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Post by bigwoolie on Feb 18, 2021 19:56:07 GMT -5
“Floodgate” by Alistair MacLean
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Post by toshtego on Feb 18, 2021 20:00:14 GMT -5
The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke. His first novel published in the late 1940s. Fairly fanciful now that we know there is no life on Mars nor much atmospheric pressure. Still, much holds up and the rest is fun. Clarke wrote some great stuff! I read somewhere that his writing has provided more inspiration to NASA scientists than any other source. Just finished C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce." It remains one of my favorite books of all time, and one of my top 5 favorites to teach. Next up will be "The Problem of Pain." I'm looking forward to seeing how my high school seniors address this pervasive issue; especially since they have one foot out the door and into the 'real' world of adulthood & personal responsibility. Last night I finished Morley's "The Haunted Bookshop." I felt that I somehow owed it to the author of a book which has inspired one of my now-favorite tobaccos. It was good enough that I bought the .99 Kindle version of his short stories. There is science in his fiction. I mean to say, logical possibilities. Rendezvous With Rama is a must read. |
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jcurtis55
Junior Member
Posts: 324
First Name: Jeff
Favorite Pipe: Winslow Crown Viking
Favorite Tobacco: Dominican Glory Maduro
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Post by jcurtis55 on Feb 18, 2021 20:05:58 GMT -5
Realized I had never read any of Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books so picked up the first one, "A Study in Scarlet".
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Post by taiguy66 on Feb 18, 2021 20:19:40 GMT -5
Hope you had your pipe and smoking jacket on while reading.
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 18, 2021 20:34:49 GMT -5
Added the audio books The Great Divorce, Parnassus on Wheels and the Haunted Bookshop to my library. Eyes get tired reading with my cataracts. Just had cataract surgery last summer. On both eyes. They did lens implants at the same time and it did wonders for my vision. You should explore. Every year they tell me 2 more years. |
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Post by toshtego on Feb 18, 2021 21:45:16 GMT -5
Realized I had never read any of Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books so picked up the first one, "A Study in Scarlet". That is a good one to start with. |
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Post by Gandalf on Feb 18, 2021 22:02:26 GMT -5
We Are Legion (Bobiverse) by Dennis Taylor - recommended by Ronv69.
Interesting.
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 18, 2021 23:15:39 GMT -5
We Are Legion (Bobiverse) by Dennis Taylor - recommended by Ronv69. Interesting. I thought it was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy it. |
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Post by fadingdaylight on Feb 19, 2021 16:50:10 GMT -5
Realized I had never read any of Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books so picked up the first one, "A Study in Scarlet". Enjoy, it's not long, but it is fantastic. |
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Post by terrapinflyer on Feb 20, 2021 9:21:30 GMT -5
Possibly of interest to some here: _Back from the Ashes_, K.A. Worth. It's a history of G.L. Hunt and the Falcon pipe. I'm only a quarter way through it and it's pretty good.
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longtom
Junior Member
Posts: 221
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Post by longtom on Feb 22, 2021 9:59:49 GMT -5
Just finished (re-read) the "Karla Trilogy" in honor of the death of Le Carre'. What a wonderful story. Is George Smiley the exact opposite of James Bond? It has been at least 15 years since I first read these books, long enough to have forgotten a lot of the detail. I remember the overall story and ultimate end, but otherwise it was like reading them all for the first time.
Now I'm on the 13th and final Saxon Tale by Cornwell... wrapping up the tale of Uhtred of Bebbanburg... the books have sort of run out of steam a bit as history winds on but I have really loved this series...
Next up on the tee... a few Collins' biographies based on Plainsman's post:
Starting Ulick O’Connor’s MICHAEL COLLINS & THE TROUBLES. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 22, 2021 10:01:41 GMT -5
Just finished (re-read) the "Karla Trilogy" in honor of the death of Le Carre'. What a wonderful story. Is George Smiley the exact opposite of James Bond? It has been at least 15 years since I first read these books, long enough to have forgotten a lot of the detail. I remember the overall story and ultimate end, but otherwise it was like reading them all for the first time.
