What are you reading now?

[Boab]

Now on “How they broke Britain” by James O’Brian which is just making me angry

Was going to get hold of a copy of it but might not now as don't like being angry. Already got large telly repair bill as a result of throwing heavy objects at it.

You are welcome to have mine when finished.

Ah thanks Dave - yep go for it. Will then pass it on to next BBB-er. I suppose I could also throw the book at the telly which would cause less damage.

Me please! Was going to buy it, but have a big back log...

[Boab]

Have finished reading NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman, which was an amazing read. Made me think slightly differently about my visit to the child phycologist in Primary School aged nine.

Have also finished Ultra-Processed People : Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop? by Chris van Tulleken, I'm never eating UPF again. Not sure what I'm going to do on the next long BaM ride when I've no choice in the matter though. Might have to give this luxury BaM cooking malarky a go...

[RIP]

Now on “How they broke Britain” by James O’Brian which is just making me angry

Was going to get hold of a copy of it but might not now as don't like being angry. Already got large telly repair bill as a result of throwing heavy objects at it.

You are welcome to have mine when finished.

Ah thanks Dave - yep go for it. Will then pass it on to next BBB-er. I suppose I could also throw the book at the telly which would cause less damage.

Received ta Dave. Bob could you PM your address pls.

[Dave Barter]

Finished Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad which was a reasonably entertaining but flawed insight into a Brit living in Japanese society. Started well but then just became a pompous advert for his Youtube channel.

Now on “How they broke Britain” by James O’Brian which is just making me angry so I need to get it read and move on to something more fulfilling

Anyone want Abroad in Japan before it goes to charity shop?

[thenorthwind]

Just coming to the end of Emily Chappel's book about the Transcontinental, etc. Very engaging. I knew the story of Mike Hall's death was coming so it wasn't a shock, but still sad to read her experience of it.

[RIP]

Now on “How they broke Britain” by James O’Brian which is just making me angry
.....
You are welcome to have mine when finished.

Received ta Dave. Bob could you PM your address pls.

Excellent. Am on the Frogface chapter at the moment and the windows and all of our crockery are amazingly, so far, still in one piece! Obviously was already aware of the generalities but some of the hard facts are very useful to know. Trouble is I might now want to keep it for future reference so I'll have to get another copy for Bob .

[fatbikephil]

A bit of Gothic horror for me, thanks to getting a cheap 'book' for the kindle with 50 such titles.

Frankenstein was garbage - the worst of 18th century writing with endless emotional drivel padding out a fairly simple story. The story itself is suspect though - over privileged idiot creates a person from scratch (no neck bolts or lightening strikes, the creation gets glossed over) then is surprised when it gets annoyed and goes on the rampage....

Next up was Dracula - much better read and quite dramatic at times but still a bit long winded and after a promising start, degenerates into hideous 19th century misogyny. The film with that Canoe reeves and Helena BC obviously tried to tone this down with her striking the final blow, but the author felt this would have caused a lady of breeding to faint clear away!

[faustus]

Just had a mini-splurge on books after a bit of a much needed reading spree. Finished The Heart in Winter and it was a very good read, highly recommended.
Just picked up Tove Jansson's autobiography/diary Notes from an Island, documenting the many years spent with her partner on a remote island in the Finnish Archipelago. I've enjoyed her short story collections and look forward to this. I've been to that part of the world, and it is a mesmerising place I hope to revisit, preferably by bike (https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/ ... 9zebaq,0,0)
Also, arriving tomorrow is Bunker Research: The hidden history of modernism in the mountains, from the brilliant Isola Press. (https://www.pannier.cc/journal/stefan-a ... maritimes/) Looks like it is close to the TNR route(s) but not sure.

[godivatrailrider]

Just had a mini-splurge on books after a bit of a much needed reading spree. Finished The Heart in Winter and it was a very good read, highly recommended.
Just picked up Tove Jansson's autobiography/diary Notes from an Island, documenting the many years spent with her partner on a remote island in the Finnish Archipelago. I've enjoyed her short story collections and look forward to this. I've been to that part of the world, and it is a mesmerising place I hope to revisit, preferably by bike (https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/ ... 9zebaq,0,0)
Also, arriving tomorrow is Bunker Research: The hidden history of modernism in the mountains, from the brilliant Isola Press. (https://www.pannier.cc/journal/stefan-a ... maritimes/) Looks like it is close to the TNR route(s) but not sure.

Notes from an Island is excellent, all the wild Moomins

[godivatrailrider]

Pilgrim's Road: Journey to Santiago de Compostela - Bettina Selby

Bettina is a Ludlow local, in her 90's I believe and still cycling, albeit e-assisted nowadays.
This is a trip I'd like to do in the future starting from Velezay in mid France it looks a fabulous journey.

[RIP]

Good question. Are they Welsh sheep?

[fatbikephil]

One of my favourite books that, before Philip K Dick got stuck writing endless stories about dysfunctional LSD over-users....

[RIP]

I like to rent books from AgeUK round the corner.

Latest are these. I thought I'd mention the James Acaster one here on, er, social media. Only old farts like me remember Gary Larson's off the wall cartoons.



One of my favourites...

