What books are you currently reading/listening to?
It might be presumptuous, but I assume there are some of you here that enjoy the lost art of book-reading? At the very least, I'm sure some of you listen to audiobooks. So what are you reading? Tell us a bit about it. No manga (post that in Lisa's thread).
I'm currently reading
Persian Fire by Tom Holland (not Loki), and listening to
Heroes by Stephen Fry.
Persian Fire is a dramatized retelling of the story of the Persian empire. It's a piece of popular history, but it doesn't sacrifice historicity for the sake of a good narrative. It's an enjoyable and engaging read that I'd recommend for anyone interested in ancient history. Holland's probably one of the best authors of popular history around nowadays -. Would also recommend
Rubicon (about the fall of the Roman Republic),
Millennium (about Europe from 900-1100AD in the context of apocalyptic, millennial angst) and
In The Shadow Of The Sword (how Islam got started and spread). All very good.
Heroes is Stephen Fry's second book on Greek mythology. The first one,
Mythos, was about the deities of Greek mythology (from the Titans to the Olympians) and his second, Heroes, are about the humans (or half-humans) that these deities play with. Heracles, Jason, Orpheus, Achilles... The list goes on and on. Fry is a spectacular orator, so deciding between his audiobook and the written version was an easy choice. Great to put on before bed to zone out to. If there's one criticism, it's that he could go into a bit more depth with some of the stories, but given the sheer amount of epics he's condensing, I think that's forgivable.
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So whaddaya reading?
Last edited by Ele; Dec 31, 2019 at 09:08 AM.