Reading Challenge 2022

[stoneblue]

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

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.

 

[ob]

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.

Similar here not something I read all the time but dip in and of both occasionally

 

[Oystercatcher28]

currently reading Lost Horizons by James Hilton. We're all looking for our Shangrila.

 

[Paladin]

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.

 

[Paladin]

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.

 

[RobMCFC]

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.

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!

 

[discopop]

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!

Mate drop me a pm with your email addy and I will send you a mobi file for the kindle

 

[RobMCFC]

Mate drop me a pm with your email addy and I will send you a mobi file for the kindle

That’s very kind of you, thanks, but I prefer to keep things above board.

I’m not poor, so if and when I want to read it, I’ll pay the price. But thanks again, anyway.

 

[JRockBlues]

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

 

[01282]

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.