Janet

Finished The Flower Boy by Karen Roberts which is set in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where the author was also born. 8/10 ETA: Snagging the map idea from Tracy in the hope that it might spur me on seeing it visually. 5 Countries - 2%

Finished The Flower Boy by Karen Roberts - 8/10. Now readingThe Land of Far-Beyond by Enid Blyton which is only 128 pages long!

One of my favourite ever books is Beyond This Place - which is one of the few books I've re-read (twice!). I first read it when I was about 17, as it was on my parent's bookshelf and I was looking for someone new to try. Oddly enough I haven't read anything else by him - I really should rectify that! I usually use http://www.lovereading.co.uk for like-for-like recommendations, but unfortunately it doesn't find anything for Cronin. As all of Cronin's work appears to be out-of-print, it's quite hard to find recommendations based on him, but hopefully the links/posts above will inspire you. Let us know how you get on.

Paddy and Keith were FABULOUS!

Apparently it's all set in America (and I believe the lead characters are American, although an Aussie plays Becky)! I don't know why they had to do that - why couldn't it have been set in England to start with, with British actors? I gather it's book 1 with a bit of book 2 in it, so they could have moved to New York!

I've whizzed through the posts because I haven't read Beadle the Bard yet so I'm avoiding comments about it. Just wanted to say that I loved The Secret Garden. I read it as a child and then reread it a few years ago and it's a charming story. I hope you're enjoying it.

That's a shame, Baggiesfan. I don't know this author at all and there is only one review of this book on Amazon and that person gave it 5/5. What didn't you like about it?

I'm not a fan of Katie Price/Jordan (although I was quite impressed by her in I'm a Celebrity... as I thought she'd be too pathetic to cope but she had guts) but I think she's a very astute business woman. I wouldn't choose to read any of her books as they don't appeal but if people are prepared to pay for them then good luck to her!

Bleurgh!

We could be some time if we're all going to stand up and admit our addiction!

Oh great, another one for my Wishlist - thanks. It sounds great!

I didn't manage to watch any of this series. Someone from another forum I visit's husband was on it - he's a member of CAMRA!

Is that the peanut one? They're lush! I haven't seen those for years.

Are you too young to remember Charlie's Angels from the TV? This idea must have been inspired by that show, I'd have thought. It sounds like a good beach read.

Welcome - I'm glad you found your way back. Your English is excellent.

Finished Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell last night. A really good read - 8/10

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell The �blurb� Orwell's lively and factual record of his experiences among the poor of two capital cities. Few writers have possessed a greater gift for spotting the personality behind the rags, or described the reality of poverty with so little pretence. Like The Road to Wigan Pier, this book is a social commentary about the lives of ordinary lower-class people living on, or below, the breadline. The first 23 chapters look at Orwell�s life in the slums of Paris where he finds himself living in a squalid, bug-infested �hotel� which is really little more than a doss house. At first he was able to make a little money by giving English lessons, but they soon came to an end and he had to pawn most of his possessions. Thanks to a friend, Boris, he got a job working fifteen hours a day as a Plongeur (basically someone who washes up!) in a hotel working in hot, dirty conditions for very little money. After moving to a hotel with better prospects, only to end up doing the same job for even longer hours, Orwell decided to head back to England and with financial help from a friend he reclaimed his belongings from the pawn shop and purchased a ticket back to the UK, where he had been promised a job taking care of an �imbecile�. However, on returning to England, the start date for his new job was delayed for a month so he sold his clothes and took to the road (after a brief spell trying different boarding houses). He befriended a tramp called Paddy and they travelled together, sometimes walking as many as 18 miles a day between various towns, staying at �The Spike� - a colloquial term for the Workhouse. A vagrant was only allowed to spend one night per month at a particular institution - any longer, or to return within a month, meant prison. Here they swapped their squalid clothes for a uniform (whilst their clothes were fumigated), a bath, a bed and some little, poor quality food. In the morning, they would perform various duties to �pay for their keep� before being given a meal of bread and cheese to take with them, or a voucher for exchange at a local caf�. There were various ways for people on the road to get a meal, including soup kitchens, visiting churches (where they would get a good meal but then have to attend a religious service before being allowed to leave), but mostly society felt that these people chose to live like this without looking at the reasons they�d ended up having such a life, so they were treated badly, their diet was poor and life was very hard. Of course, for Orwell, although he lived amongst these people and lived exactly like them, he had the safety net of family and friends - this way of life for him was really so that he could observe the living conditions in order to write firstly essays on homelessness and then later this book. Orwell�s writing style is very easy and he has real empathy for these people and therefore writes with sympathy and compassion. It�s a fascinating read and one I really enjoyed. The paperback is 189 pages long and is published by Penguin. The ISBN number is 978-0141184388.

Hehe yes! I feel bad about not enjoying it because I really wanted to. Still, I can't change my feelings for it, but as you said, it did me this favour.

I realised in bed last night that John Banville is Irish and that The Sea is set in Ireland - and I've read it! That takes my grand total to 3!