Silversurfers Book Club

If that sounds like the sort of thing you have in mind having suffered the cold, the gloom and the crippling cost of this winter, there's a book out written specifically for you! Called SNOW-DODGING FOR UMPTEENAGERS, it's the laugh-a-minute story of one man's twenty-year rollercoaster search for the perfect warm affordable refuge from the worst months of the year. All of them. Can't be done? Well, yes it can says the author and Snow-Dodging shows you how - and how not - to do it. So put down the remote, pick up a copy and enjoy the ride. You won't regret it. Saga Magazine didn't. Their reviewer advises readers to 'Pour a hot toddy, snuggle up by a blazing fire and treat yourself to a rare old laugh.' Spot on.

What do other people think of this book? Helen Macdonald is an interesting woman and it is an interesting book. I wonder if her abnormal reaction to grief is continuing... Grief is normal. Are there any novels anyone can recommend that deal with with grief in a more positive way?

Hello to all, I am new here. I did notice a book club where you pick the book of your choosing (options given), read then discuss. I did pick my book selection but before I purchase it, I'm a little unclear about how this club works. For example, is there a time limit on reading ? Or is a specific date set aside for discussion? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Sincerely, Robbie

I have written, in some form, all my life...travel articles (not very well paid), poems (unsold), a long saga novel (refused by many publishers), academic essays, (completely unpaid) translations from Italian and French (paid in kind by hotels and restaurants) and FINALLY I retired and returned to live in England and began to write books that actually sell. I now give creative writing courses in Cambridge and Norwich (almost unpaid) and recently online only. I have two bylines often attached to my pen name Kate Fitzroy 1 'escape with a book' 2 Everyone has a book to write. I shall end with a quote from P.G. Wodehouse "I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that. Just loafed, I suppose."

Hi everybody. I’m new, and delighted to be here. I hear that you are all keen readers; I’m Chris and I’m a keen writer. In fact I have just completed my fifth novel and have been editing it to death. It’s awaiting a cover design and will then be ready to go to my publisher. But before it goes off it needs a few reader “test drives”, two or three. Um…maybe four? With the kind permission of Admin, I would like to ask if any of you would like to be a “beta” reader. Someone who may be defined as a kind, tolerant, voracious reader who is prepared to – well, read it and give me an opinion as to how it can be improved. I’m afraid that all I can offer in exchange for that torture is to send you a copy of the manuscript with my compliments. And to give you my sincere thanks. I am proud to admit that all of my books have benefitted from reader input. I believe that nothing ever written was so good that it could not have been better. Except of course, the Bible. But considering who the Author is, it will always be the exception. If you are interested, please let me know. The book is a work of fiction called GROWING APART. It is 77,000 words long and here is a very brief description: Growing Apart is about twin boys born in 1937 in India, of a clandestine relationship between an English civil servant and a vivacious Anglo-Indian woman. She dies in childbirth. One boy is adopted and raised in India. The other is taken by his natural father to England, where he enjoys a privileged middle-class English upbringing. The story builds to a climax when the twins finally meet again in a scene where the life of one is in imminent danger. Thank you for reading this and allowing me to take up your time.

Having recently read Life After Life and A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson.....both are brilliant books, by the way..... I am enjoying this one too. She is such an intelligent writer and Big Sky is a crime novel featuring her PImJackson Brodie. I'm loving it.

Set on the Costa del Sol, a really gripping crime thriller

I am reading at present a classic novel that I have in the bookcase for some time--Joseph Conrad's "Lord Jim"- concerning life on the sea and the main character's failure to deal properly with life and death decisions on board an old steamer carrying pilgrims to Mecca. Jim fails morally when called upon but I have to ask would we make the same decision? Jim, the son of a vicar is to be questioned in court. The first chapters are the most lyrical, poetic and artistic I have read in English and Conrad was Polish. Conrad had himself served on the sea for 20yrs.

Recently self published my first novel on Amazon. It's semi biographical about my parents. My father had served in the British Army for 30 years when he was posted to Germany in 1953. My mother was a German national and a secretary in Tax House, Lübbecke, Germany where my father was based. Dad literally bumped into mum in a corridor and for him, it was love at first sight. He pursued her by way of astonishingly wonderful love letters. Eventually, mum succumbed. It was not an easy journey for them. It was only a few short years after WW2 when both their countries were at war. The Nazis had performed numerous atrocities that were still fresh in people’s minds. But their absolute love for one another endured through adversity. This is semi-biographical, written from the point of view of my mother but actually by me as I wanted others to know about the truly remarkable love letters between my parents. I inherited a box of 60+ letters when my mother died in 1989. The story covers from 1900 to 1964. It recounts my mother’s life far and beyond her relationship with my father, to paint a frank social history of Germany as Hitler rose to power – and the bitter feelings my mother had toward Germany in the aftermath of the Nazi atrocities. Paralleled to this is the chronicling of my father’s three-decade Army career, which included moving my mother to the UK for them to settle in the late 1950s. This all started as a project for me to document their lives for my own daughter, who sadly never knew them. It’s amazing how much they packed into their short marriage; unfortunately, my father died in 1964 when I was just seven years old. But their story is a bold chapter in the wider history books and deserves to be preserved. I’m so pleased my parents carefully kept so many documents, because today they paint a vivid picture of their unique and tumultuous lives.

I have just joined, so: hello! At the moment I am writing my life story so that my children and grandchildren know about my background. I would love to hear from someone who might be possibly doing the same thing in a view that we could give each other support and advice. I very much looking forward to hearing from whoever would be interested in doing so. I am posting this here as I have been reading a great deals of autobiographies and will share some of my experiences when I have made a short list.