Christmas Books

[Gary in Aus]

Just finished the last of my Christmas books, have spent a fair bit of time up at farm , have had some really good rainfall and busy making hay.

 

No internet or phone connections and mobile only works in one or two locations on property, it's so good to be unavailable .

 

Have had some time to catch up on reading and this is the list of books I received for Christmas and just finished

 

1. Jacka, V.C. -Australian Hero by Robert Macklin - good account of an amazing man.

 

2. The Return of a Gallipoli Legend , Jacka V.C. by Michael Lawriwsky- fascinating just fascinating.

 

3. Snouts in the Trough by Andrew Fraser - accounts of crime and the police force , bit sensationalist

 

4. The Fry Chronicles ,an autobigraphy by Stephen Fry - interesting but a lot I would not have rather known about him , the list of talent that was his group at Oxford is incredible

 

5. The Great Wall , China against the world 1000 BC - 2000AD by Julia Lovell - enjoyable read with some good insights as to why China is as it is.

 

6. John Howard , Lazarus Rising - some good insights , usual politics , fairly tiresome read becoming hard to finish

 

7. Colonial Ambition ,Foundations of Australian Democracy by Peter Cochrane - really well written and thought provoking on why we are the way we are.

 

8. Hells Heroes , The Forgotten Story of the Worst P.O.W. camp in Japan by Roger Maynard - moving and passionate , great read {my wifes grandfather was a POW at Changi , captured at Singapore and died 3 months after coming home at end of WW2}

 

9. Bill Bryson , At Home ,a Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson , usual Bryson spin on things , didn't enjoy , I usually find his books a good "holiday " read , but this formula doesn't seem to be working for me.

 

10. Rome , Discovering the Ancient Metropolis by Mirko Milovanovic . good read , reminded of holiday in August September

 

11. The Book of Seniors Jokes by Geoff Tibballs - american jokes just didn't appeal to my australian sense of humour

 

 

If could only pick three then , The Return of the Gallipoli Legend , Jacka , V.C. is number 1 followed by Hells Heroes and then Colonial Ambition

 

Worth a read.

[Quinn]

#9. Bill Bryson. I've read 1 1/2 of his books and always come away feeling cheated. He's not witty enough to be interesting or factual enough to be informative. All in all he writes like a 3 Musketeers candy bar when you wanted a Snickers. I've got the second half of one of his books in my car if I'm eating lunch alone and need something to read.

 

 

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