St Fredo - Alphonse Boudard , a great read. Not one for the feminists though.

Eight months on Gazza Street - Hilary Mantel
I loved 'Wolf Hall' but this is nowhere as good. Okay but I don't think it is a man's book.

Freakonomics - Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Quite interesting but not as good as all the rave reviews have said.

The end of the affair - Graham Greene
Another disappointing 'classic'.  It reads very like a mills and boon.

For whom the bell tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Yet another disappointing 'classic'.  He never uses a word when a paragraph would do.  Basically it is another 'mills and boon' set in the time of the spanish civil war.  Man meets beautiful woman, has sex with her, blows up a bridge then dies.  Waffle, waffle, waffle.  Just once can't a man meet an ordinary woman and fall madly in love with her because she is kind, funny and intelligent - Oh no, they have to be beautiful, it doesn't matter about anything else.

Mohammed
Published in 1968 this is quite a good book about the prophet.  Interesting.

Tuf Voyaging - George R R Martin
Not nearly as good as game of thrones but worth a read if you like science fiction.

The beautiful dead - Belinda Bauer
Okay thriller.

Remains of the DAy - Kazuo Ishiguro
Man Booker winner but doesn't deserve it. 
What is it about 'classic' books?  He was about in his thirties I think when he wrote it and it shows.  We are expected to believe that a man worked and lived alongside an attractive woman who made advances to him for a long time, but did not notice!!  The main character is a butler and a man, but you would never have guessed the man bit.

Daisy in Chains - Sharon Bolton
Not bad but the ending, like so many thrillers, is a bit of a let down.

The sky is falling - Sidney Sheldon
Readable but shallow.

Private - James Patterson
Readable but shallow.  I don't think I will read another james patterson book.

Double Indemnity - James M Cain
Why are these sorts of books so alike?  Pretty woman but evil etc etc. Okay

You've been warned - James Patterson
Readable but shallow.  I must stop reading james patterson books, they are  a waste of time

Beach Road- James Patterson
Readable but shallow.

The Black Ice - Michael Connelly
Okay

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
Disappointed.  According to one list supposed to be the best thriller ever.  But to me it reads the same old story, 'hard bitten' detective meets pretty woman who turns out to be  evil.

Thanks for that, bodil. 

I looked up the author and his books look worth reading as he is old and has lived a life and apparently they reflect the italy of the last twenty years and all the politcs it involves as well.  So you get a history and a travel book as well as a thriller.  My kind of book, hopefully.  I have been bored with the books I have been reading lately.

I have moved from brighton, first back to my flat in london and then from there to where i am now.  I don't have a tv but do see programs at a friends.  Do you think it is better to see the series first and then read the books or visa versa, I must admit to liking box sets.

Thanks, bodil.  Goodnight

The Pale Criminal - Philip Kerr 6/10
Bestie - Joe Lovejoy 8/10
George VI - Sarah Bradford 7/10
Time For Heroes - Ted Brack 7/10
March Violets - Philip Kerr 7/10
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut 6/10
Park Drive Book Of Football 1968/9    10/10
A German Requiem - Philip Kerr 7/10
Hunt Vs Lauda - Paul Fearnley 9/10
The Dikler and His Circle - Mary Comyns Carr 10/10
3.59.4 The Quest For The 4 Minute Mile - Bob Philips 8/10
The People vs O J Simpson - Jeffrey Toobin 10/10
The Devil's Star - Jo Nesbo 8/10
The Program  - David Walsh 9/10
After Auschwitz - Eva Schloss 10/10
Leonard - William Shatner 8/10
In Pursuit the Nazi Hunters - Andrew Nagorski 8/10
The Time Machine - H G Wells 10/10
War Of The Worlds - H G Wells 9/10
The Invisible Man - H G Wells 6/10
The First Men In The Moon - H G Wells 4/10
The Fifth Head Of Cerberus - Gene Wolf 4/10
Our Zoo - June Mottershead 10/10
Story Of Your Life And Others - Ted Chiang 6/10
1984 - George Orwell 11/10
Five Dead Canaries - George Marston 7/10
Assassination of Heydrich - Callum McDonald 8/10
Autobiography - Joey Barton 6/10
Autobiography - Trevor Brooking 7/10
Autobiography - Mark Ward 9/10
Autobiography - Sir Roger Moore 7/10
Gestapo - Frank McDonough 4/10
From A Buick 8 - Stephen King 10/10
Autobiography - Peter Alliss 9/10
Autobiography - Johan Cruyff 4/10
Timeline - Michael Chrichton 6/10
The Shot - Philip Kerr 5/10
Dog Rounds - Elliott Worsell 6/10

I met an interesting lady on holiday and discovered that she had written her autobiography.
As I knew she has lived a turbulent alternative lifestyle, I downloaded it from Amazon.
Not sophisticated writing but an eye-opener for me. I thought it might appeal to Annie which is why I'm posting it here.
More than once around the Block by Andy Rosholm-Olesen.
My review is there under the pseudonym Ataraxia.

I do like your pseudonym 'Ataraxia', Foinavon.  I looked up the meaning and it sounds like me, well most of the time!

