New now reading

in reality, all of this has been a total load of old bollocks
Jimbo
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Re: New now reading

Postby Jimbo » 06 Mar 2020, 21:38

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Re: New now reading

Postby Flower » 12 Mar 2020, 12:39

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*I love Fred Vargas and wonder about her thoughts on the coronavirus. Anyway, I'm thinking of painting the front door.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Vargas

Fred Vargas is the pseudonym of Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau (born 7 June 1957 in Paris), a French historian, archaeologist and novelist.

Audoin-Rouzeau worked at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), which she joined in 1988. She later joined the Institut Pasteur, as a eukaryotic archaeologist.[1] She has undertaken a project on the epidemiology of the Black Death and bubonic plague, the result of which was a work considered definitive in the research area: Les chemins de la peste (Routes of the Plague) (2003).[2]
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Deebank
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Re: New now reading

Postby Deebank » 27 Mar 2020, 09:33

Now reading in lockdown and dialysis:

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Paul Hanley's exhaustive account of the making of Hex Enduction Hour (and much besides).
Highly recommended, Paul is actually a great writer and a decent raconteur plus what's great for a music tech nerd like me is he has lots of input from legends like (producer and Here & Now / Gong collaborator) Grant Showbiz amongst others.

Paul's brother (the godlike Fall bass supremo Steven Hanley) had a book out a couple of years ago, The Big Midweek, which is also great but the footnotes in Have a Bleedin' Guess give it the edge - you have the facts, quotes etc in the main text and Paul's gossipy asides in the footnotes.

Lovely stuff.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Jimbo » 27 Mar 2020, 10:57

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Flashman fans will not be disappointed.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Flower » 27 Mar 2020, 11:12

Jimbo wrote:Image

Flashman fans will not be disappointed.


Are the libraries open in Japan? Ours closed without warning. Even an hour or two and I could've stocked up on more books. You might like this book ..

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Re: New now reading

Postby Jimbo » 27 Mar 2020, 11:31

Flower wrote: Are the libraries open in Japan?


Probably not. Seems museums and other publicly run gathering places are shut. Most of my reading is via audio books so I haven't been in a library in 10 years. April 1 is the projected re-opening day, fingers crossed.

My newest favorite series. The characters names are really "Greek" and it's hard to remember who is who but the action is really exciting.

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Re: New now reading

Postby Flower » 27 Mar 2020, 12:00

Jimbo ~ Thanks! I'll look up Christian Cameron when and if this is over. I really love Fred Vargas, her books should be read in order but "Have Mercy On Us All" is very timely.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Deebank » 27 Mar 2020, 12:30

Cliche alert!

My mother in law just sent me the Wolf Hall trilogy :lol:

I'll embark on that odyssey when I finish Have a Bleedin' Guess. Should keep me busy.
I've been talking about writing a book - 25 years of TEFL - for a few years now. I've got it in me.

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Six String
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Re: New now reading

Postby Six String » 27 Mar 2020, 17:49

Wildwood - Roger Deakin

Great stuff even if you're not a tree hugger.
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Spock!
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Re: New now reading

Postby Spock! » 30 Mar 2020, 20:22

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Just finished.

An easy read, imparting a great deal of general information about bees in general, from how they (probably) originated, their societies - and lack of, there being as many solitary bee species as social, bee and flower co-evolution and so on. A good primer. If you're interested solely in the honey bee I'd reccomend Hattie Ellis: Sweetness & Light The Mysterious History of the Honey Bee which I read last year.

I now want to facilitate a bumble bee colony in my garden.


Next is

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which will be my first Ruth Rendell.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Flower » 30 Mar 2020, 21:48

John aka Josh wrote:Image



Just finished.

An easy read, imparting a great deal of general information about bees in general, from how they (probably) originated, their societies - and lack of, there being as many solitary bee species as social, bee and flower co-evolution and so on. A good primer. If you're interested solely in the honey bee I'd reccomend Hattie Ellis: Sweetness & Light The Mysterious History of the Honey Bee which I read last year.

