Book Club

Simon Pegg’s ‘Nerd do well’
Really enjoyed it but not nearly long enough. Felt it only skimmed the surface really.

My Life in Red and White - Autobiography, Arsene Wenger.

My annual holiday read this year. I had high expectations but disappointing, he comes across dour and you don’t learn much more about his personality.  There is the expected references to Fergie, cheating the referee, argy bargy and some pizza throwing.

The one thing he deserves credit for is how he helped fund the build of the Emirates by letting go of the invincibles and replacing them with kids. This probably cost silverware but they lived within their means. I’m sure Grimsby could put together a credible business plan to fund a move or revamp of BP.

Second thing that stood out was the lack of training and development at Grimsby compared to a coach like Arsene. I’m sure Paul Hurst wanted to take the Club to the next level when he wanted to expand the back room set-up. Maybe this approach would help crocks like Hanson etc.

Quoted from 28195

My Life in Red and White - Autobiography, Arsene Wenger.

My annual holiday read this year. I had high expectations but disappointing, he comes across dour and you don’t learn much more about his personality.  There is the expected references to Fergie, cheating the referee, argy bargy and some pizza throwing.

The one thing he deserves credit for is how he helped fund the build of the Emirates by letting go of the invincibles and replacing them with kids. .

One that I liked was "managing my life:My autobiography by Alex Ferguson released in 2000".

Things that stood out for me was Ferguson hated the drinking culture in football. Interestingly he stated stemmed from the mining community which filtered into football. Likewise there was a big drinking culture when he first came to United . Got rid of some players who didn't want to change with Paul Magrath being the main culprit.

Lockdown- Peter May.

The story centres around an investigation into the murder and disposal of a young girl, set amid a London that is in the middle of a severe lockdown, due to an outbreak of a deadly strain of avian flu.

The whole city is cordoned off from the rest of the country, and the world, with no-one allowed in or out. All routes into and out of the city are patrolled by the army, with shoot to kill orders, and any movement during the nightly curfew is only allowed with a government issued pass.

The pandemic is infecting 25% of the population, with a 75% mortality rate, so the bodies are piling up and can't be disposed of fast enough. There is also wide spread looting and carnage on the streets. The rich have retreated to the Isle of Dogs and have armed mercenaries keeping any undesirables out. It's a much more severe and dystopian picture than the current crisis, but bears some similarities.

The book was released this year, and on the face of it seems a bit exploitative given what we are experiencing at the moment, but here's the thing. It was researched and written in 2005, then put on the back burner by the author because publishers thought it was too far fetched and unbelievable. He explains about this in the updated preface.

Little did he know how prescient it would be, and his research for the book told him that many people have been warning about something like this for a good while now, to deaf ears.

Not his best work, but quite good all the same. I think he has improved as an author since then. 7/10

How not to be a boy by Robert Webb

Really enjoyed this book. Grew up in Lincolnshire and I enjoyed many of the references, though not exactly sure why. Kept my attention throughout and always looked forward to going back to it and it’s genuinely funny.

Blackout by Candace Owens

The damage done by Warren Fellows.

True account of life in a Bangkok jail. Some of the stuff in it really is heartbreaking .

Quoted from Rick12

The damage done by Warren Fellows.

True account of life in a Bangkok jail. Some of the stuff in it really is heartbreaking .

Sounds good. I recently watched ‘A prayer before dawn’ about scouser Billy Moore’s experience of 2 Thai prisons after being found guilty of drug offences. Bleak but a good film nonetheless.

Quoted from Sandford1981

Sounds good. I recently watched ‘A prayer before dawn’ about scouser Billy Moore’s experience of 2 Thai prisons after being found guilty of drug offences. Bleak but a good film nonetheless.

Yes seen that film. Perhaps the best film Ive seen on prison life was Scum with Ray Winstone.

As for the book "the damage done" it  was one of  the few to date Ive read in a day. Engrossing .

Quoted from Rick12

I still go  back to my childhood and a book series that still to this present day I cite as my favourite book(s) are the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. You may or not have read them but I love the moral story he magically weaves together. For me as a work of literary fiction there better than the Harry Potter and the  Lord of the Rings series.

My eldest has read them and loves them. I rate them as well but I’m a LOTR man myself. Though I haven’t read the potter novels. Only seen the films countless times as my eldest n youngest love them.

Incidentally a book I have read of Lewis’ also is a grief observed, about his experience of his wife dying. Sounds horrendous but it’s a very moving read, or at least I found it to be.