52 Weeks 52 Books – Page 2

I’ve set out to read a minimum of 52 books this year, and write a brief review of each. I’ve reached a point that I didn’t think I’d reach this early – I’m justifying my selection by saying that it is technically a book.

Yep, it’s the novelisation of Transformers 2

Although I’m reading from The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear was originally published as a standalone novel. So, I’m going to count it as such, even if it is just over a hundred pages long.

Continue reading “Book 03: Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of Fear” →

Review

Book 02: The Afrika Reich

January 15, 2012January 18, 2013 David Stringer

I’ve just finished reading Afrika Reich, which is a very tough book to read at times. The book is set in a parallel universe where Nazi Germany’s victory at Dunkirk forced a ceasefire with Britain. They then defeated Soviet Russia, while pacifist America stayed out of the war. At the Casablanca Conference in 1943, Germany and Britain then carved up Africa between them.
Burton Cole, a retired former soldier and the protagonist, is hired to kill Walter Hochburg, the Governor of German Kongo.

Dunkirk By ~Daniel~Bos~ taken from Flickr — This is all feeling quite dark and serious. Here, have some pictures of lego men evacuating Dunkirk

Continue reading “Book 02: The Afrika Reich” →

Review

Book 01: Moneyball

January 6, 2012January 18, 2013 David Stringer

The first book I read this year was Moneyball by Michael Lewis. A financial journalist, the main body of his journalism has covered Wall Street.
In 2002 Lewis set out to look at how a new, more analytical approach to baseball management was altering the way the game was ran, only to discover that, by and large, it wasn’t. The one exception to this rule was the Oakland Athletics, under the charge of General Manager Billy Beane.

Continue reading “Book 01: Moneyball” →

Egotism, Review

52 Weeks, 52 Books

January 3, 2012January 18, 2013 David Stringer

Something I intend to do more of during the next year, is read more books. That feels like it’s an obvious thing for an aspiring writer to do, but I have a bad habit of getting distracted by television, internet and news sites.
It’s easy to think of news articles and TV programmes produced the previous month as being more relevant to my life than a 19th century book about 17th century French soldiers.
But I find books more absorbing and, as a result, a superior form of escapism. Unfortunately, they also demand more, compared to vegging out in front of the telly or laptop, which are essentially passive forms of entertainment.