Reading Challenge 2022

ob said:
Just finished Beyond by Stephen Walker. The story of the first human to leave our planet. Another book that I would never ever have picked up so thanks to whoever recommended it on here. Completely outside my scope of what I usually read, a subject I knew virtually nothing about (apart from names of 1 or 2 people involved. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. My next 2 are going to be paperback Sycamore Row by John Grisham and on my Kindle app The Well of Tears by our very own Rob Campbell. Looking forward to catching up with my old friends Monkey and Lorna
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I read Beyond earlier this year and thought it was excellent. If you haven't already read it, can I suggest "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe who tells the story of the early days of the Space Race from an American perspective. A different approach to telling the story but very good nonetheless. It was also made into a film which is well worth seeing.
 
Paladin said:
I really enjoyed the tension created in The Pelican Brief, and The Firm. A few others were good too, but they are all essentially legal thrillers. If I fancy a legal thriller or an ex-army vigilante thriller, Grisham and Childs are my go to authors. I'm not a regular visitor though.
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Similar here not something I read all the time but dip in and of both occasionally
 
I remember reading a few Tom Sharpe books many, many years ago, and found them laugh out loud funny. Wilt, and Riotous Assembly spring to mind. I then revisited them about ten years ago and didn't find them anywhere near as good. My sense of humour must have matured in the intervening period.
 
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1. Winter - Len Deighton - 7/10
2. The Last Great Mountain - Mick Conefrey - 6/10
3. Pegasus Bridge - Stephen E. Ambrose - 6/10
4. The Dead of Jericho - Colin Dexter - 7/10
5. Agent Sonya - Ben MacIntyre - 7/10
6. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - 9/10
7. Macbeth - A. J. Hartley and David Hewson - 9/10
8. The Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor - 7/10
9. Ashendon - W. Somerset Maugham - 5/10
10. With a Mind to Kill - Anthony Horowitz - 8/10
11. SAS: Sea King Down - Mark Aston and Stuart Tootal - 7/10
12. SS-GB - Len Deighton - 6/10
13. Nomad - Alan Partridge - 5/10
14. Jungle Soldier - Brian Moynahan - 9/10
15. The Ticket Collector from Belarus - Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson - 8/10

Ben-Zion Blustein and Andrei Sawoniuk were childhood friends in 1930s Belarus. The first half of this book tells how Ben-Zion manages to evade persecution and execution when firstly the Russian Army occupy his homeland, followed by the Nazis. Most of Ben-Zion's fellow Jews were killed during the war. Only 13 of around 3000 in his town survived. Ben-Zion managed to join up with resistance fighters. He settled in Israel after the war.

Sawoniuk was a Polish orphan, settled in Belarus in the same town as Ben-Zion. When the Germans arrived in 1942, he was one of the first to join the local police force appointed by the Nazis. Although it was unpaid work (police workers would be given food), there weren't many options for young non-Jewish men at that time. Sawoniuk was only too happy to carry out his orders to rid the province of Jews and he personally killed hundreds.

A specimen two of his killings were brought to prominence in 1999, in Britain's first and only war crimes trial. Ben-Zion was the chief prosecution witness. The second half of the book details quite meticulously the work to track down Sawoniuk, who settled in England after the war, working as a train ticket collector. It also documents his trial.

As with most books that feature the Holocaust, it is a very poignant read. The trial coverage depicts a lot of uncertainty over the eventual verdict, but it was Sawoniuk himself who sealed his own fate by taking the witness stand and tying himself in knots with contradictions and blatant lies. Without his own testimony, he might well have been found not guilty, of crimes he committed almost 60 years before.
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Paladin said:
1. Winter - Len Deighton - 7/10
2. The Last Great Mountain - Mick Conefrey - 6/10
3. Pegasus Bridge - Stephen E. Ambrose - 6/10
4. The Dead of Jericho - Colin Dexter - 7/10
5. Agent Sonya - Ben MacIntyre - 7/10
6. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - 9/10
7. Macbeth - A. J. Hartley and David Hewson - 9/10
8. The Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor - 7/10
9. Ashendon - W. Somerset Maugham - 5/10
10. With a Mind to Kill - Anthony Horowitz - 8/10
11. SAS: Sea King Down - Mark Aston and Stuart Tootal - 7/10
12. SS-GB - Len Deighton - 6/10
13. Nomad - Alan Partridge - 5/10
14. Jungle Soldier - Brian Moynahan - 9/10
15. The Ticket Collector from Belarus - Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson - 8/10

