[Archived] Holiday Reading

[colin]

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

[Hypo-Luxa]

Right! So over the weekend I printed out Colin's list and went round to the book store to see what I could find.

I picked up Martel's Life of Pi, the first Flashman book(which I've already dived into), Cloud of Sparrows, The Road (by Cormac McCarthy), Death in The Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa (a great writer whom should be checked out), A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Black Earth (a good looking book about a guy who travels around Russia just after the fall of the Soviet Union).

I also picked up Pillar of Fire, the second part of Parting The Waters both by Taylor Branch. 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 was saddened that I couldn't find any of Bryson's work nor could I find the Prester Quest which sounds like a good read. Ah well, I was going to have to visit Amazon.co.uk sooner or later...

So while I am halfway through Volcano Under Snow (about the highly successful Viet Minh general Vo Nguyen Giap) and Parting The Waters as mentioned above (I enjoyed it so much I'm reading it again), I've now delved into the Flashman series for a little light reading. I didn't figure on the series being so extensive so I'll be out a fair few quid completing the series, but so far I like it. Irreverent and at times you forget it's fictional, and that;s just how I like it! =)

Thanks for the suggestions from everyone. I haven't picked up a suggested book I didn't like...yet...

[colin]

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.

[rebelmswar]

"The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time" by Mark Haddon is rather an eye-opener. It sort of drags you along in a morbid/intersting/ let's see what happens next way due to the fact that it is written from the point of view of someone who is autistic.

Having lived next door to an autistic bloke for a number of years it really rang a few bells. I don't think you have to know anyone autistic to be enthralled by it.

Just read this due to your review here, very good choice liked it a lot. Liked the way it clipped along and delved right into how his mind worked. The math problems and logic problems were cool too seeing how he took them apart and is a good novel as a family drama too.

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.

[colin]

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.

Edited December 6, 2007 by colin

[Wolverine]

Come on chaps, you know what's needed. Author; title; & brief summary.

Are you sure I need to put more!

OK - Danny Wallace: Yes Man! - 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.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

The Wisdom of Alexander The Great: Enduring Leadership Lessons From The Man Who Created An Empire by Lance B. Kurke

Book 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 intetested in history, legacy or strategy this is a good-excellent read

[colin]

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.

Edited December 30, 2007 by colin

[rebelmswar]

Just finished reading The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov, if you all haven’t read it you should do so. It contains all the stories from I, Robot as well, not the Will Smith paff though, it is completely different.

The best story in my opinion is “Victory Unintentional” which had me rolling on the floor. I kept picturing the Jovian’s as Man Utd fans, if you read it you will understand what I mean. Well anyway it is a quick read due to the fact that it is a bunch of short stories so you can power through them easily.

Give it a try you won’t be disappointed at all.

[Hypo-Luxa]

Finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Bygod that was a depressing read. Couldn't put it down, though. Read it in two sittings.

two sittings said the boy?

two sittings, said the man.

okay.

okay?

okay.

Not really expecting that type of book, but not a bad first book to read of McCarthy's. Next Up, Cloud of Sparrows!

[arealbrfcfan]

I'm currently reading ' On the Road' by Jack Kerouac. Has anyone else read this? I've found it to be really mind-opening and has changed my opinion on alot of things that happen everyday.

Recently picked up a book called 'The Dice Man ' by Luke Rinehart. After reading the blurb on the back it sounds pretty good it has the same philosophy of life as ' on the Road' does, where everything in life depends on the role of these dices which the protagonist carries with him. Live for the moment / sponteniety and all that.

Oh and by the way as someone mensioned before. I read 'Life of Pi' a couple of summers ago. Have to say i found it really enjoyable and such a good adventure. Heard they were making it into a movie. Really cant imagine or visualize a movie of that, i imagine the script would be rock hard to write for.

[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.

[Cheeky Sidders]

Just found out that George MacDonald Fraser, the author of the Flashman books, has died. Very sad news.

bbc link

Edited January 2, 2008 by Cheeky Sidders

[FourLaneBlue]

Just found out that George MacDonald Fraser, the author of the Flashman books, has died. Very sad news.

bbc link

Sad news indeed. A great author and I loved reading all of his Flashman series.

[Hypo-Luxa]

Sad news indeed. I'm a new acquaintance of his books (have only read the first Flashman book and am currently reading Black Ajax) but I've enjoyed his work so far. It's wonderful how he if not created his own genre he made it his own.

[Paul]

Just finished reading "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon, who also wrote "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time", which I haven't read.......... yet.

