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Mike Harding


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Books I'm reading/read
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Please add to this list?

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Currently reading, rereading or recently read:

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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch 

by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

A light and amusing tale of odd goings-on in southern England.

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Slow Horses by Mick Herron

Slough House is where MI5 puts its failures but in this case Jackson Lamb and River Someone detect and foil a plot by MI5 to do naughty things. A good read and well written with an interesting and abrupt style.

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The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre

Biographical in the main - a decent read as one would except.

[He replied to my correspondence with a delightful hand written letter a few years past, a gentleman]

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The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch by Lewis Dartnell

Much very good and well explained base knowledge regarding how to make basic items eg. soap and glass. I bought a hardback copy for my son.

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Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan

A Takeshi Kovacs novel; Kovacs (an ex "Envoy") investigates the suicide of Lauren Bancroft, a "Myth". The authors first novel and a sterling effort. It is long with a complicated plot with many characters and occasionally hard to follow. However the author writes very well and both the plot and all science fiction aspects of it are believable.

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South by Ernest Henry Shackleton

An account of Shackleton's cross Antarctic expedition of 1915. An astonishing degree of tenacity and perseverance shown by these men.

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MH



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Craig1


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Slough House is a weirdly ,sometimes funny and very close to the bone.

GRAVEYARD TO HELL Jack Higgins, a reprint , a trilogy of Det. Nick Miller from early 1960's.

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Possum3


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Just finished "Hard Jacka" by Michael Lawriwsky - Albert Jacka VC.

About to start reading; "Hostile Waters" by Peter Huchausen -An intelligence analysis regarding Submarine K-219 (Soviet Missile Submarine) at the height of the Cold War between USA and Russia. A true account about how close we came to WW3, in October 1986.

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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan

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Bicyclecamper


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Altered Carbon, I didn't read it, but their are 2 series o it on Netflix, and I loved it. Maybe another to come I hope, but usually their is a year between series on there.

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Mike Harding


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Bicyclecamper wrote:

Altered Carbon, I didn't read it, but their are 2 series o it on Netflix, and I loved it.

I watched two or three episodes about one year past then gave up on it. The books are far better imo, the narrative and characters are just too complex to work on film it seems to me.



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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"

Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
Cupie


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Possum3 wrote:

Just finished "Hard Jacka" by Michael Lawriwsky - Albert Jacka VC.

About to start reading; "Hostile Waters" by Peter Huchausen -An intelligence analysis regarding Submarine K-219 (Soviet Missile Submarine) at the height of the Cold War between USA and Russia. A true account about how close we came to WW3, in October 1986.

 Coincidently, I just finished Hard Jacka as well.   

My comprehension & memory are failing (perhaps a sign of what is to come) so these days I am restricted mainly to rather light novels.  Pick them up by the bag full at the local opp shops at $2 each.

Wife was about to throw out/give away a pile of one of her fav authors - James Patterson - so I thumbed through one and found it quite readable.  Have now read 3 in the first week only another 4 to go.

We have established a library of books that we just can't bring ourselves to give away.  Filled 4 tall billy bookcases plus another bookcase in my study and a few piled up shelves in one of the downstairs storage cupboards.  Just more junk for the kids to dump when they clear out the house after we fall off the perch.   But in the meantime I can re-read and enjoy them after 5 years or so ( I date the fly leaf after each reading).  Sometimes memory loss is a good thing.

I have probably 300 or so on my rarely used Kindle e-reader too.  I regularly download Amazon free books.



-- Edited by Cupie on Thursday 4th of November 2021 12:23:46 AM

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Possum3


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I purchased "The Tower of Babel" by Morris West, a couple of years ago. Started it about 5 times but had difficulty in relating to characters ( I believe because of the names of characters could not be easily read or translated into an English synonym in my mind whilst reading).
I am aware it is regarded as a classic, so I don't want to give up on it - Perhaps it needs to be made into a film for me. I have put it down again and on the to do list, for when I'm desperate for distraction.

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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan

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bilbo


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Shantaram

cheers Bilbo



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Santa


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Re reading Mr Stuart's Track, a great read, recounting John McDouall Stuart's exploration of South Australia in the mid 1800's, if you have an interest in Australian history/exploration this is well worth a look.smile

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/mr-stuarts-track-by-john-bailey-9780330423618

 



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Santa.

Moonta, Copper Coast, South Aust.
Possum3


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bilbo wrote:

Shantaram

 

 I had to look it up Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts | 9781742611075 | Booktopia - but I don't think I would like it.



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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan

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Mike Harding


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bilbo wrote:

Shantaram

A brilliant book!

I gave it 8/10 and I'm a harsh judge of books.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33600.Shantaram

(Sorry, can't seem to do proper links from the tablet)

And written by an Australian too.



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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"

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Possum3


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Mike, www.goodreads.com/book/show/33600.Shantaram

Apparently not correct name of Author but a pseudonym.

-- Edited by Possum3 on Thursday 4th of November 2021 04:15:11 PM



-- Edited by Possum3 on Thursday 4th of November 2021 04:17:16 PM

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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan

Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
Mike Harding


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I really do not know Possum; many write under a pseudonym, including me, does it matter?

This is how Wikipedia describe him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shantaram_(novel)

In any event it is an outstanding and well written book.



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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"

Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
bilbo


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Shantaram........I gave it 9.9......I started reading and did not put it down (except for sleep) until page 600 odd.

Possum, I think you may have judged this book by its cover!!. 

I cannot remember the authors name........but the book is an autobiography of one part of his life and in the "end" he surrenders to police/serves his time and then was "on a speaking circuit".

He is/was along with his "mate"  the only prisoners to break out of Pentridge in daylight hours.

For those interested the "guts" (99%) of the book are the trials and tribulations of the Indian mafia.

cheers Bilbo

 



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Buzz Lightbulb


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There are no genres mentioned about these books.

There are too many seriously bad things happening in this world so I want to be taken away from alI this with a good laugh hence Sci-Fi comedy. However, I've run out of Sci-Fi comedy authors such as: Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat, Bill the Galactic Hero and Death World series; John Scalzi's Old Man's War series; Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's guides series; Terry Pratchett; Robert Aspirin's Phules and Mytth series; etcetera.

 

What're similar that I can read and who has the eBooks?



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