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 Post subject: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:46 
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Isn't that lovely?

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I am determined to read more this year, so I thought why not do a 52 challenge like that there games one. My aim is to try and read, at least 10 of each of the following:
Non Fiction
Classic books
Stuff by authors I used to read (including rereading some books)
New (to me) books

So, without further ado, here is my first completed book.

1) How to be right... in a world gone wrong by James O'Brien

Pretty much exactly what you'd expect if you follow him on Twitter or listen to his LBC Show, I find myself tending to agree with him on most things, and he does explain things quite well.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 13:03 
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Great idea Malc! I think I'll keep a list here too (once I finish a book this year)


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 14:12 
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Soopah red DS

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It is a good idea. Macbeth, Jo Nesbo. Despite the title, it did not occur to me that this was a re-write of the play. Um, well, yes; obviously. It works well to start with, then less well as the madness kicks in. It just isn't very convincing in a modern setting. I still finished it, but I can't recommend it.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 14:58 
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Isn't that lovely?

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Yeah Kern, it's not a great idea, only a a good one. Thanks JBR! :(

:kiss:

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 15:02 
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52 is somewhat ambitious. I’d be happy if I read 12 books this year.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 15:23 
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ugvm'er at heart...

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What a reasonable idea!

I'm currently reading "The Wandering Inn", which is literally a gazillion pages long, so it might be tricky to get through 52...
https://wanderinginn.com/


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 15:28 
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In!

1) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fiction)

What happens when a nano-virus designed to speed up evolution can't find the monkeys it was meant to infect and infects spiders instead? GIANT HYPERSMART SPIDERS. And what if that planet was the only planet left that the remaining human race can land on to live? FIND OUT IN THIS BOOK! (Also one of the main characters is called Kern, which is fun). 8/10!

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 15:37 
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"the French Revolution and what went wrong"

About what went wrong in the French Revolution


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 15:59 
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Prince of Fops

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I like this idea.

Serious stupid question, do audio books count? I would say much of the time I spent listening to audio books is time I'd otherwise spend reading, I just like the ability to nod off while doing it.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 16:09 
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Sure, just type them all out and you're good to go.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 16:34 
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Isn't that lovely?

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Yeah, I think audio books should count, it's not quite the same as reading, but someone is reading it to you and you're taking the time to listen, so it's a close second.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 16:35 
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1) The Midnight Line - Lee Childs

Book 22 in the Jack Reacher series, 8/10

Jack Reacher is having a bad day.

It would be a dumb idea to make it worse.
Reacher sees a West Point class ring in a pawn shop window. It’s tiny. It's a woman cadet’s graduation present to herself. Why would she give it up? Reacher was a West Pointer too, and he knows what she went through to get it.

All he wants is to find the woman.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 16:37 
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Heavy Metal Tough Guy

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No chance of me reaching 52, but I will give it a go

1.) The Road Past Mandalay by John Masters.
A book found on a bookshelf in a pub, an interesting ( but very much of it's time ) abourt a Indian Army officer's experience in WWII - Iraq, Persia, Syria and then Burma.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 16:48 
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Prince of Fops

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1) Night Film by Marisha Pessl

A BOOK WOT I READ WITH MY PEEPERS. A well crafted thriller. Schlocky at times, but it plays with the form in sometimes interesting ways, and uses multimedia to change how exposition and plot development is played out (e.g. newspaper articles, magazine interviews) and so forth. It's about a mysterious film auteur famed for making terrifying, cultish films. The book has plenty of potential to be anything but, and I found myself unable to unpick where it was headed. Definitely recommended.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 17:01 
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Master of dodgy spelling....

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1) The Midnight Line - Lee Childs - Kindle
2) The Chimp Paradox - Dr. Steve Peters - Audiobook

Quote:
The Chimp Paradox is an incredibly powerful mind management model that can help you become a happy, confident, healthier and more successful person. Prof Steve Peters explains the struggle that takes place within your mind and then shows how to apply this understanding to every area of your life so you can:

- Recognise how your mind is working
- Understand and manage your emotions and thoughts
- Manage yourself and become the person you would like to be


Have found it a very helpful book, I keep listening in the car. 9/10

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 18:35 
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Ooh I'm in!

1) Jo Nesbo - The Son

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 21:40 
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KovacsC wrote:
1) The Midnight Line - Lee Childs

That's the book which picks the Reacher series back up again after a few ropey books.

