willoyd

Touch screen may be 'easier' to use, but is it as readable? Certainly one of the main pluses for me about the Kindle versus, say, the Sony E-reader, is how much easier it is read without the touch screen getting in the way. For that, I'm prepared to have a slightly clumsier way of handling the reader itself. The Kindle Touch also has a smaller battery life, less storage (although still big!), and I love the 3G bit too.

This has been sat on my TBR pile for quite a long time, not least because it's had mixed reviews. Must move it up the list! Thanks Andrea.

I agree with all of that poppy,especially about her illness. It seemed to come our of nowhere, but I suppose it did more often in those days. Just think what she could have written, especially as she'd relatively recently come out of that blank period and seemed to be picking up speed. On a slightly different tack, I've just bought the new Tomalin biography of Charles Dickens - a bargain price at Amazon. I was really disappointed that, with inspectors coming in to school next week, I didn't have time to go to her talk at the Ilkley Literature Festival earlier this week. She was superb last time I went to see (talking about her Sam Pepys biography).

Just finished Claire Tomalin's biography of Jane Austen. Reviewed it briefly on my reading blog thread at http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/5954-willoyds-reading-from-2010-onwards/page__view__findpost__p__274528

Jane Austen by Claire Tomalin **** Claire Tomalin is one of my favourite biographers. She tends to turn her hand to big ticket literary subjects, and this is one of the biggest, although a relatively slim volume (370 or so pages) in the current world of heavy weight blockbusters. Reliable as ever, it flows well, and is eminently readable. I learned much of interest about one of my favourite writers, even though her own life was relatively unsensational. And yet, I came away slightly underwhelmed. I think this was because, in spite of the readability, Jane Austen remained a remote figure throughout the whole book. This is perhaps not surprising: much material has been lost, not least the piles of letters and personal papers destroyed by her sister Cassandra, and much never generated. The result is that Tomalin has had to rely on contextual evidence, evidence focused mainly on the surrounding people and world to create the picture of Austen, rather than material about or by Jane herself. As a result she is always in the corner of the eye, but never, or at least very rarely, in full view. But this was still a good read, a very good read indeed. I just felt it never quite got under her subject's skin. I'd be interested though to see if anybody actually could.

Which one (book)? Not quite the same as what is up as your current reading - Jasper Fforde!!

I'd agree with Brian's recommendation of Barca. Others I'd suggest, depending on specific interests: A Season with Verona by Tim Parks Tim Parks travels round Italy in support of his local team. Forza Italia by Paddy Agnew A broader perspective on Italian football, if still from a very personal viewpoint, culminating in the World Cup and match-fixing scandals. Football Nation by Andrew Ward A look at the history of British football since WW2, and its influence on our national identity. One I've not read in its entirety, but enjoyed dipping into is: The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football by David Goldblatt Does what it says on the tin - aa big history of football. Looks to be worth reading if you've got the time and are sufficiently a fan of football. I'm not a fan of football (rather the opposite), but have enjoyed these books a lot as they go beyond a straightforward interest in the sport.

It depends what one means by 'undiscovered'. However, one 'unknown' author who I rate very highly is Margaret Elphinstone. An author of mainly historical fiction, there is a depth and lyricism to her writing that excels many better known writers. Even the Edinburgh Waterstones only had one copy of one of her books in stock last time I was there. The Sea Road, a version of the Greenland Sagas focusing on one of the female characters, was my introduction to her, and remains one of my favourite reads of the past couple of years. Another favourite 'undiscovered' is J.L. Carr. Yes, his A Month in the Country won the Guardian Fiction prize some years ago and has been made into a film, and is possibly my favourite book of all, but his quirky, highly varied, range of books, little known all pretty much all of them, are all worthy of closer investigation, with strong streaks of autobiography (and some wish fulfilment too I would guess!) in many of them. They are all very easy reads! The Harpole Report was nominated by Frank Muir as his Desert Island book - one of the few books I have genuinely found funny.

