Well that certainly got a few quick responses Theno, I'm sure we disagree on a number of things. I don't suppose it was your wife or daughter who was "harvested" for that party. If it were, then I suggest that if she was raped or subjected to multiple sexual penetration by members of the Manchester United squad, then you might just take another view. The whole session was an obvious orgy to satisfy the urges of the Scum squad, the fact that the players' wives and partners were excluded speaks volumes. Eh? Can you explain that?

If this has any truth in it, then it is horrible. Guardian

Bazza, Nothing personal, but just why are you so against the climate change theory? Most independent scientists are now firmly convinced that climate change is real and is happening and that it is going to severly effect the world over the next 50-100-200 years. Please will you let me/us know why you don't beleive in it. I'm just really interested as to why in the overwhelming face of scintific evidence you take the opposite view. Is it something religious? It's not really like those people who are having a go at the theory of evolution is it? Cheers Colin

Starcascade, I read Kerouc's "On The Road" many years ago. It was fairly inspirational way back then, good to hear it's still working. I liked the way it just challenged everything that was/is taken as a given. Recently finished "The Life Of Pi." A strange & wonderful book, where the middle 200 pages act as a kind of barrier to the first and last 50. I don't know why I haven't mentioned him before, but there's a bloke called Colin Bateman who writes the most funniest, hearbreaking, sometimes gruelling novels. He bases them out of Ulster where he originates from. http://www.colinbateman.com/ I've read him on the bus to work sometimes and just started laughing out loud. I've just got "I Predict A Riot" out from the library for a holiday read, & am really looking forward to it. I'd recommend him to absolutely anyone.

I thought MGP had a really good second half last night. He got motoring down that wing and whipped in a few really good crosses. The one he chipped in for Samba, who headed it against the base of the post, was sublime. Rubbish first half, rubbish season too.

Spot on there AESF.

I've played that a few times & somehow missed the T-shirt folding skill. It's either too fast or something.

Went to see "Ratatoiulle" on Sunday. The computer graphics used by Pixar are getting far too realistic. Good film, good story - line, good twists in the tale, the daughter loved it and so did I. And when you get home what do you have for your tea?

Oh come on everyone, the whole spectacle is based on a BBC big night out that bears no reality to anything that makes sense. To try and compare and rank a marathon runner with a golfer with a F1 driver with a boxer with a footballer etc ......makes about as much sense as trying to compare "Plumber Of The Year" with Cosmopolitan magazine's moisturiser of 2007 award. Utterly pointless. But it gets the ratings up and all concerned can have a jolly good night out, or a night in in front of the telly getting all excited over a meaningless "competition." Bah, humbug!