Ben-Zion Blustein and Andrei Sawoniuk were childhood friends in 1930s Belarus. The first half of this book tells how Ben-Zion manages to evade persecution and execution when firstly the Russian Army occupy his homeland, followed by the Nazis. Most of Ben-Zion's fellow Jews were killed during the war. Only 13 of around 3000 in his town survived. Ben-Zion managed to join up with resistance fighters. He settled in Israel after the war.

Sawoniuk was a Polish orphan, settled in Belarus in the same town as Ben-Zion. When the Germans arrived in 1942, he was one of the first to join the local police force appointed by the Nazis. Although it was unpaid work (police workers would be given food), there weren't many options for young non-Jewish men at that time. Sawoniuk was only too happy to carry out his orders to rid the province of Jews and he personally killed hundreds.

A specimen two of his killings were brought to prominence in 1999, in Britain's first and only war crimes trial. Ben-Zion was the chief prosecution witness. The second half of the book details quite meticulously the work to track down Sawoniuk, who settled in England after the war, working as a train ticket collector. It also documents his trial.

As with most books that feature the Holocaust, it is a very poignant read. The trial coverage depicts a lot of uncertainty over the eventual verdict, but it was Sawoniuk himself who sealed his own fate by taking the witness stand and tying himself in knots with contradictions and blatant lies. Without his own testimony, he might well have been found not guilty, of crimes he committed almost 60 years before.
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That sounds like a good read and one that I might enjoy. £9.99 on Kindle means I'll stick on the "might read" pile rather than buying it straight away!
 
Promised an update a couple of weeks ago so finally got around tor a catch-up post.

Blue Moon Rising by Andy Buckley & Richard Burgess

A turbulent decade in the comings and goings of Manchester City FC from 1991-2000. Eight different managers, three chairman, two relegations & two promotions detailed by two BBC sports journalists. Contains insight and anecdotes from some of the key people inside the boardroom and out on the pitch that were around at that time.

It’s a good reminder to fans of the club of where we’ve been and how bad things got at times. 3½★'s


A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar

Alternate history where an internee of the Nazi concentration camps dreams that the communists won the election in Germany during 1933 and the top Nazi party officials fled to England and the now disgraced former dictator known only as Wolf works as a private eye.

My first book from this author but I'll be on the lookout for others. Reads like a noir detective story and is quite brutal and graphic at times. 4★'s


Fluke by Christopher Moore

Typical absurdist humour with what follows after a marine biologist reads the words “bite me” written on a whale’s tail. 3½★'s


Resolution by Denise Mina

With the impending trial of the psychologist who tried to kill her about to get underway it’s probably not the best time for Maureen O’Donnell to be getting involved with more underhanded dealings. But when an old woman who works at the same market dhe does dies in suspicious circumstances she feels obligated to investigate seeing as the police aren’t.

Concludes the trilogy nicely. 3½★'s

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Former disgraced CDC doctor is asked to get involved when an outbreak occurs that turns the infected into almost zombie-like creatures. Impervious to external stimuli and intent on reaching a specific destination the flock grows as it travels across the US.

Right-wing politics takes a bashing in this world-ending pandemic scenario. 4★'s


Raylan by Elmore Leonard

US Marshal Raylan Givens (the character that inspired the TV show Justified) has three consecutive cases to deal with. With the end of one blending straight into another with occasional carry-over to fudge the seams.

