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A break is good. I'm still trying to get back and finish my December read. More to come on that!

For those interested I have set up the first theme read thread for 2015 which will commence in February.

I have made it a very broad theme of any book or books covering WW2 POW's, Escape & Evasion accounts or stories of Resistance/Partisan groups during the war as they are all linked in some manner.

The thread will be open for discussion/comment a few days before the start of the theme read. Please join in if you can:

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Thanks Rick. It should be a varied and interesting read with the wide interests we have in the group.

I think so too Geevee, it should be a lot of fun and interesting as well.

I have opened up the thread for the February 2015 theme read on "POW/Escape & Evasion/Resistance", please join in if you can/like:

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The February theme read seemed to go OK. For those folks interested the next theme read will be in April and will be on any book or books covering any aspect of warfare on the Russian Front. I hope quite a few group members will join in. I will send a message out to the group with the details later this month.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The February theme read seemed to go OK. For those folks interested the next theme read will be in April and will be on any book or books covering any aspect of warfare on the Russian Front. I hope..."

Sounds interesting. Thanks Rick!

It should be a good theme month Ethan, lots of great books on the subject :)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The February theme read seemed to go OK. For those folks interested the next theme read will be in April and will be on any book or books covering any aspect of warfare on the Russian Front. I hope..."

I'll take this down from the shelf for April --

RED STAR UNDER THE BALTIC: A Firsthand Account of Life on Board a Soviet Submarine in World War by Victor Korzh

Excellent choice Manray9 and I'll be interested in your views because, believe it or not, I have an unread copy somewhere :)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Excellent choice Manray9 and I'll be interested in your views because, believe it or not, I have an unread copy somewhere :)"

It has languished on my shelf for several years.

Mine not so long.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The February theme read seemed to go OK. For those folks interested the next theme read will be in April and will be on any book or books covering any aspect of warfare on the Russian Front. I hope..."

For the next themed read, I'm probably going to read: by Vasily Grossman. It seems like an interesting book! I want to read a couple though and really want to find a book like Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. Do you have any suggestions?

One of my favourite Eastern Front books is this title:


by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

Should be a good theme and too early for me to choose yet.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Excellent choice Manray9 and I'll be interested in your views because, believe it or not, I have an unread copy somewhere :)"

Is there any book that you don't have unread sitting on a shelf somewhere? :)

(I kid)

It does look good.

I'll probably read this one



I picked it at a used book store in Phoenix during a trip there recently

Should be a good book for the theme read Happy.

happy wrote: "'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Excellent choice Manray9 and I'll be interested in your views because, believe it or not, I have an unread copy somewhere :)"

Is there any book that you don't have unread sit..."

Leafed through it, looks good. You can judge the overall quality by the Zhukov chapter.

I think for the Eastern Front theme read in April I will have to go with this latest book:


by David Stahel

This volume follows on from this title which I have read and quite enjoyed:

by David Stahel

I second that.. Goood choice.

Doubledf99.99 wrote: "I second that.. Goood choice."

:)

The thread for the April theme read is ready to go and will be open a few days before the theme starts:

/topic/show/...

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The thread for the April theme read is ready to go and will be open a few days before the theme starts:

/topic/show/......"

Nice pictures.

Thank you :)

I'm going to for this one. Just need to complete my current read on the Norman Conquest and a fiction book.

The Greatest Battle: The Battle For Moscow 1941 - 42 by Andrew Nagorski

Another fine selection for the theme read!

The page for the April theme read (books on the Russian Front) is now open for comment:

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Thanks, AR!

My pleasure, I am just about to walk over to the local café for my morning coffee and I'm taking my copy of The Battle for Moscow to start as part of the theme month.

by David Stahel

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "My pleasure, I am just about to walk over to the local café for my morning coffee and I'm taking my copy of The Battle for Moscow to start as part of the theme month.

[bookcover:The Battle for Mos..."

A most excellent read. Parts of it gave me the chills..

Something to look forward to by the sounds of it!

May I suggest my book, Occupation and Insurgency: A Selective Examination of The Geneva and Hauge Conventions on the Eastern Front. This also has interviews with participants, dealing with partisans, guerrilas, SS units.

The June theme read which is on Merchant navies and submarine warfare is set up and will be opened a few days prior to the commencement of the theme read:

/topic/show/...

Your selected book can cover any theatre of WW2 as long as the subject is on Merchant navies and/or submarine warfare.

Enjoy :)

I hope folks have started looking at which book or books they might like to read and share with the group for the June theme read on Merchant navies and submarine warfare during WW2:

/topic/show/...

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "I hope folks have started looking at which book or books they might like to read and share with the group for the June theme read on Merchant navies and submarine warfare during WW2:

..."

AR: I'm thinking of going with this:

An Affair of Chances: A Submariner's Odyssey, 1939-1944 by Vice-Admiral Sir Ian McGeoch

McGeoch commanded several subs including HMS SPLENDID (P228) in the Med during WW II. Under his command HMS SPLENDID sank three tankers, six cargo ships, two destroyers and three corvettes. When his submarine was sunk by the German destroyer HERMES (ZG3) in 1943, McGeoch was captured, but later escaped and made his way back to Britain via Switzerland, France and Spain.

Sounds like an excellent book for the theme read Manray9!

I'm going to read one that is on my shelves for a change (curse the library catalogue and the evil book buyers they have LOL). I've plumped for:

Survivors: British Merchant Seamen in the Second World War by G.H. Bennett

That would be the perfect book for the theme read Geevee, nice selection!

Would anyone like to participate in a buddy read of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut? That is, assuming fiction books are read in this group (although I think it partly contains a real account of Vonnegut's experiences, so it's a blend of fiction and fact).

I've never done a buddy read so I'm not exactly sure what we do. I guess we just add each other as friends and discuss the book in messages? Or do we use a thread in this part of the group discussions?

Richard and I'm sure we can set up a thread for you and others who take part under the Fiction area.

Thank you, Geevee.

Hi Richard, once you get a few interested people and a date you wish to start just send ne a message and I will set up a thread for your group read/discussion.

Thanks Rick. I guess that might turn out to be an 'if' rather than a 'when', but I'll leave the offer dangling before I continue reading too far into the novel.

If you like I can send a message to the group members to see if anyone wants to join you with that particular novel or any classic WW2 novel and folks can discuss the merits of their selected books, how does that sound?

That would be absolutely great! Incredibly helpful, thank you again.

Message sent and thread opened for discussion:

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Enjoy :)

Last link takes me to a previous theme read, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'. The thread for proposing the new theme read is ..locked? I don't grok how this works..

I've just locked the October 2015 theme read page which I just set up.

This thread is open for any proposals for any group/buddy or theme reads.

If anyone has suggestions for some theme reads for the group in 2016 let me know. Some themes I am thinking of are:

* A general single volume history of WW2 by any author you like (eg: Max Hastings, Antony Beevor, Andrew Roberts, etc)

* A theme read on a single land battle of WW2.

* A theme read on a single naval engagement of WW2.

* A theme read on a single air raid/mission of WW2.

Any other suggestions?

I would like to stick to general themes as it allows members to utilise books that they have easy access to rather than a specific topic which may restrict people joining in, but all ideas are welcome :)

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "If anyone has suggestions for some theme reads for the group in 2016 let me know. Some themes I am thinking of are:

* A general single volume history of WW2 by any author you like (eg: Max Hasting..."

Rather than single engagements, how about something very general such as WW II aviation (any book related to aviation during the war) or naval, which could include the Atlantic (U-boats and commerce raiders), the Pacific (sub or carrier ops)?

Have we done WW II biographies? I have several unread.