blonde poker forum

Is there one?

yeah, you just started it :D

Am currently reading Tony Blair's autobiography. Really enjoying it too. Just saying

Been a thread before, everyone got same book, it didn't last that long I don't think.

Like the idea, G2L, I'll try & find time to contribute, I'm a huge book fan, & read about 2 per week. I got 11 books for my birthday, too, which was spot on, they make perfect gifts. Non-fiction only though, sorry.

I'll try & start to do some reviews tomorrow.

I have the Blair autobio, but I've relegated it down the "to read" list, as there are far more wholesome things to read, imo.

i quite like autobiography's but i imagine tony blairs would be 300 pages of porky pies

(http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii269/theogrit/1sm067roll.gif)

I have just finished reading all three volumes of Chris Mullins memoirs and would thoroughly recommend for those with any interest in goverment, politics and, in particular, a slightly alternative view of the New Labour years.  We need more politicians like him.

I'd recommend buying this collection (http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=55512&atc=24711a39b3173e56880c6c08026a35b1), it's only £8.99 and has several good books in it.

I particularly enjoyed:
Longitude
Sea Biscuit
Fermat's Last Theorem
The Perfect Storm
In the Heart of the Sea

I'll have to have a look at what's lying around on the floor to see what else I've been reading recently.

Good idea George, I am a bit of a book nerd myself, purely non fiction.

Recent reads I really enjoyed:

Super Freakonomics (both Freakonomics books are excellent)
Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
Made to Stick & Switch by the Heath Brothers
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman

Never been a non fiction fan myself. In fact I can't think of a single non fiction book I've read.

What you into George?

fiction by the sound of it

No poker books then?

Genius

Barring the obvious response that TB's book is fiction, you got a short memory George?

I finished reading the final book in the Jo Nesbo crime thriller series whilst in Malia. 6 books in total, all very good.

Would thoroughly recommend to anyone who likes the Millennium trilogy books, and would be surprised if they weren't made in to films at some point.

I love political diaries/biographies. Alastair Campbell and Alan Clark both very entertaining/interesting, surprisingly they were good friends. I read a brilliant book on FDR called the Lion and the Fox but my favourite political book is Francis Wheen's book on Marx, well worth a read and full of interesting surprises. I've read nearly all the other angles from within the Labour party on New Labour so will definitely take a look at the Chris Mullins memoirs.

I'm a twat

I mainly read biographies, but rarely poltical ones.

Some of my recent favourites :

Gypsy Boy / Mikey Walsh
Probably the book I read the quickest (was going to put 'enjoyed most', but it's pretty gritty stuff, and enjoyed doesn't seem the right word).
Interesting story, and very well told.

Borstal Girl / Eileen Mackenney
Nearly  binned it after 2  or 3 pages... she's a criminal class , East London lady, and writes as she probably talks... every other line has f..., or f...ing in it.
Persevered, and worth the effort.
Really fascinating (and violent / shocking) life of crime and struggle.

How Not to be a Professional Footballer / Paul Merson
Would recommend to anyone with a vague interest in football (or alcohol, or gambling).

A Pocketful of  Holes and Dreams / Jeff Pearce
Working class  boy made good. Very likeable chap, unable to read or write when he left school, battling against the odds.

Back from the Brink / Paul McGrath
One  of my favourite  players 20 ish years ago, and  some stunning revelations, particularly relating to his alcoholism, and how he still managed to play week in, week out at the top level.

Sounds a bit gruesome as an ensemble. I read a lot of less serious stuff though - enjoyed Peter Kay's books, and read two volumes by Michael J Fox recently (although I suppose  they could hardly be described as light hearted).

I'm between books at the minute, so any recommendations would be appreciated.

Based on those I reckon there's a good chance you'd like A Million Tiny Pieces by James Frey. It's mostly autobiographical and hard going at times but a truly remarkable story.

Ordered... thank you.

First  review I read on Amazon said :
I was not aware of the controversy surrounding the book when I read it, so took it at face value. However at many times the story felt unreal.
I am pretty sure most of this is seriously embellished (even more than the author now admits) - the story reads like a hollywood movie script - a fatherly mafia boss, a boxing champ, a supreme court judge and a deep, caring, loving crack addicted girlfriend are all major characters.

Will give it a go though.

Anyone read any of the following:

 - Man and Boy (I think it's my favourite book - amazing read but it was quite a few years ago now that I read it). I think it's by Tony Parsons.

 - A child called It. The first in a trilogy by Dave Pelzer.

