What are you currently reading ?

[Techno 3]

Listening to a load of Sherlock Holmes stories.

[Ithoriel]

"Weavers, scribes and Kings" by Amanda Podany.

Looking at life in ancient Sumer through the writings that have survived on the clay tablets they used. A fascinating* look at the lives not just of the great and the good but also the less prestigious members of society who also left their thoughts imprinted in clay.

For the historians and archaeologists among you Amanda Podany is part of the team that brought the ancient Mesopotamian city-state of Hana from obscurity to history. 

For music buffs, as a student Amanda Podany was one of the founder members of the band that eventually became The Bangles. If they are playing near where she is she still joins them onstage!

From Rock to rocks!

"Walk like an Egyptian Mesopotamian!" 


*Well, fascinating if Ancient Mesopotamia is of interest to you.

[Raider4]

Listening to a load of Sherlock Holmes stories.

These ones: BBC -  Sherlock Holmes Short Stories ?

[Techno 3]

Not as such, as far as I know.🤔.a lot of them were free CDs that came with one paper, or another, YEARS ago.

Others were ones bought as 'sets'.. e.g.. "The return of Sherlock Holmes".I

All read by Derek Jacobi...I'll have to check out the BBC ones.....Thanks !!😀

[fsn]

Youtube is your friend, Techno. Lots of audiobooks for free.

[Techno 3]

Thanks, Nobby !  

[Raider4]

All read by Derek Jacobi...I'll have to check out the BBC ones.....Thanks !!😀

These are read by Hugh Bonneville.


Can't see anyway to download them to listen to while I'm offline, which is annoying. 

[General von Schnepf]

Brave New World (for the second time!)

Aldous Huxley

One of the OG sci-fi works of the 20th century. I just found out the other day that there is a drug called soma on the market. Some guy was very proud of himself for that.

[kipt]

Finished "Fighting In The Dark: Naval Combat At Night, 1904-1945" edited by Vincent P O'Hara and Trent Home. 7 chapters by different authors detailing night combat from 190-4 to 1944: Russo-Japanese War, WWI German and British night combat, WWII Italian, Japan, US Navy and British combat in various areas.

Well written (and very enjoyable after my last fiasco read). Obviously mainly destroyer action so well presented for wargame scenarios at that level.

Recommended.

[pierre the shy]

Have to agree 100% with Kipt about O'Hara's various naval books. Well researched and easy to read. His stuff on WW2 naval actions in the Med is very good indeed.

I have used them as the basis of quite a few GQ 1/2 scenarios that we have played over the years. 

[kipt]

Finished a novel that has been laying around for a bit, "A Damned Fine War: May 1945. Hitler is dead. Stalin's Red army is about to conquer Europe: Only one man stands in his way..." by Bill Yenne.

That man is Patton, who does not die in a car crash (at least not then).  Patton's daring and audacity stymies Zhukov and other Russian marshals.  Love story thrown in as well as an ending made for Hollywood (or maybe Bollywood).

Fun, quick read.

[kipt]

Finished "Opening Manassas: The Iron brigade, Stonewall Jackson, and the Battle on Brawner's Farm, August 28, 1862" by Lance J. Herdegen and Bill Backus.

A brief history about both sides units and detail about the Iron brigades first real battle.  The authors each write about one side; Lance for the Union and Bill for the Confederates.  Several maps showing the routes taken to this battle and battle dispositions for the Brawner's Farm fight.

The Confederate detailing is more comprehensive than the Union side, but the two authorship works well.

[kipt]

Finished "The Eastern Fleet And The Indian Ocean 1942-1944: The Fleet That Had To Hide" by Charles Stephenson.  Discusses the various actions Admiral Somerville had to go through to keep his fleet in being.

When the Germans sent U-Boats into the south reaches of the Atlantic and around the tip of South Africa many of his ships were sent to the west.  Until he got American planes for his carriers, he was totally outclassed and out ranged by the Japanese.  A time of frustration but he keep his fleet "a fleet in being" which the Japanese could not totally ignore.

[kipt]

Finished "The Civil War In Coastal North Caroline" by John S. Carbone.

The state had a lot of Union leaning people, particularly in the coastal regions.  General Burnside did the first attack and took Roanoke Island,  From there, many forays attacked inland, primarily on raids.

The battle at Fort Fisher was portrayed in the movie about the 54th Massachusetts, a black regiment.

Many black slaves escaped t the Union held territory, as well as whites for the Union.  The whites that joined up were called Buffaloes by the Confederates, and sometimes were executed if captured.  Black regiments were also raised and faced murder if captured.

This book could make some interesting small scale games, both on land and also naval.  Quick read.