Books that we're reading at the moment?

[cheniesbucks]

Hi All,

Just wanted to tell you all about a book I'm reading at the moment. "May contain nuts" by John O' Farrell.

It is a laugh out loud book and is basically about a woman from middle class England who decides to take her daughters 11+ for her to enable her to get into one of the finest schools in the country. Praise for the book includes:-

"O' Farrel is a humerous writer with an acute ear for the absurdities of middle class pretension. its hard to fault his satire on conpetetive parenting or his conclusions regarding social inequalities"

"O'Farrell is one of the best satirists and he has middle class pushy mothers down to a tee in this toe curling, hackle rising chronicle lf hyper - parenting....the one liners are sublime and the comedic situations are hilarious. Dont miss this!

"O' Farrell has tapped into Middle Englands neuroses with terrific wit"

I live in an area that still has the 11+ and my oldest daughter is nearly six but there are so many things that ring true for me in this book. I can see me (yes me!?!?) in some of the things that Alice does and deffinatley see some of the mums who I stand in the playground with every day in this book. Its really really funny...my husband thinks I'm mad when I try to read something out to him and have to stop to have a fit of the giggles.....

Get it on Amazon - which I did for about two pounds! If you have little ones who you're "coaching" already you'll wince!!!!

 

[debz1]

Great book cb I just finished it in PP last week and I've left it in the apartment for our guests. Like you I was laughing out loud and reading bits out for hubby..never quite the same out of context and he thought I was mad! I have 3 children who all went through the traumas of 11 + and thankfully they all passed and went on to the grammar schools in Aylesbury. The book, as you said ,reminded me of conversations at the school gates with some of the over competetive mums!

Have you read his other book The Best A Man Can Get? I think it's even funnier ?:rollin . All his plots are fairly absurd but you almost believe them and his humour is right up my street.

Talking of streets my Grandparents (and Dad as a boy) used to live on Chorley Wood road. They lived in 2 houses ..not at the same time :\ ! The first was on the corner of The Clump which was knocked down a few year ago and is now where I think Martin Kemp's house is .The second house (next door) was called Little Acre and still is 60 years later!

Debs

 

[cheniesbucks]

Hi debz

I know exactly where you mean on the corner of the Clump. yes Martin and shirl' do live there. Its very leafy now so I can't stretch around the hedges to have a nose....blast! Ha ha.

Yes, the other book "The Best a man can get" IS very very funny indeed. I had my two girls at home and I remember the second labour vividly (nearly 3 yrs ago!). I wallowed in our roll top bath - with blue tack stuffed into the overflow thingy to stop the water escaping - whilst reading that book!!! The poor midwives had to keep listening to me recite bits to them and they never found it funny like I did for some reason???? (Maybe something to do with the whole cannister of gas and air that I'd used that EVERTHING was funny::lol :lol ) In the end they told me to put the book away although I do remember reading it again a bit later on with 2nd newborns head wobbling around whilst I was trying to feed her AND laugh at the next funny that he was talking about. No wonder I was so rubbish at feeding babies....should have put the blimming books down I guess?...... >D

 

[Debilicious]

Im reading Marian Keyes Watermelon, is also a laugh out loud, i dont normally read these types of books, as prefer, thriller, crime books, but friend borrowed me 3 of same author, 2 i didnt fancy, but this is about a irish woman, whos husband dump's her in the hospital, the day she gives birth, and leaves her for her very average neighbour, with lots of kids etc, was slow getting started, but is very dry, and funny !!

gonna try Sushi for Beginners, as almost finished Watermelon S f B gets fab reviews, but doenst seem that good from back cover, anyone read it ???

Debs

 

[pollensa]

One of the most amazing books that I enjoyed recently & is very short is 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' written from the viewpoint of a boy with Aspergers syndrome. It was completely unexpected & amazing. It may not sound appealing but everyone I know who has read it, says exactly the same - wow!

 

[Debilicious]

pollensa,

whats asperges syndrome ?

 

[pollensa]

It's either the same as or similar to autism where a child or adult sees everything in a very different way & doesn't really relate to other people. They see eveything very objectively & black & white. They have their own interior world & routines & are often brilliant at something such as Mathematics or Art.

Read it to find out - it's very short - I stayed up all night reading it...

See www.amazon.co.uk

 

[bonez1977]

curious incident is one of the best books i have ever read,, it's so close to the mark, it gets you gripped and you just can't put it down. i hardly ever read a book twice, but i have lost count at how many times i have read this... it's especially touching if you have a family member with asperges (sp) or autism ... a great book... i loved it !!!!!!

 

[cheniesbucks]

Oh wow yes!

Pollensa and Bonz - the curious incident of the dog in the night is FAB!! Loved it. Read it 3 times I think!!!

Deb, if you liked Marion Keyes you should buy "Under the Duvet" by the same author. A real girlie giggler of a book. ALSO, one of my "other" faves is another book similar to John O' Farrells "may contain nuts" It's called "I dont know how she does it?" which is by Alison Pearson. Its about a working mum who counts minutes "as though they are calories". Its a very funny book but has a sad side to it too. I dont know one of my friends who hasn't read it. ( I dont juggle a full time job and motherhood but I still found it very funny. I'm a yummy mummy who stays at home instead! ::evil :rolleyes

Anything by Tony Parsons is good too although for some strange reason I couldn't get into his latest one (cant even remember the name >D ) Its all about a reporter on a newspaper in the 70s who travels the world interviewing rock stars. Shame, cos I loved all his others ie, One for my baby, Man and boy and Man and wife....

