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.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Book club 2009
Exiled Hoop In
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
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
hidden agendas - john pilger
Dontbrattbackinanger
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
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
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
"Lucky Jim" Kingsley Amis (still funny after 50 plus years)
PFayr
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 Byrne
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,
Calltheguards
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
Parkheadcumsalford 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 bankiebhoy1 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
bankiebhoy1 on June 1, 2009 8:03 PM
addendum
Philip Roth - Patrimony. Classic.
ElDiegoBhoy 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
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?
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
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
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
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
Please Father, that is all I can remember :-)
HAIL! HAIL!
Token
NatKnow on June 1, 2009 9:06 PM
Terry O/PF
I genuinely think I backed "Shantaram" at
Phil Roth - I Married A Communist is good
Exiled Hoop In
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 on 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
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
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
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
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
bankiebhoy1 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.
gebhoy on June 1, 2009 10:07 PM
For the book club;
Dynamo - Defending the honour of
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
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.
The Cone Gatherers (Robin Jenkins): Set in
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 Tim 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
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
- 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
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
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.
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,
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 dream 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
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
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.
awalkacrosstherooftops
on June 2, 2009 12:02 AM
for the book club..
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
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!
PJBhoynyc
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 bournesouprecipe
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 McLaughlin 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 McLaughlin on June 2, 2009 3:14 AM
Am I allowed to recommend my own book?
The Substitute by Thomas McLaughlin.
PJBhoynyc 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
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
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....
Cadizzy 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
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
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.
on
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
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
Friday, May 2, 2008
Update to the CQN book club
Georgiebhoy
My War Gone By, I Miss It So – Anthony Loyd
The Boys From the Mersey – Nick Allt
Hells Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger – Sonny Barger
The Floating Brothel – Sian Rees
The Ship Thieves – Sian Rees
The Shadows of Elisa Lynch – Sian Rees
Leadbelly – Andrew Rule and John Silvester
The Westies by TJ English to the list. It's about the Hells Kitchen Irish Crew that inadvertantly brought down Gotti...
Bryce Curdy
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow. Check out the reader reviews on Amazon if you don't take my word.
o1bhoy
Sheilas Wogs and Poofters by Johnny Warren...
It's about Soccer(FOOTBALL) trying to Fight for a place in Aussie sport...
lamartine
God`s secret Agents by a young Scottish writer Alice Hogge riveting(it would make a wonderful film).It begins with the Armada ,ends with the gunpowder plot and covers the Jesuit underground mission to administer to Catholics in Elizabethan England
Lhondondave
Three Cups of Tea about a remarkable, and somewhat eccentric American mountaineeer, Greg Mortenson, who found his life's work in central Asia, setting up schools for underprivileged tribal kids. Not at all mawkish, as that description might suggest, but compelling reading.
Therags...
the rum diary by hunter s Thompson
the wind up bird chronicle by Haruki Murakami.
Corrib 04
Pompeii by Robert Harris. Thriller set in the two days prior and post the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
'An unsung hero' about Tom Crean the Irishman who accompanied many a seasoned artic explorer. Highly recommend.
greenlion2
Jock Stein by Archie McPherson
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Books from CQN
Spanish
Antony Beevor “Battle for Spain - The Spanish Civil War. 1936-39”George Orwell's "A Homage to Catalonia"
Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls". Paul Preston's “Franco – A biography”
CJ Sansom “Winter in Madrid”
Graham Greene “Monsignor Quixote”
Giles Tremlett “Ghosts of Spain
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and E. Grossman “Love in the time of Cholera” Spanish love story
Isabelle Allende “Zorro”
Carlos Ruiz Zafon “Shadow of the Wind” Spanish Drama
Javier Cercas “Soldiers of Salamis” Civil war
Sport
David Peace “The Damned Utd”
Gary Imlach “My father and other Working Class Heroes”
Phil Ball Morbo the Story of Spanish football- History and politics in Spanish football.
Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger “Tor – the story of German football”
Lance Armstrong's “autobiography”
Rob Bagchi, Paul Rogerson "The Unforgiven"
H G Bissinger 'Friday Night Lights'
Andrew Jennings “Foul”
Tom Bower “Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football.”