Thoroughly enjoyed A Spot of Bother. The plot centres around George, 57, who has recently retired, thinks he has cancer, it's actually ecezma, and is going quietly insane; his wife, their son and daughter and all the various relationships these people are involved with - engaged, married etc.etc. On one level you can take this as a jolly good, romping along, at times laugh out loud, read. On a deeper level it's a very sad book, but don't let this put you off, while you're enjoying the romp you'll get momentary twinges of real sadness and empathy with George, quickly followed by a loud chortle or quiet smile to yourself.

The characters are well developed and the descriptive writing, while often very brief, so good you can see the house, the garden, street or town in which the action is taking place in your mind's eye. A really good read - don't miss it.

[Rovermatt]

Finally finished the epic Gates of Fire and I'm exhausted. It's a truly astounding piece of work.

I've moved onto Robert Hicks's The Widow of the South which plays out around 1864's bloody battle of Franklin in Tennessee. I'm very into the American Civil War and last March spent a week in Virginia, the focal point of the entire conflict. The book is beautifully written in a mix of styles and from a number of first-person viewpoints and features, amongst others, the fearsome Confederate general (and later KKK founder) Nathan Bedford Forrest . I'd recommend it to anyone with a similar interest.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Rovermatt

[Cheeky Sidders]

Just finished reading "A Spot of Bother" by Mark Haddon, who also wrote "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time", which I haven't read.......... yet.

I really enjoyed "The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime". I really hated "A spot of bother". All the characters (without exception) were very annoying, the tone for much of it was whingey whiney and it was like the writers of Terry & June had been told to get a bit hard-edged and had watched a few episodes of Holby City and Queer As Folk for research and then got carried away. That said, a middle-aged friend really liked it and was speechless when I said it was rubbish. Each to their own.

I'm currently reading "Salmon fishing in the Yemen" by some bloke or other (I really can't be arsed to go upstairs and check) and it's progressing somewhat slowly. It's mildly amusing and I would say I am smiling inside, but satires about the civil service are not exactly my preferred option and I am yet to laugh out loud. Looking forward to finishing it and starting something that wasn't bought for me at Christmas. On the plus side, nobody bought me a bloody Valerio Massimo Manfredi book this year! Result!

[Paul]

That said, a middle-aged friend really liked it and was speechless when I said it was rubbish. Each to their own.

Must be a middle-aged thing!!!

[Blackpool_Rover]

Ollie: The Autobiography of Ian Holloway

Just finished reading this. With so many similar books on the market from overpaid 'handed on a plate' type people in the football world...lampard, crouch etc It was nice to read Holloways story. He is quite honest and talks in detail about his problems managing Bristol Rovers where they sold all his best players and didn't give him any money. The administration times with QPR where he is very keen to point out 'we still did well'. He also goes into detail on his relationship with the QPR chairman and the lies he was told which led to him being put on gardening leave. The book ends a season into his Plymouth career which is quite annoying because as this book was released he moved to Leicsester. He also talks about his lifelong love for his wife Kim and his coming to terms with three of his children being deaf.

An interesting read from a man who, although not so succesful, has had to overcome many hurdles in his football career on and off the pitch.

[Jimbo]

To follow on the theme of down to earth football autobiographies then I'd like to recommend

Left Foot in the Grave by Garry Nelson

It follows the exploits of the epitomie of the journeyman footballer's drift from playing to managing Torquay United - It is an excellent insight into how difficult things are for the managers of the lower league teams, and although nearly 10 years old I'm sure things have not got better down in the basement of football

Edited January 14, 2008 by Jimbo

[Paul]

Here's another one for the middle-aged!

The Secret River by Kate Grenville is the story of William Thornhill's early days in London and then his family's struggle in the emerging Australia following his, and so their, transportation to the Colony. It's an excellent read providing an insight for me on the early settlement of Australia bringing to the fore the struggles of the pardoned convicts, their families, to settle the wild continent. More importantly it deals with the enormous impact on the Aboriginies, their understanding of the land they occupy, the relationships that developed between the native and the newcomer which ultimately resulted in a terrible cost for the native people. The writer brings early 19th century London and Australia alive with her excellent descriptive writing, often the sunlight is the only thing to lift one's heart when reading a book in which hardship is ever present and unspeakable violence simmers just below the surface for much of the narrative.

I imagine the historiacl context is well researched and accurate. For me it underlined things I was vaguely aware of but had never read about.

[colin]

I'll bring this up to date in a few days