Books and readers. Book groups. Reading groups. Fiction. Non-fiction. I'm a book forum. What else am I going to like?
Oh yes, I'm a real person as well. I keep forgetting. My interests are pretty normal. There's sport - especially cricket, football (a lifelong fan of the Premiership's newest stars, Reading) and even baseball.
There's music - see below.
Although I work in TV and comedy, they are also big interests of mine, although both are (in my opinion) going through the lowest points in their histories at the moment. Well, I'm hoping it won't get any worse.
I also love films but...well, perhaps my tolerance level is lower, but there appear to be so few must-see films around any more. Or have films always played safe and been so preditable?
I love the River Thames. I spent my early life living on it, and here it is outside my window. I'm always drawn back, and have been within a mile or two of it in six places I have lived in in my life.
I'd like to meet:
Book lovers everywhere!
Book Group Online is non-profit making forum, where you're free to vent your opinions to the world, and enter into discussions and debates with other readers about the books you’ve read. It's often been cited as the friendliest forum around, with no backbiting or cliques.
It's not an intellectual forum. You can go into as much or as little detail as you wish when discussing books, whether specifically or in general. The important thing is that your opinions and emotions no longer stay dormant within you, and you let them out before they become extinct.
Another purpose of Book Group Online is to give readers the chance to spread the word about books they like – or dislike - to other readers. We want it to be the place you come to browse when you’re deciding what to read next.
This is also the home for wider discussion. Talk about general book-related matters in Central Library , at the top of the main page. Each of the Fiction Genres has its own discussion area, as do the Children & Young Adults forum (one for children, one for grown-ups) and the BGO Book Group. Every six weeks or so, we have a vote to decide on the latest Book Group choice, with a special forum being set up for the winner.
If you want to chat with other book-lovers about subjects outside books, the Anything But Books forum has proved to be extremely popular. There is no restriction on subject matter, as long as it has nothing to do with books!
Music:
Inspired by having to complete this section, I've just started a poll on Book Group Online to find out everyone's top ten favourite singers and groups:
So here's my top ten:
1. Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five
2. Neil Young
3. Genesis (Peter Gabriel era)
4. Pink Floyd
5. Elvis Costello
6. Elton John (early)
7. R.E.M.
8. Paul Simon
9. Joan Armatrading
10. Supertramp
Missing from the list: Peter Gabriel (solo), Be Good Tanyas, Willie Nelson, Fairport Convention, Simon & Garfunkel, Beatles, Roxy Music, Jackson Browne, Kate Bush, Johnny Cash, Handsome Family, Deacon Blue, Danny Wilson, Lindisfarne, George Jones.
Not to mention: Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, Beck, Bob Dylan, Frazier Chorus, Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, Caravan, Gram Parsons, Fleetwood Mac, Everything But The Girl, Elbow, Eels, Eagles, Incredible String Band, Emmylou Harris, Gomez, Joe Jackson, Low, Lightning Seeds, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Loretta Lynn, John Martyn, Van Morrison, OMD, Pogues, Proclaimers, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Smokie, Squeeze, Teenage Fanclub, Richard (& Linda) Thompson, Tom Waits and Stevie Wonder.
Can anyone see a pattern here? If you can, let me know. Well, if there was one thing, I'd say strong melodies and a unique sound. That's two things, clearly.
Television:
They Think It's All Over and Never Mind The Buzzcocks of course. Well, maybe. Seinfeld, Cheers, Blackadder, Porridge, Frasier, Friends, The Young Ones, Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, Lost, Soap, The Barchester Chronicles, Reginald Perrin.
Books:
Book Group Online is currently running a poll to find out everyone's top ten favourite writers here: http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum/showthread.html?t=2632&
amp;page=1&pp=15
Here's my top ten:
1. Anne Tyler
2. Evelyn Waugh
3. Ian McEwan
4. Jane Austen
5. John Steinbeck
6. David Lodge
7. John Irving
8. William Boyd
9. Kurt Vonnegut
10. Armistead Maupin
Apart from that, too many to mention: too much to mention! Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, science fiction, classics, horror, romance, children's, historical, crime, thrillers, mystery.
Heroes:
Ben Folds, Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Robin Friday, Rik Mayall, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Phil Parkinson, Graeme Murty, Paul Simon, Kate Bush, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Jamie Cureton.
