What are you reading tonight?

Verbal · **Posted:** Thu May 15, 2008 9:41 pm

Thanks!

TANGODANCER · **Posted:** Fri May 16, 2008 11:34 pm

Ploughing through Fenimore Coopers "Last of The Mohicans" again. Funnily enough the film was on TV tonight. Watched it of course; terrific Michael Mann film with brilliant casting throughout, but with obvious differences from the old written classic.
You have to adopt a particular mindset when reading older stuff with the "let's see how long I can make a paragraph without it classing as a chapter" style. Terrific tale, nevertheless.

Raven · **Posted:** Wed May 21, 2008 12:33 pm

Interview with the Vampire, always put it off as thought it was just a mass produced type thing but its actually very good.

Lord Kangana · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 3:00 pm

Borrowed Time; The Story of Britain between the Wars by Roy Hattersley.

Its taken a bit of a savaging form the such luminaries as The Spectator(any surprises?) for being left wing, yet if anything I think its the opposite, and he's fairly balanced and modertae in his approach to the economic and political atmosphere of the times (critical of the miners and the general strike I wouldn't call left wing mesen, like...).

I'd reccomend it if 20th century politics/economics is your thing.

enfieldwhite · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 3:06 pm

I'm reading the Biography of Max Woosnam, All Round Genius. Amazing man.

England Football captain
Man City captain
England cricket test centurion
Wimbledon Men's doubles winner.
5 times Cambridge blue
Table tennis champion.
Scratch Golfer
And the list goes on.

He once, apparently, beat Charlie Chaplin at Ping Pong using a butter knife as a bat. Not, as you may think as a means of showing off, but to give Chaplin (no mean player himself) a sporting chance.

TANGODANCER · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 3:22 pm

Bit of lightweight novel stuff for me right now. "Barbary Coast", a Hornblower type tale of derring-do on the high-seas.
Peter Smalley (I think, top-of-the head), a guy who knows a hell of a lot about sailing in the days of the great English gunships. Corsairs, privateers and pirates....and all that stuff. Never knew a ship had so many parts, more, in fact, than a Meccano set.

Dujon · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 1:20 am

TANGO, if you like that sort of stuff (and I do) you could do worse than seeking Nicholas Monsarrat's The Master Mariner (the man who wrote The Cruel Sea). Whilst the original premise is fantasy, the detail of ships, crews and history ring true. I have a feeling that I might well have mentioned this somewhere else on this site, so if I am repeating myself then please forgive me. There was supposed to be a second book (the original was subtitled 'Book One - Running Proud') but unfortunately Monsarrat died before it was finished. His widow, Ann, arranged publication of the completed chapters of the second book and included his synopses of the uncompleted chapters. That book was titled Darken Ship - The Master Mariner Book Two.

On current reading: I've been catching up of late on science fiction - most of which is pure escapism - for my midnight to dawn reading. I did though deviate from that genre when I borrowed from my local library one of the many biographies of Terence "Spike" Milligan. This one was written by Humphrey Carpenter and is an interesting compilation, warts and all, of Milligan as a man. It does dwell on the Goons to a significant extent, but the author explains why that is so, and doesn't gloss over Milligan's depressions or how they affected his relationships. A good, but at times sad, précis of Milligan's life and career.

TANGODANCER · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 10:28 am

Cheers Dujon. Not read the Montserat but I'll look out for it. Was a bit dissapointed with Barbary Coast as it ended with a Dick Barton/Flash Gordon-like "To be continued" just as the heroes had been confronted with a dastardly plot against them.

C.S.Forrester's The Gun (filmed years ago as The Pride and The Passion with Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren, which you've probably seen) is a good read, as are most of his books.

Dr Hotdog · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 2:47 pm

Tom Waits in his own words: a collection of three decades' worth of interviews with Tom Waits.

Bruce Rioja · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 3:05 pm

Not sure (well, too lazy to check, to be honest) if it's been mentioned but apparently Colin Todd has released his autobiography. The imaginatively titled Toddy. That's got to be worth a read.

TANGODANCER · **Posted:** Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:15 pm

Been reading some extracts from Andy Lloyd's "Dark Star", in conjunction with a novel, "The six Sacred Stones" by Mathew Reilly. Apparently, the existence of a hidden "dark sister" to the sun has been causing controversy amongst scientists for quite some time. The origins of the theory go back way, way further.

Verbal · **Posted:** Tue Jun 03, 2008 5:03 pm

'The Right Nation: Why America Is Different'

Interesting book by two journalists Mickelthwait and Woolridge. Well worth the time.

Raven · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:02 pm

Trafalgar - Biography of a Battle by Roy Adkins, Excellent stuff, you can almost smell the cannon balls

Hoboh · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:04 pm

Sniper One - Dan Mills

Pretty horrific description of a war we never got to know about.

Bloody good read.

David Lee's Hair · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:07 pm

Bill Bryson - Short History of Nearly Everything

T'is good, even made Geology sound slightly interesting which having doen some Geology at Uni I can say for certain it is not!

Prufrock · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2008 1:12 pm

David Lee's Hair wrote:

Bill Bryson - Short History of Nearly Everything

T'is good, even made Geology sound slightly interesting which having doen some Geology at Uni I can say for certain it is not!

big fan of Mr Bryson, and that for me is his best book.

TANGODANCER · **Posted:** Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:56 pm

Read "Longitude" a few years ago and found it fascinating. Don't know what put it into my head again, but I have a desire to re-read it.

enfieldwhite · **Posted:** Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:45 pm

Just started a trilogy of books called Boudica by Manda Scott.

Bruce Rioja · **Posted:** Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:25 pm

Prufrock wrote:

David Lee's Hair wrote:

Bill Bryson - Short History of Nearly Everything

T'is good, even made Geology sound slightly interesting which having doen some Geology at Uni I can say for certain it is not!

big fan of Mr Bryson, and that for me is his best book.

If you plan on doing any travelling around Europe then Neither Here Nor There is an absolute must. In fact, if you haven't done so already, just read it anyway. It's incredible how his views on most of the places that he writes about tally exactly with my own observations. Of course, I could just never ever convey them anywhere near as brilliantly.

freeindeed · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:50 pm

Dr Hotdog wrote:

Tom Waits in his own words: a collection of three decades' worth of interviews with Tom Waits.

Good choice Dr Hotdog, Tom Waits is the don.

Me reading Derren Brown's book - Tricks of the Mind.

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