As an avid reader and moderate drinker, I thought some might find other ysb members recommendations of wine and books helpful.
I have over 1000 books on my iPhone that I am constantly adding to. At the moment I am reading “The Prisoner in his Palace” by Will Bardenwerper. It’s about Saddam Hussein, his American guards, and his trial. From time to time I read comments from you about books you have or are reading.
Kea recommended a book about the goings on at Pike River. “Tragedy at Pike River Mine” by Rebecca Macfie. “How and why 29 men died” Before reading this, I had the opinion that it was the miners fault. After reading this, I am firmly convinced that the company was to blame. You read it and make your own judgement. (They could only do what Doc and the govt would allow them to do. It should have been an opencast mine from the start)
I will leave the wine comments to others.
Blame still lies partly in the mine workers, im a firm believer in personal responsibility and they didnt speak up/whistleblow or leave they just carried on and went to work and dobe what they wanted to do… earn money.
Still managment and doc/ andrew little/ union still have a hell of alot to answer too and im apoalled that no one is rotting in jail for what happened. Peter whittal and andrew little should be sharing a jail cell for their roles in the tragedy
Macfie’s book is a Masterclass for company directors.
I’m with you on the personal responsibility thing. Most (not all) were experienced miners who recognised the risk and gambled their safety against the paycheck – and lost in the most tragic way.
But: There was incredibly high staff turnover, with many key staff leaving because of reported safety issues not addressed. Why did the Board not enquire? The ventilation shaft design and construction was sheer lunacy, the access shaft was uphill creating a further ventilation issue, the coal had been identified as the gassiest recorded, they didn’t even know accurately where the seam was. There were plenty of warning signs for the Board who appeared to smile, nod and bank their fees. Where is their personal responsibility?
If you are a Director or Manager of a company this book is a must-read.
Stupid boy, Have you read the book?
Some also risked their children.
Im not much of a book petson btw, i read endless amounts online about a vast range of topics.
After the lefty snowflakes had a meltdown about jordan petersons new book and tried to ban it i thought fuck them and bought his 12 rules book and preordered his new book. Will be the 1st physical book ive read for probably 15+years but i intend to read them both and hope that every page i read another leftard has a meltdown and cries 🙂
I like Quinton Jardine books. They are about Bob Skinner a Scottish policemans rise through the ranks from constable to top cop and beyond!
Thanks for the recommendation Sooty.
I have started reading them from the first one.
You will have put a dent in my bank balance by the time I am finished all of thm.
Little did I know just how addictive these books are. Up to number 19.
Thanks Sooty for raiding my bank of $250.00
I just go to the local library for free!
They are good ain’t they. It’s interesting how the books intertwine!
He would have a job if there was no local cop and hoons for ideas!
I do not how you read books on a phone Ed. I tried a Kobo e-reader but I came book to the traditional as my preferred option.
I tend to find a good author and read as many of his / her books as I can find, in between other books. My most recent “favourite” has been Phillip Kerr –he wrote historical thrillers. Many based around the character of detective , Bernie Gunther a German working in WW11 and they include real German military people but using a bit of “writers license” to fill in factual gaps or to fit the story.
It’s easy to read on my iPhone 12 Pro max. The bigger screen is so much better than the smaller one.
Samsung android 250mm screen!
I prefer a real book to read, rather than screen.
Can only read on side and the screen keeps turning round!
That’s awful Sooty and makes it impossible to for you to enjoy. My Iphone screen is excellent. I like that it has a night setting – the screen is black with white print, opposite for daylight.
I love my Kubota, as the battery lasts for a month.
Nice to be able to read at night without having the light on.
I find paper books easier but also connect the laptop to (otherwise unused) TVs screens.
Either with Chromecast or an HDMI cable.
Sitting one to two metres away makes it very readable.
I use the mouse to navigate.
