| Book recommendation 13:34 - Jun 29 with 10976 views | welwynranger |
American Dirt
Jeanine Cummins.
A heartwarming story about a woman who witnesses 16 members of her family shot down at the BBQ of her 15yr old niece birthday party.
Because her jounalist husband wrote a story about the leader of a drugs cartel.
She then has to travel through 6500miles through the bad lands of Mexico to the safety of America
Being trailed by the cartel.
I am never without a book and this is the best book i have ever read.
I would recommend this book to anyone male or female
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| Book recommendation on 14:24 - Jul 6 with 2116 views | MrSheen |
I’m just finishing “American Midnight” by Adam Hochschild, about the remarkable repression and violence which was launched by President Woodrow Wilson’s administration once America entered the First World War. Intended to suppress opposition to the draft and German espionage, it was quickly turned on unions, “unreliable” foreigners, and even after the War kept in place due to the fear of Communist uprisings and paranoia about the potential danger to the status quo from returning black servicemen.
It’s a horribly fascinating story, but Hochschild, who see himself as a moral tutor as much as an historian, over-eggs the pudding with frequent references to Trump, the Tea Party, QAnon etc that are either obvious or over-blown. I’d have preferred it if he’d trusted me to draw my own conclusion.
Ironically, one strong parallel Hochschild would have been able to draw if he had finished his book in 2024 rather than 2022 (though he might have chosen to leave it out) is this: Wilson suffered a series of strokes in 1919, originally in France negotiating the Treaty of Versailles and later in the US while travelling the country, trying to raise support for joining the League of Nations. He was brought back to Washington in a sealed train and was bedridden for two months, and only left the White House for the first time another six weeks later. At first he was unable to move and his speech was so indistinct it was unclear whether he was able to understand anything at all. His cabinet members recommended he resign but Edith Wilson disliked the Vice President and said she could act as the interpreter of his intentions. Cabinet members visited his room, individually at first and later together, to address him and she bent over him and gave what she said was his response. As late as the end of March 1920 she said he still planned to run for reelection until someone leaked his true condition to the press. Plus ça change… |  | | |
| Book recommendation on 18:02 - Jul 6 with 2027 views | hantssi |
| Book recommendation on 19:17 - Jun 29 by Logman |
Love a good book thread and read the first two books in CJ Sansom's Shardlake series thanks to recommendations on here (both very enjoyable).
I've recently been going through a non-fiction phase, partly as a result of an unsettled time I have been going through and the desire to understand more about human behaviour.
The last novel I read prior to that was Dracula (again on the advice of a friend) which was actually good and has some relevance to the world we live in now; the whole sad story being an allegory to the world of lust and carnal desires.
If you are not a great fan of long books Tom Hanks has written a book of short stories called Uncommon Type, some of which are quite good. There is one in there about a teenager coming of age (but not in the usual sense) on a surfing trip with his father. It is wonderful little story (titled 'Welcome to Mars) , only about 10 or 15 pages long but like I say, there is a life story in there. Well worth trying to find. |
Read all the Shardlake books, really enjoyed them.
Last year read the Ken Follett 20th Century trilogy, it's fiction mixed in with real events.
Like to have a fiction and non fiction book on the go, currently The Body by Bill Bryson and Andrew Marr, A History of Modern Britain (the follow on from WW2 to end of 20th century), need a fiction book to go with them as they’re both a bit on the heavy side! | | | |
| Book recommendation on 21:45 - Jul 6 with 1965 views | qpr_1968 |
love me world history.....
one book or books i've never read up on is the spanish inquisition.
anyone reccomend a decent read on this . | |
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| Book recommendation on 22:08 - Jul 6 with 1936 views | Discodroids |
Just finished 'the long knives' by irvine welsh. utter shite.
it's been a steep descent since 'Glue' |  |
| The Duke Of New York. A-Number One.
