h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Children of Hurin. Fantastic. Full of

Have just finished a couple of books
The Pirates! in an adventure with Scientists, which introduces us to Darwin (and kills his totty), and The Pirates! in an adventure with Whaling, which kills Moby Dick with a ham.

Going to read The Pirates! in an adventure with Communists next, which should be fun.

Oh I also have an "emergency book" in my car (in case, god forbid, I find myself out and about, needing entertainment and I've forgotten to put a book in my handbag)

It is The Arabian Nights and it's fantastic. Today I read Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Ooh! Is it the full version? In the Burton translation? An amazing book! It has stories within stories within stories.

This was good:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20071018.shtml

I like the flying carpet that will only fly so long as the rider doesn't think of the word 'elephant'.

No idea... it's in my car and I can't get it because I'm off to read some more stuff

Burton has a lot of footnotes about penis sizes.

Or is that his translation of 'The Perfumed Garden'?

nope, no footnotes.

What does he put in the footnotes? Imperial to metric conversion tables?

1 inch = 2.54 cm. That should cover it.

Hmm...Reminds me...I still have a biography of Burton in my pile...

Browsing in the local library today (looking for a Dawkins book), I came across "Ode to a Banker" by a Lindsey Davis, one of a series involving a certain Marcus Falco & set in ancient Rome. The blurb mentions satire and after flicking through the first few pages, I decided to invest some time (and after recent share movements that's about all I possess - er, God willing).
Anyone come across Ms Davis or this man Falco?

One of them was serialised on Radio 4 last year. I liked the few bits I heard.

I rather like the Falco novels - read all of them. The only comment I can think of is that you shouldn't shorten it to Marcus Falco, since in Roman names the middle was the family name, so most important. Either Marcus Didius or Didius Falco would be acceptable though. I'm sure I should have more to say about the books themselves, but I'm rather tired .

I'm planning to start an aquarium some time in the future, so my current reading includes books on Community Fish, Tropical Aquariums and Natural Aquariums (can't remember the authors, sorry). The one on Natural Aquariums covers things like matching plants and water conditions to the kind the fish would encounter in the real world.

Yes! I've been reading the Falco books ever since my best friend gave the first one in the 1980s! They're awesome!

Vicky

Thanks for the comments. Read some chapters last night and it does seem a bit of a treat. Funny I haven't seen any reviews (or at least noticed any) considering the Falco books have been around for years. No doubt there are other gems by "unknown" writers to be discovered.

"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". I won't say what its about as there are a few surprises in it but it is very thought provoking

No new posts for 3 whole weeks! What's up guys! Nobody's reading these days?
Myself just finished American gods, Neil Gaiman and Four ways to forgiveness, Ursula Le Guin. Both excelent, though in an entirely different way.
Currently enjoying (once again) Terry Pratchett's Johnny and the dead.

In my case the thread drops way down in my My Conversations list and I miss it. I'm reading Paul Doherty's An Evil Spirit Out of the West. Much as I like the details of life in ancient Egypt, I much prefer his whodunnits to this, which I guess is more of an epic.

In my case, I'm still plowing through the Piers Anthony series my co-worker loaned me so I can return them ASAP. I did make a minor detour into a non-fiction book about the history of the coffee trade called "Uncommon Grounds". That was quite good!

India: A History by John Keays. This covers India's history "from 'The Flood' to the present day" according to the blurb, no easy task when there's no reliable written history until some time around 500AD.

The First Crusade by Thomas Asbridge. Think "Terry Jone's Crusades" without the ex-Python. Very easy to read.

Aside from that, I'm in one place and my books are either elsewhere or waiting to be put into our new bookcases. We've brought over all of hubby's books and about 2/3 of mine. Once the bookcases have been filled, I will have the major job of cataloguing all the books.

If the Indian history covers The Flood, does it also cover that time it was attacked by an army of monkeys?