h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Have you got your ticket?

Have you read Stranger in a strange land by Robert Heinlein. Later on was Man who fell to earth film with David Bowie. That is interesting, or anything by Arthur C Clarke.

No sorry I haven't read it, Goiing to bed soon as just in from work , Thought I'd pop in , By the way Hope I hadn't made a mistake , I'm sure i saw somewhere Your site was official.

I never get enough time to read mucn nowadays , and since my stroke i can't concentrate well !!!

I have to admit I'm not keen on Heinlein, not really sure why. I do like AE van Vogt though. But his books can be quite hard to find. Try second hand book shops, always great places to be. To follow a bit from the previous conversation (which happened under the Metabolic Diseases forum) I think it is important to realise that good reading habbits start early. It is no good if your child doesn't see a book until they start school at five. To foster an interest, reading to the child is one thing, but they also need to see there parents reading.

I really do feel sorry (in a nice way if you get my meaning) for all those who have felt that they weren't encouraged enough or were teased because of their love of books. I do understand as it happened to me also. But it is important to stay focussed with your life and if you love reading then that's great. One thing I'm not keen on is people who stick to just one genre. I think this can be quite narrow minded and you miss out on so much. I don't understand why some people refuse to read sci-fi for example.

One of the most moving books I've ever read was To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. I read this when I was 11 and then and every time I've read it since it has reduced me to tears. A book that can harass your emotions like that has got to be good.

Yes I also saw your site being listed, as well as the Asthma one.

I have to go in a min too. Sorry to hear that you had a stroke. I hope you are recovering well.

Heinlein, some good ideas, but certainly could be put under the reading dross category too. I can say this because I was the one who said I liked it!! Haven't read To Kill a mocking bird, but will now you have said such nice things about it. I must go - see you at lunchtime......

I agree Smurf that we shouldn't too readily stick to a single genre of book , but I do love the classics , and have taken great pleasure in reading many etexts , I think it is important we don't push aside the older books , as too dated !

I agree. I quite enjoyed Jude the Obscure. I also enjoyed War and Peace for the first half but it dragged on a bit.

Callum's granparents have just bought him all the original Winnie the Pooh collection for his birthday and I'm really looking forward to reading them with him. He also got a fantastic ABC book from the National Trust. It has pictures of lots of NT properties and a bit about the history of them all. There are also acorns hidden in each page and the illustrations are fantastic. An excellant buy for anyone needing a book of this kind.

Hi. Sorry to but in but have you read "The President's Daughter" by Jack Higgins either of you????????????????????????????????????????????

Personally I've not read any Jack Higgins although I've been recommended him many times.

I work at a university and I've just been told that yet again they are going to be cutting the library budget. It makes me so angry. The library was my sanctury as a kid and I hate the idea of prople not having free access to as wide a range of literature as possible.

Personally, I am a lover of horror and crime. But I also like biographies and history, A very moving book is Wild Swans (By Chung Chan I think). Anyway, it is the womans story about China through the eyes of her grandmother, mother and herself and discusses the move from imperial to republican China. It is absolutely fantastic.

My brother-in-law is a prolific reader (as am I) and when his kids were little he would read to them often - then, when the kids were "grown up enough" to leave their cots he made a point of adding a bookshelf beside each bed and made a real fuss about it so that it was an extra treat.
Their next step towards "grown up" was their own reading lamp over the bed - and reading in bed before sleep was a great reward for them if they had been good.
He also made one night a week "Snuggles Night" and they would all pile into the parents' bed for a group read, he would read to the younger children and, when they got older, the older ones would read passages from their favourite books and they would all discuss them.
The kids are now all avid readers of all kinds of books. So that first contact at home with books certainly helped them.

They are pretty good suggestions. My Callum has just cottoned on to the idea that he gets to stay up a bit later if he lets me read him a story in bed. I don't mind that he often falls asleep half way through.

I felt that it was important for Callum to have books of his own and board books are a great way to get them to turn the pages. Although he's only one, he can easiyl turn the pages of "grown up" books and will sit for ages looking at them. I agree with your comments. A child needs to see his parents reading as this encourages them to want to be like their parents. I'm glad for the tips though as Callum is just starting to want to come out of his cot.

I read it.

But I didn't grok it.

Why no grok? Boring or just not for you?

BTW - Anyone want to put down their book for a while - all invited to the REALTIME ROUNDERS MATCH sign up at : http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?forum=3364&thread=8680

Unfortunately I am amoung the many who won't be able to get down to London. As I've said on that forum, it's a good idea though and I hope it can be pulled off. If anyone fancies doing an equivalent in the Midlands then I'd be happy to try and organise it.

Okay a library would have a notice board. Any one who wants to post a notice about what is happening can do it on the library notice board. Not for chat but for what is going on. http://www.h2g2.com/forumframe.cgi?forum=12428

That means we can get back to the conversation about books then. I think Terry Pratchett has gotten a bit boring these days. He keeps using the same plot and can't seem to remember what has happened in his earlier books. Ocaisionally though he does come out with a real funny. But the earlier books are better, he wasn't so commercialised then.

If you enjoyed Wild Swans - you should also enjoy "The Joy Luck Club" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" - sorry can't remember the authors.
On the subject of Heinlein - I read a lot of his books years ago - he can be very politically uncorrect (incorrect?) but read with a grain of salt very entertaining.
I particularly liked "Time Enough For Love" and the books in that series - but because of his obsession with time paradox they can be a bit confusing.
The Thoughts of Lazarus Long in "Time Enough" are great to read through for a few strange trueisms - they still make me laugh - I'll see if I can find it and post a few later.