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Brian's Book Log - Ongoing


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6 hours ago, willoyd said:

 

And they are particularly interesting sounding books - I've read Rebanks's first book, and have EP on my shelves. Islands of Abandonment has been recommended to me by several people.It was on BOGOHP at Waterstone's - presume that came into play?!


I haven’t read anything else by Rebanks but the info on the covers sounded too interesting for me to put back. I picked up Islands of Abandonment to look at it as it was in a prominent display near the checkout. One of the staff saw me and told me he thought it was really good. The staff in my local Waterstones have always been spot on with their recommendations to me and to complete to BOGOHP offer I had to choose another book so I went with The Sanatorium. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Update time. I've really struggled to read in the last month. For a change it's not down to a lack of mojo or wanting this time but stress. 

 

Posh Boys by Robert Verkaik (3/5)

This is a non-fiction book published in 2019 about how private education is the defining who gets positions of power in the UK. It goes through just how many politicians come from these circles and how their education leads them to believe in their own hype and ability. It also digs into how many people who went to these schools end up as captains of industry and how it is a closed 'mates' network with outsiders never standing a chance despite how well suited to the roll they may be. The book was published shortly after Boris Johnson became prime minister and a lot of Verkaik's observations of how he operates has borne out in the following years. 

 

Sirens by Joseph Knox (4/5)

Detective Aidan Waits makes a huge mistake at work which effectively leads to the end of his career. He is given a last chance of sorts, an undercover job which although is handed out by his boss, effectively leaves him on his own. The daughter of an MP runs away from home and is hanging around a known criminal who has a history of attracting young women who then go missing. Can Waits find out what is going on without ending up 'missing' himself?

I knew nothing about this book before deciding to buy it a few years ago and it has sat on my bookcase ever since. It wasn't until I finished the book that I realised it Knox's first book and it is a very good debut in my opinion. None of the characters are particularly good or bad, they are all shades of grey and some times the criminals end up being more moral than the traditional good guys. The plot is pretty complex, especially as we get to the climax of the story, but not to the point where it ever gets out of hand. A word of warning though, this is very dark in places. Knox goes to areas that a lot of crime writers understandably avoid but he does so in an appropriate way without being needlessly sensationalist just for the sake of it.

 

The Mauritanian by Mohamedou Ould Slahi (3/5)

The cover of my copy eagerly proclaims 'now a major motion picture'. I wonder how many people are swayed by this? Anyway, this is an updated edition of a book previously published as Guantanimo Diary. It was written by Slahi while he was held captive for 14 years without ever been charged with a crime. To make matters worse he was granted release in 2010 but due to appeals and delays he wasn't released until 2016. Reviewing this is difficult for me. The content is remarkable, but the writing is nothing special and often drifts into being mundane and repetitive. I guess the best thing about it for me was the questions that I found myself considering while I was reading it. It is clear to me that the US government crossed lines of acceptable detention but where that line lies depends on your outlook on security. In my mind torture is never acceptable though.

 

The Unusual Suspect by Ben Machell (3/5)

As the global financial crisis approached in 2007 an isolated university student decided that he would be a modern Robin Hood and start to rob financial institutions and give the money to those who needed it most. As highlighted by the subsequent police investigation, Stephen Jackley went undetected for so long because he did not fit any of the usual characteristics of an armed robber. He had no criminal background, he was in the wrong age profile, and he wasn't in any DNA database. 

Following his eventual arrest in America, Jackely was diagnosed as having Aspergers. Machell digs into what happened and why Jackely thought that he wasn't doing any harm. Machell uses his interviews with Jackely as the primary source for the book but also interviewed others involved such as his fellow students and the detective who headed up the investigation. Interestingly enough, the detective doesn't buy some of Jackely's claims about the motivations behind his actions. This adds a good alternative dimension to think about as the book comes to an end.

 

A Book of Common Prayer by Joan Didion (2/5)

This book is the story of two American women in the invented Central American country of Boca Grande. One of the women is a trophy wife of sorts and the other has a daughter who runs away and joins a terrorist organisation. I can't really say too much else about this as I found it to be pretty incoherent. There isn't really a plot and I actively disliked every character in the book. The only saving grace was that some of the prose is pretty good otherwise it would have got one star from me.

 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

It's been quite a while since my last update. Moving house has really thrown my reading off and I've only read one book in the last month or so. The who John Gardner books I finished some time in March.