list 6, two taken off the top & two new ones added below "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel recommended by Rosie & now me. I'm up to page 216 out of 319. A brief description: (Rosie)-it tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion. (Colin)- slightly surreal but completely captivating. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this. It won the Man Booker prize in 2002. +++ "A History of the World in Six Glasses" by Tom Standage recommended by Four Lane Blue A brief description: looks at how beverages such as beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and water pushed forward civilisation at various times. It is not as interesting as expected but seems to be slowly getting going. +++ 'Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: a truly fantastic and original piece of literature. It almost makes you want to go to Iowa. Almost. +++ "Long Walk to Freedom," Nelson Mandela's autobiography. recommended by Wiggy A brief description: What a fantastic account of a truly remarkable life. As it's rather long, probably perfect for a holiday. +++ Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire." recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's absolutely fantastic. Amen to that, brother. GOF should be required reading for all European citizens and a moral requirement for all heterosexual men. Bloody fantastic stuff. (sidders) +++ Nathanial Philbrick's "Mayflower" recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: about the new England settlement....If it's anywhere near as good as his magnificent earlier book "In the Heart of the Sea" (which I recommend to anyone ) it'll be worth it . +++ The Prester Quest" by Nicholas Jubber. ISBN 0-553-81628-4. Published by Bantam books. Recommended by me A brief description: Partly a sort of hippy narrative about his journey from Rome to Ethiopia, but mostly absolutely crammed full to the brim with history and observations of the regions his journey took him through. +++ "Ancient Rome , the rise and fall of an empire" Simon Baker . Recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: I took this on holiday and was very surprised at its quality and readibility (if that's a word) .It's apparently based on a BBC series. ++++ "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy recommended by Debs A brief description: This is a story about a father and his child travelling along a road searching for some sort of better world in a burning post apocolyptic USA. There is no explaination in the book about what caused the end of the world, and suprisingly that doesn't matter. The story focuses on the relationship between the two of them and particularly the father's desire to protect his son both physically and morally from other desperate survivors driven to gruesome acts to stay alive. I found it a very disturbing and thought provoking book. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards Recommended by Paul A brief description: Having said that the daughter's Downs Syndrome, while central to the story is not the dominant aspect of the book. It is much more about people's relationships. I feel this is a tremendously well written piece of work, the author's insight with regard to the challenges and joys of raising a disabled child are staggering, though she has no direct experience and for this alone it is well worth reading ++++ "A Short History Of Just About Everything", by Bill Bryson. Recomended by Den & Flopsy A brief description: It depends on your taste of course, but the book covers most of the sciences, everything that goes to make the universe and the human being. It's all laid out in a very easy to follow, but very interesting format. Entertaining stuff, amusing too. +++ Flashman series of books by George McDonald Fraser. Recommended by Cheshire Blue, Cheeky Sidders, & Four Lane Blue A brief description: They are top drawer reads and historically very close to the truth. Try to read them in order if you can. A very entertainng insight into how the British ran their campaigns during the expansion of the empire. +++ "Berlin 1936 - How Hitler Stole The Olympic Games" by Guy Walters. Recommended by Bryan A brief description: And a bloody good read it is too. +++ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Recommended by Rebelmswar A brief description: What a great read this was, it kept me up to 0315 and I finished it in one sitting. I have watched Blade Runner but this book puts it all into another level, leaves you asking why the hell did they not put all of this in the film? +++ "A Short History of Tractors in UKRAINIAN" by Marina Lewycka. Recommended by Paul (& now recommended by me too. What a strange and wonderful story. I concur with Paul's description) A brief description: Funny and sad from one sentence to the next this is a rather extraordinary book dealing with ageing, family feuds, sinelity, second world war attrocities, the contribution of immigrants to the UK, Eastern Europe's view of the West and of course a short history of tractors! It's very difficult to give a precise so I'll just nick the bit on the back cover: 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside' +++ “Never Let me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. The author of “The Remains of the Day” Recommended by Rebelmswar A brief description: To put it lightly I have never yet had a book disturb and sadden me as much as this one did. Don’t get me wrong it is not nasty or anything like that, it is just so distressingly passive the way the narrator goes on with the story and how normal this all is to her. I had no clue the book was about what it was when I started and all through it there was this faint undercurrent of dread. & Debs: I read this book a couple of years ago and recommended it towards the begining of this thread. It can't really be reviewed, as explaining what it is about will spoil the read. It is very disturbing and you're absolutely right that it's the acceptance of the narrator that makes it so thought provoking. ++++ The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Recommended by Flopsy A brief Description: is defiantely a must read, theres only 7 of the damn things so they should be keeping you occupied for a month or so. ++++ "The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall. Canongate ISBN 978 1 84195 902 3 Recommended by me A brief description: This is one for readers who like their books a little out of the ordinary and don't mind if the author takes them on a slightly surreal journey off to "where to hell did that one come from?" land. It is a surreal tale, but well worth the effort to get into. The concepts & ideas that Hall introduces are sometimes a little strange, but at no point are they irrelevant to the story. If you can handle the main baddie being a "Ludovician shark" which sucks memories out of brains; another character being a fat ginger cat called "Ian;" and the ending being a bit like "Jaws" then you should enjoy this . Strange. ++++ "Pillar of Fire" by Taylor Branch. The second part of Parting The Waters. Recommended by Hypo-Luxa A brief description: these two books are an exhaustive study of the Rev. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. I highly recommend these books to anyone who would like a real uinderstanding of the movement and King's part in it as well as the other principal figures in the movement. ++++ "Yes Man!" by Danny Wallace. recommended by Wolverine A brief description: The plot follows Danny (best known for presenting "How To Start Your Own Country" on BBC) as he decides his life has taken him into a bit of a rut. A conversation on a bus transforms his life forever as it leads to him making a bet that he will only ever say yes to any yes or no question he is asked. The route his life takes is quite extroardinary, not to mention laugh out loud hilarious in places, and explains how he became a TV personality. A film is in production now. ++++ "The Wisdom of Alexander The Great"Enduring Leadership Lessons From The Man Who Created An Empire" by Lance B. Kurke: Recommended by Bazzanotsogreat A brief description: What "enduring leadership lessons" can be learned from Alexander's achievements, lessons which are relevant to our contemporary world, his impact on today's society. The book also does all the usual stuff you expect from antiquety generalsip, strategy etc etc. Anyone who is interested in history, legacy or strategy this is a good-excellent read.

