Book Recommendations contd by Steve Rudd

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Should you fancy a couple of fantastic travel books to whet your appetite, Tim Moore's 'Spanish Steps' and Harry Pearson's 'A Tall Man In A Lowland' might do the trick. Tim Moore's 'Spanish Steps' follows him on a 500-mile pilgrimage across the north of Spain, starting in the Pyrenees and heading slowly-but-surely-to-goodness West to Santiago. It's an account of his progress on the The Camino, which is one of the world's best-known and most popular pilgrimages.

Tim hits the road (or, more appropriately, the dusty tracks) with a donkey called Shinto, so as well as being an informative travelogue, Spanish Steps also manages to be something of a platonic love story as Tim and the charmingly stubborn Shinto get used to each other and gradually win each other's respect. Just like The Camino is a long walk, this is a long read, but it's worth the perseverance because Tim is so hilarious.

Harry Pearson, likewise, makes the best use of his funny bone when it comes to revealing just how interesting a country Belgium really is in his A Tall Man In A Lowland book, as he travels the length and breadth of the country to prove once and for all that it isn't as boring as the majority of people naively presume - for whatever reason - that it is. Belgium has allsorts of exciting things going for it, such as... Aww - you'll just have to read it to find out, won't you?!... Ha, ha, ha.

Reviews, Books - The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	So, The Phantom of The Opera is perhaps one of the best-known stories in the world, but how many of you good people realised that a sequel to the story has actually been written - and has been kicking around for some years now - by the one and only Frederick Forsyth? The original, horrifying Phantom of The Opera story was penned by Frenchman Gaston Leroux, but the world at large Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	He doesn't need any money... all he needs is his rucksack. There really was no end to Jack's writing talents after all! This is the fifth book of his that I've had the pleasure of reading, and it is by far and away my favourite. When you get to the top of a mountain, keep climbing. Packed with all the excitement of his classic masterpiece On The Road Read more...

Reviews, Books - I'm a Teacher Get Me Out of Here by Francis Gilbert (Short Books) Reviewed By Cathy Walker
	As I am about to change career to become a primary school teacher, I picked up I'm A Teacher Get Me Out Of Here with a little trepidation. I'd heard that it presents the reality of working in a 'tough school', of what a hard and challenging job being a teacher truly is. I can't wait to become a teacher and I didn't want Read more...

Reviews, Events - Nights Out - Tuesday 24th May 05 - Benny Hill Preservation Society By Adam Atkinson
	My utter fascination with all things Benny started as early as the age of three, when I by chance happened upon some irrelevant sketch involving the Benster dressed as a cardiac surgeon examining some saucy minx. 12 years later I would see my own Uncle Frank arrested for the very same thing. Read more...

Reviews, Books - In The Winter Dark by Tim Winton Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	A menacing short story from the ever-interesting Australian writer Tim Winton, this is a thrilling venture into dark and macabre territory that focuses on a few people who live in a secluded valley that seems to also be inhabited by a mysterious creature that preys both on their animals and their worst fears. Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	First published way, way back in 1915, this is the story that inspired the infamous movie of the same name that was directed by the king of noir, old Alfred Hitchcock. I have it on good authority that the film version does in fact differ to quite a large extent to this novel, but what the hell. I can't imagine the book being any less suspenseful or tense Read more...

Reviews, Books - Junky by William S. Burroughs Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	Where to start with a man of William's legendary literary standing? Born in 1914, in his own time he came to be regarded as one of the most important American writers of the Sixties Beat generation - during which time his writing was revered in the same way that the work of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg was. Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Long Rain by Peter Gadol Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	After I had walked around the winery, I climbed back in my truck and continued driving farther up into the foothills, and some nights I did make it as far as the mountain road. I wanted to cross the Diablo range. I wanted to keep driving clear across the state and into the desert, deep into the American vastness, where I knew no one and no one knew me. Read more...

Reviews, Books - Goodbye, Hessle Road by Daphne Glazer Reviewed By Cathy Walker
	Goodbye Hessle Road is the new novel by local writer Daphne Glazer, set in and around Hull. It focuses on the lives of Donna, her mum and grandmother Ruby and features many local landmarks from the leafy suburbs of the Avenues to the inside of Hull Prison. Donna is a drugs worker at Hull prison; she is portrayed as a strong woman, with attitude and hidden vulnerability. Read more...

