What other author are you reading at the moment?

[sixret]

Finished rereading The Body in The Library by Agatha Christie. Now reading The Case of Amateur Actor by Christopher Bush.

[Fiona1986]

I've just started A Volunteer Nurse on the Western Front which is from the diaries of Olive Dent. Apparently the TV series The Crimson Field used this book heavily for their research - in fact they pretty much rediscovered the book as it was first published in 1917 and had been long out of print and forgotten.

[Wolfgang]

I started to read Eberhard Rössler's Geschichte des deutschen U-Bootbaus (= History of German submarine building). Quite interesting so far.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I remember seeing a one-man German submarine at the Imperial War Museum in London. Terribly claustrophobic!

We explored a larger submarine at the Chatham Dockyard in Kent and got some idea of the difficult conditions on board. Everything was wet from condensation, space was at a premium so the crew couldn't change their clothes, many men slept on the floor and there was little food (just rations of bully beef, biscuits and water). My grandad was on the submarines during the Second World War.

[Lucky Star]

I visited the U-Boat museum in Liverpool few years ago which has an actual real U-Boat as it's centrepiece although sadly You cannot enter it. It was very interesting. I have read The Boat (Das Boot) by Lothar-Gunther Bucheim several times and seen the TV series as well. It's a great story.

[floragord]

Anthony Robbins AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN - I took it out to look up a reference and got hooked, only 300 odd pages to go....

[Lucky Star]

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. A very good read thus far though it's historical accuracy may be a but dubious.

[Courtenay]

Re-reading All Shall Be Well - the Revelations of Julian of Norwich translated by Sheila Upjohn - and also Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography by Amy Frykholm. I'm preparing for a visit to Norwich next month for the annual week in celebration of Mother Julian, whose account of her visionary experiences is the first known book written by a woman in English.

[Kate Mary]

I'm reading a book I had as a Christmas present "The Grenville Garrison" by Gwendoline Courtney (GGBP 2014). The five Grenvilles; twins Roy and Helen, their brother and sister Edward and Audrey and cousin Nigel stay at a cottage in Hampshire belonging to Lord Hatherford who has a young relative Charles staying with him. Charles is in danger of being kidnapped. The book is one of the best adventure stories I've read in ages. There is an excellent introduction comparing this book with The Secret of Spiggy Holes and Noel Streatfeild's The House in Cornwall. Anita also mentions it in her article on Spiggy Holes in the latest Journal. Tony gets a credit in the introduction too.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I found The Grenville Garrison a little slow to get going, but once it takes off the children get up to some truly hair-raising antics! I've read about half a dozen Gwendoline Courtney books, my favourites being Sally's Family (I read my mum's old copy several times as a child) and Elizabeth of the Garret Theatre. The latter was also published under the titles Those Verney Girls and Stepmother.

[floragord]

Just started Margaret Yorke's PIECES OF JUSTICE, unusually for her a collection of short stories, they've begun well and I can see I'll be reading late into the night!

[Fiona1986]

Winnie The Pooh. I found a nice hardback with dustjacket in a charity shop though it's a 70s reprint.

[Eddie Muir]

I'm currently reading Adam Faith's superb 1996 autobiography, Acts of Faith. Adam mentions Enid Blyton when he writes about childhood:

"My vision of the perfect childhood was taken straight from the pages of Enid Blyton, in particular the Famous Five books. The gang would be packed off on holiday to stay by the sea with a grumpy uncle (who turned out to be not so grumpy) and then they'd crack a smuggling-ring that had been going on the whole time right under the noses of the semi-comatose adults."

The autobiography is well written and very readable and I would recommend it to anyone who is an Adam Faith fan or has an interest in the pop music of the 50s and 60s or is fascinated by the television programmes and the theatrical world of the 70s and 80s. This book is a most enjoyable read.

[Farwa]

Adam Faith, the singer, or some other Adam Faith?

[Daisy]

Come on Farwa....where are your detective skills? Here's a clue -

The autobiography is well written and very readable and I would recommend it to anyone who is an Adam Faith fan or has an interest in the pop music of the 50s and 60s or is fascinated by the television programmes and the theatrical world of the 70s and 80s. This book is a most enjoyable read.