Brian.

I’m staring two new books. First, the non-fiction choice Brilliant Orange by David Winner about Dutch football. Second, the fiction choice The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty.

Another quick update. Football Manager Stole My Life by Iain Macintosh (2/5) This is a book all about the history of the computer game Football Manager, previously known as Championship Manager. In it Macintosh interviews those behind making the game and also some of the people who have spent literally tens of thousands of hours playing it over the years. I am a fan of the game but certainly not to the levels of those featured in the book so this interested me when I heard it mentioned on a podcast. Sadly the book didn't live up to my expectations. Parts of it are interesting but there is loads of padding which consists of profiles of real life football players who never lived up to the promise they showed in the game. In the end I felt it was OK but really should have been better. Pole to Pole by Michael Palin (4/5) The next in my audiobook feast of Palin travel books. In this one the team travel from north to south across the biggest land mass possible. Along the way they hit various issues and enjoy some once in a lifetime experiences. Again, I really liked the book. Palin always manages to capture the human side of travel and in this book he speaks against the commercialization of travel and the well trodded tourist path in places like safari parks. I dread to think what he must make of modern day travel habits and sites like Tripadvisor. One thing I always like about him and his writing is that he is very open about feeling awkward or uncomfortable in situations when he doesn't know how to act or what to do. A lot of travel writers skirt around this issue and only focus on the obvious things. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (3/5) I've struggled a bit with fiction for the last month or so for some reason and after starting this a week ago I had only managed about 20 pages. Yesterday I decided that I would sit down and read it for at least an hour regardless of how I felt. In the end I got into it enough to finish it in the evening. The book focuses around the life of Nora Seed, a single woman in her 30's who has had enough of life. She decides to end her life and then enters a space between life and death which is the midnight library. In this library she can try out all the different lives she may have lead if she had taken a different decision earlier in her life. This premise is fascinating and I thought Haig handles it really well. Using a library works so well at presenting something which may not have worked in other ways. The writing is engaging enough that I kept reading it all day and the characters were formed well enough. What I liked less however was the way the messages about depression and life are delivered. The book morphed into almost a self help book where we a spoon fed things like "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see". I feel a bit mean writing this as I know Haig writes from a position of knowledge on the subject having had his own mental health struggles over the years. I nonestly believe he writes to try and help people using his own life to steer the path and that takes a lot of bravery. I can see the appeal of the book and why it gets five stars but it was a little too 'tell instead of show' for my own tastes.

I have finally managed to read some fiction this afternoon for the first time in a while, I'm about 100 pages into The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

It’s quite a long one if memory serves me correctly. I cheated a little and listened to the audiobook and that is 21 hours long.

Superb, I shall hunt out a copy. Thanks.

Yeah it is really good, I watched it when it came out and as far as I’m aware there wasn’t a book to go with it (although I could be wrong, I haven’t checked).

It has been a very slow month for me reading wise and I'll be honest I don't have a huge amount to say about the books I have read but here goes anyway. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (2/5) I'm pretty sure this is on the 1001 books list so that is why I decided to buy a copy on a recent trip to Waterstones now that we are allowed to shop again. The story is set in a war damaged Italian villa at the end of the second world war and we follow a nurse who is looking after an unknown burned man. A few other characters come along as well and we slowly find out about their histories. I really didn't get on with this but I did finish it so it gets 2 stars from me. The Adventures of the Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen (4/5) I love the TV show Our Yorkshire farm which follows the Owen family and their farming life on a remote farm in Yorkshire. This book is the third (I think) Amanda has written about life on the farm and the struggles that involves. It's not an amazing book but I did really enjoy it and I think anyone who likes the show will like the book as well. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (4/5) This was an audiobook read for me. I found the narration a little grating in places because the narrator has such a strong accent it is distracting from the story at hand. Fortunately the story really stands up and although I have seen the movie it kept me gripped throughout. Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Palin (4/5) Another audiobook. I really enjoyed the travel shows that Palin did when I was a kid so decided to go through the books that accompany them. Luckily for me, Audible recently had a special offer and I managed to buy all but the most recent one for a snip. This is the first of his travel adventures were he tries to follow in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg and travel around the world in 80 days or less. Obviously this is easily done these days with the use of aircraft so Palin avoids this method of transport. As I expected I found this absorbing and the fact that it is narrated by Palin himself is the cherry on the cake. Nomad by James Swallow (3/5) I've had this on my bookcase for a few years now and it finally came time to read it. Our protagonist is Marc Dane who is a tech specialist for MI6. A mission goes badly wrong and Dane tries to unravel why, leading him into a web of double-crossing and terrorism. I really thought I'd love this but I found it a bit of chore to get through. Marc Dane is meant to be a techie who is not trained to a high level with firearms or physically strong. Despite this he always seems to get the upper hand on highly trained and fit special forces operatives and mercenaries. Reality is stretched too far too often for my liking.

