Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hOk, so, now, on to October and lets read something scary! Well, actually those two history books were pretty scary... and all too real. Anyway... The Shining. That can't happen, right? 😅 💙📚 140
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hand the biggest lesson - the one that goes back to Hemingway 3) Moral certitude doesn't give you an advantage on the battlefield. You can still lose a just war. I worry very much that a century of stories since have made us forget this. 📚💙#bookhistory 020
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hMy biggest takeaways from these two books put together is that 1) Extremism is the enemy. Always. Not the least because you don't know what genie you'll unleash once you've opened that bottle. 2) There is a clear imbalance in moral standing between the two sides although both committed atrocities 120
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hNeither quite gave the story the feeling of being there - of putting you in the scene that the best history books accomplish. 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hBeevor writes more objectively about troop movements, battles, tactics and equipment used. Preston (I learned later) is a foremost english expert on this area of history and covers other parts of the story much more deeply in his multiple other (highly rated!) books. 💙📚 130
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hSo I picked up a second book to read at the same time Book 28 of '26 The Battle of Spain - Antony Beevor 3⭐ A much more straight forward, chronological retelling of the conflict that gave me more of what I expected from a conventional history of a conflict. 💙📚 130
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hThis book is meticulous, granular and more focused on the causes, the history of the political movements and then the reasons for and details of the horrific, grinding, brutal, detestation of the foe that seems to have anchored this clash of class and of ideas. It was not exactly what I had in mind 120
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hWhich lead me to picking up and now finishing book 27 of 2026 The Spanish Holocaust by Paul Preston 4⭐ I picked this one in part because it was directly recommended by the Book Club - Dom and Tabby. www.thebookclubhq.com 📚💙 140
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hAs a middle aged Dad, I was issued my WW2 knowledge card long ago, and I refer to it only rarely, so how could I have so large a gap in knowledge of a European theatre of war that directly abuts that great conflict? 💙📚 130
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 8hSo. I read and thoroughly enjoyed For Whom the Bell Tolls, but almost immediately upon starting it, I realized that I knew very little about the Spanish Civil war. Terms used in the book meant nothing to me and I found myself looking things up as I went along. 💙📚 140
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 07/09/2026This just in - Lanterns is still really good. #dcu #Lanterns 021
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Me, convincing @spinesandspoilers.bsky.social that there are SOME people who like hell. 000
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Lanterns episode 3 is packed with nuance and layers of threads to explore. I hope it pays off. Also for the people complaining - OF COURSE thé colour of his skin matters in a John Stewart story. #Lanterns 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Add on the fact that I don’t want or need a story that reflects ME. I want to live a DIFFERENT experience. 0341
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026My TBR is suddenly filling up with history books on the Spanish Civil War. 💙📚 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026I really am shocked. I think Hemingway is often disparaged for a number of reasons in book circles these days. I also fully expect that letdown because classics don’t always live up to their expectations. Not for me. Not with this. I devoured this. 💙📚 My god, I want to read it again. BUT 100
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Are you à communist? “No. I am anti-fascist. I have been one since I was old enough to understand what fascism was” 💙📚 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026The feelings and emotions and inner monologues are masterfully conveyed. And most of all - thé clear headed look at a war which most people know little to nothing about today, but who’s arguments sound so much like they are of our time. 💙📚 100
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Book 26 or ‘26 For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway 5⭐️ Contender for my favourite book of the year. 📚💙 The trick of writing the Spanish sections as literally translated is brilliant and is fully revealed once we switch back to the protagonist, who is American, and the writing is normal English. 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026But they won’t be for long. *judging by own experiences with how long they remain uneaten 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Almost on a whim, I started reading this. 💙📚 I love when a book speaks from the past ans you recognize dialogue that could be from today. He is a communist, she said. "They are very serious 'Are you a communist?' 'No I am an anti-fascist.' 'For a long time?' 'Since I have understood fascism. 030
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 21/08/2026A good book to recommend for someone who has not been a King reader! 💙📚 011
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 21/08/2026It was a pleasure to read but not something I can see myself coming back to read again. Most of all I had hoped for à greater exploration of the little changes that all those butterflies created - instead of the info dump (which is not out of character). 💙📚 101
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Book 25 of 2026 4⭐️ 📚💙 Very good, very enjoyable and also very Stephen King. There were very few surprises - except that I thought it was a stand alone and it definitely is not - tying in firmly to his shared universe. 121
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I can’t believe how good Lanterns was. Great job DC. Set the bar very high. Really excited by the trailer for the rest of the season. Laura Linney???! #Lanternsstatic.klipy.comGreen Lantern John StewartALT: Green Lantern John Stewart 000
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Why did no one tell me this is not a stand alone? lol. This is full of references to other King stories! 💙📚 020
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Feels good to be back on the road with #StephenKing 📚💙 160
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 09/08/2026There is a vitality and an impetus - a rawness- to these stories that echoes from out of an imagined past. This is a collection to treasure. I loved this - while being fully aware of all the flaws that it brings. 💙📚🪐📚 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 09/08/2026This collection contains all the original Conan stories from Robert E Howard. I’ve very much enjoyed slowly working through this collection. Read altogether it’s too much but as a change of pace, the mighty-thewed Cimmerian is perfect. 📚💙📚🪐 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 09/08/2026Book 24 of 2026 The Complete Chronicles of Conan 💙📚 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A titanic figure who casts a mighty shadow across the literary landscape, Conan is a unique creation who has been imitated but never duplicated. 190
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 08/08/2026It’s Gwenny and her babies on #internationalcatday#catday 000
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 08/08/2026I may have been wrong. It might not cause a reaction at all! 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 08/08/2026My son and I won our first ever club tennis box league doubles match this morning. We were pretty excited about it! 🎾 000
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 05/08/2026I know Virginia Woolfe can engender some strong reactions so I’d love to hear from some people who have read this and want to share their feelings. 📚💙 #Woolf 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 05/08/2026The book tells us so much by telling us so little that I was shocked by the Frank discussion of certain subjects that clearly were well known to the author - suicide and female sexual pleasure. This book was ahead of its time but also of its time. 💙📚 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Once I approached it more like a musical - like Ariana belting out her thoughts and feelings via song in wicked - then the book really began clicking for me. 📚💙if this same book was written today to describe a pop stars day we’d find it understandable and we’d pick up much more on the reference. 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 05/08/2026À challenging work that I found worked better when I read it aloud to myself. The stream of consciousness style is presents some problems in part because of the hundred year gap between the interconnected scenes and us. 💙📚 130
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Book 22 of 2026 Mrs Dalloway. Virginia Woolf. Well… I don’t know what to say. This is an impressive work, though is it an enjoyable read is a different question. 💙📚 140
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Thé Gael! Incredible soundtrack. I have watched that final sequence about à million times. Give or take a couple. 110
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 30/07/2026I have read three of those books. Two were good. One got worse and worse until I dragged myself across the finish line and the experience has created a hatred of the authors work that remains undiminished. 010
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 30/07/2026I’ve watched it more than 6 times - easy! But how many times have you watched the final 12 minutes? 120
Mostly Mike @mostlymike.bsky.social · 28/07/20262nd update I had little knowledge of what this book was about. The hot sapphic description really made me go 👀 “à match burning in a crocus” That was unexpected. 001
