Brian.

Thanks for all the input guys and gals, I really appreciate it. This will be how I spend my Sunday, until the football is on tonight that is.

I'd like to throw out a bit of a left field suggestion. 'Stone Junction' by Jim Dodge. Its probably a good idea to check out the synopsis before getting a copy to see if its the kind of thing you would like because its not your usual tale of magic and mystery.

I've done that. I own 2 copies of 1984 by George Orwell because I forgot that I already had it.

The simply incredible Jacques Brel.

Hurt - Johnny Cash (NIN cover)

Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy it here.

I dip in and out of history books and unless the writing style is dreadful they tend to be good reads. One of the best I've ever read was The Spartans by Paul Cartledge. Everyone seems to say The Book Thief is amazing, I shall have to make sure I read it sooner rather than later. Yeah, I'm quite lucky in that respect. It's just a shame that I only started using them earlier this year. We must have about 10 or so in Bedford but only 3 with a decent amount of books. The first is a Salvation Army shop with a huge book collection upstairs. The second is a really small Oxfam bookstore but it still has a really good selection despite it's small size. The last one and my favourite is a Mercy in Action charity bookshop which opened just before christmas. The guy who runs it is always really chatty and uber delighted whenever I bring in any books I no longer want. Best of all the prices are really good, usually no more than £1 a book. Just what kind of book I've been looking for.

Went into town today to pick up a few things and couldn't help but go into a few charity shops along the way. I was determined not to buy any more than a couple of books but came away with quite a few. A History of Germany 1815-1985 by William Carr (pretty beaten up but it looks pretty interesting) Live & Let Die by Ian Fleming Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming (They were part of a set but buying the whole set just wasn't worth it) The Beach by Alex Garland (I've had this on my wishlist for a while mainly because I love the movie) The Tesseract by Alex Garland (Tesseract is the name of a band so this caught my eye, the synopsis looks great) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (This seems to get great reviews on here) The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo (Loved 'The Redbreast' and this was the next in the series that I don't own already) Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk (Another Palahniuk that I had to buy as I don't own it already) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (I'm yet to read any Twain so this seems like a great place to start) Popcorn by Ben Elton (Yet to read any Ben Elton and the synopsis looked like the sort of thing I would like)

I read The Redbreast recently and can only echo the recommendations for it. Ive just started Nemesis and I'm already totally sucked in by it.

All the books you post have the most incredible cover art.

Task Force Black by Mark Urban Synopsis When American and British forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, select teams of special forces and intelligence operatives got to work looking for the WMD their governments had promised were there. They quickly realized no such weapons existed. Instead they faced an insurgency—a soaring spiral of extremism and violence that was almost impossible to understand, let alone reverse. Facing defeat, the Coalition waged a hidden war within a war. Major-General Stan McChrystal devised a campaign fusing special forces, aircraft, and the latest surveillance technology with the aim of taking down the enemy faster than it could regenerate. Guided by intelligence, British and American special forces conducted a relentless onslaught, night after night targeting al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups. (Taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts I picked this up from my local charity bookshop after dropping off a load of books that I salvaged from the trash. The cover made it look like the usual Iraq/Afghanistan soldier's memoirs. It is not, Mark Urban is in fact a journalist and this book is a look at the intelligence and political battles faced behind the scenes. I found the book pretty interesting despite it not being the usual bombastic tale of gun fights, air support and ambushes. In particular I found the stuff about McChrystal very interesting as he has become a figure of some mystery in the media in recent years. From the start it would appear that Urban is fairly pro-war and doesn't ask or answer some of the ethical questions behind the invasion of Iraq. There are references to Tony Blair but none dealing with the bit question about the intelligence behind the WMD claims. This is a big omission and even though it is not the focus of the book I think it should still have been given a chapter. The prose is a bit boggy in places when compared to soldier's memoirs but I think that this is a bit of an unfair comparison. When looked at what it is, I think it is a fine book looking at some parts of warfare which are often overlooked in popular media. Perhaps Urban could have been a little more critical of decisions taken but I think two things should be borne in mind here. One, he developed a bond with the people involved, this is very clear. Two, he is not a soldier, casting aspersions without having been in the position would have been inappropriate. 3/5 (I liked it)

5. Why do you think Phileas Fogg took the bet? I think he took the bet because he didn't want to be wrong among his peers. I imagine he thought he could do it but I don't think he was 100% he would do it. Even if he had lost the bet I think that he has the skills to make the money he lost back in some other way so losing the money was no a big concern of his.