I mostly read autobiographies though, usually sportsmen. Read everything from Dwight Yorke's and John Terry's 'My winning Season' to Andre Agassi (zomg he has never liked tennis) and Muhammad Ali's. Bought Nadal's and Michael McIntyre's at the airport to read over here.

think this book would be up your street- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Way-Gone-Memoirs-Soldier/dp/0007247087/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316028760&sr=1-1

  while your in Thailand get a book called A KILLING SMILE by Christopher G. Moore, not only a very good read, but a lot of "between the lines unwritten Thai rules"   (its the 1st of a trilogy)  

also The Damage Done by Warren Fellows........a true story of an Austrailian drug smuggler in Thailand......only book i ever read start to finish without putting it down......theres also a book called Kingdom of Illusion which is Bill Sinclairs version of events

I tend to buy audiobooks to listen to in the car to and from work, so if they count, the best books I have read this year are:

Life / Keith Richards

Clapton/ Eric Clapton

Its not what you think/ Chris Evans

Head on/ Sir Ian Botham

The Elephant to Hollywood/ Sir Michael Caine

As far as biographies go, the two I would recommend are Mick Foleys and Motley Crues, you do not need to know a thing about either subject to enjoy them. The first one is suprisingly well written and engaging, and the none wrestling parts are the best bits, the latter is jaw droppingly decadent and entertaining.

Is The Psychopath Test any good Barry?  Am tempted to buy it but can't make up my mind.

Read all 3, very moving story.

Yeah really enjoyed it. Not only is Jon Ronson a good journalist, he also takes you on quite a deep personal journey alongside the subject he is discussion. Very easy read, Im gonna get his other stuff too.

the first one i just couldnt put down!

I tried reading it but just found it too harrowing. Yeah man and boy was Tony Parsons enjoyed it, seem to remember them doing it for TV but it was rubbish. I enjoyed Devilfish's autobiografhy from a few years back,swimming with the Devilfish.

Got the reading bug back this summer after a lot of years of almost never reading for entertainment. So far I've read:

Life and Laughing - Michael McIntylre autobiograpy. Really funny and a very interesting story

Sh*t My Dad Says - Justin Halpern - Never read a book that made me laugh out loud until this one

Devilfish Autobiography - Really cool story about how he made it to the top. Mentions a lot of people and places that you'll recognise if you've played much live in the north of England

Confessions of a GP - Benjamin Daniels - Very interesting insight into what the job is like, very entertaining read and funny in parts too

The Confession - John Grisham - I really like his style of writing and intent to read pretty much all of his crime/legal drama books

The Street Lawyer - Another John Grisham book based on a hotshot lawyer than gets held hostage by a homeless guy ends up jacking in his six figure salary to work for homeless rights. Highly recommend this one

Read all Jon grisham. Do love his writing style but sometimes the endings disappoint

I like biog's a lot so will check some of these out, haven't read a book for years, Frank Skinner's biog is 10/10, hilarious and really interesting.

Aye, Frank Skinner's is good.

Prob been mentioned before but Tony Cascarino's is good and quite enjoyed John Daly's the last few day.

For people who've enjoy crime fiction like Grisham, Patricia Cornwell et al then Michael Connelly's books with Harry Bosch are very good I think

Also, echo what's been said about the Millennium trilogy, read all these in the last month or so, a little bit of a cut above in the genre I'd say and have done the standard thing and am on my second Jo Nesbo now - pretty good to as Bumpkin said

The good think about the Frank Skinner book is that as you read it, you can just imagine him doing every word as a stand up routine, so if you like him as a stand up, its a great read.

Slightly "off-topic" from Book Reviews, but last year, Frank Skinner did an astonishinghly good, & revealing, Desert Island Discs, in which he spoke openly about all manner of oddities, including, incongrously it seemed to me, his love of Opera.

I'm sure it will be available on i-Player or whatever the Radio 4 version is. Well worth a listen.

Saw him do an equally surprising interview, cant remember where, talking about his Christianity.

Oh, and also, did anyone ever see his documentary about his shirt which he believed was owned by Elvis, and at the end he finds out it wasn't, that was great.

Always been a big FS fan, so will have a look for this.
In addition to his auto-biog, he wrote a book a couple of years back, about his return to stand up comedy, after a gap of a few years. Well worth a read.

I did wonder why the book charts were always filled with autobiographies - now I know why.

 Niall Quinn's autobiography is a really interesting read. Should tie in well with the Merson story too.

