Doomy77 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 We have threads for vidyagems and music, but I believe OCCers are a literate bunch as well. Use this thread to name a book you recently enjoyed reading and feel fellow coaches might also appreciate. Novels, non-fiction, graphic novels, whatevs... anything goes. I'll start with Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski, the first in a series of whodunnit/political thrillers starring the less-than-savoury Eberhard Mock. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 4
Chubberson Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 A World Ablaze by Laci Endrei True story of a Hungarian political refugee set in the mid fifties/Russian occupations-invasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Doomy77 Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Good shout, Chubbers. I know a lady who will be very keen on that one. But I'm sure the rest of the OCC won't be out-read by a dwarf ex-con. Whaddaya got, people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 4
dode Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=i+was+dr+mengele%27s+assistant&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=25756164776&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11079491711486578967&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1l98wb4wvb_e Bought this at Auchwitz. Incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Doomy77 Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Auschwitz has a bookshop? Not sure how I feel about that... Sounds like an interesting book though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 4
Dreamy Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Currently reading "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. Very good book. Occasionally gut-clenching. Has a couple of stumbling points, but overall a very good tale. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind?from_search=true Last week I read Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40866.Tales_of_the_Dying_Earth - Wonderful language. Stories varied from Fair to Excellent. The short stories were best, Cugel's stories were fairly good, the Rhialto yarns were fair but as a whole felt lacking. Somewhat further back I just went through the entire M.Y.T.H. line. It had a dip in first shared-author full-length story book, but otherwise it's an excellent example of humorous fantasy. (Which means I have to mention I've read basically all of Pratchett. Just Dodger that's waiting his turn, since my son snagged it first) And to leave fiction while continuing further into the past, here's one educational and one philosophical work, both of which I enjoyed so much when checking out from a library in the past that I had to buy them when I could afford them. When China Rules the Seas - about Zheng He's treasure fleet http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178801.When_China_Ruled_the_Seas The Spirit of the Laws - Montesquieus treatise on how to form a sensible society, sort of http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/141958.The_Spirit_of_the_Laws?from_search=true 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Chris[ek] Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Currently second book of Troy Trilogy by Gemmell, Shield of Thunder. http://www.amazon.com/Shield-Thunder-Troy-Trilogy-Book/dp/0345477014/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Doomy77 Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 On a historical note (and inspired by Dode since I bought it at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth), I can recommend: this, which is a first-hand account of the golden aqe of piracy on the high seas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 4
jrpeart Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Just read the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, quality stuff. For those who enjoy bad puns the Xanth series by Piers Anthony is essential reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 2
Javelin Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Just read the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, quality stuff. For those who enjoy bad puns the Xanth series by Piers Anthony is essential reading. I loved the Dresden novels. If you haven't read them, the Iron Druid Chronicles are of similar quality. Good stories and lots of humor. For the gaming geek you need to read "Ready Player One" if you haven't already. The audiobook is read by Wil Wheaton, who did a great job. I'm currently reading "The Electric Church". Very good book, I guess I'd label it as cyber punk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 2 2 4 3 2
Pidpad Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Books I've enjoyed somewhat recently: Jasper Fforde - The Eyre Affair (and the next 3, that's as far as I've got, I blame 2of1 for not having more of the books :P). Andrew Robinson (aka Garak) - A Stitch in Time (DS9 novel). From my own collection War of the Spider Queen (6 part series) - various authors That'll do for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 4 3 3 2 4 2 2
AllyRdr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Recently re-read Neuromancer by William Gibson. Great book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Pidpad Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 That it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 4 3 3 2 4 2 2
Gallows Bait Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth Possibly one of my favourite places ever. I miss that I'm not close enough to visit these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chubberson Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Good shout, Chubbers. I know a lady who will be very keen on that one. But I'm sure the rest of the OCC won't be out-read by a dwarf ex-con. Whaddaya got, people? Dammit!! that was my Ace card right there. Dr Mengele's assistant sounds a bit............. hmmmmm curiosity killed the cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
AllyRdr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 On a historical note (and inspired by Dode since I bought it at the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth), I can recommend: this, which is a first-hand account of the golden aqe of piracy on the high seas. If you like Pirates, etc, I recommend getting a copy of this: Pirate Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Zgagor Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Anybody read any of Chine Mieville's novels? I had a binge about this time last year, I've really enjoyed his style. "Embassytown" struck me as especially cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Hobnail Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Bizarrely for a fantasy gamer of some 30 years, I'm not a big fan of fiction. But I have recently re-read these two. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trafalgar-Biography-Battle-Roy-Adkins/dp/0349116326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382176818&sr=8-1&keywords=Trafalgar and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trafalgar-The-Men-Battle-Storm/dp/034083028X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1382176818&sr=8-3&keywords=Trafalgar And for obvious reasons, yes I love Portsmouth dockyard too - took my boy there for the day two summers ago - was incredible to stand in the spot your childhood hero was shot and effectively killed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards 5
AllyRdr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Anybody read any of Chine Mieville's novels? I had a binge about this time last year, I've really enjoyed his style. "Embassytown" struck me as especially cool. Not read Embassytown but have read most of the others. "The Scar" is probably my favourite of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
AllyRdr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Just to add, if I can recommend one author to everyone to try, it would be Tad Williams. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
Zgagor Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Not read Embassytown but have read most of the others. "The Scar" is probably my favourite of them. "The Scar" has such epic moments it made me giggle with excitement at times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
AllyRdr Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Just to add, if I can recommend one author to everyone to try, it would be Tad Williams. Actually, if I was going to recommend one author it'd be Joe Abercrombie now that I've had a think about it, but Williams would be a close second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Awards
zunova Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I've been getting into audio books recently. I never realised that the John Carter film was actually book 1 of 9 (although the book is nothing like the film). Currently the first 5 of the Barsoom series (Edgar Rice Burroughs) are in public domain. I'm currently on book 4. A Princess of Mars (1912) http://www.archive.org/download/princess_mars_tc_librivox/princess_mars_tc_librivox_64kb_mp3.zip The Gods of Mars (1914) http://www.archive.org/download/gofmars_tc_1302_librivox/gofmars_tc_1302_librivox_64kb_mp3.zip The Warlord of Mars (1918) http://www.archive.org/download/warlord_mars_tac_librivox/warlord_mars_tac_librivox_64kb_mp3.zip Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920) http://www.archive.org/download//thuviamaidofmars_1308_librivox/thuviamaidofmars_1308_librivox_64kb_mp3.zip The Chessmen of Mars (1922) http://www.archive.org/download/chessmenofmars_0902_librivox/chessmenofmars_0902_librivox_64kb_mp3.zip Plenty of audio books can be found here for free: http://librivox.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallows Bait Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Andrew Robinson (aka Garak) - A Stitch in Time (DS9 novel). Very good choice. A novel about Star Trek's most interesting ever character and surprisingly good, written by the actor that played him too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallows Bait Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 And for obvious reasons, yes I love Portsmouth dockyard too - took my boy there for the day two summers ago - was incredible to stand in the spot your childhood hero was shot and effectively killed. More Napoleonic/Age of Sail enthusiasts revealed! In terms of Naval fiction I am very much in the "Hornblower is overrated and Jack Aubrey is far too dull" camp and favour Alexander Kent's Bolitho series. I've had the pleasure of listening to a talk by Douglas Reeman (aka Alexander Kent) at the Historic Dockyard, not to mention visiting it for (of all things) my University dissertation research (I had to work hard to do that, considering I studied Accounting and Finance), as well as numerous visits with friends and family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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