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Meep said:
Have you read any of the discworld books? Or "the unadulterated cat"? They made me laugh out loud also :)
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I've heard that the discworld books were funny as well. I might try them as well. I'd wanted to read Good Omens because I'd read American Gods by Neil Gaiman and really liked it. So I was mostly reading it for him. But I think I might try Terry Pratchett soon. Thanks. :rolleyes:
 
My current read is P D James Death of an Expert Witness. While I enjoy the Dalgliesh tv series with Patrick Malahide (I think), the book is very dry. I'm getting annoyed with the pointless descriptions of every room each character goes into. Much more of that and I'll tag and bag it.

Next to read is Fatal Voyage, by Kathy Reichs.
 
Finished Frankenstein, which wasn't bad.

Currently reading Tom Holland's Rubicon. As a piece of narrative history, it isn't bad, though I'm not enjoying it as much as Beevor's Stalingrad. Part of the problem is that it's pretty detailed with regards to the republic. Tyrants and conquerors are more interesting to read about than lawers, poets and artisans. It's all here, giving a good overview of the roman republic, but some of it's more interesting than other bits.
 
Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor

About 1/3 of the way through it and it's pretty good so far. Heard others talking about it and figured I'd jump on the bandwagon.
 
Started 'The Republic' by Plato and I have to say that, so far at least, I have found some of his reasoning really quite weak and am not too impressed with it. However, I shall reserve judgement until I've finished it.
 
Currently wallowing my way through my last Jilly Cooper (Appassionata). Once I'm done with that, I'm *definitely* ready for some serious stuff!
 
I'm reading Alice in Exile by Piers Paul Read. The book is about 2 lovers who are parted because of different social backgrounds, and is set between England and Russia in the early 1900's, during WWI and the Russian Revolution.

I'm learning a little Russian history, and the love story is realistic and not sappy. It's a very good book, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys romance and historical fiction.
 
It certainly is an interesting read. What parts of Russian history interest you? It's one of my recent interests. (I'm trying to learn the language too!)
 
I'm most interested in the pre and post WWI (around 1850 - 1930) period right now, but I know I'll branch into other periods (I always do). There was so much change that occured during those years, it's incredible to think about what it would have been like to live then (if you made it through). I've read a number of books that delve into Russian history either briefly or in detail but until Alice in Exile, I wasn't too interested.

Also, until I read that book I thought Russian was a somewhat ugly language - choppy and hard sounding. But I realized that Russian names are actually quite beautiful, and so it's made me think that if I actually listen to Russian speech with a keen ear it will probably sound much different than the scant exposure I've had thus far. Do you know what I mean? Are you learning the language for personal achievement, or for something work or study related (ie. did you choose to learn it or are you being prompted?)

The last few years I've been enormously interested in African history. My second favorite genre is historical fiction.

BTW - I checked out your Talk History link last night. What a great site! I'm no historian by any means, but I joined anyway.
 
Jenem said:
I'm most interested in the pre and post WWI (around 1850 - 1930) period right now, but I know I'll branch into other periods (I always do). There was so much change that occured during those years, it's incredible to think about what it would have been like to live then (if you made it through). I've read a number of books that delve into Russian history either briefly or in detail but until Alice in Exile, I wasn't too interested.

Also, until I read that book I thought Russian was a somewhat ugly language - choppy and hard sounding. But I realized that Russian names are actually quite beautiful, and so it's made me think that if I actually listen to Russian speech with a keen ear it will probably sound much different than the scant exposure I've had thus far. Do you know what I mean? Are you learning the language for personal achievement, or for something work or study related (ie. did you choose to learn it or are you being prompted?)

The last few years I've been enormously interested in African history. My second favorite genre is historical fiction.

BTW - I checked out your Talk History link last night. What a great site! I'm no historian by any means, but I joined anyway.
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For Russian histroy around WWI try Solzenitzen. (sp?)

For African, especially the effect and transition from the period of untouched Africa to colonization I cannot recommend Chinua Achebe enough. Try Things Fall Apart to start.
 
thanks True, I've just done a bit of research on those authors and have added these to my list:

Things Fall Apart, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, and Cancer Ward
 
I've decided to have a go at The Da Vinci Code, just to see what you're all banging on about - please don't take this as an excuse to start another fascinating round of Dan Brown bashing.... not til I've finished it anyroad :D
 
Jenem said:
Are you learning the language for personal achievement, or for something work or study related (ie. did you choose to learn it or are you being prompted?)
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I'm just learning because I want to although I haven't been putting as much effort in recently as I should be. I have in interest in languages - spoken, coded, and computer programming.

I checked out your Talk History link last night. What a great site! I'm no historian by any means, but I joined anyway.
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Thanks. It was actually originally meant to be a language website but I decided to do history. http://www.lingua-mile.co.uk is it's original domain which still links there. So, website wise, I'm split between Talk History and developing another, more commercial site related to computer programming solutions. Glad you joined. :)
 
Interesting! I ,too, have an interest in language. I took a computer programming course in my last year of highschool, and just recently started learning html. I'm always making little sites for family and friends that showcase their photos or whatever, but it's nothing complicated. I'd like to really get into coding (flash or C++ or something) by taking a course or investing serious time at home, but I can never find the time. I intend to learn spanish, then japanese in the (hopefully) near future.

My problem is that I have too many interests and so I spend little time on each. I'm also into astronomy and sewing, among other things. One day I'll get serious and pick one thing to get very good at - but for right now I'm a dabbler in everything and a connoisseur of nothing.
 
After the english patient, the hours and kowloon tong, i decided to go for a bit of simple horror with james herbert's the dark. I used to like his gruesome little books, but at 350 pages it was too long and too dull. If anyones read herbert, you'll know he devotes every other chapter to a grizzly set-piece featuring unrelated characters who end up dead. If he'd have dropped the 10 or so of these that littered the book, it might have been a fun read, instead of a chore that i even read while doing my 10 miles a day on the exercise bike!
 
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