The Bromley Boys – Dave Roberts

 I got this book at Christmas and devoured it in about a day. if you’ve ever followed a useless football team you’ll relate to this book. The author documents one season at the end of the 1960s following his local team Bromley FC. While his other friends in school support top flight teams like Arsenal [...]

Book Review: The Protestant Revolution – William G. Naphy

It’s taken me a while to get through this but it was worth it. I was given this spin-off from the BBC Four series for Christmas last year and, while not the most addictive book I’ve ever read, it’s been really useful for filling in some gaps in this lay person’s knowledge. Particularly enjoyable was the [...]

The Damned United

One of the books I read while on holiday was The Damned United by David Peace. It convincingly mixes fact and fiction to tell the story of Brian Clough’s short-lived reign as manager of Leeds United in 1974. It’s a brilliantly written account – flashing back to Clough’s previous success with Derby County while documenting [...]

This week I have been mostly reading

Finished off some great books recently:
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
A poignant book written by Steinbeck as he journeyed across America from Maine to California with poodle Charley in his battered camper van “Rocinante.” in the late 1960s. Lots of snapshots of disappearing small-town life, amid evidence that the “old, weird America” can still be found [...]

The Glory Game

 The Glory Game was written by Hunter Davies and follows the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur during the 1971-72 season. He gained unparalleled access behind the scenes at the club – something which no author has been granted at any top-flight since.
It’s a fascinating book and a perfect companion to Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. The Glory [...]

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

First book of 2008!
I finished it a few days ago hopefully in time to catch the film in the cinema. Not exactly the “coolest” of books but a terrific old-fashioned story of growing up with guilt and then acheiving final redemption. It’s great that tales like this still strike a chord with mass audiences.
The issue of male sexual contact (sorry [...]