Not Leonard’s best work but still very readable. 3★'s


The Sixth Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

The sixth and final book in the Night Watch urban fantasy series which follows Anton Gorodetsky and the cast of characters that have built up around him. To prevent the deaths of himself, his wife and daughter Anton must gather the members of the sixth watch to face the oncoming threat but the trouble is that no-one can remember who they are.

I do like spending time with these characters and this is a fitting conclusion to the series. 4★'s
 
I don’t generally read books about footballers who never had a connection with City. However, I’ve just finished Pat Nevin’s book and can’t recommend it enough. Fascinating character and talks highly likely and of City. He’s also a massive joy division, new order and a certain ratio fan and covers a lot about music and Factory in his book.
 
stoneblue said:
I read Beyond earlier this year and thought it was excellent. If you haven't already read it, can I suggest "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe who tells the story of the early days of the Space Race from an American perspective. A different approach to telling the story but very good nonetheless. It was also made into a film which is well worth seeing.
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I can recommend the audiobook of Beyond which I listened too a week ago, excellent stuff,the narrator brings it to life brilliantly
 
1. The Spirit Engineer - A.J.West - 7/10
2. The Lost Man - Jane Harper - 8/10
3. The Fall of Babel – Josiah Bancroft - 5/10
4. The Forest – Michaelbrent Collings – 3/10
5. Black River – Will Dean – 7/10
6. Winter is Coming – Garry Kasparov – 9/10
7. Archangel – Robert Harris – 8/10
8. The Justice of Kings – Richard Swan - 8/10
9. Priest of Bones – Peter McLean – 8/10
10. Watching Skies: Star Wars, Spielberg and us – Mark O’Connell – 7/10
11. Björn Borg and the Super-Swedes – Mats Holm and Ulf Roosvald – 8/10
12. We Men of Ash and Shadow – HL Tinsley 6/10


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We Men of Ash and Shadow – HL Tinsley

In this grimdark fantasy novel, the setting is D’Orsee, a city full of the usual underworld characters and the greed, corruption and betrayal that goes with it. It’s not a typical fantasy city, given that technology such as photographs, gas lamps and lifts are featured.

Protagonist John Vanguard, a soldier with a past, works as an assassin for Felix Sanquain, a captain who is in charge of the city. Vanguard works his way through a list of kills for Sanquain – all men who deserve to die.

The second main character is Tarryn Leersac. When we meet him, he is living in an old run-down house looking after his senile mother. It turns out that mild-mannered Tarryn has an insatiable bloodlust that makes for an ideal assassin, which is how he comes to Vanguard’s attention and the latter becomes Tarryn’s mentor.

The plot concerns revolution fermenting in the city, and when Vanguard and Tarryn hunt down the killers of two guards, they become entangled in the usual web of lies and conspiracies.

There were a few things that I struggled with in this book – whilst there are two main POV characters, we do see things through the eyes of others. But the author doesn’t separate the chapters or even the paragraphs when swapping from one character to the next. This is a personal bugbear of mine.

Also, the character of Sanquain did not feel convincing to me. He just felt like a cardboard cut-out evil guy whose motives for wanting to keep the city in his grip were not obvious.

Finally, both the characters of Vanguard and Tarryn share a special ability which when first revealed, made me sit up and think “this is going to be interesting”. But sadly, it was never explained or utilised enough. Maybe this is a thread for future books in the series.

Not a bad book, but I won’t be rushing to read any sequels.
 
