Inverted 1,776 Posted June 11, 2019 Share Posted June 11, 2019 Started watching BBC's Rome and have taken this out the library to fill out the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted June 11, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted June 11, 2019 Just spotted this in my bookshelf, looking for something to read when I finish a John Grisham book I have nearly finished and forgot all about the greatest that our son bought me for a present (Christmas, Birthday, Fathers Day, can't remember when?), this will be read next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,321 Posted June 14, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted June 14, 2019 Just ordered this: An autobiography of one of the road racing legends Michael Dunlop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted June 19, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted June 19, 2019 Nearly finished a book by John Grisham so I picked a Jack Higgins book called Confessional (1985), can't remember if I have read this before, can't be sure but Higgins is another author I like besides Grisham, Ludlam and a few others. A KGB-trained IRA assassin has gone rogue and is hellbent on killing the Pope. The IRA, KGB and British Secret Service are all after him, but can Liam Devlin get there first? Classic Jack Higgins for the new generation Operating in Ireland to keep the cycle of violence between the IRA and British Intelligence at a fever pitch, hitman Cuchulain targets the pope as his ultimate victim, and two enemies become the only people who can stop him. The third book in the Liam Devlin series, hero of The Eagle has Landed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,321 Posted July 3, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted July 3, 2019 Picked up a few popular science book today; it was free as a part of the initiative to popularise science and foster scientific culture. Pandora’s Seed takes us on a powerful and provocative globe-trotting tour of human history, back to a seminal event roughly ten thousand years ago, when our species made a radical shift in its way of life: We became farmers rather than hunter-gatherers, setting in motion a momentous chain of events that could not have been foreseen at the time. Although this decision to control our own food supply is what propelled us into the modern world, Wells demonstrates—using the latest genetic and anthropological data—that such a dramatic shift in lifestyle had a downside that we’re only now beginning to recognize. Growing grain crops ultimately made humans more sedentary and unhealthy and made the planet more crowded. The expanding population and the need to apportion limited resources such as water created hierarchies and inequalities. The desire to control—and no longer cooperate with—nature altered the concept of religion, making deities fewer and more influential, foreshadowing today’s fanaticisms. The proximity of humans and animals bred diseases that metastasized over time. Freedom of movement and choice were replaced by a pressure to work that is the forebear of the anxiety and depression millions feel today. Wells offers a hopeful prescription for altering a life to which we were always ill suited, recommending that we change our priorities and self-destructive appetites before it’s too late. A riveting and accessible scientific detective story, Pandora’s Seed is an eye-opening book for anyone fascinated by the past and concerned about the future. A renowned biochemist draws on cutting-edge scientific findings to construct the mosaic of life’s astounding history. How did life invent itself? Where did DNA come from? How did consciousness develop? Powerful new research methods are providing vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences, examining atomic structures of proteins, and looking into the geochemistry of rocks have helped explain evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane expertly reconstructs the history of life by describing the ten greatest inventions of evolution (including DNA, photosynthesis, sex, and sight), based on their historical impact, role in organisms today, and relevance to current controversies. Who would have guessed that eyes started off as light-sensitive spots used to calibrate photosynthesis in algae? Or that DNA’s building blocks form spontaneously in hydrothermal vents? Lane gives a gripping, lucid account of nature’s ingenuity, and the result is a work of essential reading for anyone who has ever pondered or questioned the science underlying evolution’s greatest gifts to man. Editor John Brockman continues in the same vein as his popular compilations What Are You Optimistic About and What Have You Changed Your Mind About with This Will Change Everything. Brockman asks 150 intellectual superstars “what game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?” Their fascinating responses are collected here, from bestselling author of Atonement Ian McEwan to Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek to electronic music pioneer Brian Eno to writer, actor, director, and activist Alan Alda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 Finally starting this mammoth of a book, as I leave tomorrow for a Bachelor's Party in New Orleans for 4 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,321 Posted July 17, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted July 17, 2019 12 minutes ago, Eco said: Finally starting this mammoth of a book, as I leave tomorrow for a Bachelor's Party in New Orleans for 4 days. I hope you're not going to spend the time at the Bachelor's party reading a book though! I just ordered Star Wars: Tarkin and Master and Apprentice... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 Just now, nudge said: I hope you're not going to spend the time at the Bachelor's party reading a book though! Ha - no. But I wake up around 5am every morning, and I know these guys don't, so I will have a solid 3 hours each morning for a run, breakfast and reading. