Into the Silence - Wade Davis. A history of the early attempts on Everest culminating in Mallory and Irvine's fateful attempt. The book is a study of the effect that the horrors of the First World War had on mountaineers' attitude to risk in the high places of the world. I found it very interesting although I plodded through it pretty slowly. Although I'm pretty familiar with the political and military fiascos of WW1, seeing stats of how mountaineering clubs were decimated was really shocking. Juxtapose these with quotes from generals etc and you get a feeling for this book.
American Tabloid - James Elroy. Haven't finished this yet but I'm pretty impressed with it so far. Cool, witty, violent, racy, utterly cynical.
Quote from: Rocksteady on November 07, 2013, 03:03:10 pmAmerican Tabloid - James Elroy. Haven't finished this yet but I'm pretty impressed with it so far. Cool, witty, violent, racy, utterly cynical.Probably my favourite book of all time. I remember reading it for the first time when I was 17 and literally reading through the night - I read from 7pm to 7am and then had to go to school.
Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin series: I read about 6 of these in a row because once I'd started it was hard to read any other books.....
Quote from: the_dom on November 08, 2013, 11:40:34 amQuote from: Rocksteady on November 07, 2013, 03:03:10 pmAmerican Tabloid - James Elroy. Haven't finished this yet but I'm pretty impressed with it so far. Cool, witty, violent, racy, utterly cynical.Probably my favourite book of all time. I remember reading it for the first time when I was 17 and literally reading through the night - I read from 7pm to 7am and then had to go to school.I agree. I assume you've read The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover, the last two parts of the America trilogy.
Has anyone used worldofbooks.com? I've just ordered a couple of classics (via amazon) but was wondering if it's best to go direct with worldofbooks? Prices seem cheaper and I'd rather amazon didn't get any more of my money...
We read it to each other...well, she mainly reads it to me as I'm rubbish at reading out loud
Just finished 'The Pike', Lucy Hughes-Hallett's biography of the Italian poet, politician and serial womaniser Gabriele d'Annunzio. A seriously good book about a truly appalling character - worthy winner of the Johnson Prize this year.
Quote from: DaveC on December 17, 2013, 11:15:53 amJust finished 'The Pike', Lucy Hughes-Hallett's biography of the Italian poet, politician and serial womaniser Gabriele d'Annunzio. That sounds great.
Just finished 'The Pike', Lucy Hughes-Hallett's biography of the Italian poet, politician and serial womaniser Gabriele d'Annunzio.
Quote from: Falling Down on December 24, 2013, 09:06:44 amQuote from: DaveC on December 17, 2013, 11:15:53 amJust finished 'The Pike', Lucy Hughes-Hallett's biography of the Italian poet, politician and serial womaniser Gabriele d'Annunzio. That sounds great.My read-of-the-year so far although Barbara Tuchmann's 'A Distant Mirror' is shaping up as a late challenger.