More recently, Dara O'Brien 'Tickling the English' is fun in a Bill Bryson sort of way and I can support any recommendation of Frank Skinner's book.

Any travel writing readers got any recommendations?

Done most of the usual suspects. Bryson, Theroux, Dalrymple etc

Driving over Lemons prob just qualifies as a travel book, very good.

Not quite travel but I was just reminded of the book where Tony Hawkins hitch hikes around Ireland with a fridge (which I believe is the title) which was very good

fyp

And yes, I'd agree. Makes you realise that Laxie isn't the only one in Ireland like that :).

Tony Hawks did a good one with Norman Wisdom as well - One Hit Wonderland, which is very funny and touching.

Cheers guys, already read all of them  :)

Yeah I watched that, was good.

Yes, loved it too, brilliant book

Currently starting Game of Thrones.   Program was excellent so thought I'd start the books.

Love John Grisham, can anybody recommend any similar types of author?

Michael Connelly wrote a series of legal thriller novels, The Lincoln Lawyer was the first of them. All pretty good imo.

John Lescroart also a good crime/legal thriller writer.

Reading James Joyce at the moment. Ulysses gets plaudits aplenty for all the modernism and pioneering the stream of conciousness technique and all that. All well and good, what I'm interested in is that they used txt speak at the beginning of the 20th century.

KMA is Kiss my arse and KMRIA is Kiss my Royal Irish arse.

Both would make for fine editions to any teenagers arsenal. They can stand next to ROFL and GTFO and do very nicely.


The other thing I like about Ulysses is that it offers a very fine counter example to call upon if you ever meet a prig who claims that there's no need for sweary words and that people who use them just do so because they don't have sufficient vocabulary to express themselves.

Ulysses famously uses a lexicon of 30,030 different words in the book. Had it only been 30,023 the work would not be improved for it's lack of fuck balls shit arse piss and grey sunken *****. Possibly of greater importance, the English language itself would be the lesser if we didn't have the exclamation "Shite and onions, life is too short"

Oh, it automatically starred out the c word. Thankyou forum. We can sleep easily in our beds now that we're shielded from such raw badness.

lol, piss and beans, life is way too short

:)

There was something on the BBC a bit ago saying about how all the telegraph operators in the Victorian era used to chat to each other in txt speak when they didn't have any work to do - none of the examples they gave were as good as KMA or KMRIA though.

Although it isn't as good - I'd recommend Dubliners for after Ulysses (I'd actually recommend it before Ulysses but you've spoiled that unless you've already read Dubliners before).

Yeah I've buggered that up but I'll get on to the Dubliners at some point.

Currently reading foundation by Isaac asimov....totally hooked...

They're well good. Remember reading them when I were a lad.

Currently reading Derren Browns book Tricks of the Mind, where he reveals many of his own tricks as well as discusses things like belief, paranormal stuff, cold readers etc

hooked, Ive already learned a new way to memorize things that I will use for the rest of my life. Its also quite funny.

'Tis good.  I've forgotten all the memory tricks in it though...

I'm to lazy to read nowadays. Audiobooks FTW

Steig Larsson - Girl with the dragon tattoo was good
I just finished all 32 hours of 'this sceptered isle' that was stunningly good, got to love the bbc.
Stephen frys autobiography was a bit toss.

I read about 50 pages of that and thought that he come across as a prick so didn't bother reading any more..lol

loved the derren brown book

Audible.co.uk?

not exactly.

They're quite good. Have a deal where for £109 you get 24 audiobook tokens.

I dare say there are ways to obtain them for £0.00 in a slightly dodgy manner. I ain't judgin, I end up watching naughty NFL feeds every Sunday.

I got the book about Pablo Escobar that Hopkin recommended in Ray's diary and thoroughly enjoyed it, as Ray pointed out it was rather one sided...

I followed that up with 'Killing Pablo' by Mark Bowden which is the same story viewed from the perspective of the Columbian Authorities and US embassy/forces - which is pretty much the opposite side to the one above. It's odd in that the two books contradict each other in the most mundane ways - e.g. This one says they used messenger pigeons when in jail and the other book denies it. I also enjoyed the book though and ended up buying several more by the author (inc Black Hawk Down) and will let you know if they're any good.

I'm currently reading John Peel's (auto)biography. Brackets because he died halfway through writing it and his family took over, so it's a combination of auto and half not. I think tikay would approve of the second half of the book as, unlike Chris Evan's books, the chapters are rather long... I say chapters but it's actually just one (as far as I can tell) for a few hundred pages.

