What are you reading at the moment?

[Guest]

On 04/11/2025 at 08:46, Unabomber said:

I think I’ve mentioned it before but the best fiction book I have ever read is Don Winslow The Power Of The Dog. Absolutely incredible. 

Reading the sequel at the moment, good stuff

[Unabomber]

3 minutes ago, Bordersfox said:

Amazing book that.  I then read the Force and wondered how the same author had produced such drivel.  Haven't gone back to him since but maybe I should try another.  

Have you read the others in the power of the dog series?

[Bordersfox]

32 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

Have you read the others in the power of the dog series?

I haven't I was put off by The Force.  Worth giving a go then?

[Unabomber]

22 minutes ago, Bordersfox said:

I haven't I was put off by The Force.  Worth giving a go then?

Yeah they are part of the trilogy and are all pretty much as good as each other. 

[ozleicester]

Aussie mum whos four kids all died from SIDS/unexplained over a few years... corrupt lawyers and police conned a jury. She got jailed for life (40 years)... after serving 20 years the truth comes out and she is released. 

[Samilktray]

Thanks for all the recommendations, after careful consideration and a little more browsing of this thread I bought the first book in the Sean Duffy series as it sounded quite good

[foxy tiler]

Just rereading some HP Lovecraft omnibus into the mountains of madness.

[Trav Le Bleu]

10 minutes ago, foxy tiler said:

Just rereading some HP Lovecraft omnibus into the mountains of madness.

No, that's Marti's team sheet for tomorrow.

[Unabomber]

On 06/11/2025 at 10:40, Samilktray said:

Thanks for all the recommendations, after careful consideration and a little more browsing of this thread I bought the first book in the Sean Duffy series as it sounded quite good

I didn’t see that recommended but that series is class!

[ozleicester]

Quite a read... very sad

[Guest]

Finished The Cartel, enjoyed but not quite as good as The Power of the Dog I didn't think. Got the third waiting on the shelf already but I feel the need for something a little less bleak to cleanse the palate. 

[Unabomber]

3 hours ago, Guest said:

Finished The Cartel, enjoyed but not quite as good as The Power of the Dog I didn't think. Got the third waiting on the shelf already but I feel the need for something a little less bleak to cleanse the palate. 

I would just read the third now for continuity. It’s really good 

[Samilktray]

Reading Mountain In The Sea by Ray Nayler at the moment, really good 

[Harboro]

On 02/11/2025 at 18:11, bovril said:

Since we were debating 'melting pots' on another thread...

 

This is superb. Probably the fairest and most balanced book on the Balkans I've read, and a great level of detail.

 

How do you reckon this is for an uninformed reader? Reading Microcosm by Norman Davies and this seems like a good companion, but has been slow going as my history isn’t great so keep having to look stuff up online every few pages

[Blarmy]

Decided to read the first Sharpe book - Sharpe’s Eagle. Thought it was ok-ish , but there are about 1000 books in the series - anyone have any input on if they are worth pursuing?

 

I read Cornwells Warlord trilogy back to back and was hoping for similar quality. 

[foxy tiler]

14 hours ago, Blarmy said:

Decided to read the first Sharpe book - Sharpe’s Eagle. Thought it was ok-ish , but there are about 1000 books in the series - anyone have any input on if they are worth pursuing?

 

I read Cornwells Warlord trilogy back to back and was hoping for similar quality. 

Do love Cornwell....only thing I find is every book follows the same pattern....low born makes good ,meets woman out of his reach upsets someone who then becomes there nemesis and woman falls for our hero.....🤣👍

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Blarmy said:

Decided to read the first Sharpe book - Sharpe’s Eagle. Thought it was ok-ish , but there are about 1000 books in the series - anyone have any input on if they are worth pursuing?

 

I read Cornwells Warlord trilogy back to back and was hoping for similar quality. 

I'll be interested in this as like you I really enjoyed the Warlord books and couldn't decide whether to then start The Last Kingdom or Sharpe, not got round to either yet. In trying to find out a bit more about the latter series I did see some people recommending doing them in chronological order rather than release, which would mean starting with Tiger - Eagle was his first novel I think and Tiger came out 16 years later, so maybe that time spent honing his craft makes it a more engaging read and entrance point to the series.

[bovril]

21 hours ago, Harboro said:

How do you reckon this is for an uninformed reader? Reading Microcosm by Norman Davies and this seems like a good companion, but has been slow going as my history isn’t great so keep having to look stuff up online every few pages

I do that with most history books - the curse of growing up in the era of instant online answers I suppose. I think if you're reading microcosm you probably know enough about the main themes of Salonica - the collapse of multiethnic European empires and creation of nation states - and anyway the style of the book is very accessible and understandable while still including lots of great details from primary sources.

[Trav Le Bleu]

6 hours ago, foxy tiler said:

Do love Cornwell....only thing I find is every book follows the same pattern....low born makes good ,meets woman out of his reach upsets someone who then becomes there nemesis and woman falls for our hero.....🤣👍

To be fair, it's commonly held that there's only 7 different basic plot scenarios.

[Blarmy]

10 hours ago, Guest said:

I'll be interested in this as like you I really enjoyed the Warlord books and couldn't decide whether to then start The Last Kingdom or Sharpe, not got round to either yet. In trying to find out a bit more about the latter series I did see some people recommending doing them in chronological order rather than release, which would mean starting with Tiger - Eagle was his first novel I think and Tiger came out 16 years later, so maybe that time spent honing his craft makes it a more engaging read and entrance point to the series.

I had read about the chronological order idea but didn’t know there was a 16 year gap - would explain a lot as going from Warlord to  Sharpe’s Eagle was a bit jarring 😆.

 

I think I will try Tiger next.

[foxy tiler]

5 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

To be fair, it's commonly held that there's only 7 different basic plot scenarios.

In fairness Cornwell does it well.

[Harboro]

11 hours ago, bovril said:

I do that with most history books - the curse of growing up in the era of instant online answers I suppose. I think if you're reading microcosm you probably know enough about the main themes of Salonica - the collapse of multiethnic European empires and creation of nation states - and anyway the style of the book is very accessible and understandable while still including lots of great details from primary sources.

Great will add it to the list, and maybe also the Balkans by him as I tried Misha Glenny’s version but was also slow going

[Large Frank]

Have read most of the Last Kingdom series and am about half way through Sharpe. Both are quite repetitive in the narrative, but engaging nonetheless. I enjoyed the early Sharpe more, where he's in India, at the moment he's a bit bogged down in Spain and Portugal. I've listened to some of the Sharpes as audio books, the narrator is very good, you would think he was Sean Bean (as in the TV series).

A couple more historical series I've enjoyed. The Essex Dogs trilogy by Dan Jones and the Joubert Chronicles by Kate Mosse. Both a bit grittier than the above.

[bovril]

3 hours ago, Harboro said:

Great will add it to the list, and maybe also the Balkans by him as I tried Misha Glenny’s version but was also slow going

His history of the Balkans is really good and yes Glenny's is hard work. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is the best book ever written in English about the Balkans but is extremely long.

A bit further east, Levant is one of the best history books I've read. Very detailed but super easy to read and never cliched. 

[spacemunky]

Just finished 'The Easy Way to Control Alcohol' by Allen Carr.