SueK

Are you an Anglo Saxon fan Chrissy? I have a mass of A-S books on the bookshelf - I absolutely love that era - I think my favourite book is the Anglo Saxon Chronicles and a book I've got on the Sutton Hoo treasure. I'm still reading The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak and I've also got Apricot Jam (short stories) by Solzhenitsyn on the go.

I have just started The Winter Palace which is a novel about Catherine the Great and I think it is going to be terrific! I can't put it down at the moment and I have to get on with my work.!

Does anyone remember the original Clash of the Titans (1960s) when the special effects were models - the Cracken was brilliant! I have recently seen the remake which is 99% CGI and it has absolutely no soul whatsoever. Same with the original Time Machine with Rod Taylor soooo much better than the remake with errr ..... can't remember

Thanks again Roland I'll have a look out for that too . Yes, I have read Patrick Hamilton, not the biggie .... Hangover Square, but I've read Slaves of Solitude and absolutely loved it. Also, if you haven't read it, I strongly recommend Angel Pavement - it's a lovely story of normal people leading their everyday life in London but told in such a wonderful way.

I'm a great lover of classic films and don't bother myself with remakes. I can't imagine Zulu being any better than the original. They were made with loving care and no amount of CGI can improve them. I agree that I don't want to see any more remakes of Pride and Prejudice (or Wuthering Heights). I haven't seen the Kieira Knightley version of P&P as there was only one Mr D'Arcy for me anyway (yes Laurence Olivier !) but Colin Firth came a close second.

Thanks for that Chesil, I'll dash over to Amazon and download. I actually finished one of the Raisin books at the weekend. Can't get enough of her (and the lovely James!).

Oh yes, we've all been there too. It's all the good recommendations on this site and makes one rush out and buy the book. By the way, you're not Roman Abramovitch in disguise are you? That sounds right up my street Roland. I'll check out the website (oh dear more money .... )

I really enjoyed that book too. Her descriptions of vintage fashion was just great. I've just been writing on another thread here called "London Belongs to Me" by Norman Collins. This book was written in 1945 and it is centred solely around London Life. In the same era is Angel Pavement by J P Priestley which is centred around an office in 40s London. If you are a doorstep challenge, then there is "London" by Edward Rutherfurd which is historical fiction of London from Bronze Age (I think) to present day.

I agree with Milo, this is a lovely book. I've been a fan of Norman Collins since my dad introduced me to his books a long while back. You should also try to get hold of Bond Street Story - a booked centred around a Department Store - which is just as good as LBTM. I love the way he deals with the minutiae of London Life. (There was a good black and white film of LBTM with Richard Attenborough playing Percy). If that style of book appeals I would also recommend Angel Pavement by J P Priestley which I have listed on my profile as my favourite book. Similar in some ways to LBTM but with the added warmth of Priestley's wonderful prose.

We only have freeview and that is quite enough for us. I look through the programmes on satellite sometimes and I don't think I'm missing anything. My preferrred channels are ITV3 (I love the Poirot and Sherlock repeats) and Yesterday with their Nazi Hunter stories.

I've started the third Agatha Raisin book on kindle today (Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener) - they are a funny light hearted series and I've enjoyed the first 2 so far. I'm also going to start on Rebecca West's The Birds Fall Down. I also ordered The Red Dancer which is the story of Mata Hari.

Did you like the Welsh Girl chesilbeach? I've had this book for quite a while now and I haven't felt like picking it up yet. The Book People came in yesterday and I bought the complete boxed set of Inspector Morse for £12! (plus a cookery book and a lovely book on British wildlife). I'm still enjoying The Interpreters and should finish it later today.

I'll be interested to know what you think of Crippen Frankie. I like John Boyne's books and have thought about getting this one. I am reading Interpreters by Sue Eckstein at the moment and it is brilliant.

I couldn't agree more regarding JP Priestley's book. I was fortunate to find a beautiful copy of this book complete with photographs and is one I treasure . His writing is just wonderful.

Hi Vodkafan, I have a Sony MP4 and I can confirm you can download from iTunes. I tend to download direct from Amazon music store too, you need to download their music transfer software to your PC and then on to the MP4 library. I can't say about music videos but I have downloaded some stuff from BBC iplayer inr the past. The screen is very small but I can manage to see a programme reasonably well. Hope you enjoy it - I wouldn't be without mine!

I'm reading quite a good book called Black Out by John Lawton but it's just taking me ages to finish - not the book's fault, just tooooooo darn busy!

"ouch - you bit my neck - that hurt" ooh I feel really floaty now. --------- Dracula

Hi there Wow Victorian fiction is such a big genre. I love Victorian fiction but mostly of the mystery type such as Sherlock Holmes, Rider Haggard, Lee Jackson's books etc. If you go to Amazon and click on Catherine Cookson - they often give recommendations of similar authors and you can see if any of those take your fancy.

Hi Janet, I wonder if Uncle John may be interested in The Saxon Shore. I hail from Kent and I found it in the library some time back and it is very interesting. Saxon Shore

Hello Honeygirl I too read quite a lot of books on WW2 but not necessarily from the actual fighting point of view, more of the darker side of it like "Far to Go" by Alison Pick which is about the kindertransport that took jewish children out of Germany before the start of the war and such like. There is a book series you may be interested by David Downing : 1. Zoo Station (2007) 2. Silesian Station (2008) 3. Stettin Station (2009) 4. Potsdam Station (2010) 5. Lehrter Station (2012) which, as the titles suggest, are based around Berlin leading up to and after the war. Also the Bernie Gunther books by Philip Kerr are centred around Berlin at the same time. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky or Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulkes are also worth looking at.

I picked this up this week and am absolutely engrossed. I remember having it read to us at school but I had almost forgotten it. She wrote this after the success of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and it centres around Menabilly where Du Maurier lived in Cornwall which was fictionalised in Rebecca as Manderley (unnamed in this book). It has the same brooding atmosphere of Rebecca but this is more a novel of suspense right to the last page. Philip Ashley has lived with his older cousin Ambrose for years in the grand house in Cornwall and both are devoted bachelors. Every winter Ambrose travels to warmer climes due to bad bouts of rhuematism. This time he travels to Florence where he meets Rachel who is a distant cousin. Totally unexpectedly, he marries her but never returns to his beloved Cornwall as he dies in sudden circumstances. Philip has to convince himself that Rachel had no hand in his death ..... Needless to say, Daphne du Maurier's descriptions of the Cornish coastline and by contrast, the Tuscany landscapes, are just wonderful and the plotline is excellent.

I downloaded Crime and Punishment onto my Kindle this week for the princely sum of ..... 86p. Bargain! I shall begin it very shortly. I read it some 20 + years ago but feel it needs a re-read now.

The Novel in the Viola was one of the best reads this year for me. I loved it because it had traces of Daphne du Maurier in the descriptions and she is one of my favourite writers.

No definitely not a beach read but very engrossing and readable and I got through it quite quickly. I'm still reading My Cousin Rachel - I'm taking my time to savour it because it's such a good story.

The Emperor of Lies is an excellent book. I've got it on Kindle. It is actually a work of fiction but centred around the real Jewish Council in the Lodz ghetto. Well worth reading in my opinion.