 

Nobody Lives Forever - John Gardner (4/5)

No Deals, Mr Bond - John Gardner (3/5)

 

Tunnel 29 - Helena Merriman (4/5)

A non-fiction book based around a BBC Podcast about one of the escape tunnels dug between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Before reading this book I knew there were a number of tunnels dug but I never knew that the construction and susequent escape was all captured on film. Merriman has done a great job in finding and interviewing the people involved. The tale is told in sequential time order and the tension really builds as we reach the climax. Since reading the book I have watched the NBC documentary from 1962 and I am working my way through the podcasts. Highly recommended.

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I seem to be on a bit of a non-fiction run at the moment which often happens when I'm struggling to get into anything. I picked up A Storm of Swords for the first time in ages today so that will be my focus for a while.

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  • 1 month later...

Very slowly I have been managing to read more as the year progresses. Most of it has been non-fiction as for some reason I find it easier to get into a non-fiction book when my reading mojo is out of whack. Here is a brief summary of some of what I have read since my last update. There are a few other books which I will write more about when I have a little more time.

 

Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt (2/5)

This book has been generally marketed as explaining why we should all be life long beginners and be searching out new things to learn. I had hoped that it would look at ways to tackle new skills and the different approaches required for learning mental and physical tasks. Instead the author spends the entire book talking about his personal experiences when learning how to play chess or learning to surf. These were relatively entertaining to read but not really what I why I picked up this book in the first place.

 

The Barbell Prescription by Jonathon Sullivan (4/5)

Probably not the kind of book that many if anyone else on the forum would read. This book explains what strength training approach is best suited to those over 40. I found this to be a really well written book with loads of good information. Although not the most scholarly book ever written it also benefitted from the author dipping into studies at times to back up his ideas.

 

So Much Things to Say by Roger Steffens (4/5)

Last month I went to watch the musical Get Up Stand Up! which is all about the life of Bob Marley. The show was really good and I would recommend anyone with even a passing interest in Bob Marley to go and see it. After the show I wanted to know more about Bob Marley but there are a lot of books to try and choose from. In the end I went for this one as it is described as an 'oral history' and based on interviews with those who were around him during his life. One thing I really liked about this is that you get conflicting views on certain events from those who were there. It is left up to the reader to make a judgement (or not) on what they think the truth is. At points Steffens does note as to why he believes there may be differing opinions and why some may be more valid than others but I always felt that he did this in a fair and balanced way.

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I'm glad you've found some good books recently! That always helps with the reading motivation. 

 

On 25/06/2022 at 9:52 AM, Brian. said:

Get Up Stand Up! which is all about the life of Bob Marley.

I haven't heard of this but my dad is a big Bob Marley fan, so I'll definitely be recommending it to him!

On 25/06/2022 at 9:52 AM, Brian. said:

One thing I really liked about this is that you get conflicting views on certain events from those who were there. It is left up to the reader to make a judgement (or not) on what they think the truth is.

I would also really like this - it's interesting not only in terms of determining a balanced view of true events, but also of looking at how people might experience/remember things differently. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Jane said:

Good  evening! Is this topic is active now?

 

Yes, this topic is active. It's a log of what I've read and my thoughts about my reading. I welcome comments from everyone so feel free to post.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've read a few books since my last update and despite thinking I would stay away from the Bond books for a while I have read another two in the extended series.

 

Scorpius by John Gardner (3/5)

This book starts off with the death of a young woman. When the police search the body the only thing she has on her is a bit of paper with a phone number on it. That number belongs to James Bond. James is called into HQ by M to be told the news and on the way somebody tries to run his car off the road. It turns out that Bond only knows the woman in question a little but further investigation shows that she is a member of a cult called The Meek Ones. As James digs deeper into this group they start to unleash terrorist attacks across Britain.

Like many of the Gardner written Bond books I've read so far, this works well in places and not so well in others. As we learn about the ultimate goal of The Meek Ones towards the end of the book it feels pretty rushed and runs out of steam a little bit. This book also straddles the Fleming/Movie Bond line without really deciding which side it wants to come down on. This isn't a bad thing but it's not handled as well as it could have been.

 

We are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins (4/5)

This is a non-fiction book all about how the investigative reporting agency Bellingcat came about and how they developed their internet based techniques. I picked this book up based on the blurb on the back as I hadn't heard of Bellingcat. The author started out using social media posts and online sources available to all to confirm stories cicrling around the internet. The book is really well written and I found it very interesting reading about how the techniques developed over time. Bellingcat is now a successful company but it is clear that Higgins wants to keep going in the same spirit and without compromising their initial aims. The cases are also fascinating and include the Salisbury Novichok incident, Assad's use of chemical weapons in Syria, and the Charlottesville attacks.

