Book Recommendations

[Sam Flynn]

Reading Spike Milligan's Puckoon should be made compulsory. One of the funniest books ever.

[Celesta]

Bound for Glory is a classic, and Woody has been a real inspiration to a couple of generations of singer-songwriters. After I read Bound for Glory, I tackled Grapes of Wrath. I think it meant more to me after reading Woody's book.

Connie Willis writes time-travel novels, among others, and I highly recommend To Say Nothing of the Dog. It moves from about the year 2050 to WWII to the Victorian Era. It's so well done and one of the most entertaining books I've read. I've given everybody who reads a copy for Christmas. The heroes are on a mission to rescue the Bishop's Bird Stump! She also wrote Doomsday Book, which is a sort of sequel but rather heavy, and Passage, which I could not put down until I had finished.

I've seen Manhunt and wondered about it. Will check it out on your rec, C.D.

[c.d.]

Hi Dougie,

I have read "Bound for Glory" and you are right, it was a great book. Old Woody had a heck of a life. If the Davies book is anything like it, it should be good. I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

c.d.

[dougie]

CD
I have two reccomendations for you ,and for anyone else for that matter...."autiobiography of a supertramp" by W.H.Davies............"Bound for glory"..by Woody Guthrie.Both books were autobiographical, both written by authors who suffered poverty,hardship and tragedy,neither made too much of those things,just simply "got on with it"....both books are simply written,no false heroism, no delusions of granduer in their writings......no b.s ,just shockingly immediate and real.Both authors wrote as they spoke....i didnt read them in the normal way,it was almost as if those books grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and forced me to turn the pages,and left me at the end wishing the author had written more pages so that i could have read them.
regards

[c.d.]

Well if you haven't read it ,cd, I would recommend Boswell's 'Life of Johnson'.

The best book ever written in the Engllish language to my mind.

Others may disagree.

Thank you, Stephen. I have read that. I did enjoy it too but obviously not as much as you did.

c.d.

[Stephen Thomas]

I am in need of a good book to read. Does anyone have a recommendation? My tastes are pretty eclectic. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction and a variety of subjects.

c.d.

Well if you haven't read it ,cd, I would recommend Boswell's 'Life of Johnson'.

The best book ever written in the Engllish language to my mind.

Others may disagree.

[c.d.]

I just looked at the reviews on amazon.com for "Water for Elephants." Great reviews and almost 1300 of them. I am going to read that. Thanks, Mike.

It kills me when you read reviews that there is always at least one person who gives a book or music one star. Doesn't matter what it is. They always strike me as someone who would look at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and say "he used too much blue."

c.d.

[Roy Corduroy]

Hey c d

I read Manhunt and liked it a lot. The author built up the tension. Good maps, too.

Here's one, Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen.

Roy

[c.d.]

I really enjoyed "Manhunt" by James Swanson, the true story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth. You come to fully appreciate that Booth was literally the most wanted man in America and probably the world at the time. Secretary of War, Stanton, said that America has no other priority than to capture Booth. The reward for his capture was staggering. You follow the murder of Lincoln and Booth's escape. You really can understand what he was up against as he wondered who he could trust. Damn good book.

c.d.

[Mike Covell]

In proper English, it would end in ing. Hope that helps.

c.d.

Another one of lifes little mysteries solved!! Thanks

[Sam Flynn]

If I remember correctly, her response was something like "God, if you are so great that you can create the entire universe, why don't you see if you can start this ****en car!" You gotta love that.

Sounds like my kind of writer, CD. I shall seek out the books of Lamott

Meantime, if you've an hour or so to spare, you may find this Hitchens talk ("Faithless in Seattle", if you like) somewhat entertaining:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9194562685603195515

[c.d.]

Anyone else trying to work out what swear word ends in "EN"?

In proper English, it would end in ing. Hope that helps.

c.d.

[Mike Covell]

Anyone else trying to work out what swear word ends in "EN"?

[c.d.]

Speaking of Anne Lamott, one of my favorite passages was when her new found faith was tested when she needed to get somewhere and her car wouldn't start. If I remember correctly, her response was something like "God, if you are so great that you can create the entire universe, why don't you see if you can start this ****en car!" You gotta love that.

c.d.

[Mike Covell]

Local slang c.d,
We don't say "Road" we say "row-d"
We don't say child we say "bairn"
I left out "The" as there are so bloody many, and I have been a prisoner/patient in most!