CuriousGeorgette

ummm with that humour ... British??? I think more than American?

balancing

hmmm male author?

I think it is the awfulness that is so funny. You think 'this is awful' 'no its REALLY awful' 'can it get worse' 'wow yes it can' and by now the giggle is starting somewhere inside .. a few more lines later, probably after some horrendous bit of dialogue you just burst out laughing.

A modern book?

And in honour of the Pooh:

Drum roll please!! We have a winner! Yup A.A. Milne - Winnie-the-Pooh.

male

A logical guess but no. Same country though

Happy reading!!

children's classic.

Because unfortunately you don't actually pay enough. If you actually had to pay what it costs to cover the programming / broadcasts/system maintenance etc it would be unaffordable. Adverts pay for the content, in newspapers, magazines and TV. The unwillingness of people to be subjected to this necessary evil is actually causing something of a crisis - in print media especially. As newspapers and magazines are forced to have an increasing online presence traditional advertising doesn't work. Click through ads have pretty much run their course because no one clicks on them and/or has an ad blocker installed. Product placement in movies and TV shows has increased dramatically (watch a more recent movie closely specifically looking for identifiable products and see just how many there are now) as a partial solution to the problem but at the moment every one is scrambling looking for how to solve the advertising crisis. Oh and you just have to read Roald Dahl. His children's books are just wonderful! I couldn't even begin to pick a favourite. Fantastic Mr Fox is all about the adventures of a hen stealing fox. George's Marvelous Medicine - George concocts a magic pill to heal his granny who is sick. If you ever made mudpies or 'cooked' as a child by throwing whatever you found, leaves, grass, water, bit of this, bit of that in a pot you will appreciate his approach. Matilda is for the unloved, unappreciated child in us - and who hasn't felt that way at some point or the other, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator are just wonderful mad escapism. Charlie is living in Dickensian poverty when he wins a magic ticket to visit Willy Wonka's chocolate factory - I'm sure you are familiar with the story - but the books are SO much better than the movies. James and the Giant Peach - James escapes his evil aunts by going on an adventure inside a giant peach with a 6 enlarged bugs. His adult books (short stories) can only be described as having a macabre sense of humour. And I just discovered I have by no means read all of his books myself Children's fiction: The Gremlins (1943) · James and the Giant Peach (1961) · Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) · The Magic Finger (1966) · Fantastic Mr Fox (1970) · Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972) · Danny, the Champion of the World (1975) · The Enormous Crocodile (1978) · The Twits (1980) · George's Marvellous Medicine (1981) · The BFG (1982) · The Witches (1983) · The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985) · Matilda (1988) · Esio Trot (1990) · The Minpins (1991) · The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (1991) Children's poetry: Revolting Rhymes (1982) · Dirty Beasts (1983) · Rhyme Stew (1989) Adult novels Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen (1948) · My Uncle Oswald (1979) Adult short story collections: Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946) · Someone Like You (1953) · Kiss Kiss (1960) · Switch Bitch (1974) · The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1977) · The Best of Roald Dahl (1978) · Tales of the Unexpected (1979) · More Tales of the Unexpected (1980) · Two Fables (1986) · The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl (1991) · The Great Automatic Grammatizator (1998) · Skin and Other Stories (2000) · Roald Dahl: Collected Stories (2006) Non-fiction: The Mildenhall Treasure (1946) · Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984) · Going Solo (1986) · Memories with Food at Gipsy House (1991) · Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety (1991) · My Year (1993)

could it be the misreading of 'books' into 'bacon'?? yeah I think is a clue - yes? :D :D

yup and i suspect similar thinking in most people for whom this works

CG here to the rescue ... a quote, a quote my kingdom for a quote ... ai poop blasted Shakespeare infecting my brain again. ok ..

I thought it was particularly appropriate on a book forum to remind people of all the wonderful books there are to read. He mentions quite a few of my favourites.

ohhh I was reminded of another one the other day but ... let me think ... firing up the neurons, engaging memory banks ... *that smell is the brain working over time, ignore it* HEATHCLIFFE from Wuthering Heights.

