Good Books...

[Fudged]

The one thing I always manage to find a little time for is reading - I spend a fiar bit of my day on the bus or train. Still haven't read Nick Hornby but he sounds well worth while.
Over the last couple of years I 've read most of Joanne Harris' novels (Chocolat, etc) - a relaxing read but certainly not chick lit! I think Blackberry Wine would especially appeal to one or two folks here :)

I 've been reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman this week - got it for my eldest at Christmas 'cos it sounded right up his street, and I like to read what the kids read. I don't think i've been so happy with an author I've never heard before for a long time - it's a great book (only half way through).

[Yve Devora]

Wish to read Terry Goodkind series...thats my next realm...

Interested in Nick Hornby tho too...

Terry Pratchett only read two books and loved both of them. Andrew has read lots of them, and he also loves Bernard Cornwall. I read Fallen Angels by BC and really enjoyed his writing with the factual and historic content merging into the adventure and romance, very cool for a woman like meself and many others i suspect...

[basketbob]

Good thread this - the folkies bookshop

Just finished High Fidelity by Hornby - not bad, sort of ran out of steam a bit at the end. I think most musos can see a bit of themselves in the story though.

Halfway through Palace Pier by Keith Waterhouse at the moment. I read some of his work years ago and found it funny.

Read some early Pratchett a long time ago and found it very entertaining - I might take another look.

Cheers,
Bob

[Fudged]

It's become difficult to keep up with TP's output but I almost get there! His books for kids, especially in the last few years, are every bit as readable as his Discworld books (some of them are Discworld anyway). I love the way he can write about discworld on so many different levels.... he can write about the insane goings-on at the Unseen University, about the Machavellian maneoverings of the Partrician, about Commander Sam Vimes and his constant struggle to make The Watch a force to be reckoned with (or even taken seriously). More recently we have a con-man compelled to reform and take over the Post Office, a major Bank and the Royal Mint! These are just a few examples. Not only that, there are the Science of Discworld books written with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen (a maths professor and a biologist) These alternate between fictional events on Discworld and scientific discussion comparing our world and Discworld. An entertaining read for any inquisitive mind (I'll say no more - might spoil the fun)

I think TP is dismissed by a lot of people because he 'only ever writes about Discworld' (not true anyway). The Discworld novels aren't about a single group of characters - they're a whole collection of individual stories set in a world even more detailed and complex than Tolkein's Middle Earth - just a lot more funny :)

[folk_radio_uk]

As promised I've included a Listener Recommends Section in the store:

UK Store

http://www.folkradio.co.uk/store/sho...ecommendations

US Store:

http://www.folkradio.co.uk/usstore/s...ners_Recommend

[basketbob]

Blimey mate, your good at this aren't you?

Your dedication deserves reward. Next time I'm down your way I'll stand you a pint or two.

:cheers2:

C'mon, you lot, send the man some of your loot. He's doin' a great job for us all.

Cheers,

Bob

[Fudged]

C'mon, you lot, send the man some of your loot. He's doin' a great job for us all.
Bob

Motion seconded!:hurray:

[folk_radio_uk]

Cheers Folks, thanks for your kind words and offer of a pint!;)

[Fudged]

Alex's new sig' (the Douglas Adams quote) reminded me of another fav book. No, not The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - too obvious, that one :) Another wonderful boook penned by the great man was Last Chance To See...
This one stemmed from a radio series too, but a very different one. In the late 1980's Douglas Adams went off around the world with zoologist Mark Carwardine to track downn some of the most endangered species on the planet for a Radio 4 series. The book followed in 1990.
DA said - 'My role, and one for which I was entirely qualified, was to be an extremely ignorant non-zoologist to whom everything that happened would come as a complete surprise.'

It's a wonderful read and full of DA's typical satire & humour. Not only that - it's full of stark warnings about what the future holds if more isn't done to protect endangered species & their habitats.

My favourite passage from the book, though, came from the trip to Fjordland in New Zealand - DA described it as 'the type of landscape that makes you burst into spontaneous applause'

(sorry - haven't got the hang of linking thumbnails to items in the user store - any tips?)

[Fudged]

I was reminded of two treasured books when I posted a message about the solstice.

The Modern Antiquarian by Julian Cope (anyone remember The Teardrop Explodes?) is two wonderful books in one. The first part of the book contains a series of essays by Cope about Britain's ancient sites and their place in this island's pre-history before first the Romans then the Christians got their mucky little hands on it all. The essays are subjective, humourous (a chapter about the Earth Goddess -'Ur Indoors') and passionate. He doesn't set out to make friends of any archeologists but does illicit contributions and advice from Aubrey Burl.

The second part of the book is quite simply the best gazetteer of Britain's megalithic sites I've ever read. Cope (and often his family along with him) visited every one of the 300+ sites listed in the book and has provided the reader with detailed and useful information about every one. Not for him the cosy office of the academic - for JC field study means just that! It also means stuffing a carrier bag down your sock in case there's rubbish to be collected :)

The website inspired by the book takes the gazetteer to new dimensions, with countless contributors regularly discussing, investigating and updating out knowledge of pre-historic Britain.


The Megalithic European (buy it at half price in this site's own store!) came along a few years later and follows the same format but, as the title suggests, on a European scale. The essays this time round discuss thousands of years of migration across Europe and the relationship settlers establish with the landscapes they inhabit.
The gazetteer has the same dedicated personal attention to detail as The Modern Antiquarian.

Both books are large format hardback and dwell resplendent in daylgo coloured hard covers. At £30 a pop they aren't cheap, but are invaluable to anyone with an interest in ancient sites.