Come on chaps, you know what's needed. Author; title; & brief summary. Otherwise you'll all be in detention. This week Thenodrog is taking it and you all know what that means. Copies of The Daily Mail down the back of your underpants as he goes all Jimmy Edwards on you. Whacko! rebelmswar Something you might try if you feel the need for some morbid darkness is "The Virgin Suicides" just finished that an hour ago and thought it was rather well done. Darkly funny in some spots and very sad in others, I know it is dated but I am trying to read all these books I have missed when I was on ships for so long. Well thanks again Colin keep the titles coming. Flopsy If you're looking for books on various sports that arent football the Guardian Sports Writters have suggested these Sports Books I've read Fletcher's book, and is very interesting, not the greatest prose but the content at times is fascinating. Wolverine Has anyone read Yes Man by Danny Wallace? I liked it.

Tread carefully. I think I remember your surname from posts long gone. You will be strapped into a cage full of rats and made to confess that you love Big Brother. (That's a George Orwell reference BTW, bugger all to do with telly)

I went to the Oxfam shop in Manchester yesterday, bought a birthday card, stuck a couple of quid in the Bangladeshi flood appeal box and picked up a CD by "Mull Historical Society." One of the best I've heard for ages. It's on now.

list 5, three taken off the top & three new ones added below "The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson. Recommended by Flopsy (me too - Colin) A brief description: had me laughing out loud a number of times. +++ "Floodlight Dreams: How To Save A Football Club" by Ian Ridley. Recommended by me A brief description: Born in Weymouth, he always followed its football club which was playing in the Southern League. Due to its mismanagement he took over the club and became Chairman. It describes the 18 months he was there until he was shafted by a local hotellier/businessman. +++ "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel recommended by Rosie A brief description: it tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion. +++ "A History of the World in Six Glasses" by Tom Standage recommended by Four Lane Blue A brief description: looks at how beverages such as beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and water pushed forward civilisation at various times. It is not as interesting as expected but seems to be slowly getting going. +++ 'Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: a truly fantastic and original piece of literature. It almost makes you want to go to Iowa. Almost. +++ "Long Walk to Freedom," Nelson Mandela's autobiography. recommended by Wiggy A brief description: What a fantastic account of a truly remarkable life. As it's rather long, probably perfect for a holiday. +++ Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire." recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's absolutely fantastic. Amen to that, brother. GOF should be required reading for all European citizens and a moral requirement for all heterosexual men. Bloody fantastic stuff. (sidders) +++ Nathanial Philbrick's "Mayflower" recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: about the new England settlement....If it's anywhere near as good as his magnificent earlier book "In the Heart of the Sea" (which I recommend to anyone ) it'll be worth it . +++ The Prester Quest" by Nicholas Jubber. ISBN 0-553-81628-4. Published by Bantam books. Recommended by me A brief description: Partly a sort of hippy narrative about his journey from Rome to Ethiopia, but mostly absolutely crammed full to the brim with history and observations of the regions his journey took him through. +++ "Ancient Rome , the rise and fall of an empire" Simon Baker . Recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: I took this on holiday and was very surprised at its quality and readibility (if that's a word) .It's apparently based on a BBC series. ++++ "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy recommended by Debs A brief description: This is a story about a father and his child travelling along a road searching for some sort of better world in a burning post apocolyptic USA. There is no explaination in the book about what caused the end of the world, and suprisingly that doesn't matter. The story focuses on the relationship between the two of them and particularly the father's desire to protect his son both physically and morally from other desperate survivors driven to gruesome acts to stay alive. I found it a very disturbing and thought provoking book. