What are you reading tonight?
Moderator: Zulus Thousand of em
Derren Brown's book is fantastic, so so much better than i thought it would be. It manages to be amusing, interesting and very very skeptical about everything i myself am skeptical about, i loved it.freeindeed wrote:Good choice Dr Hotdog, Tom Waits is the don.Dr Hotdog wrote:
Tom Waits in his own words: a collection of three decades' worth of interviews with Tom Waits.
Me reading Derren Brown's book - Tricks of the Mind.
In a world that has decided
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.
- Dujon
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I'm just about half way through a publication entitled Speaking for Themselves which is an edited compilation of letters sent between and received by Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. It is edited by one of their daughters, Mary Soames. This is a book to be read in short bursts, though at times it is compelling, and reveals the doubts, insecurities and conniving of, not only the writers, but also of their acquaintances, allies and enemies. Even though I am essentially a non-political type of person (or maybe because I am not that way inclined) I have found it to be fascinating.
The introduction and comments inserted by Mrs Soames are essential reading as they explain the reason and structure of the tome (and, yes, it is a tome). It spans the years from 1903 to 1963 including two generous selections of photographs relevant to the text. At this point in time I reside in the year of our Lord 1923 and so have quite a few to go. Hopefully I will be able to organise an extension of loan from my library in order for me to reach the end date.
The introduction and comments inserted by Mrs Soames are essential reading as they explain the reason and structure of the tome (and, yes, it is a tome). It spans the years from 1903 to 1963 including two generous selections of photographs relevant to the text. At this point in time I reside in the year of our Lord 1923 and so have quite a few to go. Hopefully I will be able to organise an extension of loan from my library in order for me to reach the end date.
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Rant by Chuck Palahnuik. It's surprisingly entertaining, despite having a very unusual style. It's written script-format and the interviewees are telling the story of Rant Casey, a soon-to-be serial killer.
Read Adrian Chiles' book whilst away. Quite a funny read, recommend it if you like his sense of humour.
Read Adrian Chiles' book whilst away. Quite a funny read, recommend it if you like his sense of humour.
Gramps is in hospital at the mo so took him my churchill book to read, tis a biography but i cant for teh life of me remember who by. The back has a review saying 'no-one need write another Churchill book for ten years'. If you're enjoying the letters i'd recommend it if i can remember the name. Can be heavy at times but the war years are very interesting.Dujon wrote:I'm just about half way through a publication entitled Speaking for Themselves which is an edited compilation of letters sent between and received by Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. It is edited by one of their daughters, Mary Soames. This is a book to be read in short bursts, though at times it is compelling, and reveals the doubts, insecurities and conniving of, not only the writers, but also of their acquaintances, allies and enemies. Even though I am essentially a non-political type of person (or maybe because I am not that way inclined) I have found it to be fascinating.
The introduction and comments inserted by Mrs Soames are essential reading as they explain the reason and structure of the tome (and, yes, it is a tome). It spans the years from 1903 to 1963 including two generous selections of photographs relevant to the text. At this point in time I reside in the year of our Lord 1923 and so have quite a few to go. Hopefully I will be able to organise an extension of loan from my library in order for me to reach the end date.
In a world that has decided
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.
I can take or leave Palahniuk. HRG will tell you why.hisroyalgingerness wrote:Rant by Chuck Palahnuik. It's surprisingly entertaining, despite having a very unusual style. It's written script-format and the interviewees are telling the story of Rant Casey, a soon-to-be serial killer.
Read Adrian Chiles' book whilst away. Quite a funny read, recommend it if you like his sense of humour.
Roy Jenkins, perhaps? (2001) Churchill : a biography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-12354-3. Best modern day biography of Churchill, by a long chalk. (In my humble opinion!)Prufrock wrote:Gramps is in hospital at the mo so took him my churchill book to read, tis a biography but i cant for teh life of me remember who by. The back has a review saying 'no-one need write another Churchill book for ten years'. If you're enjoying the letters i'd recommend it if i can remember the name. Can be heavy at times but the war years are very interesting.Dujon wrote:I'm just about half way through a publication entitled Speaking for Themselves which is an edited compilation of letters sent between and received by Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. It is edited by one of their daughters, Mary Soames. This is a book to be read in short bursts, though at times it is compelling, and reveals the doubts, insecurities and conniving of, not only the writers, but also of their acquaintances, allies and enemies. Even though I am essentially a non-political type of person (or maybe because I am not that way inclined) I have found it to be fascinating.
The introduction and comments inserted by Mrs Soames are essential reading as they explain the reason and structure of the tome (and, yes, it is a tome). It spans the years from 1903 to 1963 including two generous selections of photographs relevant to the text. At this point in time I reside in the year of our Lord 1923 and so have quite a few to go. Hopefully I will be able to organise an extension of loan from my library in order for me to reach the end date.
