ErsatzThistle Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 One for all the book lovers. What have you enjoyed reading this year ? Your team's financial report does not count. A few months back I read the three books that make up the "Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky" trilogy by Patrick Hamilton. Set in a London pub during the 1920's and examines the lives three ordinary working class people and their sad and lonely lives. Thought it was a wonderful read, would urge everyone to read this. I also enjoyed the "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell which I had been urged to read for a while now. A great social and political story that read a bit like a Dicken's tale but with venom ! So over to you ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flure Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Blossom by Lesley Riddoch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new hugh Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Just finished Kenneth Fearing's The Big Clock this week. Best thing I've read in ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larky Masher Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Hell in Very Small Place by Bernard Fall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 A few months back I read the three books that make up the "Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky" trilogy by Patrick Hamilton. Set in a London pub during the 1920's and examines the lives three ordinary working class people and their sad and lonely lives. Thought it was a wonderful read, would urge everyone to read this. I also enjoyed the "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" by Robert Tressell which I had been urged to read for a while now. A great social and political story that read a bit like a Dicken's tale but with venom ! They sound right up my street.... Any more recommendations? Not read many novels this year but keep meaning to re-read one of my favourites, 'Ask The Dust' by John Fante. Semi-autobiographical account of a young aspiring Italian writer, set in the seedy streets of LA in (I think) the 30s, when it was written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hertsscot Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Blossom by Lesley Riddoch Enjoyed reading that and I see she's got a new post referendum edition out. I'm not quite so sure that I get the love in with the tenement but Blossom deserves to be widely read. Read Romano Bridge by Andrew Greig which is a Buchan-esque romp and quite enjoyable Also enjoyed Simon Sebag Montfiore's 'One Night In Winter' which I picked up second hand for a holiday read, good insight into Soviet Union at the end of the World War 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flure Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Enjoyed reading that and I see she's got a new post referendum edition out. I'm not quite so sure that I get the love in with the tenement but Blossom deserves to be widely read. That was the thing that completely entranced me. How a different approach to land ownership could produce such a different living arrangement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstevie007 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 'Cold' by Ranulph Fiennes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally Bongo Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Tiger in the Bed - Claude Balls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Bob Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Nathaniels Nutmeg by Giles Milton about the English attempt to dominate the spice trade in the 17th century. They got humped by the Dutch. Or White Gold about the slave trade in Europeans run out of various pirate ports in Morocco up until the start of the 19th century. In fact anything by Giles Milton. Or in the same vein, Galileo's Daughter or Longitude by Dava Sobel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Endell Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell - hard going in places (particularly the umpteen-page discussion on languages of the Caucasus!) but the level of detail is a treat for the Eastern Front aficionado. Edited December 5, 2014 by Charlie Endell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stapes Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Nathaniels Nutmeg by Giles Milton about the English attempt to dominate the spice trade in the 17th century. They got humped by the Dutch. Or White Gold about the slave trade in Europeans run out of various pirate ports in Morocco up until the start of the 19th century. In fact anything by Giles Milton. Or in the same vein, Galileo's Daughter or Longitude by Dava Sobel. Read most of Milton's stuff and it's very good. Longitude is also excellent. If you like this type of stuff try Nathaniel Philbrick, especially In The Heart Of The Sea. My favourites this year were two POW books - The Forgotten Highlander and Unbroken. Unbroken, especially, was incredible - Laura Hillenbrand is the best non-fiction writer around. I've also just finished Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, about the HeLa cells, and it's worth a read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flure Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 My favourites this year were two POW books - The Forgotten Highlander ....... I read that. It was superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimstroma Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Really enjoyed The forgotten Highlander also, I will need to try Unbroken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred_Zeppelin Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Tiger in the Bed - Claude Balls I slid down the banister but there was a nail in it. - R. Stornaway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally Bongo Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I slid down the banister but there was a nail in it. - R. Stornaway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy North Croy Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Anything with Spot in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariokempes56 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Who's Spot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wauchope Lad Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I read that. It was superb! The forgotten Highlander, the best book i have read without a doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stapes Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I would urge anyone who liked Forgotten Highlander to read Unbroken. To my mind it was a better book, because it was two great stories in one. The first half of the book isn't about his POW experiences (which were as bad as in the Forgotten Highlander) but about his time as a world class athlete. Another great book for wartime enthusiasts is The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz (far, far better than the film). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabmania Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Light reading about the Tour- Ned Boulting '101 Damnations', and as for fiction- revisited 'HMS Surprise' by Patrick O'Brian, and just finished Kate Atkinson's 'Life after Life'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cove_Sheep Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Picnic at the Iron Curtain The Clifton Chronicles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariokempes56 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Another great book for wartime enthusiasts is The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz (far, far better than the film). Yep. Read it four times over a number of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robroysboy Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Marabou Stalk Nightmares by the mad hibbie irvine welsh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan Eagle Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I slid down the banister but there was a nail in it. - R. Stornaway Translated from the Chinese original - Yellow River by Wan Lang Pee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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