Brian.

I read this just over 10 years ago and it changed the way I thought about literature from countries other than my own. I've got 4 books on the go in varying degrees of progress. Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, I'm about 70% of the way through this and although very different from Dune I am enjoying it. Titan Sinking, a non-fiction book about the slump in fortunes of WWF (now WWE) in 1995. This was the period where the likes of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage had left but before the attitude era stars like Steve Austin. Vince McMahon was also getting sued for just about everything which really hurt the company. A bit of a niche book but one that brings back fond memories from watching WWF during my adolescent years. I'm also reading this on the Kindle and it tells me I'm 12% through the book. Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason. I am only one chapter into this so I don't have anything to say about it yet. It's based in Reykjavik and part of series of crime novels. This appears to be the third in the series but the first one translated into English. Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan. I've covered another 10 pages this week. I'm working through this one slowly as I'm making sure I go through the examples and quizes properly.

I have moved this to a more appropriate sub-forum. Are you the author of the book?

If you'd been in the UK I would have been happy to send it to you for free.

hmmm It, I'll Start Tomorrow by Action Bronson Synopsis An entirely original and empowering memoir meets self-help guide from the bestselling author, rapper, artist, and chef Action Bronson From the New York Times bestselling author, chef-turned-rapper, and host of Viceland’s hmmm, That’s Delicious and The Untitled Action Bronson Show, hmmm It, I’ll Start Tomorrow is a brutally honest memoir about struggles with weight, food addiction, and the journey to self-acceptance. In his signature voice, Action Bronson shares all that he’s learned in the past decade to help you help yourself. This isn’t a road map to attaining a so-called perfect body. Instead, Bronson will share his journey to find confidence, keep the negative vibes at bay, stay sane, chill out, and not look in the mirror hoping to see anyone but yourself. hmmm It, I’ll Start Tomorrow is not about losing weight—it’s about being and feeling excellent regardless of your size or shape. It’s about living hmmming healthy, period. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts This is a bit of an odd one for me. I've had this on my wishlist since it was published in late 2021 but I'm not 100% sure why. I remember reading some positive reviews about it so that must be the reason why I added to my list. Before reading the book I only had a passing knowledge of who Action Bronson was. I had seen him on a Vice YouTube video and I knew he had a connection with the music industry but that was it. As it turns out Action Bronson is a rapper, a music style I'm not particularly familiar with. This isn't really an issue for me as I like to read about people from all walks of life. The inside flap of the book says that it is a no-holds-barred chronicle of his struggles with weight and food addiction, and his journey to self-acceptance. All of this sounded great and I was looking forward to reading about how someone with an Albanian Muslim father and an American Jewish mother go started in the rap game. Unfortunately the flap lied to me. This isn't a memoir but a collection of random stories from Bronson's life. I'll start with the smaller issues and then I'll address the big issue with this book for me The first gripe is that Bronson contradicts himself a lot. He is at pains to say that he doesn't care that he is a big (fat) guy and that he wouldn't want to change his looks. But then in the very next chapter he talks about his 'steroids years' where he spent his free time working out for hours every day. He also says that despite being a big guy he is really fit and healthy but then 50 pages later says he has trouble breathing which gets better when he loses weight. I suspect his breathing issues come from the fact that he smokes a lot of weed. If someone choses to smoke weed, as far as I'm concerned that's their choice and I don't care. However, smoking anything on a regular basis is not good for you health. Talking of weed, I do have an issue with one thing he likes to do. When he needs to think he like to go for a drive and smoke weed. I won't judge you for smoking weed but I will judge you for being in control of a vehicle under the influence of any substance. This isn't my biggest problem with the book though. My biggest issue is the writing (or lack of) style. The title page has a footnote which reads 'As Told to Rachel Wharton' and it reads just like an audio recording which has been typed up. When put in print, Bronson's style of speech borders on the unreadable for me. Here is a brief sample so you can get an idea of what the whole book is like. A little more thought on the formatting of the sentences to make them more readable would have gone a long way. The final bugbear of mine was the fact that almost every page had a footnote on it. If you need that many footnotes in a book then you are doing it wrong. It's fair to say that I really didn't like this one and I only pushed on with it as it comes in at a relatively short 172 pages. It does get a fair amount of positive reviews on Goodreads so if you are a fan of Bronson then you'll probably enjoy it far more than I did. 1/5 (I didn't like it).

I've read mixed reviews about The Rig but I might give it a shot and see how it goes.