I’m not much of a reader and I try to keep books out of the house as much as possible because they smell kinda musty and they gather mites and crawly things. I opened a third edition of Great Expectations left to me by my grandfather once and a lot of dust fell out all over my smoking jacket. Made me sneeze. Errk. Never again. I chucked it in the compost.
But wine. There’s a subject close to my heart. Can anybody recommend a good breakfast wine under $10 per bottle? Chateau Carton tends to taste the same and gets boring, so I’d like to add a little variety to my diet.
Suggestions?
EK
Contact your MP
Sounds like you live in one of those damp houses Cindy was going to get rid of.
Sindy’s Slogan 2023.:-
“Don’t get rid of the damp and musty books, get rid of damp and musty houses.
Vote Labour.
All promises followed up on or your vote recast! ”
//
Eurokiwi, Blackmarket.com have some great wines under $10, especially their mystery selections, often with free delivery. I’m a long-time customer and have never had any complaints. The wine usually arrives within days. They even replaced a box of wine that was stolen from our doorstep during lockdown.
EK, How about a ‘sticky’ dessert wine to go on your cornflakes! Nice and fruity and not too harsh for early morning. 🥳
Chateau Farrah has a fruity drop. Deep red with taste of blueberry. Rough on the nose, when wiped clean of the dross and lees.
Ouch! 🙂
” good breakfast wine under $10 ”
*Meths.
If you are looking for a good drinking Chardonnay try these two.
*Pegasus Bay Chardonnay. Its like drinking liquid toasty butter. $39.95ish
*Main Divide Chardonnay ( 2nd tier brand from Peg Bay ) $17.99 on special.
Both delicious if you like Chards.
There is a range of interesting books at wheelers.co.nz
Another good site for ole NZ Books is Smithsbookshop.co.nz
Amy Brookes book 100 days to Democracy is worth a read (as is her site)
Holy man,
you say Book and Wine Club.
Does this mean you will add it as a permanent tab on the YSB site?
Or a sub under ‘Others’
Will wine and books be separate?
It will be fixed at the top of the home page so you can always see it
A subsection of YSB dedicated to hopeless drunks who pretend they can read. 🙂
Or who just like wine. Thanks for the Chard recommendations Mike.
Hic
Another fine Chardy from the Hawkes Bay..Stables. 15 bucks on special at Countdown.
HaHa, 2018 Chardy from Marlborough. Delightful @ 15 bucks.
Chard farm Pinot Noir
A delightful slightly expensive red that knocks the hell our of any Chardonnay that I’ve tried!
Mind you I am no wine expert.
I’ve tried 4 or five xmas’s in a row to read “The luminaries”, tried again this Xmas and found its still a good reason to start liquoring up to early in the afternoon,I’m going to bite the bullet and delete it at least that way I won’t be constantly reminded of what a failure I am at digesting overly complicated story lines.
They’ve made the movie so you don’t have to read the book. I hear many who attempted reading it gave up.
Read 100 pages under sufferance but couldn’t do it in the end, 100 pages of time I will never get back. The TV series was similar, just watched about 5 minutes and decided it was 5 I’d never get back either. I know many who have tried but failed in both TV series and book.
Having paid for – and abandoned reading a number of Booker prize-winners, I have decided the award is a dud and never touch them now.
I like a good whodunnit, so go for the Crime Writers Association Dagger Award winners and shortlists, and have yet to be disappointed.
Luminaries is also an enjoyable Pinot Noir
I read a few pages of The Luminaries and decided the other 822 pages were not worth the effort.
My current read is “NZ Green” the story of marijuana in NZ by Redmer Yska.
I have given a book recommendation. Here’s my wine suggestion:
* Don’t drink it. Booze and religion are the opiate of the masses.
You really should try a sav blanc, bird.
1 ) Open the bottle and allow it to breath.
2 ) If it does not look like its breathing, give it mouth to mouth.
If you don’t like that a nice whiskey over ice, it is a great drink, goes well with breakfast lunch or dinner.
Oh relax bird. Have a glass or two.
Mikey will be along shortly to let us know which service station is specialling Meths this week.