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards Recommended by Paul A brief description: Having said that the daughter's Downs Syndrome, while central to the story is not the dominant aspect of the book. It is much more about people's relationships. I feel this is a tremendously well written piece of work, the author's insight with regard to the challenges and joys of raising a disabled child are staggering, though she has no direct experience and for this alone it is well worth reading +++ "A Short History Of Just About Everything", by Bill Bryson. Recomended by Den & Flopsy A brief description: It depends on your taste of course, but the book covers most of the sciences, everything that goes to make the universe and the human being. It's all laid out in a very easy to follow, but very interesting format. Entertaining stuff, amusing too. +++ Flashman series of books by George McDonald Fraser. Recommended by Cheshire Blue, Cheeky Sidders, & Four Lane Blue A brief description: They are top drawer reads and historically very close to the truth. Try to read them in order if you can. A very entertainng insight into how the British ran their campaigns during the expansion of the empire. +++ "Berlin 1936 - How Hitler Stole The Olympic Games" by Guy Walters. Recommended by Bryan A brief description: And a bloody good read it is too. +++ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Recommended by Rebelmswar A brief description: What a great read this was, it kept me up to 0315 and I finished it in one sitting. I have watched Blade Runner but this book puts it all into another level, leaves you asking why the hell did they not put all of this in the film? +++ "A Short History of Tractors in UKRAINIAN" by Marina Lewycka. Recommended by Paul A brief description: Funny and sad from one sentence to the next this is a rather extraordinary book dealing with ageing, family feuds, sinelity, second world war attrocities, the contribution of immigrants to the UK, Eastern Europe's view of the West and of course a short history of tractors! It's very difficult to give a precise so I'll just nick the bit on the back cover: 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside' +++ “Never Let me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. The author of “The Remains of the Day” Recommended by Rebelmswar A brief description: To put it lightly I have never yet had a book disturb and sadden me as much as this one did. Don’t get me wrong it is not nasty or anything like that, it is just so distressingly passive the way the narrator goes on with the story and how normal this all is to her. I had no clue the book was about what it was when I started and all through it there was this faint undercurrent of dread. & Debs: I read this book a couple of years ago and recommended it towards the begining of this thread. It can't really be reviewed, as explaining what it is about will spoil the read. It is very disturbing and you're absolutely right that it's the acceptance of the narrator that makes it so thought provoking. ++++ The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Recommended by Flopsy A brief Description: is defiantely a must read, theres only 7 of the damn things so they should be keeping you occupied for a month or so. ++++ "The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall. Canongate ISBN 978 1 84195 902 3 Recommended by me A brief description: This is one for readers who like their books a little out of the ordinary and don't mind if the author takes them on a slightly surreal journey off to "where to hell did that one come from?" land. It is a surreal tale, but well worth the effort to get into. The concepts & ideas that Hall introduces are sometimes a little strange, but at no point are they irrelevant to the story. If you can handle the main baddie being a "Ludovician shark" which sucks memories out of brains; another character being a fat ginger cat called "Ian;" and the ending being a bit like "Jaws" then you should enjoy this . Strange. ++++ "Pillar of Fire" by Taylor Branch. The second part of Parting The Waters. Recommended by Hypo-Luxa A brief description: these two books are an exhaustive study of the Rev. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. I highly recommend these books to anyone who would like a real uinderstanding of the movement and King's part in it as well as the other principal figures in the movement.

I'll tidy this thread up in a few days. In the meantime "The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall. Canongate ISBN 978 1 84195 902 3 I was out with Rose at a pub in Didsbury a few months ago. She's a librarian at Manchester University & she mentioned that her niece's boyfriend was Steven Hall. Sure enough he's given Rose's neice her a fulsome credit in the book. He's dumped her since, apparantly he needed more "personal space." Bloody wuss. "The Raw Shark Texts" is one for readers who like their books a little out of the ordinary and don't mind if the author takes them on a slightly surreal journey off to "where to hell did that one come from?" land. It is a surreal tale, but well worth the effort to get into. The concepts & ideas that Hall introduces are sometimes a little strange, but at no point are they irrelant to the story. If you can handle the main baddie being a "Ludovician shark" which sucks memories out of brains; another character being a fat ginger cat called "Ian;" and the ending being a bit like "Jaws" then you should enjoy this . Hey, it's just a book . Go and read it

American, Can't argue with that, but I'd just like to point out that most people who smoke cannabis (a) mix it with tobacco ( don't have a 20 a day spliff habit. Or at least I've been lead to beleive this is correct.

