NFR Books again

[Peabody]

Oh yes I was fortunate enough to read the first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant when they first came out and remember the frustration of having to wait for the next one to be published as there was about an eighteen month delay in release dates. Strangely, I could'nt get into the second chronicles. Will try again.

[Burt]

I am a sucker for all things WW2 and am currently reading The Monuments Men... A good read.

Haven't seen the film though. Is it any good?

[The Equalizer]

I am a sucker for all things WW2 and am currently reading The Monuments Men... A good read.

Haven't seen the film though. Is it any good?

Not read any reviews of it yet which is weird as it's out on Friday. Looks good though - anything with Bill Murray is going to be cracking!

[Jack Fulham]

I've read Sanctus and it's good.
Bit strange, which I won't explain as it will ruin it.
I've got the second book 'The Key' ready for my next holiday.

While on the subject - I'm thinking about getting the 'Emporer' series (5 books) by Conn Iggulden.
It's apparently 'an internationally acclaimed historical five-novel series by British author Conn Iggulden about the life of Roman statesman and general Gaius Julius Caesar'

Anyone read them and if so are they any good, please?

I'm into stuff about Rome - like Ben Kane etc   

Yes, the Rome series is brilliant but even better is his Mongol series as well, possibly the best historical fiction I've ever read.

[Jack Fulham]

I've read Sanctus and it's good.
Bit strange, which I won't explain as it will ruin it.
I've got the second book 'The Key' ready for my next holiday.

While on the subject - I'm thinking about getting the 'Emporer' series (5 books) by Conn Iggulden.
It's apparently 'an internationally acclaimed historical five-novel series by British author Conn Iggulden about the life of Roman statesman and general Gaius Julius Caesar'

Anyone read them and if so are they any good, please?

I'm into stuff about Rome - like Ben Kane etc   

I've read the Conn Iggulden books, very good, also he wrote a number of books, 3 I think, on Ghenghis Khan also very good

I think he's done 5 books on it now all the way to Genghis grandson Kublai Khan. Still unsure whether I've read the 5th one yet.

[Jack Fulham]

I just started reading 'War and Peace'. After that, I think I'm going to give 'Shogun' by James Clavell a go.

[The Equalizer]

I just started reading 'War and Peace'. After that, I think I'm going to give 'Shogun' by James Clavell a go.

I was also thinking of giving Shogun a crack a couple of days ago. I loved the TV show with Richard Chamberlain.

I've taken a bit of time out of reading epics as I needed to catch up on my WHSmiths top 40 throwaway books. I've just read the most recent Jack Reacher book, which I enjoyed, but it was quite same old same old. I'm now plowing through the Matt Drake series of books by David Leadbetter. I'm on book 6 now, having read the previous 5 last week. Tells you a bit about the books, although I'm thoroughly enjoying them.

Next up is going to be 'Blood Song', the first part of the 'Ravens Shadow' series by Anthony Ryan. A decent bit of fantasy again!

[HatterDon]

I'm reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, the brilliant history of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet.

[YankeeJim]

I'm reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, the brilliant history of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet.

Now that is a great read. I love historical books and Doris Kearns Goodwin does exhaustive research. Lincoln was such a great man. I think that any of you across the pond that reads this one will have a better sense of what makes a yank tick. He came from nothing and reached as high as any man of his time, all without a formal education.

[YankeeJim]

At the moment, I'm reading "The Outpost" by Jake Taper. Its the story of the stupidity of government & military officials and the courage of the common man. In other words, a typical war story. It reminds me of certain LZ's, near the Laotian border.

[Forever Fulham]

The Jack Reacher series of books are quite good.  If you aren't familiar with them, but if you saw the Tom Cruise film, then you didn't get the real flavor of the books.  Terrible miscasting in Cruise as Reacher.  Also, try some Dean Koontz.  His technique is very impressive.  The science fiction aspect of his plots are simply devices for character development, struggle, and metaphysical ruminations.  Great stuff.  Last week I pulled out The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski, to finally read.  Contributors to this string have mentioned Stephen King.  On the back jacket cover, Stephen King wrote of Sawtelle:  "I flat-out loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.  I closed the book with that regret readers feel afeter experiencing the best stories: It's over, you think, and I won't read another one this good for a long, long time...In the end, this isn't a novel about dogs or heartland America--although it is a deeply American work of literature.  It's a novel about the human heart, and the mysteries that live there, understood but impossible to articulate.  Wonderful, mysterious, long, and satisfying: readers who pick up this novel are going to enter a richer world.  I envy them the trip.  I don't reread many books, because life is too short.  I will be rereading this one."