West Ham Online

Not starting a book club. Just bringing everyone's attention to the new book section. Link at the top of page.

I have put a few books up there already, happy to add any suggestions people have. There is a review section for each book where you can say how shit each one is. They all link through to Amazon where you can purchase any of the books with WHO earning a commission from the sales. I have put Alex's book up there already and anything WHO earns from that book I will push into the WHO fund.

I don't think we have a thread on books, so this thread can double up as a what-yer-reading now thread, West Ham related or not. I am currently reading Jonathan Rose, The intellectual Life of the British Working Classes. Delved straight into chapter 9, Alienation from Marxism. Fascinating insight into what inoculated us from communism: communists themselves apparently. 

Anyway, enjoy the books and hopefully you find something interesting among them and have some good suggestions on what to add.

Westham67 wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 14:34 A book called "The body keeps the score" its about how mental heath effects your body(I may be wrong I use effect for body and affect for things other than body) There is a nerve that runs though the brain ,chest and abdomen . That's why when something traumatic happens its hard work eating  

I read Joseph Heller’s satire more than sixty years ago. It was of its time but even today, considering what goes on with a deal maker in the Oval Office, lots of the content in Catch 22 still is relevant.

wils wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 18:56

Eastside surge" wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 17:38 Currently reading catch 22 and not really getting into that much I must admit considering it’s seen as a bit of a classic literature wise

Christopher Hitichens recommended this book as a must read. I think I tried it on that recommendation and couldn't get into it either. Gave up. Same with Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Gave up on that too.

Surprised with so many men being of a certain age that no one has mentioned Nabokov's Llotita. That's a great book!

Eastside surge" wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 17:38 Currently reading catch 22 and not really getting into that much I must admit considering it’s seen as a bit of a classic literature wise

Eastside surge" wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 17:38 Currently reading catch 22 and not really getting into that much I must admit considering it’s seen as a bit of a classic literature wise

Currently reading catch 22 and not really getting into that much I must admit considering it’s seen as a bit of a classic literature wise

XKhammer wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 16:13 Fair play fella 
I'm very fit for my age as cycle regularly 
Took my mate out recently who was gym nut on bike and mullered him
Yes l do little gym work but stamina beats strength all day long when you past 50 
Respect for you keeping fit thought

Fair play fella 
I'm very fit for my age as cycle regularly 
Took my mate out recently who was gym nut on bike and mullered him
Yes l do little gym work but stamina beats strength all day long when you past 50 
Respect for you keeping fit thought

XKhammer wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 14:48

Westham67 wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 14:34 A book called "The body keeps the score" its about how mental heath effects your body(I may be wrong I use effect for body and affect for things other than body) There is a nerve that runs though the brain ,chest and abdomen . That's why when something traumatic happens its hard work eating  

Exercise mate...and I'm not taking piss

Westham67 wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 14:34 A book called "The body keeps the score" its about how mental heath effects your body(I may be wrong I use effect for body and affect for things other than body) There is a nerve that runs though the brain ,chest and abdomen . That's why when something traumatic happens its hard work eating  

A book called "The body keeps the score" its about how mental heath effects your body(I may be wrong I use effect for body and affect for things other than body) There is a nerve that runs though the brain ,chest and abdomen . That's why when something traumatic happens its hard work eating  

Westham67

I go from the non fiction history books to more mindfulness books a compilation of Carl Jung works the Earth has Soul, The father of modern day psychology believes human have lost our spiritual side he mentions "Spirits of the depths " and the spirit of "Men and things" materialism I read his red book as well its hard reading but I persevered and finished it

This has all got rather serious and verging towards the intellectual. Not all books are like that.

Rather than read the morning paper on my commute between Radlett & Faringdon (before the line was electrified) I used to read Tom Sharpe novels. Guaranteed within the first three pages of my read (before we'd reached the next stop) I'd piss myself laughing.

It was all very bowler hat & brolly passengers back then and I quite often got disapproving looks and hushed "Tut Tuts" from my fellow commuters.

After a while though, one or two would make a comment and open up a conversation (rare, I know on UK public transport) about what I was reading, It seems that several were interested enough to go and buy a copy of whatever I was reading at the time to see what was so funny, and more than a handful thanked me if we happened to be sharing a carriage/compartment later in time.

So. Books, then. Ha! Ha! Ha!

This great has been ruined already, lock this rubbish down 

wils wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 09:19

It's quite a well established phenomena that men stop reading fiction as they age (not presuming your age here). I read a lot less fiction than I did in my youth, I am not sure it's a good thing for us though.

I go from the non fiction history books to more mindfulness books a compilation of Carl Jung works the Earth has Soul, The father of modern day psychology believes human have lost our spiritual side he mentions "Spirits of the depths " and the spirit of "Men and things" materialism I read his red book as well its hard reading but I persevered and finished it

Man and his symbols - Carl Jung, is a lovely book for your coffee table. 

Far Cough UKunt" wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 10:31 Frank and on that note, The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, which tries to reconcile philosophy and theoretical physics, a heady mixture for sure.

wils wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 09:19

Westham67 wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 09:05

My post said non fiction I don't read fictional books anymore an Infinity of mirrors I have read twice Richard Condon a couple of years ago

 

It's quite a well established phenomena that men stop reading fiction as they age (not presuming your age here). I read a lot less fiction than I did in my youth, I am not sure it's a good thing for us though. Fiction can be more illuminating on the topics that you are interested in and provide insight into life in general. Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and the The Brothers Karamazov will tell you more about the human condition and philosophy than a whole stack of academic literature on the subject ever could. Same with Houellebecq on modern culture. 

Heard a few theories about why we (men) stop reading fiction as we age from the fact the industry is run by women with names ending in the letter 'A' who now publish books that men are not interested in. To just our tendency to be more autistic and less empathetic as we age.

 

Frank and on that note, The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, which tries to reconcile philosophy and theoretical physics, a heady mixture for sure.

Liu Cixin - The three body problem and its two sequels will keep you going for a while. (Sci-fi, politics, philosophy)
Sandra Newman - Julia.  (1984 from the female perspective).
C. J. Sansom - Tombland. (Mystery set in pre- Elizabethan Norfolk at the time of Ketts rebellion. A page turner).

Like many on here I also read a lot of history in particular the Thirty years War, the American Civil War and most often the English Civil War. I'm interested in what happens when societies start to break down, the idealism / new thinking that ensues and the aftermath. Mary Beard is very good on Roman times. Simon Sharma is good at bringing the alleged motives of historical figures to light.

Other than that, I will read anything that I come across, books about sailing, maps, bands I like, pencils, footballers' haircuts, anything.

Far Cough UKunt" wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 09:34 wils, yes, have you read any of Solzhenitsyn's works although some of them are maybe semi fictional?

wils, yes, have you read any of Solzhenitsyn's works although some of them are maybe semi fictional?

From this thread it is interesting how many of us interested in history, particular war history. Is that true of men (as we nearly all are) in general or just football fans skew this way as we are tribal minded?

Westham67 wrote: ↑27 Mar 2026, 09:05

My post said non fiction I don't read fictional books anymore an Infinity of mirrors I have read twice Richard Condon a couple of years ago

 

Anybody ever read the Sven Hassel books about WWII from the Germans perspective?