Is that the one that ends with the washing machine?

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 0:55 
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Not that I recall

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:03 
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Prince of Fops

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Which? Is the best buy Lee Child?


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:40 
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Master of dodgy spelling....

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Grim... wrote:
KovacsC wrote:
1) The Midnight Line - Lee Childs

That's the book which picks the Reacher series back up again after a few ropey books.

Is that the one that ends with the washing machine?


Yes a tumble dryer. :)

Just on past tense now.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:41 
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Master of dodgy spelling....

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Findus Fop wrote:
Which? Is the best buy Lee Child?



I just started from book one and worked through. Some are a bit off, but the rest is great.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:49 
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Prince of Fops

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KovacsC wrote:
Findus Fop wrote:
Which? Is the best buy Lee Child?



I just started from book one and worked through. Some are a bit off, but the rest is great.


Ha, thanks, it was actually an attempt at a shit joke based on the washing machine query.

I have read the first one and enjoyed it a lot, but imagined I'd be re reading the same story in the later books.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:02 
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Master of dodgy spelling....

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i suppose yes, like Bond films, evil villan, girl, save world, fast cars. Reacher is a big 'littlest hobo' drifts into a town, and sorts a problem.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:19 
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Prince of Fops

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KovacsC wrote:
i suppose yes, like Bond films, evil villan, girl, save world, fast cars. Reacher is a big 'littlest hobo' drifts into a town, and sorts a problem.


I like that. Michael Knight is basically the littlest hobo in a talking car.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 13:22 
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Seems doable

1) The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 16:29 
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Jem wrote:
Seems doable

1) The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

Ooh, she was recommended to me. What are your thoughts on her?

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 16:31 
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1) Jo Nesbo - The Son
2) Lee Child - Without Fail

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 16:37 
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sneering elitist

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Goddess Jasmine wrote:
Jem wrote:
Seems doable

1) The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

Ooh, she was recommended to me. What are your thoughts on her?

I asked Gaz for The Testatments for Christmas as I'd really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale book end of last year (late to this party as apparently everyone else in the world had read it). I started and finished it within 24 hours - it was really good. There were a couple of things that struck me as a little inconsistent with the first book but with the large gap between the release of the two that doesn't surprise me. Definitely recommend both books though - start with The Handmaid's Tale if you've not read it already.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 19:18 
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I haven't and I will. Thank you. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 23:31 
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Grim... wrote:
1) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fiction)

2) Firefly: The Unification War by Greg Pak and Dan McDaid

Starts off excellent, ends pretty poorly.

Title.

63%

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 10:25 
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MaliA wrote:
"the French Revolution and what went wrong"

About what went wrong in the French Revolution


This is most excellent and I recommend it. Louis XVI wasn't a total prick, Marie Antoinette wasn't entirely innocent of being a knob.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 15:37 
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Just finished the last book in the painted man series. Very good, at a loss now


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 23:14 
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Gogmagog

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MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
"the French Revolution and what went wrong"

About what went wrong in the French Revolution


This is most excellent and I recommend it. Louis XVI wasn't a total prick, Marie Antoinette wasn't entirely innocent of being a knob.


Not looking good for Louis XVI at the moment, lads. Basically, he's gone fucked up by wanting to do clocks, locks,and hunting all day and stuff, and his wife has totally gone fucked up with her pretend farm and hats and shit, everyone thinks he is sooooo past it and are openly taking the piss, and calling the queen "the other bitch" in a great pun and saying she is totally slutting it about, too!!.. However, he's trying to keep his game together and has set up some reforms to get the country back inside!

Can't wait to see how this one ends. Redemptive third act on the way! He's only gotten everyone around his gaff for a big chinwag about how to straighten it out. He could pull a blinder here.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 0:50 
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1) Jim Butcher, Brief Cases.

Parkour, bitch.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:54 
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Cras wrote:
1) Jim Butcher, Brief Cases.

Parkour, bitch.

:D

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 1:57 
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Grim... wrote:
1) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fiction)
2) Firefly: The Unification War by Greg Pak and Dan McDaid (fiction)

3) Hero - Lee Child (non-fiction)

A great - but short - exploration into language throughout history, with an explanation of how it lead to the survival of the human race. Well worth a read.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 0:18 
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Gogmagog

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MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
"the French Revolution and what went wrong"

About what went wrong in the French Revolution


This is most excellent and I recommend it. Louis XVI wasn't a total prick, Marie Antoinette wasn't entirely innocent of being a knob.