I'm a few episodes into The Peripheral on Amazon and I'm not sure what to make of it so far. Visually it looks great but then I thought the same of Altered Carbon and I never managed to finish that.

Finally all caught up with my reviews. I guess its my own fault for reading so much to start the year 😁

Fighting for the French Foreign Legion by Alex Lochrie Synopsis The author describes how he joined the French Foreign Legion, without being able to speak any French and very close to the age limit. He takes the reader through the vigorous selection procedure, the relentless recruit regime and then elite Second Parachute Regiment s training in Corsica. We learn about the ethos and strict discipline of the Foreign Legion. He describes his fellow legionnaires drawn from many backgrounds and nations. Having won his kepi and paratroop wings he served across Africa and the Middle East, taking part in Operation DESERT STORM (fighting Saddam Hussein s Republican Guard), peace keeping operations in Sarajevo and Bosnia and in former French colonies such as Chad and the Central African Republic. He graphically describes the action and appalling conditions of the local population. Published by Pen and Sword Books. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts There are plenty of military biographies out there but not many about the French Foreign Legion. The Legion will take volunteers from any country in the world (except officially from France) and after serving for a three years can apply for French citizenship. It is often believed that the Legion is only attractive to criminals and those with something to hide but this isn't actually the case. The Legion will not accept those with a serious criminal record and certainly not anyone wanted by Interpol or AWOL from another branch of the military. Anyway, back to the book. Alex Lochrie is unusual in that he joined the Legion at the age of 38 despite already having a career as a police officer. He had reached a low point in his life and felt like he wanted a challenge and that the Legion would be the perfect challenge. I had hoped Lochrie would talk more about the difficulties he faced as an older recruit but he doesn't really go into much detail. The writing style is very matter of fact and I was unsure if I would get on with it but after about 20 pages I got used to it and had no issues. There isn't anything that really sets this book apart but it is a good read. I particularly enjoyed the sections about the time Lochrie spent with UN peacekeeping troops in Sarajevo. It's fair to say that he isn't a fan of the journalist Jeremy Bowen or some of the things he reported. At the end of the book Lochrie talks about the way the Legion treats its soldier when injured or after retiring. It's fair to say that they are treated far better than the British government treats our troops. This was an enjoyable book from a small publisher who I haven't come across before. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it).

The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly & Nick Toscano Synopsis Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself of terminal brain cancer by eating a healthy diet. She built a global business based on her story. There was just one problem: she never had cancer in the first place. In 2015, journalists uncovered the truth behind Gibson’s lies. This hero of the wellness world, with over 200,000 followers, international book deals, and a best-selling mobile app, was a fraud. She had lied about having cancer — to her family and friends, to her business partners and publishers, and to the hundreds of thousands of people, including genuine cancer survivors, who were inspired by her Instagram posts. Written by the two journalists who uncovered the details of Gibson’s deception, The Woman Who Fooled the World tracks the 23-year-old's rise to fame and fall from grace. Told through interviews with the people who know her best, it explores the lure of alternative cancer treatments, exposes the darkness at the heart of the wellness and ‘clean eating’ movements, and reveals just how easy it is to manipulate people on social media. With the idea of ‘clean eating’ now routinely debunked by dietary experts, and growing scepticism about the authenticity of what we read online, The Woman Who Fooled the World is a timely and important book that answers not just how, but why, Gibson was able to fool so many. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts I remember hearing about this story on the news when it broke and like many people felt disgusted that someone would pretend to have cancer for financial gain. What I didn't realise until I had read this book was that Gibson never went to prison for what she did. She has been found guilty of breaking consumer laws and fined $500,000 but has paid very little of the fine. As well as her crimes, this book also looks at the wider 'wellness' industry as a whole. It also looks at other cases and why some people commit these crimes. As expected, a lot of research went into not only the initial newspaper story but also this book. It is really well written and explores some of the harder questions like 'why did no one question her claims when there was no evidence she was ill?' I have to say that the publisher of her cookbook, Penguin, don't come out of the story particularly well. They did no due diligence or background checks and played a big part in enabling her to carry out her fraud. Although the book doesn't take aim at social media it serves as a timely reminder that a lot of what we see presented on the likes of Instagram and Facebook is often inaccurate at best. Pretty much every post by someone with a big following has some kind of ulterior motive. Some are validly promoting there own work but many are paid to advertise and push products. This is particularly prevalent in 'Wellness' circles. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it).

