The Codex

Advantages: Engaging plot & memorable characters.
Disadvantages: A little predictable at times.

...Broadbent?s fortune. Preston?s novel is certainly easy to read and unfolds with a cinematic quality. The plot has several interesting twists and you are introduced to some memorable characters along the way. If you are looking for an action / adventure tale that you can dip into easily - you could do a lot worse than The Codex. (Amazon - £5.49) Thank you for taking the time to read, rate and comment upon this review....

barley360 09.03.2009 (14.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of The Codex - Douglas Preston

The Preston Experience

Advantages: Very friendly & helpful staff, easy to get to, Nice hotel
Disadvantages: Take your own baby monitor

...Back at the beginning of April my husband and I decided that we'd take our 10 month old son up to Preston, Lancashire to show him where his Mama originated from before defecting to the South :o) As it was my Mum's birthday at the same time, we thought it was as good enough excuse to head off 300+ miles in a Northernly direction. ~~~Finding The Details~~~ I found the details through the internet, even though we'd stayed at the Preston Marriott previously, we'd failed to keep hold of the phone number. The details on the website were easy enough to follow. After putting in Preston on the hotel search engine, it quickly took me to a list of all the Preston hotels that they have, I found Preston United Kingdom at the bottom of the list and clicked on to it. After this I was taken to a page that contained a map and a list of other...

Tea65 29.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of Marriott Hotel, Preston

Generation X - Douglas Coupland

Advantages: An intelligent read
Disadvantages: A bit on the light side

...I must be such a sucker. A year or so back I bought the book Jpod by Douglas Coupland and hated it with a degree of hostility out of all proportion to its inherent quality, yet here I am shelling out good money for another one. I?d bought that first book largely on the basis of the author?s reputation as a modern, zeitgeist surfing writer with a savvy appreciation of the turn of the century world. A reputation almost entirely earned with this break through novel; ?Generation X?. Unfortunately, Jpod was so annoyingly self-regarding, so out of touch with the 21st century that I felt almost personally insulted that I had been so duped ? hence my disproportionate loathing. Still, once bitten ? never learn is my motto and I resolved to go back to the source of all this trouble and actually read Generation X, the book that created a reputation...

brereton66 11.03.2009 (15.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Generation X - Douglas Coupland

JPod - Douglas Coupland

Advantages: It has a nice cover
Disadvantages: The stuff in between is bad

..."Oh God, I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel." "That asshole" "Who does he think he is?" As opening lines to novels go that was a first for me. I've never known an author name check them self so brazenly and I have to say it set me off on the wrong foot with this book. I've never read Coupland before so wasn't really sure what to expect. As the celebrated author of 'Generation X' I was looking forward to an IT literate book for the information age. What I got was something far less, a self serving work lacking irony and intelligence. A book that wastes the reader's time and provides little in return. But I'm rushing to a conclusion so let me step back and tell you a little about it before I completely trash it. The story follows events over a year or so of Ethan Jarlewski's life. A regular kind of guy he...

brereton66 07.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of JPod - Douglas Coupland

West of the Wall by Marcia Preston. A good read.

Advantages: Good story set in an interesting period of time.
Disadvantages: Slightly unbelievable at times.

...and Marcia Preston effectively draws the reader into the drudgery of Trudy's daily routines. Soon Trudy learns through an old friend, Wolfgang Kruger, that, as the wife of a defector, she is in danger of being brought in for questioning by the Stasi. Faced with possible imprisonment, torture or worse Trudy reluctantly takes up an offer of help to escape to the west. Tragically she is unable to take Stefan with her - a heart-wrenching decision for any woman. Having survived the terrifying ordeal of her escape, Trudy learns the fate of her husband and sets about trying to find a way of being reunited with both Stefan and her mother in law. The reader is then presented with a sequence of events which somewhat tests the bounds of credibility but nevertheless still provides an enjoyable read. President J F Kennedy visits to deliver his now...

perfectlypolished 28.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of West of the Wall - Marcia Preston

Comfortable and quiet in Preston

Advantages: Easy access, Marriott standards and deals, very comfortable
Disadvantages: Some delays in restaurant

