Smiffy49 590 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Melissa's recent topic on nostalgia got me thinking about books I have enjoyed and have become firm favourites with me. I look upon them as old friends who I can revisit whenever I want and pick up their company again. They sit quietly in my bookcase, ever patient, never complaining, always ready to please. I have many, a handful are noted here:- "Spies" (Michael Frayn), "Great Meadow" (Dirk Bogarde) & "The Testament of Gideon Mack" (James Robertson). I will list others in due course. What are your favourites? Smiffy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,206 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I LOVE BOOKS Smiffy,my wife says i have too many but like you many i consider "old friends",however over the last couple of years i have been giving them to family as presents,(bit of a cheapskate).i am not into much in the way of fiction.I have many Autobiographys on Actors,sportsmen and Politicians.I also enjoy books on silly lists,History and travel,especialy places ive been or going. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I collect books I've bought about fifty this year. My main interests are British history 1688 -1860 (ish) Nottingham & shire( I have a nice little collection of directories) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveN 1,118 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I don't really read novels. The majority of my collection of books are reference type. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I enjoy fiction and non-fiction. I've just finished a biography of Enid Blyton and it brought home to me just how prolific a writer she was. I dare say most of us have enjoyed her books at some time or another. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
darkazana 1,736 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 We have a wall of bookshelves in one room, absolutely heaving with books, and others around the house. We are prolific readers and own an eclectic range of books, reference, biographies, fiction, classics and complete works eg Hardy, Shakespeare, Orwell as well as chick lit and lighter reading. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
piggy and babs 544 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 my mum always brought us enid blyton clasics for cristmasalways one in our stockings think she enjoyed them as much as we did and she still had most of them hidden away when she died always well read she tought us all to read and rite our names before we went to schoolmum was always an avid reader she could get through a book in a day or two always at carlton libary to pick up books and reading the daily papers, in them day it was the big broad sheets and she always stood up to read them couse she was very small and it was the only way she could read them without creasing or ripping them she was also blind in one eye from a very young age so the paper was always close up and at an angle so she could see with her good eye. one of my favoerite authors was james herbert the rats the lair and early books held my attentionclosely folowed by the falconhursts serieis by lance horner and kyle oncotte. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,109 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Tom Sharp has done some great books, but my all time fav is Frederick Forsyth's "The Odessa File" far better than the film. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilboro-lad 294 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 #5. Hey Tomlinson, I've just finished reading a book by Enid Blyton's daughter Imogen and about what a bad parent she was, 'A childhood at Green Hedges'. Very interesting, she wrote about a book per week in her prime. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 The book I read was, 'Looking For Enid' by Duncan McLaren. It was interesting because in parts he wrote from the point of Blyton type characters and referred to the book by Enid's daughter Imogen quite often. Whatever Enid Blyton was, she was certainly a character and you have to admire her capacity for work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MELTONSTILTON 452 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I collect old and new books, my office is crammed full of them, the oldest I have is, Method and history of insects by John Ray published in 1705, but my favourite book at the moment is Waterlog by Roger Deakin, I say at the moment, because my favourite book always seems to change... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I have a facsimile of Deering's history of Nottingham published in 1751 (1970) My oldest "original" is Coke & Birch paper war published 1803 it contains Addresses,Songs Squibs etc for the 1803 by-election in Nottingham I also have a "Glover's" directory of Nottingham dated 1844 (before enclosure acts) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 I have used my directories to answer yet another query This one about the cooling towers. My directories are dated 1844,1860,1864(2),1868,1869,1891,1916,1925,1928,1932,1936,1941,1950,1967& 1971. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MelissaJKelly 2,124 Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Glad to have inspired your post Smiffy! I'm also an avid reader, my all time favourite book is probably Dracula by Bram Stoker! There is a brilliant book website if anyone is interested; http://www.goodreads.com you can leave review, add books you've read or want to read to particular shelves and is a fun way to talk to other fans of the same books! I'll be looking up some of the titles listed in the above posts on the site to see if they're my sort of thing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tomlinson 879 Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 I've yet to read a poor book written by Graham Greene. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilboro-lad 294 Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 They make good screenplay too. 'End of the affair' in particular. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MelissaJKelly 2,124 Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Journey Without Maps is a personal fave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercurydancer 1,104 Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 I get paid for reviewing military history books. Not enough to live on but its something. For military history books there is one which stands out amongst all others, Face of Battle by John Keegan. Basically he compares several battles, Agincourt, Somme, D Day, Waterloo, and describes not what the sequence of events were, but the soldiers would have seen, the size of the battle (Agincourt is surprisingly tiny as a battlefield) and goes far further than that, with the social structure of the soldiers who fought. Its by far the best military history book written. My personal taste leans towards Ken Kesey. He wrote "One flew over the cookoo's nest" which inspired the very famous film. The book is even better. His masterpiece was "Sometimes a great notion" which is absolutely superb. Also, I remain a fan of Alan Sillitoe. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 I tend not to buy fiction although I have been known to buy the odd manifesto during election times. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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