Brian. Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I have finally managed to catch up with all the new book blogs for 2016 so it's time for me to post mine. Last year was quite a strong year for me but it did tail off quite a bit towards the end. Despite this I still managed to read 75 books which was a huge increase on 2014. For 2016 I have only set myself one target, to read at least 50 books. I won't post my TBR as I have transitioned the vast majority of it to a digital format and my physical TBR is in the region of about 50 books. As much I loved having the physical books around I did find the increasing lack of space to be a pain. I'm still undecided whether or not I will continue to post reviews in the same way as I have done in previous years. At the end of the year I found posting reviews to be a pain in the backside so I pretty much stopped. I have already finished one book this year. You Only Live Twice - Ian Fleming 3/5 I thought it was a solid Bond book but there was something lacking from it. I did start to question if this was anyway related to the fact that it was the last Bond book written by Fleming. It leaves me just two of the original Bond books left to read which I plan to finish by the time spring rolls round. I have two books on the go at the moment, both on the Kindle. SPQR - Mary Beard (a history of Rome, specifically during the empire). Billion Dollar Ball - Gilbert M. Gaul (an investigation into the huge money involved in College Football). Questions or comments? Post away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi Brian nice to see you. I don't think I even made 50 books last year but that is a good target to aim at. Interested to know what you think of the Bond films now you have read so many of the books. I have only read one of the books- Casino Royale - and I enjoyed the chain-smoking edginess of the literary Bond so much that I no longer can stand any of the films. But I am OK about that. The films are all Hollywood hokum anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi Brian, Happy New Year! I hope you have a wonderful reading year in 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi Brian nice to see you. I don't think I even made 50 books last year but that is a good target to aim at. Interested to know what you think of the Bond films now you have read so many of the books. I have only read one of the books- Casino Royale - and I enjoyed the chain-smoking edginess of the literary Bond so much that I no longer can stand any of the films. But I am OK about that. The films are all Hollywood hokum anyway. Once you go beyond Casino Royale the books tend to be completely different to the movies. Often, the only thing kept is the title and perhaps a character or two. Some characters in the movies come from a few different books and tiny plot ideas are expanded on and turned into an entire movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hi Brian, Happy New Year! I hope you have a wonderful reading year in 2016 Thanks Sari, same to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Happy reading in 2016 Brian! Our interests don't generally seem to overlap much so I rarely end up commenting in your reading threads but I stick my head in from time to time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Happy New Year Brian, have a great one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Happy New Year Brian! I tend to find reviews a pain when I get too far behind so I stopped posting last year's and have started afresh this year with the resolution to stay on top of it this time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Hope you have a great year of reading in 2016, Brian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Happy New Year Brian! I tend to find reviews a pain when I get too far behind so I stopped posting last year's and have started afresh this year with the resolution to stay on top of it this time... That is a very good idea. I was considering it myself..... I think I only have one review left for 2015, but I really don't want to review it, so I might leave it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Happy New Year Brian, and may your 2016 be filled with lots of good books (and of course other good things). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Thanks everyone. Getting behind in reviews always frustrated me last year as I often couldn't remember what I wanted to say about a book once I finally got round to doing the review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 #2. Billion-Dollar Ball by Gilbert M. Gaul Blurb: Over the past decade college football has not only doubled in size, but its elite programs have become a $2.5-billion-a-year entertainment business, with lavishly paid coaches, lucrative television deals, and corporate sponsors eager to slap their logos on everything from scoreboards to footballs and uniforms. Profit margins among the top football schools range from 60% to 75%—results that dwarf those of such high-profile companies as Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—yet thanks to the support of their football-mad representatives in Congress, teams aren’t required to pay taxes. In most cases, those windfalls are not passed on to the universities themselves, but flow directly back into their athletic departments. Thoughts: I can't recall when I got this book but I do remember buying it after hearing it mentioned on a sports podcast. I tend to watch 3 or 4 college games a year on the TV as the coverage in the UK isn't great. Despite this, I was aware that there is constant conflict between the NCAA, universities and players regarding the creeping professionalisation of the college game. What I didn't realise until I read this book was just how vast the sums of money involved were and how the system is rigged massively in favour of the big college. I was also quite surprised to read that players are regularly recruited to university teams being almost unable to read. Clearly football comes first in these cases and everything else comes second, including academic achievement. The book is very well researched and well written. I have no complaints about the book but it also didn't blow me away. