Books

[Road of Bones]

Thanks Greenlantern101 - I wasn't aware of that! I will update mine this evening...

 

[Titch]

Mine is as old as they come. Best get on it.

 

[Titch]

Thank you Greenlantern101

 

[siffert_fan]

Just finished reading "the Battle of the Generals" by Martin Blumenson. It delves into how the interactions between the three highest-ranking Allied generals in Europe, Eisenhower, Montgomery and Bradley, allowed the vast majority of the German army trapped in Normandy to escape through the Falaise gap, thereby prolonging the war by many months.

A great read, but be warned: your opinion of those three men will, quite probably, be greatly diminished.

You will also be appalled by the antics of the French armored division under LeClerc (although you may not be surprised).

 

[cider_and_toast]

Montgomery was a shameless self publicist who has been treated with far more reverance than he ever deserved. Fortunately (for him) the winners get to write the history.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Seeing that photo of "gadget" which FB has posted elsewhere reminds me of a book titled "Gadget" by Nicolas Freeling. It was about a German nuclear physicist being kidnapped by a group of terrorists, he was forced to make an atomic bomb to save his family. It goes through the process of how he did it, it is one of the most terrifying books that I ever read.

FB's post was in Random funny stuff....

 

[Legs]

Read a fair bit of Stephen King recently - Misery is excellent, as is IT, The Stand and all the stories in Different Seasons. Read The Gunslinger but stalled and haven't yet embarked on the remainder of the Dark Tower series...
Currently reading The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden, by Jonas Jonasson, which is a bit Tom Sharpe-esque - outrageously daft.

Blimey, was it 2 years ago I was just picking up The Drawing of the Three, the second Dark Tower novel? That was SO much better than The Gunslinger, and got me completely hooked on the series. As a genre, anything fantasy-ish is not usually my bag, but this was utterly compelling.

I've had a bit of a break from Sai King since then - the best thing I've read recently was The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker.

 

[vintly]

Couple of great books I've just devoured:

The Genius of Birds: The Intelligent Life of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari

 

[Bill Boddy]

"Five on Brexit Island" which is in the Enid Blyton range. Well worth reading.

I am going to buy "Ladybird Book of the Shed" for my son on his birthday, he has always wanted a shed, as do all real men. There is a range of over twenty titles in the Ladybird for Adults titles, having glanced at a couple in Smiths (other booksellers are available) they seem to catch the original format with added humour.

 

[FB]

I got that for Christmas and as I started reading it realised that I have never read a Famous 5 book so had no point of reference. I shall stick with it though.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Having seen quite a few Midsomer Murders episodes on tv I decided to read "The Killings at Badgers Drift, the first of the series. As usual the book and it's hero are very different from the tv ones, some of the characters are really weird.

There was one thing which annoyed me in that one character committed suicide (before the start of the book) by driving to Flackwell Heath and into the Thames there. Flackwell heath is a small town perched on top of the Chilterns, to get to the Thames from there requires that you go through Bourne End or alternatively drive into the river Wye and keep in it to where it joins the Thames. That is just plain sloppy.

 

[Andyoak]

The River Wye joins England and Wales... Not the Thames

Of course, if you're from Hereford it keeps the Welsh bastards out

 

[Bill Boddy]

I stand corrected.

River Wye, Buckinghamshire - Wikipedia

No, I don't.

 

[Andyoak]

Wye is it spelt like that?

 

[cider_and_toast]

Wye knot?

 

[Andyoak]

For really good food and beer in Symonds Yat

 

[Titch]

Which side of the river though.

 

[Andyoak]

Not Welsh until the other side of English Bicknor and the drop down to Monmouth... So you can still get proper beer instead of Brains
Happy to meet up if there's a pint of Butty in the offing

 

[Bill Boddy]

Wye is it spelt like that?

'Cause it's mainly in Wycombe.

 

[Titch]

I was surprised when I visited my daughter who has moved to Herefordshire (two miles from the Welsh border) when we visited Hay on Wye to discover parts of it (Hay), well all of it really, are in Wales. Should have looked at the map.