Project Hail Mary by Andy Wier Synopsis Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery-and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone. Or does he? (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts I suspect I am a bit unusual amongst those reading this book as I haven't read The Martian but I have read Artemis. I also haven't seen the movie version of The Martian but I am aware that it has generally positive reviews. At the start of the book we meet Ryland Grace, a one time scientist who has changed careers and now works a science teacher for young kids. This is a job he really enjoys but there is a feeling that he has taken to easy route in life. I personally don't see anything wrong with this but others feel differently. The story then jumps forwards in time to Grace coming round in a spaceship not knowing how or why he got there. As the book continues, the timeline jumps between the past and the present, slowly revealing how and why he got there. We also find out how the earth is under threat and the plans to save it. The book involves a lot of science and I can see some people getting bogged down in the technical details at times. I thought this was ok but it did feel like Weir was trying to show how clever he was at times. The rest of my thoughts will go into spoiler tags because it will reveal some of what happens later in the book. I was a little disappointed to discover that all of the characters are pretty stereotypical of their nationality. There is a lot of humour in the story and although some moments were funny, on the whole I thought it often missed the mark. If all of this sounds negative, it isn't meant to be. Despite the flaws I did enjoy this book and I found myself picking it up whenever I had a spare 5 minutes. I just feel that it could have been better but that the sci-fi has been written down to appeal to a wider audience. Having said that, I know a lot of people love Weir's books and I tend to prefer more mind bending stuff like Blake Crouch so perhaps this one wasn't quite the thing for me. 3/5 (I enjoyed it).

Thanks for the insight. I've read Red Dragon and the content didn't bother me so I should be fine with the content of Stephen King books.

I expect Stephen King to be very different, I probably worded what I was trying to say poorly. As a genre I'm still just dipping my toes into horror so I'm trying to read some of the shorter books before diving into the huge ones. I used Stephen King as an example because I know he has written some monster sized books. Thanks for the heads up though. The King books that you cannot read, is that down to the content or something else?

After about 40 pages I have put The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu aside again. For some reason this one just isn't clicking with me. I know they changed the translator for this one so that may be part of it but it just feels very different from the first book.

The Prophet by Kahili Gibran Synopsis First published in the 1920's, The Prophet is perhaps the most famous work of religious fiction of the twentieth century, and has sold millions of copies in more than twenty languages. Gibran's Prophet speaks of many things central to daily life: love, marriage, death, beauty, passion, eating, work and play. The spiritual message he imparts, of finding divinity through love, blends eastern mysticism, religious faith and philosophy with simple advice. The Prophet became the bible of 1960s culture and was credited with founding the New Age movement, yet it still continues to inspire people around the world today. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts This is one of those books that constantly comes up in lists of 'books that will change your life'. It is widely touted as being a spiritual and philosophical classic so I was fairly confident that I would like it. This is a short book, the Penguin Modern Classics edition I read is only 128 pages long and I read it fairly quickly. Sometimes this is a good thing but sadly not in this case. The prophet in the story is leaving his village and before he leaves he is asked many questions about life by the villagers. These cover the whole gamut of life and still apply to modern life. His answers have spoken to many people throughout history but I found them empty and lacking much thought. Perhaps the book would have worked better for me had more time been spent on each subject. Or even better, less subjects covered, with each being properly explored. The writing style is fine and the question and answer plot device works ok but I don't see the big appeal personally. 2/5 (It was ok).

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Synopsis Four seekers have arrived at the rambling old pile known as Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of psychic phenomena; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Luke, the adventurous future inheritor of the estate; and Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman with a dark past. As they begin to cope with chilling, even horrifying occurrences beyond their control or understanding, they cannot possibly know what lies ahead. For Hill House is gathering its powers - and soon it will choose one of them to make its own. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts I haven't read much in the way of horror. Off the top of my head Dracula and Frankenstein are the only ones that spring to mind. I loved Dracula but was mainly ambivalent towards Frankenstein. I'm still not sure if horror is for me but before diving into something huge by Stephen King I thought The Haunting of Hill House was worth a shot. The story involves a paranormal investigator, Dr Montague, and three other people, Theodora, Luke, and Eleanor. Theodora and Eleanor were the only people to repsond to an invite from Dr Montague. Luke, who will inherit the house is there to ensure that Dr Montague doesn't do any damage. We find out that Dr Montague invited people who had had previous experience with the paranormal. His reasoning behind this is that they are more likely to elicit a response from any ghostly presence in the house. The house has been chosen as it has a long history of paranormal activity. The level of activity is so high that none of the locals will go near the place and the two domestic staff always leave before it gets dark. From the very start this book oozes it's gothic fiction credentials. The house is such a big part of the story that it becomes a character in itself. The characters are all well formed but I can't say that I really liked any of them with the exception of the gruff housekeeper, Mrs Dudley. The writing is what I would expect from something literary and although I wasn't hard to read it didn't completely grab me either. The star bits of the book for me were when the haunting events occur. They are really well written and contain just enough detail to be thrilling without spoon feeding the reader everything. I also really like the ambiguous nature of Theodora's decline towards the end of the book. Jackson answers enough of the questions raised during the story to be satisfying but also leaves enough unanswered to keep the reader wondering. Too often this can go too far one way or the other. In the end I enjoyed the book but it didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked. I can see why it is held up as a great example of the genre and why it is a constant source of inspiration for haunted house movies. 3/5 (I liked it).

