Reading....

Completely off the topic of electronic entertainment/gaming but a post about reading and a chance for me to waffle on a bit... not that I need the excuse.

I'm not a big reader of books. I dislike reading a pdf on a tablet, the rarity of my reading books makes a dedicated reader like a kindle not worth it for me. I much prefer a physical book in my hands anyway. Rare as it is I do venture to get the odd book and then at some stage.... read it.
One author I've come to like is Robert Harris. I've seen some film/tv that were based on his books but only realised they were his when I started to look up his works after getting a book of his. That first book I found was through a toothache well over 10 years ago.
Well not quite a toothache more a whooping great big absence on my gum. Pain killers were not working and I found myself up at 4a.m. slumped on the couch watching tv... needless to say there was nothing on and the ache was too much of a distraction for me to care. Until I crossed over what I thought was a Nat Geo program about Pompeii. Now I've always had an interest in all things historical and ancient history is by far the most interesting to me. Roman history in all it's forms is at the top of that list. So to watch it was natural. Only the program turned out to be a tour of Pompeii by an author that had written a book based in the town and on the events of the famous eruption and destruction of that place. This program peeked my interest but it wasn't until a few month's later I was reminded of that book by a friend who had just read and recommended it. That recommendation made the book Pompeii (no relation the recent and horrifically bad film) get pushed onto my radar as a book I would have to get and read.  
I really like the way he uses real events, puts people as normal human beings into those events and makes the historic figures come alive in a weaving of the tale without loosing too much of the history or making the events too fantastic to believe.  Best to say that I really like this authors great form of historical fiction.

His other works are of interest as well, Enigma book and film both of which I liked. Fatherland a real reworking of history is also of interest.

The best I've read are the Cicero trilogy. These books combine the history of both ancient Rome and a figure I've always had an interest in, Cicero. A larger than life man in history that stood alongside and faced other more household names.
A really interesting and detailed set of books that bring a lot of the ebb and flow of history to light. So I'm really looking forward to the end of the trilogy being published at the end of the year. The first book Imperium was first published in 2006, the second book Lustrum was out in 2009 so it's been a long wait for the last book... Dictator. The new one I'm really sure will have been worth the wait. Even if I already know the ending.