ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Oh joy! Oh rapture! Oh gorgeousness and gorgeosity! It's the summer holidays and I don't have to go to work for six whole weeks! Somebody for God's sake recommend a good book to read or else I might have to interact with my family FWIW I've just finished reading Island by Aldous Huxley and utterly superb it was. The only problem is that I now want to move to a tropical paradise and spend my days meditating and eating hallucinogenic fungus. So, to distract me from this terribly irresponsible course of action, please recommend me a good book. My current interests are military history, cycle touring, mad utopian idealism (Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - a top, top summer holiday book and there are two more to read after that one) and moving to Australia but I'm willing to be convinced to branch out a bit. Anything? 'Cause if not, I'm going to just go and order this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Propaganda-Edward-L-Bernays/dp/0970312598/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279918168&sr=8-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_ichikawa Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Heinlein The moon is a harsh Mistress... Part way through you will meet a Character who is almost exactly like Injin, it's spooky as the book was written in 1966. The way the loonies speak is incredibly irritating but it vanishes by page 20ish. Time enough for Love is also a good one. Stranger in a Strange land is horrible though if you are a grammar/spelling nazi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Heinlein The moon is a harsh Mistress... Part way through you will meet a Character who is almost exactly like Injin, it's spooky as the book was written in 1966. The way the loonies speak is incredibly irritating but it vanishes by page 20ish. Time enough for Love is also a good one. Stranger in a Strange land is horrible though if you are a grammar/spelling nazi. Ooh, that could be worth a go. I read Starship Troopers a while back. It was much better than the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woot Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 How about the Shardlake series by C J Sansome? - first book of 4 is Dissolution. Set in Tudor Britain, this historical thriller is well researched and written, intriguing & quite gritty. Good on historical setting & 'unputdownable'. My OH (classical historian & linguist) put me onto them and we have passed them around several friends who rate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hip to be bear Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 If you are planning to move to Australia, I would suggest reading "Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. I read it while living in Australia in 1997 and it was not only a fascinating read but also interesting to learn about the penal colony history of the country. Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=fatal+shore&sprefix=fatal&ih=3_1_0_0_1_0_0_0_0_1.124_292&fsc=-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatdog Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Anything by Steinbeck, 'Travels with Charley' as a starter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Military history? Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor. Also everything else by him. You won't put one down once you've started it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 If you are planning to move to Australia, I would suggest reading "Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. I read it while living in Australia in 1997 and it was not only a fascinating read but also interesting to learn about the penal colony history of the country. Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=fatal+shore&sprefix=fatal&ih=3_1_0_0_1_0_0_0_0_1.124_292&fsc=-1 That looks interesting. There's a good documentary knocking around on the internet about a similar thing called Convict Australia. Linky. I find Aussie history quite interesting, even though there isn't all that much of it. Plus I think finding out about a place's history helps you understand it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Military history? Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor. Also everything else by him. You won't put one down once you've started it. Read it a long time ago. You're right though, it's a top book. Alan Clarke's one on Barbarossa isn't bad either. That reminds me, I need to finish "the Wages of Destruction - the making and breaking of the Nazi economy". Any good books about Romans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RentingForever Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Oh joy! Oh rapture! Oh gorgeousness and gorgeosity! It's the summer holidays and I don't have to go to work for six whole weeks! Somebody for God's sake recommend a good book to read or else I might have to interact with my family FWIW I've just finished reading Island by Aldous Huxley and utterly superb it was. The only problem is that I now want to move to a tropical paradise and spend my days meditating and eating hallucinogenic fungus. So, to distract me from this terribly irresponsible course of action, please recommend me a good book. My current interests are military history, cycle touring, mad utopian idealism (Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - a top, top summer holiday book and there are two more to read after that one) and moving to Australia but I'm willing to be convinced to branch out a bit. Anything? 