|
Post by ceefer on Aug 19, 2014 8:58:15 GMT
Here's a thread to let us know what you are reading, to tell us what you liked or didn't like and make any recommendations...
To kick off as some may have gathered I like classic motorcycles and travel as well as County.
The book is Overland to Egypt by a guy who lives in Stockport who made the trip on a lightweight 125cc 2 stroke 1952 BSA Bantam which in this day and age is no mean feat in terms of keeping it going mechanically, carrying your luggage and a max speed of around 60mph, all without a backup crew.
This is an inspiring book which may motivate the reader to get out the motorcycle, bicycle or car to do some serious clocking up of mileage to some far off places. Definitely worth a read.
Author is Gordon G May. Book is on Amazon. And no I don't know him.
Over to you...
|
|
|
Post by sirroger on Aug 19, 2014 11:01:18 GMT
A good idea for a thread, ceefer.
I enjoy reading about great characters in their chosen sport. Characters who helped raise their sport to higher levels.
Presently I'm reading 'The Hurricane, The turbulent life & times of Alex Higgins' by Bill Borrows. In the early chapters so far, outling amogst other things, his tussles with Thorburn, Griffiths, Reardon, Spencer & Taylor, not to mention any one in authority, or in fact just anybody!.
One of the chapters mentions the introduction of 'Pot Black', which changed the sport completely and came on to TV back in nineteen hundred and frozen to death. The programme was shot in colour but viewed by the majority in black and white and gave rise to 'whispering ted lowe's famous commentary " for those watching in black and white, the pink is behind the green". Amazingly, Higgins had a tussle or two with Ted too!
Clearly Higgins was a disturbed man, but there's no doubting he was a genius in a game he helped make what it is today.
A great read.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2014 13:41:34 GMT
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn by Colin Dexter. The third Inspector Morse book.
|
|
|
Post by Epworth Hatter on Aug 19, 2014 16:20:26 GMT
The Son by Jo Nesbo. Like all his books it is very well written, the plot moves at a fair lick and the characters are developing nicely. It's his second book without his main character, Harry Hole (the other being the excellent Head Hunters). I'm about half way through - plenty of twist and turns to come.
|
|
|
Post by another_ruined_saturday on Aug 19, 2014 18:37:09 GMT
'voodoo histories' by...umm...somebody aaronovitch. it's a debunking of most of the popular conspiracy theories from zionist and trotskyite, through to franklin d roosevelt taking the US to war, jfk/monroe/the queen of hearts, 9/11, etc. it's alright.
i recently read 'nobody move' by denis johnson, which cracked along pretty violently, and 'joyland' by stephen king, which was excellent like most of his are, if you can get past his popularity and that some of the subject matter involves the supernatural. he is the best writer of human beings though - depth and lightness of touch at the same time.
cheers for starting the thread, ceefer. i was thinking about doing it the other day but typically didn't get round to it.
|
|
|
Post by bringbacklenwhite on Aug 19, 2014 20:55:38 GMT
The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters
This is the guy who works with the British Cycling Team as a psychologist. Also has "helped" Suarez, Barton and other sports people who need help coping with their "inner chimp" - the instinct part of the brain that often takes over the commonsense human part.
Coming up next "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. Hoping to make sense of what I think i believe in.
I love it when my 3 lads have a clearing out of books and I can snaffle them before they hit the charity shops !!
|
|
|
Post by hatter_in_macc on Aug 20, 2014 22:13:14 GMT
Just finished One on One, by Craig Brown.
It comprises 101 short accounts of meetings between two celebrities or historical figures, but in a daisy-chain kind of way - such that Noel Coward meets Paul McCartney, Macca (not me, the other one...) meets Elvis, Elvis meets Richard Nixon, and so on...
History meets gossip. Quite quirky, but fascinating and often hilarious.
|
|
|
Post by another_ruined_saturday on Aug 21, 2014 17:15:35 GMT
like the sound of that macca!
|
|
|
Post by hatter_in_macc on Aug 21, 2014 21:02:47 GMT
Highly recommend it, exile! ![](http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af190/countyheaven/smilies/thumbsup_zps1ccf3031.gif) There's a really cracking anecdote in there about David Niven, and that's hidden within one of the footnotes. Worth the price of the book for that alone...
|
|
|
Post by another_ruined_saturday on Sept 3, 2014 22:29:15 GMT
currently reading 'the nowhere men' about football scouts, which is pretty interesting. came across this nugget in a discussion between three older scouts:
"...the difficulty with managers is they don't go to games..."
"...if you don't go to games, how do you know if you want to sign players? this is a f***ing classic, unbelievable. russell slade was manager (at brighton) when i was chief scout, and he asked, 'have you seen liam dickinson at derby?'. i said 'funnily enough, i only saw him play when he was at stockport. he got twenty-odd goals. he waddles around the pitch, he can't f***ing jump, his first touch is crap, can't head the ball. anything else you want to know?' he said 'fine. i'll tell you what i'll do. i'll have a word with the lads up north, and i'll have a look on my laptop.' one of the lads had seen him, and said the only thing he didn't do was put his hands in his pockets. so anyway, it gets serious. three days later the chairman rings me up, says we've agreed a fee with derby. the story was, paul jewell bought him from stockport for three-quarters of a million quid. he played a reserve game for derby, which jewell attended. a week later he goes to huddersfield on loan. then he goes to blackpool and leeds, on loan. so the chairman rings me up and says 'we've negotiated four hundred and fifty thousand for dickinson.' i said 'you're having a f***ing laugh, aren't you? have you seen the reports?' the only reason i'm still in the job is that if i put in a report to the manager, i copy in the chairman. i tell him i'll give gwynn williams a ring up at leeds, just to get a flavour of the boy. russell said 'look bal, i want him and that's the end of the story.' we signed him. within a month we're trying to get him out on loan, because he was so bad. and of course russell didn't last longer than another couple of months."
...conversely though about the agent's eye:
"arsenal sent me out to an age group international at auxerre...anyway, i get back, steve asks 'how did the left winger do?' i said 'erratic; nearly killed a f***ing pigeon with one shot.' you know who it was, don't you? ...thierry henry..."
|
|
|
Post by bringbacklenwhite on Sept 4, 2014 10:20:57 GMT
Gary Imlach (Tour de France, American Football Presenter) - My father (and other working class football heroes).
His Dad, Stewart, played in the 58 Scotland World Cup team and 59 Notts Forest FA Cup Winners.
Takes the lid of the 50's and 60's slave trade that was football before the lifting of the maximum wage. Football was just as corrupt in those days as it is now.
|
|
|
Post by sirroger on Sept 11, 2014 20:05:55 GMT
Just started 'Fox On The Run'.
A year in the life of batsman Graeme Fowler, including his trip to India with England and season with Lancashire, way back in the mid 80's.
So far, very good.
|
|
|
Post by bringbacklenwhite on Sept 11, 2014 20:13:51 GMT
Murray Walker's Autobiography.
What an interesting background and a double life as commentator and advertising guru !!!
Didn't go full time commentator until aged 59ish !
|
|
|
Post by hatter_in_macc on Sept 12, 2014 9:49:06 GMT
There's hope for me, as a mature-aged cub football journalist, then... ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
|
|
|
Post by bringbacklenwhite on Sept 12, 2014 10:36:33 GMT
Yes, Macca, but you will have to set your trousers on fire to kept up with Murray's delivery style.
|
|