The Bookshelf

[Bill 12,795]

I'm think there are probably some impressive readers on this forum and I don't know if there's been a topic on reading matter in the past but there certainly can't have been a better time for one.

 

Who's reading what? What are your preferences? Would you recommend anything that you've read recently?

 

I recently picked up something wholly inappropriate in a time of crisis - a book about a previous and potentially existential disaster, Chernobyl. It's a collection of witness testimonies about the Chernobyl disaster and the impact on individuals who lived through it and the Russian nation as a whole. Only 50 pages in but so far it's a brilliant piece of work.

 

Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich

Won Nobel prize in Literature

 

I wanted to show a picture of it but the attachment won't work for some reason.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Bill

[ranger_syntax 3,492]

I'm starting a remote job soon.  Just picked up a book called 'Remote' by Fried and Heinemeier Hansson (2 remote work advocates).

[Gonzo79 12,214]

I try to read two books at once.  Here's a list of my recent favourites:

 

Resurrection - Leo Tolstoy (takes a while but doesn't feel like it)

A Hero Of Our Time - Lermantov (I have a painting inspired by this book in my living room, that's how good it is)

The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner - James Hogg (a life-changing read)

The Serbs - Tim Judah (very objective and fascinating history)

Wind, Sand and Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (a beautifully written, short memoir, which becomes expansive and well, cosmic)

Storm Of Steel - Ernst Junger (an inspiring account by a German regarding WWI). 

 

I like mixing fiction and non-fiction.  I'm a huge fan of 19th century Russian literature (which is probably evident).

Edited March 22, 2020 by Gonzo79

[Bill 12,795]

37 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

I try to read two books at once.  Here's a list of my recent favourites:

 

Resurrection - Leo Tolstoy (takes a while but doesn't feel like it)

A Hero Of Our Time - Lermantov (I have a painting inspired by this book in my living room, that's how good it is)

The Private Memoirs And Confessions Of A Justified Sinner - James Hogg (a life-changing read)

The Serbs - Tim Judah (very objective and fascinating history)

Wind, Sand and Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (a beautifully written, short memoir, which becomes expansive and well, cosmic)

Storm Of Steel - Ernst Junger (an inspiring account by a German regarding WWI). 

 

I like mixing fiction and non-fiction.  I'm a huge fan of 19th century Russian literature (which is probably evident).

Haven’t read everything he wrote but Saint-Exupery’s Flight to Arras and Night Flight we’re also excellent. I forget but wasn’t he a duke or count or similar. 

[Gonzo79 12,214]

1 minute ago, Bill said:

I forget but wasn’t he a duke or count or similar. 

He certainly came from the upper ranks of French society.  It was a book I grabbed for less than £1 and didn't expect much but I was blown away, particularly by the way it ended.

[Bill 12,795]

4 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

He certainly came from the upper ranks of French society.  It was a book I grabbed for less than £1 and didn't expect much but I was blown away, particularly by the way it ended.

Much the same here. Read him when I was young. He’s one of the reasons I’ve never hesitated to read outside my comfort zone. 

[compo 5,386]

Reading a  old one at the moment,  Race to oblivion by Herbert York the American physicist 

[Rousseau 8,655]

I've usually got a few on the go.

 

I'm not sure how popular this will be on here, but I like Sci-Fi/Fantasy. At the moment I'm working my way through Malazan.

 

I'm also flicking through the collected poems of Emily Dickinson. 

 

I had recently finished a couple by Paul Collier: The future of Capitalism and Exodus. Both were quite informative; a common sense approach, if somewhat idealistic at times.  

 

I'm always on the look-out for recommendations. 

[Uilleam 4,899]

Any takers?

 

 

 

 

[26th of foot 5,289]

3 minutes ago, Uilleam said:

Any takers?

 

 

 

 

Currently, the supermarket shelves are empty; any word on the absorbency of the pages?