The books and reading thread

Discussion, recommendations and reviews for music, movies, books and games. Creative arts, crafts and photography welcome.
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lomuamart
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Re: Books

Post by lomuamart »

Thanks for the suggestion, D-M. I came across Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling a little while ago and have read all three books. Thought they were good.
I'll have to look out for the TV series and try to download.
Will do the same for the Red Riding quartet. Thanks.
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Re: Books

Post by migrant »

James Lee Burke is one of my favorites but I understand what you mean by needing some time in between
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Re: Books

Post by caller »

Thanks Lomu for some interesting reviews, I'll pick up on a few of them.

Not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I would recommend Peter May's 3 books centred on the Isle of Lewis, now known as the Lewis trilogy. Have to be read in order. Basically, starts with a crime committed on the island that needs the assistance of an experienced detective from Edinburgh. The officer chosen originated from the island basically vowing never to return. The story links his past and present. Highly recommended.

In fact, I think this authors best work is centred on islands, Entry Island is based in Canada and that's really good as is Coffin Road, which sees him return to the Outer Hebrides. He has another standalone island book coming out as well.

On saying that, 'Runaway', which has a degree of autobiography in it, was great! It's a story about a group of Scottish teenagers who form a band and head to the bright lights of London in the 60's, mixed with a murder many years later, that reunites many of the original band. I found this book a really enjoyable read.
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Re: Books

Post by lomuamart »

Caller, sorry meant to reply before but..
I've read the Peter May series and thought they were excellent books. Wasn't one of them about collecting birds' eggs on a remote rock? That was a harsh environment!!
Haven't read the other ones but will look out for them as I will "Runaway". Thanks for the tips.
Sometimes, I reckon I should think to myself about the worst books I've read and why I kept on until the bitter end. I know the book is no good for me after 30 odd pages. But..
One of them that wasted my time recently was Susan Hill's "Betrayal of Trust". An awful example of "Chick Lit" at it's worst, IMHO. Chick Lit is OK many times and the books put a different slant on life but the above was woefully bad.
That might be worth another thread.
I suppose if you don't try things then you'll never know?
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Re: Books

Post by caller »

lomuamart wrote: Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:27 amI've read the Peter May series and thought they were excellent books. Wasn't one of them about collecting birds' eggs on a remote rock? That was a harsh environment!!
Yes, that was the first of the series, 'The Blackhouse' - that got me hooked. Some real twists along the way in there.
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Re: Books

Post by lomuamart »

Having previously said that Edward Wilson's books would probably be better read in order, I realised the other day that I hadn't read "The Midnight Swimmer".
It's the third of the five Catesby books and revolves around the Cuban missile crisis and all the horsetrading that went with it. He comes into contact with The Kennedy's (Robert especially) and various high level Soviets and East Germans. A "friendship" is forged with Che Guevara in Cuba.
I read the previous novels over maybe a two year period and so they're not as fresh in my mind as the above but I'd go as far as to say that "The Midnight Swimmer" is arguably the best. A great mixture of fiction and historical fact. I wasn't aware of a lot that went on during the crisis, especially the part played by Britain in negotiating away the American Thor nuclear missiles sited along the east coast and the vague references to JFK's assassination after the crisis (assuming any of it is true).
Managed to get downloads of le Carre's "A Legacy of Spies" the other day so am looking forward to seeing if George Smiley survives the test of time. But first, I'll tackle Mark Billingham's latest "Love Like Blood". Having had the spy stuff just now, I'll settle down for what should be some decent blood and guts stuff with DI Tom Thorne. And I should give le Carre's "The Pigeon Tunnel" a go as well. That's waiting in the wings on the Kindle.
Will report back.
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Re: Books

Post by PeteC »

A combination of what are you reading and what are you listening to. Highly recommend the below drama radio from the BBC. You can listen to 20-30 and only come across one that keeps you fully interested, and this is one of them. Best to listen to on a thundering, dark night. :D Pete :cheers:

Note: Episode one is only available for another 8 days. Series is 4 x 30 minute episodes.

