Book Club

Quoted from gytone

Just finished SAS Rogue hereos absolutely fantastic book, what they went through in world war 2 is astonishing, tough men and real hereos 9/10.

Read this last year. Yes enjoyed that. On the subject of all things military I enjoyed first man in by Ant Middleton. Liked this a lot . Talks about his time in the paras and how real life experiences changed him from a naive 17 old to a more  hardened individual when he left at 25. Said the French legionnaires were a lot more team based than the paras and he enjoyed his time there far more amongst other things.

It’s Not All Black and White
John McDermott

I don't know why it’s taken me so long to read Macca’s book but I’ve just binged it in less than a day. Legend is an embarrassingly overused description for too many sports stars nowadays but, unequivocally John McDermott IS a bona fide legend.
Along with Paul Futcher he is my favourite ever Town player and I looked up to him being a young right back myself. My only gripe is that the book should have been longer!
He comes across as a top bloke and I loved the insight into a time when we were truly spoilt. I loved hearing tales of the drinking and nights out and particularly the ones about Gallimore.
I cannot quite believe how shabbily he was treat by him who shall not be named-what a tool!

And the sun shines now
Adrian Tempany

I don’t recall which thread it was but Ska recommended this book to someone else and I decided to take the plunge.
I’m really glad I did because it’s a remarkable book with great personal insight from the author.
It’s framework centres around how Hillsborough and the Premier League changed Britain. It’s worth noting that this is not a book about Hillsborough, a point the Tempany is keen to make. However, I have read a lot of books on the subject but I was surprised by how touched I was by his first hand accounts of the events and aftermath.
His passion for that subject seeps in to the rest of the book and I got through it like the proverbial ‘page turner’.
I would back Ska’s judgment for sure and recommend this to anyone football fan or not.

Just finished listening to the first 3 in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, about a Met police constable named Peter Grant who finds himself being drafted into a special unit containing himself and a wizard, to whom he becomes apprentice, and they work on cases involving ghosts, goblins, witches, wizards and all manner of magical beings that exist on the fringes and in the underbelly of modern day London.

Really enjoying them. Sharp, witty and full of info on present day and past London people and places.

There are all manner of weird and wonderful characters, from river kings and queens to nefarious murderers using magic spells for good and for evil.

Recommended if you like that sort of Terry Pratchett type stuff, but set in a real, modern day city instead of some made up universe.

It helps that the narrator is excellent and easily slips from one character to the next with an impressive array of voices and accents.

Really good books, those, ginny. Keep on going with them.

If you've not read the Laundry books by Charles Stross, I'd highly recommend, as they are similar-ish to Aaronovich, though a little darker in tone (still humorous).

Quoted from Maringer

Really good books, those, ginny. Keep on going with them.

If you've not read the Laundry books by Charles Stross, I'd highly recommend, as they are similar-ish to Aaronovich, though a little darker in tone (still humorous).

Thanks for the recommendation. Will look out for those.

First book in the series is called, 'The Atrocity Archives'. Stross is one of my favourite authors. He's got an interesting way of looking at the world, for a guy from Leeds!

Favourite book is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Favourite authors are Stephen King and Irvine Welsh. Love the Trainspotting series and the way characters reappear I. Various books. If pushed I would say Glue is my favourite.

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde - its got everything in it - immigration, minorities, racism, liberalism and its bloody funny too! One of the best books I've read n years and I read a lot.

Becoming Johnny Vegas
By Michael Pennington

I was never a big fan of Johnny Vegas especially, although he was fascinating but always liked Pennington’s TV work especially Ideal.
I thought his brute honesty would lend itself to a good listen and this proved to be the case. Narrated by the author his down to earth approach and story telling elevated the monotonous every day into tales worth listening to. The Doctor Death (not a spoiler) element really resonated with me deeply and he’s full of unexpected surprises throughout. I would definitely recommend this even if you would not yourself down as a fan of the man.