Wednesday, June 16, 2010

2010 Books

By jk67 on May 31, 2010 9:22 PM
Book Club
Greenlion2
"King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hochschild is a great read, will get you about as upset as the Board usually do every season, no, even more angry, but a superb read.
Philip Glourevitch's "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" is as good a read on what happened in Rwanda as you can get. I remember an African doctor telling me that this could easily happen here, read it and you'll see why.
On the fiction front Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" is unbeatable.
I'll check out your previous recommendations.
Oh and I take it you've done the Celtic Mindeds.
C'mon the Hoops!
By blantyretim on May 31, 2010 9:11 PM
GL2
got Bobby Sands; Writings From Prison..

By ulysses mcghee on May 31, 2010 9:49 PM
GL2
I've not long finished Robert Harris's Imperium - Fact/fiction portrayal of Marcus Cicero - Politics at a time of change - I read it during the present day election and some of the observations were scarily precise.
I give it a Philvis two thumbs up...
U
By chris sutton is a legendhttp://www.kerrydalestreet.com/page/Sutton,+Chris?t=anon on May 31, 2010 10:50 PM
gl2,
Book club alert.
Forgive me as I haven't checked back to see your previous perusals. I recommended Christopher Brookmyre in the fiction department last year. I believe you read one of his. Which one was it and how did it go down so to speak?
As for this coming summer, I'd imagine you may have read this already but if not The Last Tsar, the life and death of Nicholas II by Edvard Radzinsky is a terrific read.
By garygillespieshamstring on May 31, 2010 10:57 PM
CSIAL
I picked up a Brookmyre after reading about him on here last year.
I read " A tale etched in blood and hard black pencil". Brilliant.
I would say a "must read" for anyone of "a certain age" who has been through the Catholic education system.
ggh
By awalkacrosstherooftopshttp://www.downloadhome.co.uk/thebluenile_dlc/thebluenile.htmlhttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4125GVM9JFL._SS500_.jpg on May 31, 2010 10:58 PM
pol1888...

By WizardofOz on May 31, 2010 11:11 PM
Evening folks.
Re the book club...Anything by Nelson de Mille is worth a read.
Concur with csial re Brookmyre's "One fine day in the mddle of the Night"...cracking read, as is "The country of the blind".
Also Lee Child's Jack Reacher series is decent reading, as is the Michael Connolly, Harry Bosch series of books.
Aside from that, have just finished a couple of books I had always planned to get around to. Eventually did.
To Kill a Mocking Bird.....absolutely brilliant and as elative today as it was back then, even if the language is a bit dated.
Of Mice and Men...a classic that everyone, of every age should read.
Only other book I can think of to recommend is Schindlers Ark by Thomas Keneally....don't let the subject matter put you off, it is very readable and very moving.
Hail hail.
By chris sutton is a legendhttp://www.kerrydalestreet.com/page/Sutton,+Chris?t=anon on May 31, 2010 11:15 PM
Book club again.
My most recent fiction read was Stephen King's Under the Dome. A behemoth of a book but I flew through it. No one does small town Americana like King. He fleshes out the town and its inhabitants so well that you can't help but be drawn into their plight. Well worth a read.
By garygillespieshamstring on May 31, 2010 11:15 PM
Bookclub :
As Good as Gold : Joseph Heller
Roots : Alex Haley
Guerrilla Days In Ireland : Tom Barry (more than a few references to Bandon in here)
My Fight for Irish Freedom : Dan Breen
Ggh
By chris sutton is a legendhttp://www.kerrydalestreet.com/page/Sutton,+Chris?t=anon on May 31, 2010 11:16 PM
WizardofOz,
Agree on Lee Child and his Jack Reacher series. Always enjoyable. I think I've only missed two out of them all so far and I intend to catch up with them.
By MurdochauldandHayhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4870154.stm on May 31, 2010 11:18 PM
True stories
John Grishims first foray into non fiction
An Innocent man
Emotional and compelling
By oneantonrogan on May 31, 2010 11:18 PM
Book Club recommendations - would also recommend A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away by Brookmyre (would recommend everything up to A Tale Etched In Blood and Hard Black Pencil, except Not The End of the World which is basically rubbish. All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses an Eye has a vague Celtic-fans-in-Barcelona subplot, if I remember correctly). Just re-read One Fine Day... recently, thoroughly enjoyed it again second time around.
Am currently reading Mark Thomas' As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture, which chronicles his investigations into the international arms trade. If you aren't familiar with his work, he is ostensibly a stand-up comedian with a sideline in investigative journalism and political activism.
By cardiffbhoy on May 31, 2010 11:37 PM
Bookclub-
Peter Carey - The History of the Kelly Gang.
Anything by Christopher Brookmyre
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night time
JD Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye
Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential

By I am The Hooded Tim© on May 31, 2010 11:44 PM
Book Club
If ye enjoy the boy Brookmyre, then Carl Hiaasen is a MUST read.
Ye'll be hooked fae start tae finish... guarenteed!
THT
HH
Zzzcsc
By Snake Plissken on May 31, 2010 11:45 PM
Books you should all read:
American Pasteral - Phillip Roth
Underworld - Don Delillo
A Disaffection - James Kelman
King Lear - William Shakespeare
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov
Blindness - Jose Saramago
The Long Goodbye - Raymond Chandler
100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
By I am The Hooded Tim© on May 31, 2010 11:52 PM
Guaranteed, even!
Also
Not, not while the giro - James Kelman
How late it was, how late - James Kelman
Factotum - Charles Bukowski
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson
American Psycho - Brett Easton Ellis
The Organ Grinders - Bill Fitzhugh
THT
By Oglach on May 31, 2010 11:55 PM
Re book club
On Another man's wounds - Ernie O'Malley
The singing Flame - Ernie O'Malley
Enchanted By Dreams- Joe Good
The Rising - Fearghal McGarry
By hairlikespaghetti! on June 1, 2010 12:59 AM
right then maggie - stop flapping your auld gums and tell us all why Celtic should not be chasing Ledley then. Also, if signing new players wont help solve Celtics problems, what in your view is the solution?
regards
an open minded tim
ps my nod for the book club this summer - 'The Fall of Lucifer' by Wendy Alec - just about to read the follow up 'The First Judgement'
By pigalle on June 1, 2010 1:02 AM
By Bloke_109 on June 1, 2010 12:39 AM
Wow.
A gap like the gap Henrik left.. 8:)
On the book front. For anyone interested in getting into serious trouble I would recommend The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.
It's not fine writing - it's just a beautiful daft idea !
Fine writing: The Great Gatsby and no other...........discuss.
Let's hear it for The Great American Novel.
Pigalle
By стахановец on June 1, 2010 1:57 AM
Book Club:
Behind the Curtain by Johnathan Wilson (Football)
You might have come across this already if you have read a few football-related books, but great nevertheless. It covers the game from the former Soviet bloc, stretching from Poland to Azerbaijan. Some great stories from the past, and gives an insight into some of the footballing ethos that was built up over the decades in these parts of the world.
The African Dream by Che Guevara (African Politics)
This covers what was essentially a failed attempt by Cuba to help out the socialist uprising in Congo in 1965, an attempt led by Che Guevara himself. If you don't know much about it, or at least from the perspective of someone who was there, it is worth a read.
If you fancy a wildcard, you should try 'A Canticle For Leibowitz' by Walter Miller. Hard to sum up in a few short sentences, but essentially - it is based in a post-nuclear holocaust world (stay with me), where technology and books have been scorned and abandoned by what little remains of humanity, save for the Order of Leibowitz, a group of Catholic monks who treasure what little fragments of written material they can find. From here the journey of 1800 years begins, the veneration of a naive monk who held a dream to re-ignite the desire for science and tecnology in the world, and coming full-circle to a new space age, with the inevitable threat of human nature ever-ready to cast its shadow.
I don't do book synopsis' for a living, so forgive the last one!
By stevie1 on June 1, 2010 3:25 AM
book club
slam
by nick hornby
genius...
By Strayed Away on June 1, 2010 3:42 AM
Book Club: John McGahern's autobiography "All Will Be Well"
By Dontbrattbackinangerhttp://membres.lycos.fr/troll/carla/Carla001.jpg on June 1, 2010 10:07 AM