I tend to rate quite harshly so I only have a few Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Jules Verne 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

I did think a hot air balloon was involved in the story as well.

I expected Croatia to win but they looked a little more comfortable than I expected. I agree that Ireland were ultimately poor which is a shame, they have a decent talent level and usually punch above their weight. Spain were very disappointing, they looked very tired and needed someone to take a shot far more often than they did. It kind of reminded me of the games where Arsenal try to walk the ball into the net. Spain will pass most teams to death but Italy are tactically probably the best team to counter-act this kind of game. Playing without a striker works at times for Barca because they have people who will take a shot when it is presented like Messi. They like to draw a defence out and play through them. Italy just kept dropping more people into midfield and defence when they didn't have the ball. That said, Spain took their goal well and the ball from Pirlo for the Italy goal were absolutely perfect. Super Mario was garbage, it seems he is all or nothing and today he was nothing. The England game should be fascinating, if it's anything like the friendliest then we sit deep and look to grab a goal when one presents itself. It will also be interesting to see who starts up front and what formation the team takes.

I have a copy of Kafka on the Shore which I've been meaning to read at some point this year. Ie got so many books to read I don't know where to go next. I'll probably read Task Force Black which is a non-fiction book about the war in Iraq. After that I just can't decide, I want to read The Help, Kafka on the Shore, the next Nesbo book in the series and various others. I'm hopeless at deciding an usually choose on a whim as I'm heading out the door to work.

I posted my thoughts in my book thread. In summary, I really enjoyed it and Murakami seems almost super-human at times.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami Synopsis In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a slew of critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvellous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is rich and revealing, both for fans of this masterful yet private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts I am a regular but infrequent runner and this book is widely named by the running community as a book to read that is not focused on how to train or run. Murakami is someone who's fiction I have yet to read but interests me greatly as a person. In this short book (180 pages) he talks about 3 main things in his life, running, writing and aging. I'm not sure if this would interest people who don't have an interest in running but people who would like an insight into how he writes may find value in it. The one thing that comes across strongest in the book is Murakami's level of humility and his self depreacating manner. He maintains that he is an average runner at best despite running 23 marathons and a 62 mile ultra-marathon along with triathlons. The ultra-marathon in particular is something that not many people would even consider, when you factor his age at the time it makes it even more remarkable. His main motivation for running is to give him the physical health he sees as being required to allow him to write. I think also a big part of it is that it allows him to unwind and take his mind away from day to day things, I've always found running great for mental well-being. He ties the stamina needed for running long distances in with the stamina needed for writing everyday for upto a few years to complete a novel. Maybe this pushing of his physical limits in part explains the length of IQ84. There is a consistent thread throughout on his thoughts about aging. You can see that he kind of wishes that he still had a young body but says that aging is inevitable so there is no point in being worried by it. Given how busy he is it's pretty incredible that he has managed to keep up his running regime for so long especially given that he also started riding and swimming for triathlons. The style is very relaxed and easy going and I am looking forward to getting into some of his fiction as his style of often discussed. I enjoyed the book, if you have an interest in Murakami or running give it a go. 4/5 (I really liked it)

The reason why I went with Lewandowski instead of one of the bigger names was the value in the odds. I got 20-1, Gomez, Klose, RvP etc had much poorer odds. Rumours are abound that Spain will play without a recognised striker to start with which quite frankly is a baffling decision. If it's true it's either tactical genius or a monumental blunder. Although Spain really should beat Italy I'm not too sure how I think this will go, Italy could nick it just like the Danes.

I think it's even more important when you read about some of the things that were far ahead of his time. Submarines were still very much in their infancy when he wrote 20,00 Leagues.

Finished reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.

