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BBC Staffordshire Book Club |
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The BBC radio station in North Staffordshire went book mad in 2004 and 2005…
and created a Book Club Programme reading group.
It's closed now, but
on this page, you can listen to the discussions of over a dozen books reviewed
by the Book Club, including ones by local authors. | |
| ::
Facts » |
| Lord
Of The Rings by Tolkien was voted the top book in the BBC's Big Read vote. |
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What
do you think of these books? Send us your opinion...
Have your say |
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Who
said what about reading?
"Read in order to live..."
"I
have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library"
"People
say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."
"What is reading
but silent conversation?"
"Read, read... read!"
See answers |
Reading
group discussions were broadcast live on the Tim Wedgwood Show on BBC Radio Stoke.
(See How To Hear
Radio Stoke)
Books
discussed
**John Halifax Gentleman by Potteries author
Mr Craik.
"John Halifax" was a huge best-seller during the Victorian
era and made the locally-born authoress one of the most well-known figures of
here age.
See the book club's assessment of John
Halifax Gent and comment too.
**The
Card by Arnold Bennett.
Bennett's The Card is a classic tale
of pulling yourself up by your own boot-straps with wit and charm: "From
the day he first saw the smoke of the Five Towns, Edward Henry Machin was destined
for fame".
Follow his wheeling and dealing and step back into the Potteries'
heyday.
What did YOU
think of this book?
Have your say on our
message boards
**When
I Was A Child by Charles Shaw
The famous autobiography of Potteies
working class life in the mid-nineteenth century
See the book club's assessment
of When
I Was A Child and comment too.
**Jamaica
Inn by Daphne du Maurier
On a bitter November evening, young Mary
Yellan journeys across the rainswept moors to Jamaica Inn in honour of her mother's
dying request. When she arrives, the warning of the coachman begins to echo in
her memory. Terrified of the inn's brooding power, Mary gradually finds herself
ensnared in the dark schemes being enacted behind its crumbling walls -- and tempted
to love a man she dares not trust.
More about the book in the Amazon
review
What did YOU
think of this book?
Have your say on our
message boards
**The
Vanished Landscape: A 1930s Childhood in the Potteries by Paul Johnson
The author, Paul Johnson, is a celebrated historian. He grew up in Tunstall, and
from an early age he was fascinated by the strange beauty of what he remembers
as Stoke-on-Trent's volcanic landscape of fiery furnaces belching out heat and
smoke.
He writes about the joys of going to school on a minor branch-line
- the 1930s were the tail-end of the great age of rail in England - and the eccentricities
and ferocity of grown-ups in an age before political correctness.
More about
the book in the Amazon
review
What did YOU
think of this book?
Have your say on our
message boards
**The
poetry of Carol Ann Duffy - with these poems under discussion: "A
Child's Sleep", "The Laughter of Stafford Girls' High", "Tall
Diet" and "Stafford Afternoons".
See profile of Carol
Ann Duffy
What did YOU
think of this book?
Have your say on our
message boards
**Captain
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. Famous now because of
the film with Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz (whch has, bizarrely, a different
ending to that of the book), this is a romance of the Second World War set in
Southern Europe - but with some considerable class.
See BBC profile of Louis
de Bernieres
What
did YOU think of it?
Have your say on our
message boards
**Life's
Not Hollywood, It's Cricklewood by Gary Morecambe. The story of Eric Morecambe
- the comedian who brought joy and laughter to millions during a television career
that spanned an amazing 22 years.Yet his personal life was not always filled with
sunshine and, as well as discussing the high points of his career, this book,
written by Erics son, tells of the strains success can bring.
More about
Eric Morecambe
What
did YOU think of it?
Have your say on our
message boards
**Silent
Lady by Catherine Cookson
Written in 1997 when this remarkable author
was nearing the end of her life, The Silent Lady has all of her characteristic
touches.
See readers'
reviews and author
poll news
What did YOU
think of it?
Have your say on our
message boards
**Friends and Families by Margaret Kaine
Another romantic saga
based in North Staffordshire from the author of Ring of Clay, Rosemary and a Girl
of Her Time.
Friends and Families describes the hopes and dreams of
two girls growing up during the inspiring changes of the 1950's.
Locally-born
author Margaret Kaine spoke to Ruth Alexander about using a local accent in her
books...
Who
said what - answers
Read in order to live - Gustave Flaubert
I have always imagined
that Paradise will be a kind of library - Jorge Luis Borges
People
say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading - Logan Pearsall Smith
What is reading, but silent conversation - Walter Savage Landor
Read,
read, read - William Faulkner | |
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BBC
Stoke and Staffordshire
Cheapside
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 1JJ
tel: (+44) 01782 221281
e-mail: stoke@bbc.co.uk
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