One of my all time favourite books.

I've currently got 3 books on the go. I've almost finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir which has been a decent read. I'm working my way through Play Winning Chess by Yasser Seirawan which is a much more basic book that I had initially thought. Finally, The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly & Nick Toscano which I only started the other night.

Left for Dead by Nick Ward and Sinead O'Brien Synopsis In August of 1979, Nick Ward began the 600-mile course of the UK’s Fastnet Race with perfect weather. Within 48 hours, the deadliest storm in the history of modern sailing had blasted through the Irish Sea. By the time it had passed, it had thrown one of the world’s most prestigious races into bedlam and taken the lives of fifteen sailors. Ward’s boat, Grimalkin, was capsized again and again, and the skipper lost overboard; after hours of struggle, three of the crew fled the boat for the liferaft. Nick and his crewmate Gerry, both injured, unconscious, and presumed dead, were abandoned on the beleaguered yacht. Gerry died a few hours later, and Nick was left alone to face down a storm that has become legendary among sailors and racing fans alike. "Left for Dead" is Nick Ward’s harrowing and inspirational memoir of how he survived that dreadful night. After his dramatic rescue, Ward was overwhelmed by media and decided in 1980 not to speak of the incident again. It wasn’t until this book’s coauthor, Sinead O’Brien, approached him about the story that he began the personal writings that became this book. Here at last is the untold true story of an accident that has intrigued lovers of the sea for almost thirty years. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts This book popped up in my Audible app as a suggestion of something that I might be interested in. I'm not sure how the algorithm came up with this suggestion but it did a good job. I don't have an interest in sailing in the slightest but I am intrigued about stories of survival, especially where there are questions about the decisions made during this process. Of course it is easy to make judgements when we are not in the same situation as those involved but there is one question which always seems to bring the biggest response. Abandonment. I didn't know anything about this story before listening to the audiobook and right from the start I was hooked. The authors do a good job of covering both the technical and the emotional aspects of what happened. Even though this was written a long time after the incident you get the impression that it is still pretty raw for Nick Ward. In the early parts of the story he questions the suitability of certain crew members but towards the end we learn that age has changed his opinions in some cases. The book is really well written and it felt like a thriller at times without being over the top. Even though I knew that Ward survived the ordeal, the final stages of the rescue are nail biting. The burning question is "Did Ward's crew mates behave in the correct way by abandoning ship and leaving him for dead?' It's clear that Ward doesn't think so, however, as time has gone passed I think he understands why they did what they did even if he doesn't agree with it. 4/5 (I really liked it).

I finished The Haunting of Hill House earlier today during a quiet period at work. I’ll post my thoughts soon in my thread. Up next is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

I’m blazing through the books at the moment. Next up is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides Synopsis Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago. When she shot her husband in the head five times. Since then she hasn't spoken a single word. It's time to find out why. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts This is another one of those books that has found its way onto my extensive wishlist but I can't remember why. Aside from crime novels I generally don't read much in the was of thrillers so this was a bit of a departure for me. Alicia Bereson has been detained in a secure psychiatric hospital for killing her husband. Ever since the murder she has been silent. Her sole communication has been a painting she did immediately after the murder. We follow Dr Theo Faber who has given up a secure and relatively comfortable job in Broadmoor psychiatric hospital because he wants to work with/treat Alicia. This is as far as I will go regarding the plot as I don't want to inadvertently post any spoilers. So, at the start of the story we don't know why Alicia killed her husband or if she did kill her husband for sure. We also don't know why Theo seems so driven to work at the hospital she is being held at. This is an interesting premise and the book started off pretty well. I have to admit that it did keep me guessing up until the last 30 pages or so. I also flew through this in 2 days which is generally a sign that I find a book pretty well written. Reading reviews once I had finished this book it would seem that a lot of people either love it or hate it. I sit somewhere squarely in the middle. While the premise is good and the writing is solid I think that Michaelides has tried to squeeze in too much story. There are loads of tangents which go no where and far too many loose ends when the story comes to a climax. When I finished I found myself wondering why he included some of these as they don't add anything to the story at all. Another weak point are the characters. No one wants a character portrayed as perfect and dislikeable characters can work very well in a book. However, in this case I found every single character dislikeable. There was not a single one I was rooting for and I didn't care what happened to any of them. Despite these criticisms, I did enjoy the book but I feel it could have been better had it been handled in a different way. I notice that Michaelides has written another book featuring a therapist/pyschologist called The Maidens but The Silent Patient hasn't made we want to rush out and read it. 3/5 (I liked it).

