*gets bubbly*

*hopes the bubbly is cherry cola or from that place down in old soho where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola... ee-oh-eh-ola*

Seconded. Though I don't actually like the taste of cherry cola. Or cola flavour cola for that matter. It's just that that place down in old Soho sounds quite nice.

Lola's yours though.

Any bubbly you like *ignores wine books*
ooh it tickles...

i like cherry and vanilla cola far too much... they made me puke up over the summer holidays one year and scare everyone when work started back by being two and a half stone smaller... so, i'm not allowed to drink it...

like that stops me...

nah sorry.. lola's not my type...

i know a few people that may be interested though.. *evil grin*

"Anything Goes", by John and Carole Barrowman. (JB's autobiography).

Not brilliant.

I was just asking you about it on the other thread. I should have read this first. Silly Becky.

Is it really not brilliant? It is waiting on my bookshelf. It has nice pictures, on the plus side.

It does have nice pictures, yes. I would say that you know where to look if you want to read what I think of it, but it was several weeks ago, so it might be hard to find now. Silly MySpace with its lack of tags.

Anyway, you should read the book yourself, first. You might love it. Lots of people have.

I did track down your review, Micks. (You REALLY can't see the attraction?! Pffft! )

I haven't started it yet, but am still excited to. It was nice to see him on This Morning, talking about it with his sister. (I love how she, too, slips into Scottish when addressing him). They seemed to have had a lot of fun when writing it.

I have just finished Nick Hornby's 'Slam'. I was terribly disappointed. I have only ever read 'The Long Way Down' and whilst I wasn't overly impressed with it, I could see its appeal. 'Slam', however, just irritated me. It wasn't particularly well written on a technical front, although in content, it had the potential to be good. Perhaps it didn't live up to expectation because it is aimed at a more teenaged market. The reviews on Amazon are very positive, making me doubt my reading ability. On the plus side, I did meet him when I bought it.

Also finished, shortly before starting that, "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold. I enjoyed it. It was, in contrast to Hornby, technically very nicely written and the understanding of the character's motives because clearer through a nicely retrospective narrative. I'm not entirely sure that some of the actions of the main character were entirely believable, but it was intriguing enough to keep me reading it quite quickly (although that's probably a reflection of me having the time to spare and not necessarily its quality, as I often have to stop reading good books in favour of practical study). I was disappointed by the ending, though. I wonder if this is something Sebold struggles with, as a writer, because I remember being very disappointed with the latter developments of 'The Lovely Bones', too. The Amazon reviews slated this book, too, which really reaffirmed my concern over my reading ability...

The Lovely Bones I seem to recall buying for my eldest niece back when it first came out. She was going through quite a Gothic phase. I think she rather enjoyed it, but it certainly wasn't my kind of thing. I do like the idea of a book being narrated by a dead person, though.

As for Hornby, I don't think I've ever read any of his stuff, which is very bad, as I've seen a couple of film adaptations. Cockeyed way of doing things, really.

Carole Barrowman is great, isn't she.

Narration from a dead person is an idea I was interested in, too. The Lovely Bones did it well, admittedly, it is just that other areas of the book annoyed me.

Carole Barrowman is fantastic. The footnotes - I've started it, by the way - are funny but could become a little annoying. I will get back to either praising it or slating it when I have read more.

The footnotes are funny. Best bit of the book.

Okay. So I've finished it. I am a little disappointed, although admittedly, I have read few autobiographies (Moab Is My Washpot is still one of my all-time favourite books, though).

The lack of chronology did really annoy me a bit. And confuse me. Towards the end I was a little bit confused about which show happened when and I didn't really like that we were jumping around from his childhood to now and so forth. Footnotes were funny, yes. Some of the narrative was funny, too. Towards the end, though, I'm ashamed to say I stopped caring a little bit. Mmmm.

Still love JB the television personality, though. (Torchwood was awesome this week...)

