Roland Butter

I read Juliet Gardiner's Wartime: Britain 1939-1945 a while back and thought it was very good. She writes well (for a historian!), so I'm sure you'll enjoy Blitz.

Bad Science is an excellent book indeed. Don't be put off by the title - it's easy to read and very entertaining, even if you don't have a scientific bone in your body. And his demolition of pseudo-medical treatments like homeopathy is a joy to read, as is his discussion of "Dr" MacKeith and her "qualifications". It's a "must", in my opinion.

Finished Born Brilliant, the Kenneth Williams biography, last night - OK, but I think you get a better feel for the man if you read his own diaries and letters. I've now picked up Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais, which is a freebie I've had lying around for a long time. I've never read any of his books, but you see them all over the place so I thought I'd give it a go.

Queen Victoria marries Count Dracula?? I realise it's fiction and all that, but even so ....

They're not going so well at present, are they? Have they gone up a division or something?

You're out of control, Kylie! You'd need to live to 375 to read all the books you've already got, let alone all the new ones you keep buying!

Aphra Behn's important for who she was as much as what she wrote, Ben. She's sometimes portrayed as a "proto-feminist", and it's certainly true that, by and large, women didn't write (or at least, not for publication) in those days. Read yourself a bit of background on her, and I'm sure you'll find it helpful in informing your understanding of her work. And it'll make you sound brainy in your tutorials ...

Then you have outstanding taste, Kidsmum . Of all the artistes from the "classic" soul era who are still performing and touring, Al Green's the only one who's worth going to see - his voice is still in pretty good shape. If you get the chance to see him, I'd recommend it.

I put in Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker. It came up with ..... Al Green. I can't believe I've never heard of Al Green before!!!

I read Mr Whicher a while back and thought it was excellent. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

I love Ellen DeGeneres! Good choice, Sadya.

Hi Alison, and welcome to the Forum! It's certainly the place to be if you want inspiration - you'll end up wanting to read more books than you can possibly cope with.

Just started Born Brilliant by Christopher Stevens, a biography of the great Kenneth Williams.

Seconded. Mark Twain is a real giant of American literature, and Huck Finn is probably his best. I re-read it a few months back, and I hardly ever re-read books.

Funnily enough, we had this discussion just a few weeks ago (I'm sure someone can dredge up a link) and said much the same thing.

Just started reading Lush Life by Richard Price: Whenever people asked him what he was planning to do with his life, Eric Cash used to have a dozen answers. Now he's thirty-five, still in the restaurant business and still serving the people he wanted to be. Not like Ike Marcus. Ike is young, good-looking, charismatic. He's going places - until two street kids step up to him and Eric one night and pull a gun. At least, that's Eric's version ... I've also started Finishing The Hat, which is Stephen Sondheim's account of the craft of writing for the musical theatre. As some of you will know, musical theatre is a great passion of mine, and Sondheim is undoubtedly the greatest living exponent of the art. It's a wonderful, fascinating book. Also received a promotional copy of a new crime thriller, The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams. And I've bought Born Brilliant, Christopher Stevens' biography of the great comic actor Kenneth Williams.

How strange is that! I bought a copy of Mrs Harris from a lovely bookshop called Mason's when I was in Melrose a week or so ago - I vaguely remember the Hiram Holliday shows on TV when I was little, which were based on Paul Gallico's stories, but I'd never actually read any of his work.

I happened to get the next book in the series, The Death Maze, as a publisher's freebie, Sara, and quite enjoyed it, although I'm not a huge fan of historical detective novels generally. Sadly, Arianna Franklin died earlier this year - she was married to Barry Norman, who was a well-known film critic on the BBC.

That actually sounds like something I'd enjoy, contrarily enough. My Mum grew up in Germany between the wars and, leaving aside all the old England-Germany rivalries, I've got a soft spot for the old place

I think the "3 for 2" offer's had its day, too. It's a pretty wasteful approach, and targeted discounting sounds like a more sensible way to go. James Daunt is a canny businessman - I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

Don't know that one, Sue, but I read Anna Funder's Stasiland, about post-Iron Curtain East Germany, a few years back and enjoyed it a lot.