OnStrike

Yes it's a very unique and possibly old fasioned style, but glad you're getting into it. I found the portrayl of the the relative squalor of the castle, the pointlessness of some of the feuding and fighting refreshing. The medieval superstition and belief in magic is also captured very well as is the lack of knowledge about what is going on even a few miles up the road, never mind in other countries/kingdoms. And (maybe because it was written so long ago) there was a refreshing lack of trying to write our 21st century Western values back into the story. For good and bad, the characters are believably very much of their time. Hope you enjoy the rest

Spot on

For a firm that are supposedly marketing experts, it doesn't bode well that no one really has a clue as to how this is going to work in practice. We've got pages and pages of 'what ifs' here with nearly everyone having a different idea as to what would happen.

Grift? I think as more studies like this emerge, it throws the whole future of the sport into doubt

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67192693 Another study, another set of frightening results

Great stuff. For some reason I'm nervous as to whether you'll like it or not now! I might actually start rereading it next week

That is mental

So if they lose, they potentially go into a playoff to qualify? Think I got that after reading it a couple of times!

Done. Good luck

Great stuff, hope you like it...keep me posted!

League 1 really is unsustainable now. I hope there is a plan in place and we're not just going to try and muddle on with 8 teams in it. Kick in the stomach for Rugby League fans up there, very sad.

Yeah after The World is Not Enough I read her book on the Crusades and the one you mention on the Cathars. The crusade against the Cathars was absolutely brutal

If you love Follet's Pillars of the Earth, I'd recommend trying Zoe Oldenburg's The Earth is Not Enough. She wrote it in the 60s I think, set in crusade era France and for my money, the best historical fiction book written about that era. Stumbled across it on a library years ago. The characters have stuck with me ever since and I've re-read it numerous times

I've found giving up having a few cans at home easy enough to give up. I,m pleased I've done that, there's no need to drink 3 or 4 cans of cider because there's a game on tele. But at any social event, match or whatever, I haven't managed to say anything other than 'go on then' when someone offers to get me a pint. Usually a few people around so that involves at least 3 or 4 pints by the time I've got my round in. Don't usually drink much more than that these days but it's made me realise how reliant I am on a few pints socially. Not sure I'll ever be able to change that to be honest. The thought of being alcohol free is great but the practicalities of it is a different matter!

Yeah tried reading it too but the text wasn't jumping around my screen enough as new adverts popped up!! Seriously, these sites are designed to actually stop people reading their articles and to make them click off the site it seems