For the book club of excellent CQNer GL2;
'I Predict a Riot', by Bateman, set in Belfast it's a comedy thriller in the style of Hiaasen or Brookmyre.
The Jack Reacher books by Lee Child are also good holiday fare, the literary equivalent of opening a can of Pringles.
'Black Lands' by Belinda Bauer is an excellent thriller about a serial killer but done with a refreshingly new approach.
For something altogether more moving and thought provoking then I thoroughly recommend 'Selling Your Father's Bones' by Brian Schofield. It concerns the epic trek of the Nez Perce in an attempt to find a new life in Canada, while being pursued by the US Army. In addition it shows what the Americans have done to the land and rivers since.
It was the best book I read last year and I've not read anything better since.
At the end you are just lost in admiration for what the Nez Perce did; these were men, real men.
By thomthethimhttp://o-9o.0.olp.l0op/ on June 1, 2010 10:08 AM
steelica on June 1, 2010 8:53 AM
Last night on the CQN Book Club,I posted "Invictus" by John Carlin. It is not a big book, but it is extremely well written and maintains interest throughout.
It tells the story of South Africa's transformation to a Democratic state through the story of Nelson Mandela's vision.
It is set against the backdrop of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the pivotal part that the event had on reconciliation between the opposite factions.
A highly recommended read for anyone with conflict resolution interests.
By strutter_bubblehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdxgNPb5xWo&playnext_from=TL&videos=Cl2QcIHaCD4 on June 1, 2010 10:46 AM
CNQ Book Club
Just finished Knockemstiff by Donlad Ray Pollock - classic American deadbeat short story fiction.
Anything by Jim Thompson but especially The Killer Inside Me - read it before the new film adaption comes out.
The best historical fiction I've read this year is C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake novels Dark Fire, Dissolution, Sovereign and Revelation - superb.
I'm just about to start The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Antony Beevor and I'm sure it'll be as good as everything else he's written.
By Dontbrattbackinangerhttp://membres.lycos.fr/troll/carla/Carla001.jpg on June 1, 2010 10:49 AM
Strutter- CJ Sansom also wrote' Winter in Madrid' which is set during the Spanish Civil War.
By The Battered Bunnet on June 1, 2010 10:52 AM
For the CQN book club
Patrick Redmond.
By nantes93 on June 1, 2010 10:57 AM
For the CQN book club
Anything by James Lee Burke.
By Henriks Sombrerohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowtKYP9oFg on June 1, 2010 11:01 AM
CQn Book club.
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Cary
American Rust - Philipp Meyer
Mort
I'm currently reading The Spanish Civil War by Paul Preston.Well worth a read.
Strutter- I enjoyed it; I also enjoyed the Shardlake novels.
[I don't know as much about either Spain or Catholicism as C1st- that may be the reason! I gnorance is bliss ;/)]
I read the Antony Beevor book on D-Day and Normandy and couldn't finish it, although I'd read his previous books on Stalingrad and Berlin.
The best popular history on WW2 that I've read this year is Donald Miller's book on the Eighth Air Force.
By Celticbhoy on June 1, 2010 11:21 AM
Mort on June 1, 2010 11:11 AM

I know what you mean about Beevor's style of writing, altough I enjoyed the book you are reading I didn't find myself able to finish 'Berlin - The Downfall.
By Bradford Bhoy on June 1, 2010 11:27 AM

Cqn book club

"Revolution In
The Head"
I dont have the book at hand and cant remember the author but this book is a must for all Beatles fans especially musicians,every song is catalouged and gives lots of info on the musical and recording aspects of the songs as well as a social commentary on the times,how they were inspired and the inputs of the band in each song and much more.
A must read.
By Rod Stewart on June 1, 2010 11:28 AM
allgreen, mort
Hugh Thomas is 'the authority' on La Guerra Civil -its all coming back to me now from Uni !!
One of my favourites from a fiction persepctive - Homage to Catalonia (George Orwell) tells story through eyes of a soldier - excellent read.
Good luck !
By Celticbhoy on June 1, 2010 11:40 AM
Mort
Can I suggest on a football theme these books all of which I have read and re read
He Always Puts It To The Right: A History of the Penalty Kick by Clark Miller
The People's Game: History of Football Revisited (Mainstream sport) (Paperback) by James Walvin is a fiver on Amason
Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (Paperback)
by Phil Ball
Play Up Corinth: A History of Corinthian Football Club [Illustrated] (Paperback)
by Rob Cavallini - They beat us 4-0 in an ill-tempered match.
By Morthttp://www.southderrycsc.com/ on June 1, 2010 11:44 AM
Celticbhoy
On a football theme, Football against the Enemy by Simon Kuper is excellent (it even has a chapter about Celtic, although it does mention some other team aswell) and Dynamo bu Someone Duggan (Alex?) about Dynamo Kiev players during WW2. (This one combined 2 of my main interests, WW2 and footy).
Mort
By thomthethimhttp://o-9o.0.olp.l0op/ on June 1, 2010 11:45 AM
Book Club.
I repeat my selection of last year, as probably some of our cyber tacticians haven't read it yet. :>)
"Inverting the Pyramid", by Jonathan Wilson.(I think)
By Gold Coast Tomhttp://hokum-balderdash.blogspot.com/ on June 1, 2010 11:53 AM
Best football book I ever read was David Peace's "The Damned United".
By Moonbeams Wet Dreamhttp://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DCWcWS5ZOgM on June 1, 2010 11:54 AM
Mort
Robert Harris - The Ghost.
By serge on June 1, 2010 11:56 AM
best football book read - my name is stan.
By Celticbhoy on June 1, 2010 11:57 AM
By Mort on June 1, 2010 11:44 AM
I follow those up thanks
Have you read Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II?
By Henriks Sombrerohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nowtKYP9oFg on June 1, 2010 11:58 AM
Mort - American Rust by Philipp Meyer. About small town America once the Mills have gone and two young lads from different backgrounds who get into a spot of bother.
True history of the Kelly Gang - A fictional account (I think) of the life of Ned Kelly as written by him in some letters to his daughter.
Both excellent books and easy reading.
By Danny Boyle, Blaser-Brown and Charlie Donnellyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IyvshOYelU on June 1, 2010 11:59 AM
By Mort on June 1, 2010 11:50 AM
Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd fits your requirements
By allgreenhttp://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/2008/04/1998-team-our-postlisbon-touch.shtml - comments on June 1, 2010 11:59 AM
A few football books I've enjoyed recently.
Behind the Curtain. Some very interesting stories about the game from behind the Iron Curtain.
Outcasts!The Lands that FIFA forgot by Steve Menary. The story of some regions and areas who FIFA don't recognise and how the game in these aras has developed. ncludes Gibralter, the Cahnnel Islands and the Vatican!
Tor, the story of German football.
By Irving Washinton on June 1, 2010 12:02 PM
Mort,
Try out a fraction of the whole by Steve Toltz, I'm half way through it myself its quick to read and can be very funny, quite similar in humour to my favourite book catch 22 by Joseph heller.
By Dontbrattbackinangerhttp://membres.lycos.fr/troll/carla/Carla001.jpg on June 1, 2010 12:04 PM

