Digital [email protected] Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 OK, I have been on a WWII kick this month, but have read three excellent books that I can't recommend enough. First is The Eagle has Landed by Jack Higgins. This is an excellent historical Fiction book about a group of German paratroopers who are sent to England to assassinate Churchhill. This was a book that I could not put down from page 1. I suggest that you do not read too many reviews because IMO spoilers could hurt the story. I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen. Really an excellent book. Second one was Hitler's Scientists by John Cornwell. It is a book that describes the social and scientific revolutions that occured during the war. I will admit that I do not understand Quantum Physics and that much of the scientific jarble went over my head, but the book is still very interesting. If you like science and WWII then this is a must read. Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal by Max Brand Another great WWII read. This is a historical naration of the struggles of gaining a foothold in the Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Throughout the story you begin to feel the psycology behind the soldiers actions and the culture of the time. You also learn a little about Japan, but through the eyes of American Pilots. Hiroshima, by John Hersey This is a less of a novel and more of a recount of 6 survivors of Hiroshima. It falls short of really pulling you into the event, but does give you a snapshot of the day the bomb dropped and the next several days following. You get a look at the culture and the people. I found it an interesting read, but not always compelling enough to make me pick it up every chance I could. Continuing my fettish for WWII, I am starting a book on Rommel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 1. Wuthering Heights... have to read it for school... having a terrible time motivating myself to read it... I don't understand why it is considered "great literature" :/ 2. Behold a Pale Horse... I just finished playing Deus Ex (1) again, so I was in the mood for conspiracy stuff. 3. That Hideous Strength. The third and final book in the series.. I only just started it though... good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm enjoying the fourth book in the War of Spider Queen series "Extinction" by Lisa Smedman. Good Stuff! SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushido Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Dragons of a Fallen Sun by Weis and Hickman again...just catching up so I can buy the last of the series. These definitely have a different feel than the previous W&H Dragonlance books. More...political...I guess. But there are only so many ways to skewer a dragon, I suppose. Still an excellent series; I can't wait to see how it ends...and what'll happen to the immortal Tasslehoff Burrfoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I decided to re-read Children of Dune... If you're looking for more WWII action, here's a few that have come across my desk... Closing with the Enemy: How GI's fought the War in Europe, 1944-45 by Michael Doubler. Very readable, very well researched, and very interesting how the US Army adapted to overcome a number of problems in-theater. Last Citadel. Novelized historical-fiction about the Battle of Kursk. If you ignore the black-clad Waffen-SS you should like this book. Recently finished: Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941-45 byAlan Clark. No more need be said. Oh, and occasionally I'll read an issue or two from The Essential Spider-man Vol. 1. Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Oldcorn Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm currently reading Homer's The Odyssey having finished The Iliad a while ago, of course my interest in this area had been peaked by the release of the movie Troy. On the shelf ready to be read at some point is Machiavelli's The Prince, being a student of Politics and International Relations it's quite a useful book to have under your belt, I already have knowledge of the basic principles but it's easier to reference if you've read it and understand it. Also planning to read Thomas Hobbs Leviathon and Friedrich Nietzsche Thus Spoke Zarathustra. On the fun list of books to read soon I've got the most recent Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell and the most recent Discworld books by Terry Pratchett, and I'm going to continue reading the other Dan Brown books having already read The Da Vinci Code. Can't wait until the next Matthew Reilly book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BunnyPuncher Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I actually just read a Stephen King book for the first time in about a decade... From a Buick 8... very, dare I say, lovecraftian... Other than that... read some Tad Williams earlier this month... But mainly Bakhtin, Foucault, and a few books on Web culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digital [email protected] Posted November 21, 2004 Author Share Posted November 21, 2004 1. Wuthering Heights... have to read it for school... having a terrible time motivating myself to read it... I don't understand why it is considered "great literature" :/ Yeah, I found the first half of the book is not so bad and the movie covers the first half very well. The second half of the book is down right painful to read and the movie does not cover it at all. Thanks for the suggestion Lars, I may just pick that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Page Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 "Solomon Kane" by Robert E. Howard. In some ways more interesting than the Conan stories. Also reading Frazier's "The Golden Bough", and Chaosium's anthology,"The Antarkos Cycle". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errex Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Right now I'm reading "Vikram and the Vampire" (think Arabian Nights, only this time the storyteller is a Baital), the "Outlaw" novel I got from a Magic:the Gathering Fat Pack, and a host of software design books for a paper I have to do for a Seminar. Oh, and the lastest issue of PC Gamer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingwreckage Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Fantasy: Read the entire so-far-released "Malazan Book of the Fallen" series recently, and it is seriously good grown-up (no, not porn) fantasy that hits for six most commercial attempts at "Dark Fantasy". Crime/ Comedy: Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" novels ("One for the Money", "Two for the Dough", etc) are hilarious in small doses. Gaming: "Defiance: Vital Ground" sci-fi-skirmish game is available in basic form as a "preview" PDF from www.mj12games.com and looks sweeeeeeeet. Serious: I'm not doing serious right now, but if you read "The Art of War" you'll know who's being ripped off for half the strategy quotes in Warhammer 40 000 and other publications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRigger Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm currently in the middle of "Achtung Panzer!" by Heinz Guderian which is the first written work on the theories of armored and mechanized warfare. I've also been tearing through Christopher Moore's books ("Lamb: The gospel according to Biff", "Bloodsucking fiends", "Fluke" , "The Stupidest Angel", "Practical Demonkeeping") They are a total riot.. he fills the void in me left by Douglas Adams. They are really quick reads and I can knock them off in a day or two. I'll whip out some of David Sedaris' stuff everyone once and a while, and really prefer his short stories and essays. I recommend Holidays on Ice - but even better is to hear him read the Santaland Diaries which is a story about him working as an elf at Macy's in NYC. It's on NPR every holiday season. I've also been going through my earlier william gibson novels again (as I am wont to do frequently) - so mostly the sprawl books like Count Zero, Burning Chrome, Neuromancer. And I've been "savoring" it and really reluctant to finish Philip Roth's "Great American Novel" which is a RIOT! It's about a baseball team, the Rupert Mundays who are without a home field and because of a communist plot, the entire Patriot baseball league is wiped from history. He has a new book out "The Plot Against America" which is an alternate history in which Lindburg becomes president and being a nazi-sympathizer and the US doesn't get involved in the war against germany. I want to get pleasure reading out of my system before I start my grad school classes, as I probably won't have much time for it - and I enjoy having a few books going at once. Good question :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlordgarou Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 Sadly, most of my reading lately has been Dr Seuss - The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Once the holidays are over, and we are settled into our new house, I will have time to read again. If I am lucky, I might get to finish a couple of Niven novels I have laying around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwyksilver Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I'm currently reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. Had just finished the Liveship Trilogy by Robin Hobb. The Prince was a great book Rupert. The Art of War that he wrote was also an intresting read. It's been awhile, maybe I need to dig those out again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decado Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I am currently reading The Cleric's Quintet by RA Salvatore for the second time. Has the Solomon Kane compilation book been released? Decado Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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