The Guardian Monday 6th October Shearer Dines In Style After Ritual Slaughter Stephen Bierley (who has probably neverb written a stranger opening paragraph) There were probably lions roaming the streets of Norwich on Friday evening, and the entrails of Saturday morning’s breakfast sausages no doubt warranted a second look. But City, like Julius Caesar, could not resist a crowd and were ritually slaughtered. Surely it can never have happened before at this stage of the season that the leading team were knocked off the top by their nearest rivals in such spectacular fashion. Blackburn, after this week- end’s international lull, next play Aston Villa away and Manchester United at home. Four points from those two games and few would dare dismiss their championship potential. The defence remains suspect but as an attacking force they can be compelling, galvanised by Shearer’s irresistible form. Norwich had begun with a quiet determination born of recent success. They were purposeful and neat, setting out their garden-party stall with crisply ironed cloth and the best silver, china and crystal glass. Rovers passed an admiring eye over the arrangement, then opened the wicket gate and let loose the raging bull. The panic was not immediate. Indeed, Bowen took the ball off Shearer’s toes with such complete calmness and assurance that there was not the slightest hint Norwich’s world was about to cave in so horridly. There are some defenders — Alan Hansen springs to mind — who could stop a charging elephant in its tracks with a flicker of an eyebrow. Ian Butterworth is not one of these, at least not on this afternoon. A swift ball into the corner after nine misrepresentative minutes left the Norwich defender in a one-to-one situation with Shearer. Two things were in Butterworth’s favour: he had a 10-yard start and he could choose the angle by which to close the striker down. But Shearer beat him to the ball, drew him to the line and skinned him. Wegerele, caught in some far- off world of admiration, almost made a complete cocktail of Shearer’s cross, but such was the schism in City’s defence that he scored at the second try. After. that, almost everything Rovers tried succeeded. There was not, as Kenny Daiglish conceded, a six-goal difference between the teams, nor did Norwich drop their heads, Neither should it be concluded that Blackburn are a one-man show; they all work extremely hard and enthusiastically for one another. Wegerle, for instance, can be the most frustratingly wayward of players, yet here he played his part to the full, channeling, his skills where they hurt Norwich the most. Both his goals came from Shearer’s passes, the second after the England striker had shoulder-charged Butterworth off the ball like Bobby Smith of old. Both Shearer’s goals, taking his tally to 13, were gems. The first, Blackburn’s fourth, saw him play a one-two with Sherwood — revelling in the destruction of his former club and the scorer of an excellent headed goal — before beating the advancing and almost totally blameless Gunn with an exquisite lob. It is impossible not to be slightly spellbound by a year’s happenings at Blackburn, Dalglish celebrating his first anniversary next Monday. Both St James’ Park and Ewood Park are currently touched with a magic that positively lifts the spirits- Football is fun, which has nothing to do with the hyped-up nonsense of USkyB “entertainment”. The childlike enthusiasm may not last, but savour it while it does. Scorers: Rovers Wegerlie (9 32). Sherwood (27). shearer (43, 76), Cowana (84), RIpley (71). NorwIch Newman (39). Blackburn Rover., Mimms; Brown, Wright, Sherwood, Hendry. Moran (Marker, 80), Ripley (Wilcox, 80), Atkins, shearer, Wegerie, Cowans. NorwIch City Gunn; Culverhouse, Bowen. Bullerworth, Sutton. Stitch, Crook. Newman, Robins, Goss, Phillips (Power. 84).

IMHO, given the abuse handed out to every England manager over the past 40 years since Alf Ramsey left, anyone who applies for the job is probably mentally unsuitable for the job. McClown's £3m a year salary probabbly goes a long way to explain his current position. Of course qualifying for the Euros is really no real cause for celebration. Is it? It's a bit like celebrating not being relegated really.

"Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger & "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel reserved over t'net c/o Manchester City Council.

