What book are you currently reading?

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#281 Post by bob2s » Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:53 pm

Finished reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson,found sections of the book most fascinating,especially those about DNA,The Universe etc.Prior to that I took TGG recommendation re "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane a throughly good read about life of a Shuttle astronaut from selection to retirement.Both well worth the read.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#282 Post by PHXPhlyer » Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:25 am

Read both.
Both good. :-bd
I have lots of Bryson books yet to read. :)

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#283 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:56 am

bob2s wrote:
Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:53 pm
Finished reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson,found sections of the book most fascinating,especially those about DNA,The Universe etc.
I like Bill Bryson's stuff and his style generally and thoroughly enjoyed "A Short History of Nearly Everything" but there are a couple of factual howlers therein. Maybe later editions have corrected them. I most enjoyed "A Walk in the Woods", for the character of his friend Katz, who is, in some ways, what Ed Ricketts was to Steinbeck in "A Log From the Sea of Cortez" which I am rereading for the umpteenth time.
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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#284 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:49 pm

Death on Small Wings: Memoirs of a Presidential Pilot" by ex FAA pilot Neville Atkinson who was for a time Gadaffi's personal pilot.

Just finished this. A must read for those interested in aviation, North Africa and the Middle East.
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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#285 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:42 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:49 pm
Death on Small Wings: Memoirs of a Presidential Pilot" by ex FAA pilot Neville Atkinson who was for a time Gadaffi's personal pilot.

Just finished this. A must read for those interested in aviation, North Africa and the Middle East.
Neville Atkinson


At one stage of his career Neville Atkinson was flying a number of high ranking Libyan officials into war torn Egypt when their Falcon jet was targeted in 3 attacks by a total of 6 SAM 2 missiles fired by the Egyptians. Atkinson an ex-FAA fast jet carrier pilot avoided them all managing to get back to Libya safely with all his passengers.

Reminded me of this...

https://samilhistory.com/2016/05/07/pre ... saaf-hero/

And when things don't go so well at all...
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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#286 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Sep 25, 2020 8:10 am

I am currently reading "Blind Date at a Funeral" by Trevor Romain, an autobiographical take on his youth growing up in Johannesburg in the 1970's. I can relate to it all, right down to the silkworms and the mulberry tree in the back garden. These days he lives in Austin Texas and is a world renowned children's book writer and speaker, mostly on subjects relating to children's education and socialisation etc. Having gone through basic training in the SADF he will be an expert on bullying.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#287 Post by PHXPhlyer » Mon Oct 19, 2020 6:18 pm

Just finished Disloyal by Michael Cohen.
He is a bit full of himself,but came off as contrite and honest as far as where all the bodies are buried, so to speak.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#288 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:33 pm

Just finished Sean Carroll's "Something Deeply Hidden" and am now, mostly, reading Max Jammer's "Concepts of Space"... Interesting stuff.
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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#289 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:23 pm

Bought Jasper Rees's, 'Let's Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood' earlier today. Still a lot to read but it is very good thus far.

She was an amazing, complex and very funny woman.
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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#290 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Sat Oct 24, 2020 5:52 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:23 pm
Bought Jasper Rees's, 'Let's Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood' earlier today. Still a lot to read but it is very good thus far.

She was an amazing, complex and very funny woman.
All that I said above still stands but the book begins to pall well before the end as it is too factually turgid and, although well researched, begins to read like a rewriting of her work diary and really doesn't give any insight into her marriage and subsequent divorce or other relationships and is obviously written by an avid fan so that it begins to tend towards the hagiographic as the pages grind relentlessly by. I will return to it presently and finish it in more digestible chunks.

This book on the other hand was purchased by me yesterday and read in one delightful blitzkrieg! It is a must read for anybody interested in aviation and the history of Germany, the air war and German aerial reconnaissance during the Second World War.

Sommer, Erich. Luftwaffe Eagle
In this compelling memoir, Erich Sommer recalls his life in pre-war Germany and the adventures he had flying for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Born in 1912, the third son of a district court judge, Erich grew up in an atmosphere of uncertainty following the First World War. In 1932 he started training as a brewery engineer, shortly afterwards the Nazis came to power. The implications this had on the lives of average Germans are described in great detail.

When war came in 1939, he became a navigator, successfully serving with the Luftwaffe’s first pathfinding unit, then a special and little-known control commission in Morocco to monitor the disarmament of Vichy French forces. This led to training as a pilot and Erich joining the high-altitude reconnaissance squadron in missions over Britain. He was then sent to the Russian Front, flying the relatively rare Junkers Ju 86 bomber and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft fitted with pressurized cabins. He also flew the He 11 in a radar-equipped anti-shipping unit and the revolutionary Arado Ar 234 jet – leading to Erich’s participation in the world’s first jet-reconnaissance sortie over the invasion front and ending his war in Italy. After the war, Erich moved with his wife to Australia where he lived peacefully until his death in 2004.

With a detailed introduction from acclaimed Luftwaffe historian J. Richard Smith and illustrated throughout with photographs from private family albums, Luftwaffe Eagle is a fascinating insight into the life of an exceptional Luftwaffe pilot and navigator.
Highly recommended. Spitzenklasse! :-bd
Though you remain
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"To be alive
You must have somewhere
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Your destination remains
Elusive."

ribrash

Re: What book are you currently reading?

#291 Post by ribrash » Sat Oct 24, 2020 7:01 pm

TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Sat Oct 24, 2020 5:52 pm
TheGreenGoblin wrote:
Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:23 pm
Bought Jasper Rees's, 'Let's Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood' earlier today. Still a lot to read but it is very good thus far.