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Synopsis The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. The detective is at the height of his powers and the volume is full of famous cases, including 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Blue Carbuncle', and 'The Speckled Band'. Although Holmes gained a reputation for infallibility, Conan Doyle showed his own realism and feminism by having the great detective defeated by Irene Adler - the woman - in the very first story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia'. (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts Last year I decided to work my way through all the Sherlock Holmes stories and this is number 3 for me. I read the first, A Study in Scarlet in late 2020, and then last year I read The Sign of Four. It wasn't until I made a post on here about The Sign of Four that Hayley and Willoyd told me that there are only actually four novels, the rest being short stories. The first two books were novels so this was my first foray into the short stories. I thought the novels were good but having read this collection I think that the short stories work better. The stories all flow really well and contain just the right amount of detail without spoon feeding the reader. Interestingly we also see Holmes being bettered by in some ways, something that I did not expect. Where the stories really excel in my opinion is the dialogue, especially between Holmes and Watson. All of the stories are good but my two favourite ones were The Readheaded League, and The Adventure of the Beyrl Coronet. 4/5 (I really liked it).

I read Silas Marner about 3 years ago and I really enjoyed it but for some reason never got round to picking up The Mill on the Floss. I had no idea about his political opinions and having just read his Wikipedia page I can safely say that I would disagree with most of his politics. It does explain why he gives Churchill a bit of a free ride when it comes to the more controversial things he did earlier in his political life.

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin Synopsis Josh Waitzkin knows what it means to be at the top of his game. A public figure since winning his first National Chess Championship at the age of nine, Waitzkin was catapulted into a media whirlwind as a teenager when his father’s book Searching for Bobby Fischer was made into a major motion picture. After dominating the scholastic chess world for ten years, Waitzkin expanded his horizons, taking on the martial art Tai Chi Chuan and ultimately earning the title of World Champion. How was he able to reach the pinnacle of two disciplines that on the surface seem so different? “I’ve come to realize that what I am best at is not Tai Chi, and it is not chess,” he says. “What I am best at is the art of learning.” (taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts Being a fan of chess this book has been on my radar for a few years now. I have listened to short conversations between Waitzkin and various podcast hosts over the years but didn't really know too much about his story. The strapline of the book declares 'an inner journey to optimal performance', and I was interested to see how Waitzkin learns and how well it would translate to others. I may as well start by saying that this book does not deliver any really tangible lessons on learning or how to learn. The only two things that I took away are to concentrate on the fundamentals, and to focus on the long term goal. Neither of these statements is new or brings anything new to the table. Waitzkin instead focuses on his life and how when he learns something he experiences it in an ethereal way. It's clear that his learning experience is unique to him and pretty much him alone. He is an outlier, an extremely talented individual who is able to focus in a way that few others can. He is also able to dedicate all of his time and energy on his current project in an obsessive way. I say this is not to detract from his achievements but to point out that he was written an autobiography and not a book about how to learn. As a result of the misleading title I wavered between one and two stars for this book. My knowledge of chess coupled with the interesting parts about Waitzkin's experiences with Tai Chi where enough to save it from one star. Waitzkin is a fascinating character who has lead a very interesting and unique life. I imagine one of the reasons this isn't an instructional book is that his methods just don't translate to us mere mortals. It's a bit like Messi trying to explain how he plays football to Dave down the pub. They can both kick a ball but Messi occupies a different realm and only those who share this realm can understand. 2/5 (I was ok).

I'm going to try and return to the longer form of reviews that I used to post up until about 2016. I can't guarantee that I will do this for every book I have read but I will do my best.