list 3, two taken off the top & two new ones added below "Cloud of Sparrows" by Takashi Matsuoka recommended by Cheeky Sidders A brief description: Very entertaining and very easy to get into so ideal holiday fodder. The violence is somewhat graphic, including a fair bit against women and children, so maybe not recommended for the particularly squeamish.Anyway, without giving any of the plot away - samurais, ninjas, geishas, gunslingers, rebels, traitors, battles, murder, assassination, prophecies, palaces and whorehouses. Oh and... er... a lot of tea. +++ "Insomnia" by Stephen King recommended by Flopsy A brief description: ************* +++ "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger. recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's a brilliant study of small town America and the obsessions and lives of the people who live in places like Odessa, Texas. +++ "The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson. Recommended by Flopsy (me too - Colin) A brief description: had me laughing out loud a number of times. +++ "Floodlight Dreams: How To Save A Football Club" by Ian Ridley. Recommended by me A brief description: Born in Weymouth, he always followed its football club which was playing in the Southern League. Due to its mismanagement he took over the club and became Chairman. It describes the 18 months he was there until he was shafted by a local hotellier/businessman. +++ "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel recommended by Rosie A brief description: it tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion. +++ "A History of the World in Six Glasses" by Tom Standage recommended by Four Lane Blue A brief description: looks at how beverages such as beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and water pushed forward civilisation at various times. It is not as interesting as expected but seems to be slowly getting going. +++ 'Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: a truly fantastic and original piece of literature. It almost makes you want to go to Iowa. Almost. +++ "Long Walk to Freedom," Nelson Mandela's autobiography. recommended by Wiggy A brief description: What a fantastic account of a truly remarkable life. As it's rather long, probably perfect for a holiday. +++ Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire." recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's absolutely fantastic. Amen to that, brother. GOF should be required reading for all European citizens and a moral requirement for all heterosexual men. Bloody fantastic stuff. (sidders) +++ Nathanial Philbrick's "Mayflower" recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: about the new England settlement....If it's anywhere near as good as his magnificent earlier book "In the Heart of the Sea" (which I recommend to anyone ) it'll be worth it . +++ The Prester Quest" by Nicholas Jubber. ISBN 0-553-81628-4. Published by Bantam books. Recommended by me A brief description: Partly a sort of hippy narrative about his journey from Rome to Ethiopia, but mostly absolutely crammed full to the brim with history and observations of the regions his journey took him through. +++ "Ancient Rome , the rise and fall of an empire" Simon Baker . Recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: I took this on holiday and was very surprised at its quality and readibility (if that's a word) .It's apparently based on a BBC series. ++++ "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy recommended by Debs A brief description: This is a story about a father and his child travelling along a road searching for some sort of better world in a burning post apocolyptic USA. There is no explaination in the book about what caused the end of the world, and suprisingly that doesn't matter. The story focuses on the relationship between the two of them and particularly the father's desire to protect his son both physically and morally from other desperate survivors driven to gruesome acts to stay alive. I found it a very disturbing and thought provoking book. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards Recommended by Paul A brief description: Having said that the daughter's Downs Syndrome, while central to the story is not the dominant aspect of the book. It is much more about people's relationships. I feel this is a tremendously well written piece of work, the author's insight with regard to the challenges and joys of raising a disabled child are staggering, though she has no direct experience and for this alone it is well worth reading +++ "A Short History Of Just About Everything", by Bill Bryson. Recomended by Den & Flopsy A brief description: It depends on your taste of course, but the book covers most of the sciences, everything that goes to make the universe and the human being. It's all laid out in a very easy to follow, but very interesting format. Entertaining stuff, amusing too. +++ Flashman series of books by George McDonald Fraser. Recommended by Cheshire Blue, Cheeky Sidders, & Four Lane Blue A brief description: They are top drawer reads and historically very close to the truth. Try to read them in order if you can. A very entertainng insight into how the British ran their campaigns during the expansion of the empire. +++ "Berlin 1936 - How Hitler Stole The Olympic Games" by Guy Walters. Recommended by Bryan A brief description: And a bloody good read it is too. +++ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Recommended by Rebelmswar A brief description: What a great read this was, it kept me up to 0315 and I finished it in one sitting. I have watched Blade Runner but this book puts it all into another level, leaves you asking why the hell did they not put all of this in the film? +++ "A Short History of Tractors in UKRAINIAN" by Marina Lewycka. Recommended by Paul A brief description: Funny and sad from one sentence to the next this is a rather extraordinary book dealing with ageing, family feuds, sinelity, second world war attrocities, the contribution of immigrants to the UK, Eastern Europe's view of the West and of course a short history of tractors! It's very difficult to give a precise so I'll just nick the bit on the back cover: 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside' +++ “Never Let me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. The author of “The Remains of the Day” Recommended by Rebelmswar A brief description: To put it lightly I have never yet had a book disturb and sadden me as much as this one did. Don’t get me wrong it is not nasty or anything like that, it is just so distressingly passive the way the narrator goes on with the story and how normal this all is to her. I had no clue the book was about what it was when I started and all through it there was this faint undercurrent of dread.

