can anyone suggest some decent literature to read then?
(No thanks Ripper not that kind of stuff, thanks anyway, and I have got loads of cookery books thanks Parmo and ADG , the bairn has lots of books and I have young neices and nephews should I want cartoons.)
I am not looking for highbrow but certainly would not exclude it.
C'mon me fellow Bunkees help me out, what are you reading/read that was good???

If you like Crime/Thriller types try Jeffrey Deaver, his Lincoln Rhyme Collection are easy enough to read, the first one is called the Bone Collector which was made into a filum

anything by james lee burke, dugout. excellent crime thrillers set in the american south.

i fully concur
i have 3 of his novels awaiting reading

The Railway man by Eric Lomax, its all about his time in a Jap prisoner of war camp

i have, elvis. at last check i think i've read virtually everything by him. can honestly not remember a word or phrase out of place. his last couple have been particularly good. tin roof blowdown and swan peak - awesome.

another good author is jonothan king (not the bummer, the other one) writing about a private investigator max freeman in florida.

i dont 'do' books but if your a fan of red dwarf then any of the red dwarf books are pretty funny

I've met Dwayne Dibbley

That was Mutley with a tan.

Sports book recommendation- Neil Warnock Made in Sheffield. One of the best autobiographies I've read, and he speaks highly of his time at Pools. I've nearly finished it in about three sittings once you pick it up you can't put it down. You him or hate him it's very honest and pulls no punches a bit that I read earlier that made me laugh out loud after Gary Megson tried to shake his hand at a LMA meeting 'Not a cat in hell's chance' I said to him 'I wouldn't shake your hand in a fooking million years' I wouldn't either. I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire He is even less complimentary about Stan Ternant!

Novel recommendation- Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts. I don't read many novels but this was brilliant, it's sort of semi autobiographical as it's about a bloke (Roberts) who escapes from prison in Australia and flees to Bombay. He ends up living in a slum and running a free health clinic, joins the mafia, acts in Bollywood, and fights with the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan. Remarkable because it's a true story but obviously elements have to be changed due to the subject matter. I think Jonny Depp is making a film of it.

The Giro Playboy
Shorty Loves Wing-Wong

Both by Michael Smith (Hartlepudlian author. Cousin of EAD I believe!)

The Giro Playboy has a fair bit about Hartlepool in it.
Shorty... is all about Hartlepool but mostly about growing up on the Headland. (I get a mention in this one!)

Both very well written although Shorty... is only a short, illustrated book.

what went on between him and Megson?
And Ternent?

Really? I thought it was excellent. I suppose I may be biased as it is one of my mates. Gets pretty good reviews from those more in the know than us like!

You could say that is an advantage but you still need to write the stuff though. Doesn't really explain his exploits on tv either. He's a very intelligent bloke.

I did not know that. I was constantly round their house in the late 80's / early 90's. Irratating kid with massive ginger hair. Great days!!!

Have you seen Gerry's Bob Dylan website?

http://www.spacemonkeylab.com/dylandaily/

First, what sort of thing do you like reading, Dugout?

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
A bit geeky but a cracking story about domestic counter measures getting completely out of hand after a terrorist attack.

Also very much enjoyed Terry Pratchett's latest, a non-Discworld effort called "Nation", which is a well disguised satire of self-aggrandising government and has some of the best character developments I've ever seen in the space of 300 pages.

I've heard it's one of the most pointless unreadable books ever, and it was a miracle that it was ever published, but it's all about opinions!

He's had long running feud with them both, loads of different things but the main reason he doesn't speak to Megson is after what was said in the aftermath of this game;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bramall_Lane

Ternant started when Warnock was manager of Bury and Ternant was at Burnley. Ternant was trying to poach players from Burnley like Dean Kielly and he was actually successful in getting the one and only, Lenny Johnrose. Loads of other things as well he basically describes Ternant as a nut case!

As I said it's a superb book!

Leo Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution a nice easy bedtime read

Have a read and judge for yourself. Its in the library so it'll cost you nowt!