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| Book recommendation on 22:20 - Jul 6 with 1920 views | MrSheen |
| Book recommendation on 21:45 - Jul 6 by qpr_1968 |
love me world history.....
one book or books i've never read up on is the spanish inquisition.
anyone reccomend a decent read on this . |
That’s a very good question. The most about it I’ve read is Diarmaid MacCulloch’s “Refotmation”, which traces the emergence of Protestantism and the reaction to it in Europe and its colonies from 1450-1700. He implies that the main task of the Inquisition was to reform the Catholic church rather than root out heresy and he gives it credit for stamping out the abuses which fuelled popular Protestantism elsewhere. He claims it was much less violent than its reputation which was created by Protestant critics of later centuries and certainly less bloodthirsty in the pursuit of witches than the Protestant North. Writers focussing more on the experience of post-Reconquista Jewish and Moorish converts (“conversos”) have a different view of it. It’s a great (if lengthy!) read either way…I never knew that Poland and Hungary had once been strongholds of Protestantism. [Post edited 6 Jul 22:21]
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| Book recommendation on 22:25 - Jul 6 with 1906 views | qpr_1968 |
| Book recommendation on 22:20 - Jul 6 by MrSheen |
That’s a very good question. The most about it I’ve read is Diarmaid MacCulloch’s “Refotmation”, which traces the emergence of Protestantism and the reaction to it in Europe and its colonies from 1450-1700. He implies that the main task of the Inquisition was to reform the Catholic church rather than root out heresy and he gives it credit for stamping out the abuses which fuelled popular Protestantism elsewhere. He claims it was much less violent than its reputation which was created by Protestant critics of later centuries and certainly less bloodthirsty in the pursuit of witches than the Protestant North. Writers focussing more on the experience of post-Reconquista Jewish and Moorish converts (“conversos”) have a different view of it. It’s a great (if lengthy!) read either way…I never knew that Poland and Hungary had once been strongholds of Protestantism. [Post edited 6 Jul 22:21]
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cheers sheeny.....
sounds about right the little i know of the inquisition....
i'll have a butchers at that one...
not a 1,000 pages long is it? | |
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| Book recommendation on 22:33 - Jul 6 with 1898 views | MrSheen |
| Book recommendation on 22:25 - Jul 6 by qpr_1968 |
cheers sheeny.....
sounds about right the little i know of the inquisition....
i'll have a butchers at that one...
not a 1,000 pages long is it? |
More like 600 IIRC! | | | |
| Book recommendation on 10:13 - Jul 7 with 1794 views | welwynranger |
| Book recommendation on 22:08 - Jul 6 by Discodroids |
Just finished 'the long knives' by irvine welsh. utter shite.
it's been a steep descent since 'Glue' |
I waited a long time to read
Catcher In The Rye.
Really disappointed.
I stuck with it till the end waiting for something interesting or exciting to happen
It didnt | | | |
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| Book recommendation on 11:36 - Jul 7 with 1734 views | dmm |
If you like a bit of heavy reading, "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow is truly amazing. It challenges received wisdom on how humans have developed.
If you liked "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari, you'll love this even though the authors disagree with Harari on many issues. |  | | |
| Book recommendation on 12:06 - Jul 7 with 1704 views | R_from_afar |
| Book recommendation on 16:02 - Jul 3 by elnombre |
Some great recommendations so far, what a well-read bunch we are, thank you!
May I plug a favourite of my own - Richard Powers' 'The Overstory' is just breath-taking, and although I don't always enjoy Pulitzer prize-winners (Oscar Wao, anyone?), this is an absolute gem.
Nine stories intersected and interwoven by trees, yes it is a bit preachy (I'm no tree-hugging hippy - don't let that put you off), it is beautifully written, will make you cry several times over, and heck, yes, look out Mildred, he's actually going to say it, 'it may change your life'.
Reminds me in some ways of my all time fave, 'Moby Dick' (in that you will, besides a cracking tale, learn rather too much about whales/trees in passing) - I have no higher praise, until Clive's first novel (don't tell me you haven't though about it). |
"Reminds me in some ways of my all time fave, 'Moby Dick'"
Coincidentally, I have not long finished reading 'Wreck of the whaleship Essex" by Owen Chase and that was fascinating. I wasn't interested in "the custom of the sea," rather I was in awe of the feats of navigation. Chase was actually on the boat, so it's a first hand account.
