Books

[Maggot Colony]

Reading too many fucking books. I've a habit of reading 2 or 3 at the same time which is manageable, but I lost my mind recently and decided to juggle the following - Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, The Two Towers by Tolkien, Money by Martin Amis, Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, and Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts.

[91/30]

Reading too many fucking books. I've a habit of reading 2 or 3 at the same time which is manageable, but I lost my mind recently and decided to juggle the following - Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, The Two Towers by Tolkien, Money by Martin Amis, Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor, and Napoleon the Great by Andrew Roberts.

God almighty, that's a nightmare.  The Stalingrad book worth reading is General Zhukhovs book in 2 parts.

[boozegeune]

Just finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, brilliant. Great prose and I flew through it. Back on a Discworld now, my usual always-on choice.

Recently finished The Hundred Years War on Palestine too by Rashid Khalidi. A very good overview of the process of settlement and population replacement from the early 20th century onward. While it's obviously written by a Palestinian with considerable personal connection to the events, it doesn't exactly read like a manifesto. He is quite scathing of the failings of various Palestinian leaderships and factions, for their own contributions to the whole miserable affair.

Simon Sebag Montefiores Jerusalem might be up next, or Peter Frankopan's Silk Roads.

[StoutAndAle]

Just finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, brilliant. Great prose and I flew through it. Back on a Discworld now, my usual always-on choice.

I've been told great things about Kevin Barry over the years - I've only read "City Of Bohane" and found it a bit of a slog. I might take a flick through "The Heart In Winter" next time I'm in a book shop.

Peter Frankopan's Silk Roads.

Just looked this up. It sounds great.

[Mooncat]

Reading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).

Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).

Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.

[astfgyl]

Just finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, brilliant. Great prose and I flew through it. Back on a Discworld now, my usual always-on choice.

Which Discworld? I've been dipping in and out of The Last Continent myself lately

[Maggot Colony]

Back on a Discworld buzz myself after years of not reading any Pratchett. Finished Wyrd Sisters recently, and currently reading Mort.

[Eoin McLove]

Reading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).

Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).

Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.

What makes Rex insufferable? I've only ever seen one interview with him and he seemed alright in it. Certainly more articulate than ol' Phil.

[astfgyl]

Back on a Discworld buzz myself after years of not reading any Pratchett. Finished Wyrd Sisters recently, and currently reading Mort.

I love Mort! There's one character in it that's near and dear to me as it happens...

Actually got a fresh copy of it not too long ago as well

[Mooncat]

Reading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).

Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).

Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.

What makes Rex insufferable? I've only ever seen one interview with him and he seemed alright in it. Certainly more articulate than ol' Phil.

He uses the entire book to just throw everyone around him under the bus, particularly Vinnie, whom I feel a solid 10% of the book is just a rant about.

He also does that really insecure macho boasting thing the whole way through. By the end you'll have heard many times about how tough he is, how many fights he's won, how everyone knows not to fuck with him, how rich he is, the nice things he can buy, how he gets the hottest chicks etc etc. Just one of those eye-rolling cringe guys.

[astfgyl]

Sounds like the Tyson book I read in that there was only so many bitches and bottles of hennessey before it got boring. Cut that stuff out and the remaining 20 pages would have been okay

[Eoin McLove]

Reading a ton of Bukowski's poetry. The most recent one is Sometimes You Get So Alone it Just Makes Sense. Really enjoyed it, one of the better ones (Last Night of the Earth Poems being the best so far).

Someone on here (StoutnAle maybe?) recommended the David Bowie oral history, strong recommend for that as well, couldn't put it down. Great to hear all the varying opinions of him from people who are bitter, in awe, begrudgingly respectful, and all the people who try to claim a little piece of his history as their own (I actually wrote that riff, I contributed that lyric etc, from nobodies).

Also just read the Rex Brown book. Holy fuck he comes across as insufferable, but the book is a quick read and I really enjoyed it as a nice insider retrospective on Pantera (even if it likely is 50% fiction). Even inspired me to go back and watch the Vulgar Vidoes for the first time since I was a teen probably. Despite all the second-hand embarrassment and vicarious guilt I felt watching it at this age (someone has to clean all that shit up!), it was a fun Saturday night in with a few drinks.

What makes Rex insufferable? I've only ever seen one interview with him and he seemed alright in it. Certainly more articulate than ol' Phil.

He uses the entire book to just throw everyone around him under the bus, particularly Vinnie, whom I feel a solid 10% of the book is just a rant about.

He also does that really insecure macho boasting thing the whole way through. By the end you'll have heard many times about how tough he is, how many fights he's won, how everyone knows not to fuck with him, how rich he is, the nice things he can buy, how he gets the hottest chicks etc etc. Just one of those eye-rolling cringe guys.

Haha, oh no. I actually want to read it now out of curiosity!

[Eoin McLove]

I picked up Resolution, the new one by Irvine Welsh. Flying through it and it's as instantly intriguing and addictive as usual with him.

[Caomhaoin]

Yeah just finished it a couple of days ago. Ray 'Cuntybaws' Lennox is back

I was in Embra with a German pal last week and he's a Welsh fanatic, insisted on going to to a Hibs match, to the 'fit ay the walk' and into a boozer named 'Mother Superior'.

[Caomhaoin]

Rereading 'The Boer War' by Thomas Pakenham.

It's a bit 'niche', even for those interested in history, but it's maybe the most impactful non-fiction book I've ever read. The research, the pathos and the insights are excellent. Like Hastings and Beevor after him, he manages to make even the machinations of the British war office circa 1900 into a Davinci Code-esque page turner. Most lads find the late Victorian period a touch dry, and most lads would change their minds after reading thon.

Masterful.