1. Winter - Len Deighton - 7/10
2. The Last Great Mountain - Mick Conefrey - 6/10
3. Pegasus Bridge - Stephen E. Ambrose - 6/10
4. The Dead of Jericho - Colin Dexter - 7/10
5. Agent Sonya - Ben MacIntyre - 7/10
6. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - 9/10
7. Macbeth - A. J. Hartley and David Hewson - 9/10
8. The Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor - 7/10
9. Ashendon - W. Somerset Maugham - 5/10
10. With a Mind to Kill - Anthony Horowitz - 8/10
11. SAS: Sea King Down - Mark Aston and Stuart Tootal - 7/10
12. SS-GB - Len Deighton - 6/10
13. Nomad - Alan Partridge - 5/10
14. Jungle Soldier - Brian Moynahan - 9/10
15. The Ticket Collector from Belarus - Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson - 8/10
16. Soldier 'I' - Pete Winner and Michael Paul Kennedy - 6/10

The story of Pete Winner, soldier who served in the SAS in the 70s and 80s.

Winner was involved in the legendary Battle of Mirbat in 1972. The book tells how Winner was temporarily returned to his army unit after receiving a criminal conviction. He was lucky enough to return to the SAS in a different squadron, and was subsequently involved in the Iranian Embassy siege. He completed his hat-trick of famous modern day SAS campaigns when his unit was included in the Falklands conflict, although his role there was peripheral.

After his short temper landed him in more trouble, Winner eventually left the army, and the book tells of his adventures as a civilian. VIP protection, security, body-guarding, surveillance, training and more brushes with the law following temper tantrums.

Not my favorite soldier biography, but that could be because I've read many of these stories before. The account of Winner's return to civilian life was interesting though, with insight into some of the mental strains soldiers go through when they finish their army careers.
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For those with e readers there are some good books available for just 99p for kindle - may also be available for Apple Books and Kobo.
These caught my eye….

V2 - Robert Harris
Disgrace - Jussi Adler-Olsen
Two Nights in Lisbon - Chris Pavone
A Clear Blue Sky - Duncan Hamilton and Jonny Bairstow
 
Just finished Well of Tears by Rob from here. Excellent book and kept me wanting to turn the page, start new chapter, start the next book. Thanks Rob 5/5. Downloaded SAS Sea King Down as my next kindle book as recommended on here
 
ob said:
Just finished Well of Tears by Rob from here. Excellent book and kept me wanting to turn the page, start new chapter, start the next book. Thanks Rob 5/5. Downloaded SAS Sea King Down as my next kindle book as recommended on here
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Thanks @ob. Glad you enjoyed the books and thanks for giving them a go.
 
1. Winter - Len Deighton - 7/10
2. The Last Great Mountain - Mick Conefrey - 6/10
3. Pegasus Bridge - Stephen E. Ambrose - 6/10
4. The Dead of Jericho - Colin Dexter - 7/10
5. Agent Sonya - Ben MacIntyre - 7/10
6. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - 9/10
7. Macbeth - A. J. Hartley and David Hewson - 9/10
8. The Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor - 7/10
9. Ashendon - W. Somerset Maugham - 5/10
10. With a Mind to Kill - Anthony Horowitz - 8/10
11. SAS: Sea King Down - Mark Aston and Stuart Tootal - 7/10
12. SS-GB - Len Deighton - 6/10
13. Nomad - Alan Partridge - 5/10
14. Jungle Soldier - Brian Moynahan - 9/10
15. The Ticket Collector from Belarus - Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson - 8/10
16. Soldier 'I' - Pete Winner and Michael Paul Kennedy - 6/10
17. Seashaken Houses - Tom Nancollas - 8/10

A bit of a diversion from my usual subject matter, but it was well worth the trip.

The author chose to write his university dissertation about lighthouses, and this started an interest that ultimately led to this book being written.

There are some 20 rock lighthouses (built on rocks in the sea as opposed to on the mainland) in the seas surrounding Britain. The author chooses eight of them for this fascinating history. It describes the men that designed them, the men who built them, who occupied them, the changing technology used by them, and the dangers of the seas they seek to protect.

