Reading the 20th Century discussion

Nigeyb wrote: "It was my birthday the other day and my sisters and wife gave me...."

Hope you had a lovely birthday, Nigeyb, to go with your huge pile of books!

Happy Birthday, Nigeyb! Enjoy.

I just went to Foyles today after taking my daughter to see Stranger Things at the theatre. She got a good haul too :)

Nothing like a bookshop...

Nigeyb. A great celebration haul ..and on an afternoon when my family spent a happy hour watching Big Match highlights from the 1970s ( mud , short shorts and mullets galore ) reliving many memories that Jon Spurling book looks like one I might just put on my birthday list too !

A woman after my own heart 🫶🏻



Thanks all

I read the Jon Spurling book - you'll love it, I'm sure, Nigeyb.

One day, a few of us (a handful) will have to do a football buddy read.

Susan wrote: "One day, a few of us (a handful) will have to do a football buddy read."

So far this year, I've enjoyed reading P.G. Wodehouse's and . Both books, especially the former, are heavy on cricket, a game I know nothing about. Yet my lack of knowledge didn't prevent my enjoyment of the cricket matches so integral to the climactic action in both books.

But I do know the game of soccer/football and I have read Fever Pitch. However, obsessive fandom is a theme that transfers well, as does the excitement of playing a sports match, while Spurling's book looks like it may focus on the small 'p' politics of the British soccer authority structure, a subject dealing with intricacies and details beyond my understanding or interest. While I did watch the movie "The Damned United," it was too long ago to be of any background help.

I’ve got high hopes for Spurling

The Cooler (1974) by George Markstein came up on the latest Backlisted podcast. Been out of print for years until this new limited edition....


https://plumeriapics.co.uk/shop/ols/p...


Needless to stay I ordered it straight away


George who? George Markstein, co-creator of The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan



First published in 1974, and set in the crucial few days before D-Day, George Markstein’s The Cooler is a gripping World War II spy novel described by the Daily Mirror as “a cracking, bitterly cold thriller about spies who can no longer be trusted.”

Although long out of print, The Cooler is now being republished as a limited edition paperback with an introduction by Rick Davy – keeper of the Prisoner hub The Unmutual – and a striking cover by Time Tomorrow. Only 1,000 copies will be published, available exclusively from PlumeriaPics.co.uk from 29 August – what would have been Markstein’s 98th birthday.

In the vital few days leading up to D-Day, Captain James Loach, Special Operations Executive, is set to embark on his latest mission, Operation Jester. Then comes the message: Operation Jester has been called off, and all the other participants killed. Suddenly, Loach finds himself assigned to ‘The Cooler’, a station somewhere in the remote Scottish countryside, where spies who know too much are sent. There, he will find that one of his fellow inmates is a highly trained and extremely deadly double-agent. Can Loach find the traitor among the nest of spies, before word of the impending D-Day operation is leaked to the Nazis?

A must for any fan of The Prisoner, Danger Man and Markstein himself, The Cooler is only available in this 1,000 copy limited edition and copies are likely to sell fast.

The Cooler is just my kind of spy story. Though it’s not likely to be available in the new edition here in USA I was lucky to find an original printing used online. The used paper back is priced at $180 and the hardcover priced at $15. The mysteries of thrift shopping??? Thank you Nigeyb for piquing my interest to read the title.

A pleasure Susan - look forward to comparing notes

I too will be interested in any edit updates to this new publication. An honorary republishing calls for additional notes or recognition.

I ordered that one too. Sounds great.

One of my piano students just loaned me Cutting for Stone, which has excellent ratings on Goodreads. Looking forward to starting it.

An early Christmas present - they didn't wrap it so I had no idea it was a gift when I opened the parcel.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
It looks fascinating, will keep me busy for hours.

Looks wonderful Martin

That's your reading list sorted for next year, Martin!

I started The Cooler today. George Markstein crafted a tense tale about spycraft and the fictional characters who might have been spying during WWII. I have just reached the part where two characters have behaved inappropriately and have been sent for special training. This training is at what is called The Cooler. Initial scenes cause this reader to think of similarities to Slough House where bad operators go to do penance for their indiscretions and mistakes. I had a very hard time putting this book down at this point.

Nigeyb wrote: "Looks wonderful Martin"

I had a chance to look through it last night, it is wonderful.
I thought it might be a coffee table book but in fact the photographs are mainly quite small and more space is given to text. There is a text on each author and their relevance to the series, and a brief synopsis of each book in PMC. I will be 'dipping in' for a long time.

Susan wrote: "That's your reading list sorted for next year, Martin!"

Indeed, many authors and titles I will be on the look out for.
I actively collect only the 1966-81 series but do already own books from earlier and later series as I wanted to read them.
My main collection is https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

That collection must look beautiful Martin

Nigeyb wrote: "That collection must look beautiful Martin"

I'm very pleased with it. Haven't read them all yet so there is still that to look forward to. Also about thirty still to catch so I still have the excitement of the hunt.

Hi Martin . Snap ! My son , who lives with me , has been collecting Penguins for years . We have a wall to wall bookcase 3.5 m long and 2.5 m high ....Classics , Modern Classics and those blue non fiction ones . it's a joy both to look at and to delve into . Just pondering my next Big Read for 2025 and picked up War and Peace .tr. Briggs .....

Hester wrote: "Hi Martin . Snap ! My son , who lives with me , has been collecting Penguins for years . We have a wall to wall bookcase 3.5 m long and 2.5 m high ....Classics , Modern Classics and those blue non ..."

There is something highly addictive about Penguins (and Pelicans), best not tell the government or they will tax them.

I finished a collection from Danielle Dutton author and founder of Dorothy Project - a favourite publisher. Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other. Like most compilations this is a bit of a mixed bag but loved the slightly menacing short stories and the references to women writers from Woolf to Quin and Kavan. As soon as I finished it I ordered her novel Margaret the First

Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just come back from a trip to two local charity shops in Garston, a Liverpool suburb. Nothing really collectable but I will enjoy reading all of them in due course.
China Mieville, Railsea
Margaret Rogerson, Vespertine
Marissa Meyer, Renegades, Archenemies, NEW-Supernova - NEW is not part of the title
Garth Nix, The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
A. B. Martin, Kestrel Island, Raven's Wharf
Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
David Magarshack, Big Ben Strikes Eleven
Joanna Trollope, The Soldier's Wife
Rebecca F. Kuang, Yellowface

Not a bad collection for 10 GBP.

Good haul, Len. Love Liverpool :)