Books you're reading... and should read. | Page 10 | Vital Football

Books you're reading... and should read.

RIP PJ O’Rourke….

‘Where there’s injustice, oppression and suffering, America will show up six months late and bomb the country next to where it’s happening’
 
Recently been reading "Sharpe's Havoc" part of wonderful series of books about sean bean carving his way through napoleon's armies, after that my plan is to finish northanger abbey, it lost my interest before.

if anyone wants a really good autobiography to read I can wholeheartedly recommend Bob mortimer's "And Away" absolutely brilliant read
 
I've just finished Pub Walks in Underhill Country by Nat Segnit. Can't say I would recommend it though - essentially a short novel strung out with a load of vaguely Alan Partridge-like info about hiking. Bit of a slog.
 
Last edited:
isharet said:
anyone wants a really good autobiography to read I can wholeheartedly recommend Bob mortimer's "And Away" absolutely brilliant read
Click to expand...
I have been tempted by this. Also, not reading, but if you ever listen to podcasts, his Athletico Mince one is extremely daft but entertaining.
 
In January 2022, I heard a Q&A phone in (must have been Radio 4 as I was driving) with Abir Mukherjee about his Wyndham/Bannerjee detective series set in India during late 1910s/early 1920s. So far he has written 5 books in the series starting with "A Man Rising". Yesterday, I finished the 5th book having started "A Man Rising" the day after I heard the Q&A.

Brilliant detective series which really captures Calcutta, colonial India (from the British and Indian perspective) and creates a brilliant atmosphere. Well written, easily readable and one I'd recommend for anyone who likes crimes novels with a difference.
 
After excitedly telling me she'd got me a present for 50p, my wife presented me with Lair by James Herbert, which I'm currently reading. It would be harsh to say it's a bit Garth Marenghi, but it's also exactly what you'd expect from a book about killer black rats the size of dogs.
 
Rob the Imp said:
After excitedly telling me she'd got me a present for 50p, my wife presented me with Lair by James Herbert, which I'm currently reading. It would be harsh to say it's a bit Garth Marenghi, but it's also exactly what you'd expect from a book about killer black rats the size of dogs.
Click to expand...

Blimey, Herbert has been around for yonks. I remember reading "The Fog" when I was still at school. Not my genre at all, tbh.
 
NottyImp said:
Blimey, Herbert has been around for yonks. I remember reading "The Fog" when I was still at school. Not my genre at all, tbh.
Click to expand...
Certainly has, this book was first published in 1979 - my edition must have been published posthumously as it says that he died in (I think) 2013. It's not a type of book I could read much of due to them being so formulaic, but it makes a change now and again.
 
On a lighter note I’m reading Kicked Into Touch by Fred Eyre. Already got past the Lincoln chapter, with the by now famous quotes
“Will Lincoln be at full strength today, or will Eyre be playing?”
Fairly sure someone said the same about Maguire recently
 
One thing you have to bear in mind about Fred Eyre is that all the games and experiences he recounts in his time with City and other league clubs were in reserve matches. He only ever played one game in the Football League - for Bradford (Park Avenue) some years after his time with the Imps.
 
HitherImp said:
Keep reading, have got the whole series!! Really excellent.
Click to expand...
Will do, glad to know you're a fan too! I've accumulated all but the newest one mostly through lucky charity shop finds, though often not the next one I needed, so have then topped up by buying the others. Safe to say there's a big stack on my bedside table!
 
Have recently read a series of books by the late Phillip Kerr featuring his fictional German Detective Bernie Gunther. Excellent stories and plots mostly taking place in Germany or German occupied areas during WW2 or in the years just after.
Kerr has gone out of his way to get the historical facts right and most of the other characters in the books were real people and he has woven in stories around real events. I found it enlightening and frightening at the same time that some of the things that humans are capable of doing to others actually took place. At the same time the plots are riveting.

On a lighter note I am currently reading John Boynes latest book called The Echo Chamber. It is absolutely hilarious. It highlights the modern worlds dependence on social media and the infatuation with 'wokeness'. Whilst being side splitting it is also spot on about how people are these days.
 
Onto the next Bernard Cornwell book... Warriors of the Storm. I found this one in a charity bookshop a year ago for £1.50! Finally ready to read it.
 
I'm now onto "Italian Folk Tales" by Italo Calvino - collated and translated. Some of them are utterly insane.
 
Just finished "The Shattered Sword", hugely in-depth history of the battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective. Lot's of really new stuff to me in it...
 
I dont read very much - but use audio books to listen while I walk for exercise (2 birds with one stone). Non fiction as fiction would feel a bit jackanory. Anyway.. does listening count or do I need to start a new thread about 'books you are listening to.. and should listen to'?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.