The book is meticulously researched, well written, and should appeal to anyone with an interest in the sea, architecture, or maritime history.
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1. Winter - Len Deighton - 7/10
2. The Last Great Mountain - Mick Conefrey - 6/10
3. Pegasus Bridge - Stephen E. Ambrose - 6/10
4. The Dead of Jericho - Colin Dexter - 7/10
5. Agent Sonya - Ben MacIntyre - 7/10
6. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak - 9/10
7. Macbeth - A. J. Hartley and David Hewson - 9/10
8. The Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor - 7/10
9. Ashendon - W. Somerset Maugham - 5/10
10. With a Mind to Kill - Anthony Horowitz - 8/10
11. SAS: Sea King Down - Mark Aston and Stuart Tootal - 7/10
12. SS-GB - Len Deighton - 6/10
13. Nomad - Alan Partridge - 5/10
14. Jungle Soldier - Brian Moynahan - 9/10
15. The Ticket Collector from Belarus - Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson - 8/10
16. Soldier 'I' - Pete Winner and Michael Paul Kennedy - 6/10
17. Seashaken Houses - Tom Nancollas - 8/10
18. The Good Germans - Catrine Clay - 5/10

One good thing about reading on a Kindle is that the device tells you how far you are through a book. This was a case of knowing how much of it I had to endure if I was to finish it.

I started the book months ago, but left it in favour of other books, after reading 25% of it. I picked it up again and struggled to 60%, skim reading parts of it. The book eventually picks up after 75%, but the last 9% of the book is taken up by accreditations, reference and acknowledgements, which was a blessed relief.

About two thirds of Germans never voted for Hitler or his Nazi party. The author picks six of these and describes their lives between 1933 and the end of WW2 in 1945.

There are twelve chapters describing their lives during the rise of the Nazi party and the war, and a final chapter telling us what happened to them and their families after the war.

Each chapter covers a period of time and includes extremely detailed stories of all six subjects. I didn't find this style particularly easy to follow.

One of the subjects was Ernst Thalmann, leader of the German Communist Party. Thalmann was incarcerated for most of the 12 years covered by the book, and he did little to actively resist the Nazis, before he was executed just before the end of the war. The book wouldn't have been poorer for his exclusion from it.

Another was Rudolf Ditzen, an author who wrote the depressing Alone in Berlin under his pseudonym Hans Fallada. Ditzen, and another Good German, Bernt Engelmann, did relatively little dangerous or subversive against the regime, and it is hard to see why they deserved inclusion in the book.

The other three were all actively involved in attempts to thwart Nazi war efforts, and they were heavily involved in Operation Valkyrie, the attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944. They were each tried, convicted and killed for their parts in the failed mission.

The book comes to life in the final two chapters, which describe the events leading to Operation Valkyrie and its brutal aftermath. But it is a hard slog up to that point, and for that reason, I can't recommend this book with much enthusiasm.

The author also wrote Trautmann's Journey, which is on my bookshelf, and I'll get round to reading at some point. But if there are 200 pages about the time Trautmann's got into trouble with his kindergarten teacher for wearing odd socks, I'll probably lose hope and abandon it for something much lighter.
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Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey

Book 7 of The Expanse series set 30 years after the events of the previous book sees the crew of the Rocinante about to part ways with Jim & Naomi heading off to enjoy some quiet time together after completing just one last run for the Transport Union. Things don’t quite work out as planned though as, after handing over captaincy to Bobbie as soon as they return, Laconia decides to make its presence felt in the grand scheme of things.

My major gripe with this story involves the 30 year gap. So much time passed but nobody is doing anything different. The Roci is still running little missions for Drummer who’s still head of the Transport Union. The only change is for Avasarala but even she is still around. Not convinced either by the appointment of Singh to lead the occupation of Medina Station. Definitely feels like more of a set-up book for what’s to come as the series is reaching its conclusion (just two more volumes after this). Even so, I’m still looking forward to reading those final two entries so it couldn’t have been too bad. 3½★'s
 
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