'Inverting the Pyramid' , on the history of football tactics, is very good. It features the great Celtic side of the 60s but astonishingly can find no place for Wattenaccio.
'The Ball is Round', is a good history of World football. Again it confirms the suspicion tha the dastardliness of the Darnel is not a new phenomemon, and extends beyond the arrival of the Ulster shipyard workers at the beginning of the 20th century.
Gary Imlach's book on his dad's life and career' My Father and other working class Football Heroes' is very revealing on life as a pro in the 50s. Imlach senior played for Forest when they won the FA Cup in 1958, and he also went to Sweden in 1958 with Scotland for the WC.
The David Peace book on Clough at Leeds['The Damned United' is brilliant; and there is a more cconventional biography of the great man called ' Provided You Don't Kiss Me'.
And if anyone on here hasn't read the Willie Maley biography by David Potterthen you should be ashamed of yourselves. A great book about a great man.

By Corrib 04http://www.tinyurl.com/ on June 1, 2010 12:10 PM
Mort,
I really enjoyed
'Pompeii' by Robert harris
and 'The whereabouts of Eneas McNulty' Sebastian Barry
Both are in the thriller genre but evocative and historically informative and fascinating.
By OttoKaiser on June 1, 2010 12:13 PM
Mort, a couple for you:
Agent Zigzag: The True Wartime Story of Eddie Chapman, Lover, Betrayer, Hero, Spy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Agent-Zigzag-Wartime-Chapman-Betrayer/dp/0747587949)
The Moon's A Balloon - David Niven (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moons-Balloon-David-Niven/dp/0140239243/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1275390680&sr=1-1)
My Wicked, Wicked Ways - Errol Flynn (http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Wicked-Ways-Errol-Flynn/dp/1845130499/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c)
The Flynn book in particular is one of the best books I've ever read. Talk about a life well lived!
By jockybhoy on June 1, 2010 12:51 PM
I hope we don't sign Ledley King - the fact that his body can't stand up to the rigours of the game in the EPL doesn't bode well for the "industrial" nature of many SPL teams.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is an awesome book - by Dee Brown btw. And it was made into an award-winning HBO mini-series (or movie?) so it ticks the box of the posters colleague's boyfriend. Two thumbs up (to wipe away the tears...)
By serge on June 1, 2010 12:51 PM
bazzabhoy
have you read Celtics Lost Legend - The George Connelly Story & Dan Doyle - The Life & Death Of A Wild Rover. I think you'd enjoy them if you havent already read them. 2 great books.
By strutter_bubble on June 1, 2010 1:42 PM
From last thread regarding books
My post should have read Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock - curse of the sausage fingers strikes again.
Celtic_First & Mort - thanks for that - I will certainly bear that in mind. I'll maybe look elsewhere for a start on the SCW. The immpression I get of the SCW is it's still very much an emotive subject so I will need to be careful in selecting books on the subject.
allgreen - have added the Paul Preston book to my reading list, cheers.
DDBIA - have added the Donald L. Miller book to my reading list as well, cheers.
Rod Stewart - ditto the Hugh Thomas book, cheers.
Mort - how about Para Handy Tales by Neil Munro for some light reading.
By strutter_bubble on June 1, 2010 2:53 PM
Cadizzy - Raymond Carr added to the ever growing reading list, cheers.
Mort - another book worth checking out is True Tales Of American Life edited by Paul Auster - it's quite a read.
PJBhoynyc on June 1, 2010 11:44 PM
Book Club
Interested in Woody Allen?
Read anything by S.J. Perelman.
He is the 'original' Woody Allen....
Who entertained and more than influenced the young Konigsberg
not that Woody would admit to it.......
bankiebhoy1 on June 2, 2010 12:03 AM
PJ
Re Mr Konigsberg - noted.
Have you tried his " Mere Anarchy" tho'?
(Just don't read it on the subway.)
HH
SwanseaBhoy on June 2, 2010 12:49 PM
BOOK CLUB
Anyone read Alan Kellys' The Tar Factory or Help Me Rhonda by the same Coatbridge author?
Just ordered both from Amazon.
Tarmac_the_carpark on June 2, 2010 1:04 PM
Books to read
Famine- liam o'flaherty
Down a road all rebels run- mogue doyle
By bazninja on June 2, 2010 9:17 PM
Is the Charlie Tully book any good?
By serge on June 1, 2010 12:51 PM
bazzabhoy
have you read Celtics Lost Legend - The George Connelly Story & Dan Doyle - The Life & Death Of A Wild Rover. I think you'd enjoy them if you havent already read them. 2 great books.
By strutter_bubble on June 1, 2010 2:53 PM
Cadizzy - Raymond Carr added to the ever growing reading list, cheers.
Mort - another book worth checking out is True Tales Of American Life edited by Paul Auster - it's quite a read.
By the mighty atom on June 2, 2010 10:09 PM
Anyone fancy reading a controversial Stephen Fry Tome called -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tish-Pish-Speakingness-Collection-Gorgiosities/dp/1840244666

By nantes93 on June 2, 2010 10:56 PM
setting free the bears. Also read The Road,actually read it one sitting,didnt think it transferred well to the big screen very bleak.Try No Country For Old Men.I would also recommend Rain Gods and The Tin Roof Blowdown by James lee Burke.
By setting free the bears on June 2, 2010 11:10 PM
gl2
Some poster, sorry can't remember, recommended the John McGahern autobiography to your list, and I might just look that out for the holidays.
By setting free the bears on June 2, 2010 11:14 PM
nantes 93
I read the James Lee Burke books but I preferred his historical novels. I'd recommend "White Doves at Morning" set in the American Civil War.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Updates to 2009 list

Lazarus on June 15, 2009 11:43 PM


Greenlion2 unless I missed them mentioned have you not read The Thomas Covenant trilogies or the truly magnificent Wheel of time series by the sadly lost Robert Jordan.

U2_1888 on June 16, 2009 12:07 AM

Greenlion,

Books - not sure whether you have an Irish category or not, but just returned from business trip where I caught a book entitled 'Ten Dead Men' by David Beresford. I found it difficult to put down.

Very informative book about the 1981 Hunger Strike, the men involved, their background and families, the circumstances which led to their imprisonment, secret daily comms which were smuggled in and out of the prison during the entire episode and details of the frantic attempts to find a solution in the background.

Don't know if the subject matter floats your boat, but if you are at all interested in it you will find it a seriously interesting read. I hope we never see such times again.