I'd recommend "The steppenwolf" by Herman Hesse, it's a short novel about an ordinary bloke taken on a surreal and psychedelic journey by a mysterious woman. Don't expect big motorbikes and heavy metal, though!  |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| Book recommendation on 12:43 - Jul 7 with 1666 views | hubble |
| Book recommendation on 12:06 - Jul 7 by R_from_afar |
"Reminds me in some ways of my all time fave, 'Moby Dick'"
Coincidentally, I have not long finished reading 'Wreck of the whaleship Essex" by Owen Chase and that was fascinating. I wasn't interested in "the custom of the sea," rather I was in awe of the feats of navigation. Chase was actually on the boat, so it's a first hand account.
I'd recommend "The steppenwolf" by Herman Hesse, it's a short novel about an ordinary bloke taken on a surreal and psychedelic journey by a mysterious woman. Don't expect big motorbikes and heavy metal, though! |
Ah yes, Steppenwolf. What a book. Hesse is of course one of the absolute greats of European literature. Steppenwolf might be tough going for the modern reader, but so worth it. The Magic Theatre - for Madmen Only!
Hesse is the master of metaphysics, married to marvellous story telling. Harry Haller has long been a hero of mine (Harry Haller... Herman Hesse)' I have totally related to his existential crisis, ever since I first read it, nearly 40 years ago.
It's heartening to know that Hesse is still widely read, indeed my 20 year old goddaughter just read 'Siddhartha'. |  |
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| Book recommendation on 15:37 - Jul 7 with 1607 views | BrianMcCarthy |
I'll definitely be checking a few of these out. Thanks folks.
Another vote for 'The Overstory', 'Angels with Dirty Faces' and 'Inverting the Pyramid'.
Also a mention for 'Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee' which is about the slaughter of the Native Americans. |  |
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| Book recommendation on 16:00 - Jul 7 with 1569 views | welwynranger |
| Book recommendation on 15:37 - Jul 7 by BrianMcCarthy |
I'll definitely be checking a few of these out. Thanks folks.
Another vote for 'The Overstory', 'Angels with Dirty Faces' and 'Inverting the Pyramid'.
Also a mention for 'Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee' which is about the slaughter of the Native Americans. |
Wounded Knee.
Soldier Blue
What a horrible film depicting beheadings, amputations murder, rape etc. | | | |
| Book recommendation on 07:45 - Jul 22 with 1268 views | hubble |
Just finished 'American Dirt' - a fantastic read, thanks for the recommendation, Welwyn.
So I thought I might as well share a few more of my favourite reads of recent years:
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry. Set in the US of the 1850s, 17 year old Irish immigrant Thomas McNulty hooks up with orphaned John Cole and they join the Union army. A remarkable adventure unfolds. Astonishingly good.
Restoration by Rose Tremain. Charming chancer Robert Merivel worms his way into the affections of King Charles II. Another extraordinary story unfolds. A fantastic read.
The 1000 autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell (the writer, not the comedian). I think Mr Sheen recommended this in another book thread. Set in 1799 in Japan's sole foreign trading port, a purpose-built island just off Nagasaki. Utterly fabulous writing. | |
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| Book recommendation on 09:05 - Jul 22 with 1187 views | urrrrssss |
Went to the Cinema a few years ago and watched " The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo " by Stig Larsson, thought it was brilliant so much it made me want to read the book, found out after reading it was part 1 of a trilogy, as with the film abit slow for the 1st chapter ( Swedish names, places etc ) then you can't put it down.
love to know what you and others think. |  | | |
| Book recommendation on 09:22 - Jul 22 with 1161 views | QPRSteve |
| Book recommendation on 09:05 - Jul 22 by urrrrssss |
Went to the Cinema a few years ago and watched " The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo " by Stig Larsson, thought it was brilliant so much it made me want to read the book, found out after reading it was part 1 of a trilogy, as with the film abit slow for the 1st chapter ( Swedish names, places etc ) then you can't put it down.
love to know what you and others think. |
I've read them three times now and will probably read them again soon. Which version did you watch? The Swedish version is by far the best. | | | |
| Book recommendation on 09:34 - Jul 22 with 1130 views | johann28 |
| Book recommendation on 21:45 - Jul 6 by qpr_1968 |
love me world history.....
one book or books i've never read up on is the spanish inquisition.