 

SAS Italian Job by Damien Lewis (4/5)

In the winter of 1944 the Allies decided to parachute a small team into Italy to work with, and train local partisans, in an attempt to turn the battle for Italy in their favour. As with the other Damien Lewis books this is written just like a thriller and I couldn't help but love the main characters he picks to base the book around. One of the officers was to fly with the soldiers but told under no circumstances was he allowed to parachute into Italy. He felt that he couldn't allow his men to go into Italy and do something he wasn't to do himself. So he decided to parachute with his men and told the flight crew to report that he fell out of the aircraft knowing full well that no one would believe it. It is stories like this that really bring the SOE operations of WWII to life and the kind of people who were asked to carry them out.

 

Win, Lose, or Die by John Gardner (2/5)

Book #8 in the Gardner Bond series. In this book James Bond rejoins the Navy to serve on an aircraft carrier as head of security during the visit of British, American, and Russian admirals during a NATO exercise. While the exercise is under way there will be a vital security meeting by the leaders of the UK, America, and Russia. This book definitely lines very far into the movie side of the Fleming/Movie Bond line. The story is packed with action and involves Bond flying a Harrier on more than one occasion. This is one of the weakest Gardner books so far and feels like he has gone through a list of Bond tropes and ticked them off in order. I don't have a major issue with Bond books leaning or borrowing style from the movies but this goes far too far into movie land. I'm really starting to miss SPECTRE as well because although the organisation in this book, BAST, isn't terrible they never have the menace that SPECTRE carries.

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Part 2 of the update, part 3 to come.

 

Brokenclaw by John Gardner (2/5)

While in British Columbia, Bond comes across Lee Fu-Chu and is intrigued by this strange man. He is half Chinese, half Blackfoot, incredibly wealthy, and as is common for villains (and I hate the stereotype) has a deformity. After this chance encounter Bond is tasked with investigating the kidnapping of several scientists who were working on a submarine detection system. 

This is the worst of the Gardner Bond books by quite some margin and I seriously considered giving it a 1 star review. The last few books, and the one I am currently reading are very poor efforts and if I wasn't a completist I would have given up on finishing the series by now. Brokenclaw is a pretty terrible bad guy. Add the fact that Bond is now falling in love with all the women he meets and you get books which are inconsistent with who Bond is meant to be. I am currently reading the next book in the series and I think I dislike that even more than this.

 

Living Better by Alastair Campbell (4/5)

I heard a podcast interview with Alastair Campbell a few years ago where he talked about writing a book detailing his experiences with depression. This is that book. I have never suffered with depression but recently have had personal experience with the devastating effects of the illness on those who suffer from it and those around them. I've had this book for a while and decided this would be a good time to read it in an attempt to understand it a little better. Campbell is brutally open in his telling of how his depression manifests itself and how it has impacted on others in his family. This wasn't a book I could read in public as it had me in tears on multiple occasions. It is hard reading but thoroughly recommended. 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

This update should bring my up to date with what I have read so far this year. It has felt like I've barely picked a book up this year but I've still finished 31 books so far.

 

The Snakehead by Patrick Radden Keefe (3/5)

Last year I read another book by Keefe, all about Northern Ireland and the troubles. I really enjoyed it and felt that it was very well researched and written. This book is about New York's Chinatown and the underground crime bosses who ran not only the area but the immigration routes from Fujian to America. I found this a fascinating read which is equally as well written and researched as the previous book of his that I've read. The story is pretty harrowing at times and presented 'as is', warts and all. I will be keeping an eye open for his other books whenever I'm in a bookshop as I really like what I've read from him so far.

 

Barbarian Days by William Finnegan (3/5)

This book won the 2016 Pulitzer prize for Biography and Autobiography which is how I became aware of it. I don't know much about surfing but I have read the excellent Stealing the Wave by Andy Martin. Barbarian Days focuses on the life of Finnegan and his obsession with surfing. As the book progresses the story travels from youthful exuberance, to adventurous young adulthood, all the while anchored by his love of waves.

I thought in the main this was a pretty good read but I felt like I wanted more from it. As expected there are loads of descriptions of surfing and places he surfed but these start to become repetitive. He also expects the reader to already know some of the terms associated with surfing, a glossary would have helped. I can see why this book won the prize but it didn't wow me in the way it has wowed others.