James S Hirsch “Hurricane : The life of Rubin Carter, Fighter”
Paul McGrath autobiog
Niall Quinn Autobiog
Others
William Dalrymple “The Last Mughal. The fall of a dynasty, Delhi, 1857”
Joseph O'Connor's “Redemption Falls” American civil war
Jon Halliday & Jung Chang “Mao”
David Mitchell “Ghostwritten” Japanese death cult!!!
John McGahern's "That they may face the rising sun' Life in an Irish village
Brian Moore “Black Robe” Settling in Canada
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie "Half of a Yellow Sun". Biafran civil war
Joseph Ratzinger aka Pope Benedict XIV “Jesus of Nazareth”
Khaled Hosseini “The Kite Runner” a boy in Afghan Growing up
Ben Okri “the famished road” Read the review and still don’t understand it
JP Donleavy's “The Ginger man” or any other of books. Society in Dublin and London told through a drunk Womaniser….sounds goodSpike Milligan “Puckoon” It's 1924 and the Boundary Commission is deciding on the new line between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. With much pushing and shoving, the border finds it's way down the middle of Puckoon, dividing house from outhouse, man from wife, and pub chairs from bars. Something must be done!
Tom Sharpe ”Wilt” and “The Throwback”
Frank Skinners Autobiography.
John Cole's "As It Seemed To Me"
Richard Pryor's “Pryor convictions and other life sentences”
Jonathan Harr “A Civil Action” The story of a law suit which lasts 30 years”
Gary Younge, "Stranger in a Strange Land : Encounters in a disunited land" a series of articles on American culture, attitudes towards race, war and foreign policy
Jonathen Franzen “The Corrections” Franzen gives himself plenty of room to examine the foibles, fears, hopes, anxieties and neuroses of 21st-century American life
Nate Blakeslee “Tulia: Race, Cocain and corruption In a small Texas town”Malachi Martin “Hostage to the Devil: The possession and Exorcism of 5 living Americans “
Frederick Taylor 'Dresden'
antony beevor “Stalingrad”
Anonymous “A Woman in Berlin” Dominic Sandbrook “Never Had It So Good: A History of Britain from the Suez to the beatles”
Slavomir Rawicz “The Long Walk. The true story of a trek to freedom
John Boyne “The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas” Story of the HolocaustSusan Nathan “The Other Side of Israel”Giovanni Guareschi "The Little World of Don Camillo"
Paul Johnston "The Bone Yard" and "Water of Death"
Gabriel García Márquez “100 years of Solitude” The story of seven generations of the Buendia family and of Macondo, the town they have built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book and only Aureliano Buendia can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny. Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy with comic invention
Bill Watkins “Celtic Childhood” Childhood stories in Ireland, England and Wales
Irish" by John Burrowes Story of the Irish in Glasgow
Paul Burke “Father Frank” an accidental journey into priesthood
Peter Sheridan “44: Dublin Made me"
Philip Pullnam 'His Dark Materials'
Terrel Miedaner “The Soul of Anna Klane “
Elizabeth Kostova "The Historian" (Don't read alone!)David J Garrow “Bearing the Cross”
Yann Martel's 'Life Of Pi' Campbell Armstrong “The Last Darkness” Murders in GlasgowIrwin Shaw “The Young Lions” People during WW2Tom Sharpe “Riotous Assembly” Sound like African perversion
Brian Masters “The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer”
Donald Woods “Biko”
John Irving " a prayer for owen meany"
Bill Bryson's "a short history of nearly everything".
David James Any of his books He created an interesting Russian Detective in Vadim. Plots set somewhere 2030 on as I remember. Original book is Monstrum I believe.
Robert Service “The collected Poems of “
AND the one’s that could not even get into the others category
Eric Thompson Magic Roundabout books The Adventures Of Dougal, The Adventures Of Brian, The Adventures Of Dylan and The Adventures Of Ermintrude
Gilbert Shelton "The Complete Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers"
Antony Beevor “Battle for Spain - The Spanish Civil War. 1936-39”George Orwell's "A Homage to Catalonia"
Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom The Bell Tolls". Paul Preston's “Franco – A biography”
CJ Sansom “Winter in Madrid”
Graham Greene “Monsignor Quixote”
Giles Tremlett “Ghosts of Spain
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and E. Grossman “Love in the time of Cholera” Spanish love story
Isabelle Allende “Zorro”
Carlos Ruiz Zafon “Shadow of the Wind” Spanish Drama
Javier Cercas “Soldiers of Salamis” Civil war
Sport
David Peace “The Damned Utd”
Gary Imlach “My father and other Working Class Heroes”
Phil Ball Morbo the Story of Spanish football- History and politics in Spanish football.
Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger “Tor – the story of German football”
Lance Armstrong's “autobiography”
Rob Bagchi, Paul Rogerson "The Unforgiven"
H G Bissinger 'Friday Night Lights'
Andrew Jennings “Foul”
Tom Bower “Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football.”
James S Hirsch “Hurricane : The life of Rubin Carter, Fighter”
Paul McGrath autobiog
Niall Quinn Autobiog
Others
William Dalrymple “The Last Mughal. The fall of a dynasty, Delhi, 1857”
Joseph O'Connor's “Redemption Falls” American civil war
Jon Halliday & Jung Chang “Mao”
David Mitchell “Ghostwritten” Japanese death cult!!!
John McGahern's "That they may face the rising sun' Life in an Irish village
Brian Moore “Black Robe” Settling in Canada
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie "Half of a Yellow Sun". Biafran civil war
Joseph Ratzinger aka Pope Benedict XIV “Jesus of Nazareth”
Khaled Hosseini “The Kite Runner” a boy in Afghan Growing up
Ben Okri “the famished road” Read the review and still don’t understand it
JP Donleavy's “The Ginger man” or any other of books. Society in Dublin and London told through a drunk Womaniser….sounds goodSpike Milligan “Puckoon” It's 1924 and the Boundary Commission is deciding on the new line between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. With much pushing and shoving, the border finds it's way down the middle of Puckoon, dividing house from outhouse, man from wife, and pub chairs from bars. Something must be done!
Tom Sharpe ”Wilt” and “The Throwback”
Frank Skinners Autobiography.
John Cole's "As It Seemed To Me"
Richard Pryor's “Pryor convictions and other life sentences”
Jonathan Harr “A Civil Action” The story of a law suit which lasts 30 years”
Gary Younge, "Stranger in a Strange Land : Encounters in a disunited land" a series of articles on American culture, attitudes towards race, war and foreign policy
Jonathen Franzen “The Corrections” Franzen gives himself plenty of room to examine the foibles, fears, hopes, anxieties and neuroses of 21st-century American life
Nate Blakeslee “Tulia: Race, Cocain and corruption In a small Texas town”Malachi Martin “Hostage to the Devil: The possession and Exorcism of 5 living Americans “
Frederick Taylor 'Dresden'
antony beevor “Stalingrad”
Anonymous “A Woman in Berlin” Dominic Sandbrook “Never Had It So Good: A History of Britain from the Suez to the beatles”
Slavomir Rawicz “The Long Walk. The true story of a trek to freedom
John Boyne “The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas” Story of the HolocaustSusan Nathan “The Other Side of Israel”Giovanni Guareschi "The Little World of Don Camillo"
Paul Johnston "The Bone Yard" and "Water of Death"
Gabriel García Márquez “100 years of Solitude” The story of seven generations of the Buendia family and of Macondo, the town they have built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book and only Aureliano Buendia can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny. Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy with comic invention
Bill Watkins “Celtic Childhood” Childhood stories in Ireland, England and Wales
Irish" by John Burrowes Story of the Irish in Glasgow
Paul Burke “Father Frank” an accidental journey into priesthood
Peter Sheridan “44: Dublin Made me"
Philip Pullnam 'His Dark Materials'
Terrel Miedaner “The Soul of Anna Klane “
Elizabeth Kostova "The Historian" (Don't read alone!)David J Garrow “Bearing the Cross”
Yann Martel's 'Life Of Pi' Campbell Armstrong “The Last Darkness” Murders in GlasgowIrwin Shaw “The Young Lions” People during WW2Tom Sharpe “Riotous Assembly” Sound like African perversion
Brian Masters “The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer”
Donald Woods “Biko”
John Irving " a prayer for owen meany"
Bill Bryson's "a short history of nearly everything".
David James Any of his books He created an interesting Russian Detective in Vadim. Plots set somewhere 2030 on as I remember. Original book is Monstrum I believe.
Robert Service “The collected Poems of “
AND the one’s that could not even get into the others category
Eric Thompson Magic Roundabout books The Adventures Of Dougal, The Adventures Of Brian, The Adventures Of Dylan and The Adventures Of Ermintrude
Gilbert Shelton "The Complete Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers"
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