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I am looking forward to reading this. I never imagined I would enjoy the first book (Royalty, historic fiction) - but it was gripping. Same with the second.

Ta for the heads up. I can guarantee I will not be reading that. I did read/listen to Ulysses which has Molly Bloom's unpunctuated final chapter - which I was not looking forward to - but was brilliant. But unpunctuated patois - life is too short.

The Beginnings of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald. I am working through selections from the Guardian (well, one of their journalists) list of the top 100 English language novels. This one is excellent. Superbly written, set in pre-revolutionary Russia. I started last evening and have about a third...

Wow. I get the Booker prize winner as a regular Christmas present and that is enough for me. Respect.

I read his Psychopath book a couple of weeks back. Very interesting. There are a couple of posters on here that I suspect would get a high score on the Hare Scale.

An absolute classic, and one that most would really enjoy. Truman Capote. In Cold Blood. One of (if not) the first factional books, following a narrative for a real life crime where a family in a remote farmstead were killed in 1950's America. It is the story of the the build up to the murder...

That part of London after hours was genuinely scary in those days ......... let alone meeting Davey the Dwarf. The bit where he connects with Kenneth Williams - incredible.

Danny Baker's second autobiography, It is quite a life.

Just started "Into the Silence" recommended above. Very interesting. Michael Gove might want to read the first few chapters on WW1.

Gary Imlach's book. A great book. An honest and intelligent tribute to his father. With some fascinating insights into times gone by.

This Boy by Alan Johnson. In an age where politicians all seem to be cut from the same cloth - here was an upbringing. Quite a lot of it by his sister mind. Finishes when he is eighteen - having worked since he was 15 - and married with an adopted daughter. These are not spoilers by the way...

Danny Baker - Going to Sea in a Sieve. An excellent read from a very bright bloke.

Presumably for the Russians it was the Western front!

The Return of the King by William Dalrymple. Why Oh Why Oh Why, with all our knowledge of Afghanistan did we ever get involved ............... what were the foreign office telling the government, and if they were - why were they not listened to ?

Very true. Particularly Wolf Hall. Bring up the Bodies is easier going.

Just finished Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel. I was not expecting to enjoy them as they are (a) historical novels and (b) about royalty - but I would recommend them. They are written in the style of Parades End - from the perspective of a remarkable man.

Well if you want a lighter read - another one just read is A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks. Goes along at a decent pace - and uses the helpful device of listing the main characters over two pages in the opening chapter. Nothing consequential mind.

A chapter on mints ?

My lad gave me Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger - who spent a season following a Texan High School American football team. Definitely worth reading. Nothing like school sport here, thankfully. I also read Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford. I did not see the TV serial - but the casting of the...

I have started to read that a few times thinking that I should enjoy it - but for some reason it just doesn't grip me. I even started listening to a dramatisation on i-Player and gave up. Strange - as I rarely not complete a book.