Most recent books you bought.

[Gurkhal]

I have too many unread books as it is, but I decided to give myself one last treat before my wallet goes into hibernation while awaiting the next Christmas being allowed to spend again.

I got:

A History of Rome - a pretty heavy piece of a bit sort of 700 pages

Revolutionary Ideas, by Jonathan Israel - About the French Revolution

The Oxford History of the French Republic by William Doyle - As the title suggest

And three Sharpe novels: "Trafalger", "Rifles" and "Prey".

If all goes well, there won't be any new books bought for me before next Christmas. I am not counting books I buy as gifts to others due to birthdays and so during the year.

 

[CupofJoe]

Not a book really [although there is a small on in the box], but a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot deck.
It is a mixture of interesting and nostalgic to see how the cards are interpreted from the BtVS world.

 

[Gurkhal]

And one final batch before its all over until Christmas. I hope...fingers crossed.

Four books in the "Medieval Lives series": The Troubadours (I've long been interested in medieval Occitania), The Medieval Horse, Thomas Becket and His World and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

And the book "Sword Brethren". I thought it interesting that there's a new series about the Northern Crusades so I decided to get the first book and see if its any good. By Jon Byrne.

EDITED: Math isn't my strength...

 

[Finchbearer]

Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending, secondhand. Someone coloured the outer spine purple. Wonder what all that’s about? Already halfway through. Will it be thirdhand once I’ve finished with it?

 

[pmmg]

Maybe it belonged to a theater and they colored it as a prop. Still a strange thing to do.

I purchased some books for my daughter for Christmas, does that count? Last one I bought for me was probably 'Reluctant Hero' which I had to for a reading round I was in. It was a five star book, but its not something I would have been interested in otherwise. Superheros was not what I am up for.

 

[Gurkhal]

Against my better judgement I got "The Campaign in Thrace" by P Howell (I don't know what the "P" stands for...) which is about the First Balkan War.

Next time I buy something should be to Christmas and be mostly focused on fiction as opposed to non-fiction books. Maybe the entire Sharpe series .

 

[CupofJoe]

Someone has given me a copy of The Dead of Winter by Sarah Clegg.
It is all about Europe's darker Christmas and winter rituals we may have forgotten about.
I'm only a few pages in but I like the style of writing.

 

[MSadiq]

I impulsively bought many books, both in English and Arabic, this year, but I really loved these two:

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
The Voyage of ibn Fadhlan into the Lands of Turks, Rus, and Slavs (Arabic, but available in English. A short and hilarious must read)

 

[skip.knox]

My wife and I have taken to listening to audio books together. Recent and current are:
Earth Abides, George Stewart
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin
I read both of these as a teen. It's been nice revisiting and sharing.

Reading on my own (e-books, both)
The Second World War, Winston Churchill
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
the former is quite the read. Easily half the text is nothing but letters and telegrams and memoranda. That can get tedious, but they afford the most detailed look I've had at the progress of the war.
The latter I'm enjoying more than I thought I would. Despite some 19thc sentence constructions <g>, Dickens is surprisingly modern in tone. This book is part of the Harvard "five-foot shelf", which I got for a mere few bucks. Helluva deal.

 

[ThinkerX]

My wife and I have taken to listening to audio books together. Recent and current are:
Earth Abides, George Stewart
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin
I read both of these as a teen. It's been nice revisiting and sharing.

Reading on my own (e-books, both)
The Second World War, Winston Churchill
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
the former is quite the read. Easily half the text is nothing but letters and telegrams and memoranda. That can get tedious, but they afford the most detailed look I've had at the progress of the war.
The latter I'm enjoying more than I thought I would. Despite some 19thc sentence constructions <g>, Dickens is surprisingly modern in tone. This book is part of the Harvard "five-foot shelf", which I got for a mere few bucks. Helluva deal.

I found 'Easth Abides' depressing.

'Wizard of Earthsea' remains a favorite of mine.

 

[Karlin]

RIver God, Wilbur Smith. I fouind it in a street library. I'll finish it, but won't look for more by the author. Next, I should undertake a serious project. Only Yesterday, which we have in the original Hebrew.

Only Yesterday (novel) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[caosCatQueenuu]

Heavenly tyrant, the sequel to iron widow. I had read the book before but didn't own it until two months ago. It was once again an amazing read and I'm happy to finally have both.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Lucked into some good ones, recently.

This one is on Kindle Free as I type this. Friend of a friend's wife, someone my wife games with. Worth checking out.
Amazon.com: Aether and Exile (The Aether Chronicles Book 1) eBook : Adana, Aryn: Kindle Store

This one is simply stunning. Her translations are wonderful and epic and just the first few lines give me chills.
https://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Homer-ebook/dp/B0BWL999D3/

*looks through list* My wife's got some MM in here. *looks at covers* I approve.

And caught this on a sale now passed. Informative and entertaining. I know this one will come in handy.
https://www.amazon.com/Survive-Ancient-Egypt-Charlotte-Booth-ebook/dp/B08BZVFQLR/

 

[Gurkhal]

I know that I should not have done this, but I did it anyway. I got "How to be a Victorian" by Ruth Goodman and the manuals of manners and politeness for gentlemen and ladies by Cecil and Florence Hartley, respectively, from 1860.

I'm really looking forward to read these.

 

[MSadiq]

I know that I should not have done this, but I did it anyway. I got "How to be a Victorian" by Ruth Goodman and the manuals of manners and politeness for gentlemen and ladies by Cecil and Florence Hartley, respectively, from 1860.

I'm really looking forward to read these.

When I find books like these, I fee like I've struck gold. Just a while back I found a book called "Nabataean Women" (an extinct Arab people) as I was searching through shelves randomly. Instantly bought it.

Enjoy!

 

[Karlin]

When I find books like these, I fee like I've struck gold. Just a while back I found a book called "Nabataean Women" (an extinct Arab people) as I was searching through shelves randomly. Instantly bought it.

Enjoy!

There are Nabatean ruins in the desert (Negev) here. We visited one fairly recently.

Shivta - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org