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverted 1,776 Posted August 1, 2019 Share Posted August 1, 2019 Just finished this and am now moving onto this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted August 10, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted August 10, 2019 James Patterson - Violets Are Blue - Inspector Alex Cross battles with a killer called 'The Mastermind'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted August 31, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted August 31, 2019 Read this a while back so I have started it again, Lee Childs - Jack Reacher - One Shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 On 01/05/2019 at 19:26, Eco said: Yeah - I have moved to a lot of e-books, which aren't terrible, but definitely not the same. The touch, feel, smell of a book is something you can't replicate electronically. Unfortunately I'm not much of a reader. However if I was there is no way I would want e books. Looking at a screen for to long hurts my eyes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber nudge+ 15,321 Posted August 31, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted August 31, 2019 3 minutes ago, Gunnersauraus said: Unfortunately I'm not much of a reader. Plenty of time to become one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 32 minutes ago, nudge said: Plenty of time to become one Well I did try before. Did try a few short reads. Might try that again maybe. Did read the Hobbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted September 1, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted September 1, 2019 6 hours ago, Gunnersauraus said: Well I did try before. Did try a few short reads. Might try that again maybe. Did read the Hobbit There you go, I have never read the Hobbit but I gather it was a thick volume with lots of pages so if you have read that then start reading books that interest you, fact, fiction, romance, adventure, thrillers etc. Books can relax you, I came out of here last night and went to bed and finished off the Jack Reacher book which I had read a few years back but because I am a Lee Childs/Jack Reacher nutter I finished off reading the book in a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IgnisExcubitor 678 Posted September 1, 2019 Share Posted September 1, 2019 (edited) A friend, who knew that I love Pushing Daisies, recommended me this. And I am glad he did. I loved this book. It is such a beautifully written book. Also, it's just the kind of weird that I like. Edited September 1, 2019 by IgnisExcubitor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toinho 2,210 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Time and Time again - Ben Elton arguably my favourite author Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverted 1,776 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Though in my edition it's "Narziss" and Goldmund. Enjoying it a lot, not read a novel in a while. I'm definitely going to read some more Hesse after this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panflute 670 Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 A very entertaining read so far. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Reading The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien) for the 18th time in my life after finishing an amazing book by LBC’s James O’Brien; How to be Right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inverted 1,776 Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) Had this beast on my bookshelf for a while, going to try and get through at least one volume of it heading into winter. Edited September 13, 2019 by Inverted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eco 3,008 Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 About to head out of to California for a week, so I'll likely finish all 3 books that I'm currently reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted October 9, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted October 9, 2019 Just finished a Lee Child 'Jack Reacher' book Persuader and now starting a John Grisham book The Litigators. The Litigators is a 2011 legal thriller novel by John Grisham, his 25th fiction novel overall. The Litigators is about a two-partner Chicago law firm attempting to strike it rich in a class-action lawsuit over a cholesterol reduction drug by a major pharmaceutical drug company. The protagonist is a Harvard Law School grad big law firm burnout who stumbles upon the boutique and joins it only to find himself litigating against his old law firm in this case. The book is regarded as more humorous than most of Grisham's prior novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber CaaC (John)+ 5,358 Posted October 13, 2019 Subscriber Share Posted October 13, 2019 Might as well put this in here seeing it's to do with books. Lost chapter of the world's first novel found in Japanese storeroom © Robana/Rex An illustrated edition of The Tale of Genji, produced between 1640-1680. The oldest written copy of part of the 11th-century Japanese epic The Tale of Genji has been found in the home of a Tokyo family with ancestral ties to a feudal lord. Seen as the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji was completed around 1010 by a woman of the 11th-century Heian court of Japan, who was later given the name Murasaki Shikibu by scholars. It centres on the fortunes – amorous and political – of Genji, the son of an emperor. The original manuscript of the story no longer exists, with the oldest versions of the story believed to have been transcribed by the poet Teika, who died in 1241. Until now, just four chapters of the 54-chapter story are confirmed to be Teika’s transcriptions, but now a fifth chapter, which depicts Genji’s encounter with the girl who becomes his wife, Murasaki, has also been identified as Teika’s. The manuscript had been kept in an oblong chest in a storeroom at the Tokyo home of Motofuyu Okochi, a descendant of the former feudal lord of the Mikawa-Yoshida Domain in Aichi Prefecture, the Japan Times reported. Experts at Reizeike Shiguretei Bunko, a foundation for the preservation of cultural heritage, have now confirmed its authenticity, with the handwriting of the text, and the cover of the manuscript, identical to other Teika manuscripts. The foundation said although the newly-found manuscript “mostly” matches the common version of the story, there are some grammatical differences. According to the Asahi Shimbun, family records show the manuscript has been in the hands of the Okochi family since 1743 when it was handed down from the Kuroda family of the Fukuoka feudal domain. Kyoto University professor Junko Yamamoto told the paper that previous research on the chapter has relied on manuscripts of The Tale of Genji that were completed about 250 years later. “It is very significant that this discovery of the manuscript edited by Teika will be available for researchers,” she said. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/lost-chapter-of-worlds-first-novel-found-in-japanese-storeroom/ar-AAIFs3p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 I just bought this so I’m not currently reading it as of yet. I’ve had people on my back telling me to read it due to the fact I thoroughly enjoyed James O’Brien’s ‘How To Be Right In a World Gone Wrong’. Anyway... It’s titled; ’The Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity’ By: Carlo M. You can get it here at Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/carlo-m-cipolla/nassim-nicholas-taleb/9780753554838?awc=3787_1572218952_de3d91da304097442dcfff21718ba06c&utm_source=259955&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Genie+Shopping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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