UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

I would quite like to see how a non-fiction area will work.

If you have any reviews or recommendations please post here

I like the idea, but then I read a lot of non-Fiction. Are we talking strictly new stuff or just stuff that's new to us?

Anything you think is worth recommending. Doesn't matter when it was published.

Well, I'll jump straight in with How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide. The most genuinely useful book on writing I've ever read.

(The other thing I found invaluable when I started writing was the writing guidelines for the Doctor Who New Adventures, which Virgin Publishing would send out to just about anyone who asked for them. I still have a copy somewhere at my parents' house)

As a (mostly) non-fiction writer, I would certainly like to see an area devoted to non-fiction here :-)

Here it is then Philip. Fire away

In terms of recommendations, I would have to say anything by the sainted Bill Bryson who is the nearest thing to a hero that I have. I would particularly recommend his latest, One Summer: America, 1927which is highly entertaining, informative and well researched.

A while ago, I went to the launch party for Cruel Britannia: A Secret History of Torture. There was some very good wine, so I should recommend it as a matter of course, but it's also a chilling read for anyone who still believes we've ever been the good guys...

A book which intrigued me when I came upon it pretty much by accident was Peter Hopkirk's account of World War 1 spying shenanigans in Central Asia
On Secret Service East of Constantinople. John Buchan is insipid in comparison. Kind of topical for this group as it climaxes with the Battle of Baku.

Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II I found this fascinating.

Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front and this was astonishing

And if you want something typically British, Jeremy Clarkson's books fit the bill!

I really enjoyed The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Losswhich I read a couple of years ago now. It examines one family's history from the mid 19th century to present day through tracing a collection of netsuke, the small Japanese figurines.

I gave it 5 stars and you can see my review on that link.

I read this a few years ago and thought it was great.

As it says on Goodreads: 'A riveting history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.'

If you like history, or science this is good stuff.

Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin is excellent.

I really enjoyed reading A Carpet Ride To Khiva: Seven Years On The Silk Road a couple of months ago. It's been on the daily deal a couple of times so some may have it in their archive.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carpet-Ride-K...

I enjoyed it as I find it fascinating to read about other countries, I also enjoyed the craft aspect as the author explains how he set up a carpet making workshop, researching dyes and weaving methods etc. The account was inspiring at times and exasperating at others as the author comes up against local corruption. Very interesting read.

(I notice that it's quite dear at the mo, but I've seen it on sale a couple of times, so this is one to look out for.)

I loved this Longitude. Stimulating and erudite, but also extraordinarily easy to read. (plus Delboy found one in his garage!)

These two history books about post-war Britain are both excellent , and I'm looking forward to reading the third in the series, soon.

One book I really enjoyed 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created It explains how the world changed with the 'discovery' of America - covering everything from the impact of malaria on the slave trade to the effect of the potato on European agriculture.

Just finished Viking Age Icelandwhich is a fascinating book. Short chapters, nicely written, it examines various issues by looking to the sagas which discuss them. Plenty of maps to show what was happening during saga episodes.
I felt it gives a real feel for the Icelanders, their laws and their attitudes to their laws and how they used them

Really enjoying Roy Porter's English Society in the 18th Century. The Georgian era seems to be really popular at the moment, judging from what's on the TV. I like to see the detail of how other people lived, but don't like to read about the cruelty.

I would recommend few books Pulling Princes, A Doomsday Reader: Prophets, Predictors and Hucksters of Salvationand That Frequent Visitor

Sigh.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freefall-Tom-...

Freefall by Tom Read (Charles Bruce). It is out of print but if you can get a second hand copy it is worth the read.

It is a biography of an ex SAS member and his fascination with skydiving. However, it is much more than that as at the time of writing the author was in the middle of a nervous breakdown. This book shows a frank glimpse of the life of someone who is falling apart through their own eyes. It is one of its kind in my opinion.

Despite bouts of recovery, after eight years of consistent reoccurring mental illness and periods sectioned in hospital, he committed suicide on 8 January 2002 at the age of 45 years. He jumped from a Cessna 172 at 5000 feet over Fyfield, Oxfordshire, without a parachute while on a private flight home from Spain to Hinton Skydiving Centre. His military history and the manner of his death resulted in extensive media coverage. Some have looked to attribute his breakdown and suicide to posttraumatic stress disorder.

Double sigh.

It's okay, Simon. Leave the spam deleting to me, darling.

And here's another!

Where is Patti with the pointy stick?

Time for me to drop in an apparently random sigh again?

Philip wrote: "In terms of recommendations, I would have to say anything by the sainted Bill Bryson who is the nearest thing to a hero that I have. I would particularly recommend his latest, [book:One Summer: Am..."

I'm a big fan of his, too. I have the latest sitting on my bookshelf. Will get to it soon.

Pretty much anything by Jon Ronson. For instance: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh.

Oh, and sigh

Nothing like a bit of deleting before my coffee.

Hi,

Anyone interested in non fiction book review swaps?

Please send me the link of the books you'd like me to review. I am happy to buy your books if they are $0.99 or less.

I'll leave an honest review. If it's less than 4 stars, I will privately message you feedback instead of leaving a review on Amazon.

Please send me your email and message through inbox.

Many thanks,
Amy K.

Why not honest reviews?

4 and 5 star review swaps are far from ethical and does whatever you've written no favours, in my opinion.

Not only that but they've read 2350 books!
Member of six groups and this is the only one that isn't review swaps or reviewers
Yep, out there is https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

I am a little relieved to see I have no "friends" in that group

Tsk.

Not cricket. Damn, it's not even polo!

I'm very pleased that I have no friends in that group.

I didn't recognise any of the names on the first page, at least. They obviously aren't famous - like what we're not! ;)

It's all rather shabby, really.

Rosemary (The Nosemanny) wrote: "It's all rather shabby, really."

Yes. Reviews are meant for other readers, not for the authors, so any attempt to game the review system, is - in effect - treating those readers with contempt and thus - in the long run - damaging the very relationship the writer should be nurturing.

It seems this thread is slowing down. Or is it dead? Non-fiction books are the only ones I rate or review so do have a look at my bookshelves, if you want suggestions. I review biography and memoir,travel, gardening and matters-of-mind, which is an all-purpose label for psychology, psychiatry, new agey stuff. And I haven't tried to list the contents of my book-cases here. These are things I'm genuinely reading right now while being a goodreader. Yes, my "currently reading" title is a novel but it will just become "read" when finished. (It's a harrowing read, so I'm taking it slowly.)

I highly recommend Neurotribes by Steve Silberman if you want to take a closer look at the idea of 'neurodiversity', as told through the lens of the history of autism.

An amazing read. It is shocking how seemingly well-meaning, intelligent medical and scientific professionals can succumb to professional pride, nationalistic bigotry, media sensationalism, selective reporting, cognitive bias and personal ambition to the detriment of those they are trying to help.

It is available here on the Amazon UK store: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XTOB5P8

Just noticed this thread so am adding a NF book I read recently and recorded under my challenge thread:

A quick read which only took a couple of hours but decided to keep it as the pictures are stunning and it is also an interesting outline of the lives of medieval people and how they used plants - Medieval Flowers

Do not recommend your own books! And the word is pray, not prey.

And then you do it again. And again. All deleted now.