What book are you currently reading?

[Radzeer]

Just finished it. Absolutely awful. I expected a lot more from Silverberg.

[Gaidin]

Just finished it. Absolutely awful. I expected a lot more from Silverberg.

Try a more modern piece by him and go backwards...there's usually a breaking point.



Neal Stephenson's latest. An end of the Earth novel, that continues to about 5000 years later.

[Abdülmecid I]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A rather interesting reading. The author focuses almost exlusively on the diplomatic aspect of the war, but he spends quite a lot of time explaining the internal political situation in the Ottoman Empire, in order to make us understand the motivation of each Ottoman government. Definitely recommended, if you're interested in diplomatic history.

[Havok.]

Just started L'Etranger, by Albert Camus. Hail the Absurd!

[Big War Bird]

[Gertrudius]

Edit:

[Abdülmecid I]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Normally, I wouldn't have bought it, because of the overly dramatic title and the fact that the number of pages (many of whom include only images) is too small to sufficiently cover such a broad topic., but I gave it a try, due to its ridiculously cheap price. Surprisingly, it was very densely written, and perhaps I'd consider it an ok purchase for someone that wanted to get a basic knowledge regarding the Roman-Parthian Wars, until I reached the chapter "Herod, Jesus and the Magi", which was full of typographical errors (like the rest of the book) and simply hilarious. After a series of far-fetched assumptions, he concludes that Jesus was one of the possible claimants to the Jewish throne, beonging to the royal dynasty, and the Magi were official representatives of the Parthian crown, tasked to bring the royal infant under the parthian influence. Such a stupid statement makes it really difficult for the reader to take the author very seriously, I'm afraid...

[sakithegolden]

[Halie Satanus]

The Last American Vampire..

I'm about half way through and enjoying it so much. I never read the first book (Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter) though I saw the film and fell in love with the historical switch. TLAV follows shortly after the assassination of Lincoln but jumps back and forth through history (I'm currently at the Russian revolution) pulling historic figures into it's arc at every point. Arthur Conan-Doyle/Bram Stoker/Henry Irving/Tesla/Mark Twain/Jack the Ripper and Rasputin just to name a few, all play a part in the story of Henry Sturges (V).

The book switches from third person to first person on almost every page, with entries from diaries, newspapers, telegrams and every other form of documenting and communication between which adds to the immersion as time marches on. There's also the inclusion of random photographs of the 'celebrities' of the day which bring the story to life. Also included are many footnotes which explain locations and historic facts, people, some of which are unneeded and pull you out of the flow of the story, I tended to skim them after awhile. What there is, is a very in-depth and detailed story not without humour and horror in equal measure.

[Big War Bird]

[Dragus]

[Halie Satanus]

The Wanderers. Richard Price.

[Big War Bird]

[Vigrwulf]

[Hydrazine]

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey. Hilarious so far, even without extensive knowledge of the 'source' material

[Napoleonic Bonapartism]

As expected, not an easy read... utterly harrowing, it fills me with sadness and rage at man's inhumanity. Scenes such as the tearing apart of mother and children, and the tales of other freedmen kidnapped into slavery really tug at the heartstrings.

[Finn]

Picked this up at work for free......was halfway through before I realized it was the fourth book of the Saxon Stories good read nonetheless. I'll probably start the series from the beginning, especially since the BBC are adapting the books to TV.

Now onto this:

[Lord of the Drunk Penguin]

Just finished this.
Worth the read.

[Antiokhos Euergetes]

The Emperor Maurice and His Historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare (Oxford Historical Monographs)

Last of the Justinian dynasty, fascinating emperor, fascinating historian

[mishkin]

The first thing I read from Dickens. Good.