A couple of long journeys over Christmas, so got a few books to read on the way
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
The GOT Book Club
- Thread starter chicoazul
- Start date
Blue Cheese
Mental Patient, GOT Ward
Not the type I'd normally read, but it was recommended to me and it's not too bad.
Autobiography of doorman, turned street fighting / martial arts expert - Geoff Thompson.
A lot of war stories, but also a lot of soul searching too, as he became addicted to the violence.
Started martial arts and working on the door to try to beat his crippling anxiety and depression.
Classic quote from him - " I started working on the door to beat my demons, I ended up becoming one ".
Last edited:
bluebrotha77
Player Valuation: £20m
finished this yesterday.very good read.interesting look at the gestapo.
Read it a few months ago.
Dispels a few myths about the Gestapo, particularly the fact that they were all sadistic pychos ( although some were ).
A good read.
Have you read Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman?
If not, I think you'd like it.
bluebrotha77
Player Valuation: £20m
Ya exactly and how understaffed they actually were and how very lenient they were towards fellow germans.they investigated most alleged crimes very vigorously and kept great and detailed notes as you would expect from ze germans.
I'm gutted that Disney completely erased the entire Star Wars Extended Universe established by hundreds of books that came after the originals so that they could rewrite the established narrative for toy sales.
I haven't read much fantasy in a few years, but I have a few recommendations for anyone that enjoys the genre:
Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch. This is just good fun. It's well written with an interesting world and intriguing characters. It's the start of an ongoing series named The Gentlemen Bastards. The two following books were also excellent, but they are all fairly self-contained.
The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie. Basically anything by Joe Abercrombie if you're into the gritty, dark, violent kind of fantasy. It's hard edged, but very well written.
For more modern fantasy I recommend The City and The City by China Mieville. This is one of my favorite books of any genre.
Been in a bit of a lull recently for anything good.
Finished the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. It was crap. I enjoyed it due to my own weird proclivities, but it was poor and I can't in good conscience recommend it (I'm a little embarrassed I enjoyed it as much as I did). It was basically a framework for Stephenson to go on, at length, about various loosely related topics that interest him. I also get a serious tech-libertarian-crat vibe from the writing shining through.
Also read a terrible biography on Hadrian by Anthony Everitt. It was bad. Poorly sourced, filled with open conjecture, and had an apparent pro-Hadrian bias (glossing over claims of mass executions at the beginning and end of his reign because the middle was well-run).
On the positive side of the ledger I read Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem. That was really good and enjoyable and dark. Also finally read Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clark. I enjoyed the man v. nature plot...which I don't encounter much anymore for some reason. It was good, though I'll probably never go back to it or the series (to be fair, I heard sequels were really poor).
Finished the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. It was crap. I enjoyed it due to my own weird proclivities, but it was poor and I can't in good conscience recommend it (I'm a little embarrassed I enjoyed it as much as I did). It was basically a framework for Stephenson to go on, at length, about various loosely related topics that interest him. I also get a serious tech-libertarian-crat vibe from the writing shining through.
Also read a terrible biography on Hadrian by Anthony Everitt. It was bad. Poorly sourced, filled with open conjecture, and had an apparent pro-Hadrian bias (glossing over claims of mass executions at the beginning and end of his reign because the middle was well-run).
On the positive side of the ledger I read Fiasco by Stanislaw Lem. That was really good and enjoyable and dark. Also finally read Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clark. I enjoyed the man v. nature plot...which I don't encounter much anymore for some reason. It was good, though I'll probably never go back to it or the series (to be fair, I heard sequels were really poor).
terry nodder
Player Valuation: £8m
Well I haven't read much of his (hers?) but I really liked the short story on evidence of god's existence due to finding scrimshaw on humans skeletons, been meaning to read more
Thanks Ted
Love his stuff. It's weird, I'll give it that. And his socialist political views seep through a bit heavily sometimes (as in The Iron Council), but hell, I'm a socialist, so I don't mind that.
Kraken was a blast, and I also have really enjoyed his short stories.
Tony Hibbert's 3rd leg
Banned as requested
another audio book to keep me company on the way to work. I'm still not sure If I'm "reading" it. The key phrase here is "read by the author" Bias aside , it's good, He's so far talked about his Irish Italian upbringing, his father's mental health issues that seemed to run in his side of the family and I now know the inspiration for The River.
...read that on holiday in October. Helps if you know a bit about him, he hinted that the likes of Clarence Clemons was a complex character without going into detail. I got the impression he didn't want to fall out with folk (or get involved in law suits perhaps). I think it's his own mental illness issues that are the biggest revelation, just shows that depression hits even if you have all the wealth in the world.
I enjoyed it too but I first saw him on that River tour (1980ish) and it was good to get the background into the formation and politics of E-Street Band.