 

The Man from Barbarossa by John Gardner (2/5)

After the crushing disappointment of Brokenclaw I decided to plow on with the extended James Bond series. This is the 11th book written by John Gardner and I hoped it was better than his previous effort. This book starts at the end of WWII to set up a story which revolves around a terrorist group called The Scales of Justice who are causing havoc in the Soviet Union. Bond is assigned to a joint operation involving the KGB, French, and Israelis who pose as a camera crew covering a mock war crimes trial.

This book is equally as bad as Brokenclaw and in some aspects probably worse. I almost abandoned this in the early stages as the story just meanders along in a total mess. It is boring, confusing, and the characters are awful. There are so many different characters who are barely developed that it's impossible to care about any of them. The only saving grace is that the ending picks up and finishes with a bit of a flourish. I have read that some people dislike the Gardner books as they move away from the movie Bond and return to the Fleming Bond of the books. I have no issue with this, in fact I like it as the movie Bond often feels too cliched. However I feel that Gardner presents and entirely different Bond from either of these at times with certain things that go entirely against the core characteristics of Bond.

 

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomas di Lampedusa (3/5)

I read a few posts on here recently which mentioned this book in positive terms so I decided to pick up a copy to read. The story is about Fabrizio, the Prince of Salina in Sicily who must deal with the changing way of life during the unification of Italy.

Throughout the book we see a man trying to come to terms with a world that is changing around him. He knows that when he dies, his role as prince will never be what it once was. This leaves him in a quandry. Does he become a moderniser and go with the changing times, or does he stick with what he cherishes and risk losing out. His favourite nephew, Tancredi, has joined the rebels and tries to encourage Fabrizio to do likewise but Fabrizio is unsure what to do.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, especially given that it focuses on a period of history I know little about. It didn't grab me in the way it has some here but I am glad I read it. I know there have been several movies made of the story and I really want to watch one of them now.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've managed to do a lot of reading in the last two weeks so it's probably time for another update.

 

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin (4/5)

This one took a while for me to get going with for some reason but once I got settled with it I enjoyed it as much as the first book in the series. I'm always amazed at how complex the world Martin creates is and just how many characters he can squeeze into a book. I do think that if I hadn't seen the TV series I would struggle to keep track with who some of the more minor characters are in the book. I also find it interesting to see how there are subtle changes in areas when compared to the TV show. I can see why the TV scripts made these changes but I also think it's a shame not to stick closer to the source material. I will probably try and get to the next book in the series before the end of this year if I can.

 

Concorde by Jonathan Glancey (2/5)

I spotted this in a local bookshop and thought it would be good to know a bit more about one of the most iconic aircraft ever built. The book is marketed as a tale of the rise and fall of Concorde but it really misses the mark. It starts off in a promising manner with the history of supersonic flight including the many one-off aircraft that were built with this in mind. It also does an admirable job of covering the development of Concorde itself, but once the aircraft is up an flying it goes down hill rapidly.

The author talks about how politics is involved in any new aircraft design which is very true. However, he then lays any negative political outcomes at the feet of only one political party despite the aircraft operating for 34 years. He talks a lot about Concorde being art and how modern air travel is terrible because poorer people can fly (I'm paraphrasing here but it's what he is getting at). When I finished the book I decided to look Glancey up and he is an architecture critic so the art aspect kind of makes sense but it gets tiresome. I would argue that art exists to look good where as Concorde was deigned the way it was for aerodynamic and functional reasons, not to look good.

A large part of the book is taken up with Glancey discussing his experiences of travel on Concorde and how modern airliners are dull in comparison. He frames this as there being no glamour any more but misses the fact that Concorde was far too expensive for the majority of travelers to even consider. He also forgets that Concorde was very cramped to fly in and modern airliners are far more comfortable if you opt for anything above economy seating.
I work in the aviation industry and he misses the point in a lot of the arguments he was trying to make. There is a reason that supersonic passenger flight doesn't happen today. It's too expensive and the demand just isnt there. At the moment at least.

 

2666 by Roberto Bolano (3/5)

I've owned a copy of this book for a lot time having been intrigued by it's description in the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die publication. I have attempted to read it 3 or 4 times in the past but never managed to stick with it beyond the first 150 pages. I never put it aside because I didn't like it, I always put it back on the shelf because I didn't I had the stamina for almost 1000 pages. This year, having not set a reading target on Goodreads I've found myself able to read longer books over a long period of time without tiring of them.
The book contains 5 sections which all revolve around a different story but all kind of linked back to a mysterious writer called Benno von Archchimboldi. The book was published after his death and Bolano wanted it published as 5 separate titles but his family felt that it would be better as an entire work in one book. I think they probably made the right decision but none of the individual stories jumped out at me as being great. The 4th section is all about the murders of women in Santa Teresa, Mexico. This is a replica of the same thing that happened in real life in Ciudad Juarez. This section of the book is the longest and makes pretty harrowing reading. Unfortunately it also gets fairly repetitve and a bit numbing as a result.
I assumed the final section of the book would bring everything together but I didn't really feel as though it did. Throughout the book none of the characters are particularly developed and there isn't really a plot to speak of either. There is some really good prose in there but this felt a little bit too much like literature without substance for me. An admirable attempt which misses the mark more than anything else. I'm glad I read the book, and it had enough to keep me engaged for it's entire length, but it's not something I would recommend to others.

