They compare well, not quite as formal but still written in the old style. Get yourself in at the beginning, in order, old paperbacks are easy to find. Written between 1969 and '99. I think you'd enjoy them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey–Maturin_series
I haven't started them yet, mainly because I know from friends how extremely addicting they can be. But those books aren't going to go away, so... someday.
The Duke's Children - Anthony Trollope 6th and last of the Palliser Novels. Others might be better, but this one is the funniest.
Tom Sawyer, Detective -- Mark Twain A quick romp of a murder mystery revisiting Huck & Tom a year after the events of Huck Finn (published 2 years after Tom Sawyer Abroad, 12 years after Huck Finn, 20 years after Tom Sawyer).
Started off a little slow but soon gathered speed. Harry Hole, Jo Nesbø's detective works his 6th case. I'm about half way through this gritty novel and enjoying it a lot. He, Nesbø. Would never get a job with the Norwegian tourist board. If one just listened to him it'd be the last miserable place on earth someone would willingly visit.
Well worth it! Finished over the past couple of months: Karen Armstrong's biography of the Bible is pretty interesting, though I like it best in the earlier chapters where there were fewer movements for her to aggregate in particular chapters. I was particularly fascinated by the info about the schools of thought on interpreting the scriptures by various Jewish rabbis in the late first century.
I lied. The Ionian Mission is only #8! I have them all on paperback, been getting them used on Amazon and so far have been getting the books that are from the same "series release". I may just contact the last book shop I used directly and see if they have the rest.
I bought mine over time but I've seen those printed from a same series. When lined up in order on a bookcase the spines form a nice picture as well. The covers. https://www.google.com/#q=patrick o'brian books The 5 authors on the right of this page also write naval stories. Dewey Lamdin writes from an American point of view of the sailing world. They missed out Alexander Kent, another of the Hornblower genre.
I'm about halfway through my first batch of courses in a Mental Health Counseling Masters program I started. That cuts into my book-reading a bit. But I'm making my way through In Parenthesis by Welsh poet and artist David Jones. It's one of the best books on WWI that I've ever read. It's a mix of poetry and prose, and is baffling pretty much all the time, which is pretty much how I'd imagine life in the trenches.
Um... Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean -- Michael Erard Interesting history of the study of verbal disfluencies, including the men who first studied them -- Sigmund Freud among them -- and the most famous of practitioners -- Rev William Spooner -- that I am reading for research for my book. Really a very interesting read.
I made a Freudian slip at Thanksgiving dinner a few years back. We were gathered around the table and I meant to say to my mother, "please pass the stuffing," but what actually came out was, "you castrating bitch, you ruined my life."
Unabashedly Episcopalian by Andrew Doyle (Bishop of Texas) An honest, positive, clear invitation/pep talk for inquirers/Episcopalians.
If "Pass the stuffing" is slang for disinheriting someone, yes. I kid, I kid. I think I stole this joke from Paul Schafer on the Letterman show. Can't post the book I finished today because the work comptuers don't let me post images, but we'll get it later.
I liked that book pretty well. He does a good job creating the world the characters inhabit. I do remember a point where I thought, "he just decided to wind up this book," as the pace felt like it changed suddenly but without purpose. The second book felt similar. Still good reads.
I wasted my time all these years............... Noel Gallagher says reading fiction 'a waste of fucking time' Oasis songwriter voices frustration at reading what 'isn't fucking true' and says he restricts himself to 'things that have actually happened' http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/18/noel-gallagher-fiction-waste-time Doesn't seem to mind singing about it though$
I was going to say that this seems more suitable for the "random thoughts about books" thread. But then I figured that Noel didn't quite take it to the "thought" stage, so this is probably okay.
I'm about half way through Phillip Caputo's "The Longest Road" I like the concept of the travel, from the tip of Florida to Dawson City in Alaska something I wouldn't have minded doing. It's really not gripping me though, not Caputo's fault I just can't get into some of his side tales. We, Mrs Scouse and I, took a drive couple of years back. We called it the "Long Way Down" (Then Ewan McGregor stole the title ) From the top left corner of the US to the southern tip of the Baja. We put in about 8,000 fun filled miles in on that one. In spite of being told they'd find our heads hanging from a bridge. After that trip we took a jaunt along the South coast of Engerland then over to France, zig zagging across and down to the med then west from Cannes along the coast to Barcelona. Six weeks out of a suitcase, Mrs Scouse did well. Another cross off on the bucket list ...! That's why I wanted to read Caputo's book. Still a long way to go in it.
http://www.zyzzyva.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Radical-Reinvention-CAT1.jpg Does anyone else have trouble pasting images in Explorer? Anyway, Kaya Oakes Radical Reinvention, a memoir of her unlikely return to the Catholic church.
A lot of issue with BS right now, not just pasting images, and not just IE. Though why you are using IE, I just don't understand.
Because I'm using my new laptop that I've had for about a week, and I haven't had time to install any others. But boy, is the new Dell a piece of shit. Did you hear me computer on which I'm typing. You are a piece of shit. A ********ing piece of shit And don't get me started on ********ing Microsoft. No, not Microsoft with a capital M, Autocorrect. microsoft ...