Books & Reading Thread 2025

Travelled from Vermont to Tampa on Friday, returning today (currently at Charlotte airport, North Carolina waiting for the 2nd flight to Hartford Connecticut and then an hours drive home)
Nearly finished Alex Williams book, really enjoyable and very proud that he has been a brilliant ambassador for City all these years.
 
2025 Books

  1. A Lesson in Violence – Jordan Harper - 7/10
  2. The Silverblood Promise – James Logan 9/10
  3. Exiles – Jane Harper 9/10
  4. Palace of Shadows – Ray Celestine 6/10
  5. The Wager – David Grann 8/10
TheWager.jpg

The Wager tells the true story of an 18th century shipwreck and mutiny. It’s certainly not a story I’d heard about before, but author David Grann does a fantastic job of combining historical record with the journals of two men involved in the mutiny, one of whom is Lord Byron’s grandfather.

I must confess to being a little disappointed near the end. After an amazing “first half” of the book, where we learn about the fleet of ships as they left England and also getting to know the characters of the men on board, before the shipwreck and mutiny that followed, I was gearing myself up to read about the political and personal ramifications in the “second half”. However, the end of the book came at 63% on my Kindle and I felt cheated! The rest of the page count was the reference section.

Because of this, the ending felt rushed and a huge anti-climax, but the author was just telling us what actually happened, so I don’t blame him. But the main section of the book is enthralling as we follow the events leading up to the shipwreck and the gruelling conditions suffered by the survivors afterwards.
 
RobMCFC said:
2025 Books

  1. A Lesson in Violence – Jordan Harper - 7/10
  2. The Silverblood Promise – James Logan 9/10
  3. Exiles – Jane Harper 9/10
  4. Palace of Shadows – Ray Celestine 6/10
  5. The Wager – David Grann 8/10
View attachment 153640

The Wager tells the true story of an 18th century shipwreck and mutiny. It’s certainly not a story I’d heard about before, but author David Grann does a fantastic job of combining historical record with the journals of two men involved in the mutiny, one of whom is Lord Byron’s grandfather.

I must confess to being a little disappointed near the end. After an amazing “first half” of the book, where we learn about the fleet of ships as they left England and also getting to know the characters of the men on board, before the shipwreck and mutiny that followed, I was gearing myself up to read about the political and personal ramifications in the “second half”. However, the end of the book came at 63% on my Kindle and I felt cheated! The rest of the page count was the reference section.

Because of this, the ending felt rushed and a huge anti-climax, but the author was just telling us what actually happened, so I don’t blame him. But the main section of the book is enthralling as we follow the events leading up to the shipwreck and the gruelling conditions suffered by the survivors afterwards.
Click to expand...
I commented on this book several pages back. I found it excellent. An incredible story. And true.

There is a film in the works. It's almost too extreme to be believable.
 
Gareth Barry Conlon said:
I commented on this book several pages back. I found it excellent. An incredible story. And true.

There is a film in the works. It's almost too extreme to be believable.
Click to expand...
I was sure that somebody commented on it but the search facility didn't throw anything up for The Wager.

But yes, you are right, it is an incredible story. When I finished it, I was thinking that somebody would be making a film about it soon and lo and behold, it's the old Scorcese/Di Caprio combination. I wouldn't hold your breath though, they bought the film rights to Erik Larsson's equally incredible story, The Devil and The White City, and we've been waiting 14 or 15 years for the film version of that!
 
Does anyone have ideas for me where I can search for books? I use kindle but it always offers me similar stuff to what I read before. I like this thread a lot and I am looking for something similar but in a bigger scale. I don't need to be able to purchase the books directly. I would just like short reviews and recommendations. No limitations in genres, I am interested in everything.
 
Jazzman said:
Does anyone have ideas for me where I can search for books? I use kindle but it always offers me similar stuff to what I read before. I like this thread a lot and I am looking for something similar but in a bigger scale. I don't need to be able to purchase the books directly. I would just like short reviews and recommendations. No limitations in genres, I am interested in everything.
Click to expand...

I use this https://www.fantasticfiction.com
 
Jazzman said:
Does anyone have ideas for me where I can search for books? I use kindle but it always offers me similar stuff to what I read before. I like this thread a lot and I am looking for something similar but in a bigger scale. I don't need to be able to purchase the books directly. I would just like short reviews and recommendations. No limitations in genres, I am interested in everything.
Click to expand...
Could always use Literature Map to check for authors similar to ones you like.
 
waspish said:
I use this https://www.fantasticfiction.com
Click to expand...
I use that to check bibliographies. My own books are catalogued on LibraryThing which also has an online community offering as well as providing user reviews and many other book/library related things. (Goodreads is similar in nature to this and probably a bigger site overall.)
 
JRockBlues said:
I use that to check bibliographies. My own books are catalogued on LibraryThing which also has an online community offering as well as providing user reviews and many other book/library related things. (Goodreads is similar in nature to this and probably a bigger site overall.)
Click to expand...

Not used good reads what I like with fantastic fiction is you go to kindle click the link to Amazon and the price is there to pay for it, for some reason in my Amazon app it always says unavailable to pay..
 
The new David baldacci book is £11:99 in kindle format that's a rip off if it was £7 I'd buy it! Have to just wait till it comes down
 
Manc baggie said:
Just finished reading & can thoroughly recommend The Siege by Ben Macintyre.

I have read several books by Ben Macintyre & thought them all to be excellent.
This is a quite brilliant account of the Iranian Embassy siege in London.
To be honest, it was not quite what I was expecting & thought it was going to be more focused on the SAS rescue. However, what it told was the complete story of why the siege even happened & the individual stories of who was involved from the hijackers, the hostages, the police, the government, the media & the SAS.
It’s an incredible account & honestly left me feeling a little shaken on several occasions, which is not something I would have remotely expected prior to reading.

A 10/10 rating from me & I recommend to anyone who is interested in historical non fiction.
Click to expand...
Just finished this. Excellent book.

Hard to believe it was 45 years ago to the day that the dramatic siege concluded.

Thanks for the recommendation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top