Interested in what’s in my library?

You can see what's in my library by heading over to my online catalogue. I'm updating the collection every chance I get. There are quite a few books that are not in the catalogue yet, but that I aim to have fully updated before the end of 2021. To go to the catalogue click the …

The Captain’s Oath – Christopher L Bennett (8.9/10)

Although this book was released in 2019, I only recently discovered this author. He has a history of writing books in the original series timeline and the overall Star Trek universe. It shows in his rendering of Kirk's journey from a young officer commanding a smaller vessel, to the moment when he begins his journey …

Library Additions to the end of 2023

During 2023 I began cataloguing my physical and electronic library contents. I had a lot of work to add and update my books. I'd been slack and hadn't kept track of what I'd bought and downloaded. Now though everything is up to date. In the image gallery below, I've added the last of the books …

Angelmaker – Nick Harkaway (6.8/10)

Despite others' positivity about Nick Harkaway's "Angelmaker", I struggled to get through the book. For a period, up to about 150 pages in, I felt my enjoyment leaking away and thought of returning the book to its loaner. It just wasn't working for me. I had lost the plot, of the book, not my personal …

Stratofortress, The Story of the B-52 – MARTIN W. BOWMAN (10/10)

Boeing's design for the B-52 Stratofortress began at the closing stages of World War 2. The need for a long-range, inter-continental bomber was made plain by the air campaign in the Pacific. Coupled with the increasingly aggressive stance of the USSR at the end of the conflict, this capability was seen as central to the …

Hunter Killer – Inside America’s Unmanned Air War – T. Mark McCurley & Kevin Maurer (8/10)

Not at all what I expected, this book by T. Mark McCurley, a former pilot, instructor and squadron commander in the US Air Force's Remotely Piloted Aircraft program, is equal parts techno-thriller, historical account, and war memoir. It is a story about those who put their personal lives on hold, who take risks personally and professionally …

The 10000 doors of January, Alix E Harrow (9/10)

Wow. I was not expecting this book to make such an impact on me. In fact, I almost stopped reading it somewhere about the 100-page mark. I'm glad I stuck with it. The author's debut novel, this fantasy has been nominated for the Hugo Award. Set in the early 20th century Earth, it tells the tale …

Online Library Updates – COMPLETE – April 2023

With some unexpected time off, thanks to COVID, I finally added the last of my e and paper books to my online library. You'll note that there's a wide range of topics. There are a lot of modelling-related books with most of those being armour and railway subjects. There are also some cooking, writing and …

Library Update 04/2023 – New books added

New books have been added to my library. There is a range of topics, many modelling-related, some gardening and history-related books too. Most of them are EBooks. The exceptions are the John Birmingham books that I am glad to say fill out the World War 2.0 series. You can visit the TInyCat library to browse …

The two sides of secrecy (Tales from the not so Cold War)

ASIO is Australia's interior agency for counterintelligence. The tracking of enemy actors, spies, and illegals, to protect Australia's secrets, is their remit. In this post, I'm reviewing two books from opposite sides of the table. One is for ASIO, while the other (not surprisingly)  takes an opposite point of view. Tale of the Scorpion - …

The Spy and the Traitor – Ben Macintyre (10/10)

My experience is that books such as this rarely come along. It is not only gripping, exciting and well-written, but it's non-fiction to boot. The Spy and the Traitor cover the interesting journey of Colonel Oleg Gordievsky (KGB) through his life before the KGB, his recruitment by Britain's MI6, his career as a spy for …