Reviews, Books - Jack Ruby's Kitchen Sink by Tom Miller Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	I have long longed to visit the South-Western states of the USA, and the beautifully majestic Arizona in particular. In this fascinating and factual book, Tom - who himself lives in Tucson, Arizona - recounts all sorts of weird and wonderful tales from the region, and also presents tall tales from California Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Reviewed By Cathy Walker
	thisisUll.com readers may have seen The Time Traveller's Wife featured as part of Richard and Judy's Bookclub. If you're not a fan of the teatime TV couple do not be deterred; this is likely to be one of the most unusual and original pieces of fiction Read more...

Reviews, Books -One For New York by John A Williams Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	A remarkable novel in every respect, this is a classic piece of literature from an incredibly gifted writer who expressed exactly how it felt to be a black man growing up in the United States early on in the last Century. This book focuses on his Read more...

Reviews, Books - Dr. Sax by Jack Kerouac Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	Even hardcore fans of this legendary author might be in two minds about how much they like this novel of his. Jack is best-known for his travel-trained adventures back and forth across the USA (in On The Road, Big Sur and The Dharma Bums for example), and further Read more...

Reviews, Books - Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear Reviewed By Cathy Walker
	Can you name a female private detective? Your answer might be Miss Marple or Mma Ramotswe of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, but thanks to Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs is another name to add to that list. Initially it seems that Read more...

Reviews, Books - Strange Angels by Andy Bull Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	Books come no more riveting than this mini-masterpiece that reads both as an eye-opening travelogue and close analysis of the lives - and deaths - of four all-American icons. Marilyn Monroe. Elvis Presley. James Dean. JFK. Read more...

Reviews, Books - Blackpool Highflyer by Andrew Martin (Faber and Faber Ltd.) Reviewed By Cathy Walker
	A novel about a Yorkshireman who is nuts about the railways and his adventures as an engine driver... Admittedly this sounds like something that might appeal just to trainspotters, but in the Blackpool Highflyer:, Andrew Martin: Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	After the bare requisites to living and reproducing, man wants most to leave some record of himself, a proof, perhaps, that he has really existed. He leaves his proof on wood, on stone or on the lives of other people. This deep desire exists in everyone, from the boy Read more...

Reviews, Theatre - 15th February 05 - The Woman in White at the Palace Theatre, London By Steve Rudd
	The Woman in White is the latest box-office-busting musical extravaganza from Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the famous Victorian novel of the same name that was published way, way back in 1860 by the distinguished and understandably Read more...

Reviews, Theatre - GO WEST, to the South of the Thames and see National Anthems! By Steve Rudd
	The West End of London city centre is a magical place, packed with cinemas and theatres. There are always some amazing shows to be seen in such theatres, whether they are full-blown musicals or pure drama-driven plays, and I guess the most frustrating thing about taking a trip to Read more...

Reviews, Films - Meet The Fockers By DJ Chris Plant
	Having given permission to male nurse Greg Focker (Stiller) to wed his daughter (Polo), ex-CIA man Jack Byrnes (De Niro) and his wife (Danner) travel to Detroit to meet the parents, who this time around are Mr. and Mrs. Focker (Hoffman and Streisand), who Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Butterfly Effect by Pernille Rygg Reviewed by Steve Rudd
	Death is nothing to young girls, except as part of the adventure, an exciting secret whispered by a dark lover, not something you meet one evening when you're going home to your movie or father. Such a notion is all about to change Read more...

Reviews, Events - Comedy in Hull - A Ringside Seat - Thursday 2nd February 05 By Jim Higo
	While we all sit around moaning about the lack of decent live entertainment in Hull; Buzz Comedy Club have been doing something about it. While we get in from work, moan again about the lack of decent live entertainment in Hull, Read more...

Reviews, Books - The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans Reviewed By Steve Rudd
	It was in America that horses first roamed. A million years before the birth of man, they grazed the vast plains of wiry grass and crossed to other continents over bridges of rock soon severed by retreating ice. They first knew man as the hunted knows the hunter Read more...