I now want to facilitate a bumble bee colony in my garden.


Next is

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which will be my first Ruth Rendell.


I have a pollinator garden, so BUZZ is now on my reading list. I love Ruth Rendell but some of her later non Wexford books aren't my favorites. I hope that you enjoy the book, but if you don't, that you give her another try. :)
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Re: New now reading

Postby Diamond Dog » 02 Apr 2020, 20:45

Nina Sankovitch "American Rebels : How the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy Families Fanned the Flames of Revolution"

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Re: New now reading

Postby Spock! » 05 Apr 2020, 21:02

Finished Ruth Rendell's Dark Corners. I didn't dislike it, however I didn't love it either. It was well written in that none of the sentences jarred, but the plot seemed to rely rather too much on coincidence and the characters weren't very well developed. Hasn't totally put me off, might try a Wexford next time - seems that's where she shone.

Also finished


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which was predictably slight, served its purpose.



Am enjoying


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very much. About a third of the way through, it's an interesting, and so far plausible account of a network created by the Celtic people of roads/paths and meeting places based on the movements of the Sun. He's arguing that they were fairly sophisticated land surveyors and may well have a point.
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Diamond Dog
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Re: New now reading

Postby Diamond Dog » 07 Apr 2020, 03:35

John aka Josh wrote:Also finished

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which was predictably slight, served its purpose.


I've read two of that Hepworth series - they are all, uniformly, dire. Pure cut & paste jobs - something tossed off in a couple of weeks by a lazy journalist who manages to get actual facts entirely incorrect, let alone opinions that are wretchedly uninformed. I very much doubt Hepworth himself had fuck all to do with them - other than add his name and collect the cheques- or, if he did, he really should be exposed as the charlatan he is.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Brickyard Jack » 07 Apr 2020, 07:30

I have just finished the three published volumes of Simon Callow's biography of Orson Welles. The second volume, Hello Americans, is by far the best, though all of them are fascinating and make for good reading. Callow is apparently working on the fourth volume now.

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Re: New now reading

Postby Spock! » 09 Apr 2020, 20:47

Finished



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Which was interesting if rather speculative in places. Quite a few things to think about, such as the connections between the Greek world and the Celts, also his interpretation of the Boudiccan uprising.





Also just finished


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which is excellent. A different world seen through different understandings; the USA before it became the USA. Enjoyed her style eventually, every chapter was written from a different character's pov, sometimes the same events but not always and not completely chronological either. A very real understanding of humanity, its motivations, weaknesses and strength.
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Diamond Dog
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Re: New now reading

Postby Diamond Dog » 09 Apr 2020, 20:58

I sneaked this in :

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Which was actually remarkably prescient. There was a page which ran through a list of things that people would eventually believe were true.... the kind of things Jimbo chants like a dick.... it was incredibly 'on the ball''. I think this book was from 2002.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Lord Rother » 11 Apr 2020, 15:25

Still working but no pub, no sport = much more free time = lots of reading time.

Used to love Ludlum but probably haven’t read one for 30 years. Still excellent.

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Re: New now reading

Postby Spock! » 11 Apr 2020, 20:31

Just finished

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Which is good, though I'd have liked more about the Spartan society, which is my issue as that isn't the full remit of this book, though as the rise and fall of Spartan supremacy is so closely entwined with its values it would have been justified. It is a good account of the rise and fall with the emphasis on the religion, politics and personalities that influenced decisions.

Found the chapter on women and religion the most interesting, I hadn't realised how subjugated women were in the Greece of the time - the Spartans were relatively enlightened in that aspect.
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Re: New now reading

Postby Spock! » 12 Apr 2020, 20:23

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Extremely well written book.

I know it's been turned into a film which can't have been half as good as the book.
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