COVID-19 RESOURCES
LIT CAMS (200 Free Tokens)ADULT TOYSVOD MOVIES

What are you fuckers reading?

Status
Not open for further replies.
ryan8558 said:
f
about to finish

51DVvySduAL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_.jpg
Click to expand...

I just d/l’d that, as it’s on Kindle Unlimited and my subscription expires at the end of the month.

What do you think of it?

I’m just about to start...
attachment.php


...because Holdstock’s Mythago Wood and The Hollowing are two of my favorite mythic/weird fantasy novels.
 

Attachments

  • 2102B47E-863B-4103-B5C1-2AFA07E74E34.jpeg
    2102B47E-863B-4103-B5C1-2AFA07E74E34.jpeg
    49.5 KB · Views: 0
On the subject of audio books, for those that like fantasy, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series as read by Michael Page are excellent.
 



"...No Templar castle housed only members of the order, and in Safad the white-mantled knight-brothers and black-clad sergeants made up only a minority of the inhabitants. There were a large number of servants, mercenary crossbowmen, Syrian turcopole light cavalry and civilians who had fled from nearby towns and villages and sought refuge on Baybars' approach. This was a varied group, and the sultan decided to exploit their potential differences, adopting the timeless strategy of attacking morale rather than walls. Having first ensured that Safad was cut off from reinforcement or relief, he instructed public criers to stand within earshot of the castle compound and announce that he was prepared to offer safe conduct for all Syrians— an offer that was gratefully taken up by a large number of the turcopoles and mercenaries. The sultan wanted to sow discord inside the fortress, and he did. Soon many had deserted. Now, with the barbican still occupied, the Templars were 'badly weakened' and in 'considerable disunity.'

Inside the castle the brothers called a council. After some deliberation they decided to send out a sergeant named Leon Cazalier (known as Brother Leo) who spoke Baybars' native Turkish language, to demand the same rights for Frankish Christians as had been offered the Syrians. The sultan heard this request politely and gave a noncommittal response. Later he took Brother Leo aside for a private meeting in which he informed the sergeant that he was mortally offended by the Templars' rejection of his gifts, that he intended to have every member of the garrison put to death and that this would certainly include Brother Leo, who would suffer the most agonizing end of all if he did not return to the castle and deliver a specific message to his comrades.

Weak, scared and unwilling to sample the inventiveness of Baybars' cruelty, Brother Leo hurried back to his Templar brothers with a fresh mouthful of lies. 'He returned to the castle and told them that the sultan had authorized a safe-conduct for everyone, and that the sultan himself would swear to it in their sight,' wrote the Templar of Tyre. He was sending them all to their doom.

The following morning Baybars appeared before Safad and announced that if the Templars would lay down their arms and hand over the castle he would escort them safely to Acre, which was fast becoming the only safe spot on the littoral for Frankish Christians. The deal was accepted and the brothers and their dependents mad preparations to depart.

Unfortunately for the Templars, Baybars was not Baybars. The sultan had selected one of his emirs who most looked like him, dressed him in royal finery and sent him out to sell a phony deal. Anyone who knew the sultan by sight might have recognized the difference by looking for the white-flecked brilliant blue of his eyes, but from high up on the battlements of their castle, the Templars were fooled. On July 24 fighting halted and the gates of Safad were opened. Out poured its inhabitants. Templar knights and sergeants together with more than one thousand others who had been sheltering behind the fortress walls for nearly two months. They set off with their escort in the direction of Acre, but had scarcely gone half a mile when they were stopped and corralled near a small hillock that the Templars had used as an execution spot. One by one they were all beheaded..."​


-Dan Jones
The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors
New York, New York 2017.​
​




How many years has it been that I have seen the phrase, "Knights Templar" and continued on reading without really knowing who and what the hell they were?

Browsing in the local library, I stumbled across this book. How could I resist? This 362 page history of the group traces its germination as bodyguards for European pilgrims to Jerusalem through its rise to a state within numerous European kingdoms to its utter destruction at the hands of absolute monarchs eager to acquire its wealth and destroy its power.

It's an interesting read.
​
​


​
 
Final Girls by Riley Sager. Pretty good so far.

On a side note, it annoys the hell out of me when novels have ":A Novel" in the title. I mean, duh, you're fiction and not a short story collection, so of course you're a novel.
 
There is a God!
First, the latest in the Saxon Warrior series by Bernard Cornwell series was released in October. Awesome.
Then, Michael Connelly's Dark Sacred Night came out last Monday night/Tuesday morning, loaded into the Kindle with good old Harry Bosch and Late Show LAPD detective Ballard teaming up to bring down bad guys in another fun page turner.
And now I'm racing through Past Tense, the latest Jack Reacher tale from Lee Child.
Connelly and Child books are well known and don't need a plug.
Cornwell has written about a dozen of the Saxon books, following the fictional life of a Saxon child adopted by Vikings who becomes a great warrior. Well written, lots of fun, lots of bloody battle scenes built around real history and perhaps the greatest English King I'd never heard of, Alfred.
Cornwell also wrote the Sharpe's Rifles books, which start with private Sharpe in India and end with Colonel Sharpe at Waterloo. Great stories. I recommend them all.
 
