Read any good books lately?

lurker - so you weren't a fan then?

I won't debate it too much yet (as I'm still only halfway through) but the Steinbeck thing does get annoying at times. Particularly when I first started it - having just finished a book that was heavy on dialogue and activity, it was heavy going to be bombarded with so much description and metaphors. And I agree about the amazing knowledge of events in Europe, when even in Europe people were closing their eyes and ears to a lot of what was happening.

I'll carry on to the end, as I almost always do, to see if the story itself makes it worthwhile.

Do any of the history geeks on here know any books which might give some background to the WWI Mesopotamia campaign? Just found out my grandfather served there and I'd like to dig a bit more into it.

Cavalry man at a guess then. I have no books that point directly to the mesopotamia campiagn to be truthful it was a sideshow and not much happened. More money to be made in the Lions lead by donkeys V the revisionist history of the western front. IE Haig was a bastard V Haig done well with what he had.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/First-World-War-Martin-Gilbert/dp/0006376665/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207300880&sr=8-5

Is a good start as level headed historian. Gives details on all battles not just the western front.

Do any of the history geeks on here know any books which might give some background to the WWI Mesopotamia campaign? Just found out my grandfather served there and I'd like to dig a bit more into it.

 The campaign was a horrible episode of British military incompetence.  At Kut-al-Amara for example  they went in unprepared, extended their lines of communications, were cut off and beseiged and then left to rot as prisoners.  Hundreds of Tommies and thousands of Indian troops died of starvation, disease and neglect... not a proud chapter in the history of the British Army at high command level

• Barber, Major Charles H. Besieged in Kut - and After Blackwood, 1917
• The Campaign in Mesopotamia by Brigadier-General F. J. Moberly
• Dixon, Dr. Norman F. On the Psychology of Military Incompetence Jonathan Cape Ltd 1976 / Pimlico 1994 (pp95–109)

Little or no access to movies?

Sounds like things have changed somewhat in Corinth-land. Plenty of books is always good.

Thanks TT & Corinth (hi BTW!)

TT he was RAMC, although he joined the Lancs Fusiliers but was bought out after 2 days by his mum

Okay, finished 'A Quiet Belief in Angels'.

Somewhere in there was a good book, possibly. But, as my learned friend Lurker has already pointed out, it's no Steinbeck. And boy, does the author wish he was Steinbeck. He apes his style and mentions him whenever he gets a chance. It gets particularly wearying when he starts quoting from 'Cannery Row'.

Style aside, the story itself is quite engaging until our hero, Joseph, leaves Georgia. From that point on it seems like the author loses interest and starts rattling through the plot and the years. I finished it so quickly because I just wanted to get to the end, confirm who the killer was (it was always going to be one of three or four people, and the actual identity didn't ultimately matter very much), and move on to the next book.

Reading this book won't make your life any worse. But it will take up time that could be spent much better elsewhere. Like reading Steinbeck.

I've listened to audiobooks while on my long training runs. Makes the miles seem easier but I've only done it for books I've previously read. Not sure I'd be able to concentrate enough to follow the plot of a new story.

I'm currently reading a trashy crime novel but when I finish this I'm thinking of starting either "The Book Thief" or "Tenderness of Wolves". Has anyone on here read these yet?

Little Nemo - I've read The Tenderness of Wolves - I think as recommended by SVT in fact and it was great - wasn't sure it was my cup of tea but really enjoyed it.  I've got The Book Thief on the shelf but haven't read it.

Sppoooooky.  Haven't visited this since going away last week and the book that I took with me was A Quiet Belief in Angels.   Am very relieved to read SVT's and lurker's comments, although I'm not as well-read as them and haven't read any Steinbeck but I thought it was very tedious.  I wasn't sure whether it had decided whether it was a rites of passage novel or a murder/mystery and wasn't sure it achieved either.  Agree with the comments about the two halves of the book and I was also annoyed about references to WWII that I didn't think would have been information that would have reached the US at the time.

Right, what shall I read next?

Cheers, HL! Tenderness of Wolves next for me then.

Have you read Atonement? I read it for the 3rd time recently, really love this book.

HL - looks like a forum consensus on AQBIA then, which is a bit dull. I feel like I should hold a contrary position...

The US, in particularly the deep south, was extremely interested in events in Europe prior to Pearl Harbour, and were particularly outraged at Hitler's treatment of the Jews. So there.

(I didn't recomment The Tenderness of Wolves... but seeing as you liked it, maybe I did!)

Topsy and Tim Go Camping was extraordinarily good. The sub text seemed to project a somewhat Machiavelian theme, although this didn't upset the general balance of the main plot.

All in all, a joy good read. 

TT he was RAMC, although he joined the Lancs Fusiliers but was bought out after 2 days by his mum

There was a problem with "boy soilders" some got to the front, most got a clip from mother for being so daft. Corthinth prob knows the title but an excellent book on boy soilders about.

SVT - you so made that up