~Andrea~

Finished The Men and the Girls by Joanna Trollope last night. This is the story of two couples, as the title hints, younger women in relationships with older men. Both relationships go through a bit of a crisis at the same time, and this is the story of how things unfold. Julia, a TV researcher is married to Hugh, a TV presenter and Kate, lives with James and her teenager daughter. Their relationship starts to wobble when James strikes up a firendship with a much older woman, whom he accidentally knocks off a bicycle. I really enjoyed this and I wasn't really expecting to. I'd read one of hers before, Other People's Children, and while I liked it, I found the drama too domestic, and not escapist enough (escapism is the usual sort of fiction I go for). This one was exactly the same in tone, but this time I loved it. I guess it shows you just really have to be in the mood for a book sometimes. I loved the humanness of the characters, and the way you rooted for them in spite of their flaws. My favourite character was Kate, as I found myself able to sympathise with her the most; my least favourite was probably Beatrice. I didn't really 'get' her and she didn't really come to life in my mind. I picked this up in a charity shop years ago and had been putting it off. I'm really glad I picked it up and will definitely look out for more Trollope in the future.

Personally I'd rather not have any hints about future episodes regardless of 'what can be expected'. Not a problem if that's too difficult for people. I'll just avoid this thread.

Oh I haven't read the books! Yes probably should spoiler tag that bit then!

We did Z for Zechariah which I loved, An Inspector Calls which I also enjoyed, and some war poetry. No Shakespeare, and nothing if I recall pre 20th century. I think the older classics would have put me off at GCSE though I enjoyed them to some extent at A Level. That's all I can remember - it seems so long ago now :S

Les Mis is a great read (if you can get through some of the more waffly bits) and The Magician's Nephew is my favourite Narnia story.

Sam Mendak's (Where the Wild Things Are) 85th birthday - quite cool

I've been thinking of trying Jojo Moyes. The Last Letter From your Lover sounds like a good one for the wish list.

Sounds great! Added to the wishlist

Sounds like the blurb for The Last Ten Seconds?

Yes I did know about that. I will definitely be getting it at some point. I can't remember when it's out here, *rushes to check* ooh looks like it's available on kobo 20th June. I'm pretty strict with book buying and am quite a slow reader but once I've got through a bit more of my TBR I'll pick it up (well download it). I'm certain I'll get to it this year, probably one for the autumn/winter, nothing like a good spine-chiller when the nights are drawing in. Thanks for the info though

You mean somewhere we plug our favourite authors and books? I'd love that, both to read and contribute.

It might have been me, I'm a huge John Harwood fan, and if it wasn't then I'm going to recommend him all over again Both books are great!

Me too - I try and read everyone's, even though I don't always comment

I like the sound of the Feynman book. I have "Six Easy Pieces" on my shelf which I'm looking forward to.

I recently finished "A very short Introduction to Metaphysics" by Stephen Mumford which I thoroughly enjoyed. It really does only just scratch the surface of metaphysics and I still can't decide whether it's a pointless subject or not, (and that goes for philosophy in general I suppose) but it does fascinate me so I'm sure it's a subject I'll visit again. I also finally finished "The Everlasting Man" by G K Chesterton, which is was an unusual book. It's kind of a history of Christianity, or a presentation of the impact of Christianity on human history which on the whole I liked. However at times it was quite heavy-going and often dated and the language not very PC (but then it was written in 1925). It's partly a response to popular ideas on human evolution at the time and to a book by H G Wells in particular ("Outline of History") so some of the points being made seemed specific and a bit esoteric but perhaps would have made more sense had I read the book it was responding to. I've given up on The Four Loves as I wasn't enjoying it. Might pick it up later. I'm about quarter through "The men and the girls" which I'm going to focus on exclusively as I'm fed up of having had so many books on the go for such a long time, although I am still listening to Little Women on audio but very near the end! Once I'm done with those two I think I'll have another push at "The Making of Modern Britain" and finally get back to reading one book at a time again (or at least one reading one audio)

I've just finished reading "A very short introduction to Metaphysics" from the OUP very short series. It was excellent, but as the title suggests, very short and not too in depth. It does have a further reading section though so it's a good starting point. But if you're more interested in general philosophy rather than that particular branch, they also have "A very short introduction to Philosophy". I haven't read it but am tempted to and I think it does cover the history a bit. I've also looked into introductory books and may at some point purchase Routledge: Philosophy the basics. The Routledge series seems well regarded but I haven't actually read them myself.

I know what you mean. That's why I kind of enjoy practical task based things so that the interaction with those you're helping is secondary and arises more naturally around the work you're doing. I once did some volunteer work where I went round to elderly people's houses to see how they were and check that they were getting everything they needed from the organisation I volunteered for. It was basically a chat over a cuppa but I didn't enjoy it at all, it just wasn't me. So now I stick to washing dishes in the background lol. Great!! Do let us know how you get on

It's funny you should say that. I found that at first as well. I think I am getting used to it now though, however I'm reading non-fiction on it at the moment and somehow I find non-fiction reads better on it than fiction. Wierd

I have done various bits of volunteer work over the years from working shifts in the church coffee shop to more recently working at a homeless hostel, making beds, food prep, washing dishes etc. It is very rewarding. I'm not doing anything at the moment, the homeless work is over winter only but I'll probably help out again next year. I think walking dogs for an animal shelter would be my perfect volunteer job! It wouldn't seem like work at all. Do you have any ideas about what kind of thing would appeal to you Frankie?

Man walks into a Room sounds great Claire. I'm adding it to my wish list.

I like the sound of both of those Lucy. I'm adding them to my wishlist.

The Dinner sounds great. Is it disturbing though? I don't like things that are too gruesome.

Oops - bought another book today - still it comes from my gift voucher credit on my kobo account so it doesn't count: A very short Introduction to Metaphysics by Stephen Mumford. Another light read :S

Great review Willoyd. I think I'll skip that one

Thanks Frankie