I decided not to back any games today as I thought they would be too tight to call and that an 'upset' would be likely. I knew Denmark would be harder to beat than a lot of people thought but I didn't think they would manage to sneak a win. Ive got Lewandowski to be top scorer, England to be last in the group and Holland to win. The Holland one is looking unlikely, they just don't look cohesive, I would have brought Huntelaar on much earlier.

Around The World In Eighty Days by Jules Verne Synopsis For a bet, Phileas Fogg sets out with his servant Passepartout to achieve an incredible journey -- from London to Paris, Brindisi, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York and back to London again, all in just eighty days There are many alarms and surprises along the way -- and a last-minute setback that makes all the difference between winning and losing. (Taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts This is the 3rd Jules Verne book I have read this year and I enjoyed it just as much as the other 2. In usual Verne style it is a fast paced story of exploration and adventure. Despite the story being part of western culture I had never read it before or seen any of the movies or tv shows based on it. I voted for it to be this months Reading Circle book (Link Here). First I'll take a look at the four main characters. Phileas Fogg is an eccentric London city gent who is always calm and reserved. He is very generous with his money, heroic and very intelligent. Along for the ride is his French servant Passepartout who is very loyal to Fogg and brave but is somewhat careless at times. Mr Fix is a policeman who is trying to track down the thief who stole a large sum of money from a bank in London. He is fairly intelligent and although his motivation is correct his methods to capture the thief are very questionable. Finally, there is Aouda, a young woman who is rescued along the way and joins the party. She is a kind of equal and opposite to Fogg and we don't find out where they stand with each other until the end of the story. One observation I made during the book is that certain stereotypes are heavily pushed. Verne was an Anglophile and this book really shows this. The 2 English men in the book are very heroic, brave, intelligent but at the same time you're not sure as to whether they can be trusted. Americans are portrayed as risk taking people who don't really listen to the thoughts of others. The French character Passepartout is loyal but unreliable. Also the out-lying countries of the British Empire have areas that have either been tamed and therefore respectable or left native and described as being full of savages. Given the time when this was written I don' think too much fault can be found with Verne, this was the thinking at the time. I really enjoyed this book, I don't have any more Verne books on my shelves but I will be keeping my eye out for them in the bookshops I frequent. 4/5 (I really liked it)

Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles Kill with fire Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner I loved this

I have finished the book now so I can add my thoughts. 1. What do you think of Phileas Fogg ? I think he is a fairly typical Verne lead character in that he is odd and doesn't seem to panic at all. He certainly fits the stereotype of an English city gent in his reserved manner. There seems to be a fair bit of purposeful stereotyping on the part of Verne which adds humour to the tale. Fogg is likeable but his reserved nature till made me not completely sure of him until much later into the book. His outburst with relation to Aouda at the end of the book is very out of character and endearing. 2. Although Aouda is depicted as a passive female, she made quite a mark on the other travellers. What do you think about her? I didn't think much of Aouda for a large part of the book, I assumed that she was merely added to the tale as a love interest. That was until the battle on the train where she proves herself to be quite handy with a pistol. Personally I would have liked her to be a little more independent as she seems to cling to what Passepartout or Fogg a lot. This is probably in keeping with the way things were when the book was written and I imagine her prowess with a pistol really made her stand out at the time. 3. Do you think Jules Verne made a play on some of the names he chose for his characters? Given what Maureen has detailed above I think he must have had that intention from the start, it can get lost on those of us who have to read a translated version of the story. I do wonder if he gave Phileas Fogg such an unusual name to make him seem even more eccentric and well to do than if he were called 'John Smith'. 4. I have alluded to it earlier but do others think that Verne really leans on certain stereotypes during the book? I don't say this as a criticism but certain national character traits are very evident to me throughout the book. The Englishman (Fogg) is a rich gent who is reserved and yet can't be fully trusted. The Frenchman (Passepartout) is passionately loyal, thinks with his heart, heroic but prone a mistake. The policeman (Fix) is pretty devious and scheming, his motivation is sound but his methods questionable. The Americans take huge risks without thinking them through and are very loud.