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Prufrock and Zulus - thanks for the comments.
I'll see if I can get hold of the Jenkins publication. If nothing else it'll be interesting to see what others thought of his attitude to the 'Dardanelles' campaign, the Indian situation and the Unionists. Then there were the suffragettes; Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - such a worthy cause blighted by extremism. Prior to my reading of the letters I was totally unaware (which might well highlight my ignorance) that the suffragettes were not averse to 'terrorist' activities (underlined by Winston's plea to Clementine not to open a package delivered from an unknown person) and that one of the group attempted to push him off a railway platform into the path of an incoming steam engine. It makes Germane Greer look like a saint!
I'll see if I can get hold of the Jenkins publication. If nothing else it'll be interesting to see what others thought of his attitude to the 'Dardanelles' campaign, the Indian situation and the Unionists. Then there were the suffragettes; Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - such a worthy cause blighted by extremism. Prior to my reading of the letters I was totally unaware (which might well highlight my ignorance) that the suffragettes were not averse to 'terrorist' activities (underlined by Winston's plea to Clementine not to open a package delivered from an unknown person) and that one of the group attempted to push him off a railway platform into the path of an incoming steam engine. It makes Germane Greer look like a saint!
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- Worthy4England
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I hope he manages to produce a few more before his Alzheimers gets too severe.Worthy4England wrote:I did do first time aroundenfieldwhite wrote:Are you reading them chronologically?Worthy4England wrote:Just finished "The Fifth Elephant" by Terry Pratchett...
Tough break for such a florid mind.
"You're Gemini, and I don't know which one I like the most!"
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Yes indeed, I first got into Discworld in around 1992, so I've had good service out of the books I can recall playing discworld online while I was at Uni in the same sort of timeframe (1992). It was a wonderful text adventureenfieldwhite wrote:I hope he manages to produce a few more before his Alzheimers gets too severe.Worthy4England wrote:I did do first time aroundenfieldwhite wrote:Are you reading them chronologically?Worthy4England wrote:Just finished "The Fifth Elephant" by Terry Pratchett...
Tough break for such a florid mind.
That rings a bell Zulus, good man!Zulus wrote:Roy Jenkins, perhaps? (2001) Churchill : a biography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-12354-3. Best modern day biography of Churchill, by a long chalk. (In my humble opinion!)Prufrock wrote:Gramps is in hospital at the mo so took him my churchill book to read, tis a biography but i cant for teh life of me remember who by. The back has a review saying 'no-one need write another Churchill book for ten years'. If you're enjoying the letters i'd recommend it if i can remember the name. Can be heavy at times but the war years are very interesting.Dujon wrote:I'm just about half way through a publication entitled Speaking for Themselves which is an edited compilation of letters sent between and received by Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine. It is edited by one of their daughters, Mary Soames. This is a book to be read in short bursts, though at times it is compelling, and reveals the doubts, insecurities and conniving of, not only the writers, but also of their acquaintances, allies and enemies. Even though I am essentially a non-political type of person (or maybe because I am not that way inclined) I have found it to be fascinating.
The introduction and comments inserted by Mrs Soames are essential reading as they explain the reason and structure of the tome (and, yes, it is a tome). It spans the years from 1903 to 1963 including two generous selections of photographs relevant to the text. At this point in time I reside in the year of our Lord 1923 and so have quite a few to go. Hopefully I will be able to organise an extension of loan from my library in order for me to reach the end date.
In a world that has decided
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind.
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Batman wrote:I can take or leave Palahniuk. HRG will tell you why.hisroyalgingerness wrote:Rant by Chuck Palahnuik. It's surprisingly entertaining, despite having a very unusual style. It's written script-format and the interviewees are telling the story of Rant Casey, a soon-to-be serial killer.
Read Adrian Chiles' book whilst away. Quite a funny read, recommend it if you like his sense of humour.
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Just finished a second read of Glued to the Box, the third and final collection of Clive James's TV columns from the Observerin the '70s and early '80s. Utterly bleedin' irrelevant at this remove and in the wrong hands, but his concise use of language (and wry humour) constantly reward the reader. Try his report of the 1972 Olympics coverage here – one of many freebies on his site.
Post-James, I'm now a free agent and pondering my options, although I've enjoyed dipping into Bill Bryson's columns again while I decide.
Post-James, I'm now a free agent and pondering my options, although I've enjoyed dipping into Bill Bryson's columns again while I decide.
Just finished Moneyball (M. Lewis) - a story of how a small team competes with big spending rivals by using statistics and incorrect general assumptions to find market inefficiencies. Pretty interesting actually, could relate a bit to Bolton in terms of ProZone and what players actually bring to a side, but the sport in question in the book (baseball) is a series of one on one events more suited to such analysis compared with football which is a flowing team sport.
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