Not looking good for Louis XVI at the moment, lads. Basically, he's gone fucked up by wanting to do clocks, locks,and hunting all day and stuff, and his wife has totally gone fucked up with her pretend farm and hats and shit, everyone thinks he is sooooo past it and are openly taking the piss, and calling the queen "the other bitch" in a great pun and saying she is totally slutting it about, too!!.. However, he's trying to keep his game together and has set up some reforms to get the country back inside!

Can't wait to see how this one ends. Redemptive third act on the way! He's only gotten everyone around his gaff for a big chinwag about how to straighten it out. He could pull a blinder here.


Bad news, lads. He totally Pinot'd it.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:26 
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Master of dodgy spelling....

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1) The Midnight Line - Lee Childs - Kindle
2) The Chimp Paradox - Dr. Steve Peters - Audiobook
3) Past Tense - Lee Childs - kindle

Reacher ends up near the town his dad was born. Decides to research the family tree. Uncovers more than he bargains for. 9/10 if you are a Reacher fan

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 13:57 
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Gogmagog

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MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
"the French Revolution and what went wrong"

About what went wrong in the French Revolution


This is most excellent and I recommend it. Louis XVI wasn't a total prick, Marie Antoinette wasn't entirely innocent of being a knob.


Not looking good for Louis XVI at the moment, lads. Basically, he's gone fucked up by wanting to do clocks, locks,and hunting all day and stuff, and his wife has totally gone fucked up with her pretend farm and hats and shit, everyone thinks he is sooooo past it and are openly taking the piss, and calling the queen "the other bitch" in a great pun and saying she is totally slutting it about, too!!.. However, he's trying to keep his game together and has set up some reforms to get the country back inside!

Can't wait to see how this one ends. Redemptive third act on the way! He's only gotten everyone around his gaff for a big chinwag about how to straighten it out. He could pull a blinder here.


Bad news, lads. He totally Pinot'd it.


What's twist!. They have gone and chopped his head off! And his wife's!

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:37 
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2) Girl on Girl: Art and Photography in the Age of the Female Gaze - Charlotte Jansen

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 13:18 
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MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
MaliA wrote:
"the French Revolution and what went wrong"

About what went wrong in the French Revolution


This is most excellent and I recommend it. Louis XVI wasn't a total prick, Marie Antoinette wasn't entirely innocent of being a knob.


Not looking good for Louis XVI at the moment, lads. Basically, he's gone fucked up by wanting to do clocks, locks,and hunting all day and stuff, and his wife has totally gone fucked up with her pretend farm and hats and shit, everyone thinks he is sooooo past it and are openly taking the piss, and calling the queen "the other bitch" in a great pun and saying she is totally slutting it about, too!!.. However, he's trying to keep his game together and has set up some reforms to get the country back inside!

Can't wait to see how this one ends. Redemptive third act on the way! He's only gotten everyone around his gaff for a big chinwag about how to straighten it out. He could pull a blinder here.


Bad news, lads. He totally Pinot'd it.


What's twist!. They have gone and chopped his head off! And his wife's!


Jesus! I’d better pick someone else to bet on for the TdF now.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Thu Jan 30, 2020 0:16 
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1. Star Wars: Aftermath – Chuck Wendig

First book in a trilogy that explores the fall of the Empire after Return of the Jedi, leading up to the events of The Force Awakens. A decent first book featuring returning characters Norra and Temmin “Snap” Wexley as well as Wedge Antilles, along with a host of new characters (and some I recognise from X-Wing pilot and crew cards!). There’s even a heavily modified B1 battle droid, so he wasn’t afraid to reference the prequels either.

Just starting the second one now.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 22:47 
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Goddess Jasmine wrote:
1) Jo Nesbo - The Son
2) Lee Child - Without Fail

3) Jim Denny and Pat Williams - How to be like Walt (Audio)

I enjoyed this from three perspectives, hearing about Walt Disney and his life, hearing what they had to go through to bring it all together and how Walt ran his business. I found it pretty feel good and with a couple of crappy weeks at work, looked forward to getting back into my car to listen to more.