I like that as a summary - can only agree. Since my opening post, have read a couple more of her books, and 'To The Lighthouse' is now at the top of my VW list too - indeed it's one of my all-time half dozen favourite books. I think that's because as I've got older, I've become more and more interested in the development of character and place, and that is what TTL is totally focused on. I can see why some find it boring or tough going, but for me it was a very easy read, one of her easiest. Didn't find Orlando quite as engaging, but still enjoyed it.

Don't know where else to post this, so hope this is as good as any other thread: Anybody else been having the same trouble with LibraryThing as me? More and more often, when I try to select a cover for a book, the selection of covers is not coming up on the screen - the numbers, the section titles yes, but not the actual covers. When I try to retrieve them using the links, LT just freezes up and refuses to load the page. When I browse through my or other catalogues, loads of the pictures are just not loading up. Doesn't matter what computer I do it from, it's happening across the board. It's just the covers I'm having problems with, and it seems to be random which ones it affects.

Ouch! I thought there were some pretty decent history writers - more so than in some other areas. Anybody you've got in mind in particular?

No I haven't - but TBH they are not my style of books. OH was a fan of the Victoria Wood programme, but I wasn't that bothered. On the other hand, I do enjoy some social histories. In particular, I've got Juliet Gardiner's The Blitz ready to run on my TBR shelf.

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys *** Based on a series of articles written for The Sketch during the war, and discovered by the author in her attic and first published as a book in 1985. Now one of 'The Bloomsbury Group' series of books published by the eponymous publisher, even though it doesn't appear that Dennys was anything to do with the original group. The book consists of a series of letters from a doctor's wife to a friend at the front, reporting on life at home in rural Devonshire. I think the best way to describe the book is 'gently light-hearted'. Aspects of the war do break through, but on the whole it could have almost been written of any one of several decades in the firts two-thirds of the century; rationing is probably the only thing that really tells this apart. Overall I enjoyed it, ripping through it in a single morning, but I can't say that it was of more than passing interest, and, writing this review a few days later, I'm already struggling to remember much other than general impressions. It was, though, an enjoyable interlude in the frantic build up to a school inspection, providing much needed relaxation, so for that am very grateful! Good for whiling away a couple of pleasant hours. Incidentally, I bought this after reading a review on poppyshake's thread - her review is somewhat more complete than mine, and certainly worth reading.

Yes, I think quite a lot of history books can be treated like that - dipping in bit by bit. Quite a bit of my non-fiction reading has been like that, somewhat different to my fiction reading.

