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| The BBC Staffordshire Book Club | |
| | | 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. |
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:: Facts » | | Lord Of The Rings by Tolkien was voted the top book in the BBC's Big Read vote. |
:: Have your say » | What do you think of these books? Send us your opinion...
Have your say |
| | 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 Childby 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 Eric’s 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: [email protected] |
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