Pep just cant help trying to show how clever he is at times. This is at least the second time he has tried something clever in a final and its come back to bite him in the backside.

Hi. First of all, welcome to the forum, I hope you will visit regularly and join in the discussion we have. Unfortunately we don't really allow posts that are requests for help with homework, dissertation, etc. I will leave the post up in case any of our members has anything to add but it is not something we would usually permit.

To me a classic is a book that has stood the test of the time. There are books that are classics in their own individual genres that won't appear as a Penguin Classic for example.

The research is still in the eary stages with this subject and I wonder if there is another thing at work here. Do people who do the majority of their reading on a Kindle for example also spend a lot time reading and using other screens such as computer screens? Computers, and more specifically mobile phones have changed the way our brains work so a lower comprehension may be down to time spent with screens as a whole rather than a e-reader vs paper book effect. I had a quick browse through the paper linked in the article and it is a meta-analysis of "digital vs paper" and doesn't use "e-reader vs paper" data only. This isn't to say that it is invalid but that the Bloomberg headline is misleading. Most of the data sources used in the analysis are "computers, tablets, and cell-phones" vs paper so more research needs to be done using e-readers vs paper books. It is still a very interesting area though I highly recommend a book by one of the authors mentioned in the article, The Shallows by Nicholas Carr.

I'm no fan of the SNP but I love her writing and would say that anyone avoiding her work is missing out, but each to their own.

All done.

Hi Marie, This is something I can do for you no problem but please don’t think of any contributions you have made as a waste of space regardless of how small they may feel. The space any topics take up on the servers is small so leaving them up is no issue. However, let me know if you still wish them to be removed and I’ll take care of it for you.

I've read quite a few books about the Cold War and especially the espionage that happened during that time. I thought I'd list my top ten in case anyone is interested and want a recommendation. I'm also open to your recommendations on anything I haven't read on the subject. My top ten, in no particular order. The Berlin Wall - Frederick Taylor Cold War - Jeremy Isaacs The Billion Dollar Spy - David E. Hoffman Stasiland - Anna Funder Dead Drop - Jeremy Duns A Spy Among Friends - Ben Macintyre Strangers on a Bridge - James B. Donovan Next Stop Execution - Oleg Gordievsky Deep Undercover - Jack Barsky 1983: The World at the Brink - Taylor Downing

I think that statement which I stuck in bold hits the nail on the head. When BCF closed for a while I went looking for another forum but none of them ever stuck with me because I was so used to the layout here. They weren't better or worse, just different and that was enough to put me off. The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I don't post a huge amount. I've been a member for 11 years and my post count is only about 2500 which works out to be 230ish post a year. I think part of this is due to the thing which links us all, which is books. Reading is a slow process and although we all love books, we read different things so it takes time for our opinions to form. I read pretty much every new post on here (with the exception of the games forum) and although I would like to reply more often to people's book posts I don't because I haven't read the book. This isn't something that we can 'fix' as such and apart from somehow attracting more members to keep the topics posted moving it will be hard to improve. It is a sad fact that internet forums just aren't as popular as they used to be. With regards to the personal blogs vs individual topics debate I can see the benefits of both. Even though I have always just posted in my blog in the past I think I'll start posting individual topics for books that I think merit further discussion as well.