Susan Hill - The Woman in Black

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jls5
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Re: Books

Post by dundrillin »

caller wrote: Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:17 pm
dundrillin wrote:If you read them you will doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin! Now there's a big topic for discussion - for my part I have always been suspicious of Jack Ruby's motives.
I'm not sure a piece of fiction, as good as it might be, would ever influence me on my thoughts about the Kennedy assassination!

But interesting you should raise the subject as my current book is Vincent Bugliosi's, 'Reclaiming History - The assassination of President John F Kennedy', which is without doubt the biggest and heaviest book I have ever attempted to read! Its 1600 pages, plus end notes and extra information on DVD format attached to the back cover, which equate to another 1000 pages! And that's in the special format created for the book.

It came out in 2007, but wasn't available in the UK and at the time cost well over £100 to get it from the States, but with the anniversary of JFK's death last November, it was finally available here (although not printed here) at a more reasonable price and I got a copy.

I didn't start it straight away, but have now reached page 537, which would be in excess of a 1000 in a normal format and amazingly, despite the complexity of the subject matter, it's very, very readable - although it helps if you have an interest in this to start with.

Vincent Bugliosi is a top American lawyer who prosecuted Manson and 'his family' in the Sharon Tate murders and 1st got interested in the Kennedy case in the mid 1980's and spent 20 years writing the book. He strongly advocates that Oswald was the sole assassin acting alone and the book title reflects his concern that falsehoods and lies as advocated by the usual theorists are becoming accepted as the norm, in that most Americans now believe there was a conspiracy. The aim of his book is to put the record straight and in that he uses his findings to strongly support the workings and findings of both the Warren Commission and the later HSCA (with one exception).

His view is one that I have come to share over the years so in my case, he is already preaching to the converted. But nowhere else is everything dissected in such detail and he takes head on the proponents of each of the various differing conspiracy theories and their supporters, although I haven't got to that stage yet, although he uses the evidence v various conspiracy views at every stage.

A brilliant book (so far)!

A recently released file about the JFK assassination says that the FBI were warned by a member of the committee set up to kill Lee Harvey Oswald that Oswald was to be killed they informed the Dallas police on 2 occasions but obviously the ignored the warning. Hopefully more interesting stuff to follow. However I imagine that the best stuff will be held back indefinitely.
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Re: Books

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dundrillin wrote: Sat Oct 28, 2017 6:47 pm
A recently released file about the JFK assassination says that the FBI were warned by a member of the committee set up to kill Lee Harvey Oswald that Oswald was to be killed they informed the Dallas police on 2 occasions but obviously the ignored the warning. Hopefully more interesting stuff to follow. However I imagine that the best stuff will be held back indefinitely.
Do you have a link to that story? Committee? Oswald was shot two days after Kennedy?

I switched off on the releases when I read that Oswald was interviewed by the KGB is Mexico, as if that was something new! Those officers have been interviewed! Off the top of my head as I recall it, so apologies if not 100% accurate, Oswald, as crazy as ever, having tried life in Russia and found it wanting and having returned to the US, then decided Cuba was the place to be, but obviously relations between Cuba and the US weren't good and the only way he could get there was on a flight to Russia that stopped off at Cuba, so he needed a Russian visa to get on the flight although his plan was to get off at Cuba, as you do, but the Russians, having already worked out from his time in Russia, that he was a completely worthless fantasist, had no intention of giving him any chance of returning there, so his visa application was refused.

Actually one interesting aspect of both JFK and 9/11 is that on both occasions the FBI was playing catch up, trying to find and keep tabs of individuals they were concerned about and a lack of liaison with other agencies in both cases cost them dear.
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Re: Books

Post by dundrillin »

It was reported on the BBC website. There is also an interesting mention of a anonymous phone call to a senior journalist of a Cambridge newspaper saying to expect a big story coming out of the States 2 days before the assassination of Kennedy. I have always felt Ruby's involvement was very suspicious.
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Re: RE: Re: Books

Post by hhinner »

dundrillin wrote:It was reported on the BBC website. There is also an interesting mention of a anonymous phone call to a senior journalist of a Cambridge newspaper saying to expect a big story coming out of the States 2 days before the assassination of Kennedy. I have always felt Ruby's involvement was very suspicious.
25 minutes according to The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... sile-fears).
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Re: Books

Post by caller »

I'm sorry, but with the exception of the Cambridge phone call, which just seems bizarre and Russia fearing whatever, I haven't really seen anything that is new. This stuff might have only just been released officially, but much of it has been known about for some time, analysed and investigated. Just look at my post above, which is stuff I have known for some time and yet the Guardian is reporting it as new.

