Thread: What book are you reading right now?

Tank Action by David Render

I quite liked this book - a straight forward account - also highlighting the need for infantry and mechanised to train together for urban combat

A gripping account of the Second World War, from the perspective of a young tank commander.

In 1944, David Render was a nineteen-year-old second lieutenant fresh from Sandhurst when he was sent to France. Joining the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry five days after the D-Day landings, the combat-hardened men he was sent to command did not expect him to last long. However, in the following weeks of ferocious fighting in which more than 90 per cent of his fellow tank commanders became casualties, his ability to emerge unscathed from countless combat engagements earned him the nickname of the 'Inevitable Mr Render'.

In Tank Action Render tells his remarkable story, spanning every major episode of the last year of the Second World War from the invasion of Normandy to the fall of Germany. Ultimately it is a story of survival, comradeship and the ability to stand up and be counted as a leader in combat.

Smile When You're Lying - Chuck Thompson

A travel book with a difference - a fun read too

From Bangkok to Bogotá, a hilarious behind-the-brochures tour of picture-perfect locales, dangerous destinations, and overrated hellholes from a guy who knows the truth about travel

Travel writer, editor, and photographer Chuck Thompson has spent more than a decade traipsing through thirty-five (and counting) countries across the globe, and he's had enough. Enough of the half-truths demanded by magazine editors, enough of the endlessly recycled clichés regarded as good travel writing, and enough of the ugly secrets fiercely guarded by the travel industry. But mostly, he's had enough of returning home from assignments and leaving the most interesting stories and the most provocative insights on the editing-room floor. From getting swindled in Thailand to running afoul of customs inspectors in Belarus, from defusing hostile Swedish rockers backstage in Germany to a closed-door meeting with travel execs telling him why he's about to be fired once again, Thompson's no-holds-barred style is refreshing, invigorating, and all those other adjectives travel writers use to describe spa vacations where the main attraction is a daily colonic.

Smile When You're Lying takes readers on an irresistible series of adventures in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and beyond; details the effects of globalization on the casual traveler and ponders the future of travel as we know it; and offers up a treasure trove of travel-industry secrets collected throughout a decidedly speckled career.

Barrel of a Gun - Al Venter

A recounting of his time as a correspondent in many of the worlds conflicts - especially during the time when most of the worlds press attention was focussed on Vietnam - some interesting stuff about Somalia and the American air base there

"Anybody who says that the pen is mightier than the sword hasn't spent time in Somalia, or in Beirut during its bloody heyday." So begins this fascinating memoir of a journalist, filmmaker, and just plain raconteur who has made a career of examining warfare-on the ground and as the bullets are flying. While the average citizen is aware of violent conflicts broiling all around the globe, Al J. Venter-from some strange compulsion unexplainable even by him-has felt the need to see them all in person, preferably at the center of the action.Born in South Africa, Venter has found no shortage of horrific battles on his own continent, from Rhodesia to Biafra, and Angola to Somalia.

Ambush Alley by Tim Pritchard

Not too bad - highlights my previous comment about tanks in urban combat - in this day and age you would expect urban combat training would high on the list

March 23, 2003: U.S. Marines from the Task Force Tarawa are caught up in one of the most unexpected battles of the Iraq War. What started off as a routine maneuver to secure two key bridges in the town of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq degenerated into a nightmarish twenty-four-hour urban clash in which eighteen young Marines lost their lives and more than thirty-five others were wounded. It was the single heaviest loss suffered by the U.S. military during the initial combat phase of the war.

On that fateful day, Marines came across the burned-out remains of a U.S. Army convoy that had been ambushed by Saddam Hussein’s forces outside Nasiriyah. In an attempt to rescue the missing soldiers and seize the bridges before the Iraqis could destroy them, the Marines decided to advance their attack on the city by twenty-four hours. What happened next is a gripping and gruesome tale of military blunders, tragedy, and heroism.

Hotel Scarface - Roben Farzad

A good read about the cocaine influx to Miami and where all the sugglers and dealers partied

A history of the infamous Mutiny at Sailboat Bay hotel and nightclub, the epicenter of Miami’s cocaine boom years.

Miami’s reputation in the 1980s as the stronghold of the cocaine trade was popularized by the film Scarface and TV series Miami Vice, but the real story may eclipse even these portrayals. Through turf wars, assassinations, and arrests, the only certainty in Miami’s drug trade was the hangout for the industry’s key players to show off and flash their dirty money. In his investigation into the Mutiny, Farzad, who hosts Full Disclosure on NPR, captures the excess, decadence, and debauchery of the Mutiny in its heyday. This was where kingpins did business in the hotel suites, crooked lawyers and financiers held office hours at the club, and the entire staff were all in on it.

