What are you reading ?

Chill out 'n' talk about anything. Have a giggle, play a game or have a rant and try not to fall off the Soap Box. (NOTE Standard Forum Rules apply).
User avatar
PaulBradley
Staring out the window
Posts: 21115
Joined: April 6th, 2011, 3:08 pm
Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by PaulBradley »

The Martian is an excellent book. The movie is pretty good as well, considering the constraints of the media.

Currently reading the Haynes' Manual for Heathrow Airport - rather disappointing in that it reads like an extended press release arguing for the third runway, with constant reminders that LHR is running at 99% capacity....
Paul

За демократію і незалежний Україну

"For Democracy and a Free Ukraine"
User avatar
JohnRatzenberger
Why is he so confused ?
Posts: 15708
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm
Location: Living on a sandbar - Nags Head, NC.

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

jRatz wrote:David Fromkin's A Peace to End All Peace, The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East.

Probably one of the best books I have ever read; a very well-organized and written history of a complex subject that is a precursor to world problems today.
Finished today - after several enjoyable months of reading taken in small doses thanks to the superb organization of the book.

Cannot recommend too highly.

Starting James McPherson's The War that Forged a Nation, Why the Civil War Still Matters. I have read other works by him, including the 1989 Pulitzer Battle Cry of Freedom and am looking forward to this.
John Ratzenberger :???:
It's my model and I'll do what I want with it.
User avatar
MarkyM607
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9153
Joined: January 5th, 2013, 1:16 pm
Location: Cambs

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by MarkyM607 »

Wandering around the charity shops in town and found 'Wings of the Luftwaffe' by Capt. Eric Brown for the princely sum of £2-50!. Snapped it up as it looks a good book and it is by Capt Brown, and also considering the GB to come I thought it would be a 'source of good ideas' book. :grin:
Hoping to return to modelling sometime this year!! :lol:
Owner of Marky's Model Emporium since 2013!.
User avatar
Stuart
Raider of the Lost Ark Royal
Posts: 19204
Joined: February 25th, 2013, 4:55 pm
Location: Forever England
Contact:

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by Stuart »

MarkyM607 wrote:Wandering around the charity shops in town and found 'Wings of the Luftwaffe' by Capt. Eric Brown for the princely sum of £2-50!. Snapped it up as it looks a good book and it is by Capt Brown, and also considering the GB to come I thought it would be a 'source of good ideas' book. :grin:
A good find that!
Stuart Templeton I may not be good but I'm slow...

My Blog: https://stuartsscalemodels.blogspot.com/
User avatar
PaulBradley
Staring out the window
Posts: 21115
Joined: April 6th, 2011, 3:08 pm
Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by PaulBradley »

John Keegan's World War II - so far, an excellent précis of the factors leading to the war.
Paul

За демократію і незалежний Україну

"For Democracy and a Free Ukraine"
User avatar
JohnRatzenberger
Why is he so confused ?
Posts: 15708
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm
Location: Living on a sandbar - Nags Head, NC.

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Just finished a superb sci-fi thriller - The Martian, by Andy Weir.

Yes, this is the book that the movie is based on. I have not seen the movie (yet), but I highly recommend you read the book before seeing the movie. I was reading on a kindle and could not stop when I got into the last 20% and the final 10% for sure.
John Ratzenberger :???:
It's my model and I'll do what I want with it.
User avatar
JohnRatzenberger
Why is he so confused ?
Posts: 15708
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm
Location: Living on a sandbar - Nags Head, NC.

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

PaulBradley wrote:John Keegan's World War II - so far, an excellent précis of the factors leading to the war.
Hmmm, I have, and have read, about 7-8 of his books, but not that one - I may have to get it as he is one of my favorites.

EDIT: that's 7-8 not 78 of his books.
John Ratzenberger :???:
It's my model and I'll do what I want with it.
User avatar
PaulBradley
Staring out the window
Posts: 21115
Joined: April 6th, 2011, 3:08 pm
Location: Flagstaff, AZ

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by PaulBradley »

It was written in 1989, believe it or not, and I hadn't read it either, thinking I'd read all there was to read in general histories of WWII... :roll: However, I have enjoyed and been absorbed by his first couple of chapters on the causation.

Oh, and the proper title is The Second World War, not World War II.... :oops:
Paul

За демократію і незалежний Україну

"For Democracy and a Free Ukraine"
User avatar
Ratch
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9889
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 9:16 am
Location: Northampton

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by Ratch »

Celtic Mythology - Geddes & Grosset
All models are equal. Some models are more equal than others.
Airfix Tribute Forum
Stevehnz
Active Participant
Posts: 504
Joined: April 17th, 2013, 12:41 pm
Location: Nelson, New Zealand

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by Stevehnz »

Just finished a couple of books on the 3rd Ypres campaign during ww1, "Passchendaele, the sacrificial ground" & "Passchendaele, the anatomy of a tragedy", the first a good over view, the second with a focus on the New Zealand Division. Oct 12 1917 marked the largest loss of life by New Zealanders on any one day ever, in the 1st Battle of Passchendaele. Having visited the area a little under two years ago, it was all especially poignant.
Steve
User avatar
JohnRatzenberger
Why is he so confused ?
Posts: 15708
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm
Location: Living on a sandbar - Nags Head, NC.

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

I am continuing a WW1-centered read encompassing (what was) the Turkish Empire to (what was the British Empire) India, with all spots in between and including the southern Russia (Transcaucasia, Transcaspia) and China. In short, Central Asia. Very relevant to today also.

Having just finished Peter Hopkirk's "The Great Game", I have started his "Like Hidden Fire".
John Ratzenberger :???:
It's my model and I'll do what I want with it.
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by Eric Mc »

Two Sides of the Moon - by astronaut David Scott and Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov

I bought it over ten years ago and read it then but decided to read it again. It essentially covers the spaceflight career of the two individuals and the original suspicion and rivalry of the two programmes which softened when the Apollo Soyuz test project got underway in 1972. Scott was part of the planning team for ASTP and Leonov, of course, was one of the Soviet crew members.
User avatar
Cameronian
Onto the Clever Stuff, Now.
Posts: 171
Joined: March 6th, 2015, 1:48 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by Cameronian »

Germania, Simon Winder. A political history of what became Germany from Roman times to 1933. A better read than it sounds!
"The time has come, the walrus said..."
User avatar
jssel
Still crazy after all these years
Posts: 11976
Joined: April 5th, 2011, 3:42 pm

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by jssel »

Older book. The Aviator by Ernest Gann. Imagine ILS approaches based on hand written notes. Long before Jeppeson.
Besting 60 years of mediocre building of average kits in the stand off scale
User avatar
iggie
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 23360
Joined: July 31st, 2013, 11:04 am
Location: North Somercotes, Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: What are you reading ? (merged)

Post by iggie »

On a lighter note, I've just finished books 1 and 2 of Danny Baker's autobiography; very, very entertaining stuff and well worth a read just for the laugh out loud moments and the descriptions of London in the early sixties and later
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
Post Reply

Return to “General Chat”