What are you reading at the moment?

Rohleder said:
Orwell's 1984, always heard it referenced but actually reading it myself now. Next on the to read pile is "A stranger to myself" by Willy Peter Reese / Stefan Schmitz.
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Always liked it, but made feel "grubby and greasy" after reading. Growing up in the '60s and early '70s meant a lot of Ww2 reminders still around-old gun emplacements, tank traps, domestic air raid shelters etc. Add onto that family members who still hoarded foodstuffs "in case", and the widespread smelliness and obvious poor health of a lot of the population meant that it seemed very "of the now".
'60s and '70s Golen Age my arse!
 
East West Street - on the origins of Genocide And Crimes Against Humanity by Philippe Sands.

Not a very exciting title but an amazingly interesting explanation of how two men, both from Lviv university (then Poland but now Ukraine), but unknown to each other at the time, developed the ideas and concepts of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. The author, who is himself an expert in this field, was invited to give a lecture at the University and it was only when researching for the speech that he uncovered the fascinating stories behind both men - and also his grandfather who, like them, escaped from the same city just before the Nazi invasion of Poland.

The interesting part is in the detail of each man's life and how they came to prominence at the Nuremberg trials when their ideas were adopted by the prosecutors and accepted by the judges.
 
Sounds very interesting @UKRob. I have visited Liviv back in 2006 it's very poor and a run down city. Compared to Rob's book above, a little light reading for me.

Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson

Thought I would read some of the classics, this book is very short, 223 pages and written in the Scottish dialect. Though I have to say I am really enjoying it and will have to read Stevenson's Treasure Island at some point. :)
 
While I was on holiday I read the first of the Game Of Thrones book and I'm just starting the second (Stannis The Mannis...yeah!).

Interspersing that with The Journal Of American History. It's a quarterly academic publication with essays from historians on a wide range of subjects within American history. My bookshelf is somewhat light on American History so I figured the slightly random nature of it will give me a few pointers on subjects I might want to read more about that I wouldn't have otherwise considered.
 
I use a Kindle but haven't had time to 'read' much lately, so I've tended to listen to audiobooks in the car...currently working my way through The Dresden Files series of books by Jim Butcher...they did a TV drama that was cancelled after the first series...pity, I quite enjoyed it.

The last 2 books I actually read (during Jury Service just before Christmas) were:
- The Circle (by Dave Eggers) - currently being made into a movie staring Emma Watson I think. Great and very scary novel about privacy the digital age.
- Ready Player One (by Ernest Cline) - best book I've read for ages - also being made into a movie by Spielberg (I heard)
 
On holiday so I've been reading g quite a bit.

Have read the following so far:

The power of the dog - Doug Winslow. Set amongst the drug cartels of South America and one man's quest to crush a cartel.

End of watch - Stephen King. The last of the bill hodges trilogy started in Mr Mercedes.

Love you dead - Peter James. Latest Brighton based Roy Grace novel.

Off the grid - CJ Box. Latest Joe Pickett novel although more Nate Romanowski than Joe this time.


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During the last six (I think) weeks I've driven 3,400 miles (to indicate the enormity of this, I normally drive around 8,000 miles a year!) ...
A fair amount of which has been accompanied with audio books of early Terry Pratchett novels (largely read by Nigel Planer). As my second experience of audio books (first being American Gods), I've been impressed and it's made the implied chores (riding for pleasure, driving... hmm) a little more than bearable.
 
Reading at the moment Tom Segev's excellent book 'Soldiers of evil, Commandant's of the Nazi concentration camps'

An attempt to get under the skin of those who were very unremarkable people but sent so many to their death.

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Nine books in, and I've yet to be disappointed by the lean, muscular writing of the Harry Bosch series.

When I heard there was a TV adaptation of Bosch, I was initially reluctant to sample it. Having recently watched the 2 seasons, I have been mightily impressed.
 
I've taken far too long to get round to 'Road of Bones' by Fergal Keane.

He is a superb writer. I think every man would enjoy his much-loved 'From Our Own Correspondent' piece on becoming a new father. I don't even have children, but it brings a tear to my eye every time I read/listen to it.

'Road of Bones' is about the successful defence of Kohima by British and Commonwealth troops against Japanese attack in the Second World War. A set piece every bit as epic in its desperate, brutal combat as Rorke's Drift.

One abiding thought for me is that these soldiers were ordinary men like us. Bricklayers, truck drivers, shop keepers, solicitors, (in peacetime); all thrown into fighting an impacable and (no way getting around it) viciously cruel enemy in horribly tough circumstances.

I feel ever humbler and more grateful with every page I turn.

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