Favourite Books

Just read your memoirs Andrew Ross in the 'What's New' pages, absolutely great. I am sure quite a few of us can relate to most of the places in Coventry you have mentioned. I spent many an hour hanging around in Jill Hansons. Also I recall there was once a great book shop opposite Greyfriars Green, had it's own smell as you walked in, the Church Book Shop. Wonderful memories for us all. Thank you for the nostalgia.

Link to Andrew Ross' memories page

What books are members currently reading? My current reading is Ruth Cherrington's social history of working men's clubs 'Not Just Beer & Bingo' (Kindle Edition). Yesterday I downloaded further reading - two of Ken Follett's historical novels (again to go on my Kindle).

I only get to read what I need to know on the day. Basically technical manuals, and what are called 'chapter' books because I am helping one of my grand-daughters to read. Never seem to have time for anything else.

The Church Bookshop in Hertford Street had a spiral staircase and the lady shop manager wore a floral housecoat (overall) when working there. Time spent in there was always interesting and the Geisha for coffee just nearby.

Pixrobin doesn`t mention which Ken Follett books he/she downloaded, but they might be two I was enthralled by "The Pillars of the Earth" and "World without end". I have a "text" book of Coventry history "Coventry and its story", issued under the authority of the Coventry Education Committee and written by The Rev Canon J. Howard R. Masterman MA, written somewhere about 1910/15 and presumably issued to schools, my copy has Red Lane Girls school stamp with the name F. Collier in the flyleaf. I mention this particularly, as I had always been fascinated by the division into "The Prior`s Part" and that of "The Crown" and the above two historical novels had a similar theme of division between church and crown and Follett puts "life" into the everyday conditions and order of society under which the "Real Coventry" might have lived. I would be interested to know if there are many copies of my book in existence!

Hi Roger First of all I better clear up something: I'm male. Many females have stolen the name Robin, perhaps because its correct female variant, Robina, has been so rarely used in the last two centuries. Christening a girl Robin is as bad as calling her Robert rather than Roberta. (rant, rant) I have read both the Follett books you mention in the past year. The ones I downloaded more recently were 'Fall of the Giants' and 'Winter of the World' - the latter of which I have started to read. Another fascinating book is 'The Book Thief' by Marcus Zusak. It is about the life of a young girl in Germany during World War II. The use of English may bring you up with a start on occasions but still a worthwhile read. The film of 'The Book Thief' didn't get great reviews by the critics, but they go for its cinematic relevance rather than the story it tells.

Hi Robin - how could I be so crass, I think it was the "pix" bit which foxed me, however you are now parked in my memory alongside my cousin Robin. `Fall of the Giants` and `Winter of the world` sound up my street and I will look out for them - I might need a little more persuading about `The Book Thief`, but I have read `The Lost Symbol` by Dan Brown, a bit gruesome, but he always writes a very intriguing story, one I at least dash to get to the end of.

Hi everybody. I mentioned in another thread that I would start this new topic as I felt it might interest those particularly with a wider interest in history. I pointed out that the term "favourites" for me is a bit of a misnomer, as I have spent a lifetime haunting second hand book shops and many have had a special meaning for me. Many of them are historical rather than fiction. I would be willing to lend. Anyway here are a few samples. Three Against Rommel Alexander Clifford The Desert Generals Correlli Barnett The General Salutes a Soldier (With the SAS and Commandos in WW2) JVByrne - I wouldn`t be surprised if Kaga hasn`t read these three. I also have one about the Green Jackets by Arthur Bryant In fact Arthur Bryant is my favourite Historian and I have over a dozen of his books - I can give titles later if anybody is interested. Mary Slessor of Calabar W.P.Livingstone. This is the story of a poor Scottish Girl who insisted she be sent as a missionary to Calabar in West Africa, there is a room in Dundee Museum recording her work which apart from passing the holy message could only be accomplished by dealing with local Headmen who were in to slavery (I mean internal slavery) and murder of twins and their mother and sacrifices when a great man died etc. It`s a truly wonderful story of this woman who lived amongst them in the bush and fought them headon (and I mean fisticuffs in some cases) I think there is a Mary Slessor Street in Coventry. Birkenhead - The life of FE Smith Lord Birkenhead written by his son. Lawyer and Home Secretary, explains a lot of how Ireland came to be partitioned. He also prosecuted Roger Casement,spy or collaborator who refused to take the "out" offered to him by Birkenhead and was hanged. It`s a heavy book, but I didn`t find it too stodgy and not least that he sailed on ships to the West Indies in the company I used to work for. I can also mention Mary Slessor also sailed in ships belonging to the company I worked for and in fact one of them was named after her.