That kind of review from quite a few people sort of puts you off mate, but you're right of course as I haven't read it personally.

If you like Science Fiction with an "overcrowded future world" scenario, Seaton Carew's own very own Mark Adlard has written several books that are quite entertaining and every bit as good as anyone else's in that genre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Adlard

A very good question Grabec!
I had to think about that and noticed that over the last few years it has mainly been Auto/Biographical stuff but have become bored with the sensationalism attached to the modern day ones, or Historical things around The Turin Shroud, Knights Templars, Celts Egyptians etc with the odd novel thrown in. I particularly like the Barrytown trilogy by Roddy Doyle and a couple of Dan Browns but am in need of something new, and I don't know what that is
I have looked at several genre novels over the years but never fancied any of them although I now have a few ideas from fellow Bunkerites.
I might just have to dig out catch 22

the old Viz annuals are quite good if you haven't read them for a while.

I have a big interest in the Southern Gothic genre, I love anything to do with the American Deep South. It's not to everyone's taste but give it a try anyway. Some recommendations for you...

Carson McCullers - The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
Breece D'J Pancake - The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
Thomas Wolfe - Look Homeward, Angel

Well I don't know if they'd be your cup of tea, but I'd say any novel by Graham Greene
or by Carson McCullers, both writers I keep going back to.
Neither's very 'trendy' these days but they're both excellent writers with original things to say.

Great minds think alike

Oo, I do beg your pardon, Kolley, I didn't pick that up

The first book I ever read fully at school was The Cruel Sea by Nebulus Monsarrat ... I read it still even now.

if you like historical stuff mr dugout then try alexandra dumas,pretty much any of them but the count of monte christo ,man in the iron mask series are all cracking reads.
the wasp factory by ian banks
pies and prejudice stuart maconnie was a good un I got for crimbo

Star of the Sea by Joseph O' Connor.
A wonderful book set on board an Irish ship bound for New York in 1847. On board are hundreds of refugees, some desperate and some brimming with optimism, a bankrupt Lord and his family, a novelist, a revolutionary songmaker and a killer. Historical but a page turning novel very well written.
And one for the future - my novel "Kicked Out" which is published by Beautiful Books in April. Without wishing to upset anyone I can guarantee it being much better than Giro Playboy book, though it is set in Newcastle in an emergency access hostel for homeless young people (Hartlepool and Darlington do get appropriate mentions though). And I did it the hard way, without knowing anybody.
Thank you

Easy to read humerous crime type stuff any good? Highly recommend Christopher Brookmyre - first one is called Country of the Blind - had me laughing out loud a lot.

i lent the yardie trilogy to chip a while back - yardie, yush, respect - he aint read em yet but if you in the town and want a loan, you'll find the enlightening

Historical Mysteries? Look for Susannah Gregory, she has two series running at the moment. One is set in Cambridge at the time of the Plague (1300s) - the first one is called "A Plague on both your houses" and there's about 15 of them now. Much better than say, Cadfael IMO. The other series is set in Restoration London (ie 1660ish, just after Charles II came back after Cromwell died) and is often a bit bloodier too. "A Conspiracy of Violence" is the first one, another couple have since appeared too.

"Bollocks to Alton Towers" and the sequel to it are good reads if you want something you can pick up for a bit, dip in and then put down again, they're written by some Viz contributors who were also behind the Framley Examiner spoof newspaper website. In a vaguely similar vein, I rather enjoyed "Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down" by Nicey and Wifey.

Historical mysteries, eh?
I've read one of C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series and yes, I suppose it was a fair bit better than average.
But as far as everything I've read in the genre goes, Iain Pears's "Instance of the Fingerpost" has to be the best, absolutely sublime.

The best historical fiction novels, not mysteries, I have read - from two widely different epochs - are "The Last English King" by Julian Rathbone, an oblique look at the Battle of Hastings, and the famous and exquisite "Birdsong" by Sebastian Faulks (WWI).

Which Dan Brown books have you read, The best one by far is Angels and Demons, Cant wait till it's out on film later this year just hope its better than the da vinci code.