anyone reccomend a decent read on this . |
There's an extensive literature on this. One of the first books to challenge the classical view was 'The Spanish Inquisition' (1965) by Henry Kamen, who argued that the Inquisition was not nearly as cruel or as powerful as commonly believed. The book was very influential and largely responsible for subsequent studies in the 1970s to try to quantify (from archival records) the Inquisition's activities from 1480 to 1834. Those studies showed there was an initial burst of activity against 'conversos' suspected of relapsing into Judaism, and a mid-16th century pursuit of Protestants, but, according to these studies, the Inquisition served principally as a forum Spaniards occasionally used to humiliate and punish people they did not like: blasphemers, bigamists, foreigners, smugglers etc. Kamen went on to publish two more books (both called 'The Spanish Inquisition, A Historical Revision') that incorporated new findings, further supporting the view that the Inquisition was nowhere near as bad as once described by anti-Catholic polemicists. Along similar lines is Edward Peters's Inquisition (1988). |  | | |
| Book recommendation on 10:11 - Jul 22 with 1069 views | johann28 |
For film addicts, I've just finished a new one on Kubrick (Kubrick: An Odyssey
by Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams). Big fat book which I thought would last me the summer but is such a page-turner that I finished it under a week. Concentrates on the making of the films (together with fascinating accounts of those which ended up being never made) rather than being a standard biography, it's full of little gems that significantly improve our understanding of Kubrick's classics. Now trying to find a book to follow it ... | | | |
| Book recommendation on 10:19 - Jul 22 with 1026 views | johann28 |
| Book recommendation on 20:32 - Jun 29 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
I'm halfway through 'The Earth is Weeping' by Peter Cozzens a history of the Indian Wars in the American west.
I didn't know a lot about this historical era, so thought I'd give it a go. Great book, very easy to read, but my God the brutality, lying and cheating that went on by both the US government, US soldiers and the Indians is shocking.
Highly recommended to you history buffs on here. |
Great book. Another one along similar lines is 'Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI' by American journalist David Grann, which inspired the film by Martin Scorsese (reading the book will probably take you much less time than watching the film which is, or felt like, three years long, and you'll learn an awful lot more in the process). | | | |
| Book recommendation on 10:43 - Jul 22 with 984 views | derbyhoop |
| Book recommendation on 09:22 - Jul 22 by QPRSteve |
I've read them three times now and will probably read them again soon. Which version did you watch? The Swedish version is by far the best. |
Indeed. The 1 with Daniel Craig over focuses on him as Blomvquist when she is far more interesting. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| Book recommendation on 10:47 - Jul 22 with 982 views | BexleyHoop |
| Book recommendation on 19:17 - Jun 29 by Logman |
Love a good book thread and read the first two books in CJ Sansom's Shardlake series thanks to recommendations on here (both very enjoyable).
I've recently been going through a non-fiction phase, partly as a result of an unsettled time I have been going through and the desire to understand more about human behaviour.
The last novel I read prior to that was Dracula (again on the advice of a friend) which was actually good and has some relevance to the world we live in now; the whole sad story being an allegory to the world of lust and carnal desires.
If you are not a great fan of long books Tom Hanks has written a book of short stories called Uncommon Type, some of which are quite good. There is one in there about a teenager coming of age (but not in the usual sense) on a surfing trip with his father. It is wonderful little story (titled 'Welcome to Mars) , only about 10 or 15 pages long but like I say, there is a life story in there. Well worth trying to find. |
I liked the CJ Sansom - Shardlake series. If you like those then you might like to try a series of books by Rory Clements which are of similar style but based in the reign of Elizabeth 1 |  | | |
| Book recommendation on 10:50 - Jul 22 with 965 views | BexleyHoop |
Rory Clements - Martyr; Revenger; Holy Spy; Prince; Traitor; The Heretics and The Queens Man | | | |
| Book recommendation on 11:09 - Jul 22 with 924 views | MrSheen |
| Book recommendation on 10:19 - Jul 22 by johann28 |
Great book. Another one along similar lines is 'Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI' by American journalist David Grann, which inspired the film by Martin Scorsese (reading the book will probably take you much less time than watching the film which is, or felt like, three years long, and you'll learn an awful lot more in the process). |
I haven't read that but Grann's "The Wager" is fantastic, an insane story of a disastrous Royal Navy mission to the West Coast of South America and the struggles of the survivors. Scurvy, mutiny, shipwreck and creative woodwork. | | | |
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