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My choice at book group tomorrow - I need non fiction recommendations

46 replies

lilibet · 03/05/2005 10:22

We always pick a novel, so I thought that this month I would recommned some non fiction. We suggest three then the group picks one, so far thanks to Roisin I am suggesting Blue Eyed Son but need another couple. I thought of Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawkes.

anyone have any other suggestions - I don't fancy the 'I had a crap childhood' books, but would love other suggestions.

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giraffeski · 03/05/2005 19:00

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Pruni · 03/05/2005 19:10

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assumedname · 03/05/2005 19:37

I read Joe Simpson's other books before I read 'Touching the Void' and in my opinion, they're better. 'Storms of Silence' and 'The Beckoning Silence'.

Yorkiegirl · 03/05/2005 19:39

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ediemcreedie · 03/05/2005 19:41

Bad Blood is great
and Stasiland too

WideWebWitch · 03/05/2005 20:37

What about Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain? Or Wifework by Susan Maushart? Or am I too late to add to this? If so, sorry! I like Bill Bryson, particularly Notes from a small island, v funny about the English imo

WideWebWitch · 03/05/2005 20:40

And Fast food nation is a v good read imo , riveting and not at all dry, well written and pacy IIRC. you might expect it to be preachy but it isn't, it's fascinating stuff.

WideWebWitch · 03/05/2005 20:41

and I enjoyed The Bitch in the house although I did think at various points, oh shut up wingeing!

WideWebWitch · 03/05/2005 20:42

and Things can only get better, 18 miserable years in the life of a labour supporter is funny.

Marina · 03/05/2005 20:46

www, lots of my favourites there - Anthony Bourdain is such an amusing dirty dog isn't he! And I found Fast Food Nation much more gripping and entertaining in a horrified sort of way than I expected. The one I never managed to make any headway with was No Logo, by Naomi Klein. Bit shaming but I just couldn't get started.

Marina · 03/05/2005 20:49

Andrew Collins' two silly memoirs of childhood in 70s Northampton and 80s at Art School are pretty funny too (though dh liked them more than I did): Where Did It All Go Right and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now.
Oh, and the totally matchless Giles Smith, Lost in Music. What a classic
(ps flashingnose I'm not related to him either, alas, although he was apparently at university with dh )

roisin · 03/05/2005 20:50

Sounds like you'll have plenty to choose from lilibet ... I recommend Blue Eyed Son

I was astonished by how much I enjoyed Round Ireland with a Fridge as well; it made me laugh out loud.

Another surprise hit for me was Simon Winchester's the map that changed the world Dh and ds1 now are very keen geologists, so I didn't expect to enjoy it, but it was fascinating. And Winchester's writing is fabulous. From the blurb:

William Smith was not rich or well connected, but his passion for rocks and fossils, and his twenty-year obsession with single-handedly mapping the geology of Britain made him one of the most significant men of the nineteenth century. However his vision cost him dear - his wife went mad, his work was stolen by jealous colleagues who eventually ruined him, and he was imprisoned for debt.

Simon Winchester tells the fascinating story of 'Strata' Smith, a man who crossed boundaries of class, wealth and science to produce a map that fundamentally changed the way we view the world.

WideWebWitch · 03/05/2005 21:57

Marina, I really fancied Anthony Bourdain after reading Kitchen Confidentail! I gave up on No Logo too and I really fancy those other two you've mentioned, is one of them with the cover line 'They tuck you up, your mum and dad?' Is it good?

WideWebWitch · 03/05/2005 21:57

ConfidentIAL even.

Marina · 03/05/2005 23:52

For people of a certain age there is lots to laugh at WWW, and yes, They Tuck You Up is on the front cover of Where Did it All Go Right.
They are a charming homage to uneventful British family life in the 70s but I just find Andrew Collins a teensy bit artfully winsome/clever. So a cautious yes. Giles Smith is miles better IMO and covers the same ground, focusing more on music than on endless drooling over Spangles, Austin Allegros, dralon and the Goodies.
I really did like Anthony Bourdain though, I agree. He just lunges right off the page at you!
Glad I'm not the only one who wussed out on Klein's shouty prose.

lilibet · 04/05/2005 12:49

thank you all very much - I am going to go for Primo Levi - thank you Starlover, Nicky Campbell, thank you Roisin, Touching the Void - thank you a few pople and Travels Round Ireland with a Fridge - because my friend has requested something funny! I'm trusting you a lot here Roisin!

I'm bending the rules this month!

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roisin · 04/05/2005 18:34

Oh the pressure! Do the group choose one to go for tonight? Do let us know!

Btw I noticed the Nicky Campbell book today very cheap from the Book People
£4.99 instead of £16.99

Of course you have to spend £25 to get free postage with them though. But let's face it spending £25 with the Book People is not a trial ..
I do it far too often

moondog · 04/05/2005 18:47

You girls must have another bash at 'No Logo'.
Just blew me away as they say, and although dense, it is fantastically well written. I was and alternately.

Thoroughly endorse anything by Tim Moore. Very funny and erudite to boot. There are about five, all of which I have read but the best were one about a trip he makes to the North Pole in the footsteps of a Victorian explorer and a similar journey around Europe in an eancient Rolls Royce.

'Don't lets go to the dogs tonight' is gripping. Story of a 70s childhood in east Africa. No colonial sundowner nonsense. Raw and vicious and shocking. (She went to school in Malawi with my cousins. Not the reason for my recommendation however!)

One mad colonial one I did enjoy however was 'The Africa House' about an eccentric who built a country pile in Zambia.

Also recently finished 'Cherry' about,unsurprisingly the chap of the same name who was part of Scott's doomed expedition. Excellent.

Heleen · 04/05/2005 19:44

P was totally fascinated by the Da Vinci Code, which made me curious because usually he does not read lots. I read it on our holiday a week ago and thought it was good, but not as good as what P was experiencing.
What do you think about the book?

moondog · 04/05/2005 20:08

Thought the idea was clever heleen, but so much energy went into that that that there was none left for anything else!
Cliche ridden and zero character development (imho!!)

lilibet · 05/05/2005 17:41

And the choice was

Round Ireland with a Fridge!!

I will let you know how we do with it Roisin - Ta muchly

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