I love one of his teachings -

God, he says, either wishes to take away evils, and is unable; or He is able, and is unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able. If He is willing and is unable, He is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of God; if He is able and unwilling, He is envious, which is equally at variance with God; if He is neither willing nor able, He is both envious and feeble, and therefore not God; if He is both willing and able, which alone is suitable to God, from what source then are evils? Or why does He not remove them?

I think the above should be taught in schools whenever they teach 'religion'

The Ghost - Robert Harris

I liked this book.  I like how he writes and he seems down to earth and normal, not something writers, especially 'classsic' ones are.  Maybe because he came from a council house and a comprehensive school.  Maybe because he has lived a full life before writing books.  I will now read all his other books.

Foinavon, you have hit on one of the few short stories I like! I have not read it in years but I still remember how sad the ending was.I can't remember if I read the short story or the novel. 

I have just read about it on wiki and apparently the author was pressured into having a happy ending, but refused.  It is also a great title for a book.

I think then that I read the short story, although I have also seen the film about the book so that has me confused as well! I will have to read the original novel.

Do you read them on a kindle or similar?  I have often thought of getting one. How do you find them?

Yes, I wouldn't be without my Kindle Paperwhite. I bought mine from John Lewis in a sale 3 years ago but you can get them from Amazon. I read it every day for several hours and it goes everywhere with me. The back lighting allows me to read in bed before falling asleep or if I wake in the early hours and can't drop off again. Reading does the trick but I have to be careful not to drop it on my nose.
Goodnight Annie, nice talking to you.

For anyone who hasn't read it, Catch 22 is 99p on kindle today. One of my favourite books, I've got a copy on paperback, but I'm tempted to buy it again at that price.

Voltaire Almighty - Roger Pearson , who shows a singular lack of respect for the rules of grammar. A good , if irritating , read.
Voltaire A Life - Ian Davidson
Rififi Chez Les Hommes - Auguste Le Breton , one of his good books.
La Derobade - Jeanne Cordelier , terrific.

The Ritual, Adam Nevill on kindle for 99p. An original and atmospheric horror, this one. Four 30-something blokes on a hiking trip in the vast, ancient forests of Northern Sweden. What could possibly go wrong? I really enjoyed this one, although it is flawed in some ways. Conjures up the dark, cold, unforgiving bleakness of the Northern wilderness rather well. They've made a movie of it which is out now, I'll be interested to see how movie compares to my reading of the book.
Also, I noticed, Jurassic Park is on offer for 49p. can't go wrong with that, imo.
Slaughterhouse 5 also available for 99p. Has its critics, but I really enjoyed it.

The Pale Criminal - Philip Kerr 6/10
Bestie - Joe Lovejoy 8/10
George VI - Sarah Bradford 7/10
Time For Heroes - Ted Brack 7/10
March Violets - Philip Kerr 7/10
Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut 6/10
Park Drive Book Of Football 1968/9    10/10
A German Requiem - Philip Kerr 7/10
Hunt Vs Lauda - Paul Fearnley 9/10
The Dikler and His Circle - Mary Comyns Carr 10/10
3.59.4 The Quest For The 4 Minute Mile - Bob Philips 8/10
The People vs O J Simpson - Jeffrey Toobin 10/10
The Devil's Star - Jo Nesbo 8/10
The Program  - David Walsh 9/10
After Auschwitz - Eva Schloss 10/10
Leonard - William Shatner 8/10
In Pursuit the Nazi Hunters - Andrew Nagorski 8/10
The Time Machine - H G Wells 10/10
War Of The Worlds - H G Wells 9/10
The Invisible Man - H G Wells 6/10
The First Men In The Moon - H G Wells 4/10
The Fifth Head Of Cerberus - Gene Wolf 4/10
Our Zoo - June Mottershead 10/10
Story Of Your Life And Others - Ted Chiang 6/10
1984 - George Orwell 11/10
Five Dead Canaries - George Marston 7/10
Assassination of Heydrich - Callum McDonald 8/10
Autobiography - Joey Barton 6/10
Autobiography - Trevor Brooking 7/10
Autobiography - Mark Ward 9/10
Autobiography - Sir Roger Moore 7/10
Gestapo - Frank McDonough 4/10
From A Buick 8 - Stephen King 10/10
Autobiography - Peter Alliss 9/10
Autobiography - Johan Cruyff 4/10
Timeline - Michael Chrichton 6/10
The Shot - Philip Kerr 5/10
Dog Rounds - Elliott Worsell 6/10
Autobiography - Peter Sallis
Touched By God - Diego Maradona 5/10
Autobiography - Andrew Sachs 9/10
Picnic At Hanging Rock -Joan Lindsay 8/10
The Moon's A Balloon - David Niven 10/10
The Perfect Distance Coe and Ovett -Pat Butcher 10/10

An officer and a spy - Robert Harris

Another novel about the Dreyfus affair but quite enjoyable.

Imperium - Robert Harris

Another novel about ancient Rome but enjoyable

Foinavon I haven't read any of welsh books but am thinking about it, which one should I read first or does it matter