If anyone needs a goal it's MGP. Just one of his specials against Villa would put the smile back on his face (& ours.) Not that I feel to sorry for someone who wakes up next to "Miss Norway" every morning (apparantly) - the lucky @#/?.

list No 2 List No 3 is below "This Thing Of Darkness" by Harry Thompson recommended by Cheeky Sidders and seconded by Colin A brief description: 750 pages describing the voyages of The Beagle which carried Darwin around the world. Everything you need to know about the voyages; the conditions; the attitudes of the British to the foreigners they met: and the clash of Christianity with Darwin's theories. +++ "Marabou Stork Nightmares" by Irvine Welch recommended by Dr Gonzo A brief description: ************* +++ "Cloud of Sparrows" by Takashi Matsuoka recommended by Cheeky Sidders A brief description: Very entertaining and very easy to get into so ideal holiday fodder. The violence is somewhat graphic, including a fair bit against women and children, so maybe not recommended for the particularly squeamish.Anyway, without giving any of the plot away - samurais, ninjas, geishas, gunslingers, rebels, traitors, battles, murder, assassination, prophecies, palaces and whorehouses. Oh and... er... a lot of tea. +++ "Insomnia" by Stephen King recommended by Flopsy A brief description: ************* +++ "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger. recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's a brilliant study of small town America and the obsessions and lives of the people who live in places like Odessa, Texas. +++ "The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson. Recommended by Flopsy (me too - Colin) A brief description: had me laughing out loud a number of times. +++ "Floodlight Dreams: How To Save A Football Club" by Ian Ridley. Recommended by me A brief description: Born in Weymouth, he always followed its football club which was playing in the Southern League. Due to its mismanagement he took over the club and became Chairman. It describes the 18 months he was there until he was shafted by a local hotellier/businessman. +++ "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel recommended by Rosie A brief description: it tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion. +++ "A History of the World in Six Glasses" by Tom Standage recommended by Four Lane Blue A brief description: looks at how beverages such as beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and water pushed forward civilisation at various times. It is not as interesting as expected but seems to be slowly getting going. +++ 'Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: a truly fantastic and original piece of literature. It almost makes you want to go to Iowa. Almost. +++ "Long Walk to Freedom," Nelson Mandela's autobiography. recommended by Wiggy A brief description: What a fantastic account of a truly remarkable life. As it's rather long, probably perfect for a holiday. +++ Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire." recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's absolutely fantastic. Amen to that, brother. GOF should be required reading for all European citizens and a moral requirement for all heterosexual men. Bloody fantastic stuff. (sidders) +++ Nathanial Philbrick's "Mayflower" recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: about the new England settlement....If it's anywhere near as good as his magnificent earlier book "In the Heart of the Sea" (which I recommend to anyone ) it'll be worth it . +++ The Prester Quest" by Nicholas Jubber. ISBN 0-553-81628-4. Published by Bantam books. Recommended by me A brief description: Partly a sort of hippy narrative about his journey from Rome to Ethiopia, but mostly absolutely crammed full to the brim with history and observations of the regions his journey took him through. +++ "Ancient Rome , the rise and fall of an empire" Simon Baker . Recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: I took this on holiday and was very surprised at its quality and readibility (if that's a word) .It's apparently based on a BBC series. ++++ "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy recommended by Debs A brief description: This is a story about a father and his child travelling along a road searching for some sort of better world in a burning post apocolyptic USA. There is no explaination in the book about what caused the end of the world, and suprisingly that doesn't matter. The story focuses on the relationship between the two of them and particularly the father's desire to protect his son both physically and morally from other desperate survivors driven to gruesome acts to stay alive. I found it a very disturbing and thought provoking book. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards Recommended by Paul A brief description: Having said that the daughter's Downs Syndrome, while central to the story is not the dominant aspect of the book. It is much more about people's relationships. I feel this is a tremendously well written piece of work, the author's insight with regard to the challenges and joys of raising a disabled child are staggering, though she has no direct experience and for this alone it is well worth reading +++ "A Short History Of Just About Everything", by Bill Bryson. Recomended by Den & Flopsy A brief description: It depends on your taste of course, but the book covers most of the sciences, everything that goes to make the universe and the human being. It's all laid out in a very easy to follow, but very interesting format. Entertaining stuff, amusing too. +++ Flashman series of books by George McDonald Fraser. Recommended by Cheshire Blue, Cheeky Sidders, & Four Lane Blue A brief description: They are top drawer reads and historically very close to the truth. Try to read them in order if you can. A very entertainng insight into how the British ran their campaigns during the expansion of the empire. +++ "Berlin 1936 - How Hitler Stole The Olympic Games" by Guy Walters. Recommended by Bryan A brief description: And a bloody good read it is too. +++

