Amber

Hi Anna Yes 'A Week in December' is growing on me. I have been really busy so not reading as much as I like, and with so many characters it has been a bit difficult to get hold of, but I have succeeded now I think. I am always really impressed with how much research he must have done, a very impressive writer who never really disappoints.

Hello Mumford and welcome! I have two quite odd suggestions for you, books I happened across this year which made an impression. If you have not read them, I loved both. 1) The Reluctant Fundamentalist, (I have forgotten who wrote it!) I loved it , atmospheric and beautifully written. Not long though and a disturbing read, very relevant to our times. 2) City of Thieves, David Banioff? (I think) I did not expect to like this really, but I loved it, again beautifully written and despite it's dark subject (it takes place in the siege of Leningrad) it has wonderful humour. Again, quite short. Hope they are of use.

Hi Madeleine, Yes there will be lots of Bronte stuff, wonderful! Bramwell was also an interesting character, but troubled soul. Wuthering heights was my favourite novel for many years, and it is still in a special place for me, I think it was the sheer, raw and frightening passion. Still makes me shudder, (but I like that).

Thank you Athena My renovations are almost complete, so I am cleaning frantically! Nice to see it coming together though. It will be lovely to get all my books onto their new shelves!

Hi Madeleine Oh Good! I think I prefer the wonderful Emily, and Ann, more than Charlotte in fact, but they are all outstanding of course. I often think that 3 girls in a remote vicarage really, really developed wonderful imagination. I feel quite deprived that I was never brought up in that way!

Hello Chesilbeach! It is quite an odd read so far (just over half way), not gripping me totally but interesting. I am struck by the excellent research, but we know Mr Faulks can do that well. I am hoping that very soon I start to love it! It is clear I could not be Hedge fund operator. Ah well....

Thank you all for such a warm welcome and I am sorry for the delay in replying. We are nearing the end of some house renovations and I have just been run off my feet! I am really looking forward to spending some more time here once I have conquered the never ending dust!

Thank you Woolf! Not my favourite Dickens so very nice to be invited but I will settle in a bit first, (and find out what a group read is!) I hope you all enjoy it.

I am very late to this topic, having only joined the forum today, but I too loved Crime and Punishment. It is up there with one of my all time favourites. I think what really impressed me was that the book begins with a truly horrible murder. By the end of the book I really, really wanted this murderer to survive. I concluded that any author that could make me do that was fantastically skilled!

I love Daphne Du Maurier although it is a very long time for me too, since I read her books. Rebecca was always wonderful, even as a child I was captivated. I loved My Cousin Rachel and The Scapegoat too, probably more. There is a wonderful darkness this author creates, using the landscape effectively in Jamaica, and Rebecca and the dark side of the soul in all her books. Always worth re-reading and well written and easy to read. I recently loaned The Scapegoat to my daughter who was making a train journey and she loved it, Ms du Maurier is the master of "twists".

Hello everyone, My name is Amber and I am not very experienced on forums, so I hope I cope (or I hope you can all cope with me!). I have never been in a book club, I think I would be a bit intimidated! I love to read, my first love being classics, (Austen, Bronte's, Hardy, Dickens and so on and the major Russian authors too) I have also read and enjoyed many modern classics but I also read modern novels and usually pick something that takes my fancy off the booker shortlist and if I love it, I read all that authors work. I hope to have lots of chats with fellow book lovers, I hope to make some friends who love books, so please get in touch!