 

Updates on Where the Crawdads Sing and Immortals will follow when I have a bit more time.

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Wow that was a productive two weeks of reading! The Concorde book sounds awful and very much like the author was trying to mould the facts into his own preconceived ideas. I'm similarly intrigued by the concept of 2666 but I won't be rushing to find it after your review!

 

I do really want to read Where the Crawdads Sing though, so interested to hear your thoughts on that. 

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On 8/27/2022 at 6:32 AM, Hayley said:

Wow that was a productive two weeks of reading! The Concorde book sounds awful and very much like the author was trying to mould the facts into his own preconceived ideas. I'm similarly intrigued by the concept of 2666 but I won't be rushing to find it after your review!

 

I do really want to read Where the Crawdads Sing though, so interested to hear your thoughts on that. 

I am also very interested in hearing your thoughts on Where the Crawdads Sing. I read the book several years ago.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got a few books that I need to catch up with but I won't have time to do it until later next week at the earliest. I will post my thoughts on Crawdads though. I have tried to type up my thoughts a few times but it's always been a bit of a mess. I'm hoping I'll have more luck this time.

 

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (4/5)

I'll start off by saying that this isn't the kind of book I would have read had it not been for the positive reviews it's had from BCF members and someone I work with. I bought a copy a little while ago but the movie adaptation coming out spurred me into reading it as I want to see the film. Although I was aware of the mainly positive reviews, I went into the book knowing very little about it so as to not spoil it for myself. I think it is easier for me to write in general terms instead of specifics but I will have to stick some things into a spoiler box.

I'll start with positives. Overall I found the book to be a very easy enjoyable read that I kept picking up whenever I had a spare 15 minutes. That hasn't always been the case in recent months. The characters are defined enough that they stand on their own as individual entities. There aren't a huge amount of different characters which probably helps in this respect but I felt it was worth mentioning. The environment and setting is really well described and essentially becomes a character in itself.

There aren't too many, but now for the negatives. I felt that a few of the characters were pretty cliched and I've seen them many times before. I felt the ending was a little bit rushed and I would have changed one aspect of it which I will deal with in the spoilers box next.

 

Spoiler

Three main points for my spoilers box.

1) When I mentioned cliches above I mainly had Chase in mind. The former star Quarterback form a small town who can do no wrong but is a bit of a shhhhhhh has been done loads of time in the past. The only thing which I found a bit different is the fact that he always wore the necklace. I assumed this was a boastful sign that he had had sex with The Marsh Girl but there is some ambiguity there, perhaps he did like her to an extent.

2) Kya learns to read and write remarkably quickly and well for someone who only spent one day at school. This didn't bother me too much but it is a bit of a reach. Tate was obviously a hell of a teacher.

3) Right at the end when Tate finds evidence that Kya killed Chase, I could have done without. I like it when books leave some ambiguity but I felt this was a spoon fed conclusion. It would have been good had there been a suggestion it was Kya but no definite proof. I also can't get my head round why she would take the necklace apart from to help the plot.

 

Essentially my rating comes down to how much I enjoyed reading the book and that's why it gets a 4/5 from me. It's the first book in a while I had raced through and not had to put my thought into when reading. It was a good 'escape from life' book for me.

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I basically agree with you re Crawdads, I felt it started well but I got tired of it the longer it went on, as things seemed to happen too neatly.  And the ending whilst a surprise, did feel a bit rushed and a bit of a let down, so overall I would say the book isn't bad, but, like a lot of hyped books, probably a bit over rated.  But the descriptions of the marshes are wonderful.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Good review Brian. Glad that you enjoyed the book enough that you didn't want to put it down.

 

Crawdads was one of the favorite books that I have read, excluding some classics, in many a year. I really enjoyed the book and gave it a 5/5.

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18 hours ago, muggle not said:

Good review Brian. Glad that you enjoyed the book enough that you didn't want to put it down.

