Any suggestions for a good book for my Holiday?

Question

I like auto-biographys, biogaphys, non-fiction and humour.
I've got John Peels 'Margrave of the marshes' already but I want one more.
I read Stephen Frys 'Moab is my washboard' last time, and Mark Radcliffes one, forgot the title.
Any suggestions for something similar?

Give me some idea what sort of book so I can make my mind up.

Answer 1

In the way of comedy, Mark Steel's Vive la Revolution and also Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure made me laugh out loud lots.

John Simpson - Strange Places, Questionable People for autobiography.

Those "Introducing" cartoon books are great for people like me with short concentration spans....

Or the Pax Man's book on "The English", working out what an English national character could be

Answer 2

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. It's a true story about the Ebola virus that reads like a thriller. It's fast, easy and fascinating (but somewhat gory).

Back to the Front: An Accidental Historian Walks the Trenches of World War I by Stephen O'Shea - A Canadian tells of his experiences while walking on WWI battlefields. Good reading, especially if you're interested in the period.

Answer 3

There are a lot of good ones out there. The best one I've found was King Fortis the Brave by LaMontagne and Snyder. It's about a pair of twins that are pulled into a magical land where they find themselves caught in the middle of a battle for control of the realm. The boy twin, Rodney, is mistaken for King Fortis, an Arthur-like figure that is to someday return in the time of the land's greatest need. It's really a great book full of humor and adventure. I recommend it to my students all the time and have had students that really hate to read come back and tell me how much they love it.

Answer 4

Frank Skinner's autobiography is surprisingly witty.

Most books I read are more girly, but looking at what you've read in the past, I read and loved 'The Tennis Star's Balls' by Steven Fry which was brilliant.

Also, have you considered Ben Elton? A lot of his stuff is very good. Or there's Irvine Welsh?

If you haven't read Vernon God Little, you should definitely give that a go - By DBC Peirre.

Or Life Of Pi by Yann Martel

Answer 5

Stalingrad by Antony Beevor. As it's a history of the siege of Stalingrad it's not really a barrel of laughs, but an amazing book. Life is cheap.

Longitude by Dava Sobel - An account of the cracking of the problem, by genius John Harrisson, of accurately determining longitude whilst at sea. An unlikely subject, but very good.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The book that Apocalypse Now is (loosely) based on, about a man travelling upriver in the Belgian Congo to relieve of his position a company employee who's gone mad.

Answer 6

Any of the Pirates series by Gideon Defoe.Humor and adventure in a silly dry sort of way.
" a confederacy of Dunces" by Toole . One of the first books I that ever caused me to laugh out loud. Although some of the writing which is Louisiana slang may slow you down, but dont let that stop you. It is about an overweight young man Ignatius , age 30, living with his mother whom he believes should still care for him . He makes use of his pyloric valve to determine his comfort level in the world. He is writing a book and is happily unemployed.It involve their bumping ins to people in New Orleans.
I'm making it sound terrible. But you seem like you are of the higher intelligence level that could understand the humour.
And finally for a biography. " what fresh hell is this" a biography of Dorothy Parker.

Answer 7

Try some of Tom Sharpe's books if you like humour.
They are absolutely crackers, but are some of the few books that make me laugh out loud.
Riotous Assembly, Porterhouse Blue, Blott on the Landscape, and the "Wilt" Series.
I am currently reading a recent one "Wilt in Nowhere" and find it hard to put down to go to sleep.
Have a good holiday.

Answer 8

I loved 'Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You' by Sean Thomas, true story.

He writes for a lads mag and is told to research Internet Dating, he does so and it's his account over the year about the highs and lows and some of the 'ladies' that he encountered.

Along the way he gets addicted to porn which is very funny!

If you're Irish, you could try Ross O'Carroll Kelly (I really do think you'd have to have either lived over here or know the Irish very well to get this fella)

Answer 9

jodi picoult she is my absolute renowned: a million 2nd look. 2 my sisters keeper 3 mercy 4 the 10th circle 5 nineteen minutes she has alot extra too yet thats in basic terms to call some. richelle mead is large additionally together with her vampire academy books a million vampire academy 2 frostbite 3 shadow kiss chistopher paolini is superb a million eragon 2 eldest 3 brisingr ellen Hopkins is large a million burned 2 crank 3 glass 4 impulse 5 comparable

Answer 10

Well, I brought a 2-in-1 book by Haruki Murakami with me on holiday and really enjoyed it. They are called 'A Wild Sheep Chase' and the sequel 'Dance Dance Dance'. Very entertaining, male lead character, lots of laughs and sexy ears (that's what you're really looking for, isn't it?) set in the early '80s. They were really thought-provoking too. It's a fiction book, sort of surreal... the guy's a genius- I just can't praise him enough!