The unofficial Book Thread which doesn't look as good but was here first

[GreekStein]

Anyone read any of the following:

 

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

Read all 3, very moving story.

the first one i just couldnt put down!

[Biddy 62]

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.

[DMorgan]

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

[George2Loose]

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

[mondatoo]

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.

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.

[nirvana]

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

[DaveShoelace]

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.

[tikay]

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.

[DaveShoelace]

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.

[jakally]

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.

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.

[AndrewT]

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

[david3103]

 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.

[Tonji]

Any travel writing readers got any recommendations?

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

[nirvana]

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.

[DaveShoelace]

Any travel writing readers got any recommendations?

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

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