Book club 2009

Exiled Hoop In Yorkshire on June 1, 2009 5:38 PM

GL2

'Any Human Heart' and 'Restless' both by William Boyd are great reads. As are 'The Winter of Frankie Machine' and 'The Power of The Dog' both by Don Winslow.

'London Irish' and 'Big Jessie' by Zane Radcliffe are entertaining too.

'Cold Granite' and 'Dying Light' by Stuart MacBride are crime thrillers set on the mean streets of Aberdeen (my neck of the woods) and are excellent.

I'm also a big fan of anything by Chris Brookmyre (even if he is a St Mirren fan) and Carl Hiaasen both of whom specialise in thrillers with a particularly dark sense of humour.

The bulk of the above list are thriller / crime based but if that kind of thing is up your street any of the above will keep your interest.

syllawhowasmince

The Star Rover - Jack London

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Rover-Rebel-Inc-Classics/dp/0862418879/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243872992&sr=1-4

hidden agendas - john pilger

DontbrattbackinangerAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 5:12 PM

GL2- they're not paying me enough to 'click on Cadizzy's spanner'.

Anyways, 'the Book Thief' is the best I've read this year.

The bairns don't know it yet but I'd very much like the new Antony Beevor book about D-day, and the Normandy campaign, for Father's Day.

mcgraininspain on June 1, 2009 6:03 PM

Book CLique - not read a great deal recently but enjoyed Haruki Murakami's 'What I talk about when I talk about running'. In fact it rather inspired me to exercise more and differently as part of my weight loss for Kano. It's a short book cum long essay about about writing, running (he's completed 20+ marathons) and life

Caddizy

Jesse Kellerman .. "Brutal Art"
Jesse Kellerman ..."Trouble"

Most Val McDermid but not the ones with Robson Green in them.

James Ellroy....everything but especially "The Cold Six Thousand" and the Dudley Smith trilogy (which includes LA Confidential)

RJ Ellory "A Quiet Belief in Angels"

Nigel Williams "They Came From SW19" "East of Wimbledon"

"Lucky Jim" Kingsley Amis (still funny after 50 plus years)

PFayr

S FAULKS .ENGELBY
N CROSS.BURIAL
B SCHLINK.HOMECOMING

THE WHITE TIGER

THE RELUCTANT FUNDEMENTLIST

bazza67 on June 1, 2009 7:05 PM

Book Club

Larsson ( sadly not that one )

The Girl with Dragon Tatoo Trilogy

Also

Netherland

by O'Neil

again not that one

SonsOfErin on June 1, 2009 7:18 PM

Book Club -

"Catch 22" by Joseph Heller - A classic wit from a one-hit wonder.

"Use of Weapons" by Iain M Banks - Sci-fi may not be your scene, but an excellent tale of morality that wouldn't quite work in any other setting. I'll challenge anyone to see the twist coming.

"The Terror" by Dan Simmons - Excellent fictional account of the lost 1840's expedition to find the northwest passage. The attention to detail is fascinating.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Whitney Houston's nappy on June 1, 2009 7:28 PM

SonsofErin
Something Happened by Joseph Heller is as good as Catch 22 (though far more depressing which makes it less enjoyable). Not a one hit wonder in my opinion.

setting free the bears on June 1, 2009 7:33 PM

SonsofErin

Maybe a one hit wonder but certainly not a one good book man.

Something Happened is a good satire on office politics and boredom and God Knows was his attempt at a Big Book. Godd as Gold is readable too

I have had a year of interesting but not really GOOD books. Some poster on here recommended "The Given Day" by Dennis Lehane, a story centred round the Boston Police Department strike in 1919.

I thought at first that my run was continuing as this is not my kind of thing. It's heavily plot-driven, almost breathless in its rush to the next scene but, every now and again, he gives himself a couple of paragraphs of description or comment and allows his writing to soar. This guy is a better writer than he allows himself to be at times (maybe read too much Hemingway but he's even more terse than pablophanque's match reports).

Anyway, grudging or not, I'm putting it on your list. Read it before it gets filmed!

Another near miss was Sebastian Faulks "Human Traces", about the early days of psychiatry and sanitoria. Most Faulks fans disliked it. I think it is a flawed failure of a Big Book but a good read for psychologists, amateur or otherwise.

Finally, as good as recommending what to read, can I add my recommendation on what NOT to read. Will Self's "The Great Ape", the only book I've ever thrown in a dustbin before reaching Chapter 3- a disgusting book and a product of a sick mind. Self will probably stick that on the book jacket.

NatKnow on June 1, 2009 7:43 PM

Book Club -

1. The Corrections - Jonathan Frantzen

2. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggars (not THAT one)

3. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

4. Chronicles Vol. 1 - Bob Dylan

celtic4orme on June 1, 2009 7:44 PM

exiled hoop in yorkshire/gl2

"the power of the dog" is one of the best thrillers i have ever read.

henning mankell was recommended to me by someone who loves thrillers - she introduced me to brookmyre and hiaasen as well.

Dick ByrneAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 7:44 PM

GL2 - Re the book club.

PF Ayr & I seem to be on the same wavelength - I thought Kellerman's Brutal Art was very contrived but really enjoyed Faulks' Engleby.

Haven't read McGrainInSpain's Murakami recommendation yet but I'm a huge fan of his other work, particularly Kafka On The Shore.

Ghostwritten & Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (no, not that one) are both truly original. I think SFTB is a fan as well but don't let that put you off.

A wee bit of humour? For the surreal try At-Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. For something more modern I think the funniest writer around just now is Davids Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day, Barrel Fever & Dress Your Family In Corduroy & Denim are all laugh-out-loud funny.

By soldierbhoy on June 1, 2009 7:44 PM

Anyone read Beevor's D Day yet, should arrive tommorrow, Stalingrad was breathtaking....the literay version of the Wire.

CalltheguardsAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 7:52 PM

Book Club -


In no particular order..

Ask the Dust - John Fante
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakow
For whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
The Green Fool - Patrick Kavanagh

ParkheadcumsalfordAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 7:53 PM

Some of my favourite books being mentioned like "Catch-22"and "Brave New World". I would thoroughly recommend anything by Anthony Burgess and Graham Greene. Wordsmiths both.

By bankiebhoy1Author Profile Page on June 1, 2009 7:53 PM

Book Club -

Try Philip Roth,

"Portnoy's Complaint" is an obvious one, but also try "American Pastoral" or "The Anatomy Lesson"

Simon Schama - The American Future
Mark little - The New America ( both good reads in tandem with the other.

Also worth a read is "Great Hatred, Little Room" Jonathan Powell's memoirs of the peace process.

dennis 47 on June 1, 2009 7:55 PM

I've just finished, "The Husband", by Dean Koontz.
It was good.
I'd never read one of his before.

twists n turns on June 1, 2009 7:56 PM

"Dare to be a Daniel" by Tony Benn is a good read. Certainly not literary award winning stuff but very witty in parts and a great insight into political shenanigans and where the power really lies. Passages referring to his family life are quite moving really. I don't believe you need to be Tony Benn lover to enjoy this book, but I find the man talks more sense than most (imho)

dennis 47 on June 1, 2009 7:58 PM

Has anyone read, Hughes's, "The Fatal Shore"?
That's one that'll keep you going over a three week holiday

bankiebhoy1Author Profile Page on June 1, 2009 8:03 PM


addendum

Philip Roth - Patrimony. Classic.

ElDiegoBhoyAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 8:07 PM

Reading Michael Koryta's A Welcome Grave having previously read his Sorrow's Anthem and Tonight I Said Goodbye.

Very much in the Michael Connelly vein.

Someone mentioned Dennis Lehane. He's a writer I very much enjoy along with John Lescroart.

GL2 I hope you'll publish your choices nearer your hols.

jinkysboy on June 1, 2009 8:09 PM

FFS - the season is over 2 mins and Im on the CQN book club already - ha ha.

Anyone read Jack Blacks Mindstore book - not required reading for the 1st team squad apparently

Martin 47 on June 1, 2009 8:21 PM

GL 2

I thought these were good:
Anything by Piers Paul Read eg The Junkers; Polonaise; Monk Dawson; the Free Frenchman.
James Ellroy's LA Trilogy.
Almost anything by Philip Roth - The Plot to Destroy? America is v. good but American Pastoral is v. depresssing. The Human Stain is v. interesting.
Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead.
Anthony Burgess - also really good. Earthly Powers is excellent
PJ ? O'Toole only produced the one novel - A Confederacy of Dunces. It is excellent.
The Damned United by Pace? You know, the Clough book. It is good.
Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls by O'Connor.
Ragtime by EL Doctorow is most enjoyable.
Denis LeHane is generally excellent except when he resorts to lazy writing and summons up a Polish giant as a deus ex machina to fix a stalled plot.
Two good early 20th century Americans - John Dos Passos (Manhattan Transfer) and Upton (or is it Lewis) Sinclair (the Jungle).

bazza67 on June 1, 2009 8:27 PM

book club

really recomend stigg larsson trilogy

cant put down stuff

funniest book ever is

hitler my part in his downfall

spike milligan

history

fall of berlin

anthony beevor or stalingrad


ian macewan
atonement or amsterdam

agree re murakami

the wind up bird chronicles is amazing

and one of the scenes in it is unforgetable for the wrong reasons

jvoh67 on June 1, 2009 8:30 PM

PF Ayr

Reluctant fundamentalist was Moshin Hamed, great book. i noticed someone mentioned Murakami, I loved Kafka on the shore

BookclubCSC

inkybhoy on June 1, 2009 8:31 PM

For books, if you want something to keep you going over the summer, give Lanark by Alasdair Gray a go.


I would love to make that book into a film

The Token Tim on June 1, 2009 9:03 PM

Re the CQN Book Club,

Martin47,

You got in there ahead of me with Philip Roth's The Human Stain and The Plot Against America. Thoroughly enjoyed both.

Terry O'Neill,

Puckoon is without doubt one of the funniest/wittiest LOL books I have ever read. Spike Milligan was a genius.

The Power Of The Dog by Don Winslow is superb.

The Road by Cormack McCarthy.

For those who, like me also enjoy the fantasy genre (and the usual minimum trilogy or more) I can recommend The as yet unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin and Robert Jordan's A Wheel of Time (all 11 books and also still unfinished!).

For those like PF Ayr and the legal eagles try anything by Richard North Patterson.

Non-fiction-wise I have recently finished Blood and Sand by Frank Gardner the BBC reporter who was shot and left for dead in the Middle East. It's an excellent book detailing the fascinating life of this man who happily straddled both Western and Arabian cultures.

Please Father, that is all I can remember :-)

HAIL! HAIL!
Token

NatKnow on June 1, 2009 9:06 PM

Terry O/PF Ayr -

I genuinely think I backed "Shantaram" at Hamilton a few weeks ago!

Phil Roth - I Married A Communist is good

Exiled Hoop In Yorkshire on June 1, 2009 9:12 PM

celtic4orme/ GL2

I agree 'The Power of the Dog' is one of the best thrillers I've ever read - a sprawling saga of a life story - it reminded me of The Godfather - only better! I'd love to see it made into a movie, but it's just got so much in there, that I fear they could never do it justice. It was recommended to me by a good mate who's a FOD - he has his uses!

Louise Welsh's 'The Bullet Trick' is a decent read too. To those suggesting Ian McEwan I'd add his 'Saturday' to the list. If anyone enjoys their crime fiction and for some reason hasn't got into Ian Rankin's Rebus series I'd strongly recommend that - and start at the beginning with Knots & Crosses - that series will keep you going for a good while given it runs to about 20 titles.

I've just started reading Luke Rheinehart's 'The Dice Man' - only a little way in but enjoying it so far and has been strongly recommended to me by 2 of my favourite people - by brother and my old man...

EHIY

Ulster-Celt Author Profile Pageon June 1, 2009 9:14 PM

jamiebhoy

Tony Cascarino's book Full Time is a lot different than you would expect from a footballers biography.

a good read, and it won't take long. also eamon dunphy's only a game about his time at Millwall is a good read.

Ulster-Celt

Exiled Hoop In Yorkshire on June 1, 2009 9:23 PM

jamiebhoy

Think I can help, as I read a lot that sort of fit into both your categories.

Sports autobios - try the following if you haven't already:

Roy Keane
John Hartson
Tony Cascarino (honestly, a great read - never read a more honest appraisal of a sportsman's own flaws)
AJ Hackett - Jump Start (this is the guy who invented bungy jumping in NZ - a great story!)
Alan Brazil - There's An Awful Lot of Bubbly in Brazil

Given you like Welsh I'm confident you'll enjoy pretty much anything by Chris Brookmyre who I mentioned earlier. He's a St Mirren fan and the bulk of his books are set in Scotland or have Scottish main characters. They are usually thrillers laced with swathes of very dark comedy. A lot have the same lead characters in more than one novel, so for ease probably start at the beginning with 'Quite Ugly One Morning'.

If you like Brookmyre you will almost certainly enjoy a guy called Carl Hiaasen who is American but writes in a similar vein.

Hope this helps.

EHIY

the seldom green kid on June 1, 2009 9:29 PM

cqn book club


the secret history/ donna tartt
well worth a read.

squire danaher on June 1, 2009 9:51 PM

book club

Squire-ess is the woman for all them Kellerman-type books - when you ask whether she'd like a cup o tea for the 40th time she responds as if I'm an eejit "AH'M READING MA BOOK".

I generally stick to sporty biogs and as above particularly recommend Roy Keane and Tony Cascarino. Miles above the tabloid-ese tripe of various mirror group hacks. Cascarino's is written by Sunday Independent (?) Kimmage and is particularly noteworthy regarding the extent to which he actually hated the game by the end up. keane's is written by Dunphy so say no more.

N Quinn's is a decent read and offers reasonable flip-side of Saipan fiasco. You wonder how Keane ever got job at Sunderland afterwards.

T Adams very good read too.

canamalar on June 1, 2009 9:43 PM

the day of the triffids - sci-fi masterpiece
candid/zadig - never tire of reading them
Pickwick papers - destroyed culture shock for india

bankiebhoy1Author Profile Page on June 1, 2009 9:59 PM

GL2

Have you tried "the Sportswriter" by Richard Ford?

