Desire Avenue

I'm currently reading two great books that I'd recommend to anyone-
WATERLOG by Roger Deakin.
Roger D. died last year,soon after publishing this account of his experiences swimming the wild waterways of Britain.Inspired by John Cheever's short story 'The Swimmer' (and the Burt Lancaster film) where a man swims home through the swimming pools of California,Deakin changes the locations to natural waterways,ponds,lakes etc,and the resultant travelogue is a passionate celebration of the natural diversity of Britain,full of humour and warmth.
THE WINTER BOOK by Tove Jansson.
Anyone (child OR adult) who has ever read the Moomintroll books will know what great stories they are.The Winter Book is a collection of Tove Jansson's adult short stories in English for the first time,and they'e riveting,wise,compassionate and funny,frequently taking the viewpoint of a child in the adult world,and very redolent of the wild seascapes of the North.'The Summer Book' was an instant cult classic when it came out two or three years back,but this is even better.

sound world wrote:WATERLOG by Roger Deakin.
Roger D. died last year,soon after publishing this account of his experiences swimming the wild waterways of Britain.

Don't tell me ........................................... he drowned?

I'm currently reading Martin C. Strong's 'The Essential Rock Discography' (Canongate 2007)........all 1250 pages of it.

Published in hardback for £30 ......I got my copy from BookWorld for £4.99.

You can't beat a good bargain.

RobB wrote:

sound world wrote:WATERLOG by Roger Deakin.
Roger D. died last year,soon after publishing this account of his experiences swimming the wild waterways of Britain.

Don't tell me ........................................... he drowned?

I set you up there nicely,didn't I,RobB?

RobB wrote:I'm currently reading Martin C. Strong's 'The Essential Rock Discography' (Canongate 2007)........all 1250 pages of it.

Published in hardback for £30 ......I got my copy from BookWorld for £4.99.

You can't beat a good bargain.

I love those sort of books,even though you can disagree with most of what's written.

sound world wrote:

RobB wrote:

sound world wrote:WATERLOG by Roger Deakin.
Roger D. died last year,soon after publishing this account of his experiences swimming the wild waterways of Britain.

Don't tell me ........................................... he drowned?

I set you up there nicely,didn't I,RobB?

Didn't you just ............. but I didn't put a smilie after my comment in case anyone thought it bad taste.

Some of Martin's album ratings are a bit strange.......but then I don't believe for a minute that he's actually listened to every album he's rated.

I vaguely remember reading for pleasure. It was something I used to do before deciding to pursue a degree.

My most recent reading: essays by Hume and Rousseau, speeches by Robespierre and other sources from the French Revolution.

i used to read a book a week back in middle school but i just don't take time to anymore

the yellow pages

alx5962 wrote:the yellow pages

Funnily enough,I was watching a tribute to Tommy Cooper earlier,and someone said that he was a man who could read the Yellow Pages and make it funny .

And sympathies to you,Beth.When I was doing my joint English/Music degree,it nearly put me off Literature for life,(let alone Music) Later on you can hopefully reclaim the reading for pleasure...

An Icelandic writer, Arnaldur Indridason, who writes some very interesting detective stories. I read him in French, but I see it's translated in English, too. I suggest to start with Jar City, where you get to know inspector Erlendur for the first time.

I read Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart after discovering I probably bought it over 10 years ago and never touched it....

Cormack McCarthy's latest "The sunset limited".