Barrie Dav 2 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Edward Rutherfurd. ('London' 'Paris' 'Sarum'. and many more. These novels follow a family or families from the earliest times - stone age - for example to the present times. Very interesting. Bernard Cornwell. The 'Sharpe' stories. Plus other historical novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 I read most of the authors you lads do, missed one or two though, I like Clive Cussler, Lee Childs, Bernard Cornwell, read the Dragon Tattoo ones. Tom and Thomas Holt sound interesting Plummet and I've never heard of Hilary Mantle BEB, will give those a go. Dean Koontz is a quirky read. Kindle and free downloads from the library ...now that sounds good, Christmas sorted. Cheers fella's John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFlyingCrust Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Robert Harris. Historical dramas and very well researched. I particularly liked Pompeii. If you like factual books which really draw you into the tale then try Simon Winchester's books. Maybe his most popular are Krakatoa-the Day the World Exploded, and The map that changed the World. Ian Edited By TheFlyingCrust on 08/10/2014 14:32:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plummet Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Another good historical writer is C J Sansom. His series, starting with "Disolution" is well worth eyeballing. I started the Hilary Mantel 's (note spelling if you are googling for it) Wolfhall, but got stalled by something, and have not picked it up again yet. It deals with the same period of history as Sansom's series. I have been reading a lot of historical books in recent years. Strange --- I had no interest in history at school. Steven Saylor has written loads of good Roman historical books. One series is his Roma Sub Rosa series - featuring a 'detective' called Gordianus. Good and entertaining, while historically accurate (I am told). Then he has written 'Roma', and 'Empire' which are more imagined history, but really good. Plummet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spice Cat Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Enigma by Robert Harris. Das Boot Lothar-Gunter Buchheim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Price 2 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Thanks guys for all the advice and recommendations. I've been with laptops for some 4/5 years now so have not experienced much more than a 3/4 battery life. Doesn't seem essential, but, I can see the benefit of a 10 hour battery. The thing that I had not considered was the difference in weight especially as I was thinking about a 10.1" tablet. So. What I've arranged to do is borrow a tablet followed by a Kindle for a booksworth each. Meanwhile a clear benefit seems to be the matt screen which is available on some Kindles. I should imagine this would be much better if reading outside on a sunny day. Like John, I enjoy the feel of books, but, I also love the Mightypeesh idea of downloading books online from my local library, which i can do from sunny climes. Most of the books mentioned above are available on eBay at acceptable prices. I'll now spend some time having a looksee on their website, see if they are there also. Thanks again, Andy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plummet Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 ... and of course if you are into downloading books - at least downloading classics that is, don't forget **LINK** Plummet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 I read Pompeii Ian, enjoyed it. Read Disolution Plummet enjoyed that John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David P Williams Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I'd like to add Robert Goddard and Michael Robotham to the thriller list, I have really enjoyed all of their books, most of which I obtained from charity shops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braddock, VC Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Oliver Strange, zane grey and louis l'amour, westerns, with ZG being best by a margin. Sven Hassell bio fiction re ww2 ss panzer infantry and, if you can stomach it, my struggle by a. hitler. Earnest Hemingway reality fiction. John Steinbeck writes some excellent bio fiction too. Brendan Behan wrote some bio fiction that can be worth a read - sometimes. I quite enjoy the sharpe series and also the hornblower stuff too. I haven't tried either a kindle or kindle plus but am thinking about buying one simply because of the convenience of downloading the books instead of having to troll through second hand shops and boot fairs etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Just a comment on Kindle books. There are a lot that have never been published in hard copy form. They are kindle only. I find that these tend to be rather poorer quality from the writing,/story point of view. They tend to be much cheaper. Some are "readable", some are quite good but some are terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2W Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 If you want books on flying, try "Winged Victory" by V.M Yates. It's semi-autobigraphical describing the life of a Sopwith Camel pilot through the winter of 1917 to the summer of 1918, from the sheer joy of flying and the parties in the mess, to the terrors and stress of combat and ground