# Book recommendations



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sorry if this has been done before.


I like to read before bedtime. I am lazy and just choose one of Mr P's library books. The trouble is that he likes tense thrillers and I am a poor sleeper. This results in me being tense when I need to relax
Does anyone have any suggestions for books that are uplifting and/or life affirming?
Good authors will do.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Rather than physically reading the book yourself before bedtime why not go down to your local library and borrow an audiobook ? Transfer that to an MP3 player ( or a bedside radio with CD function is fine), buy a pair of the small flat earphones ( not the ones that go into your ear) and snuggle down while someone reads you a book. With the flat earphones you can tuck one out of the way under the pillow and have the other resting on the ear that is upright, if you sleep on your side. I've cut one of my earphones off which does not seem to have stopped the other working.

I have 2 or 3 disks that I know by heart and will be fast asleep within half a page some nights. I used to class myself as a poor sleeper. It's an especially useful thing to do when you are in the van and it's not as quiet as you like outside. 

As to recommendations for books....I'm a 4 to 5 books a week reader so where to start ...!


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Narrow Dog To Carcassonne - Terry Darlington. About a couples trip to Carcassonne in a narrowboat with their whippet Jim. Very, very funny.

Ron


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Have you read PG Wodehouse, brilliantly funny and great escapism. I'd recommend any Blandings (Lord Emsworth) story to start with.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Grizzly said:


> Rather than physically reading the book yourself before bedtime why not go down to your local library and borrow an audiobook ? Transfer that to an MP3 player ( or a bedside radio with CD function is fine), buy a pair of the small flat earphones ( not the ones that go into your ear) and snuggle down while someone reads you a book. With the flat earphones you can tuck one out of the way under the pillow and have the other resting on the ear that is upright, if you sleep on your side. I've cut one of my earphones off which does not seem to have stopped the other working.
> 
> I have 2 or 3 disks that I know by heart and will be fast asleep within half a page some nights. I used to class myself as a poor sleeper. It's an especially useful thing to do when you are in the van and it's not as quiet as you like outside.
> 
> As to recommendations for books....I'm a 4 to 5 books a week reader so where to start ...!


Much as I love the idea of this, I wonder if I will be disturbed by electronic gadgets in the bedroom? I have tried soothing music and when it finishes the hiss of the player wakes me up and I can't go off again.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

ob1 said:


> Narrow Dog To Carcassonne - Terry Darlington. About a couples trip to Carcassonne in a narrowboat with their whippet Jim. Very, very funny.
> 
> Ron


I have read it and loved it! He has written another where, if I remember rightly, he goes across a section of America.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

erneboy said:


> Have you read PG Wodehouse, brilliantly funny and great escapism. I'd recommend any Blandings (Lord Emsworth) story to start with.


 Thank you, will give him a try


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

patp said:


> Much as I love the idea of this, I wonder if I will be disturbed by electronic gadgets in the bedroom? I have tried soothing music and when it finishes the hiss of the player wakes me up and I can't go off again.


I'm tempted to say don't use tapes or discs that hiss; they shouldn't if all is as it should be.

The beauty of earphones that don't go in your ears are that, as you drop asleep and so move they fall off so you don't hear the end of the disc anyway.

Do you like big family sagas ? Try Elizabeth Jane Howard's 5 volume Cazalet books: The Light Years is the first. When I first read them there were only 4; another was published so a treat when I re-read them last winter.

Edit to add: Her biography, Slipstream, is a fascinating read. She died in 2014 and had made connections- in most senses- with anyone who was anyone !


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Do you like motorhoming books ? This I found I could not put down:_ The Long and Whining Road_ by Simeon Courtie. The blurb says " A man and a van, a wife and 3 kids and their round-the-world road trip as the world's worst Beatles tribute band" Don't let that put you off, it's a really lovely read. On Kindle as well.

see reviews:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008AY8J42/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

I read the "Long and Whining Road" and thought it well written and good fun, the journey had some interesting parts in it and some where I would have loved a lot more details - which probably means it is about right..

You may well find rereading some of the "Children's Classics" that we all read when we were young helps you relax as they are written for a younger age and do not wind you up so much, I recently reread things like "Children of the New Forest" and "Treasure Island" and they helped me relax before sleep (I always read for about 30 minutes before turning the light off, but found that if the book is TOO exciting or challenging that I would read for longer and then not sleep so well. I also have the Arthur Ransome books lined up such as "Swallows and Amazons" and the others in that series which are actually superb descriptive writing

The idea of headphones would probably not go down well with HTMBO as I would have them on too loud for her to sleep.....

Dave


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## nickoff (Oct 11, 2005)

I recently finished " The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce. I started reading it not expecting too much and by the third or forth chapter was completely hooked. It's a gentle story of a retired man leading a mundane life receiving a letter from a long forgotten work colleague which starts him on a long walk that makes him re evaluate his whole life. Sounds boring but very rewarding.

Hth, Nick.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Couple of good suggestions there. Thank you


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

John Irving is my favourite author and many of his books fall into the category that you are looking for. My three favourites are, The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules and best of all, A Prayer For Owen Meany. They are full of wonderfully believable characters and will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I just posted this. http://forums.motorhomefacts.com/20...best-book-i-have-read-ages-author-member.html

If you have a kindle I highly recommend it.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

John Irving duly noted and I an charging the Kindle to receive Terry's book


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## Easyriders (May 16, 2011)

A book called "Ellizabeth is missing", saw it on sale in Waterstones in paperback yesterday. I've lent my copy out, and can't remember the author. It's very funny, and also touching.


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