Hmm, I smell an ex drinker….
Can’t say anything on NZ’s banned book list titillates my interest.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/300181768/censor-sensibility-the-books-you-cant-read-in-new-zealand-and-why
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_in_New_Zealand
Me neither Maggy though I note that peak banning was reached when Patricia Bartlett took it upon herself to dictate the nation’s morals via the Indecent Publications Tribunal. As a doer as opposed to a voyeur I commend the Censor’s finding that a particular book, “consists of a series of sexual encounters loosely strung together without benefit of plot.”
Until the to be Mrs Nasska announced that she was “with child” that was the blueprint for my life. 🙂
Never mind nasska,
You could still script your alternative dream life journey.
Bound to be a best-seller.
Didn’t Bartlett get busted for importing banned porn – to be outraged at? 😂
Love reading – proper books – usually when I find an author I read all that I can find of them. My present favourite is Gerald Seymour who really puts together a great read. I have all my books on an excel sheet – 1424 at the moment – very handy when I go to booksales checking whether there are titles you have not yet obtained.
Over the past 3 or 4 years or so a big book barn crammed full of second hand books at very reasonable prices has opened at Chertsey, north of Ashburton – south of Rakaia. Have now started reselling many of them as I realise I will struggle to read the one I have, let alone new ones I keep getting.
Don’t bother with the wines now, just a few beers and then a rum.
I’m an incorrigible bookworm, Phil. The Book Barn is one of my favourite destinations.
Agree with Gerald Seymour , HP. I’ve read a few of his in the last year or so.
Orphan X novels by Greg Hurwitz are good.
AP’s two cents worth;
Jeremy Clarkson’s books. Yeah. I know he is
an obnoxious, opininated twat, but his writing
is bloody funny.
Also a great read is David Yallop’s book
“In God’s Name” an excellent read on the
corruption in the Vatican and how one humble man
wanted to expose it.
I must put in a good word for Penthouse. I use to enjoy the readers letters!
How come their sex life was better than mine, I’m pissed!
I used to read a lot of Tom Sharpe’s books which are hilariously biting satires, you’ll piss yourself laughing. Here they are free for download below.
https://b-ok.global/g/Tom%20Sharpe?regionChanged=&redirect=163410337
I recommend Indecent Exposure and Riotous Assembly which are both pisstakes of the South African Police Force during apartheid – they kicked him out of the country for writing them. The Wilt Alternative is hilarious as well & one of my girlfriends said that Wilt on High was good too.
I had forgotten about those. Yes they are well worth reading.
Agreed. I think I read all of them .
Late 70s, early 80s.
The comedy writing was superb.
The take on the British polytech system was insightful.
The TV mini series could not really do justice to the multi layered writing.
If you want to read a good book on the horror of war, read “The Forgotten Soldier”. My father read it a couple of times and I was always intrigued as to why he always read it. Eventually I found a download and read it. After reading it I understood why. If you are a teacher, read “The boy with no shoes”. If you are a history teacher, read both. As for wine I still think Aussie reds are far better value for money than NZ ones, especially Penfolds, Taylors and Wyndham. South African reds are not bad either especially those that are above the $15.00 mark. Alto, KannonKop, Meerlust Rubicon…. There are many to choose from https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-stellenbosch
ROL, I have just finished ‘The Forgotten Soldier’ on your recommendation.
It is extremely informative and quite an emotional read. I am grateful for the tip.
It was certainly time well spent.
Thank you.
Books:
– Tucker Max – I hope they serve beer in hell (any book from Tucker is funny as all hell)
– The Karma Sutra
– Anton Le Vey – Satanic bible
– How to win friends and influence people
– Shave Your Balls and 100 Other Things Your Mother Should Have Told You – The GoodDoc BadDoc Guide to Men’s Health and Grooming
– Prostitute – Sex Funny Stories. Contemporary Urban Fiction
– 1001 Gruesome Facts The Gross, the Ghoulish and the Ghastly Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty
– Red Herrings and White Elephants -The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day
Whine: something the leftys do
I’ve finished reading The Prisoner in his Palace by Will Bardenwerper as mentioned by Ed at the top of this page, and I have to say it is compelling reading. All round nasty bastard with a marshmallow centre was our Saddam. And the American soldiers who guarded him through his trial and execution were tough guys put through the worst kind of war – where the line between enemy and friend blurs.
