What are your recent good reads?

[Spacecadet]

Almost finished Taken on Trust by Terry Waite.
Fantastic book, Waite is a surprisingly good writer and keeps the action going between his "hostage story" and his biography.

[mickey]

Beavor's WWII is absolutely brilliant if you like history.

Thanks for the Chris B idea.

I think Beevor is way too depressive for the winter months

[Cliphead]

This Thing of Darkness

[mudskipper]

The Age of Wonder: Amazon.co.uk: Richard Holmes: Books

Started it ages ago, but stuff got in the way - just got round to picking it up again - amazing what can be achieved with a bit of arrogance and self-belief.

[MyUserName]

I don't know if you mean hard because it;s hard work, or hard because the atrocities suck. But it reminded me that I started reading Moby Dick but had to give up because it was just too much effort (the old language). It was a shame because i really wanted to read it, noting that Captain Piccard felt compelled to quote it all the time.

I meant hard because of the atrocities that happened. Funnily enough my experience with Moby dick was exactly the same as yours!

[Gibbon]

If anyone like ancient history then I recommend Tom Holland's books (rubicon, persian fire, etc). Excellent mix of history and narrative to pack in the facts with the probabilities and the drama to make it an enjoyable read.

Lightweight fluff.

Lucan is a much better read.

[barrydidit]

I meant hard because of the atrocities that happened. Funnily enough my experience with Moby dick was exactly the same as yours!

Another +1 re Herman Melville. The only book I ever gave up on in disgust. And that was on a family holiday in france when it was the only entertainment I had - 2 weeks ploughing through it and he still hadn't caught the bloody thing

For the ww2 stuff I've read Beevor's Stalingrad and Berlin. I like his style mixing large scale tactical movements with first hand contemporary accounts to illustrate the effect of events on individuals. I've got halfway though Churchills (6 volume) memoirs but that's really heavy going albeit with some gems hidden in there, particularly the correspondence with Roosevelt.

Best stuff i read was a compendium of John Steinbeck novels, especially Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row. Really enjoyable stories and great characters. Got them all for a tenner from one of those book club things that come round clientco's every once in a while.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Best stuff i read was a compendium of John Steinbeck novels, especially Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row. Really enjoyable stories and great characters. Got them all for a tenner from one of those book club things that come round clientco's every once in a while.

'East of Eden' is on my todo list.

[Clare@InTouch]

Requiem for a Dream - not exactly a happy story, but the writing is superb.

[Lockhouse]

Into Thin Air: A personal account of the Everest disaster - updated 2nd edition: Amazon.co.uk: Jon Krakauer: Books

Highly recommended (no pun intended).