Personally like them, but theyre not for everyone. Looking forward to come back to this thread in a couple of days to see if everyone behaved themselves for this
I wonder if there is a difference of enjoyment between a produced book on tape and doing it the old fashioned way (this is no knock- i pretty much only do BOT now), but this is one i read as a teenager and enjoyed. Being forced to listen to the songs and poems and the treebeard like bits would have brought me to a screeching hault i think. I would probably not mind if now, but it’s more from nostalgia and already liking the story i think.
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I struggled when I first read LOTR. Maybe 5 separate attempts to just get past the prologue, but once I finally did manage, it has lodged itself firmly into my top 10 books.
And I always read every word of every poem, song or description.
Finish it and then finish the Return of the King. You will be richly rewarded. I have struggled with the elaborate descriptions too, but it’s worth it.
To say this book is disturbing would be somewhat of an understatement,…
The same is probably true for the author himself…
Haven’t read much recently but this fit into my increased time spent at airports and dingy hotels of late… I don’t agree with everything the author says but it does give an insight into how entrenched and impactful poverty is and how hard it is to find the solution to solve it.
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I think someone else mentioned this book in the politics thread. Might have been @RedWhippet or @WeeJoe ?
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It wasn’t me although it looks an interesting read.
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I gave a copy to my best mate as a gift.
He is one of these always happy types.
He did not finish it…
Just looked for it and it was @tesh 
Two other books that I liked for different reasons - one light and fluffy and the other dark and broody.
Two other books that work well together - at least in my mind
My first six reads of 2023. At my reading speed they may well be my last six reads of 2023, but that’s besides the point!
What’s that second book, West, about? Have the Gunslinger book been made into a movie?
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West is a short novel about a guy in the American frontier who hears about the discovery of giant bones (dinosaur or mammoth) and feels compelled to head west, believing that they might still be alive. And about the daughter he leaves behind
The ending was a little contrived, but it was reasonably well written.
Gunslinger was made into movie with Idris Elba, thought my understanding is it’s not a particulaly good adaptation. There are plans with Amazon to do a series which will be closer to the book.
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I read an american tragedy many years ago. From what i remember it was a very depressing read. Not my kind of thing.
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I was given a book for Christmas. My wife got it from the charity shop.
Odd Boy Out by Gyles Brandreth. I actually find him quite annoying but it did make me laugh out loud on quite a few occasions. He is a dreadful name dropper but does tell some genuinely amusing tales of his interactions with show biz personalities over the years.
There was one particular story about Fanny and Johnny Cradock for those old enough to remember them. Fanny was one of the early tv chefs and was always assisted by husband Johnny. At the end of one episode Johnny famously said “May all your doughnuts turn out like Fanny’s”
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I remember he never ever washed his neck before putting on his shirt :0)
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This is killing me now. The name is familiar to me from my childhood but I cannot recall from what. I looked him up and the face rings a bell but doesnt help, and neither does his Wiki page. I have a vague recollection of him being a host of some kids show, or maybe a game show. Would have been late 80s through to the mid 90s. I saw the reference to Countdown, but I cannot imagine that would have been where I’d know him from
Good Morning Britain?