Bacigalupo said:
44270199_10157712202343942_5213573011482869760_n.jpg
Click to expand...

OK BUT THIS IS AGGRAVATING.

My gf AND my kid both do this. BOTH of them have a fucking tablet. This house is a goddamn fire hazard.

Having said that, I'm actually reading a PAPER copy of A Man of His Word. Reading it ironically in the sense that Hipsters read things ironically. Because I was given a box of Amish porn and I'll be goddamned if I don't read that. That's the funniest fucking thing I've ever heard of. I didn't know it was a thing.
 
Lorilei said:
Final Girls by Riley Sager. Pretty good so far.

On a side note, it annoys the hell out of me when novels have ":A Novel" in the title. I mean, duh, you're fiction and not a short story collection, so of course you're a novel.
Click to expand...

I mean, this is actually super helpful when there are two books with the same name and you're ordering them or someone is buying them for you. Like, I wanted "The Happy Hooker" for, I don't remember, my birthday or Christmas or someshit back when it came out. THE ONE ABOUT CROCHETING. I have to say that because there's apparently also a popular novel called "The Happy Hooker", so if it says "The Novel" then people know not to get me that one.

I feel like that might happen a lot.

To be fair, I might also like the novel, but it wasn't what I meant.

9780426133469-us.jpg

51XkMj9v7nL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


These are two different things.
 
trysail said:

How many years has it been that I have seen the phrase, "Knights Templar" and continued on reading without really knowing who and what the hell they were?

Browsing in the local library, I stumbled across this book. How could I resist? This 362 page history of the group traces its germination as bodyguards for European pilgrims to Jerusalem through its rise to a state within numerous European kingdoms to its utter destruction at the hands of absolute monarchs eager to acquire its wealth and destroy its power.

It's an interesting read.
[/B]​


[/INDENT]
Click to expand...

Some also credit -- or blame -- the Templars for the invention of fractional-reserve banking.
 
Queen Unseen

I saw Bohemian Rhapsody and the time line was all wrong.

Wanting to get the true story, or something closer. I started reading this.

YSLVeZ


I give up.. its Queen Unseen by Pete Hince (you can google it)
 
Last edited:
I'm re-reading "The Octopus" by Frank Norris. Had to read it in college and really enjoyed it.
 
i cant quit my dragons

51I4kEWxTPL.jpg


Cadmium Dragon (Dragon Guard of Drakkaris Book 2) by Terry Bolryder
 
Bacigalupo said:
44270199_10157712202343942_5213573011482869760_n.jpg
Click to expand...


This. Exactly this.

I have a wall in one of the bedrooms of the house which is floor to ceiling / wall to wall bookshelf. I've completely purged that bookcase about 8 times so far and it's full again.

Every few years my local library luvs and hates me at the same time. :D
 
Oblimo said:
I just d/l’d that, as it’s on Kindle Unlimited and my subscription expires at the end of the month.

What do you think of it?
Click to expand...

Oblimo, I enjoyed the Song of Achilles. But then, I pretty much enjoy any book about the ancient Greeks. It was a different slant at the story of Achilles as he's much younger in this book as opposed to the normal tellings of the tale of the siege of Troy.

I will definitely read her follow up, Circe.

Since my last visit to this thread I've read

9781499861419_p0_v2_s550x406.jpg


9780345807151_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg


9780316412711_p0_v13_s550x406.jpg


9781499861426_p0_v2_s550x406.jpg


2940011835377_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg


9781499861464_p0_v1_s550x406.jpg


9782823862058_p0_v2_s550x406.jpg


currently reading

9780307826688_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg


why has no one bought the rights to the Travis McGee books and brought them to Netflix, Amazon, HBO? I think it would be an awesome series.
 
I've given it the ole college try several times now (MaddAddam Trilogy), but I just don't like Margaret Atwood.

Interesting stories, but her writing style is just awful.
 



