Selfsufficientish.com

It's mid winter,not much to do outside,even if I was capable of it.The telly is as crap as ever,talk radio is mind numbingly dull(especially since radio 4 decided that Science was 'the new black') so I'm looking for some reading suggestions please.

High \low brow,fact\fiction,I'm open to anything,Just not too many seed catalogues......I'm reading them already!

Thanks.

I've been reading loads on self improvement.

It's not for everyone but I have struggled so much with my emotions and rely on medication which I would like to move away from if I can.

I have been reading online a lot about learning to forgive, be humble and loving to others to deal with my in-laws who have spent their time showing their intense dislike for mine and my husbands decisions in life.

Anyway, with lots of reading and work I feel I am getting somewhere - and sleep. With two young boys life can be tiring which doesn't help emotional issues!

Hitchens' God is not Great. love the way he writes and the historical snippets are great. Hart and Permaculture, love it but skipped the autobio bits that i think get in the way. then, light reading was McIntyre hitching without money across the states, Kindness of Strangers, I think it was. uplifting although i don;t think i 've finished the book yet. always have a few on the go at the same time.

P and P, i agree young boys can be exhausting, specially at this time of the year when cabin fever can strike. make sure you get out and about enough! they're kind of like puppies young boys , need lots of exercise. my two are big now but i remember well the sleeplessness and just lack of brain space!! i took off to uni when they were 3 and 5 and it was the best move, for them and me, that i could have made. hny! spring is on its way!

Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment. Light hearted and good fun/funny

I've just read Oscar Wilde's De Profundis and I thought it was really interesting, it's a weird mix of enlightenment, self obsession, erotic fixation, debt, and emotional neediness. Which is everyone's January really, isn't it?

(Free ebook here although I don't know if the text is any good, and you can get it in those cheap editions).

Jerry

I have just finished the 3rd M R Hall book about Jenny Cooper Coroner in Bristol, The first is "The Coroner"

I really enjoyed them actually, not your average crime thriller, good accent of memory's and family issues as well as big business etc, sort of Grisham with Heart.

Great Chic lit with a Spiritual bent Cecelia Aheard.

More Dickens esque but again modern ish, again with a bit of a spiritual bent is Nail Williams, Irish writer love him! (Not John though, bit boring)

Lee Child, Harlan Coben both light reads with lots of fights, fight light!

I like Kathy Reichs, Tess Gerritsen, for more female based crime, and Peter James for male based crime.

If you are really stuck for a bit of fantasy though I would recommened Philip Pullman, Amber Spyglass trilogy, and try Harry Potter for a good read ( although in both cases the films are a bit rubbish)

For Funny try John O'farrell - really very good. I think the Sarcasm especially here may well suit you Sir!

Have fun.

The Book Thief: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Thief I always keep a book in the bathroom and this is perfect. It's a good story but structured in such a way that it's easy to pick up and put down

I'm reading an old 1930s book, a collection by Associated Newspapers called 60 Greatest Trials, its fab! I love reading old books! Also anything by Jasper Fforde is good! I'd also second the Terry Pratchett recommendation! : )

I'm reading "Mark Steel's In Town".

Don't always agree with his politics but some of his descriptions of UK towns are laugh out loud funny. It is easy to dip in and out of and just the thing for grey January days.

Also got Hitch 22 (Christopher H's memoirs) and the latest Ian Rankin on the go.

Thankyou ,all of you.

I like Steel too,I've listened to most of the 'in town' on 4 extra via the i player,truly laugh out loud.

I've never read any Wilde,and to be honest,that synopsis sounds frighteningly familiar,AND I know Reading jail pretty well..spooky!

Iknow Pratchett is really addictive,but the discworld thing rather passed me by.

All the rest I'll look out for especially the coroner thingy,I havent read many thrillers since Dibden died.

Thankyou all again,Iget stuck with all my usual stuff(Steinbeck,Mcarthy,Faulkener etc)and I need to branch out.

Hi, just finished Eat, Love,Pray Elizabeth Gilbert not everyones cuppa but its the third time I've read it and it is just so inspiring in my point of view. Just about to start "Started Early, took my dog" a Yuletide pressie from a very dear friend.

Hearing birds fly. by Louisa Waugh. A young woman decided (on a whim) to go and live in mongolia- in a little village - for a year!! Not hard going,( not written as a diary) easy writing style. The book just "did something for me"

OJ, just thought of something else - The Vesuvius Club ++ sequels, by Mark Gatiss, are good. Thought of those last night when I was watching Sherlock. I wish he'd written more in the series though.

Since someone on here (I think it was oldfella) introduced me to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo a year or so ago I've got a bit hooked on Scandinavian detective stories.

I've recently read the entire Martin Beck series and thoroughly enjoyed them. Despite being written in the 60s they're remarkably modern feeling with the exception of the lack of technology but I really enjoyed that, not a CSI in sight.

Another book I got from the library van recently and really enjoyed was Archangel by Robert Harris - set in post-communist Moscow and Siberia.

My favourite author in the whole wide world is Marge Piercy. I thought I'd got all her novels but OH managed to track one down from the 70s that I'd not read, for my Christmas present, and that's what I'm reading at the moment. Happy days