chesilbeach

Hello June! Welcome aboard, you've definitely come to the right place to find people to chat to books about

It was one of our set reads at school, Ben, probably about 30 years ago now. I don't remember a lot about it, but I do remember it was one of the ones I skipped chapters and only read the important bits to be able to get by in the essay we had to write about it!

He's written some non-fiction, but no other novels, Kidsmum.

Hello!

Great review, Ben. I loved TTTW too, and remember reading it in a single day - partly sat at the cafe in my avatar piccie, and the rest curled up on the sofa! I'm glad you picked up on the humour in it, as often people forget about it due to the emotional, moving overarching story, but there are some definite moments of light relief in there too.

I finished a book today too, after a couple of days of almost no reading, I managed to sit down and finish The Thirty-Nine Steps which was a cracking adventure tale. Loved it! Have quite a few books lined up on my Kindle now, so just need to decide what to read first.

I only ever "re-read" the HP books by listening to the audio versions now, but who can resist Stephen Fry reading them?! OotP is one of my favourites to listen to, however, the chapter "Hagrid's Tale" bores me no end, and I always skip it now as it's just superfluous to the story as far as I can tell. Could have been done much more succinctly, I always feel, but maybe it's just because I'm familiar with the story now. Still a lovely book to listen too - Fry's realisation of Umbridge is a joy! Glad you're enjoying your re-reading of the books though, Laura.

Jacket potatoes tonight

Thankfully, still no snow here (and long may that last!) but it's still perishing out. Brrrrr.

Do you know, I actually don't! Unless it's the main picture on the front cover, I wouldn't even know they were in there nowadays.

How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The F. A. Cup by J. L. Carr Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) This classic humour novel chronicles the momentous journey of Steeple Sinderby (an unremarkable Fenland village) from the mire of obscurity to national heroics. This unbelievable feat is contrived by the serendipitous meeting of three great men: Mr Fangfoss (who cares nothing for football), Dr Kossuth - a Hungarian academic and headmaster of the village school, and the Wanderers captain Alex Slingsby, a mighty warrior biding his time in quiet Sinderby for the chance to rise once more. The story takes an affectionate look at small-minded Middle England, and the glories of God's own game while taking in love and death, bigotry, bigamy and good old-fashioned English snobbery. Review: Considering the title, this book actually has very little football in it, but is essentially an affectionate look at ordinary people, and the remarkable things that can be achieved with focus, determination and a bit of luck, and a story of the under estimated underdog. Set in the 1970s, there is a genuine believability about this fantastical tale of a village football team winning the F. A. Cup, with a spirit of sportsmanship and honesty, a larger than life chairman and an ex-pro captain, and the analytical vision of the local headmaster. There is reference to some of the issues surrounding football in the period, with the health and safety of grounds, hooliganism, and even the role of the media, which is still prescient today. Even if you're not a football fan, there is plenty to entertain and delight, and even moments of poignancy, with one event even bringing a tear to my eye at one point. Wonderful - an absolute joy to read.

This year, I'm embarking on a challenge to read all the novels written by the English author, J L Carr. I was first introduced to him by my partner, whose favourite book of all time is A Month in the Country. I read this years ago and loved it, and had always intended to read more but had never quite got around to it. He wrote eight novels, published by six different publishers, with his last two novels being published under his own imprint. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1980 for A Month in the Country, and again in 1985 for The Battle of Pollocks Crossing. He also wrote children's language books and a variety of dictionaries and non-fiction books. The eight novels are: 1. A Day in Summer (1964) 2. A Season in Sinji (1967) 3. The Harpole Report (1972) 4. How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The F. A. Cup (1975) 5. A Month in the Country (1980) 6. The Battle of Pollocks Crossing (1985) 7. What Hetty Did (1988) 8. Harpole and Foxberrow, General Publishers (1992) There is also a biography of Carr I'm interested in reading, The Last Englishman: The Life of J. L. Carr by Byron Rogers Rather than open a separate thread for each book as I read it, I thought I'd set up a single thread for the author, and will add my reviews as I read the books.

Haven't managed any reading at all today - spent my lunch break on the phone to various companies being kept on hold for ages Still, hopefully might at least fit a chapter in tonight and will carry on with The Thirty-Nine Steps which I'm thoroughly enjoying!

I gave up on magazines years ago. Through my teens and twenties I bought a read a lot of them, but gradually books overtook the magazine reading, and I don't even read the Radio Times we buy every week - I only use it for the listings now.

Eggy bread

I think you're right, Janet, it probably was The Two Ronnies. We've just been talking about it and both have a recollection of it being used in Dangermouse too. I did a quick search, and apparently the Monty Python team used it for the Spanish Inquisition sketches as well. I'll have a look for Prester John after I've finished The Thirty-Nine Steps, thanks.

