OK I have some books for consideration. I own all of them in one way or another (3 physical and 2 audiobook), and I wanted to give variety but also reflect what I like to (or would like to) read. As usual, vote with the icon and looking forward to see where the group mind lands.
:helmet:Troy by Stephen Fry (Classics, Stephen F'n Fry, Deep Dave)
A very Stephen Fry retelling of the Homeric Epic with so many Ur-heroes and bastards; Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen, Cassandra, Hector and silly, silly Paris. To measure the history I have this with story I will regale you with the mighty mural I drew on butcher's paper of the Horse and the Fall of Troy when I was in Grade 4 that adorned the wall of the classroom.
:male-police-officer::skin-tone-2oose Units by Paul Verhoeven (True crime, memoir, father-son, Australian)
You might know Paul Verhoeven from various ABC TV projects over the years, but one day he sat down with his dad John, retired NSW detective and made a podcast. Partly as an attempt to discover more about his father's life and partly rollicking true crime tales of being a cop in NSW in the crazyand corrupt Sydney of the 80s.
:caesar:Rubicon by Tom Holland (Ancient History, Nonfiction, politics)
I'm a history nerd and this is the first of two history books on the list. The end of the Roman Republic is fascinating and a showcase in how the sudden expansion of wealth and empire can test a "democratic" government (really an oligarchy of the wealthy) to its limits and break it as it descends into anarchy and then authoritarianism. (Sound familiar? Yeah I as totally thinking ancient Athens as well). Tom Holland is an approachable write of the period who leans more on themes and movements than the 'great or terrible man' theories of history.
:earth_fire:The Fifth Season - The Broken Earth, Book 1 by N. K. Jemisin (Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia)
At the risk of sending some of us down the rabbit hole of a new series of books, multiple Hugo Award winner N.K. Jesmin's opening book of her award winning Broken Earth series sounds fascinating and celebrated for writing modern diverse fantasyscifisydtiopiastuff.
:ghost: Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler (History, Travel, Memoir)
The only book on the list I have read, and will gladly read again. Richard Fidler (yes, of ABC Conversations and DAAS fame) this book is part travelogue and part history as Richard and his near adult son visit Istanbul and he tells the largely unknown tale of the "Second Rome", Constantinople, and an entertaining potted history of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. You know the part of the Roman Empire that lasted a thousand years AFTER the fall of the Western half we all bang on about? An empire that was Christian in religion, Greek in culture, and Roman in institutions. Fidler expertly threads his personal exploration of the city through the telling of a history of an empire that was as obsessed with the fine details of the nature of Christ as it was defending itself from threats all around. (Personal 5 stars for this one).
David：OK Booksters! Troy by the ineffable Stephen Fry it is. I have started and the jolly giant even manages to make the background of Greek myth that founds all of this readable and clear. I am reading my copy but I hear all the footnotes in his voice.
I can recommend the Audiobooks read by Mr Fry. Absolute delight.
oose Units by Paul Verhoeven (True crime, memoir, father-son, Australian)