dollarsandcents

thank you for the warm welcomes, makes me feel... well, welcome! I've enjoyed reading lots of threads so far, I'll try to contribute more when I can.

He's an American (moved to UK, then back again, then back to the UK) travel writer essentially, laced with witty humour and a lot of great observations. He's a really warm, friendly and hilarious author, never laughed so much when reading a book than when reading a Bill Bryson book, my favourite being his A Walk in the Woods, where he walks the Appalachian Trail with a hilarious friend. I guess it's either your thing or it isn't, but I'd say they're worth giving a try if you're into something easy and fun to read. He's also done a few books on the English language and a History of Science book as well. Hope that helps, give him a try!

High Fidelity and Fever Pitch, two of the books which I'd say got me reading and influenced me a lot when I was younger! Oh, and How To Be Good.Not as good as the others really, I don't remember much about it to be honest having read it a long time ago. I say a long time ago, I've not got that much time to go back, but you know what I mean.

As promised... Not all of my books, some littered around my bed and some in the garage.

Great film, up there with my favourites I'd imagine. Not that I have listed them.... honest. I watched Shine A Light last night, the Scorsese docu-film about a Rolling Stones performance. Guess you have to be a fan of the music to begin with but it was wonderfully shot and was a good watch. I did spend the majority of the film in awe of how effortlessly cool Keith Richards is, definitely the pinnacle of cool. Don't know how the Stones continue to perform with such energy when they're all the wrong side of 60 (I think?). Amazing.

I do have a penchant for having a sneaky look at a bookshelf if I'm in someone's house, usually to make a completely needless sweeping generalisation about their whole personality! I don't know, maybe I'm just nosey. Seems like the thread for me, who knew looking at peoples bookshelves could be so addictive. If I've time later I'll take a quick snap of my bookshelf, though I think mine will be dwarfed in size compared to some of your home libraries. I fear it'll be analogous to a small child (on a cold day) stood next to Ron Jeremy...

Proud to see I'm not the only one tuning in to X Factor... I really should be finding better things to do with my time. Never interested in the music really but it's kind of addictive, in a sitcom sort of way. I want the one who looks like Porthos from the Three Musketeers to win! Aside from that I'm currently watching Superman on TCM, for reasons unbeknown to myself! I don't really watch much TV to be honest, aside from US TV series and comedy series and the occasional sitcom.

This. Couldn't agree more.

Thanks, I'll have a good look around. I do like to indulge in the off-topic regularly! For anyone who's interested I'm 22 and other than reading I'm a huge music and film fan, enjoy photography, the outdoors, sport (but not so much nowadays!), pub quizzes, larking around on the internet and having a good laugh with mates. My list of books I'd like to read is massively greater than the time I have to read unfortunately, so I'm one of those who buys 5 books for every one I get to read, bad habit? Anyway, favourite authors would probably be Steinbeck, Garcia Marquez, Dostoyevsky, Dawkins and Alan Bennett, if I had to name a broad five. I enjoy reading the classics (I aim to read a lot more in the near future) and would like to read some more Shakespeare too. So yeah, I like a broad range of fiction and also like to have interludes of non-fiction, usually Evolution/Genetics based to top up my former study subject but I'm also fascinated with a range of history, 20th century politics and current affairs. Ramble over, yeah.

Hello current members, I'm making my first post here. New to this forum but familiar with forum life. I thought I'd benefit from frequenting a literature related forum as it's nice to be able to discuss books, something which is lacking within my friend circle! I enjoy browsing around and reading comments and reviews so it makes sense really. Hopefully there's an active community with nice welcoming members and different personalities. Hope to cross you again soon. Any questions? Don't be afraid to ask, hopefully I'll stick around and become familiar with the place throughout the coming days. ^^,