"...[Nathaniel] Greene was a most unlikely soldier. A Quaker pacifist by birth, he suffered from asthma and had walked with a limp since childhood. He developed an early love of reading and often tended the family forge in Potowomut, Rhode Island, with a book in hand. Painfully aware of his lack of formal education, he cultivated younger and better educated friends who could contribute to his ongoing program of self-improvement. By the time of the Boston Tea Party, Greene was no longer a practicing Quaker and felt free to assume a leadership role in organizing his community's militia company. However, when the company voted to select its officers, Greene was overlooked. The reason: his physical disability detracted from the impression his company made when performing military exercises...."​


-Nathaniel Philbrick
In The Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory At Yorktown
New York, New York 2018.​
​




Very few people are aware that it was the French Navy's defeat of the British Navy at The Battle of The Capes that enabled the combined American and French armies to capture Cornwallis' army at Yorktown. Even fewer know of the March, 1781 French naval attack on Mariot Arthbuthnot's British Navy squadron during The Battle of Cape Henry in their attempt to capture Benedict Arnold (commanding British forces at Portsmouth, Virginia). That unsuccessful French naval foray turned out to be a forerunner of French admiral DeGrasse's later success defeating the British Navy at the Battle of The Capes.

In what appears to be a bow in the direction of political correctness, in the epilogue, Philbrick asserts that the slave-owning Washington wouldn't have committed to fighting for his native state of Virginia in the Civil War as did his step-great-grandson-in-law R. E. Lee. Washington, of course, was not faced with a decision of whether to attack his native state, family and neighbors. Washington did, in fact, manumit his slaves on his death by operation of his will.

Philbrick rarely disappoints though I will say this is probably the least enlightening of the long series of books he has written about American history. I did benefit from his thorough description of the Cornwallis' chase of Greene and Morgan through the Carolinas along with the discussion of King's Mountain, Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse.

I wonder where Philbrick's interests and curiosity will take him (and me) next? He's done the Pilgrims/Metacomet/New England. He's done the Essex/Moby Dick. He's done Maury and the Ex/Ex. He's done Lexington/Concord/Bunker Hill. He's done the Battles of Saratoga/Benedict Arnold. He's done Custer and The Little Bighorn.


​
​


​
 



"...The newfound respectability was especially marked in his comments about the 'demoralizing' and 'lascivious hula,' the 'dance that was wont to set the passions of men ablaze in the old heathen days.' Sam compared it in his journal to 'copulation in public.' His friend Sam Damon was one of the missionaries who had petitioned the Hawaii government in 1858 to ban the dance. It was afterward 'forbidden to be performed, save at night,' privately behind closed doors, in the presence 'of few spectators, and only by permission duly procured from the authorities; upon payment of ten dollars for a license..."​


-Gary Scharnhorst
The Life of Mark Twain: The Early Years 1835-1871
Columbia, Missouri 2018.​
​




Thorough and exhaustive don't begin to describe this magnificent work by Scharnhorst. If you're interested in Twain, this is must reading.

This is not the usual hagiography. This is not the sanitized Samuel Clemens you're used to— a carefully managed image created only after his marriage to a rich and respectable younger wife. This is Samuel Clemens with all the warts. He may have given his wife syphilis. He certainly was a plagiarist.

​
​


​
 
Last edited:


"...The exchange that followed, Jed Hotchkiss wrote, impressed itself 'on my mind very forcibly.' As he recalled it, 'Gen. Lee began by saying, 'Well, General Jackson, what do you propose to do?' Gen. Jackson, moving his finger over the route indicated on the map, said, 'I propose to go right around there.' Gen. L. replied, 'What do you propose to do it with?' Gen. J. said, 'With my whole command.' Gen. Lee then said, 'What will you leave me here to hold the Federal army with?' Gen. J. replied, 'The two divisions that you have here.' After a pause Gen. Lee said, 'Well, go ahead.'..."​



-Stephen W. Sears
Chancellorsville
New York, NY 1996.​
​




I'm re-reading this superbly written and minutely researched description of Robert E. Lee's most spectacular and audacious victory. Outnumbered by at least 2:1 and short of provisions, Lee not only split his army in the face of superior forces at Fredericksburg, he did it AGAIN in order to outflank Hooker's army at Chancellorsville.

Hooker has not fared well in the eyes of history. The fact of the matter is that he has been treated unfairly. His plan to outflank Lee was a good one and came within a gnat's eyelash of succeeding. He was undone by communications foul-ups and subordinates who failed to aggressively fulfill Hooker's instructions. In particular, Gen'l. Stoneman's lack of enterprise in disrupting Confederate supply lines with the entire Union cavalry entrusted to him and Gen'l. Howard's inexcusable tardiness in positioning his corps were what largely prevented Hooker from achieving a potentially war-ending rout of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Sears' book reveals how the hunter became the hunted.

​
​


​
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

desecration
How to Give a Good Christian Blowjob
Replies
4
Views
326
Beachguy23
B
SmokingFap
Pet Peeves
Replies
9
Views
182
SmokingFap
SmokingFap
JaySecrets
Worse song covers ever
Replies
12
Views
129
JaySecrets
JaySecrets
U
Taking requests for story topics
Replies
1
Views
52
EroticSearcher
E
writerzblok92
Passive aggressive or not?
Replies
10
Views
176
writerzblok92
writerzblok92
Back
Top