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KEV67's reading for fun or interest list


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I was going to post this want-to-read list on my get-well-read-project thread, but I only want to read these for fun:

 

* A Jack Reacher book

* A David Baldacci book, maybe that new one set in the 40s or 50s

* A James Bond by Ian Fleming. I seem to remember Bond was somewhat different in the books. I want to check.

* Bonjour Tristess. I have lusted for long enough after the woman on the cover.

* The last two Hornblower books.

* Churchill by Andrew Roberts. It's massive.

* Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

* She by Rider Haggard

* Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

* Over Fields of Fire: war memoir by female, Russian Sturmovich (spelling) pilot.

* Looking Backwards Over Burma: war memoir by a Beaufighter observer (often wondered how useful they were)

* The Secret Horsepower Race: book about the development of WW2 aircraft engines.

 

Update:

  • The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness d'Orcy
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

 

Just watched some chap on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgOJRL8SaF0) recommend some sci-fi that sounds interesting:

  • Revelation Space - Alistair Reynolds
  • Hyperion - Dan Simmonds
  • Schildt's Ladder - Greg Egan

 

Alistair Reynolds has a PhD in astrophysics and according to some of the comments you need one to understand Schild's Ladder.

 

The Virginian by Owen Wister.

Ubik by Philip K Dick

 

The City and the City = China Mievelle

Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan

 

 

Edited by KEV67
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  • 6 months later...

I still want to read one of Ian Fleming's James Bond books. I am sure I read one or two when I was younger and I wasn't that taken with them. I found him a bit dull. He smoked too much, drank too much and did not take enough exercise. He drove a Bentley blower. I got the impression he did not look after himself or get married because he did not think he would live very long.

 

I might read a Jeffrey Archer book. I have been prejudiced against him because he was a Tory and a crook and he was unfaithful to the fragrant Mary Archer. However, he has written a lot of bestsellers, so maybe I should see what he is like.

I have seen Mary Archer once or twice. She was president of the Solar Society, who are concerned with photovoltaic solar panels and renewable energy.

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On 16/06/2022 at 12:46 AM, KEV67 said:

I still want to read one of Ian Fleming's James Bond books. I am sure I read one or two when I was younger and I wasn't that taken with them. I found him a bit dull. He smoked too much, drank too much and did not take enough exercise. He drove a Bentley blower. I got the impression he did not look after himself or get married because he did not think he would live very long.

 

 

I've read all of the Fleming Bond books and I'm slowly working my way through the extended series by other writers. Although there are a few less than stellar books in Fleming Bonds there I did enjoy all of them for a variety of different reasons. In my opinion there are two things you need to bear in mind while reading Fleming's work. Firstly, it is of it's time. Exercise wasn't a big thing back then but it is mentioned a few times throughout the series albeit pretty much limited to calisthenics. There is some casual sexism and racist language, again, very reflective of the period. The second thing to consider is that the books are quite different to the movies and although they are closely related they shouldn't be compared. Reading the original series I noticed that some of the movies only borrowed the title from a book and ignored the plot entirely. I also noticed that different bits from different books are combined in some movies which can be a little jaring if you are very familiar with the movies.

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On 19/06/2022 at 9:23 AM, Brian. said:

 

I've read all of the Fleming Bond books and I'm slowly working my way through the extended series by other writers. Although there are a few less than stellar books in Fleming Bonds there I did enjoy all of them for a variety of different reasons. In my opinion there are two things you need to bear in mind while reading Fleming's work. Firstly, it is of it's time. Exercise wasn't a big thing back then but it is mentioned a few times throughout the series albeit pretty much limited to calisthenics. There is some casual sexism and racist language, again, very reflective of the period. The second thing to consider is that the books are quite different to the movies and although they are closely related they shouldn't be compared. Reading the original series I noticed that some of the movies only borrowed the title from a book and ignored the plot entirely. I also noticed that different bits from different books are combined in some movies which can be a little jaring if you are very familiar with the movies.

 

Thanks for that. I have read one or two, but about forty years ago. It seemed like ancient history back then. I think I read Thunderball, but I do not remember it being much like the film. The oddest thing to me was that Bond seemed almost devoid of personality or charm. Connery and Moore had wit and charm in their different ways. Even George Lazenby had some charm. I will have to read one of those Ian Fleming books again. I was surprised to find out what Ian Fleming was doing in the war. He was hatching cunning and ruthless plots. I read about one which did not come to fruition. They were going to fill a captured German transport plane with commandos and crash land it into the sea near to a Kriegsmarine ship. When the ship's crew rescued the commandos, the commandos would kill the crew and steal the radio encrypting equipment. Good God!

 

Edit: actually it was not Thunderball; it was Moonraker. I put Moonraker first, but then remembered it was nothing like the Roger Moore film where they were up in a space station. I seem to remember they had to dive to get to a nuclear bomber that had crashed in the sea, which seemed more like Thunderball, but Wikipedia says that is a film script.

Edited by KEV67
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  • 2 months later...

I am quite excited about my TBR list. I am currently reading only two books: Harrius Potter et Lapis Philosophi, and Hyperion. The books I have to read are as follows:

  • Lamb of God Jesus' Atonement for Sin by Ralph F. Wilson - I think I read this before and I was very impressed.
  • The Celts by Barry Cunliffe - Present from my Irish mother.
  • False Alarm by Bjorn Lomborg - I have read a lot of books about climate change and renewable energy; this one is written by a sceptic.
  • Looking Backwards Over Burma by Dennis Spencer - War memoir by a Beaufighter navigator.
  • Over Fields of Fire by Anna Timofeeva-Egorava - War memoir by a female, Soviet Sturmovik pilot.
  • The Owl and the Nightingale by Simon Armitage - A book of poetry by the Poet Laureate.
  • Famine Inquiry Commission Report on Bengal - A report into the 1943 Bengal Famine, which Churchill gets some stick for.
  • Arnold Bennett Lost Icon by Patrick Donovan - A biography of an author who was big in his day but now nearly forgotten.
  • Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky - I really think this is the one that will change my life.
  • The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope - John Major's favourite book.
  • The Lost Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope - Did not want to risk not be able to buy the last book in the series from the same set.
  • The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - Picked up from my late stepmother's bookshelves.
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