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 13:50 
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Mythos - Stephen Fry: A Book Wot I Read With My Ears (ABWIRWME). Frequently obscene, often gruesome, always fascinating, this retelling of the Greek myths by Stephen Fry is a pleasure. His insights on the etymology of words such as Echo are interesting, though often feel like something one should know already.

Sapiens - Yuval Hoah Harari: (ABWIRWME).
Very accessible and well-researched history of the human race. The extent to which mankind's progress has been defined by its ability to be administrative is striking e.g. writing was invented, not so we could communicate, but to store information such as land ownership. The final chapter on understanding happiness felt particularly relevant, given the general horror around us.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 18:12 
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Heavy Metal Tough Guy

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Squirt wrote:
No chance of me reaching 52, but I will give it a go

1.) The Road Past Mandalay by John Masters.
A book found on a bookshelf in a pub, an interesting ( but very much of it's time ) abourt a Indian Army officer's experience in WWII - Iraq, Persia, Syria and then Burma.


2.) Ancestral Journeys - an interesting but a bit uneven book about the origins of Europeans and their migrations and cultural exchanges from Palaeolithic times up to vikings. A whole load of talk about haplogroups and mtDNA, and a slightly odd occasional divergence into actual "history" in a few places, along with a lot of pictures of pots. Lots of info about a fascinating subject but not always an exciting read.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 18:47 
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Findus Fop wrote:
Sapiens - Yuval Hoah Harari: (ABWIRWME).
Very accessible and well-researched history of the human race. The extent to which mankind's progress has been defined by its ability to be administrative is striking e.g. writing was invented, not so we could communicate, but to store information such as land ownership. The final chapter on understanding happiness felt particularly relevant, given the general horror around us.


Ooh, I've just started* this having only heard good things. :)



*Listened for few minutes then turned it off as I wasn't listening to it as I was thinking about other things. :(

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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 19:07 
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Prince of Fops

Joined: 14th May, 2009
Posts: 4296
Goddess Jasmine wrote:
Findus Fop wrote:
Sapiens - Yuval Hoah Harari: (ABWIRWME).
Very accessible and well-researched history of the human race. The extent to which mankind's progress has been defined by its ability to be administrative is striking e.g. writing was invented, not so we could communicate, but to store information such as land ownership. The final chapter on understanding happiness felt particularly relevant, given the general horror around us.


Ooh, I've just started* this having only heard good things. :)



*Listened for few minutes then turned it off as I wasn't listening to it as I was thinking about other things. :(


My listening is often like that. I'm Trying mindfulness so I can better focus, but is definitely a downside of audiobooks vs reading books. Much easier to zone out.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 19:29 
SupaMod
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Est. 1978

Joined: 27th Mar, 2008
Posts: 69502
Location: Your Mum
Grim... wrote:
1) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (fiction)
2) Firefly: The Unification War by Greg Pak and Dan McDaid (fiction)
3) Hero - Lee Child (non-fiction)

4) The Stone Man by Luke Smitherd (fiction)

A sci-fi story about a large statue that appears in the UK and the journalist that ends up with a strange psychic link to it. Not bad, but not great.

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Grim... wrote:
I wish Craster had left some girls for the rest of us.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 20:53 
SupaMod
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Est. 1978

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Four in a month!

On track!

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Grim... wrote:
I wish Craster had left some girls for the rest of us.


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 Post subject: Re: Finish 52 Books (2020)
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 22:38 
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Joined: 12th Apr, 2008
Posts: 17757
Location: Oxford
1. "Who Dares Wins" by Dominic Sandbrook

The fifth in his high enjoyable series* on the political and cultural life of Britain, taking the story through the first few years of Thatcher from the 1979 election to the Falklands. As ever, Sandbrook deftly mixes high politics with pop culture, and this one is no exception with chapters on football hooliganism, the Toxheath and Brixton riots, the micro boom, Sloane Rangers, Steve Davis, and Ian Botham at Headingly accompanying discussions about industrial decline, nuclear war, monetarism, the Troubles, and Ken Livingstone. I wonder if the jibes at Corbyn will date the book in years to come.


*The others being Never Had it So Good (Macmillan and Douglas-Home), White Heat (Wilson), State of Emergency (Heath), and Seasons in the Sun (Wilson Mk 2; Callaghan).


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