Reading Recommendations

I have a real passion for certain things in life.  Music, Politics, the North East of Scotland and Sport (especially the Dons, golf and cricket) have been documented a lot here, but not the other big love I have - reading.

I've always been a huge reader.  I have no doubt my dreadful eyesight is due to reading the likes of the Famous Five under my bed covers to torchlight as a kid (amongst other things that make you go blind!!!!).


I normally try to get 30 - 60 minutes of reading in before I go to sleep of an evening.  History, Biographies and Autobiographies are my favourites, it is rare for a fiction novel to catch my attention - Mrs MacBeth, also a voracious reader is the fiction fan in our household, Ian Rankin being a particular favourite of hers.



At the moment I am reading the wonderful "Berlin - The Downfall 1945" by Anthony Beevor.  A history book, but certainly not a dusty boring read, Beevor narrates the end of the Third Reich at the hands of Stalin's Red Army like a fictional novel, the scary thing being the total destruction of this great city at the heart of Europe was real.  The brutality of both sides, as the Russians wreaked furious vengenge for the invasion of the Mother Country, is unspeakable.  

If like me you have a real interest in the World Wars of the 20th Century this book and also his similar book on Salingrad are must reads.   I would also recommend Martin Gilbert's tomes on the First and Second World Wars.  Lengthy and you need to have stamina to get through them, but incredibly well researched and written.


In a similar vein, Orlando Fige's "The Whisperers" investigates the private lives of the general public in Stalin's Russia.  The interference and surveillance is horiffic.  I think our wonderful Prime Minister is taking his lead from his Comrade in state interference!


If you think this country is going to hell in a handcart, read Peter Hitchens' the Abolition of Britain, where he chroncicles the decline in Great Britain since the death of Churchill in the late 1960s.  Whilst I don't agree with all he says (he does go into wild hyperbole at times) the essence of the book is sound.


Although a left wing firebrand, I fall into hypocricy again, by being a big fan of the works of George Orwell.  Penguin have a wonder "Complete Works of George Orwell" compilation which gives you the classics (Animal Farm, 1984) along with short stories and other lesser known works.  


Also recommended for the political animals in you are the diaries of Tony Benn, Alan Clark and Chris Mullins, along with Thatcher's "The Downing Street Years".  


If I was to recommend a fiction novel to you - Joseph Heller's "Something Happened" is a challenging read about an average Joe descending into manic depression.  


My next read will be Lewis Grassic Gibbon's "Scot's Quair" which includes the seminal Sunset Song, though I am determined to read the whole trilogy and not just the famous singular novel.  It is to my eternal shame I have not read this local classic long before now.  


Let me know your own recommendations and favourites in the comments sections.


Music tonight is an absolute stone cold country classic - the Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C Riley.  A wonderful attack on the establishment's hypocrisy.