No problems. I'll just update the list as and when, and post it again so it should be near the end of the thread most of the time. I'll edit the old list to note the new updated location. Sorry if I've missed out any recommendations. I'm trying to get a decent spread of contributors & a little something about the book, just so we all know what the book is about. If the list gets too long I'll drop the older ones off. It currently stands at 20. 25 should be enough.

New updated list is on page 15 - 3rd post down. Your wish is my command. I'll renew this post as and when. It's not 100% up to date yet. I'll bring it up to date as soon as I get time. I do actually have a life... Just going back to July 2007 posts +++ "This Thing Of Darkness" by Harry Thompson recommended by Cheeky Sidders and seconded by Colin A brief description: 750 pages describing the voyages of The Beagle which carried Darwin around the world. Everything you need to know about the voyages; the conditions; the attitudes of the British to the foreigners they met: and the clash of Christianity with Darwin's theories. +++ "Marabou Stork Nightmares" by Irvine Welch recommended by Dr Gonzo A brief description: ************* +++ "Cloud of Sparrows" by Takashi Matsuoka recommended by Cheeky Sidders A brief description: Very entertaining and very easy to get into so ideal holiday fodder. The violence is somewhat graphic, including a fair bit against women and children, so maybe not recommended for the particularly squeamish.Anyway, without giving any of the plot away - samurais, ninjas, geishas, gunslingers, rebels, traitors, battles, murder, assassination, prophecies, palaces and whorehouses. Oh and... er... a lot of tea. +++ "Insomnia" by Stephen King recommended by Flopsy A brief description: ************* +++ "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger. recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's a brilliant study of small town America and the obsessions and lives of the people who live in places like Odessa, Texas. ++++++++++++ "The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson. Recommended by Flopsy (me too - Colin) A brief description: had me laughing out loud a number of times. +++ "Floodlight Dreams: How To Save A Football Club" by Ian Ridley. Recommended by me A brief description: Born in Weymouth, he always followed its football club which was playing in the Southern League. Due to its mismanagement he took over the club and became Chairman. It describes the 18 months he was there until he was shafted by a local hotellier/businessman. +++ "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel recommended by Rosie A brief description: it tells the story of a boy (the lone human survivor) shipwrecked along with a hyena, an orang utang and a Bengal tiger. Very well written and captivating in my opinion. +++ "A History of the World in Six Glasses" by Tom Standage recommended by Four Lane Blue A brief description: looks at how beverages such as beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee and water pushed forward civilisation at various times. It is not as interesting as expected but seems to be slowly getting going. +++ 'Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: a truly fantastic and original piece of literature. It almost makes you want to go to Iowa. Almost. +++ "Long Walk to Freedom," Nelson Mandela's autobiography. recommended by Wiggy A brief description: What a fantastic account of a truly remarkable life. As it's rather long, probably perfect for a holiday. +++ Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire." recommended by Rovermatt A brief description: It's absolutely fantastic. Amen to that, brother. GOF should be required reading for all European citizens and a moral requirement for all heterosexual men. Bloody fantastic stuff. (sidders) +++ Nathanial Philbrick's "Mayflower" recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: about the new England settlement....If it's anywhere near as good as his magnificent earlier book "In the Heart of the Sea" (which I recommend to anyone ) it'll be worth it . +++ The Prester Quest" by Nicholas Jubber. ISBN 0-553-81628-4. Published by Bantam books. Recommended by me A brief description: Partly a sort of hippy narrative about his journey from Rome to Ethiopia, but mostly absolutely crammed full to the brim with history and observations of the regions his journey took him through. +++ "Ancient Rome , the rise and fall of an empire" Simon Baker . Recommended by Blue Phil A brief description: I took this on holiday and was very surprised at its quality and readibility (if that's a word) .It's apparently based on a BBC series. I'll add more later

Sparklehorse!