I read a couple of books by Chris Hammer recently –an Aussie author of thrillers based in Australia. Great, well written books.
The UK Crime Writers’ Association has awarded Martina Cole the Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence. I hadn’t read any of her work, so began with Dangerous Lady (published 1992) and moved on to the sequel Maura’s Game. Both have aged with dignity and are worthy reads.
Get Audible if you can’t be fagged reading. I just listened to the first chapter of Dostoevsky’s Demons. A glorious hoot. Perhaps I’d been drinking too much.
“When The Ship Hits The Fan!” Written by Capt Rob Anderson.
Mans life from deck boy to Captain. On most types of ships around the world. The antics that seamen get up to on and off the water! Even beached a few on the beach for scrapping! A few stories on the anchor handling boats, which was interesting from my point been on rigs looking down!
Typical seaman getting, hilarious shit they getup to! Even mentions the gold plated turd of Queen Elizabeth on her first world tour! It’s good for a giggle and a laugh!
Written in much the same manner of Paul Carter in Smoking Monkeys, Drilling Rigs, Bio Diesel Bikes.
Which is another laugh in a book!
“1000 books” Holy crap Ed I bought The Luminaries when it first came out and still haven’t got passed page 50, I’ve attempted it several times but just get lost in the complexities of it all.
I hate it with a passion. Badly written. Masonic symbolism and fake big words try to give it a literary feel. It is shit.
Just bought “Twisting The Treaty”
and
Climates of War. by Edmund Bohan.This about the period 1859-69 in NZ.
I found this book at Vintage Books in Dunedin where they have rare and old books.
Daniel Silvia is a really good read! Writes about a Israeli Hitman/Spy, Gabriel Allon, who whacks all the Arabs that killed the Israeli athletes killed in German Olympics. He continues thru a heap of books as a hitman/ master spy for Israel and eventually became the head of Mossard! He has a core group of half a doz to assist him!
Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club has been on bestseller lists for ages, but I have avoided it because of a mental block about celebrity writers and a fear of disappointment.
So having found the first one entertaining, I chugged through the second one that was released last month and waitlisted myself for the third book due Sep 2022.
If endless threats of death by scamdemic and the advance of a totalitarian government are losing you the will to live, these light and funny stories of ‘octogenarian Famous Five meets James-Bond-by-committee’ will be cheerful distractions.
I first noticed Robert Goddard in 2019, when he was awarded the Diamond Dagger by the Crime Writers’ Association for his outstanding lifetime’s contribution to the crime fiction genre. I read and enjoyed several of his books (-I must have been living under a rock as there are more than 20 of them) and I’ve just finished ‘The Fine Art of Invisible Detection’ released this year. An action packed thriller from go to whoa.
I doubt any of Goddard’s titles will disappoint, if crime fiction is your thing.
Author: J D Kirk
Has written over 140 books for children as Barry Hutchison, over 15 books for adults as Barry J. Hutchison, and is now thoroughly enjoying murdering people as JD Kirk.
DCI Logan Crime Thrillers Books
Jack Logan is your hardened tough Scottish cop.
Spin off series (2 books so far) Robert Hoon thrillers (Bob Hoon makes tough DCI Logan look like a pussycat.
Former soldier Disgraced copper Foul-mouthed **** After losing his high-ranking job with Police Scotland, Robert Hoon was happy to watch the world pass him by through the bottom of a whiskey bottle, but then ….
If you are offended by violence and swearing, don’t go near Bob Hoon. There’s fkn blood on every fkn page.