With Ruby. Virtually every minute of his existence from the minute JFK was shot until he shot Oswald is known. Some of it is on film, when he was loitering around the charade at the Police station with all the reporters and TV crews. He even bought doughnuts or something similar for the officers as he felt they wouldn't get a break. He was known to everyone and everyone was known to him. The fact he was even able to walk down to the ramp to the garage where he shot Oswald was almost pure happenstance. He changed his normal routine to pay a check to someone as one of his workers asked him to as they needed the money (he had closed his nightclub as a mark of respect), this meant on his way back he went past the ramp at x time, which he wouldn't normally have done. A minute or two after and his way would have been blocked be the vehicle that arrived to take Oswald to the Court. Again, this is all from memory, so some of the detail could be wrong.
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Re: Books

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I promised a review of le Carre's latest offering "A Legacy of Spies" and after putting it off for a while, I finally got through it a few days ago so here's my thoughts. I'll try not to give too much away. Most of what I mention you'll encounter in the first 30 odd pages.
First off, I thought it was an excellent read and it does stand the test of time. It's essentially written from the point of view of Peter Guillam. It's present day and he's retired from The Circus and lives on a farm in Britany. He gets a summons to return to London PDQ and finds himself being interrogated by Circus lawyers.
What will help in understanding the book is to have read "The Spy Who Came in from The Cold" first. Almost the whole of "Legacy" revolves around the circumstances of that operation. The circus can't find Smiley so Peter Guillam, as the right hand man, has to do.
Both Alec Leamas (The Spy) and Liz Gold had a child each (not together). Of course, they were both shot dead trying to get over The Berlin Wall at the end of TSWCIFTC. One of the children manages to get unpublished Stasi material after the wall fell and it suggests the British Intelligence were careless and inept when setting up and running the operation. They're now suing MI6 for damages for the loss of their parents.
The book flits between the present day and the 50s with letters, memos etc from British Intelligence, the Stasi etc etc interspersed to provide clarity.
Was the operation a total balls up or very well run? Does Smiley make an appearance? Does British Intelligence get sued?
You'll have to read the book to find out. Enjoy.
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Re: Books

Post by StevePIraq »

I would recommend a book by award winning journalist Steve Coll - The Bin Ladens: Oil, Money, Terrorism and the Secret Saudi World.
Not an easy book to read but what an eye opener. How the Bin Laden family came from nothing to be one of the biggest construction companies in the world and also how could we forget the rise of Osama Bin Laden and all he brought to the world. Note this is not a book about Osama Bin Laden.
Also highlights the connections they had with various US governments and Presidents over the years.
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Re: Books

Post by lomuamart »

I've just been going through the books I've read this year. I keep notes and my own ratings. Those just show how little I've been through which is partly explained by being absent from Thailand due to family reasons and just not having the time as golf takes over.
Anyway, with no reviews (except one) and at the expense of probably repeating myself, here are some of the latest reads that I thought were decent:

Anything by Kate Atkinson that features Jackson Brodie.
James Lee Burke - anything
Denis Lehane - likewise
Le Carre - The Silent Pilgrim. (Thought I'd read it before but I hadn't)
Joanna Cannon - Three Things About Elsie
Julian Barnes - The Only Story

That's it really. I've read many more but nothing really stands out as I can't find the inspiration to research and find stuff.

However, I'll leave this post with two more one excellent and one just scary:

William Boyd - A Good Man in Africa. I'm going to re-read that soon.

And the one I've just finished

Vincent Bugliosi - The True Story of the Manson Murders.
Ouch. I'm not one for true crime etc but this was horribly fascinating. Very long at about 800 pages but.... Not for the fainthearted unless you want to question everything you hold dear. Horrible people and that's putting it extremely mildly.
I don't think I'll ever listen to hippie music in the same way again. Shit, even Jim Morrison was strange last night and that was only listening to "Riders on the Storm". And The Stones and etc etc from around that era.
There aren't many things that shock me these days but that book was one of them.
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