Sleeping with the Devil - Robert Baer

an insightful opinion of the Saudi Arabian royals and their money and influence of the world and its nutters

“Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place that spawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient and deeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family that can’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on?”

^ Robert Baer - loyal old school properly foreign service trained spook.
Media friendly, finding him as a chosen narrating expert among most establishment news outlets.

Long into expose' publishing and unique television programming.

just a quick post for those looking for some good books to read

Emergency Sex and Other Despera - Kenneth Cain

recollections of 3 NGO workers across various countries - quite insightful

No Good Men Among the Living_ America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes - Anand Gopal

very interesting book - basically the americans should have provided the firepower but not been in charge

The First Casualty by Peter Greste

a book about Peter's time in egyptian prison and an informative look at what is happening to press freedoms around the world

...nearly finished with "The Cartel", part of the Don Winslow back catalogue: nearly as engaging as the Netflix Narcos series...

Epub format for books is my preferred

I like non fiction

Goodreads is not bad to trawl through, but many publications have yearly lists.

Plus Mobilism

Currently reading an excellent book,


It is about the state-run educational system in China from 2010-2016. I am still in the middle of reading it, and I can understand a lot of what is being talked about in regards to the Chinese mindset and values in education. After all this time, China is still steeped in Communism in many regards. I can't really put the book down, it is an excellent read.

French Chivalry and

Painting in the 20th century volum1 of Werner Haftmans masterpiece

^^If anyone is interested in reading the book above, I have the .pdf format. I can always email it to you.

detours - tim rogers

the aussie muso - frontman of you am I - writes very well - it starts off with a memoir about a trip back to Kalgoorlie with his old man to watch the local footy GF - its not really a r&R book - but really good - he writes good music and this is a very good and personal book.

Currently reading The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith. It's a reasonably engaging read about a Venetian fisherman trying to keep a Jewish girl out of the clutches of the SS at the end of WW2.

Just started this one and have only finished the prologue. Judging from that, it's more interesting than I thought it would be.

A Legacy of Spies by John le Carre is pretty good, if you have followed his books or the tv series involving George Smiley. Well written and difficult to put down.

Also just read Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz, which is the start of a series of books involving Evan Smoak. It's a typical plastic thriller, easier to put down and pick up again, and an okay read if you need to pass the time. I do wish US writers would refrain from blatant adverts in their books though.

It was a bit like pigging out on junk food after an evening of fine dining....

"An American Journey", Colin Powell's autobiography.

Been reading a fair bit of Henry Miller recently; Tropic of Cancer; (Capricorn); Black Spring, etc.

Guy was off his rocker, but very entertaining. Brilliant and lurid prose.

Waiting to buy some new novels, I decided to re-read Saladin!; an under-rated thriller by Andrew Osmond, which I enjoyed. It is set in the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympic killings with a foot on the Palestinian side for a change. An attempt to force Israel into a compromise, with a tone of disdain for their bully-boy tactics.

I have just finished re-reading a book from my favourite Sci Fi author, Isaac Asimov. Prelude to Foundation, a prequel to the Foundation series. I first read it 30 years ago. The increase in scientific knowledge since then has weakened the story line somewhat IMO.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. It's a book-within-a-book murder mystery. Well written and a good read so far.

The Beano 1967.
Fooking rare read. .

Got Every edition since 1956 now

^^ Reading "The Word is Murder", also by Anthony Horowitz and it's another fun whodunnit that is the start of a series.

Back to work tomorrow so won't be reading much fiction for a while. Pleased with managing to get through 5 books over the break.

...so, you enjoy fiction then...

...Noir by Christopher Moore...entertaining crime novel set in San Francisco just after the war...

Visited the location today as I'm reading the book.

Mizoguchi, the main character, is traumatised as a boy by the sight of his mother making love to another man in the presence of his dying father.

Not expecting this to end well, really.

Lovely spot though, even in the rain.

This lad Mishima can write.

Originally Posted by tomcat

...so, you enjoy fiction then...

...Noir by Christopher Moore...entertaining crime novel set in San Francisco just after the war...

His oeuvre and prose has long become quite redundant.
His earlier work, set in Thailand, tends to be his best.

I'm wading my way through Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. It's really very long.....about as long as Lord Of The Rings. Regarded by many as the first modern novel.