You should read "The Moon's A Balloon", by David Niven. You've probably never seen his films, but I don't think that matters. I get the feeling it would appeal to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey:
You should read "The Moon's A Balloon", by David Niven. You've probably never seen his films, but I don't think that matters. I get the feeling it would appeal to you.

Moons A Ballons fantastic, warm and witty.
Now I can't remember the authors name ( he was Sid James agent) was annoyed at Nivens reminences about Errol Flynn said that Niven was distainful about Flynn (cirrosis by the sea ).
For Films see A Matter of Life and Death, A favourite film of mine or Standing Tables ( I think it called the beeb /c4 don't show films like they used to )
Sorry to interrupt but David Nivens another gentleman I really like.

Don't be sorry to interrupt, Ruby.

Thanks to you and Mickey for your recommendations!

A Matter Of Life And Death is a terrific film. And yes, "gentleman" is a good way to describe Niven. Not that he's that straightforward of course. What with the law-breaking, army desertion, peddling alcohol illegally after running away to America during Prohibition, etc... There's a Stephen Fry-esque quality to him, though he dates from before the First World War, so is very much of another era. Not that you'd always notice.

The follow up to "The Moon's A Balloon", "Bring On The Empty Horses", is another great read. More a history of Hollywood, though, so not to everybody's tastes, perhaps.

Actually, as an addition to all of that, with regards to what you said about that agent feller, Ruby - have you ever read Errol Flynn's autobiography? Perhaps Sid James's agent should. Niven (to my eyes) speaks of Flynn with affection, though it's obvious that he grew out of the man, rather. He enjoyed the partying and the fun, but wanted more out of life than Flynn did. Flynn's autobiography makes shocking reading. He pulls no punches, and talks about some pretty awful stuff that he did. No wonder Niven eventually grew tired of him, even if he did look back upon their happier times together with a certain sense of enjoyment.

Not a book for those who like to see Flynn as the hero he always was on screen.

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey:
A Matter Of Life And Death is a terrific film. And yes, "gentleman" is a good way to describe Niven. Not that he's that straightforward of course. What with the law-breaking, army desertion, peddling alcohol illegally after running away to America during Prohibition, etc... There's a Stephen Fry-esque quality to him, though he dates from before the First World War, so is very much of another era. Not that you'd always notice.

The follow up to "The Moon's A Balloon", "Bring On The Empty Horses", is another great read. More a history of Hollywood, though, so not to everybody's tastes, perhaps.

Ok gentlemanish

just read 'murders at the rue morgue' today... enjoyed it but... i want to track down the person that went on about gorillas in regards to it and give them a very definite biology lesson. *cracks knuckles*

im readin republic commando - true colors by karen traviss

tis bout the clone soldiers fightin in the clone wars n there relationships well 2 of the clone soldiers got g/fs ones a jedi knight who is considered a jedi general n is preggars 2 one of the clones n the other is well she fancies one of the clones n shared a kiss n they jus discovered that there is no pension plan 4 the clones @ the end of the war n that well no medical facilitys either so questions r gettin asked by the clone brothers as 2 there future ...

quite good stuff like ...shows mans inhumanity 2 man ...n well thats as far as ive got so far but really good book like

Okay. So I'm reading Ian McEwan's short stories in "First Love, Last Rites". The first story, Solid Geometry, was amazing. The second story, Homemade, was highly, highly uncomfortable. I'm sad to say that I am quite bored by the rest.

Chuck it back on the shelf, then. Life's too short to waste on boring books.

I could never do that. I have a bizarre compulsion to carry on, to the very last page. If I don't, I will regret it; there may be something truly amazing lurking in the next pages. If there isn't anything amazing, at least I have read it enough to be able to slate it.

Finished it last night, though. The last story was the longest and was not awful, so my faith has been restored a little. Tempted to read the first short story again, though. It deserves it, I feel.

Whatcha reading at the moment, Mickey? (New Torchwood books? )