Roland Butter

I'm impressed, frankie. I couldn't even spell "cultural anthropology", let alone study it.

What???!!! You mean you wouldn't give complimentary copies to your friends on BCF??!! You'd make them PAY??!! Well, shame on you, Kylie ....

They sound interesting - I'm a lover of all things Italian too (or most, except perhaps for Mr Berlusconi ), so I'll definitely have a look at those. Thanks for the advice, chesilbeach.

Thanks, that's helpful. I have read a couple of reviews that were critical of the translation, although I guess that's a matter of personal taste. Hmmm, not sure I'll be going out of my way to read this one.

Out of interest, why didn't you like it? It's a book I've thought about reading, but haven't done so yet, and I'd be interested in your views.

Then I would say you're a very perceptive reader

Well, I've finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I'll be a dissenting voice, I'm afraid - it took too long to become a story that I got interested in, and the characters - particularly the little girl, Paloma - weren't ones I warmed to. Perhaps it was the translation, I don't know, but I thought it was a bit pretentious. I'm glad I stayed with it, because eventually it was rewarding, but it's not a book I'd go out of my way to recommend. Now starting The White War by Mark Thompson, the story of a disastrous World War I campaign between Italy and the Habsburg Empire. It's a bit of a historical backwater, but it looks really interesting.

1-0 to Kylie.

In the time it must have taken to type that lot out, you could probably have read another book! If it's any help, I read The Historian a couple of years back, as I think a number of people here did, and I enjoyed it a great deal. Could probably have done with being a little bit shorter, but still a very good read. PS A word of warning - don't get sucked into a reading competition with Kylie! Only one winner there ...

The Jungle is a book that's gone out of fashion these days, bit like The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, but it's still a very powerful read.

Well, let me be the first to say "Welcome to the Forum". Just plunge right on in!

They're in Devon - you must be getting soft!

Didn't he offer to buy you anything??? Time to trade him in for a new model, Diane ...

I'll try and remember that.

I'll second that. I really enjoyed Gentlemen and Players too - it's a cracking read with a nice twist to the story as well.

Well, that's good enough for me! I'll get stuck into it, then.

I've decided to start The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary, mainly because I'm feeling a bit Gallic this afternoon. I seem to recall a few Forum members have already read it.

Finished Barry Miles' London Calling tonight. A thoroughly enjoyable read if you're interested in "counter-culture" and/or London. He's especially good on the 60s, where he was an active participant in the development of the "alternative" magazine IT. In fact, those chapters, covering hippies, communes and squats, and "happenings", are entertaining and often hilarious (although I don't think they're meant to be!). I know my good friend Kylie has a particular interest in the Beatles, and this is a book I think she'd enjoy, for sure.

One of the best SOO games for years, Kylie. The Blues came up just a little short, but it was a lot closer than I'd have expected. I really will get out there and see one some day - it's the ultimate sporting contest, I reckon.

In a couple of hours' time, the first Rugby League State of Origin match, Queensland v NSW, on Sky Sports. It's an annual sporting highlight in this household. And for Kylie's benefit, I'll be barracking for the Blues. But I won't be putting any money on them

She's a local girl! Her Dad used to have a party goods shop and theatrical agency in Bromley, and a former workmate used to go out with her when they were young (or so he used to say ...) Came home today with Purge by Sofi Oksanen, which I know a couple of my knowledgeable colleagues here have praised. Also, There's No Home by Alexander Baron. He's a much neglected writer - The Lowlife is one of my favourite "London sleaze" novels - but it seems his work is coming back into print. This one, according to the blurb: It's 1943. The allied invasion of Sicily. In a lull in the fighting, a British battalion march through the summer heat into the bombed out city of Catania, to be greeted by the women, children and old men who remain there. Yearning for some semblance of home life, the men begin to fill the roles left by absent husbands and fathers. Unlikely relationships form: tender, exploitative, even cruel, and each doomed to end when the battalion moves on. Many lives interleave in "There's No Home" but at its heart is the love that develops between Graziella, a bright young mother, and Sergeant Craddock, whose faltering Italian and rough attempts at seduction mask a deeper sympathy. In this sensitive and authentic portrayal of men and women thrown together by chance and conflict, Baron offers us a rare insight into the emotional impact of war. It's a bit out of the ordinary for Baron, but he's a very good writer, so I'm optimistic.

You're impressed? I'm impressed that you're impressed, Andrea! I agree with you, though. It's one of those books that's taken on an almost mystical status, but I'm not sure there's really that much to it. Nice children's book, but I don't think there's much in it for adults.

On the radio right now, Ike and Tina Turner - Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter

That sounds like a bundle of laughs.

Daunt's in Marylebone High Street is my favourite bookshop by far. It was originally a travel bookshop, I think, and they still group their books mainly by region, with non-fiction, travel guides and fiction all together (although they do have general fiction and non-fiction sections too). I'm normally pretty disciplined in bookshops, but I find it hard not to buy as if books are going out of fashion when I'm there. It's also a lovely shop, with a timbered gallery at the back, and the staff are hugely knowledgeable and very helpful (not a feature of many Waterstone's I've come across, sadly). Well worth a visit next time you're in that area, I'd say.