Reading as a cheap hobby

Brambling

Brie said:

That's how I first came across Bryson.  When "Notes" first came out it was featured in a Sunday paper magazine with an extract about Studland Beach near us.  Needless to say he had much to say about a bunch of undressed crinklies laying about in the sunshine.

I can remember pre nudist days when we went on school trips to Studland Bay to look for reptiles in the dunes as it used to have all six of the uk reptiles now days you would get a different education and see a different kind of snake!  

We used to catch the sandbanks ferry as kids with my parents to Studland or a shell Bay, mum through all ferries had chains 🙂

Wednesday2000

I went to an event at a charming local bookstore last night. Syd Moore was giving a talk and signing books. I bought two of her newest books The Grand Illusion and The Grand Deception. It was very interesting.

I have all her other books, but not this series. I read her book The Drowning Pool years ago and it was set in Leigh-on-sea, where I now live.

Blackcats

HouseMartin567 said:

Does anyone have any autobiography or non-fiction recommendations? I normally stick to music and sport (so recommendations in those subject areas are appreciated), however I recently read Jacinda Arden’s memoir which I really enjoyed despite it not being my normal subject matter, so I’m considering branching out more in future!

In terms of music and sport, I don’t necessarily need to be interested in genre to enjoy the book - as long as the person is interesting. Therefore I’m thinking the same might apply to other subject matters!

Saying that, I just tried Bill Bryson’s ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ and I couldn’t get on with it at all so perhaps Science isn’t my thing……

@HouseMartin567 - I recently read Educated by Tara Westover and found it fascinating.  It was also enlightening and a bit frustrating but overall I enjoyed it.

I_Love_comps

I have read most of Paul O'Grady's autobiographies.  They are so funny, the way he tells his journey through life.  He is definitely missed. 

Brie

I_Love_comps said:

I have read most of Paul O'Grady's autobiographies.  They are so funny, the way he tells his journey through life.  He is definitely missed. 

One of those people you know you'd love to have at a dinner party as they'd be lively and full of good stories.  I was thinking the same of Michael Sheen when I heard him on Desert Island Discs on the weekend.  

HouseMartin567

HouseMartin567 said:

Right, you’ve persuaded me to give Bill another go, but this time heading for Geography rather than Science.

Obviously a popular book because all 12 copies within my library group are out on loan but I’ve put in a reservation request. I will report back in due course.

Ok, I’m starting to think Bill Bryson’s style of writing isn’t for me. I’m 25% through ‘Notes From A Small Island’ and whilst there are some amusing anecdotes I find the rambling style a little tedious - there’s just been 4 pages about him checking into a hotel in Bournemouth and having a meal in the hotel restaurant.

Back to crime thrillers I go…..

DigForVictory

I get that! It's like having a bookcase like a wine cellar, you want the odd solid red for some meals & a light crispy white for others, and a frankly aromatic volatile treat for occasional reading (and then several shelves of comfort with slightly larger print as you read through your hangover.) A friend startled me by insisting on P D James to clean the mental palate - I will try it sometime.
But yes, Bill is a delight for the slower, quieter nights,  but when you want an edge of the chair excitement, he's just not the writer.
Says she with cellars of Classic Crime, interspersed with the raucously modern knight errantry of Reacher, and the old favourites that I keep going back to like Dickens Christmas Carol (I Make myself reread that Before I rewatch the Muppets), Pride & Prejudice which unplugs me from the right here so brilliantly that it's seen me tranquil in the assorted clinic waiting rooms, and (yep) Shakespeare.
A good reason to Really Bore your children/grandchildren. When there is really Nothing else to do, they may read plays. The Complete Shakespeare is a sort of family default christening gift - each child will likely get a Bible, but (in good Desert Island tradition), the as-yet-unable-to-focus let alone read is often given a book that is nearly as heavy as they are. And so I will re-read A Midsummer Night's Dream, or Richard the Third, as I've a taste for it. So much simpler to pull it from the shelf & swig neat.
Never apologise for not liking a book - if it isn't to your taste, it's with the wrong accompaniment. (Mum's book club appears to be on a solid diet of prize-winners that never include Any Humour -  a sort of reading vegan collective, but she's engrossed.)    

Brambling

I always used to think if I started a book I should finish it but recent years I've decided life's too short to read a book I'm not enjoying.  

I believe that there are times when we all need to reread an old friend, there is something comforting in knowing what's coming next and how it ends and knowing the chapters which still need a tissue or make you laugh until you can't breathe. 

HouseMartin567

Brambling said:

I always used to think if I started a book I should finish it but recent years I've decided life's too short to read a book I'm not enjoying.  

I believe that there are times when we all need to reread an old friend, there is something comforting in knowing what's coming next and how it ends and knowing the chapters which still need a tissue or make you laugh until you can't breathe. 

Fully agree - I wouldn’t continue to watch a tv series I wasn’t enjoying just because I had started it! There are too many books out there to ‘suffer’ through one’s I don’t enjoy. So far this year I’ve started 30 books and finished 27 of them - a much better success rate than the amount of tv shows I’ve stated and not finished!!!

ruby_eskimo

@HouseMartin567 just a few non-fiction recommendations that I've loved over the last few years

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - I won't spoil it but think civil rights movement in the US along with cancer care / research and you get this book.

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore - shocking tales about the girls who helped to make this new craze popular and how it ultimately killed them

Easy Money by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman - I always suspected Crypto was a bit of a scam but this book helped to reinforce that fact.  Ben was one of the stars of The OC back in the early 2000's but has a degree in economics and wanted to know more about this strange new thing when he was being asked to invest in it.

Come Fly The World by Julia Cooke - all about the history of Pan Am and its role on defining and then re-defining the role of the cabin crew

What's Next by Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack - if you were a fan of The West Wing or even just want a behind the scenes glimpse into the makings of a long running tv series, then this was very good

All that Remains by Sue Black - bit grim but it's all about what remains of us after we've passed and how our remains can tell our story.  Sue was the main host of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures a couple of years ago and is a very engaging woman for a pathologist!

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay - name kind of gives it away but all about how Bletchley Park came to exist, the people that worked there and the pressures of the work they carried out in secret

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker - all about a family in America who had a lot of children and quite a few of them had Schizophrenia.  A great study on the nature v nurture debate if you're into psychology and how the brain and people work.

Hopefully there's something in there that you might find interesting!