Excellent, no corruption as i remember but powerful stuff.

gebhoyAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 10:07 PM

For the book club;

Dynamo - Defending the honour of Kiev by Andy Dougan

About Dynamo during the Nazi invasion,and a game played aginst the Luftwaffe refereed by an SS officer (we thought McCurry was bad). great read!

Heartfelt - Aiden Smith, story about a Hibs fan following Hearts for a season home and away, good laugh!

The Last kingdom, Sword Song, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, all by my favourite authour Bernard Cornwell, Viking tales in Britain in the 9th century.

Dissolution, Dark Fire, Soveriegn, the Matthew Shardlake books by CJ Sansom also excellent reads!

gebhoy

still standing on June 1, 2009 10:08 PM

book club ghuys

Try American author Richard Ford: The Sportswriter and
Independence Day .. a bit like our manager search ...optimist, nihilist,realist...that's humanity.

still standing

By nakamura-san on June 1, 2009 10:09 PM

bankiebhoy1, have to agree with you on The Sportswriter - in fact the whole Frank Bascombe trilogy are superb (The Sportswriter / Independence Day / The Lay of the Land).

All 3 are now available in one paperback I think.

Exiled Hoop In Yorkshire

For the music fans out there 2 great books are 'Dear Boy' by Tony Fletcher which is THE essential Keith Moon bio and 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times' by Charles L Granata which is about Brian Wilson and the making of one of my favourite albums, The Beach Boys 'Pet Sounds'...

benjybhoy on June 1, 2009 10:49 PM

Book Club.
My recommendations are:

The Godfather (Mario Puzo): What’s not to like? Great depth and wonderful characters. IMO, Godfather 1 and 2 possibly the greatest films ever made.

The Cone Gatherers (Robin Jenkins): Set in Scotland during WW11. Creepy, dark and makes you think better about people at the end.

On The Road Jack Kerouac: This is the book that inspired Dylan and the beatniks, all drugs, booze and burds (wit nae Frankie Bhoy?)

Marlon Brando (Bio): He was a great human being that lived live to the full, interesting and no punches pulled.

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee): Huns will not relate to this sensitive and thought provoking novel which pre-dates the USA black civil rights movement by decades.

Jim the TimAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 10:49 PM

CQN Book List Recommendations:

The last of the breed - Louis L'amour.
- A terrific and unusual tale of US Fighter Test Pilot and Sioux Indian Major Joe Makatozi who is captured by the Russians and imprisoned in Siberia, which is actually his real prison. 'Joe Mack' manages to escape and uses his native hunting and survival skills to escape Siberia and outwit the Russian Forces and siberian Yakut Tracker who are all the time pursuing him.

Night's Dawn Trilogy - Peter F Hamilton:
1) The Reality Dysfunction
2) The Neutronium Alchemist
3) The Naked God
- British Science Fiction at its best and possibly the best Sci-Fi I have ever read. Even at 1200 pages per volume I still couldn't put them down.

A Cairn of small Stones - John Watts
Try the bookshop within St. Mungo's Bookshop in Parson Street in Glasgow, or online from http://www.ovadabooks.com/mungo/).
- Covering the period through the 1715 and 1745 Rebellions and through the famines of the 70's and 80's it tells the story of a Catholic Tenant Farmer in North Morar. A Brilliant tale based on the true recollection of this man's life story. I couldn't read this without asking questions like 'What if the Rebellions had succeeded?', 'What if Scotland had become Catholic?' and 'Is Catholic persecution in Scotland (by some, not all) so very different today?'

Martin 47 on June 1, 2009 10:55 PM

Jamiebhoy

I thought Dunphy's 'Strange Kind of Glory' was brilliant. It's about Man U, Matt Busby, the European Cup and the team's decline in the '70s.

SonsOfErin on June 1, 2009 11:09 PM

Jim The Tim - I've read the Nights Dawn trilogy, not bad at all, but the main character did grate on my nerves somewhat.

For a much darker sci-fi experience try the Gap series by Stephen Donaldson -

The Real Story
Forbidden Knowledge
A Dark and Hungry God Arises
Chaos and Order
This day All Gods Die

Anyone who's read the Thomas Covenant novels he's famous for will know what they're in for.

The Battered Bunnet on June 1, 2009 11:16 PM

Books

Per DBBIA, the Book Thief is a terrific book. Very unusual and quite moving.

If you can find it, Own Goal by Sandy Jamieson is worth the time to read. It may be out of print now, published 1997 by Ringwood. An odd tale of fitba', West of Scotland municipal politics, school days trauma and assassination. All good stuff, as you might expect.

Wizard Of Oz on June 1, 2009 11:22 PM

Evenin all.
Still no manager in place? They are taking their time. Really lovin the way the redtops are just throwing names about, basically bcause they, like us, have no clue who's coming in.
Swansea chairman's public pronouncements will be like manna from heaven for the struggling tabloids.

As for book club recommendations, I noticed benjybhoy mentioned "To kill a mocking bird". Just actually purchased that for my own two weeks away - bought cheap in a Cancer research shop. I buy all my books in these places - and it's a book I've always wanted to read and never got round too. Looking forward to it. Would also like to read Steinbeck's "Of mice and Men" but haven't found it going cheap yet.
I like anything by Nelson DeMille (especially Spencerville or Debt of Honour) or any of the Jack Reacher stories by Lee Child.
Also The Choirboys or The Black Marble by Joseph Wambaugh.
As for non-fiction, an older book but well worth the read is a book called "The Black Lights". Its basically about one guys struggle to be allowed to fight for a world title in USA in the late 70's and how Don King had everything tied up. If you weren't fighting for him, you weren't fighting. Bit date I know, but a really good book.

cardiffbhoy on June 1, 2009 11:32 PM

books for bhoys

catcher in the rye - jd salinger
driving over lemons - chris stewart

an another note

books for wee bhoys and ghirls - anything by oliver jeffers, belfast author and illustrator

The Token Tim on June 1, 2009 11:40 PM

Wizard of Oz,

I was going to mention Nelson DeMille and Lee Child, but as I had listed a screed already thought I might be pushing it.

I enjoyed all DeMille's (funnily enough I can swivel round in my chair where I am right now and look at all of his novels and most of Child's big Jack novels too) but I particularly enjoyed Lion's Game and Cathedral.
The Reacher novels are ideal holiday lie-back-switch-off-cold-beer-within-reach enjoyment!

Have to say that whilst i liked The Book Thief, I wasn't completely enthralled by it, however one which did tick a lot of boxes was The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
That's another I would recommend.

Moonbeams wet dreamAuthor Profile Page on June 1, 2009 11:42 PM

Wiz of Oz

To Kill a Mocking Bird and Of Mice and Men are two very good novels. Loved both.

Another I loved was Lord of the Flies.

anything by Terry Pratchet.

Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Who Killed John Lennon - Fenton Bresler

By The Token Tim on June 1, 2009 11:50 PM

benjybhoy,

If you like the "Mafia" novels try Gomorrah By Roberto Saviano. It's recently been made into a film version. But this book is about the Neapolitan Mafia "The Cammora" and it's influence on Italy as a whole both in commerce and to a lesser degree politics.

Saviano worked undercover to infiltrate the Cammora and he is no under a death sentence a la Salaman Rushdie and has to move continually and live a life incognito with bodyguards due to his publication.

