Your best ever read, or the book that changed your mind.

[mervyn]

Just did a quick Google and sounds good might give that a go.... when I eventually finish what I'm reading now.

At the moment I'm thoroughly enjoying 'Pillars of the Earth' by Ken Follett ...... Historical novel set during 'the anarchy' period of 12th century England.... Loving it. The intersecting plot lines are just superb, a real page -turner and the historical details astonishing - maybe a tad too much as I feel if I went on Mastermind my specialist subject could be how Cathedrals were constructed in the 12th century (one main character is a master builder).

It's BIG book though ...... I downloaded on Kindle without realising it's over 1100 pages ... and there are more in the series that are set in the same area in following centuries involving the descendents of the main characters. Definitely recommended.

For two years my wife nagged me to read Pillars of Earth, and I constantly put it off, convinced it was simply not my type of book. Finally I succumbed and couldn’t put it down. Superb plot, brilliantly written, but I hadn’t realised there are more in a series, so thanks for the info and will give them a go.

 

[Ave IT]

For two years my wife nagged me to read Pillars of Earth, and I constantly put it off, convinced it was simply not my type of book. Finally I succumbed and couldn’t put it down. Superb plot, brilliantly written, but I hadn’t realised there are more in a series, so thanks for the info and will give them a go.

I didn't realise either until I'd started ..... it's slightly confusing but the order I'm intending to read them in the order they were published so:
"World without End" set 157 years after 'Pillars'....
then "A Column of Fire" set in 1558,
then the "The Evening and the Morning" published 2020 which is a prequel to Pillars ...
and finally the one just published "The Armour of Light" set in 1792 and covers beginning of industrial revolution.

Although I might mix it up with your 'Slow Horses' suggestion now.

 

[tonycrowuk]

Birdsong
Novel by Sebastian Faulks

And lord of the Rings

 

[Quinny]

I didn't realise either until I'd started ..... it's slightly confusing but the order I'm intending to read them in the order they were published so:
"World without End" set 157 years after 'Pillars'....
then "A Column of Fire" set in 1558,
then the "The Evening and the Morning" published 2020 which is a prequel to Pillars ...
and finally the one just published "The Armour of Light" set in 1792 and covers beginning of industrial revolution.

Although I might mix it up with your 'Slow Horses' suggestion now.

There are a couple of authors I can think of who have written large series of books, but the chronological sequence of the books don't match the publication dates. Asimov's Foundation and Empire series, and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonrider series for a start.

 

[boletus edulis]

I'll give it a go.

Anyway, the other book I was trying to think of Mervyn, is 'The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War' by David Gates. Quite well written, but the maps are crap (I have rarely seen a good map in a history book, which is a shame).

Mark Urban’s The Man who broke Napoleon’s codes: the story of George Scovell is really interesting. It shows how he broke the codes almost as a sideline to his main job as a quartermaster. It also shows how at that time really talented people had a ceiling if they were not from a certain background.

 

[boletus edulis]

If you like Solzhenytsin, and haven't already read them, I can recommend Cancer Ward and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch as well.

Loved one day in the life, read it when the Soviet Union still existed. Also read The communist Manifesto on my commute into London Town in the 1980s, and got some funny looks. Also tried Das Kapital and Mein Kampf, but found both turgid and impenetrable ( bit like Tolkien’s the Simarillion).

 

[boletus edulis]

Summer is a good time to catch up on reading, and there are two I would like to put into the mix.

The first is my favourite war book which I decided to read for the umpteenth time, Dr R. V. Jones Most Secret War. He was the air force’s scientific adviser from 1936-45, and the book, in very readable form, explains the scientific countermeasures taken to respond to a range of German technical advancements. If you are interested in history/military books this gives a really unusual insight. This book is quite hard to get, I got mine in the excellent book shop in Mevagissey after searching for it (the book not the bookshop ) for years.

The second is Wilfred Thesiger The Marsh Arabs. This is to be found under travel books, but is nearer to anthropology. It records his time living with the marsh Arabs of Iraq in the 1950s just before political upheaval lead to the draining of the marshes and an end to a lifestyle two millennia in the making. Slightly bizarrely the reason Thesiger was accepted was largely, he believed, because of his skill at performing Circumcisions! I enjoyed the book so much, apart from the medical bits, that I want to read his previous book Arabian Sands where he lived with the Bedu for five years. Anyone read it?

