What book are you reading atm?? CHAPTER TWO

Mehaffey1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123127925#Comment_123127925

Tried to get the kids aged between 9 and 5 to watch it a few weeks ago and you'd swear it was in black and white the way they got on haha.

orourkeda1

I have a weird habit in that I try to read 2 books a week. 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction. Will finish the catcher in the rye amd "Not in your lifetime" by Anthony Summers tonight

bullpost

The instruments of darkness
by John Connolly

Another excellent book in the "Charlie Parker" series.

Jack Daw

Just finished The Shipping News by Annie Proulx.

Really beautiful book, very easy to read and gives a wonderful picture of life in Newfoundland the sort of book you can just relax and enjoy reading.I can see why it won the Pulitzer Prize and it has a timeless quality to it.

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123155129#Comment_123155129

If you like the Newfoundland theme, I recommend Wayne Johnston's books, especially "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" and a few of its sequels, like "The Custodians of Paradise" and "The Son of a Certain Woman". I still haven't got my hands of "First Snow, Last Light" but one of the main characters is in it.

Jack Daw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123156732#Comment_123156732

Thanks for that, I'll have a look out for them.

AMTE_21

The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Never read this and I saw it on the shelf in the library and decided to give it a go. Having seen the film numerous times there were no surprises and the picture followed the book very closely. Enjoyed it.

BraveDonut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123154744#Comment_123154744

I used to read all of the Charlie Parker books but I kind of fell out of them - do you need to read them all in sequence or can you read them in any order?

bullpost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123159517#Comment_123159517

Better in sequence as the story of the supernatural aspects get slowly revealed, but most can be read independently and are complete stories in themselves. This is very true of the one I just finished.

Fann Linn

King Leopold's Ghost- A story of greed, horror and heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild.

I had this downloaded on the kindle and read it during the last storm when the power was out. A story about the rape, plunder and genocide of the Congo by Belgium.

pavb2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123160248#Comment_123160248

Yes, read this a few years ago awful stuff, we often hear about British imperialism but Belgium in the Congo goes under the radar. Interesting side story with Roger Casement.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123160248#Comment_123160248

The rest is History podcast is covering the Congo at the minute, and they are referencing this book. One thing they said was that the Congo was as much a personal get rich scheme for Leopold as it was an empire for Belgium.

Fann Linn

Thanks for that, I'll tune into that podcast during the week.

HarryMcM

Blanketmen.

Important, courageous,stark, brave, penetrating are some of the words that have been used to describe Richard O'Rawes telling of the H Block hunger strike.

I couldn't disagree with any of them.

A very different narrative.

Highly Reccommended.

An Ri rua

Just bought 'War with Russia' on Kindle. It was mentioned in a Dorcha Lee (ex Irish Defence Forces Colonel) article in the Irish Examiner. Supposed to read like a Tom Clancy but written by someone who knew the minutiae in action.

See

https://amzn.eu/d/cv2rBLm

An Ri rua

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123160928#Comment_123160928

So a bit like the Riviera of Blood for King Donald.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123160928#Comment_123160928

During the Congress of Vienna, he managed to convince the great powers that it was his personal property instead of a legitimate part of Belgium.

Is that podcast any good?

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123162410#Comment_123162410

I enjoy it, the hosts are very enjoyable but they can over do the great mates act a bit. I would recommend the recent series on the lead up to WW2. Last year they had a great series on the lead up to WW1, along with a series on the reformation and the Titanic.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123162410#Comment_123162410

It's a great podcast, really goes in depth into specific events and flies by.

pavb2

Just finished the first book Wool in the Silo series it was an interesting read but a few things that didn’t stand up to scrutiny. I’ll leave the next two in the series for now and have started Assassin 18 which is completely over the top in a good way and rollicks along.

gmisk

Box office poison by Tim Robey is a cracking read. Covers a number of films that flopped over a century of Hollywood.

bullpost

The Man who Loved Dogs by Leonardo Padura - A novel about the assassination of Leon Trotsky

AMTE_21

Sleeping in the Ground by Peter Robinson. This is another DCI Banks book about a mass shooting at a wedding. I enjoyed it but it was a bit “obvious”. Knew who the killer was half way through.

Tauriel

World War II Map by Map

A collection of maps detailing the very beginning of World War II, all the way up to the end of the war with the Japanese surrender, and subsequent collapse of various imperial colonial reach.

BurtonD

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. its helping me get back to my old self and remember what should be important

Wompa1

Finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck and reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling for my kids.

Reading Steinbeck and Rowling at the same time has been quite the eye opener. I know the target audience is vastly different but jaysus, the gulf in class of writing is something.

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123229312#Comment_123229312

Interesting comment. Care to elaborate?

I'm reading Christendom Destroyed: Europe 1517-1648 by Mark Greengrass. It covers Europe at the beginning of the Protestant Reformation through to the end of the Thirty Years War.

Jack Daw

Just finished reading Winter In Madrid by CJ Sansom.

Based mainly during WW2 in Spain with flashbacks to the Spanish civil war and before.

Brilliant novel, has a bit of everything, war, espionage, romance, history.

Also I think it highlights the naivety of the people who joined the international brigades during the Spanish Civil War.

bullpost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123229983#Comment_123229983

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell a great read on his time in Spain during the Civil war.

Jack Daw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123231349#Comment_123231349

Yes, I have that in my collection I'll get round to it at some stage.