Books I'm currently readingI am currently reading 'Cities' by John Reader. I was reading Colin Imber's 'The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650: The Structure of Power' and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's 'The Shadow of the Wind' before I started on 'Cities'. '
I am also reading one volume on artillery and one on tanks. I have also been reading a book on armoured vehicles developed by Vickers.
Cities' which "explores the city's raisons d'etre, functions and forms, its achievements and problems, from fortifications to sewers, factories to markets, theatres and bars." And the description at Amazon described that Cities "will investigate their parasitic relationship with the country around them, the webs of trade and immigration they inhabit, how they feed and water themselves and dispose of their wastes, focusing as much on Baron
Haussman's creation of the Paris sewers as of his plans for the grand boulevards, on prostitution as on government, on human lives as on architecture, on markets as on cathedrals, in a sweeping exploration of what the city is and has been, fit to stand alongside Lewis Mumford's 1962 classic, "The City in History". "Basically, the premise of 'Cities' is that the book seeks to explore the city within its environment.
I finished Arturo Perez-Reverte's 'The Fencing Master' two weeks ago. That was decent escapist fare. It was not particularly distinguished by any stretch of the imagination. If one were to read a Perez-Reverte book, read 'The Dumas Club' instead. The Fencing Master, however, is set in an interesting period in Spanish history when talk of revolution is rife.
Imber's study of the Ottoman Empire is about power structures including the state, the army, the navy and more. If one were a wargamer, this volume would be an ideal tome of source information.
I have started on 'False Gods' by Graham McNeill. So far, the second instalment of the Horus Heresy has been a drag. Warhammer 40, 000 is pulp fiction. Warhammer 40,000 novels is about action and maybe mythmaking as the Horus Heresy stories set within the Warhammer 40,000 are supposed to be.
'The Shadow of the Wind' is supposed to be very good. Again, the setting is in a turbulent period in Spanish history.
Anyway, I am always asking my friends and aquaintances as to what they are reading. Heheh. What are you guys reading now? Tell me tell me! Yes?
5 comments:
Am reading Eat This Book. Can stand the style but there is something vaguely fascinating about the subject. Do a Google on the IFOCE.
Just finished Kurt Vonnegut's "Hocus Pocus" and just started on Asimov's "The Gods Themselves."
Will check it out, SH.
V, ahh.. I have not read that volume from Vonnegut. Hmm.. I have not read that Asimov work yet. Have you read many Asimov novels?
You might like Hocus Pocus. The protagonist being a Vietnam veteran and his life after the war. Very interesting and funny read.
As for Asimov. I remember reading some short stories and I was a fan of his "Asimov" Science Fiction monthly. I do remember starting off on the "Foundation" series but never continued. After I finsihs this one, I might want to.
I will give Hocus Pocus a look. I read a Vonnegut book some twenty years ago, I can't recall if I finished it. I can't recall much of it.
I've never been much of an Asimov fan. In fact, I have read five books of the Foundation trilogy, some of the Robot books and others. I don't like Asimov at all. I think he's a hack.
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