Roger Turner, I guess my favourite guy was Ranulf Fiennes, he was an SAS soldier, explorer etc. He along with a top army doctor tested endurance for the Army. Then there was Lawrence of Arabia, to me the first SAS like type. Back in the fifties there wasn't the books of today but James Michener wrote some fine books about countries.

Apart from history books (obviously!) an author I particularly admire is Arthur C Clarke. I'm not generally "into" science fiction, but Clarke was a genuine man of science and had a knack of weaving so much scientific fact into his fiction (if that makes sense) that his stories have a air of believability. (As an aside, he came up with the idea for the geo-stationary satellite, which is kind of useful today!) My favourite book of his was Rendezvous with Rama, written in the early 1970s. Based a short while into our future when an meteorite wipes out a city of 6 million people, he begins with the development of Space Guard, a series of satellites mapping the trajectory of all asteroids in the hope of avoiding a repeat tragedy. Once again Clarke's inventive mind struck a chord, and we now have a real life Space Guard watching over us. But this story really begins when something other than an asteroid is detected approaching from across the Solar System..... I can't choose just one book though. I have to give Spike Milligan a special mention for having me laughing out loud at his war memoirs, beginning with Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall. Both of these books and the follow-up series can be borrowed if anyone wishes.

Rob, You must have heard of H.G. Wells 'War of the Worlds' read out over the radio by Orson Welles. It panicked people, caused mass hysteria, hundreds of people left their houses, 1930s time.

The book that made me want to get up and see for myself was about 'the man in the iron mask' mystery, so I visited the Island just south of Cannes were he supposed to have spent 11 years, I wasn't disappointed, a real creepy dark dungeon deep in the rock of the island, somehow it was much more spooky impressive than Arundel Castle dungeons.or any other I visited.

Kaga Simpson, I`m glad you reminded me about James A Mitchener, I had quite forgotten about him, so I looked him up and realised I had read only one of his books Hawai (1959) which issue apparently coincided with that country becoming a USA state. If I remember correctly it was a thick powerful book that dealt primarily with the status of Japanese "guest workers" who had "stayed on" over many years before WW2 and were treated with suspicion and more when WW2 broke out. I think the book won some sort of prestigious prize and yes I would call it a favourite read at the time. You also reminded me that I had read another fantastic tome at that time and I looked up a chap I remembered as "Stone", turned out to be Irving Stone, who wrote the Agony and the Ecstasy (1958) which was about Michelangelo and particularly his work on the Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, but I think also of his study of corpses to portray the exact muscular body form in artistic imagery. Again it was a big thick tome and I think won a prize, anyway very readable. Finally an all time favourite "Three men in a Boat" Jerome K Jerome, didn`t think so much of his "Three Men on a Bummel", but found another of his books a couple of years ago "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" which I thought great for its subtle mickytaking. Rob - haven`t been much of Science Fiction fiend, but did enjoy John Windham and "The Day of the Triffids" and others he wrote. Oh I must get in "Para Handy" (in the vernacular not the milksop TV parody) I have always said he was the greatest sailor who never sailed the seven seas! Apparently university professors packed it in their luggage and tested each other on the contents.

Yes, I've not read the book but I know of it, and I heard about the reports of the panic caused because some people didn't realise it was a fictional account being read out on the radio. With the talk of war on the horizon, it must've been rather frightening for some.