 

Crawdads was one of the favorite books that I have read, excluding some classics, in many a year. I really enjoyed the book and gave it a 5/5.

 

I too gave it a 5/5. I loved the lyrical quality of the book.

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Catch up time.

 

The Immortals by Arrigo Sacchi (3/5)

I imagine I'm the only BCF member who would read this book as it's a pretty niche interest even amongst football fans. In this book Arrigo Sacchi looks into his 1989 AC Milan side and how they revolutionised football through tactical innovation. This book is mentioned a lot by football tactics commentators so I went into it with high expectations.

The book and writing style is short, concise, and to the point. In fact it's too short and I really wanted more from it. I was hoping for some diagrams and intricate details on Sacchi would trigger the press and things to be aware of when using this tactic. That's not to say this is a bad book, far from it. I don't know if Sacchi wrote this book himself or used a ghost writer but it feels like his own work. Away from the book, one thing I've always really admired about Sacchi is that he wasn't precious about his tactics and would happily share them with other football coaches. He is one of the big reasons that managers like Klopp, Guardiola, Bielsa etc play they way they do.

 

Death is Forever by John Gardner (3/5)

The Cold War is over, Germany is reunited, and an old intelligence unit has fallen apart. The SIS and CIA don't know why this has happened so attempt to contact them. This fails when 2 members of the old unit are mysteriously killed. James Bond is tasked to work with American counterpart Easy St. John (yes really!) to find out what is going on.

I said a few posts back that I was pretty much done with Gardner's Bond after a few very bad efforts from him. However, I only have 5 of his books to go before I've covered all of Gardner's Bond so I decided to press on. Fortunately this one is better than his last and returns to a more familiar setting for fans of Bond. The story is more streamlined than the last 2 or 3 books and it also benefits from having less characters. This isn't perfect though. In what I assume is an attempt to modernise Bond a little we have talks of AIDS which is awkwardly levered into the story. Gardner also has Bond trying to straddle the line of being both a ladies man and less of a misogynist than previous incarnations but he doesn't full it off in my opinion.

 

Knife by Jo Nesbo (4/5)

Book number 12 in the Harry Hole series. When I picked this up to read I though that I had read the previous book The Thirst at the end of 2021. It turns out that I had read it in July 2020 so certain things about what had happened previously had slipped my mind. As a result it took me a few chapters to settle in to the world of Harry Hole again. At 640 pages this is a long book so I had plenty of time to get reacquainted. In the whole I enjoyed this a lot but it's not quite up to the standard of the very best Harry Hole books. There are so many sub-plots and wrong turns that it feels a bit over the top at times. However, Nesbo just about gets away with this due to the intricacy and cleverness of the ending. You do have to suspend belief to go with it but if you are willing to take this leap it works. I was completely misdirected at several points despite being sure I knew what was going on.

I do think that the book could have been well served to have been edited a bit tighter. We could have lost a few of the plot meanders without harming the book and Harry's growing alcohol issues did become tiresome by the end of the book.

 

Goodbye Things by Fumio Sasaki (3/5)

In recent years I have been growing more and more interested in the concepts of Minimalism and Simple Living. I wouldn't say I'm particularly swayed consumerism in general but I do feel like I have far too many things that I've accumulated over the years that just don't get used any more. I am also acutely aware that I always seem to be busy attending to the needs of my possessions. This book has been a big hit in Japan and Sasaki has become a minor celebrity as a result. I have read a few books about minimalism (but not Marie Kondo yet) but this one appealed to me as it came from someone living somewhere other than America.

I think it's fair to say that Sasaki has taken Minimalism to the extreme. He owns very little and says that it only took him half an hour to move to a new apartment last time he had to move. This level of extreme Minimalism isn't for me. I enjoy some hobbies which require equipment and this left me wondering is Sasaki has any hobbies as he doesn't seem to. He also fawns over Apple products like a love sick teen which he would have been well advised to leave out of the book. In general I like Apple products and use a few myself but saying they are more minimalist than others is an inaccurate claim in my opinion.

Despite these reservations there is a lot of value to be had in this book and I am glad I read it. Despite his own extreme approach to Minimalism he doesn't come across as preachy and anyone interested in the subject will take something from this book in my opinion.

 

Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow (2/5)

This was a recent second hand book shop purchase which I took with me during my week long hike through Scotland. In Under the Eagle we follow a centurion called Marco and his reluctant new recruit Cato. Marco is an experienced soldier who has been promoted to centurion due his hard work. Cato has been pushed into the legion by the wishes of his father despite scholarly upbringing.