These boys do not take prisoners!

the barber of samaras on June 2, 2009 12:01 AM

I would second The Token Tim on Nelson DeMille, a fantastic if not exactly prolific writer. I particularly liked The Charm School and Plum Island. The one about TWA800 was also outstanding, Night Fall. Haven't read his new one yet, not sure if it's reached paperback yet.

If you like crime with a splash of humour then I would also recommend Harlan Coben, particularly the Myron Bolitar series, although all, or nearly all, are very good.

awalkacrosstherooftopsAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 12:02 AM

for the book club..

Havana Nocturne-How the mob owned Cuba and lost it by TJ English..the mobs involvement in Cuba before Castro took power..an
excellent follow up to gangsters,gamblers,showgirls and revolutionaries..

Robert Vaughn-A Fortunate Life..excellent biog..

and in the sporting field..

Jamie Carraghers autobiog..brilliant read..and he doesnt pull punches in this..very honest and forthright with his views..

The Token Tim on June 2, 2009 12:12 AM

MWD,

meant to say I also enjoy the Pratchett books, although I have to admit that I only have the 1st 8 Discworld novels in my collection.
Keep meaning to add to them, but usually something else grabs my attention.

I will get round to eventually purchasing them all, but it could take a bit of time.....not to mention the dosh!

PJBhoynycAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 12:52 AM

CQN Book Club

Not been doing too much reading of books since last summer.... Internet is dangerous in drawing you in...

But those I did read and enjoyed, made me think or both included...

'Organ Grinders' & 'Pest Control' by Bill Fitzhugh
If you Need to laugh out Very Very Loud....This authors take on the insanity of the modern world and the little guy winning against the odds is just the tonic. I will be reading more of his books. A writer that made me laugh out loud in busy subway carriage.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Very Very Very Dark ..... yet ultimately Hopeful

The Olivetti Chronicles; Three Decades of Life & Music by John Peel.
Interesting retro collection of Peels articles through the years chosen by his family. His reflections on music (and his predictions) at different periods are Intelligent and as amusing as you would expect. Much more than just music though...(His description of meeting his hero Dalglish is wonderful).

The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Mrs given it by her sister. Burds book sez I... But I was wrong...Highly original love story that excercises your mental faculties...

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Fascinating and thought provoking (apologies to Estadio..)

By bournesouprecipeAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 12:54 AM

CQN book club

The Wild Years" by Al Gore

The Fall Of A Watermelon" by S. Platt

"You Will Meet A Stranger" by Sam & Janet Evening

Hours In The Bathroom" by R. U. Dunnyett

Fast Food Cookbook” by Ivana Burgher

Tom McLaughlinAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 1:52 AM

CQN Book Club

Engleby – Sebastian Faulks

Remember Me – Melvyn Bragg

The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins

Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates

A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy O’Toole

RATM on June 2, 2009 2:12 AM

The God Delusion is a fantastic read, if you do like that read, Sam Harris - Letter To A Christian Nation. Astounding piece of writing, whether you agree or not it is a book i can't recommend highly enough.

1.The God Delusion-Richard Dawkins
2.Letter To A Christian Nation-Sam Harris
3.1984-George Orwell
4.No Second Chance-Harlen Coben
5.Scar Tissue-Anthony Kiedis
6.God Is Not Great-Christopher Hitchens
7.Homage To Catalunia-George Orwell

TinyTim on June 2, 2009 2:54 AM

RATM

Harlan Coben is a great tip.

I have read the following by him ,and recommend them all.
Tell No one.
No second chance.
The Woods.
Promise Me.
The Innocent.
Just One Look.
Hold Tight.

Tom McLaughlinAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 3:14 AM

Am I allowed to recommend my own book?

The Substitute by Thomas McLaughlin.

PJBhoynycAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 4:14 AM

TTT
You will not regret buying Gladwells new one...

CQN Travels With My Book

Twelve years ago I had the pleasure of my one and only visit to Spain.....
Barcelona, Madrid, a few days high up in Avila...Then back-tracking back to Barcelona.
Beautiful country.

While on this trip I sought out Manchego cheese to chomp on, inspired by the characters in an amazing book I was reading...Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene...
It brought a whole new dimension to my travels....

On a train on the way to Avila I was reading the hapless heros debating the merits of the monument in Valle de los Caidos, Francos huge basillica to his supporters who had fallen during the civil war. While reading this, I looked out the window of the train, and there in the distance was the Valle de los Caidos itself. Spooky moment. ...Was not even aware I was close....
I took it as Food for Thought, served on a plate by Serendipity Herself.

So if you are traveling through Spain this summer, interested in communism, Franco, the Civil War, the Catholic faith, like to be challenged and to Laugh a Lot....
You Know what to Read and what cheese to accompany your wine....

CadizzyAuthor Profile Page on June 2, 2009 8:27 AM

Re the list of freemasons; the Sir Thomas Lipton mentioned....is he the guy that was behind Lipton's tea? If so, that's me and tea finished. I will never touch another drop. There's never been a mason called Deuchars, has there?....has there?

Books. PFAyr,agree with your point about Brutal Art but,as you say, it was an enjoyable read.

I think I recommended this last year but "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides is terrific. He also wrote The Virgin Suicided" which, I think was made into a film.

Exiled Hoop In Yorkshire on June 2, 2009 8:56 AM

Morning all,

Ellbhoy - you've hit the nail on the head - the board mean "we'll get the best man WE can attract for the job". That's fine by me - the last 2 have been a success so let's hope the next one is too. I think those stamping their feet looking for a 'name' or 'the finished article' aren't living in the real world. Like someone else said recently we're at the level with bosses that we're at with players - ones come up or ones coming down. And I think I'd rather have a young, hungry up and coming one than the opposite.

Book Club / GL2

I've suggested loads already but I was looking over your last couple of years lists and couldn't see 'Mr Nice' by Howard Marks. This is a great autobiography of a kid from Wales who went to Oxford University, got into hash and sort of stumbled into international smuggling - at the peak of his activities he had connections to MI6, the CIA and the IRA (very loosely in the last instance). Well worth a read - the truth can be stranger than fiction...

Bhoy from the County Hellon

From previous thread..
On books for the summer. I have just finished 'Well-Remembered Days' Eoin O'Ceallaigh's memoir of a twentieth-century catholic life as told to Arthur Mathews (yer man from Father Ted) and can recommend it as a wonderful travelling companion for those off on their holidays. It is a wonderful insight into pre Celtic-Tiger Ireland,packed full of hilarious anecdotes and very hard to put down once you have started.

Auldheidon

BREAKING NEWS...

I just dunted my mug of tea there and it fell off the desk and broke into bits. Luckily it was nearly empty, missed the keyboard and I have a spare.

Phew!

On books: Anybody read Tom Robbin's stuff? Some of it would have been excommunication material when I was a boy.

Very interesting ideas on eschatology (Skinny Legs and All), the Resurrection (Another Roadside Attraction and immortality (Jitterbug Perfume).

And the papyrus has lasted well too.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

More Book

"The Strange Death of David Kelly" by Liberal MP Norman Baker.

This book seriously challenges the verdict of the Hutton enquiry that Dr David Kelly, the UK's leading weapons inspector, committed suicide.

"The Crunch" by Alex Brummer.