Now I'm on the 13th and final Saxon Tale by Cornwell... wrapping up the tale of Uhtred of Bebbanburg... the books have sort of run out of steam a bit as history winds on but I have really loved this series...
Next up on the tee... a few Collins' biographies based on Plainsman's post:
Starting Ulick O’Connor’s MICHAEL COLLINS & THE TROUBLES. I thought Uthreds story ended as well as could be expected. |
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longtom
Junior Member
Posts: 221
Location:
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Post by longtom on Feb 22, 2021 10:13:02 GMT -5
Just finished (re-read) the "Karla Trilogy" in honor of the death of Le Carre'. What a wonderful story. Is George Smiley the exact opposite of James Bond? It has been at least 15 years since I first read these books, long enough to have forgotten a lot of the detail. I remember the overall story and ultimate end, but otherwise it was like reading them all for the first time. Now I'm on the 13th and final Saxon Tale by Cornwell... wrapping up the tale of Uhtred of Bebbanburg... the books have sort of run out of steam a bit as history winds on but I have really loved this series... Next up on the tee... a few Collins' biographies based on Plainsman's post:
I thought Uthreds story ended as well as could be expected. Another fan! I'll finish the book later today. He has written a lot of other books, I also enjoyed the ones on Waterloo (non-fiction) and Agincourt (historical fiction). |
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Post by toshtego on Feb 22, 2021 10:14:25 GMT -5
I read the Karla Trilogy long ago. Excellent.
Now reading Warrant for X by Phillip MacDonald. Author of many crime novels in the 1920s and 1930s. His novel, Patrol, written in 1927, was made into a John Ford movie in 1933 or so: "The Lost Patrol", with Victor McLaglen and Boris Karloff.
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 22, 2021 11:12:55 GMT -5
I thought Uthreds story ended as well as could be expected. Another fan! I'll finish the book later today. He has written a lot of other books, I also enjoyed the ones on Waterloo (non-fiction) and Agincourt (historical fiction). Agincourt is one of the few books that I have re-read. Waterloo was great too. I have a couple of others that I still need to get to. Sharpe is always fun. I actually thought that the last Lords of the North wasa hhigh point in the series. |
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Post by toshtego on Feb 22, 2021 11:54:21 GMT -5
Another fan! I'll finish the book later today. He has written a lot of other books, I also enjoyed the ones on Waterloo (non-fiction) and Agincourt (historical fiction). Agincourt is one of the few books that I have re-read. Waterloo was great too. I have a couple of others that I still need to get to. Sharpe is always fun. I actually thought that the last Lords of the North wasa hhigh point in the series. I think there is a copy of Agincourt somewhere here. I will try to dig it out. Ditto Lords of the North. |
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longtom
Junior Member
Posts: 221
Location:
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Post by longtom on Feb 22, 2021 12:24:02 GMT -5
Another fan! I'll finish the book later today. He has written a lot of other books, I also enjoyed the ones on Waterloo (non-fiction) and Agincourt (historical fiction). Agincourt is one of the few books that I have re-read. Waterloo was great too. I have a couple of others that I still need to get to. Sharpe is always fun. I actually thought that the last Lords of the North wasa hhigh point in the series. I love the story of Agincourt... because of what a bumbling affair it was... medieval warfare and politics were haphazard affairs... nobody knew much of anything, and they were all kids!
At the time of Agincourt, Henry V had been 29 years old for less than a month...
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 22, 2021 12:36:11 GMT -5
Agincourt is one of the few books that I have re-read. Waterloo was great too. I have a couple of others that I still need to get to. Sharpe is always fun. I actually thought that the last Lords of the North wasa hhigh point in the series. I love the story of Agincourt... because of what a bumbling affair it was... medieval warfare and politics were haphazard affairs... nobody knew much of anything, and they were all kids!
At the time of Agincourt, Henry V had been 29 years old for less than a month...
And of course his kids lost all of his gains. |
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Post by Gandalf on Feb 22, 2021 21:53:27 GMT -5
"For We Are Many". Book 2 of the Bobiverse, by Dennis Taylor.
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Post by urbino on Feb 23, 2021 0:54:32 GMT -5
Still working through Anathem for the 3rd time.
