My father used to rate the opening scene of Beau Geste as one of the most compelling he'd ever read. With that recommendation, I'm sure I must have read it. I have no recollection of the plot, but the importance of grabbing the reader from the first pages stuck with me.
Nice list. Read the Witcher series in toto several years ago, then went out and bought all of them. I re-read them regularly. So glad it is on your list.
Well I agree wholeheartedly about Fluke. Louis Lamour is authentic in detail and very enjoyable. Sorry to hear about Sounds in the US; I wonder if it will remain via podcast apps? Listening reviews are interesting if sometimes niche, do please go ahead and experiment. Thanks for an interesting round up. Great Nautilus model! All the best, John.
Some of the BBC podcasts are available, but not the things I want to listen to. My expectation is that at some point they'll make them available on a subscription basis for people who aren't UK licence-payers, or else find some way of offering them on an ad-supported format.
BBC Sounds and other BBC Apps - does iPlayer not work in the US ? Anyway regardless; get a good VPN (please do due diligence on picking one; some are malware; some just don't work). Once installed select the UK as the country to terminate in; and providing they are a good VPN supplier you should be able to log onto your BBC Sounds app with no issue. The one I use (for when I was travelling on employer's business; a "perk" I don't really miss) worked 95% of the time; allowing me access to "home" streaming services. If you are paranoid about your Internet health & security; a VPN is one of the major building blocks for preventing nasty surprises. If you are not at home; then you really should be using a VPN when connecting to any public WiFi hotspot. And if you are just a little bit paranoid; when using your cell phone data as well. For example I won't do online banking away from home unless the VPN is on; nor deal with any government service (and yes; my home network is rather better protected than most). Note this from the BBC https://help.bbc.com/hc/en-us/articles/42655683267091-Information-on-Closure-of-BBC-Sounds
I really shouldn't read this because all it does is add books to my reading list!!!
That is rubbish that you won't be able to get BBC Sounds. Such a shame
This month I'm finishing off The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, set in the near future where a time door has been found and dying people have been brought to the 21st century from 16th, 18th and 20th Century. But all is not what it seems. And it has more to do with relationships than time travel.
Also to finish Tim Keller's Encounters With Jesus where he gives a different slant and why certain people are mentioned in the gospels and how he interprets their reactions with Jesus.
I've a box full of library and bought books which I will then select from as the month passes.
Favourite two from last month - Conn Iggulden's Tyrant about the young Nero and his scheming mother. And Douglas Skelton's Honourable Thief, the first in his Company of Rogues series set at the start of George I's reign, a period in history I know very little about.
Yes I do learn my history from historic fiction and love it that way :)
Ministry of Time is fun. I enjoyed both the BBC radio version and the book.
Conn Iggulden is always worth reading, though I haven't read any in years. And yes, I also get my history from fiction - I usually have wikipedia open as I read, so I can keep checking to find out how much was made up. (I do that with movies too, which Della hates!)
My father used to rate the opening scene of Beau Geste as one of the most compelling he'd ever read. With that recommendation, I'm sure I must have read it. I have no recollection of the plot, but the importance of grabbing the reader from the first pages stuck with me.
Nice list. Read the Witcher series in toto several years ago, then went out and bought all of them. I re-read them regularly. So glad it is on your list.
Well I agree wholeheartedly about Fluke. Louis Lamour is authentic in detail and very enjoyable. Sorry to hear about Sounds in the US; I wonder if it will remain via podcast apps? Listening reviews are interesting if sometimes niche, do please go ahead and experiment. Thanks for an interesting round up. Great Nautilus model! All the best, John.
Some of the BBC podcasts are available, but not the things I want to listen to. My expectation is that at some point they'll make them available on a subscription basis for people who aren't UK licence-payers, or else find some way of offering them on an ad-supported format.
BBC Sounds and other BBC Apps - does iPlayer not work in the US ? Anyway regardless; get a good VPN (please do due diligence on picking one; some are malware; some just don't work). Once installed select the UK as the country to terminate in; and providing they are a good VPN supplier you should be able to log onto your BBC Sounds app with no issue. The one I use (for when I was travelling on employer's business; a "perk" I don't really miss) worked 95% of the time; allowing me access to "home" streaming services. If you are paranoid about your Internet health & security; a VPN is one of the major building blocks for preventing nasty surprises. If you are not at home; then you really should be using a VPN when connecting to any public WiFi hotspot. And if you are just a little bit paranoid; when using your cell phone data as well. For example I won't do online banking away from home unless the VPN is on; nor deal with any government service (and yes; my home network is rather better protected than most). Note this from the BBC https://help.bbc.com/hc/en-us/articles/42655683267091-Information-on-Closure-of-BBC-Sounds
I really shouldn't read this because all it does is add books to my reading list!!!
That is rubbish that you won't be able to get BBC Sounds. Such a shame
This month I'm finishing off The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, set in the near future where a time door has been found and dying people have been brought to the 21st century from 16th, 18th and 20th Century. But all is not what it seems. And it has more to do with relationships than time travel.
Also to finish Tim Keller's Encounters With Jesus where he gives a different slant and why certain people are mentioned in the gospels and how he interprets their reactions with Jesus.
I've a box full of library and bought books which I will then select from as the month passes.
Favourite two from last month - Conn Iggulden's Tyrant about the young Nero and his scheming mother. And Douglas Skelton's Honourable Thief, the first in his Company of Rogues series set at the start of George I's reign, a period in history I know very little about.
Yes I do learn my history from historic fiction and love it that way :)
Ministry of Time is fun. I enjoyed both the BBC radio version and the book.
Conn Iggulden is always worth reading, though I haven't read any in years. And yes, I also get my history from fiction - I usually have wikipedia open as I read, so I can keep checking to find out how much was made up. (I do that with movies too, which Della hates!)