What are you reading/last book you read

[MandaSaurus]

Star Wars Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader are on assignment for Emperor Palpatine, so it's a two-fer!

[Zarm]

Star Wars Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader are on assignment for Emperor Palpatine, so it's a two-fer!

Have you read Thrawn's EU appearances? If so, I'd be very interested to hear how this one stacks up, in your opinion. I've been considering checking it out, but have yet to get around to it...

[Maritonic]

After years of being a fan of the films, seeing the original literally countless times since I was a child, I finally started reading Jurassic Park last night.

[Ivo-goji]

Currently reading Superman: Miracle Monday and the first volume of the David Hawkes' translation of The Dream of the Red Chamber.

[KaijuCanuck]

The War of Wars, a non-fiction account of the Napoleonic Wars beginning with the French Revolution. Honestly, I don’t think it’s the best written or most accurate history, and once I’m finished I’ll probably do a search to find a more widely regarded book on the topic. But i am enjoying the way it’s structured - it focuses primarily on the opposing personalities of Napoleon and the men who made up the British government, and alternates between the two every few chapters or so.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

Currently reading: The Martian, but I haven't gotten far enough to comment.

Last read: Jurassic World:The Evolution of Claire.
Decent tie in. Better characterization than Jurassic World (Especially Wu) AND some nice mythos. Decent amount of dinosaurs, could have used more. Only real complaints are it not doing a perfect job explaining how activist and caring Claire became cold, managerial Claire and the loss of immersion when the author drop modern slang and ideas in a book set in 2005.

[Leviarex]

Having finished the 'Jurassic Park' special edition of Newsweek, my list now includes the current issue of 'G-Fan'.

[Ivo-goji]

Currently working my way through Joan Stanley-Baker's book on the history of Japanese art.

Added in 1 month 3 days 13 hours 5 minutes 42 seconds:
I finished reading Superman: Miracle Monday and have started on The Decamaron.

[Leviarex]

Being October, it's only fitting that I've added the current issue of 'Famous Monsters Of Filmland' to my list (having read what I've wanted to in 'G-Fan').

[Grievous]

I'm currently reading...



Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Currently reading Man's Search For Meaning , I got it as a gift from a family member back in June. So far..... it's absolutely stunning.

[Ivo-goji]

Currently reading George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblins.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

The War of Wars, a non-fiction account of the Napoleonic Wars beginning with the French Revolution. Honestly, I don’t think it’s the best written or most accurate history, and once I’m finished I’ll probably do a search to find a more widely regarded book on the topic. But i am enjoying the way it’s structured - it focuses primarily on the opposing personalities of Napoleon and the men who made up the British government, and alternates between the two every few chapters or so.

Have you ever read Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts? I found it to be a pretty enjoyable biography. Not really my preferred time period. But Napoleon is a fascinating man.

[KaijuCanuck]

The War of Wars, a non-fiction account of the Napoleonic Wars beginning with the French Revolution. Honestly, I don’t think it’s the best written or most accurate history, and once I’m finished I’ll probably do a search to find a more widely regarded book on the topic. But i am enjoying the way it’s structured - it focuses primarily on the opposing personalities of Napoleon and the men who made up the British government, and alternates between the two every few chapters or so.

Have you ever read Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts? I found it to be a pretty enjoyable biography. Not really my preferred time period. But Napoleon is a fascinating man.

I haven’t! Maybe I’ll check it out. Although I think I want to find a more complete account of the whole war, not just everything form Napoleon’s perspective.

18th-19th century is one of my favourite periods! Although I also like 20th century. What are you into?

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

I haven’t! Maybe I’ll check it out. Although I think I want to find a more complete account of the whole war, not just everything form Napoleon’s perspective.

18th-19th century is one of my favourite periods! Although I also like 20th century. What are you into?

My interests mostly lie from the Roman Empire to the "Viking Age." It's a broad time span, so at my university I tended to focus more on the early medieval period (or the so-called "Dark Ages") since it's more narrow and covers the Migration Period to the end of the Viking Age. I have a ridiculous number of books on these subjects. lol

[Leviarex]

Having finally read everything I wanted to in this year's 'Famous Monsters Of Filmland', I've now moved on to the fall issue of 'G-Fan' and issue# 8 of 'Shadowland Magazine'. On top of that, my list also includes the current issue of 'Prehistoric Times'.

[KaijuCanuck]

I haven’t! Maybe I’ll check it out. Although I think I want to find a more complete account of the whole war, not just everything form Napoleon’s perspective.

18th-19th century is one of my favourite periods! Although I also like 20th century. What are you into?

My interests mostly lie from the Roman Empire to the "Viking Age." It's a broad time span, so at my university I tended to focus more on the early medieval period (or the so-called "Dark Ages") since it's more narrow and covers the Migration Period to the end of the Viking Age. I have a ridiculous number of books on these subjects. lol

Nice! One my biggest regrets from undergrad was not taking more ancient and medieval history. Ancient history especially is kind of a big blank spot for me beyond the biggest strokes of what happened. I did take one Roman history survey course that was quite cool - but when you’re covering about 1000 years of history in one semester, I’m sure you unfortunately lose much of the nuance.

Middle Ages I’m a little better on, particularly in relation to England, but still a deficit compared to about 1750-onward, which is when my main interests kick in.

Any book recommendations on either of these topics?

