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Alexander Kent: The Flag Captain.

One in a series following the adventures of Richard Bolitho as he makes his way from a 3rd lieutenant to Commodore in 17th (?) century British Navy fighting the Franco Spanish alliance, Corsairs, slave traders etc.

Very much like the ABC TV series Hornblower (except more detailed).
 

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Motormouse said:
Alexander Kent: The Flag Captain.

One in a series following the adventures of Richard Bolitho as he makes his way from a 3rd lieutenant to Commodore in 17th (?) century British Navy fighting the Franco Spanish alliance, Corsairs, slave traders etc.

Very much like the ABC TV series Hornblower (except more detailed).
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18/19th ;)

Have you read O'Brien?
 
History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them - Stephen Weir.

2.5/10

Shallow. Lacking analytical depth. Coffee-table style content in an encyclopedic format. Pretty pictures. Annoyingly cutesy check-list of cardinal sins each guilty decision maker was seduced by, with a few virtues like charity, faith and hope tossed in. Reminiscent of a High School text book. Bleah. Best suited for teenagers developing an interest in history, as Weir's written this in a dryly entertaining, opinionated style that's designed to provoke curiosity. But stapling a few newspaper "Top 10" compilations together would provide the same effect. Not worth the dough.

Highlight: the breadth of brain-farts covered, ranging from political, tactical, scientific, financial and medical.

Lowlight: the author ignoring the umpire's non-payment of Leigh Colbert's Mark of the Century.
 
Stripey PJs said:
History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them - Stephen Weir.

2.5/10

...Best suited for teenagers developing an interest in history, as Weir's written this in a dryly entertaining, opinionated style that's designed to provoke curiosity. But stapling a few newspaper "Top 10" compilations together would provide the same effect. Not worth the dough.
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Have you read 'The Historian' by Elizabeth Kostova? That gave me an interesting insight into a side of history I'd never looked into before, along with Vlad Tepechs' fascination with immortality, and his totally twisted sense of morals and justice. Eye opening to say the least. The story line was a bit 'fanciful' (for want of a better word), but the historical research that accompanied it was credible.
 
Motormouse said:
Have you read 'The Historian' by Elizabeth Kostova? That gave me an interesting insight into a side of history I'd never looked into before, along with Vlad Tepechs' fascination with immortality, and his totally twisted sense of morals and justice. Eye opening to say the least. The story line was a bit 'fanciful' (for want of a better word), but the historical research that accompanied it was credible.
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This is back before L'Oreal arrived to save us all, exhydrating Brosnan's Bondage cred down the drain in the process?

"There's more to life than impaling babies."

Um...no, sorry Motor, but I've heard of it....this was the result of a drunken tryst between Bram Stoker's spirit and Dan Brown's typewriter, right? Not a big fan of vampiric novels; the protagonists tend to be an effete, limp-wristed and submissive lot whom I struggle to identify with.
An episode or two of Buffy, chiefly for Xander's cheesy punchlines (ok, ok, and your Avatar's boots), is as close to the genre as I've comfortably gone, and that was many full moons ago.
 
Almost finished A Death in Brazil, a great account of selected Brazillian history from the year 1500 to now, infused with a lot of anecdote from the Melbourne born author who has spent several years there.

Last book I finished was Brave New World.
 

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Claude Balls said:
Almost finished A Death in Brazil, a great account of selected Brazillian history from the year 1500 to now, infused with a lot of anecdote from the Melbourne born author who has spent several years there.

Last book I finished was Brave New World.
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I liked Brave New World, Aldous Huxley is pretty sweet. Especially his name?
 
Nearly finished 'The Traveller' by John Twelve Hawks. Good ol' modern fantasy style type thing.

Looking forward to finishing the trilogy.
 
c0ze said:
Nearly finished 'The Traveller' by John Twelve Hawks. Good ol' modern fantasy style type thing.

Looking forward to finishing the trilogy.
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I have that, do you have the second one yet? I read it last year, waiting on the 3rd one now.

Any thoughts on who the author might be?
 
crosby123 said:
I liked Brave New World, Aldous Huxley is pretty sweet. Especially his name?
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So did I, and some parts I loved. I'm not quite sure what I think of the ending though... Apparently Point, Counter Point is almost as good, so I plan to read that later this year.
 
The Secret.

OMG don't waste your time, energy or money on this crap!!

Everything this flakey woman says has been preached by every religion on the face of the planet.

Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened unto you.

The same message packaged in a non-denominational script in which 'You change the universe by the power of your own thought'.

Life coaches the world over have made millions selling this shite, and it can all be summed up in one single sentence:

If you believe in yourself you will make it happen.

I dunno about you, but to me that sounds like a self fulfilling prophesy.

Substitute the word 'Universe' with 'God' and this is a description of the power of Prayer.

Read it with a (very large) grain of salt.
 
Motormouse said:
The Secret.

OMG don't waste your time, energy or money on this crap!!

Everything this flakey woman says has been preached by every religion on the face of the planet.

Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened unto you.

The same message packaged in a non-denominational script in which 'You change the universe by the power of your own thought'.

Life coaches the world over have made millions selling this shite, and it can all be summed up in one single sentence:

If you believe in yourself you will make it happen.

I dunno about you, but to me that sounds like a self fulfilling prophesy.

Substitute the word 'Universe' with 'God' and this is a description of the power of Prayer.

Read it with a (very large) grain of salt.
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Hah, my team leader at work was trying to get me on to it. No thanks!
 
bingle said:
just finished reading the Mission the other day.
seems the most appropiate place to say that.

i love how in depth it was with trivial things like what specific players were doing pre-grand final and how in depth it was with the review in 06 and the Steve Johnson incident at Christmas
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I just finished it last night. Quite entertaining for bed time reading.

Looking forward to the post-2008 premiership victory sequel 'A Dynasty Is Born' ! ;)
 
Lance Armstrong's two books.

I love the guy for beating cancer, for his unbelieveable work ethic, and his unmatched sporting talent.

I hope in my heart of hearts that he didn't use performance enhancers, I am just about convinced that he didn't.
 
In the middle of three things at the moment: an old Vogue magazine, Atonement and a history book about Melbourne.

Great attention span!
 
"I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson.

Without a doubt one of the greatest books written about vampires, up there with Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire", Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and John Steakley's "Vampires"

"I Am Legend" inspired guy's like Stephen King (which may or may not be a good thing) and has been adapted 3 times for film (none of which really do the book justice).

It is a short read, 160 pages, but has a great twist in the tail. It captures what it would be like to live on your own for years and how things you take for granted mean so much when taken away.

Can't recommend it highly enough!!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/I-Am-Legend/Richard-Matheson/e/9780312865047
 
An Ideal Husband (snort) and the Importance of being Ernest.
Both great plays, both ****ing hilarious.

But very similar. Algernon Moncrieff is Lord Goring, or Lord Goring is Algernon Moncrieff. And they're both Oscar Wilde.
If you only sample one, make it Ernest. AIH has boggy patches that draaaaag, and fewer wittier bon mots/profound silliness.
 
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