Roland Butter

I wish Andy all the best, Diane. He's doing it the right way - you need to get your coaching badges and get some experience coaching on a voluntary basis, and then keep plugging away at the jobs. That's exactly how my son did it - he applied for coaching jobs in rugby league, but it wasn't until his third attempt that he was lucky and got a job with the RFL. In fact, he'd more or less given up by then - he'd accepted a job with ITV and had to ring them up two days before he was due to start to tell them he wasn't coming! The other thing that helps is getting yourself known. My son made some helpful contacts on RFL coaching courses who were able to let him know when things were coming up and gave him advice on how to approach the interviews, how to organise the practical exercises and such. I don't know how it's organised up there, but in England all the professional clubs have community programmes, which use a lot of casual, sessional coaches. That's good experience (plus a bit of pocket money, too) and also helps to get your name known for when full-time jobs come up. It might be worth Andy enquiring "on spec" with the local professional clubs about whether they need any sessional coaches. As you say, it's an outside shot at this stage, but there's never any harm in applying. It'll give Andy an idea of what to expect, and if he's persistent, something may well come along eventually.

Suite Française is an absolutely outstanding book. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I bought that when it came out - three, maybe even four years ago now, was it? I haven't got round to reading it yet, but it's still staring at me reproachfully from the shelf, so I think it'll be next up when I feel like a dose of misery and redemption.

That's been well-reviewed recently, Angel. I'll be interested to hear what you think about it.

Yes, I saw a review of Tom-All-Alone's in the weekend papers recently and it's definitely one I'll be buying. Bleak House is one of my absolute favourites.

I'll second Mr Whicher, it's a very good book. I think Kate Summerscales has recently had a new one published, too.

And don't forget to have a drink in his honour, too.

Drood fans may also be interested in The D Case by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini. It's out of print, I believe, but it seems there's an e-book version of it (in English): http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-Case-Mystery-Edwin-Drood/dp/0701154233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328634007&sr=1-1 The BBC's adaptation of Edwin Drood around Christmas time was a cracker, by the way.

Give us a chance, I've only just started it! At the moment, I'm still on the bit where a beautiful redhead is wandering naked round the set of Psycho. For some reason I'm finding it quite a slow read. You'll be the first to know when I've finished it.

Welcome to the Forum, Lucille. Your English is a lot better than my French, for sure!

Funnily enough, I was just going to suggest M R James' Ghost Stories. They're as good as anything in the field, and better than most. Dennis Wheatley is also pretty good if you want a good old scary read. The Devil Rides Out is, of course, his best-known work, but I'd recommend the omnibus The Best of Dennis Wheatley, which contains a couple of other top-notch stories as well.

I've just started on Robert Graysmith's The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower, a true-life crime mystery based around the story of Marli Renfro, a small-time actress who was Janet Leigh's body double in Hitchcock's legendary film Psycho. As the blurb has it: Marli Renfro was a model who played a part in one of the most iconic scenes in American movies- as Janet Leigh's nude body double in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho-only to fade into obscurity, a footnote in Hollywood history. It wasn't until 1988 that Marli Renfro made news again-raped and murdered by a serial killer with a fetish for the classic Hitchcock shocker. But as Graysmith investigated Marli's story, a nagging doubt entered his mind. What if Marli was still alive? What if another woman had been murdered in her place? And if Marli was still alive, would he ever find her?

I'd recommend it, Devi. I don't usually give a book-by-book account of what I'm reading on here these days, but when I come across something I think is outstanding, I'll give it a mention.

I'm just polishing off Scott Simon's Pretty Birds: In the spring of 1992, Irena Zaric is a star on her Sarajevo high school basketball team, a tough, funny teenager who has taught her parrot, Pretty Bird, to do a decent imitation of a ball hitting a hoop. Irena wears her hair short like k. d. lang’s, and she loves Madonna, Michael Jordan, and Johnny Depp. But while Irena rocks out and shoots baskets with her friends, her beloved city has become a battleground. When the violence and terror of “ethnic cleansing” against Muslims begins, Irena and her family, brutalized by Serb soldiers, flee for safety across the river that divides the city. If once Irena knew of war only from movies and history books, now she knows its reality. She steals from the dead to buy food. She scuttles under windows in her own home to dodge bullets. She risks her life to communicate with an old Serb school friend and teammate. Even Pretty Bird has started to mimic the sizzle of mortar fire. In a city starved for work, a former assistant principal offers Irena a vague job, “duties as assigned,” which she accepts. She begins by sweeping floors, but soon, under the tutelage of a cast of rogues and heroes, she learns to be a sniper, biding her time, never returning to the same perch, and searching her targets for the “mist” that marks a successful shot. Ultimately, Irena’s new vocation will lead to complex and cataclysmic consequences for herself and those she loves. It's an excellent read - difficult, obviously, because it's a depiction of people fighting for survival against a brutal enemy, but it's also funny and touching, with characters you become interested in and a good plotline with some surprising turns. Really enjoyable.

I could do a joke about people being reluctant to leave Staines, but I'll just point out that, with the best will in the world, the team next to bottom isn't going to be a great attraction at the best of times.

I imagine Mr Salmond is wishing he'd kept his trap shut! It's like when, in a fit of drunken bravado, you invite everyone in the pub round your house. Then to your horror, you realise everyone's going to take you up on that ...

If you vote for independence, Diane, it's going to be like that all the time. You won't be getting a share of our good weather anymore ....

Sarah Helm's A Life in Secrets and Ben MacIntyre's Agent Zigzag are excellent biographies of the wartime agents Vera Atkins and Eddie Chapman respectively.

Heresy!! Quentin Blake's illustrations are iconic, Frankie!

Salve, Andrea, il tuo inglese è perfetto . Dove abiti?

How's the league position, Sedge? I notice Truro came up to town and got a bit of a tonking yesterday. And they're playing just down the road from me in a couple of weeks. They must be finding the travelling a real slog.

I haven't read it, but I did read his Places in the Dark a while ago, and would recommend it highly - he's a good writer.

I'm with Kylie - 84 Charing Cross Road is a wonderful book. It's really about people who love books, rather than the physical bookshop, but it's something every BCF member would relate to, I'm sure. I always thought Helene Hanff would enjoy being a Forum member herself

Good! I'm sure you'll enjoy it immensely. Happy reading!

That sounds like it might be out of the same stable as 84 Charing Cross Road. If so, I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.