Planning to read Chris Evans' biog soon as my Mam just bought it.

The same author wrote black hawk down......I recommend

For some reason I thought Guy had mentioned this and tweeted him to say thanks as i enjoyed it.  No wonder he didn't answer me.  I bought it off back of this recommendation and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I thought the last page was a bit too sacharine but other than that thanks a lot.  Others by Parsons worth a try?  I get through about two books a week and it is really hard keeping myself with a list of things I actually want to read.  I finished Atomised by Michel Houlebecq this morning.  No idea what to make of that....in fact not sure of the whole thing was meant to be some kind of metaphor i didn't really understand.

Also read 'The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim' by Jonathan Coe this week which is very enjoyable but had literally the most ridiculous and unneccesary last two pages.  Seemed to be a theme with the books I read this week.

The first or second book? They have the second in the works for pretty cheap... I enjoyed them both and thought the title of the first book "It's Not What You Think" was rather appropriate because it wasn't what I expected at all.

I'm currently reading the latest Lee Childs book 'The Affair'. Totally hooked on the series, and recommend it to anyone who likes 'action thrillers'.
Also currently reading the Wallander series.

How many people read multiple books at once? I cant do it, but I guess its just a bit like watching a schedule of TV shows in a week instead of a film or someink

Yeah I do this although they tend to be of diffierent types ie fiction and non fiction.

I do - particularly if a book I'm reading is really hard-going and a real slog to get through.

There's one I'm reading at the moment which is like this - it's called The Mental Game of something or other, can't remember exactly what.

If the book I'm reading is good I just want to read more of it so don't read two at once.

Having said that I have been reading a book of essays called "the next 50 years" for so long now it should more accurately be named "the next 39 years" and I still haven't found the essay I bought the book to read...

Yeah, always do this. Sometimes have 4 or 5 on the go.
I'm too impatient, probs have about 100 books at home that are unread.
Books are sooo cheap, I can't resist buying more, unfortunately family life, career and ahem the internet all burn too much of my time!!!

bump

Just finished 'The Power of Habit' and it was pretty decent.

Also went through most of the biographies of the dragons from dragons den, and James Caan and Duncan Bannatynes were both quite good.

What is everyone else reading? Im at a loss what to read next.

Good bump.

I bought a kindle a couple of weeks ago, and despite thinking I'd mainly save it for when I was travelling it has boosted the amount of reading I've done just because of the convenience.

The 2 weeks before I bought it I read Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes - it's not worth really talking about what the book is about, the main draw of a Julian Barnes book is that he just writes so well that it doesn't matter what he's actually writing about. And I read a good history of the Spanish Armada (The Confident Hope Of A Miracle (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confident-Hope-Miracle-History-Spanish/dp/0552149756/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342783981&sr=1-1)) - which stood out from the normal history books because it actually had new facts in it rather than just new opinions (the "new" facts might already have been known - they were just ignored quite a lot).

The 2 weeks since I bought the Kindle I read the 7 Harry Potter books plus a couple of spin-off novelty books. Taken individually they are exactly as expected which is they're not very demanding - but that doesn't mean they're bad; they're just okay. Taken as a whole though they have a beautifully structured over-arching story arc with rock solid integrity in it's characterization and plotting. But I would have to say you do have to be a pretty committed bibliophile to read all 7 books just so you can appreciate the structure of them rather than the actual story.

Currently reading Chris Evans' book, both are really good.

Finishing off Keith Richards' book atm.  Very readable, colourful (ldo) life.  But not one that is likely going to have much influence on the way you live your life...

Reading the people's history of the united states by Howard zinn. Pretty interesting perspective of how history was written

I've read a few popular science books recently.

"The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform The World" by David Deutsch - fairly mind-blowing mixture of philosophy and science. Really really enjoyed it. Not for the faint-hearted though.

"Seventeen Equations that Changed the World" by Ian Stewart - quite interesting ramble through mathematical history, starting with Pythagoras, and finishing with the Black-Scholes equation (financial modelling), via Thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum theory. As much about history as maths, you don't need to be particularly nerdy to understand it.

"Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements" by Hugh Aldersey-Williams - again, more a history book than a chemistry text. He writes about the discovery and uses of each element. Skips all over the periodic table, partly depending on discovery dates, but also by arbitrarily grouping the elements by usage. Some interesting stuff, although maybe loses some focus as he gets going.