Day 31: Your top ten non-fiction books of all time As discussed earlier, an extra day focusing on that rarely reviewed commodity here - the non-fiction book. I've been umming and aaaghing about this list for days. It's certainly a really bad sign when one is busy mulling over what should go in a list like this in the middle of a school inspection, but it was tricky! I tried to spread the list over a wide range of genres, but inevitably the biases in my non-fiction show through, with a weighting towards biographies, travel and the outdoors, and history. To be honest either one of these three areas could have taken over the list, and I'm amazed I kept it down to only a couple of each. Anway here's my list, in alphabetical order of author Crow Country by Mark Cocker - Natural History A slim, poetic volume on the author's obsession with crows. A serious contender for my all time favourite non-fiction book. Letter from America by Alistair Cooke - Essays/Journalism A collection of Cooke's broadcasts. In some ways I even preferred these to the radio versions, as Cooke's delivery was occasionally over-measured for my taste, but the content was simply superb. Having said that, Virginia Woolf's essays could well topple, but I've not read enough yet. In the meantime, I'll just wallow in some wonderful journalism. Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater - Travel Exactly that, a book about Frater's travels across India in the shadow of the monsoon. It's a while since I read it, and other travel books have reared their heads (notably Jonathan Raban), but this remains at the top of my travel pile as things stand. Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee - Biography The most recently read of the books listed here, and one of the best. It took me a month to read this weighty tome, and I loved every minute of it. Each chapter covered a different theme in Woolf's life, so it didn't stick rigidly to chronological order, and occasionally repeated itself, but overall it was one of the meatiest, most involving biographies I've eve read. In Search of Robert Millar by Richard Moore - Sport/Biography There are maybe a few biographies I'd class in front of this, but it's the best sports book I've ever read. Robert Millar is one of sport's most enigmatic characters, a man who achieved a huge amount in one very unlike the British medal-fest of today (and we've only just started to make anything like a similar impact on road as on the track). This biography left me with even greater respect for the man. A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols - Sport/Adventure The story of the first ever non-stop round the world yacht race, the one with Chay Blyth, Robin Knox-Johnston and Donald Crowhurst. Absolutely gripping - a really exciting read, even when I knew the result; Classic Boys' Own stuff. It was a toss up between this, Touching the Void, and The Cruellest Miles. I obviously enjoy these sorts of books - but then I am a boy! The Language Instinct by Stephen Pinker - Science I remember reading this one family Christmas, and refusing to speak to anyone for a couple of days. Pinker argues that much of our language is hardwired into us. Totally plausible, and fascinating stuff. It's complex, but Pinker explains with great lucidity. The History of the Countryside by Oliver Rackham - Landscape History Another contender for overall favourite - just so interesting, and really well written. The sort of book where on every page you can hear yourself saying "I never knew that!". The History of the World by JM Roberts - History I could have ten history books here, and struggled to limit. One of those books you always associate with a holiday or place, this being a trekking trip to the Karakoram, and could only take one book. Kept me going for three weeks, and even survived some rereading when I still couldn't get anything else. A brick of a book, but just as fascinating. Everest by Walt Unsworth - Exploration/Adventure Another book defined by the place it was read, this one being a cottage in the Scottish Highlands in midwinter in between some great days out on the hills. Definitely went down well with the odd dram (!) which may be why it features so highly! The material is yet again derring do, this time, obviously, focused on the history of the highest mountain in the world. I read an early edition (back in the 1980s), and much has moved on since then, to make it even more interesting and demanding I suspect. So that's my ten. But that means I've got no room for one of the greatest non-fiction books ever, so I'm going to arbitrarily add an eleventh, one that I haven't even finished, but is so rewarding to read in small chunks, even if it might be even better as a whole. And that is The Diaries of Samuel Pepys. A vivid, highly individual portrait of life in the second half of the 17th century. Hope I can get away with it, even if it's 12 volumes long!! And that's the challenge done and dusted. I've had a great time doing it, and will miss the day to day questions. Certainly made me think a lot more about my reading, so am really glad to have given it a go, and thanks to Frankie for a great idea - a cut above the usual lists.

Day 30: Your favourite book of all time The last of the thirty day challenge, but actually one of the easiest. Many people struggle to nominate a book for this. Personally, whilst there are half a dozen in with a shout, this is relatively straightforward. It's A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr. This book and author could have featured in any one of a number of previous days, but I've been saving them both for this one. Jim Carr is one of the most individual authors I've read. Indeed each book is highly individual - this is a man who certainly did not write to a formula. Many of his books have an autobiographical element to them, but many equally have a strong element of fantasy about them. Not magical fantasy, but the way things pan out being rather unlike real life. I love them. A Month in the Country is, however, eminently believable, and is the account of the experiences of a young WW1 veteran and his arrival in a quiet village to restore a previously hidden medieval wall painting in the local church. It's elegiac, wistful, but with a quiet strength to it that I absolutely adore. It's also barely more than a novella. It won the Guardian Book Prize, was short listed for the Booker, and has been filmed (starring the young Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh), but is still remarkably unknown - and as for his other books..... (I particuarly recommend The Harpole Report, the book that Frank Muir nominated for his Desert Island as one of the funniest he'd ever read). I also recommend Byron Rogers's biography of Jim Carr, The Last Englishman; Carr was a fascinating man with a very varied life, and I suspect quite a tricky person to know in his own way. Incidentally, all his books are now published by The Quince Tree Press, a one-man publishing house set up by Carr to publish his books and maps when others wouldn't (or, just as likely, because he wanted to retain control), and carried on by his son after his death. So that's the end of my thirty day challenge. I'm amazed I managed to keep it going - I was convinced that I would lose a day along the line. So now, all there is to finish it off is my self-declared Day 31 - My favourite non-fiction books.