'Cause if not, I'm going to just go and order this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Propaganda-Edward-L-Bernays/dp/0970312598/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279918168&sr=8-1 Lots more Kim Stanley Robinson goodies. Read "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars" to finish the trilogy - both as good as "Red Mars". Then "The Martians", a collection of short stories based around the trilogy. And finish off with "Antartica" for mad utopianism based on Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erat_forte Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 http://www.journeytoforever.org/farm_library/specialist.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Ooh, that could be worth a go. I read Starship Troopers a while back. It was much better than the film. I read that (most of it) recently and thought ... great insight on fighting, rubbish story. The first half of the film was great as a satire on a police state - much more interesting than the book - but the second half was crap. Couldn't be bothered finishing the book. Just reading Andy McNabb's kind-of-autobiography Immediate Action! Comes across a bit like the narrator in the Butcher Boy. Interesting. But I left the book behind when I headed for home last night, so probably won't finish that one either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Lots more Kim Stanley Robinson goodies. Read "Green Mars" and "Blue Mars" to finish the trilogy - both as good as "Red Mars". Then "The Martians", a collection of short stories based around the trilogy. And finish off with "Antartica" for mad utopianism based on Earth. I've read Green Mars and Blue Mars many times over. The whole trilogy are some of my very favourite books. I hadn't heard of Antarctica though. That could well be worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichB Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 Read it a long time ago. You're right though, it's a top book. Alan Clarke's one on Barbarossa isn't bad either. That reminds me, I need to finish "the Wages of Destruction - the making and breaking of the Nazi economy". Have a go at The 900 Days. http://www.amazon.co.uk/900-Days-Siege-Leningrad-Strategy/dp/0330392824/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279920964&sr=1-2 If you don't mind historical fiction Simon Scarrow has a series about Romans, as does Harry Sidebottom, and I am slightly more than halfway through his Wellington/Napoleon series, which are pretty good. More seriously The Reason Why http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reason-Why-Cecil-Woodham-Smith/dp/0140012788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921090&sr=1-1 is an interesting read on the Light Brigade, best read alongside Flashman at the Charge. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maquis-Resistance-Cassell-Military-Paperbacks/dp/0304365432/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921247&sr=1-1 Maquis is a brilliant read, written in the late 40s by a chap dropped into france to run a local resistance group. For a read from when men were men, and didn't pose in cheap suits for their captors, The Edge of the Sword is Farrar-Hockleys memoir of the Korean War - and his time as a POW. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edge-Sword-Anthony-Farrar-Hockley/dp/1844156923/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921312&sr=1-1 Makes those navy chaps in Iran look like proper mincers. My final recommendation here would be Rommels biography by Desmond Young. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rommel-desert-Berkley-medallion-book/dp/B0007ETCEY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921480&sr=1-5 absolutely awesome read - amazon do Rommels own book Infantry Attack which would be good to read as a followup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 Have a go at The 900 Days. http://www.amazon.co.uk/900-Days-Siege-Leningrad-Strategy/dp/0330392824/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279920964&sr=1-2 If you don't mind historical fiction Simon Scarrow has a series about Romans, as does Harry Sidebottom, and I am slightly more than halfway through his Wellington/Napoleon series, which are pretty good. More seriously The Reason Why http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reason-Why-Cecil-Woodham-Smith/dp/0140012788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921090&sr=1-1 is an interesting read on the Light Brigade, best read alongside Flashman at the Charge. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maquis-Resistance-Cassell-Military-Paperbacks/dp/0304365432/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921247&sr=1-1 Maquis is a brilliant read, written in the late 40s by a chap dropped into france to run a local resistance group. For a read from when men were men, and didn't pose in cheap suits for their captors, The Edge of the Sword is Farrar-Hockleys memoir of the Korean War - and his time as a POW. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edge-Sword-Anthony-Farrar-Hockley/dp/1844156923/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921312&sr=1-1 Makes those navy chaps in Iran look like proper mincers. My final recommendation here would be Rommels biography by Desmond Young. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rommel-desert-Berkley-medallion-book/dp/B0007ETCEY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279921480&sr=1-5 absolutely awesome read - amazon do Rommels own book Infantry Attack which would be good to read as a followup. All top stuff! Why at this rate I'll be able to go the entire summer without interacting with anybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pl1 Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I always thought it was a myth that teachers got 6 weeks paid holiday over the summer. Having you got training to do or something? Have you looked through Richard & Judy's Bookclub? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImA20SomethingGetMeOutOfHere Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 I always thought it was a myth that teachers got 6 weeks paid holiday over the summer. Having you got training to do or something? Have you looked through Richard & Judy's Bookclub? It's only 5 and a half weeks this summer. The stooges have stolen the last bit for a training day. Also, I should probably attempt to plan some lessons at some stage. I'm sure that year 9 would appreciate it if I marked their coursework too. I'm not sure that reading this counts as lesson planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipbuilder Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 mad utopian idealism News from Nowhere by William Morris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ayatollah Buggeri Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 If you are planning to move to Australia, I would suggest reading "Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. I read it while living in Australia in 1997 and it was not only a fascinating read but also interesting to learn about the penal colony history of the country. Or some of Nevil Shute's novels shortly after his emigration there, e.g. In the Wet, On the Beach and A Town Like Alice. I very much like Shute's ideas for electoral reform (scroll to the bottom of the page). Can't see Nick Clegg being too keen, somehow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huw Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Not sure if the period interests you, but some well-researched military history that's also as gripping as a novel: Constantinople: the Last Siege, 1453 by Roger Crowley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeepLurker Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 I've read Green Mars and Blue Mars many times over. The whole trilogy are some of my very favourite books. I hadn't heard of Antarctica though. That could well be worth a look. Funny, I found Red Mars a vivid description of a technological stab at utopia, but the following 2 books were marred IMO by an increasing tendency to waffle. By the end of the trilogy I felt like the author was being paid by the word And Antarctica was just more of the same... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Blair Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 Oh joy! Oh rapture! Oh gorgeousness and gorgeosity! It's the summer holidays and I don't have to go to work for six whole weeks! Somebody for God's sake recommend a good book to read or else I might have to interact with my family FWIW I've just finished reading Island by Aldous Huxley and utterly superb it was. The only problem is that I now want to move to a tropical paradise and spend my days meditating and eating hallucinogenic fungus. So, to distract me from this terribly irresponsible course of action, please recommend me a good book. My current interests are military history, cycle touring, mad utopian idealism (Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - a top, top summer holiday book and there are two more to read after that one) and moving to Australia but I'm willing to be convinced to branch out a bit. Anything? 'Cause if not, I'm going to just go and order this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Propaganda-Edward-L-Bernays/dp/0970312598/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279918168&sr=8-1 for cycle touring, anything by ian hibell. i'd recommend "into the remote places" where he attempts both a traverse of the sudanese desert riding mainly on railtracks and carries (more than rides) his bike across the darien gap of panama. an absolute nutcase who gets into absurd strops with everybody he meets along the way which makes for great reading. edit to add: i've just googled ian hibell and it seems he was tragically killed by a hit and run driver in 2008 on the Athens-Salonika highway. RIP mate. http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cycle-touring-legend-ian-hibell-killed-in-greece-18340 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay67 Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 OP,if you liked "Island",you may enjoy Terence McKenna's "True Hallucinations",which was about his trip to the Amazon in 1971 to try and discover a legendary drug..I felt high as a kite just reading it! Lots of good books about the SOE in World War II.."Carve Her Name With Pride",about agent Violette Szabo,was written by Rubeigh Minney. "Christine" by Madeleine Masson was very moving,too,about agent Christine Sansom(?) If you're interested in WWII cryptography,I recommend "Between Silk And Cyanide" by Leo Marks.(Another Nevil Shute fan here,too.."A Town Like Alice" is a good starting point.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopTaff Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helliconia Not so much of a Utopia but still worth a read if you have a spare decade. It's an interesting twist on the Gaia hypothosis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingding Posted July 24, 2010 Share Posted July 24, 2010 I was in Oz recently and made short work of Tim Winton's books Breathe and Dirt Music, both highly recommended. A good military book was one called Fiasco by Thomas E Ricks which documents the collection of balls-ups that led to the Iraq war and it's aftermath. For touring and travelling I'd read Bill Bryson if you haven't already, some of his travel books are minor classics. My favourites (in order) would be Notes from a Small Island, Neither Here nor There, The Lost Continent and, if you want a brainful, A Short History of Nearly Everything. Don't bother with the Ewan McGregor, Charlie Boorman bike tour stuff, it's unexpectedly dull and full of prolix introspection with a monotone narrative. I read the Dragon Tattoo series recently and while I found them well written I thought they were a bit too unpleasant for my liking. Just about to start of Freakonomics...I've heard good things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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