What are we reading?

[Sir Slash]

Trying to decide which to start first, Bill O'Reilly's latest: Killing the SS or Prit Buttar's latest: On A Knife's Edge: The Ukraine, Novenber 1942- March 1943. Or maybe both at the same time.  :bd:

[Toonces]

I've got a couple of books in the queue.  I'm almost finished with a historical novel called Wolf Hall, about Thomas Cromwell during the era of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  The author has a very distinctive writing style that I can't decide if I like or dislike, but it's certainly unusual.

I'm on my third try with The Rules of the Game, about Jutland and British naval culture.  I'm not going to sugar coat it - the book's a slog.  The first part is good about Jutland, but then it just goes into this lengthy biography and background of the key players and...it's just long and not that interesting.  I'm past the halfway part and we're back into the battle, so I might actually get through it, but I just don't know.  There are too many good books to be tied down with something I'm not enjoying.

I finished Wolf Hall about two weeks ago.  It's a very good book.  It ends (spoiler alert) just after Thomas More loses his head, and just prior to the saga of Ann Boleyn.  The second book is about Boleyn's troubles.  Unfortunately the library doesn't have it in Kindle version, so I might have to keep an eye out for a cheap used physical copy.

I finished The Rules of the Game during my trip to Norfolk last week.  I'm going to go ahead and give it two thumbs up as well.  While the middle is a bit of a slog, now that I've finished it I wish I had gone ahead and read the middle more closely.  The author really ties things together at the end, and I am very impressed with how he draws the content of the book into lessons for today's military.  In fact, I'm considering giving the book another, closer read at some point, perhaps next summer.

On the flight home I started Castles of Steel, which I've had for a while but never read.  I'm also considering starting The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  I never finished it the first time I read it.

[MetalDog]

You really should read The Hobbit first.  Not because you have to have read it in order to make sense of LotR, but, because it's a complete-ist thing.  And it's a good story, for all that most folks feel it's a 'kids' story and LotR is an 'adult' story.

[JasonPratt]

I remember the first time I tried reading the Fellowship of the Ring (given to me by my oldest aunt for Christmas long, long ago), and I was totally lost. And bored. I was admittedly also like 9. ;) But I also hadn't read the Hobbit yet. I think I had already been a fan of the Rankin-Bass animated adaptation of the Hobbit, but I just couldn't connect them together.

Actually reading the Hobbit helped a lot. Though I'm not gonna lie, LotR is super dry -- as I assume you already know, Commander, from having given up on it once already ;) -- and it doesn't get less dry as it goes.

Just try to skim over the photorealistic descriptions of everything, if you can. I appreciate those somewhat more when I'm already familiar with the story. (Same goes for the Wheel of Time, though nothing can help Crossroads of Twilight.  )

[Sir Slash]

Fellowship is pretty slow until you get to Moria. From there I couldn't put it down.

[Gusington]

Castles of Steel FTW!!

[Jarhead0331]

I had a random urge to read Bram Stoker's Dracula...so I am.

[Double Deuce]

For my birthday, my wife recently picked me up a copy of "Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44". More detailed and interesting than I was expecting. Only have about 50 pages left. Need to find me some more books on this theater.

[Toonces]

I never finished Dracula, but what I read was fantastic.  I think I got about halfway through.

It's packed away in a box somewhere in my house or I'd definitely be pulling it out right now.  What a great idea for Halloween reading!

[MetalDog]

I've read Dracula all the way through.  I should probably read that again soon.  Mostly reading D&D manuals.

[Gusington]

Dracula is one of my favorite books of all time. If you liked that try Dracul, the new prequel written by Bram Stoker's great grandnephew, Dacre. I am almost done with it.

[JasonPratt]

The immediate book to read after Dracula should be Saberhagen's The Dracula Tapes (pun with Tepes not actually intended I think).

It kicked off an ongoing series of various quality, though the "Dracula" scenes remained excellent, that ran until Saberhagen's death. But the original book is a great example of using plot holes in the original to retcon the story somewhat.

Part of me would like to see it adapted into a TV series, but I have no confidence they wouldn't mess it up. Dracula as a more-or-less pious Christian mafia leader just minding his own business (mostly ;) ) aside from occasionally herding the cats of hostile vampires and either yanking them in line or making them sorry they 'crossed' him...    At least two of the books half-serve as prequel novels for Dracula's pre- and early-vampire life.


The first sequel, with Dracula teaming up with Sherlock Holmes, is probably the best of the series after the Tapes; helped a lot by staying in one timeline. Saberhagen was not at his best trying to write 'modern' scenes.


Note: I don't know who reads the audible book, but the Kindle version is only $5.

[bbmike]

^Best book in that series is An Old Friend of the Family. Despite there being some iffy books it remains one of my favorite series. I love the way Dracula is portrayed. It would make a fantastic TV series or movie(s) but, yeah, it would have to be done right.

[side note: JasonPratt earns 100 bonus points for that post]  O0

[Gusington]

Bonus points revoked for not providing links.

[Sir Slash]

And what do sausages have to do with this particular subject?     But if Jason provides them, of course I won't say no.