Day 29: A book everyone hated but you liked And so to the penultimate day - can't believe it's a month since I started this. I don't know about everyone, but there are a fair number of books I've loved which many have disliked. But then they always seem to be at least partly counterbalanced by others who have equally loved them too. I can't think of any where I've been the only one. One of these like or love them in particular seems to divide people pretty starkly down the middle - certainly it has more than its fair share of critics who say that they just found it too heavy, dense, rambling etc etc. But I loved every second of it, and that is Herman Melville's Moby Dick . I've long liked my books meaty and chunky, and had a penchant for 19th century literature. This satisfies on both counts. But it's certainly not an easy read, with constant diversions into all sorts of esoterica about whales. You really just have to go with the flow, and let it all wash over you. If you do, there is a fabulous story to be discovered. Like so many categories here, Virginia Woolf could easily have fitted in here - there are certainly plenty who don't like her work. And, much as I love her books, she doesn't feature in the next category either. Indeed, I don't think author or book have featured yet this challenge, even though both are amongst my favourites. Saving the best till last (or almost, if you allow for the non-fiction list).

Westwood by Stella Gibbons **** This is one of a series of books by the author of Cold Comfort Farm that are being reprinted for the first time since the author's death by Vintage. In this one, written in the 50s and set in wartime London, Margaret, a young rather naive teacher, manages to insinuate herself into the family circle of an older man, a famous dramatist, who she admires, or rather develops an infatuation for. He, on the other hand, is rather pompous and self-regarding, and is avidly pursuing a close friend of Margaret's. And it's all about what happens! Cold Comfort Farm this is not. Whilst there is still the element of satire (the dramatist is modelled on a well known individual of the time), it is altogether rather more thoughtful as Margaret gradually gets to grips with the 'real' world although there's humour, especially when Hilda, Margaret's friend, is centre stage. Gibbons's writing is always clear and lucid, her characters clearly defined, and well developed. I'm not sure of all the plotting - the final chapter or so went just a little bit woolly on me. I can see why one reviewer at least has likened her to Jane Austen, even if I think Austen would have tidied things up rather more tightly. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this, and have already bought another of these reissues, Starlight.

Day 28: Your favourite title Most book titles are pretty innocuous. It's difficult to be otherwise when one is restricted to a couple of words or generate something that is too long for a book spine or to be memorable. Perhaps my favourite series of titles belong to the books of science essays by Stephen Jay Gould, which include Bully for Brontosaurus, Dinosaur in a Haystack, The Mismeasure of Man, Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and The Diet of Worms, The Lying Stones of Marrakech and The Hedgehog, The Fox and The Magister's Pox amongst others. They're great essays too! However, if looking at individual titles, I think my nomination is split between two fiction books, who both use quotes from other books, simply because I find them so much fun and rather intriguing whilst enjoying the cross referencing: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (taken from the subtitle to Three Men in a Boat), except she says plenty about it! The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (taken from a famous exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in the short story Silver Blaze) and it was only whilst typing them out that I realised they both involved dogs!

Went and bought this whilst indulging in some retail therapy in Leeds today.

They're mostly taken up with a 6 volume set of her letters which I bought on ebay, along with 4 of the 6 volumes of her essays, all in hardback, again mostly bought through abebooks and ebay. Quite bulky, but brilliant for dipping into - I think her nonfiction might be even better than her fiction. I like the look of Henrietta's War. Having just read Blackout/All Clear and Westwood, and bought Juliet Gardiner's book on life during the Blitz, I'm going through a short phase of reading about that period, so that would fit in very neatly. I need something fairly light to read!

