Which Book Are You Reading thread

[Football us life]

We'll have to start calling you Barbara Cartland with all these books

Ol' Babs averaged 10 novels per year....most of them best sellers within their genre...

Took me 6 months to write the first draught of mine....the missus has gone through it a bit and reckons it reads like something a twelve year old would put out!!

Needs to be totally rewritten!!

 

[Football us life]

We have a friend who is a food and travel writer and a published author and today we went to Burleigh Heads for lunch with her and a literary agent who she knows.

Apparently the days when a new author sent off manuscripts to publishers in order to spike interest are fading quickly. Publishers are looking for 'sure bets' and reluctant to move away from tried and twsted authors and book brands....

There's a bit of 'nobody wants to publish fatigue' with these 'newbie' authors!

'Newbie' Authors!!

So what matters in 2026 is building up a following on social media with something like 'BookTok' a highly influential book reading community on TikTok....

Then you're training the algorithm to catergorise your reading interests, building a following and then returning your content to your following via clips and videos....

Publishers like to see big social media followings apparently!!

You can of course self publish but costs are quite high for all the various people you have to engage on the 'journey'....

Also, while people are still consuming literature but the big ticket items these days are audio books and digital serials.

The restaurant was called 'Labart' and if anyone is heading to the Gold Coast for an autumn break id highly recommend....

But bring your credit card!!!

 

[Decentric]

MR CLEANSHEETS : ADRIAN DEANS

Genre : Literary fiction/comedy.

Setting: Contemporary England

Length of book : 525 pages

Why did I choose it?
I heard that one member of G and G forum wrote it and it was cheap in an op shop.

Review:

Enjoyed non-fiction aspects of the book. Like the fact that England has a terrific football system with promo and releg down to about 10 -20 leagues, and any amateur team can make the FA Cup Final if good enough.

Fictitious Erik Judd, who AD writes in the first person for, is an ageing goalkeeper and experienced furniture removalist, approaching age 40, who leaves Aus to visit England.

Before he gets on the plane, some English football hooligans think he is a famous EPL goalkeeper, from a rival club. They try to beat Eric up, thinking he is the EPL keeper, when Eric is just a doppelganger. The hooligans come off second best.

On the plane he meets a woman where there is mutual attraction. Her name is Doreen Palmer, and is a huge prog rock star in England, unbeknown to Eric.

Eric becomes a removalist in England. Through his job he becomes intertwined with dodgy characters who own a Conference Football Club in the 5th or 6th tier. Eric becomes their keeper. They then progress all the way to the final of the FA Cup playing Manchester United.

The dodgy hooligans keep appearing, having links to more dodgy characters. They provide a lot of humour and mirth and are not cerebrally endowed!

Eric can't believe how famous Doreen is? They move back to Aus to live off her vast wealth as a muso.

I thought it was very entertaining, and quite a jolly book. I will be keen to read more AD books.

We have a celebrity on G and G - a renowned author!

 

[Football us life]

MR CLEANSHEETS : ADRIAN DEANS

Genre : Literary fiction/comedy.

Setting: Contemporary England

Length of book : 525 pages

Why did I choose it?
I heard that one member of G and G forum wrote it and it was cheap in an op shop.

Review:

Enjoyed non-fiction aspects of the book. Like the fact that England has a terrific football system with promo and releg down to about 10 -20 leagues, and any amateur team can make the FA Cup Final if good enough.

Fictitious Erik Judd, who AD writes in the first person for, is an ageing goalkeeper and experienced furniture removalist, approaching age 40, who leaves Aus to visit England.

Before he gets on the plane, some English football hooligans think he is a famous EPL goalkeeper, from a rival club. They try to beat Eric up, thinking he is the EPL keeper, when Eric is just a doppelganger. The hooligans come off second best.

On the plane he meets a woman where there is mutual attraction. Her name is Doreen Palmer, and is a huge prog rock star in England, unbeknown to Eric.

Eric becomes a removalist in England. Through his job he becomes intertwined with dodgy characters who own a Conference Football Club in the 5th or 6th tier. Eric becomes their keeper. They then progress all the way to the final of the FA Cup playing Manchester United.

The dodgy hooligans keep appearing, having links to more dodgy characters. They provide a lot of humour and mirth and are not cerebrally endowed!

Eric can't believe how famous Doreen is? They move back to Aus to live off her vast wealth as a muso.

I thought it was very entertaining, and quite a jolly book. I will be keen to read more AD books.

We have a celebrity on G and G - a

renowned author!

Don't you just love finding a great book in an op shop or a second hand bookshop?

Not just about saving a couple of dollars either....

 

[Decentric]

Don't you just love finding a great book in an op shop or a second hand bookshop?

Not just about saving a couple of dollars either....

I was reading a bit on kindle, but prefer print books so much more. Easier on my eyes!

I had 2 go to secondhand bookshops nearby. One closed. The lady had cancer and wouldn’t sell to a stuck up woman. Sadly, it doesn’t exist anymore.

The other ripper is in Cygnet, a hippyish tourist town in the Huon Valley, about 40 odd mins drive in our EV. It isn’t great for taking heaps of books to trade in on a whim either. The owner wants them though.

Being secondhand means there is less environmental damage.

By chance have known heaps of authors in recent times.

I knew our forumite Mr C was an author, but didn’t realise I would enjoy his Mr Cleansheets book as much as I have. I have also read too many books in the crime genre, where there are a lot of good authors.

To find one in a genre I like, Literary Fiction, interspersed with comedy, was a bonus.

I think Marion Keyes is very funny, but her books go nowhere. I also think Kathy Lette is very funny, but her books are crass /salacious bordering on porn.

Mr C’s, or AD’s, had a better plot/storyline. If AD’s books are as good as Mr C, he deserves to have made a lot more money from writing.

My mother had 5 books published as an author.

I love reading, but just couldn’t stand the discipline of writing a book, like you, my mother, and grandfather, various mates, and all the rest do.