What Book Are You Reading?

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Member for

18 years

Posts: 1,966

I didn't. I moved on to Captain Scott's Diary which was an incredible book, highly recommended! I'm now half way through Hostile Skies by David Morgen which is his account as a Harrier pilot during the Falklands War.

Member for

15 years 9 months

Posts: 686

Books with an aviation theme

Try
Joint Force Harrier---- Harrier ops in Afghanistan
Spitfire by Leo McKinstry----pretty obvious subject
Empire of The Clouds by James Hamilton-Paterson---Bit of a nostalgia fest for those of us not quite as young as we were, the only problem with the book it does arouse a certain urge to go out and look for politicians to shoot.

Member for

12 years 8 months

Posts: 759

" Voices from Stalingrad" by Johnathan Bastable ---the title says it all !!

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 985

Books with an aviation theme

Try
Joint Force Harrier---- Harrier ops in Afghanistan
Spitfire by Leo McKinstry----pretty obvious subject
Empire of The Clouds by James Hamilton-Paterson---Bit of a nostalgia fest for those of us not quite as young as we were, the only problem with the book it does arouse a certain urge to go out and look for politicians to shoot.

I'd agree with Joint Force Harrier and Spitfire but I found Empire of the Clouds very contradictory and rather selective.

Currently reading (re-reading) Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 585

Bomber County by Daniel Swift.............anybody else read this and what did you think ? I'm finding it quite hard going but I'm enjoying it !

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 761

Beyond The Shadows - the third book in the Night Angel Trilogy, by Brent Weeks.

Lost Aviation Collections of Britain, by Ken Ellis - a fascinating look at the British aircraft preservation scene through the years. Recommended.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

Bomber County by Daniel Swift.............anybody else read this and what did you think ? I'm finding it quite hard going but I'm enjoying it !

Yes, I've read it. And I found it to be hard going and to be honest, a bit of a mish mash. Is it a book about his quest to learn about his Grandfather? Is it about the perceived lack of World War Two aviation related verse? Is it an attempt to do nothing more than dispaly his own perceived intellectual and moral superiority over both the readers, the men of Bomber Command and his own Grandfather in particular?

It becomes very clear that he has no time for the men of Bomber Command, or for his own Grandfather, a second tour veteran at the time of his death.

Personally, I think it could have been so much more. But instead I was left with an intense dislike of the author for his antipathy toward the men of Bomber Command and his own Grandfather. It is clear he had no interest in researching his subject and, to my mind, used the parts of the book about poetry (which he may know something about) to cover up his appalling lack not only of knowledge, but of interest in his own Grandfather.

Regards,

kev35

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 585

Thanks Kev, appreciate that.

So far I would agree with you. Why not just write a book about war poetry.

He seems to have no grasp of the dreadful odds against Bomber crew survival.

One of the interesting things, I think about Bomber Command was the intigration of the crews. For the first time the "non public school chaps" had a chance to become aircrew plus the mix with all the "empire" crew members.
I thought he might of touched on this, alas not.

I will soldier on to the end but I am disappointed, it all seems a little self righteousness.

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

I downloaded "Churchills Wizards" as informed by CD onto a Kindle, (My very 1st download) and I fully intend to get started on it ASAP. I know it feels "Dead", inasmuch as it's not as tactile as a paper book, but as it was a Christmas pressie, I was being forced to use it.;)

Jim.

Lincoln .7

Member for

15 years 9 months

Posts: 1,684

Cannot doodle in it or dog ear the pages as some annoying library users do

Cannot doodle in it or dog ear the pages as some annoying library users do.

You can just simply Kindle it:D

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

Jay. I had 3 children, all of which were at home until such time as they left home to get married.
Not a single one wrote in, turned over the corner of a book. I taught them a book is to be respected, the same with good manners and respect, both come free, use them to forward in life with. One day my Kindle will break down, but a book?. never.

Jim.

Lincoln .7

Member for

15 years 9 months

Posts: 1,684

Hi Jim - my parents were like your wife and yourself...

Hi Jim - my parents were like your wife and yourself and woe be unto me if I was caught dog earing a book, doodling in one or worse still reading at the table while eating (got away with the latter, if mum and dad were out though):D

There is a slogan which is on a Waterstone's shopping bag taped to the end of my bookshelf which simply on a black background in gold letters says -
"There's no friend as loyal as a book".

Absolutely true, never has gone wrong for me.;)

Member for

15 years 9 months

Posts: 1,684

What am I actually reading just now ...

Switching between -
Haynes Owner's Workshop Manual - Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde 1969 onwards (all models)
and
Corporate Fraud: Prevention and Detection by Stephen Hill

And no wise cracks like I got at my non graduate part time work -
No I do not have a Concorde in the 'shed' (like to if I could)
and
Not studying how to defraud any business simply to be an even better financial auditer.

Member for

19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,041

Had a good visit to a charity bookshop last week :)

Now reading 'The cruel sea' by N Monsarrat

Fiction - but given authenticity by the fact that Nicholas Monsarrat was an RNVR Lt Cdr corvette skipper !

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

The Green Isle of the Great Deep

Someone at my writing group mentioned this to me as it might be of some interest - two Scotsmen fall into a salmon pool and find themselves lost in a country not unlike their own, but with an additional nightmarish quality.

So, they come to Penicuik for the day, I'm guessing.... :diablo:

Member for

13 years 1 month

Posts: 1,026

I started this one, but found it rather heavy reading...:D

Member for

18 years 8 months

Posts: 1,706

Ive a flight to catch at the end of the week so ive been stocking up.
Chris Evans Billie, Breakfast and Beyond
Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
Operation Mincemeat
Empire of the Clouds
You Got Nothing Coming

Member for

14 years

Posts: 4,996

I'm not reading much at the moment, but I can highly recommend Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks.
The story of his involvement with SOE during WWII.

Member for

18 years 9 months

Posts: 2,766

Haynes Dambuster manual

Baz

Member for

15 years 9 months

Posts: 686

Had a good visit to a charity bookshop last week :)

Now reading 'The cruel sea' by N Monsarrat

Fiction - but given authenticity by the fact that Nicholas Monsarrat was an RNVR Lt Cdr corvette skipper !

Chose that book as a school prize more years ago than I care to think about, haven't read it in ages, in fact thanks for reminding me that it is still in the dusty depths of my overflow book store ( attic ).