I think it's not unfair to say that everyone has seen this relationship in books and movies before. The veteran is unconvinced that the new recruit will make it. The new recruit struggles early on but goes on to save the veteran's life and also teach him something. Along the way we come across someone who tries to bully the recruit and make his life difficult. All of that is in this book along with a plot to overthrown the Emperor which they both get tied up in.

On the whole I thought this book was fine but nothing special. The thing that lets it down most in my opinion is the dialogue. I wasn't expecting Latin but at the same time I definitely wasn't expecting very typically English sounding terms and slang. At times it became so jarring that it took me out of the story all together. It's almost as if a modern military tale had been re-written in a Roman setting without changing the time appropriate dialogue. I also worked out who the conspirators were very quickly as little is done to misdirect the reader.

I'll probably read the next book in the series at some point but I won't be rushing to do so. This book really highlights how important getting everything right in historical fiction is.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm still working my way through the mammoth Churchill by Andrew Roberts so I have only finished a few books since my last update.

 

The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid (4/5)

I've read all of the books in the Karen Pirie series and one standalone title by Val McDermid and enjoyed them all. I think it's fair to say that the Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series is her best known work and thats what I decided to read next.

The main focus of this book, and I believe the series is serial killer investigation. Four men have been killed and tortured in the city of Bradfield causing panic amongst the public. Pressure is mounting on the police to solve the murders so they bring in clinical psychologist Tony Hill to work alongside detective Carol Jordan.

I won't go into the plot too much as I want to avoid any potential spoliers. We have all the usual stuff in a crime novel here with the addition of sexual tension between the main characters. A refreshing change with Hill and Jordan is that they aren't rogues who get things done at any cost. They do things largely by the book while having to manage the senior officer(s) above them. They also have to try and steer the investigation in the correct direction against the prejudices of some of their colleagues.

I enjoyed this a lot but at the moment I think I still prefer the character of Karen Pirie to either Hill or Jordan. I'm sure that will change as I read more books in the series though. I would raise a point of warning for prospective readers of this book. It is pretty graphic. This doesn't bother me but it's definitely one of the most graphic crime novels i've read so far.

 

A Prayer Before Dawn by Billy Moore (2/5)

I've had this sitting on my kindle for a few years after buying it for 99p in one of the many sales Amazon have on kindle books. It is the true story of Billy Moore's fight for survival inside Klong Prem prison in Thailand. I've read a few 'banged up abroad' books in the past and found them quite entertaining and thought this would be more of the same. In the end the book is fine but doesn't bring anything new to the genre. Moore was a criminal and drug addict before going to Thailand and throughout the book says he regrets being sent to Klong Prem. He plays the victim a bit but it's clear that he deserved to be found guilty as he was dealing drugs in Thailand. At the end of the book he makes out as if he will never do anything illegal again and that he has learned his lesson. After his release, a movie was made of his story but he missed the premier as he was in prison for burglary. So much for learning his lesson.

The rating is purely for the book and not related to how I feel about Moore. It's was ok but it's no where near as good as books like Marching Powder by Rusty Young or Hotel Kerobokan by Kathryn Bonella.

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54 minutes ago, Madeleine said:

I remember the TV version of The Mermaids Singing, that was pretty gruesome as well!

 

I never realised there was a TV series made. I now want to watch them all but know that I can't until I've read all the books as I don't want to spoil it for myself.  😄

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  • 3 weeks later...

3 more books finished since my last update.

 

Why Running Matters by Ian Mortimer (2/5)

The blurb on the back of this book says "You might run for fitness. You might run for speed. But ultimately, running is about much more than the physical act itself. It is about the challenges we face in life, and how we measure up to them. It is about companionship, endurance, ambition, hope, conviction, determination, self-respect and inspiration. It is about how we choose to live our lives, and what it means to share our values with other people. "

This sounded interesting to me and I expected something along similar lines to What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami which I enjoyed. Sadly this book is nothing more than a loose running memoir about the running exploits of the author. The book is full of contradictions and just comes across as pretty self indulgent. He claims that time doesn't matter to him, but every run documented includes him focusing on his and others' finishing times. He claims he is an average runner, but given his age his times are very impressive. This isn't a horrible book. It's pefectly readable but just doesn't add much to a genre which has far better books.

 

Churchill by Andrew Roberts (5/5)

For most of the year I haven't had a target number of book that I wanted to read. The main reason behind this was that I wanted to read some of the bigger books I would probably otherwise avoid. Coming in at over 1000 pages this biography of Churchill definitely fits this category.

