This Week I'm Mostly Reading General Chat Golden Threads

[Tom]

Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin

Pretty self-explanatory title, this book charts the life of the ill-fated Erebus and her sister ship Terror from their build to their eventual loss in the Arctic. Really enjoyed this as I normally do with anything polar exploration related.

 

[Soffie]

I'm currently reading Considering Phlebas by Iain Banks and Early Riser by Jasper Fforde.

 

[Lisa]

I'm reading, On The Front Line - The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin.

A collection of this remarkable journalist's work for The Sunday Times over 25 years as a correspondent from some of the most war-torn areas of our recent history.

 

[Wanted]

Went out on a splurge and bought two books I've put off for far too long.

Neverwhere and American Gods, both by Neil Gaiman. He is a co-writer of one of my favourite books (Good Omens) and I always thought he played second fiddle to the legend, Terry Pratchett.

Judging by the ones I bought today, he is almost as brilliant as TP himself! Bring it on!

I also bought Catch-22 today. I've read this masterpiece, but I want it on my shelf.

 

[Deleted member 63]

Judging by the ones I bought today, he is almost as brilliant as TP himself! Bring it on!

Neil is amazing. If you haven't read his Sandman comic/graphic novel series, do so. Or watch the Netflix TV series (he is an executive producer and fairly hands-on with it). Or listen to the Audible audio series (there's 3 of those now).

I have been having trouble finding books that engage me. That's more on me than the books. However, on vacation this summer I read:

The Perdiccas Years - Tristan Hughes (the story of the first years of the conflict among Alexander the Great's generals after Alexander's death in 323 BCE)

The Rise & Reign of the Mammals - Steve Brusatte (a paleontologist takes us from the earliest mammalian ancestors right through to our own first appearance)

And I also read my way through the nearly twenty years of the webcomic Questionable Content, which is about the lives and loves of twentysomethings in a parallel 21st century where AIs are commonplace (and there are several of them in the cast nowadays). It's daily on weekdays at the moment so there's still new material coming out.

 

[Tom]

Billy Connolly's "Tall Tales and Wee Stories". I loved "Windswept & Interesting" and this is even funnier. Consistently laughing out loud while reading it.

 

[Dylan]

Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin

Pretty self-explanatory title, this book charts the life of the ill-fated Erebus and her sister ship Terror from their build to their eventual loss in the Arctic. Really enjoyed this as I normally do with anything polar exploration related.

Did you watch the TV series The Terror with Ciaran Hinds and Jared Harris? Highly recommend it if not.

 

[Tom]

Did you watch the TV series The Terror with Ciaran Hinds and Jared Harris? Highly recommend it if not.

I have finished season 1 of The Terror and am nearly done with season 2. I didn't realise that it wasn't based 100% on the established facts so when they all started dying in the manner that they did on the show I was bamboozled

 

[Katy]

Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny & Mary Read by Rebecca Alexandra Simon

I am really interested in the life of Anne Bonny so I was beyond excited when I heard that a book had been written dedicated to the pirate in question. However, I am fairly disappointed with this book. I found that I was often thinking that I had read the same line in the previous 5/6 paragraphs and in some cases, in previous chapters. I also think that the editing of the book was poorly done as at times sentences did not make sense. It read as though sentences were being cut but that they either cut into other sentences or left part of the desired deleted words, with the result of incomprehensible text.

 

[Boot Cleaner]

I'm currently reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

I read it in my youth and thought it was a masterpiece.

I then stayed away from it for years for fear of disappointment as I matured.

Years later I can confirm it is a masterpiece.

The book could loosely be classed as science fiction and is (very) loosely about his experience as a prisoner in Dresden during WW2.