If UEFA have any sense (which they don't) they will move it to a neutral venue in the UK to save teams travelling needlessly while we are still dealing with the covid situation.

I have definitely fallen into that group with regards to 'reviews'. I always felt like I don't write well enough to claim my thoughts on a book constitute a review. I suspect that comes from the fact that in my head book reviews are linked with school assignments and require 'literary' knowledge. Over time I became comfortable with the fact that my thoughts on books that I post are not scrutinised in that way.

I'm so happy someone else feels that was. It almost felt like a fever dream while I was reading it where what is happening is just out of grasp.

I finished with The English Patient which I really struggled to get on with and I’m starting Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen.

Will City finally get the Champions League trophy they have been after since the sheik took over? Whoever they face in the final, I’m sure it will be a good game.

Time to start my next book, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje.

Weekly update. It's been a slower reading week for me this week but I have still finished (sort of) three books. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (4/5) I had a vague knowledge of the plot for this book from the BBC series of the same name featuring Dara O'Briain, Rory McGrath, and Griff Ryhs Jones. The book tells the story of three friends and a dog called Montmorency who take a trip along the river Thames in a boat. Along the way we learn a little more about the characters and enjoy the mishaps that befall them. This book is really funny and it's heartening to see that the comedy carries over to modern life perfectly despite being written in 1889. I don't often laugh out loud when reading but this book had me doing so on numerous occasions. I also really love the insults that are dished out, they are far more creative and cutting than modern ones. The Secret Runners of New York by Matthew Reilly (1/5) I started to listen to the audiobook of this because the synopsis sounded pretty interesting. I should have done a little more research because it soon came apparent that it is a YA book. I don't mind reading YA but this particular strand of the genre just isn't for me. The characters are all terribly cliched and I hated every one of them. I stuck with it for about 30% of the book before deciding that life is too short and that this one is written for a different audience. The Terminal Spy by Alan S. Cowell (3/5) This is a non-fiction book about the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. I knew a lot about the case anyway as I remember it well from when it happened in 2006. This book covers the case but also the background to all the major players in the drama including Vladimir Putin. Although this is incredibly well researched it felt disjointed in places as it jumps around a bit. The background for every person involved is a bit over the top in places so I did struggle with it at times as a result of this. Despite these reservations, this is a good account of the death of Litvinenko and it was good to see the author digging into some of the shadier background areas of Litvinenko's history. It would have been nice if the book contained some photographs of the people and places involved but sadly it does not.