I haven't read any other books about Churchill but I thought I knew about the man pretty well. Having read this book I can safely say that this assumption was very wrong. I assumed that most of the book would be about his time as a war time Prime Minister but again I was wrong. In fact, it takes well over half the book before we get to the war. One question that I imagine a lot of people would have before reading this book is, "is it balanced?" I would respond with "yes, but." On the whole Roberts presents Churchill warts and all but nearly always offers justifications, or probable justifications for some of his more questionable actions. This is understandable as I think it's obvious that during the research and writing of this book Roberts grew to greatly admire Churchill.

I really enjoyed this one and it's right up there with the very best non-fiction books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

 

The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes #2) by Arthur Conan Doyle (3/5)

As I'm taking a break from the extended James Bond series I wanted something else that I could read in parts. Something that isn't modern and something that had a strong main character. That was when I remembered that I had read the first in the Sherlock Holmes series but then stopped. Looking back at my records, I read A Study in Scarlet back in 2020 but with a character like Holmes I wasn't worried about the break between books.

In this story Sherlock Holmes and Watson are visited by a woman called Mary Morstan. Mary tell them that her father had disappeared 10 years earlier but 4 years later she received an expensive gift. This has happened every year since and she doesn't know who sends the gift. She has recently received an invitation to meet the person who sends her these gifts and she wants Holmes and Watson to accompany her.

Another enjoyable read, but for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, I struggle to get on board completely with the Holmes stories I have read so far. I will continue the series, maybe I just need more time with Conan Doyle's writing to get used to it.

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On 10/31/2022 at 1:54 PM, Brian. said:

Churchill by Andrew Roberts (5/5)

For most of the year I haven't had a target number of book that I wanted to read. The main reason behind this was that I wanted to read some of the bigger books I would probably otherwise avoid. Coming in at over 1000 pages this biography of Churchill definitely fits this category.

Well done!  I've fully intended to do the same this year, but failed miserably to date, although started Dance to the Music of Time.

 

On 10/31/2022 at 1:54 PM, Brian. said:

I haven't read any other books about Churchill but I thought I knew about the man pretty well. Having read this book I can safely say that this assumption was very wrong. I assumed that most of the book would be about his time as a war time Prime Minister but again I was wrong. In fact, it takes well over half the book before we get to the war. One question that I imagine a lot of people would have before reading this book is, "is it balanced?" I would respond with "yes, but." On the whole Roberts presents Churchill warts and all but nearly always offers justifications, or probable justifications for some of his more questionable actions. This is understandable as I think it's obvious that during the research and writing of this book Roberts grew to greatly admire Churchill.

I really enjoyed this one and it's right up there with the very best non-fiction books I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

 

Roberts is good, although he does tend to the right!  (I was at school with him, in the year above, although, whilst I remember him, I doubt very much if he would remember me!).  He takes a similar approach with Napoleon.  I've yet to read this (it's on my shelves), but enjoyed Roy Jenkins's similarly substantial biography of Churchill a couple of years ago.  As you say, there's far more to the man than WW2 (not surprising given that he was of retirement age by the time war broke out - it's something of a comfort to me that this is still - just! - older than I, so perhaps my best years are yet to come?!).  Quite remarkable how 'out of things' he was in the years leading up to the war, and how he recovered politically from some of his debacles.  Very much an example of 'cometh the hour, cometh the man', but once that hour is passed.....

 

On 10/31/2022 at 1:54 PM, Brian. said:

 

The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes #2) by Arthur Conan Doyle (3/5)

Another enjoyable read, but for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, I struggle to get on board completely with the Holmes stories I have read so far. I will continue the series, maybe I just need more time with Conan Doyle's writing to get used to it.

Have you just read the novels, or have you managed any of the short stories?  I am a big Holmes fan (grew up with a father who was an expert in the subject, and led guided walks following him round London), but there's no doubt in my mind that the real strength of the books is in the short stories.  Of the novels, only Hound of the Baskervilles gets close to being in the same league.  The novels are OK, but definitely not as good.

Edited by willoyd
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13 hours ago, willoyd said:

Have you just read the novels, or have you managed any of the short stories?  I am a big Holmes fan (grew up with a father who was an expert in the subject, and led guided walks following him round London), but there's no doubt in my mind that the real strength of the books is in the short stories.  Of the novels, only Hound of the Baskervilles gets close to being in the same league.  The novels are OK, but definitely not as good.

 

I have a single book containing all the novels which is what I'm planning to work through. There is a section at the back called The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes which I'm assuming are short stories. If they are short stories I will probably dip in and out of them while I'm working my way through the novels.

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