From my Kindle freebies downloaded this morning, I decided to start The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, cracking adventure, and I'm already two-thirds of the way through. And here's a note for the oldies - I have the theme tune to Dick Barton - Special Agent running through my head while reading it! I should point out I'm not old enough to remember it being aired on the radio, but it had a resurgence when I was young for some reason, so it sticks with me from then.

Good Lord - this book seems to be a real trial for GG fans, not something we would even want to read! Thank you for reviewing this one frankie, as it *was* on my wish list, but has now been hastily removed. Poor you. Reward yourself with a GG episode or two on television for making it through to the end.

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) The serene and maternal Mrs Ramsay, the tragic yet absurd Mr Ramsay, together with their children and assorted guests, are holidaying on the Isle of Skye. From the seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse Virginia Woolf constructs a remarkable and moving examination of the complex tensions and allegiances of family life. One of the great literary achievements of the twentieth century, To the Lighthouse is often cited as Virginia Woolf's most popular novel. Review: This was the choice of my reading group this month. Knowing how much other members of the forum love Woolf, I desperately wanted to like this book. As it started off, it looked very promising. I liked her style of writing - the long sentences punctuated by commas and the page spanning paragraphs, it reminded me of a later writer, but one I love reading, Jose Saramago. For the first third of the book, I was surprised that although not much was happening in the story, I was enjoying the writing, and that it was much more accessible than I'd anticipated. Unfortunately, by half way through, I was struggling. We were still on the evening of the first day of the story (which had started during the afternoon!) and I didn't feel there was any story to move forward. After a particularly bad day personally, I knew that I couldn't face going any further with the book and abandoned it at 68%. Interestingly, only a few people at my book group managed to finish the book, and there was only one positive review from those, with most people wondering why Woolf is so revered. It hasn't put me off attempting another of her books, especially as I do actually like her style, it was just the lack of story that frustrated me so much, so I will definitely give her another chance at some point.

Back Story by David Mitchell Synopsis: (excerpt from amazon.co.uk) David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life. Review: David suffers from back problems and was advised to take up walking to help alleviate the pain. While taking the reader along with him on his normal route through London, he tells the story of his life and career. I've never seen Peep Show or That Mitchell and Webb Look, but I have seen David on panel shows such as QI and Would I Lie To You? so I was familiar with his voice and sense of humour, and they shone through the pages of the book. Humorous memoir, albeit with some very strong language at times, and even the story of how he met his wife, Victoria Coren (who I'm a huge admirer of, and loved her own memoir, For Richer, For Poorer). A very entertaining read.

How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The F. A. Cup by J. L. Carr Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) This classic humour novel chronicles the momentous journey of Steeple Sinderby (an unremarkable Fenland village) from the mire of obscurity to national heroics. This unbelievable feat is contrived by the serendipitous meeting of three great men: Mr Fangfoss (who cares nothing for football), Dr Kossuth - a Hungarian academic and headmaster of the village school, and the Wanderers captain Alex Slingsby, a mighty warrior biding his time in quiet Sinderby for the chance to rise once more. The story takes an affectionate look at small-minded Middle England, and the glories of God's own game while taking in love and death, bigotry, bigamy and good old-fashioned English snobbery. Review: Considering the title, this book actually has very little football in it, but is essentially an affectionate look at ordinary people, and the remarkable things that can be achieved with focus, determination and a bit of luck, and a story of the under estimated underdog. Set in the 1970s, there is a genuine believability about this fantastical tale of a village football team winning the F. A. Cup, with a spirit of sportsmanship and honesty, a larger than life chairman and an ex-pro captain, and the analytical vision of the local headmaster. There is reference to some of the issues surrounding football in the period, with the health and safety of grounds, hooliganism, and even the role of the media, which is still prescient today. The second of Carr's book I've read in my challenge to read his entire work, and another joy to read. Even if you're not a football fan, there is plenty to entertain and delight, and even moments of poignancy, with one event even bringing a tear to my eye at one point. Wonderful.

This morning I've totted up how much I've spent on books this year so far, and realised I've been rather zealous in my spending! Decided I need to cut down a bit on the money spent, so I've been searching out free ebooks, and have downloaded a whole load of 'em, mostly classics or books on special promotion from the publishers, and have filled up a whole new wishlist of potential reads for the future too.

Thankfully, no snow here, but it's still blooming cold!

Do you have a favourite Doctor? Probably best to start with one of their books. I've read a few now, my favourite was probably The Stone Rose, a tenth Doctor and Rose story, but I also really liked Sick Building with the tenth Doctor and Martha (can you tell who my favourite Doctor is yet? ) written by Paul Magrs, who has written for some of the Classic Who era Doctors too and although I haven't read those, I've read some of his non-Doctor Who books and I enjoy reading his books.