She was an amazing, complex and very funny woman.
All that I said above still stands but the book begins to pall well before the end as it is too factually turgid and, although well researched, begins to read like a rewriting of her work diary and really doesn't give any insight into her marriage and subsequent divorce or other relationships and is obviously written by an avid fan so that it begins to tend towards the hagiographic as the pages grind relentlessly by. I will return to it presently and finish it in more digestible chunks.

This book on the other hand was purchased by me yesterday and read in one delightful blitzkrieg! It is a must read for anybody interested in aviation and the history of Germany, the air war and German aerial reconnaissance during the Second World War.

Sommer, Erich. Luftwaffe Eagle
In this compelling memoir, Erich Sommer recalls his life in pre-war Germany and the adventures he had flying for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Born in 1912, the third son of a district court judge, Erich grew up in an atmosphere of uncertainty following the First World War. In 1932 he started training as a brewery engineer, shortly afterwards the Nazis came to power. The implications this had on the lives of average Germans are described in great detail.

When war came in 1939, he became a navigator, successfully serving with the Luftwaffe’s first pathfinding unit, then a special and little-known control commission in Morocco to monitor the disarmament of Vichy French forces. This led to training as a pilot and Erich joining the high-altitude reconnaissance squadron in missions over Britain. He was then sent to the Russian Front, flying the relatively rare Junkers Ju 86 bomber and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft fitted with pressurized cabins. He also flew the He 11 in a radar-equipped anti-shipping unit and the revolutionary Arado Ar 234 jet – leading to Erich’s participation in the world’s first jet-reconnaissance sortie over the invasion front and ending his war in Italy. After the war, Erich moved with his wife to Australia where he lived peacefully until his death in 2004.

With a detailed introduction from acclaimed Luftwaffe historian J. Richard Smith and illustrated throughout with photographs from private family albums, Luftwaffe Eagle is a fascinating insight into the life of an exceptional Luftwaffe pilot and navigator.
Highly recommended. Spitzenklasse! :-bd
Re Victoria Wood.....I think I read all the good bits in the many reviews floating about recently.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#292 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Fri Jun 25, 2021 5:27 am

IslandPilot.JPG
IslandPilot.JPG (49.38 KiB) Viewed 408 times

The story of setting up Loganair's scheduled and hospital flight system in Shetland and surrounding islands from 1967 though the early 70's from the perspective of Captain Alan Whitfield who helped to make a lot of it happen. He seems a really nice person, I wonder if he is still alive?

Re-reading this one after many, many years, having lost my original copy and having had to order a second hand copy from Amazon, as it is out of print. Behind it, in a growing queue sits a whole litany of books suggested by FN2. I am falling behind in my slacking, I need even more time to read.

https://simpleflying.com/loganair-history/
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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#293 Post by Pontius Navigator » Fri Jun 25, 2021 6:37 am

Ah, books from the past once owned and now worth a fortune. I was minded to re read Braddock in book form and compare with Bomber. Cannot afford the second hand prices.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#294 Post by Hydromet » Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:10 am

Currently reading , about a WW I pilot who became a con-man and serial philanderer and then a successful spy in WW II. Written by his Granddaughter from a daughter he never knew. It's supposedly about him, but also gives a good explanation ofthe organisations behind the spies in England and Germany.

https://www.booktopia.com.au/double-age ... 16149.html

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#295 Post by EA01 » Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:29 am

"We, the drowned", by Carsten Jenson

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/798 ... he-drowned

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#296 Post by tango15 » Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:22 am

No aviation content in my current reading. 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop. It's a semi-fictional account of Spinalonga, the small island off Crete to which lepers were sent. I visited the island in the late 1960s and found it very eerie and moving.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#297 Post by Rossian » Fri Jun 25, 2021 12:55 pm

"A School in South Uist" the memories the headmaster who was the first Englishman and the first Catholic to serve in that role. His tenure was in the 1890s and the beginning of the 20th century. We hear talk of life being hard sometimes these days but in those days it really WAS hard. The kids sometimes having to walk five or six miles to school carrying their piece of peat for the schoolroom fire, in Hebridean gales in the wintertime. He makes it sound idyllic, and I think veers away from the incidence of infectious diseases that would have been prevalent at that time and the effect that would have had on the communities. But to me, as a Scot and from the highlands, it has been a fascinating read.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#298 Post by PHXPhlyer » Fri Jun 25, 2021 2:19 pm

Rock me on the water : 1974 : the year Los Angeles transformed movies, music, television, and politics / Ronald Brownstein.

Documents the kaleidoscopic year during which transformative talents from Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, and Beverly Hills heavily influenced pop culture, politics, and social movements.
Los Angeles in 1974 exerted more influence over popular culture than any other city in America. Working in film, recording, and television studios, a cluster of transformative talents produced an explosion in popular culture which reflected the demographic, social, and cultural realities of a changing America. Popular culture was ahead of politics in predicting what America would become. Brownstein traces the confluence of movies, music, television, and politics in Los Angeles month by month through that transformative, magical year. Today, we are again witnessing a generational cultural divide, and Brownstein shows how the voices resistant to change may win the political battle for a time, but they cannot hold back the future.

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#299 Post by Opsboi » Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:23 pm

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell - the last in the Uhtred of Begganburg saga

Found the first one in a rented gite in Normandy years ago

By an amazing coincidence found the second in our next gite

Great series

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Re: What book are you currently reading?

#300 Post by FD2 » Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:31 pm

Rossian - if you enjoyed 'A School In South Uist' you'll also enjoy Finlay Macdonald's 'Crowdie and Cream'.
It's available from Amazon.

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