Also read "The Long Earth" - new sci-fi Pratchett/Baxter collaboration. The first 75% was pretty good, but then it didn't really go anywhere. Ending was weak. Setting up for a series maybe.

Along similar lines, the last two I read were: "The Infinite Book" by John D. Barrow (Essentially a book about infinity) and "Why does e=mc^2?" By Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. Both cerebral but worth a read.

I like a 200ish page book to read on the train to and from work, as I can get through a few pages each way.

Less sciency was "How I escaped my certain fate" by the comedian Stewart Lee, which is a riot; a brilliant piece of writing, charming and endearing, with some of his more famous routines included verbatim.

One from perhaps leftier field is "Captain Scott" by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. It's the conclusion of one of our greatest explorers' extensive research on another of our greatest explorers. The race to the South Pole fascinated me as a child and this was an enthralling read. Fiennes is someone who knows what it takes to reach the pole but he writes with such sincerity that you appreciate just how much harder it was 80 years earlier, without the technology available to the modern polar explorer. This was a submarine officer, taking on an heroic task, with tragic consequences.

Any and all worth an investment.

Read this last year. Probably the most accessible book on relativity I've read. I used to think I vaguely understood it, but having read that I realised there were lots of gaps in my understanding. Although of course that means there are probably loads more gaps that I don't even know about.

Known unknowns, and unknown unknowns...

I used to read at least a book a week but less now.


Probably my favourite book is To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. Another great read is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The Hobbit is a book I've read several times including to my kids.

The best autobiography I've read Bob Geldof's Is that it. From the great Boomtownt Rats to putting together of Live Aid. Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis autobiogs I enjoyed, being from a much different era.

Phillip Pullmans Dark materials trilogy are fantastic.

From Brian Cox to Donald Rumsfeld. Quite a link, that!

read John Daly the golfers auto Biography on Holiday, 2 days and finished, Amazing Book, espically when he won the British open and what he did with the winnings!!!! Vegas Baby

By far and away the best book on the shelves right now is Fifty Shades of Grey. I don't know what it's about but I bought it for the mrs and now she's a crazed sexual deviant. Great purchase, highly recommended.

My Misuus got all three of the books, Mr Christian Gray is in charge and i dont get a peep, whilst on holiday 2 weeks ago, 9 women in different areas of the pool were reading the books.

So many free books about, whether its upcoming authors or the classics. One or two of my favourite books came from the free section of the kindle. I'd find the title but i dropped it and didn't call to get it fixed under warranty :(

oh rly?

The Sisters Brothers - rather excellent, if you've enjoyed Bukowski, McCarthy then you're probably gonna like this. Read it a few months back and lent it to my son recently, his appreciation of it made me think the message needed to be spread wider

I've had a really lucky run of about 6 great books in a row.

Brandwashed - all about tricks marketeers use when they are trying to sell us stuff
Confessions of a media manipulator - how PR folks manipulate the web based media
Why England Lose - An economist explanation of various football phenomena, basically Freakonimics for football
So good they cant ignore you - why people love or hate their jobs.
Everything Now - a book about how we have never had it so easy, yet everyone is still unhappy.

Currently reading Thinking Fast and Slow, which is proving a good read

Bump

Shouldn´t these all be one book titled "How the Capitalists F***ed Us" Or nearly but thankfully we started making fortunes out of writing books about it first! Soma for the masses and we mostly love it! Huxley called it.

Ultimate favourite novel is Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Every now and then you get a description of the landscape so vivid you can smell the daisies.

Love Tal

I have only really read autobiographies, but Santa got me the further adventures of an idiot abroad, will give that a bash, has anyone read it?

Finished JK Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy" a few days ago.  Its about as far removed from Harry Potter as you could imagine but is ultimately underwhelming and a bit of a letdown.

Fans of crime novels should give James Ellroy a whirl.  He's best known for LA Confidential (I love the film, and its one of the better film adaptations out there, but the book is fabulous) and The Black Dahlia (great book, poor film), but most of his books are a great read, especially the American Tabloid Trilogy which are a fictional interpretation of the Kennedy assasinations (JFK and Bobby), plus Howard Hughes, Bay of Pigs, etc.  Some of his books are written in a staccato style, which takes some getting used to, but he's a great author of dark, twisted, crime stories.

I love this time of year for searching out cheap Kindle bargains as Amazon always do a post-Christmas sale.  Just bought "Life of Pi" for the grand sum of 20p, which I've been meaning to read for ages, plus a few speculative purchases to stockpile.