Update time. Still Life by Val McDermid (4/5) Book number 6 and he most recent in the Karen Pirie series from Val McDermid. This was published late last year and it was interesting to see a few mentions of an unusual virus affecting people in China. Virus aside this was another strong book in the series and introduces us to another character, Daisy who joins the Historic Crime Unit. There are two crimes to solve for Karen this time. The first involves a body found in a campervan which is discovered after the owner of the property dies. The other case involves a body which is washed up. This is not something that Karen would usually have to get involved with but the body is of a man who went missing 10 years before with no trace.There isn't much more I can say about this series. All the books are well written and involving without being too hard to follow. This perhaps doesn't quite live up to a few of the earlier books but is a great read nonetheless. Everest 1953 by Mick Conefrey (4/5) This book covers not only the first acent of Everest but also those in the preceeding years which were unsuccessful. It is packed full of detail and contains a lot of information that I was totally unaware of. Its clear that a lot of research went into this as no stone is left uncovered. This is highly recommended. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer (5/5) In 1992 a young drifter called Chris McCandless decided that he wanted to live off the land in total isolation in Alaska for a period of time. Just over 3 months later he was found dead of starvation in an old bus left in the wilderness which served as a shelter for hunters. In this book Krakauer looks into the story behind Chris McCandless and what made him decide to head 'into the wild'. I really loved this book as it feels like a genuine attempt to explain why some people feel the need to drift into the wilderness despite the risks that this entails. I have read a lot of reviews since finishing this book in which people have given it 1 star because they thought Chris was a foolish idiot. I feel these people miss the point. The value in the book is not what you think of Chris and his decisions but how well these decisions are explored and the attempt made to understand them. I knew the basics of the story having seen the movie many years ago but this book is so much better than the movie. The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens (1/5) Having recently read The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel I fancied reading something that was a bit of a counter viewpoint and thought that Christopher Hitchens would suit the bill. Unfortunately I wasn't paying attention when choosing an audiobook to fill this role and downloaded a book by Peter, not Christopher Hitchens. Silly me. Right at the start of the book Peter explains that he was once an avid atheist and that in this book he would explain how he came back to god and the reasons why Christianity is true. Ok, the complete opposite of what I was looking for but I decided to carry on with it. By the time I had finished I was of the opinion that this is THE worst book I have read for a long time and perhaps ever. The first chunk of the book is a biography about the life of the author which jumps about a bit and contains some links to religion but not many. It is frankly quite dull and his Atheism at a young age comes across as being an act of youngful rebellion instead of a genuinely held belief either way. In this section it become clear that Peter Hitchens is pining for the days of empire and that he thinks that the world is in a huge moral decline. I would agree that there seems to be a moral decline but the days of empire were hardly bastions of fairness and equality. He makes comments about homosexuals which state that he thought they were fine when he was an atheist but now not at all. He makes very strange comments about women and would appear to believe that women should know their place and stay in the background. The second part of the book is about the Christian/Atheist agruement. He claims that there is a war being waged by the left against Christianity which has been going on since the end of the second world war but provides no evidence of this. The left isn't political but anti-christian in his eyes and everything they say is wrong. Anyone with a viewpoint that blinkered is on sticky ground because in my opinion, one must accept certain aspects of both the left and right political outlook have value and it is not wholly wrong on either side. He leans heavily on the Soviet Union as evidence that Atheists are wrong and that atheist = communists. This is blatently untrue and left me wondering if his main issue is with Atheists or Communists. All this is bad, but the worst part of the book is that his arguements are flawed and fall down when held up against his own standards. He often contradicts hiself, sometimes in the very same paragraph. As an example he claims that Atheists only have a problem with Christians and accept Muslim beliefs. The evidence for this, he says, is the fact that Atheists, especially prominent ones only get involved in debates which Christians. In the very next sentence however, he says that Muslims are wrong in their beliefs but it is useless trying to debate with them because they have already decided what is right and will not debate with other. If Muslims refuse to debate with people (which is a wrong assumption in the first place) then how can Atheists not debating with Muslims be proof of them only disagreeing with Christians. There is also a section in which wars are never fought and have never been on religious grounds. He claims that any person going to war on religious grounds has willfully mis-interpreted their religion because god can never be wrong. However, any Atheist who goes to war doesn't do it because of something they may feel is a just cause but because they are non-believers in god. There are so many contradictions in this book is really does amaze me it was published. This kind of rhetoric does no favours to the Christianity it proclaims to represent in my opinion. I am not an Atheist but neither am I a religious person. I'm probably best described as a curious agnostic with a slight Buddhist leaning but I am keen to learn about religions because I do find them fascinating. One thing I ask of those books I read is to make coherent and logical arguement whichever side of the fence they come from. I believe that the only reason this book gets so many good reviews on site such as Goodreads is that the reviewers agree with his religious beliefs and base their score on that alone. That would be like me instantly giving a book written by an ex-liverpool player 5 stars despite it being a terrible book. It is a daft way to look at things and pushing ourselves outside our own echo chambers and at least trying to be objective is so important these days. Oh, as a final note, Peter Hitchens narrates his own book and while he isn't terrible at it, he isn't very good either. His voice isnt always clear and he often speaks to quickly. Sorry, that sounds a bit ranty but it really pushed my buttons.

Thanks for the review, I’ve got a copy of The Honourable Company by John Keay to read which is on a similar subject but seems to end around sometime in the 1830’s.