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

Nice! One my biggest regrets from undergrad was not taking more ancient and medieval history. Ancient history especially is kind of a big blank spot for me beyond the biggest strokes of what happened. I did take one Roman history survey course that was quite cool - but when you’re covering about 1000 years of history in one semester, I’m sure you unfortunately lose much of the nuance.

Middle Ages I’m a little better on, particularly in relation to England, but still a deficit compared to about 1750-onward, which is when my main interests kick in.

Any book recommendations on either of these topics?

One of my favorite books to more recently come out with regards to Rome is Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt. You can also pretty much always rely on any of Peter Heather's books about the late Roman Empire to be good (even if I disagree with him on some of the more minor points). If you're into Audible, there's a pretty great version of his Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe on there narrated by Sean Schemmel of all people.

For the early medieval period Anders Winroth has two excellent books out. The Age of the Vikings is one of my absolute favorites on the subject and The Conversion of Scandinavia: Vikings, Merchants, and Missionaries in the Remaking of Northern Europe is easily the most interesting study of religious friction and change in Europe I've ever read.

Of course, I adore primary sources as well. I have a large collection of them. Beowulf is great. I recommend the excellent translation by Seamus Heaney. The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar. Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards. The various Norse sagas are great.

I could go on all day, but those are just some ideas that I thought would be a little easier to get into for someone whose interests don't primarily lie in that period.

Likewise, if you've got some recommendations on the Napoleonic Wars, The British Empire in the 18th century or anything else, I'd love to expand my collection some more.

[KaijuCanuck]

Nice! One my biggest regrets from undergrad was not taking more ancient and medieval history. Ancient history especially is kind of a big blank spot for me beyond the biggest strokes of what happened. I did take one Roman history survey course that was quite cool - but when you’re covering about 1000 years of history in one semester, I’m sure you unfortunately lose much of the nuance.

Middle Ages I’m a little better on, particularly in relation to England, but still a deficit compared to about 1750-onward, which is when my main interests kick in.

Any book recommendations on either of these topics?

One of my favorite books to more recently come out with regards to Rome is Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor by Anthony Everitt. You can also pretty much always rely on any of Peter Heather's books about the late Roman Empire to be good (even if I disagree with him on some of the more minor points). If you're into Audible, there's a pretty great version of his Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe on there narrated by Sean Schemmel of all people.

For the early medieval period Anders Winroth has two excellent books out. The Age of the Vikings is one of my absolute favorites on the subject and The Conversion of Scandinavia: Vikings, Merchants, and Missionaries in the Remaking of Northern Europe is easily the most interesting study of religious friction and change in Europe I've ever read.

Of course, I adore primary sources as well. I have a large collection of them. Beowulf is great. I recommend the excellent translation by Seamus Heaney. The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar. Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards. The various Norse sagas are great.

I could go on all day, but those are just some ideas that I thought would be a little easier to get into for someone whose interests don't primarily lie in that period.

Likewise, if you've got some recommendations on the Napoleonic Wars, The British Empire in the 18th century or anything else, I'd love to expand my collection some more.

Awesome! I will definitely look into some of those. I listened to an episode of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History that drew heavily from the Gallic Wars, and it definitely piqued my interest. And Augustus also sounds like a great place to start with Roman history. And I know virtually nothing about the Vikings, so I'm excited about that too!

As I said in my original post, The War of Wars by Robert Harvey has a very enjoyable structure, focusing on the dueling personalities and political sagas of Napoleon and the various leaders of the British government, without leaving out the major players of the other countries such as Austria and Russia - but I suspect not all of the history is 100% accurate. He seems to contradict himself a few times in his effort to write a compelling popular history. Anyway, as long as you keep a somewhat skeptical mind, it's a good read.

An excellent book is The Rifles by Mark Urban. It details the exploits of the 95th Rifles throughout the Napoleonic Wars, a somewhat proto-special forces regiment of the British Army during that period. They used early rifles, which took longer to load than ordinary muskets, but were deadly accurate and had a longer range, and they wore dark green jackets instead of red coats to better blend in with their surroundings. It's a great account, and is well researched with a ton of in-text primary source material.

And then for World War II, IMO you can't do better than Antony Beevor, cliche as it may be now that he's become so popular. His extensive books on Stalingrad and D-Day (same titles) are excellent but I think lesser known is The Second World War, which surveys the entire war from beginning to end. It is a really impressive and damn readable work, that doesn't flinch from the emotional experiences of civilians and the horrors of the Holocaust, while still getting into the nitty gritty of battlefield details. My one criticism of Beevor is that he's a little overly-cynical in terms of the competence of commanders. Sometimes it sounds like nobody knew what they were doing at all. But on the flipside, he also does a great job of humanizing them, demystifying them, and pointing out that these were men, not gods. Great author.

[Thunderbird]

I read nonfiction true crime books. My current favorites are The CIA as Organized Crime by Douglas Valentine, The Dark Art by Edward Follis (which chronicles DEA operations), Befriend and Betray II and La Peuple Brise by Alex Caine, and Cold War by Jerry Langton. If it involves drug raids, gang raids and mafia stings, I'm all over it.

I also read futurist nonfiction such as Michio Kaku's Physics of The Future, which is a mindblowing read. Homo Deus by Yuval Harari is another eye-opener.

The last book I read was The Death of Money: the Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System. I wonder if there is a connection between my affinity for kaiju and disaster films and my obsession with violent, apocalyptic nonfiction narratives.