For those of you who like stories about the military and intrigue, etc., I highly recommend An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. It's a novelization of the Dreyfus Affair.
Going back a good bit further in history, Frans Bengtsson's The Long Ships. It's a Viking adventure story.
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Post by Gandalf on Feb 25, 2021 18:32:28 GMT -5
"All These Worlds". Book 3 of the Bobiverse, by Dennis Taylor.
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 25, 2021 18:58:25 GMT -5
"All These Worlds". Book 3 of the Bobiverse, by Dennis Taylor. I guess you are enjoying it or you would stop. |
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Post by Gandalf on Feb 25, 2021 19:01:55 GMT -5
"All These Worlds". Book 3 of the Bobiverse, by Dennis Taylor. I guess you are enjoying it or you would stop. Yes, it's pretty good. Everything is coming together in this last book. |
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Post by fadingdaylight on Feb 25, 2021 19:13:05 GMT -5
Any Dresden fans out there? Please no spoilers from Peace Talks or Battle Ground. I can't buy them till the paperbacks that match the rest of my collection come out.
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 26, 2021 0:17:32 GMT -5
Any Dresden fans out there? Please no spoilers from Peace Talks or Battle Ground. I can't buy them till the paperbacks that match the rest of my collection come out. I read a bunch until they got really dark and it just wasn't fun any more. Have you tried a Kindle? Cheap way to read a lot of books. I've read the first 10. |
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Post by fadingdaylight on Feb 26, 2021 6:06:22 GMT -5
Any Dresden fans out there? Please no spoilers from Peace Talks or Battle Ground. I can't buy them till the paperbacks that match the rest of my collection come out. I read a bunch until they got really dark and it just wasn't fun any more. Have you tried a Kindle? Cheap way to read a lot of books. I've read the first 10. I've tried the Kindle app, but not the actual device. I still love the feel of an actual book in my hands though, its hard to replace. |
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Post by taiguy66 on Feb 26, 2021 8:22:44 GMT -5
I thought Uthreds story ended as well as could be expected. Another fan! I'll finish the book later today. He has written a lot of other books, I also enjoyed the ones on Waterloo (non-fiction) and Agincourt (historical fiction). Yes! Bernard Cornwall is a wonderful story teller! Can’t purchase his books quick enough! |
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 26, 2021 12:32:12 GMT -5
I read a bunch until they got really dark and it just wasn't fun any more. Have you tried a Kindle? Cheap way to read a lot of books. I've read the first 10. I've tried the Kindle app, but not the actual device. I still love the feel of an actual book in my hands though, its hard to replace. Well, I love a real book too. But they take a lot of room, and no one wants them when I'm done with them. I have hundreds of books, but I have over 700 audio books and 300+ Kindle books. I would love to get rid of at least 200 paper books, but nobody will take them and I just can't throw them away or burn them. 😵 It's a lot easier to read on a 10" Kindle than on a phone. |
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Post by urbino on Feb 26, 2021 22:19:22 GMT -5
I've tried the Kindle app, but not the actual device. I still love the feel of an actual book in my hands though, its hard to replace. Well, I love a real book too. But they take a lot of room, and no one wants them when I'm done with them. I have hundreds of books, but I have over 700 audio books and 300+ Kindle books. I would love to get rid of at least 200 paper books, but nobody will take them and I just can't throw them away or burn them. 😵 It's a lot easier to read on a 10" Kindle than on a phone. I generally give my "clearance" books to the library, where most of them wind up in the "Friends of the Library" book sales, I imagine. |
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Post by Ronv69 on Feb 26, 2021 23:27:36 GMT -5
Well, I love a real book too. But they take a lot of room, and no one wants them when I'm done with them. I have hundreds of books, but I have over 700 audio books and 300+ Kindle books. I would love to get rid of at least 200 paper books, but nobody will take them and I just can't throw them away or burn them. 😵 It's a lot easier to read on a 10" Kindle than on a phone. I generally give my "clearance" books to the library, where most of them wind up in the "Friends of the Library" book sales, I imagine. I gave away about a hundred in Houston to a youth reading program, but they were some "appropriate" volumes. Here we have a part time library. |
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