Very topical and explains in layperson's terms the origins of the credit crunch with particular reference to the Northern Rock fiasco.

"The Enemy Within" (The secret war against the miners)by Seumas Milne.

First published in 1994 and re-published in 2004.

This book brilliantly exposes the lengths (and depths) to which the Government went to destroy the miners using all the apparatus of the State to do so.

Monday, June 30, 2008

2008 CQN Book list

Richard North Paterson and Christpher brookmyre are the big movers and shakers this year.
I will put them into my blog when I find out how to edit blogger.
Sport
Bobby Lennox - Thirty Miles From Paradise
Mark Guidi - The inner sanctum
Tommy Burns - Tommy Twists, Tommy Turns, Tommy Burns.
Tony Cascarino - Full Time
Paolo Di Canio - The Autobiography
Adrian Chiles - We don't know what we're doing
Neil Lennon - Man and Bhoy
Duncan Hamilton - Provided you dont kiss me-20 years with Brian Clough
John Foot - Calcio. The History of Italian football
Non - Fiction
Robert Frisk -The Great War For Civilisation, The Conquest Of The Middle East
Craig Murray - Murder in Samarkand, (368 pages) by Craig Murray ex British Ambassador to Uzbekistan who discovered that information extracted under torture was being used by Blair's government in the "War on Terror".
Denis O'Hearn - Nothing but an unfinished song.A biography about Bobby Sands. Brilliantly researched and written.
T.J English - The Havana Mob:Gangsters,Gamblers,Showgirls and Revolutionaries
Thomas Friedman's - From Beirut to Jersusalem.Insightful account of the early days of the conflict in his book " It's a wee bit dated as it's based on his personal Beirut experiences in the '80s at the height of the Lebanese civil war. He then is transferred to Jersusalem and in the second part of his book, he then looks at the conflict more from an Israeli perspective. It will help put some perspective and background into the present positions on both sides. It is well over a decade since I read it, but I couldn't put it down, especially as I had been in the region during his time in Beirut.
Lawrence Wright - The Looming Tower. The history of Al Qaeda
Gerald Clark - Capote. Biography of Truman Capote
Peter Biskind - "Easy Riders Raging Bulls". The story of 1970s Hollywood.
Anthony Beevor - Berlin. The last harrowing days of the Nazis.
Jeremy Bowen - Six Days" an account of the Six Day War
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief by is still the best read I've had for many a long month.
Orhan Pamuk - If you want some authentic Turkish perspective, try anything by. Istanbul is a magnificent memoir of, er, Istanbul, and My Named Is Red is just the thing if you like historical mystery and adventure stories like The Name Of The Rose. Not easy, but worth the effort.
James Lee Burke - The Tin Roof Blowdown is out in paperback by the time you go, buy it. A great book written around the New Orleans Hurricane. Brilliant.
Thomas Cahill - How the Irish saved Civilization
Giles Tremlett - Ghosts of Spain
John Hooper - The Spaniards
Andrew Smith - Moondust: In search for the men who fell to earth. About a writer tracking down and interviewing the surviving Apollo astronauts. A fantastic read.
John O' Farrell - "An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - Or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots In Charge"...or anything else by him really.
Fiction
Norman Mailer - Oswald's Tale Assassination of JFK as imagined by Mailer.
John Connolly's - series about Charlie Parker (fictional not the musician)
Harlan Coben - The Woods and Just One Look and Promise MeChristopher Brookmyre - All but special mention to One fine day in the middle of the night, A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away, "All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses An Eye".
Douglas Lindsey - Barney Thomson' series by which are set in Glasgow
Andrew O'Hagen - The Atlantic Ocean. His latest book is a collection of essays about Britain and America.
David Maine - The Flood (USA the Preservationist)
Richard North Paterson - Protect & Defend, Balance of Power, Silent Witness, Conviction. The race and ExileProtect and Defend particularly gripping because of it's subject matter - an Irish catholic teenage girl in USA, who is pregnant and discovers the baby is essentially developing without a brain. Her parents go to court to force her to give birth, whilst she wants to abort - I certainly felt for every character in the book. To me it's a must read.The Race very topical with the Obama / Clinton situation. Exile is a fascinating read about Jews and Arabs but in a novel.
Joseph O’Connor - Redemption Falls is, loosely, a follow up to "Star of the Sea" and is as much about the Irish diaspora as the American West toward the end of the Civil War period. The character O'Keefe is loosely based on Thomas Francis Meagher, an Irish republican who made good in America following an escape from Australia as a deportee.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's - Purple Hibiscus about a clash between old rural religious traditions in Nigeria with paternal catholicism, is even better than "Half of a Yellow Sun".
Bill Bryson - The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid is very funny and very kind hearted about nostalgia for the 1950's . I'm not usually a big fan of Bryson's. He can turn a joke and reads easily but can get a bit repetitive. Here, where he is writing a loose autobiography, he is on top form.
Martin Cruz Smith's - Stalin's Ghost - an Inspector Renko novel
Ronan Bennett - Zugswang a crime novel set during a chess tournament in pre-revolutionary Russia. Both are very quick and undemanding reads.
Louis de Bernières - captain correllis mandolin ...was great
Steph Penney - a tenderness of wolves.That was a vg read set in Canada at the time of the Hudson Bay Co
Ian McEwan- anything by him but mentioned - Saturday/The Innocent and Enduring Love(def not a birds book)
George Mackay Brown - Any of his short stories a Catholic convert and Celtic supporter.
HV Morton - In Search of Ireland. This is hard to trace but worth every penny.
Iain Banks - Matter
Nigel Tranters - books on here a while back(had never heard of him), have just finished reading The Wallace and in a word, Marvellous. Now for the Bruce trilogy.
Brendan Graham - The Whitest Flower (about a familys suffering during the famine and then being shipped to Canada on a famine ship)
Patrick MacGill - Children Of the Dead End by - about a lad born on a small farm in ireland then came to the west of scotland where he worked on farms, tramped the roads, worked as a navie on the Hydro Electric Scheme etc, etc.
Lawrence Block - Scudder and Burglar series are good. The Burglar ones are more light-hearted and of a holiday nature but Scudder's books as an alcoholic New York PI are excellent.
Stuart Macbride - At the lighter end of the scale, Cold Granite by is a good read. Based in Aberdeen and really takes the p*** out of the place at times.
Evelyn Waugh - My all time favourite read is Brideshead Revisited By and I'd recommend that to anyone.
Iain Rankin - Mortal Causes and Black & Blue
Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.a bit odd, but great fun
Paul Torday - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Highly recommended.
Mark Barrowcliffe - 'The Elfish Gene is very funny in parts,it's about growing up in the Midlands and spending your adolescence playing' Dungeons and Dragons'. It has some sharp insights into male adolescent psychology, including the kind of behaviour that crops up on CQN from time to time.
CJSansom - The series of thrillers set in Tudor England by featuring the hunchback lawyer Shardlake are worth investigating; I think the historical research is sound enough so you can learn a bit of history without reading a history book, if you get what I mean.Can fully back up the CJ Sansom books top quality, also gives insight into what happens over in Mordor everyday.
Matthew Pearl - The Dante Club
Sebastain Faulks -Engleby is a return to form (about time)Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex is very enjoyable.
Lorenzo Caraterra - Sleepers