 

[mervyn]

Loved one day in the life, read it when the Soviet Union still existed. Also read The communist Manifesto on my commute into London Town in the 1980s, and got some funny looks. Also tried Das Kapital and Mein Kampf, but found both turgid and impenetrable ( bit like Tolkien’s the Simarillion).

You’ve reminded me BE that in my early teens I had this weird idea that if you started a book it was somehow wrong to not finish it. So, like you I read Mein Kampf, which is absolute twaddle, but forced myself to read the lot!

 

[Quinny]

You’ve reminded me BE that in my early teens I had this weird idea that if you started a book it was somehow wrong to not finish it. So, like you I read Mein Kampf, which is absolute twaddle, but forced myself to read the lot!

I used to hold that opinion myself, but having to cram-read Joyce's Ulysses in a few days when I was doing my degree nearly broke me and actually put me off reading for some years after finishing my degree. Now I hold the opinion that there's no such thing as a bad book (even Ulysses, although the jury is out for me on To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf which I thought was rubbish ... although I think that me not being a fan of early 20th century modernism is probably closer to the truth), that every book is for *someone*, maybe just not for you. If you're not enjoying a book, put it down and get another one. Life's too short.

 

[gaspargomez]

Oh, I've been struggling to think of an answer to this.

Non-fiction is easy: that would have to be Cosmos by Carl Sagan. I was captivated by the series when it first came out: Sagan explained various aspects of cosmology and science in a way which was easy to understand without being patronising. I adored the music (still got the original vinyl up in the loft) and have been a life-long fan of Vangelis ever since. But the book (which my mum got me for Christmas after I first watched the series) blew my mind and opened me up to a (very amateur) interest in cosmology and astronomy. I've still got that hardback in my collection on astronomy books in my study.

Fiction is harder. LotR has to be up there which I first read in my early teens, but I think in terms of novels it would have to be either The Woman in White or The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I've always been interested in early detective novels (I did a module on them as part of my English Literature degree) and the latter is lauded as being one of the first of that genre, but The Woman in White is just as well written and as enjoyable.

Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark. He is also a cosmologist.

Texmark argues that mathematics doesn’t just describe reality, but actually IS reality. What we perceive as the universe is just mathematics.

 

[mervyn]

Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark. He is also a cosmologist.

Texmark argues that mathematics doesn’t just describe reality, but actually IS reality. What we perceive as the universe is just mathematics.

I found this book in an interesting way. My wife and I were staying at my son and daughter-in-law’s appartment in Stockholm, when they very kindly gave us their more comfortable bed. Just before switching off the light I noticed Our Mathematical Universe on a side table, and meant to give it a quick glance before going to sleep. Four hours later I was a good way through it, and had to force myself to put it down. I’ve now read it twice, and imo it’s the most reader friendly explanation of mathematics, science and the cosmos you could ever read.

 

[Quinny]

Our Mathematical Universe by Max Tegmark. He is also a cosmologist.

Texmark argues that mathematics doesn’t just describe reality, but actually IS reality. What we perceive as the universe is just mathematics.

Haven't read that myself: I'll add that to my reading list.

 

[Mexijan1]

Mein Kampf as stated by a few is a turgid and sorry read but reminds you of the power of print. Didn't change my mind per say more re enforced it.
Tale of Two Cities changed my mind as a youngster from forced to study this crap to reading many more. Chaucer went the other way.
Forced into Dickens also opened my mind to Tolstoy. Brontes, Austin, Haywood, Voltaire etc... above the obvious Defoue and Swift.
Pushed Anna Karenina is still a fav for me

 

[Vargyle]

They will not win any literary awards but the “Rivers Of London “ series by Ben Aaronovitch are great fun. Magic meets Modern day policing all set in and around London. Great characters and I loved the pace and wit and have read all of the books in the series so far.

 

[subbuteo]

The Peregrine by J A Baker.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Lots of 80s references to music and gaming culture of the time.

Anything by B B (Denys Watkins Pickford) but particularly Brendon Chase.

Richard Jeffries - Bevis.