...great value at £23.50 per head. On the Saturday, after an enjoyable day out in Preston and Fleetwood, we had a great time sitting outside the front of the hotel with a drink, watching the wedding parties come and go, and the various musicians entertain them. We had been rather worried that we could not book our evening meal until 8pm, and this proved to be justified. Our theory is that is there is a 9pm watershed in most hotel restaurants and if you are not finished by then, things go pear-shaped. Sure enough, we enjoyed our starters and main courses but had to wait around 30 minutes for our desserts, although at least one couple waited longer and then they walked out. Again, the general food and service were great apart from that problem. There appeared to be a children's menu and the staff were particularly helpful with young guests...

mashpuma 04.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Preston Marriott Hotel, Preston

BLACK DOUGLAS

Advantages: Strong malt flavour
Disadvantages: Hard to find on draught

...The BLACK DOUGLAS - A legendary brew named after a legend?......... Not quite. It's more like a very good beer named after a well known figure from Scottish history, but the first description sounds a bit more enticing, I think. David Younger, a descendant of the George Younger brewing family of Alloa, founded BROUGHTON ALES in 1980, in the pretty little village of Broughton (Brote-un), near Biggar in the Scottish Borders. It was one of the first of the new generation of Scottish breweries and in fact their Greenmantle Ale - which used to be extremely popular - was one of the first real ales I ever sampled, way back in the days when I thought the antithesis of 'real' ale was wholly imaginary. Official website: http://www.broughtonales.co.uk/ The 500 ml bottle is a sturdy, dark brown affair with a couple of Saltires...

proxam 04.12.2002 · Read review
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Review of Black Douglas Ale

Premier Travel Inn - Preston East

Advantages: close to the motorway, cheap
Disadvantages: TOO close to the motorway!

...We have recently travelled up to Scotland from Devon and on the way home needed to break up the 12 hour journey. We stopped at Premier Travel Inn - Preston East. This Travel Inn is literally right beside the southbound motorway near junction 31a northbound. We were travelling Southbound, so had to come off at junction 31, join the northbound and come off at junction 31a. PRICE ++++++ We paid £48 for a room which is Friday to Sunday rates. Monday to Thursday would cost £51. BOOKING ++++++++ We had an AA Road Atlas with us and also a directory of all the Premier Travel Inn's in the country. This is a very handy booklet as it has directions and location for each Travel Inn. I telephoned the Inn and was put through to a central number as they were busy. They took a provisional booking and the Travel Inn called me...

kismet 12.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Premier Travel Inn Preston - East, Preston

Douglas Adams Douglas Adams Douglas Adams

Advantages: Really great and well written ideas
Disadvantages: No movie, and the sad news of Douglas Adams?s death

...I wouldn?t say Douglas Adams was a hero of mine but he is someone I admired a great deal. I love the way he wrote and the ideas he came up with, it wasn?t until his death a year ago that it really came home to me of how much a part he played in my life, he will be very missed. I have written a couple of opinions about Douglas Adams?s lately, and have done several, most of the following I wrote but left out due to the length of those ops. So seeing as a new revised edition of what is essentially a biography of Douglas Adams has just come out and been read by this fan I thought I?d include it here. ~~Don?t Panic - Douglas Adams & The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy~~ Written by Neil Gaiman and originally came out as ?Don?t Panic: The Official Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Companion?, in 1987. It was revised by David K...

seagulls-lost-horizon 14.08.2002 · Read review
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Review of Don't Panic - Douglas Adams & The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - Neil Gaiman

Introduction to Preston

Advantages: History and modern life intermingled
Disadvantages: Appalling waether :)

...Welcome to Preston, the best town in Lancashire and my home town. . Preston is situated on a hill above the river Ribble and on the main (and ancient) routes both north and south, and east and west. There has been a settlement here in this area for well over a 1,000 years.This was the first point on the river Ribble where it was safe to cross by ford and today it is still the first place to cross by bridge. Prestons history dates back to the bronze age 1-2 thousand years before christ. Preston was born and apparently gained its name in the Dark Ages, some time after the withdrawal of the Romans in the early 5th century. Its' name is said to come from the town being owned by monks hence the name "Priest Town". Following the battle of Hastings Preston had a period of troubled times until the 13th century, during this time the town...

JasperUK 19.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Preston (England)