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I have a number of NFL books and a couple about the college system on my TBR Brian so interesting to read your thoughts on this one. While I watch around 3 NFL games a week (some on delay!) I don't have much time for the college game given work has me watching so much English/Spanish football, but the process really interests me as US Sports are so different from European with the draft system. I have The System on my TBR which has come very highly recommended on the $$ of college ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 I have a number of NFL books and a couple about the college system on my TBR Brian so interesting to read your thoughts on this one. While I watch around 3 NFL games a week (some on delay!) I don't have much time for the college game given work has me watching so much English/Spanish football, but the process really interests me as US Sports are so different from European with the draft system. I have The System on my TBR which has come very highly recommended on the $$ of college ball. Having a closed system which has limited routes into it is what makes the draft work, European footbal, and in fact world football is so vast it sadly would never work. However, I would like to see a salary cap brought in around Europe, that would be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 #3. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick Blurb: 'It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake. Thoughts: I spotted this in the mail slot of one of my work mates and asked him if I could borrow it. This request was based entirely on the fact that I recognised the title from adverts Amazon has been running recently about a TV show they have produced. All I knew going in was that the book is set in an alternative reality where WWII was won by the Germany and Japan. As a result the USA has been effectively dismantled with the east belonging to Germany and the west belonging to Japan. I enjoyed this book but I did find some of the longer 'ranty' passages a bit annoying, especially towards the end of the book. I didn't really care for any of the characters but the story held my attention for the duration of the book. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 #3. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick I enjoyed this book but I did find some of the longer 'ranty' passages a bit annoying, especially towards the end of the book. I agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Decided on my next read, The Wall by William Sutcliffe. I don't have a large physical TBR these days and this is one of those few books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 #3. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick Blurb: 'It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake. Thoughts: I spotted this in the mail slot of one of my work mates and asked him if I could borrow it. This request was based entirely on the fact that I recognised the title from adverts Amazon has been running recently about a TV show they have produced. All I knew going in was that the book is set in an alternative reality where WWII was won by the Germany and Japan. As a result the USA has been effectively dismantled with the east belonging to Germany and the west belonging to Japan. I enjoyed this book but I did find some of the longer 'ranty' passages a bit annoying, especially towards the end of the book. I didn't really care for any of the characters but the story held my attention for the duration of the book. 3/5 I'd agree with that - I have always preferred his short stories to his full novels, although that didn't stop me buying some more just before Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 #4. The Wall by William Sutcliffe Blurb: Joshua lives with his mother and step-father in Amarias, an isolated town, where all the houses are brand new. Amarias is surrounded by a high wall, guarded by soldiers, which can only be crossed through a heavily fortified checkpoint. Joshua has been taught that the Wall is the only thing keeping his people safe from a brutal and unforgiving enemy.One day, Joshua stumbles across a tunnel that leads underneath the Wall. The chance to catch a glimpse of life on the other side of The Wall is too tempting to resist. He's heard plenty of stories about the other side, but nothing has prepared him for what he finds . . . Thoughts: I bought this book last year based entirely on the title. The blurb on the back is less detailed than that given above which lead me to assume that the book was based in Cold War era Berlin. A few paragraphs in and the mention of a mobile phone quickly put that assumption to death and it didn't take me too long to work out where the book is based. The story moves very quickly and I ended up reading the book in the course of one afternoon and evening. The tension continually increases until the climax of the book and it left me very satisfied when I had finished it. I just could not put this book down, something which rarely happens to me. Due to the political environment that the book is set it, one could accuse it of taking a very naive approach to the subject matter. I would argue though, that the story is told from the viewpoint of a small boy and the naivety is entirely justified. 5/5 If anyone want this, drop me a PM and I'll stick it in the post to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 That sounds really good! I will get the sample now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 That really does sound like my kind of thing - great review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 It is up for grabs if either of you want it. I started two new books today, All That I Am by Anna Funder and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. I'm not sure by either one just yet, but as ever I will give each about 100 pages before considering abandoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 God Of Small Things is worth persevering with. I remember it being very busy, full of detail so you can't read it lazily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 God Of Small Things is worth persevering with. I remember it being very busy, full of detail so you can't read it lazily. I think I will finished All That I Am first and then go back to God of Small Things as I think reading both at the same time will hurt my enjoyment of both books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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