I love reading books like all of the above we've mentioned so far - so any other recommendations let me know....?

 

[its cd]

Anyone read the Freya North Books ........... Chloe;Sally;Cat Pip etc ...... great beach reads, not many brain cells required but fantastic entertainment ........ just what we need on hols, don't you think.

I would also recommend Joanne Harris , especially 5 quarters of an Orange and Coastliners

Other books I have loved are the Annie Hawes books Extra Virgin and Ripe for the picking ........ I actually went to the place where these books are set in Italy last year ........ it was fascinating ........... did a post all about it but I think it was in the Tapas Bar so not around any more ....... mustn't go off topic but must remember to ask Pollensa what happened to all those posts

Another interesting read ( am half way through ) is Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon ...... requires a bit more attention but not at all heavy ( life's too short to have to work at reading a book :rollin )

 

[graham]

books

Anyone read 'Incident at Pollensa Bay' by Agatha Christie?

I've been meaning too but never got round to it.

 

[Debilicious]

Re: books

pollensa, thanks for details.

chesniebucks, ive just finished Watermelon, (she has a great dry sense of humour) and just started, Sushi for Beginners, i do have Under the Duvet, just cant find it, at mo, so started on the other, will defo read tho, thanks.

A blinding unput downable has to be Martina Cole Faceless, granted not everyones cup of tea, and is harsh at times, but god, what an eyeopener, fantastic intense read...my fave book to date, but am getting into these lighthearted funny ones.....

debs

 

[cheniesbucks]

Re: books

If you like the Martina Cole books you should buy "Kaitlyn" by Kevin Lewis. (He wrote The Kid a couple of years ago which is his true story of his struggle as a child who was abused.)

Kaitlyn is a novel and it is very gritty and gripping. She (Kaitlyn) is separated from her little brother after the step-father bruttally attacks their mother one night. Kaitlyn ends up staying with her mum while her brother is adopted by a rich couple somewhere. This story is about Kaitlyns life with her druggie/prostitute mum and then her quest to find her now grown up brother. Lots of twists and turns and very very harrowing and gruesome in parts. Kept me hooked though - I read this in PP in March and my poor husband (I think) felt like a single parent!

Vikki x

 

[sws97sdg]

Re: books

I am reading Don Quixote, its my equivalent of War and peace, got it for Christmas and so far about a quarter of the way, only get to read it in between as so busy at the moment, well worth the effort as it is a bit had going at times.

 

[Debilicious]

Re: books

perfect, my type of read.....

ive made a note of them both, as both sound like what i like to read, as you say, harrowing, but keeps me turning the pages....cheers vic !

deb

 

[Debilicious]

Re: books

RE Curious incident...

do you think, its as enjoyable, if you dont know anyone with this condition/syndrome.....or do you need to be able to relate to it, for the full impact....?

 

[pollensa]

Re: books

Re curious incident:

I don't know anyone who has autism & I thought it was brilliant. So do around 350 other people who reviewed it on Amazon - in fact it is probably more amazing if you don't know that much about. However what did surprise me was that one of the Amazon reviews was written by someone who was autistic & had read it.

 

[its cd]

Re: books

Just found this on my PC .... previously posted in the Tapas Bar but thought new members may find it of interest
I thought any of you who have read Annie Hawes books , Extra Virgin and Ripe for the Picking would be interested to hear about my week in Liguria.

We arrived in the resort of Diano Marina on the Italian Riviera , after spending a week exploring Lakes Maggiore, Como, Orta and Lugano. Diano Marina is an Italian Seaside resort, 70km from the French border, it is a friendly, bustling town, perhaps a touch larger than PP but would appeal to anyone who loves PP. This part of the coast is known as the 'Riviera of Flowers' and has lovely golden sandy beaches and is backed my many hills and valleys, terraced to an inch of their lives and covered with Olive groves. Amongst these olive groves are many small villages most of which have names beginning with Diano, each of these villages has something spectacular and unexpected to offer, from hugely ornate churches to working olive mills to reminders of harder times during enemy occupation.

The books I referred to earlier tell the story of 2 english girls who go out to Liguria for 10 weeks casual work and end up buying and renovating a ruin, with the author still living there to this day. The books are set in Diano San Pietro which is the closest village to Diano Marina and it was reading them that inspired me to holiday in this resort.

I have to say that I drove the family a touch potty, taking one of the books with me and making sure I visited as many of the places mentioned in the book as possible, visiting the village of Diano San Pietro, having a drink in the bar which was central to both stories, identifying shops and I’d like to think characters from the books. I was nicknamed the Extra Virgin Geek for the remainder of the week, not that I cared, I found it all fascinating.

For anyone who has read the books and wondered how representative of that part of the world they really were, I can tell you, they are spot on ….. I felt as though I knew the place as soon as I arrived ……… it really is a lovely place …….. it will never surpass PP in my heart but I will go back and explore some more sometime over the next few years.

 

[bonez1977]

Re: books

re : curious incident / debilicious....

I recomended this book to my dad who had no knowledge of asperges syndrome at all he loved the book and said it gripped him right from the start, i also know a few people who read it that didn't even know what asperges was... so i guess it's good for everyone..... if you do know someone with autistic tendancies though, you find yourself being reminded of the person throughout the book... i did and it made me smile to think of that person.... so from whatever angle you read the book it is really enjoyable !!
Bonez

 

[Debilicious]

Re: books

gonna get it, this weekend, Thanks