Uhtred’s childhood, a childhood which leaves him uncertain of his loyalties, but a slaughter in a winter dawn propels him to the English side and he will become a man just as the Danes launch their fiercest attack yet on Alfred’s kingdom. Marriage ties him further to the West Saxon cause, but when his wife and child vanish in the chaos of a Danish invasion, Uhtred is driven to face the greatest of the Viking chieftains in a battle beside the sea, and there, in the horror of a shield-wall, he discovers his true allegiance.



Buy The Last Kingdom Now
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.

oldr_n_wsr
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by oldr_n_wsr »

singles by the Clash.
I saw The Clash. At CBGB's I think

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Guinevere
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Guinevere »

Read any of the five police procedurals by Tana French:
In the Woods
The Likeness
Faithful Place
Broken Harbor
The Secret Place

All so well written, compelling, interesting characters. They are the kind of books you stay up all night reading, and feel slightly ill and discombobulated when you finish because you've been drawn so completely into the world of the story.

All the books are set in the context of the Dublin Garda's (police) "murder squad" and each book is told from the perspective of a different character, with the others making minor appearances in some of the other books.

I've ripped through 4, 5 and 1 (in that order), starting 2, and I'll be buying and reading 3 when I'm done with 2. It doesn't matter what order you read them in, either. Get your hands on one, you won't regret it!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Crackpot
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Crackpot »

Finished the Odyssey (audiobook) had came to realize that the story is not what I've been led my life to believe. Not dissapointed just not what I expected. I guess a tale of bloody revenge doesn't sound as good as epic voyage.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Guinevere
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Guinevere »

Read the Iliad, that's the tale of bloody revenge (and where you find my IRL name . . . ).
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Gob
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Gob »

Now reading this;
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‘My mother is scraping a piece of burned toast out of the kitchen window, a crease of annoyance across her forehead. This is not an occasional occurrence. My mother burns the toast as surely as the sun rises each morning.’

‘Toast’ is Nigel Slater’s award-winning biography of a childhood remembered through food. Whether recalling his mother’s surprisingly good rice pudding, his father’s bold foray into spaghetti and his dreaded Boxing Day stew, or such culinary highlights as Arctic Roll and Grilled Grapefruit (then considered something of a status symbol in Wolverhampton), this remarkable memoir vividly recreates daily life in 1960s suburban England.

Likes and dislikes, aversions and sweet-toothed weaknesses form a fascinating backdrop to Nigel Slater’s incredibly moving and deliciously evocative portrait of childhood, adolescence and sexual awakening.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

wesw
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by wesw »

yeah, I read the illiad and the odyssey about three years ago, then I read 'A History of the Orient and Greece" Botsford 1907

in fact, I just re-shelved some of my books yesterday and am holding the greek history book right now. interesting stuff.

illiad and odyssey were brilliant. not sure that they were written by the same bloke, but not sure that they weren t either....

I seem to remember that I had two different translations of one of the two books and that one translation was far superior to the other....

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Crackpot
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Crackpot »

Guinevere wrote:Read the Iliad, that's the tale of bloody revenge (and where you find my IRL name . . . ).
If I can find it on audiobook I plan to.

Also just finished reading Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't familiar with the original story since the anime was a new story (with similar beginnings) good read.

Still highly recommend Death Note to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Here's one for LJ... apparently he didn't send a letter because there isn't one in there:

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For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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TPFKA@W
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by TPFKA@W »

I just finished Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. Anyone know any of her other work to recommend?

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Guinevere
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Guinevere »

I haven't read that one, but its on my list. Three of my friends gave it 5/5 stars on goodreads. This seems to be the most well-received of all of her books. I'll have to move it up my queue!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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TPFKA@W
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by TPFKA@W »

I couldn't put it down. I have a lot of trouble finding books that engage my interest that well.

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Crackpot
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Crackpot »

filling up my wish list any more classic to reccomend?
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

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Gob
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Gob »

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Review
Hailed as the new Bill Bryson, he in fact a writer of considerably more substance. (Irish Times)

He is a rare comic talent. (The Times)

Moore is a talented and very funny writer. (Daily Telegraph)

Tim Moore's sharp and witty book.is a pilgrimage to the most derelict, unlovable and forlorn parts of Britain. (Jonathan Sale Independent)

A hymn to things lost; a nostalgic appreciation of the days before Tesco Extra and the universal flood of modern bland. At his best, there aren't many travel writers funnier that Tim Moore. (Daniel Hahn Independent on Sunday)
Just finished this, bloody enjoyable and fun. Not for Americans.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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Guinevere
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by Guinevere »

I really enjoyed Dead Wake recently - Erik Larson's tale of the sinking of the Luisitania.


For classics, to listen to I'd go for The Scarlet Letter, Gatsby, Anna Karenina, Call of Ths Wild, A Passage To India, 100 Years of Solitude, as a start.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

wesw
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by wesw »

Winston Churchill s multi volume memoir of WW2, The Second World War.

it is amazing how similar the world is today and how all the same places and arguments are in the fore....

and he is really pleasant to read, it s like you are sitting around having a few drinks with a great storyteller and a great enjoyer of life.

a roly - poly fob wrapped around a core of iron and a will of steel.

for fun I d recommend The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

sci fi classics I d go with Ray Bradbury-Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Illustrated Man; isacc asimove-Foundation Trilogy; Robert Heinlein-Stranger In a Strange Land; orwell-1984, Animal Farm; Soylent Green-can t remember the author...

a great kids book, that is adult level is..., Watership Down, its about cats and rabbits and their struggles and battles personified, author ???

The Robe

the bible (read the new testament first, and go lightly into the old, before you read it from the beginning, it is very disturbing. alittle proverbs, a little Psalms, a bit of Job, you may want to read Genesis first tho..., whatever...)

and read Thousand and One Nights..., Lane - published1848, I am holding my copy right now. that will really scare you....
it is the most racist , sexist book I have ever read....

wesw
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Re: Books and literature recommendations

Post by wesw »

....and everything by Poe....

the Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a must, but Huckleberry Finn is even better....

O. Henry s short stories....

there is an Early Christian temperance book, pre-civil war, called Shadows and Sunbeams that is really good..., there are many books by that name tho. this one is a collection of short stories about drink and religion. it really well written.

I gave my copy to the owner of a steel shop, that I worked at, for Christmas. he was a Christian and said that he enjoyed it a lot.

the book was over 150 yrs old , then, and I think that I was the first one to read that copy, the binding was still quite tight and seemed to be un-opened, except for the owners name in the front. it was fragile but I read it and barely even opened it up..., just a little, my eyes were better then.....

gosh, crackpot..., there are sooooo many...

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