CUK Book Club: Currently reading...

[DoctorStrangelove]

Done: off to Oxfam with it.

Not as interesting as the Dam Busters, apparently Bader was upset with the amount he received in royalties, he was still upset after the agreement was altered, so it took decades before he watched the film.

Next: "Jambusters" by Julie Summers. I expect this to be an easier read. .

Wot a lot of Jam they busted, and knitted socks, and all sorts of other things the WI did during the last global unpleasantness. Off to Oxfam with it (the duplicate went a month ago).

Next: "The Tree Collector: the life and explorations of David Douglas" by Ann Lindsay and Syd House.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Next: "Without Enigma: the Ultra and Fellgiebel Riddles" by Kenneth Macksey.

Done: off to Oxfam* with it. A sort of alternate history what might have happened if... sort of thing. On the bright side, the print size was reasonable & it was short at 152 pages unlike some of my doorstops.

Next: Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman. The life story up to 2021ish of the Orange Moron. A curiously easy read compared with some of my earlier tomes. I bought it about 6 weeks ago so it hasn't mouldered.


*It was shelved in an odd place rather than with the WWI & WWII books. But there you go.

[vetran]

Heads you lose - Jeffery "give us an" Archer - pretty standard fare rehashed dreams of being a world statesman and a billionaire businessman - easy holiday read.

Now on Simon Scarrow "the honour of Rome".

Simon Scarrow the Eagles series now to be a regular feature not quite Robert Harris but a decent read.

Next Connelly the Lincoln lawyer series the 5th witness. is it up to Grisham?

[DoctorStrangelove]

Next: "The spy who came in from the cold" by John Le Carre. Once I've found a copy.

Found one in Waterstones once I'd figured out they shelved it under C rather than L. .

Done. Quite grim in its way. It didn't moulder for long having been purchased on the 18th of June.

Next: "The Looking Glass War" by J. Le Carre.

[DoctorStrangelove]

For some reason I awoke at 05:55 on Thursday morning thinking of "A Candle in a Cosmic Wind".

Which has led me to:

https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf

"The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Next: "The Tree Collector: the life and explorations of David Douglas" by Ann Lindsay and Syd House.

Another unwelcome 5:55 awakening, thusly:

Done: off to Oxfam with it. Now there was a chap who achieved things, including falling into a bull pit on Hawaii, which didn't end well due to there being a bull in there already.

Next: IgNobel Prizes 2. Liked the one grading experienced pain during execution, though I noted that cruel & unusual methods such as breaking on a wheel weren't included. Just proves how soft we've all become. .

[DoctorStrangelove]

Next: IgNobel Prizes 2. Liked the one grading experienced pain during execution, though I noted that cruel & unusual methods such as breaking on a wheel weren't included. Just proves how soft we've all become. .

Done: off to Oxfam with it.

Next: "Trains and Buttered Toast" by John Betjeman. Appears to be a collection of radio talks. Looks like I started reading this yonks ago, then stopped, laying it down to mature nicely by accumulating a layer of dust.

Turns out it's a collection of wireless talks he gave between 1932 and the 1950s with 1975 thrown in for good measure. Mildly inneresting. Sad about him accidentally breaking his nanny's Xmas present.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Next: "The Looking Glass War" by J. Le Carre.

Done: if TSWCIFTC was grim, TLGW was even grimmer.

Next (since I don't have "A small town in Germany")*: "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" wherein George Smiley is forever Alec Guinness.


*I found it in a charity emporium in that Swansea in a collection of the first five of his novels.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Done: if TSWCIFTC was grim, TLGW was even grimmer.

Next (since I don't have "A small town in Germany"): "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" wherein George Smiley is forever Alec Guinness.

Done.

Next: "The Honourable Schoolboy" by J. LeCarre. This one's rather longer at 543 pages: must be the advent of word processing or something.

The Beeb passed on making a series of this due to the complexity of the plotting and the expense of the locations.

It must be 35 years or more since I read it last.

Stone me, it's fairly hard going in parts: the Smiley bits are ok, some of the Hong Kong bits less so.

[Uncle Albert]

Started On Chesil Beech on Tuesday and finished on Thursday. I hadn't realised it was so short.

Seeing as I've been given the entire Sherlock Holmes collection I suppose I'll start on that next.