[RobLyon]

Been aiming to read a book a month but generally been light reading of motorcycle racers biographies or IOM TT stuff. So far I've read,

Michael Dunlop, John Mcguiness, Hutchy, Ragged edge, Jason Plato, Shane Byrne, Niall Mackenzie, Steve Hislop and Ron Haslam. Possibly Zen and the Art... or Mick Grant next.

Also got Ted Simon's Jupiters travels and Mark Beaumonts the man who cycled the world on the go. I like Ted Simon so just received dreaming of Jupiter but I've lost interest in Mark Beaumonts' book.

[voodoo_simon]

Been aiming to read a book a month but generally been light reading of motorcycle racers biographies or IOM TT stuff. So far I've read,

Michael Dunlop, John Mcguiness, Hutchy, Ragged edge, Jason Plato, Shane Byrne, Niall Mackenzie, Steve Hislop and Ron Haslam. Possibly Zen and the Art... or Mick Grant next.

Also got Ted Simon's Jupiters travels and Mark Beaumonts the man who cycled the world on the go. I like Ted Simon so just received dreaming of Jupiter but I've lost interest in Mark Beaumonts' book.

Michael Dunlop is on my list, recently read Ragged Edge but didn't really rate it. Some good stuff in there but a little bit jumpy, too many quotes and he kept repeating stuff from one chapter to another

[RobLyon]

Michael Dunlop is on my list, recently read Ragged Edge but didn't really rate it. Some good stuff in there but a little bit jumpy, too many quotes and he kept repeating stuff from one chapter to another

I'd agree, it's like nobody proof-read it. From the other Stuart Barker books he seems to have the same set of questions that he asks each rider and too much about where they finished in each race during the season.

I think the Dunlop book was the best of the lot (except Jupiters Travels but completely different), so much so I read it in a weekend then passed it to my dad.

[RIP]

These days I've run out of new things to read, these days. Belatedly into Stewart Lee, so stacked up a few of his books (pre-loved). The hard bit, to maximise the enjoyment, is to continue reading them in his voice because half the fun is in his delivery, inflections, pauses, etc.

I can't stop playing this clip which had me crying with laughter the first time. Yes, I know. At least Sean understands so it's not just me. Quite a few of the comments are well played too. One of the great pleasures of life is that the laughter drug is free. Er, unless you pay someone to make you laugh I suppose . No side-effects either. Unless you wet yourself.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XkCBhKs ... D%3D

[sean_iow]

These days....

How did I not know there were books! I'll have to look for them (used) to add to my reading list

[RIP]

books!!

When did these come in?!

I've worn you down Sean.

[Tractionman]

I'm reading Ride Across America by Simon Parker, I'm finding it a bit samey but perhaps more a fault of the places he's riding through!

[Dave Barter]

I’m well into Round The World on a Wheel and am loving every page. Just got past the passage where they got off their bikes and fought Cossacks with pistols and fisticuffs. So much more entertaining than the modern social media friendly tales of endurance boredom. These guys rode on fumes for days, begged rotten meat, dined with Sultans, snapped forks and ordered new ones cities away by fecking telegram. They rode through swamps, carried bikes for miles over mountains and round coastline. They saw occasional tarmac, endured every weather in one set of woollen clothing and never once found their “inner self”, hashtagged a sponsor or wrote any fluffy b0llocks. They just get on with it. Makes me proud to be British

[Tractionman]

I've been reading Round The World on a Wheel too, I bought a copy from a second hand bookshop, the bit that particularly struck me is in the US how much they rode alongside railway lines, presumably hazardous and rough. It also made me think how ten years later they'd be facing motor vehicles on the roads, when they did their trip in 1896 they were just on the cusp of a transport revolution that would change everything...

[Dave Barter]

No spoilers!

When I researched The Year I found that riding the railway lines was common in the USA as it was a better choice than waggon trails. Many did it on penny farthings .. nuts

[Tractionman]

No spoilers!

When I researched The Year I found that riding the railway lines was common in the USA as it was a better choice than waggon trails. Many did it on penny farthings .. nuts

In a moment of idle curiosity I was going to try and dig out a photo of railway lines in 1890s America to see what kind of surface they presented!

Was it ballast, like today, or more gravel/cinders, the latter I could reckon being ok on a bike with pneumatic tyres but not the former, and definitely not riding on the sleepers (or 'ties' as the Americans call them).

I am a rubbish reader, I tend to read books by dipping into them, so travel writing works slightly better for me than say novels--I am more of a non-fiction reader really, and happily spend more time 'reading' maps than I do words on a page

[Dave Barter]

No spoilers!

When I researched The Year I found that riding the railway lines was common in the USA as it was a better choice than waggon trails. Many did it on penny farthings .. nuts

In a moment of idle curiosity I was going to try and dig out a photo of railway lines in 1890s America to see what kind of surface they presented!

Was it ballast, like today, or more gravel/cinders, the latter I could reckon being ok on a bike with pneumatic tyres but not the former, and definitely not riding on the sleepers (or 'ties' as the Americans call them).

I am a rubbish reader, I tend to read books by dipping into them, so travel writing works slightly better for me than say novels--I am more of a non-fiction reader really, and happily spend more time 'reading' maps than I do words on a page

I didn't find enough information to ascertain that, but I did find E N Roth who rode the majority of his claimed 34,380 miles in a year along railway tracks on an "Ordinary" (Penny Farthing) in 1896. Maybe he was good at balancing!