attacks. . Yates finally collapsed from exhaustion and was invalided out of the RAF and died of TB contracted in France before the book was published. The other great book is "The Last Enemy" by Richard Hillary who was shot down during the Battle of Britain, and was fished out of the Channel badly burnt to become one of MacIndoe's Guinea Pigs. When he recovered, he flew night fighters, but died in a crash landing. There are other biographies written by pilots but few are as honest and immediate as these two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broken Prop Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris. Best book I have read in years and made all the more enjoyable by being based on fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Channon Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 " Moonrakers and mischief" brilliant book. Written by a guy called J Feakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Price 2 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Cricky. So many recommendations, so little time!! Braddock V.C. I had forgotten my promise to myself to go back and read the Hornblower books. I owned them all until they got flood damaged, mutter mutter. Do prey tell more about westerns though? Plummet. I enjoyed the excellent Falco series on Radio 4 very much. Your brief write up of the similar Steven Saylor books sounded so good that, on eBay, I have found and bought, the first 5 in the Roma sub Rosa series. NOW CHAPS. I've paid just about 13 squids for those 5 books. I will pass them on to my GF who will read them and we will then hand them on to my Falco loving Sister. I think they will give great value. How much would I have shelled out on Amazon downloads? 1/ Roman Blood. 2/ Arms of Nemisis. 3/ Catilinas Riddle. 4/ The Venus Throw. 5/ Murder on the Appian Way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted October 8, 2014 Author Share Posted October 8, 2014 Do new publications go straight onto Kindle or is there a wait...like films and DVD ? John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Posted by GrahamC on 08/10/2014 10:39:43: An old and good [generally] author is Nevil Shute. Don't see as many around these days. A great story teller and aviation features heavily in many of his books. A good place to start would be "No Highway" His Autobiography "Sliderule" is worth a read too. I say 'generally' as I would consider some of his books as a little odd... and some are much darker than I realised they were when I read them as a teenager. "Whatever happened to the Corbetts" for example .. well lets just say I'm glad that wasn't prophetic! Agreed on Shute's works. Mind you, they're quite expensive on Kindle. Absolute bargains are the collected works of HG Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle - both compendiums at less than a quid apiece! Recomended also are the works of Stig Larsen, Jo Nesbo, Lee Childs. tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaunie Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Stephen King, The stand. With the Current Ebola threat this will make your toes curl. Ken Follet, Pillars of the Earth. A story about stonemasons building cathedrals and covering several generations. Brian Callison, the Captain Trapp series. Three books, very funny seafaring stories. Garth Nix, the Old Kingdom series, Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen.Magical fantasy world. These are my all time favorites and all very different in style. Shaunie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben B Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Bit of a Cussler fan myself but they are fairly similar. I get about half way through a book before I realize I've either read it before or something very similar. How come all the crazy megalomaniacs decide to somehow involve the Sea Also a reacher fan. Apart from that movie which was heinous.Edited By Ben B on 08/10/2014 22:05:08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Anthony Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 The Farm, by Tom Rob Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tothill Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 This is a great thread! Iain M Banks produced some fantastic sci-fi. Consider Phlebas is the first in the culture series, and it's brilliant, as are the rest. It's very sad that he's gone. For historical novels, you'd go a long way to beat Bernard Cornwell. Particularly the Grail Quest books, about the Hundred Years War, and also the Warrior Chronicles, about Alfred the Great, and the norse men. I used to be very keen on Hornblower, but he's a bit too clean cut! Patrick O'Brians Jack Aubrey is a bit more realistic, and the naval history seems very well researched. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tothill Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 . Edited By Rob Tothill on 09/10/2014 00:09:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tothill Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 . Edited By Rob Tothill on 09/10/2014 00:09:31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tothill Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 . Edited By Rob Tothill on 09/10/2014 00:09:54 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 John Bishop's auto is interesting and well written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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