Kindle book suggestions

[lyonhibs]

Owing to a generous Amazon voucher for my birthday, I find myself in a position to update my Kindle somewhat.

I've no idea where to start though. I like non-fiction, particularly recent military history, (auto) biographies of people who have actually achieved something and comedy, when done well. I'm talking the wordsmithery of PG Wodehouse, not "My little bookey wookey" by Russell ****ing Brand.

Suggestions?

P.S. I already have the 0-7 book :greengrin

[BroxburnHibee]

I read 'The Secret Race' by Tyler Hamilton recently. All about Lance Armstrong and his teams cheating.

Good read.

[Mr White]

Have you read any Christopher brookmyre? If not its brilliant satirical crime writing usually based in Edinburgh and glasgow. The early ones are the best imo, first one is Quite Ugly One Morning. Collection of short stories Jaggy Splinters is 1.99 on Kindle and contains an excellent description of primary school playground football. Apologies if none of this is news to you :greengrin

[Hibs Class]

It's worth subscribing to the kindle daily deals on amazon. You get an email each day of a few books generally for less than a £1. Got a few that way, currently reading one called Dreadnought by, I think, Robert Massie. I thought it was mainly military history covering the period up to the start of WW1, which it kind of is but it starts c.80 years before the war and so far has focused mainly on how Germany came into being. Don't know if that is sufficiently recent military history for you?

[barcahibs]

For military history and auto-biography I can't recommend John Simpson's various memoirs of his time as a reporter highly enough. I particularly enjoyed The Wars against Sadaam, but they're all good.

Also 100 days by Admiral Sandy Woodward which covers the period of the Falklands war is a great read and really shows the pressures of being the man in charge of the first modern naval war. Some of the details of the decisions he had to face and the equipment/conditions he had to work with are hair raising.

Slightly older history, but very relevant just now, Margaret MacMillan's Peacemakers which covers the end of WW1 and the writing of the treaty of Versailles is a fascinating and entertaining read.

For comedy you can't beat Terry Pratchett, no other single author has made me think more about the human condition whilst making me laugh so much. It's all dressed up in steampunk, witches, wizards, dwarves and trolls but its really philosophy and political/religious satire. Genius. It's full of literary and pop culture references for the eagle eyed and inventive wordplay (including some unashamedly terrible punning).

I'd start with the Night Watch series - first in the series is Guards, Guards - (think detective/crime novels, set in a sort of parody Victorian London) which covers politics and ethics, then try either the Reaper series for musings on death and belief or the Witches series for psychology, folklore and tradition. All of it is genius but I'd avoid his very early and very latest stuff for now.

Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series is also excellent for a comic take on literary classics.

[heretoday]

Canada by Richard Ford. Or try the Bernie ****her books by Philip Kerr about a laconic detective in Nazi Berlin.

[heretoday]

The censor has been at work on the surname of Kerr's hero! It begins with a G not a C!

[GhostofBolivar]

Return of a King (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Return-King-The-Battle-Afghanistan/dp/1408831597/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394231600&sr=8-1&keywords=return+of+a+king)
Afgantsy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=afgantsy&sprefix=Afgan%2Caps%2C186&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aafgantsy)
Shattered Sword (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shattered-Sword-Untold-Battle-Midway/dp/1574889249/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394231716&sr=8-1&keywords=shattered+sword)
Ostkrieg (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ostkrieg-Hitlers-War-Extermination-East/dp/0813134161/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394231852&sr=8-1&keywords=ostkrieg+hitler%27s+war+of+extermination+ in+the+east)
Inferno (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inferno-Devastation-Hamburg-Keith-Lowe-ebook/dp/B003P9XCSA/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394233135&sr=1-9&keywords=inferno)
Catastrophe (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Catastrophe-Europe-Goes-War-1914/dp/0007398573/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394231813&sr=8-1&keywords=catastrophe+europe+goes+to+war+1914)
The Chief - Douglas Haig and the British Army (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Chief-Douglas-Haig-British/dp/1845137698/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1394232241&sr=8-3&keywords=gary+sheffield)
Gallipoli (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gallipoli-Peter-Hart/dp/1846681618/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394232944&sr=1-1&keywords=gallipoli)

[Hibby70]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00GXFBXE8

Long midnight of Barney Thomson
59p -you can't lose