“The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned, Is never, NEVER, NEVER let Them near your television set -- Or better still, just don't install The idiotic thing at all. In almost every house we've been, We've watched them gaping at the screen. They loll and slop and lounge about, And stare until their eyes pop out. (Last week in someone's place we saw A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) They sit and stare and stare and sit Until they're hypnotised by it, Until they're absolutely drunk With all that shocking ghastly junk. Oh yes, we know it keeps them still, They don't climb out the window sill, They never fight or kick or punch, They leave you free to cook the lunch And wash the dishes in the sink -- But did you ever stop to think, To wonder just exactly what This does to your beloved tot? IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES! 'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say, 'But if we take the set away, What shall we do to entertain Our darling children? Please explain!' We'll answer this by asking you, 'What used the darling ones to do? 'How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented?' Have you forgotten? Don't you know? We'll say it very loud and slow: THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ, AND READ and READ, and then proceed To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks! One half their lives was reading books! The nursery shelves held books galore! Books cluttered up the nursery floor! And in the bedroom, by the bed, More books were waiting to be read! Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales And treasure isles, and distant shores Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars, And pirates wearing purple pants, And sailing ships and elephants, And cannibals crouching 'round the pot, Stirring away at something hot. (It smells so good, what can it be? Good gracious, it's Penelope.) The younger ones had Beatrix Potter With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter, And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland, And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and- Just How The Camel Got His Hump, And How the Monkey Lost His Rump, And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul, There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole- Oh, books, what books they used to know, Those children living long ago! So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books, Ignoring all the dirty looks, The screams and yells, the bites and kicks, And children hitting you with sticks- Fear not, because we promise you That, in about a week or two Of having nothing else to do, They'll now begin to feel the need Of having something to read. And once they start -- oh boy, oh boy! You watch the slowly growing joy That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen They'll wonder what they'd ever seen In that ridiculous machine, That nauseating, foul, unclean, Repulsive television screen! And later, each and every kid Will love you more for what you did.” ― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

So the idea is choose a quote and every one must guess which book its from?

Don't forget the smell of biscuits baking! And the smell of cinnamon removes the smell of new paint.

I was reading about taste receptors in testicles - YES! (link) - don't ask! Google throws up some random results sometimes which I can't resist. ANyyyyywhooo Saw this 'related' hmm - again don't ask - article on how the smell of chocolate in a book shop makes people browse longer and buy more. I can get behind that! Chocolate and books! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2371566/Sweet-smell-success-How-smell-chocolate-help-reverse-decline-number-people-buying-books-shop.html

So I got some books - yes I admit I'm a helpless addict. The Ramage books are rereads and a slightly random selection, but I just picked a few I remember better to start with - I'm slowly in the process of building an ebook library of all the books I have read, including all my childhood favourites. Unfortunately many are difficult to find in digital format. The Yorke books are new. Ramage 01 - Ramage Ramage 02 - Ramage and the Drum Beat Ramage 03 - Ramage & the Freebooters Ramage 05 - Ramage's Prize Ramage 10 - The Ramage Touch Ramage 15 - Ramage's Challenge Ramage 16 - Ramage at Trafalgar Yorke 1 - Buccaneer Yorke 2 - Admiral Yorke 3 - Galleon Yorke 4 - Corsair

In one of those internet searches where on thing led to another thing led to a wonderful easter egg (hidden surprise) I found this little gem. There is just so much information about this *ahem* "amazing" short story that has circulated through SF fans for so long that i'm just going to give the link: http://ansible.co.uk/misc/eyeargon-intro.html You can read the story here - preferably out loud in your most dramatic voice possible (without laughing - go on I dare you!) http://ansible.co.uk/misc/eyeargon.html http://ansible.co.uk/writing/argon-timeline.html

I will indeed - keep the suggestions coming! I don't like getting too stuck in one particular set of authors even though I do tend to go on a binge and get ALL the books an author has written, especially when I have enjoyed their writing... but there is also so much more to read and more ... and more ...

so did I!