briber

One of my favourite love story is, Helen Hanff's 84Charing Cross Road. A story of unrequited love. two people, separated by the Atlantic who never meet but converse by letters. the lady American, brash and forthright. The gentleman, in the full sense of the word with typical English reserve. Shoot me down! As a postscript. her sequel Letter From New York. is, I think, very good also. a nostalgic trip round London and a visit to the now abandoned 84 Charing Cross Road.

hello Poppy, Synopsis, two young men, one part chinese are friends travelling round Britain with a aeronautical show.. "WW2 breaks out and one goes in RAF as an enginneer. after war stays in the middle East flying cargo around joined by part chinese who because of his deportment and creed gained a following in the Middle East and beyond until he dies. Badly set out but hope it gives the gist of the book, which made a profound impact on me, and I'm not much given to emotion.

Have read most of Connolly, find his Bosch series and his Lincoln Lawyer to be very good.

Read it I enjoyed it but then I'm into saga's I think he got fed up by the end and that is a bit muddled.

I find Shute to be dry and clinical in his style of writing. Similar to Arthur Hailey or C P Snow. However I find these authors interesting despite? because, of their style. Shute, His 'Round The Bend' a chronical of an engineer who because of his way of life attracts a following in the middle and far east. I suppose some similarity with Jesus, without the miracles i never tire of re-reading it and I'm not really religious. I did have a good many of his works but forced to downsize reduced him to just two, of which Round the Bend is one. I'll never part with.

Delderfields, 'To Serve Them All My Days' is public school pre WW1 and past WW2 something similar to 'Goodbye Mr Chips' by Hilton.

let me know how you get on.

Youtube! Didn't think of that.

I obtained his complete works on Kindle for the princely sum of £099. thoroughly enjoy them.

One reaction to finding an offspring to be safe after a worrying period is to lash out , then cuddle.

Hello, If you like WW2 books have you read Uris's Armageddon? Interesting theme of the Berlin embargo after the war. and the main characters dealing with the occupied area. Didn't care for the final chapter but, he wrote it the way he saw it. Delderfield, Agree, the TV series was good, but so long ago it's in the mists of time and strangely, never repeated, to my knowledge. The books, I never tire of. Regards, briber

It's the old old story, Use it Or Lose it. On lIne buying has changed the town centre shopping markedly and with regard to reading material. Kindle anyone? Must confess virtually all my none kindle books have been sourced via charity shops. briber

Coming late on parade, again but will put in my two penn'orth, 1. WEB Griffin. His series, 'The Corps' 10 volumes brings to life the Marine corps from before Pearl Harbour to the end of the Korean War. His series 'The Brotherhood' details the life of the US army from the second world war to the Vietnam War and his series of 'Badge of Honour', 10volumes details the US police. 2. R F Delderfield. His 'Horseman Riding By' 3 volumes or 'The Dreaming Suburb, 2 volumes have me going back to them again and again. 3. James Clavell. 'Shogun', 'Taipan', and 'Noble House' Huge books, great stories. 4. C. S Forester, His 'Hornblower series have not been bettered. Cornwall set out with his Sharpe series to imitate Hornblower on land and did a credible job, but not quite. 5. Michael Connelly. His Bosch character holds my attention. I'm not usually a fan of 'Who Dun its' but Connelly does better than most. 6. Minnette Walters. I like the fact that her books are all different, characters, and theme. 7. A. J. Cronin. He casts a critical eye on the abuses of various walks of life in his, 'The Citadel' 'The Stars Look Down' and 'The Keys Of The Kingdom'. 8. Ian Rankin.I find his ' jaundiced' Rebus compelling, similar to but different to Bosch. ( Now there's an oxymoron for you) 9. Mikhail Sholokhov. His 'Don' books show that human nature and humour are not so very different in diverse countries. 10. James A Michener. His books are huge, and his signature is to start in the mists of time. 'Hawaii', 'The Source' 'The Covenant' 'Texas' 'Chesapeake' the list goes on. and in amongst these blockbusters, a little book, 'Sayonara' a charming little love story totally different to any of his others. That's my lot, for now. briber

hello, Most of my 10 favourite books are vintage, early fifties and earlier. Authors i particularly like are: Thomas Costain. 'The Tontine' set in the early nineteenth century. Thomas Armstrong's King Cotton is set in the same era up to the end of the American Civil War. His Pilling Always Pays is early 2oth Century. Arthur Hailey, his formula is pretty much the same in every book but still good reads. Neville Shute, extremely dry but some gems amongst them. Frank Tilsley Champion Road and Brother Nap, are very much set in the early 20th Century up to the labour government of the 40s R F Delderfield, A Horseman Riding By, 3 volumes is set from the Boer War up to the sixties. and his God is an Englishman is set from the 1880s to the 1960s . His Dreaming Suburb and The Avenue Goes To War are set from the end of the first world war and beyond the second. I'll leave it there for now. briber

thank you for your comments, Whilst I prefer paper I find that my vision lets me down in poor light and Kindle of course has it's own light. I also find, at times, my favourite books on sale and snap them up when available.

Am I too late for this thread? As a newbie am trawling the site to see what takes my fancy and notice you like the film Tinker Sailor Soldier Spy. I prefer the TV serial with Alex Guinness, much closer to the book, it has time to go into detail that a 2hour picture can't manage and Guinness is my idea of George Smiley.

Enjoyed the series, Shogun. Taipan. Noble House. Clavell also included King Rat in his series, although I enjoyed it didn't see the relevence to the others apart from the fact that some of the characters are in Noble House.

big fan of Shute, A Town Like Alice. Round The Bend, On The Beach. Haven't come across Most Secret, must check.

the Godfather ! nearly made it to my top ten.

this is a hard choice. there are so many books I consider to be old friends who I visit and re-visit, but here goes. 1. Two Little Savages, by Ernest Thomas Seton. I first read this 75 yrs ago and never forgot it. About 15yrs ago, walking round Dartmouth, as you do, I came across a second hand book shop and in the window was a copy of, 'Two Little Savages' I bought it and still find pleasure in it's contents. 2 Champion Road, by Frank Tilsley. 3 Armageddon, by Leon Uris. 4 Pilling Always Pays, by Thomas Armstrong. 5 Tinker, Sailor, Soldier Spy. by John LeCarre 6 Round The Bend, by Neville Shute. toss up between this one and A Town Like Alice. 7The Cruel Sea, by Nicholas Monsarrat. 8 The Caine Mutiny. Herman Wouk. selected if for no other reason than the showdown between the officer who defended the first mate and Keefer, the instigator of the mutiny. 9 Not As A Stranger, by Morton Thompson. 10 Officer Factory, by Hans Hellmut Kirst. translated from German. I appreciate that most, in fact all, are old books probably way out of print. I obtained them over many years skulking in Charity Shops. briber

Newly registered, so hello everybody. avid reader of all types Have Kindle for general use but treasure my collection of books paper and hard back which I have accumulated over many years. Hopefully someone out there has the same strange preferences relating to authors. Briber

hello, I also have read the rules, and hope to have some interesting discussions on this site.