Day 27: The most surprising plot twist or ending I haven't read any of her books for ages, having gone through a phase in my teens and twenties of reading pretty much all of them and gradually tired of them, but there is no doubt that one individual was the absolute master (or mistress!) of the surprising, utterly memorable, plot twist, and there was none more surprising than in her great 'classic'. So if it's an individual book that's needed, then this title has to go to Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I won't however spoil it for anybody who hasn't read it by saying what the plot twist was, but it's superb, and caught me completely by surprise _ still remember the shock almost half a life time later. But to be honest, the title could go to any one of half a dozen or so. I don't rate her so highly now, as I find that I need really good character development, at which she was rather poor, for full enjoyment but she was a genius when it came to the intricacies of plotting her crime stories.

Totally agree Poppy, so sorry to bring such bad language to the thread! I haven't read Small is Beautiful for some time, so can't say whether I would now think it a great read - there's a lot I read in my teens and twenties that I thought was brilliant then which when I've gone back to I've been a bit more ambivalent about - idealistic youth versus slightly cynical/skeptical middle-agedom perhaps? But however it reads now, it certainly influenced me profoundly at the time, and has done ever since. As I said, I must give it another read (or maybe I shouldn't!). If you find the topic interesting, another book I've got lined up on my TBR shelves is The Breakdown of Nations by Leopold Kohr. A couple of years ago, I stayed in Salzburg for a couple of days at the end of a week long solo cycling tour of Bavaria. It was very hot, and I took refuge one afternoon in Salzburg's town museum. It was beautifully cool and remarkably empty, the streets outside being crammed with tourists. I had a fascinating few hours in there, and one of the features was a rolling exhibition about famous people associated with Salzburg. Of the five featured whilst I was there, two really grabbed me. One was about Franz Wallack, the engineer responsible for the Grossglockner Highway, the other was about Leopold Kohr. He was the man who came up with many of the ideas that Schumacher later developed, and a great proponent of the small nation state, believing that people who live in them are generally happier, more peaceful and more prosperous. "Little states produce greater wisdom in their policies because they are weak. Their leaders could not get away with stupidity....." It was a room I spent a considerable amount of my time in, and I came away really keen to learn more. Breakdown of Nations is the book that sums all this up. Hmmmmm. Maybe it should go higher on that TBR list!

Day 26: A book that changed your opinion about something So, we've reached Day 26, and today is the first day that I'm going to nominate a non-fiction book, yet non-fiction represents a good 50% of my reading. It is Small is Beautiful by EF Schumacher. It's not something that I had thought much about before reading it some thirty years ago, but it changed my whole outlook, and I remain desperately disappointed that we as a country seem to have learned the least (at least in western Europe), issues that are exemplified by the current crew's ill-thought out mantras of 'localisation' and 'The Big Society' (the ideas are great, but the execution is diabolical). The book's subtitle says it all 'A Study of Economics As If People Mattered'. But I won't go on further, as it could simply disintegrate into an angry rant not suitable for this friendly forum - no wonder it's said don't talk politics or religion! Suffice to say this book turned my thinking on its head and has profoundly influenced it ever since (which reminds me, I must reread it as it's been a few years since the last one). This also raises another issue in my mind, if a bit more trivial. And that is that this is the first non-fiction book I've mentioned in 26 days. Not surprising perhaps, as the challenge is heavily skewed towards fiction type questions (although there are a few where non-fiction could creep in). Fair enough, but non-fiction does represent a large chunk of my reading, so to compensate a bit, I'm going to add one more day onto my challenge to make it a 31-day month, the final day being to name my favourite ten non-fiction books. A pretty big challenge it is too, as the range is vast, so limiting to ten will be even harder than with fiction, but I hope it will make an interesting list (for me at least, even if nobody else is reading this!).

Day 25: A character you can relate to the most I've thought long and hard about this, and I genuinely can't think of any. I think that's because, on the whole, I find female characters more interesting, but not being female myself, I don't 'relate' to them (plenty I would like to have known though!), whilst the male characters I enjoy reading about are equally not those I 'relate' to. Maybe I just don't relate to characters, or people in general?