Polka Dot Rock

I actually remember quite a lot about a book even after years since reading it. Mainly plot but sometimes characters too. The ironic thing is, as I write so many essays, I find it really hard to remember actual quotes! In an exam, I once made up an entirely new passage of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and lord knows what my exam versions of Pip and Jane Eyre ended up saying...

I believe she used cinammon, of all things! Unusual but since she convinced me to stick cream and cider together, I'll trust her. I was going to try that recipe too with chicken portions - how long did you stick it in the oven for?

It's strange you mention it, but I picked up the (UK) hardback this week and thought that it didn't really sell the book in the same way as the Australia/New Zealand edition did!

I enjoyed it so much that the next day, I went and actually cooked the pork chops and gnocchi with cider, mustard and cream sauce! It was gorgeous! The recipe wasn't on the BBC website but I remembered it all, so if anyone wants it, let me know and I'll post it on here

Ah, you beat me to it! And I went and looked for a previous post and everything The 'blurb' on the cover of mine is slightly different to the UK edition (more emphasis on the Great Expectations elements), so I thought I'd still post it: And it's an absolute cracker. Fabulous book

Mister Pip has made it onto the shortlist! I'm so thrilled - it's a great novel

** Don't worry - no spoilers to follow ** After three years of thinking "I should really read this", I finally started Cloud Atlas on Saturday. I did start reading it three years ago, but I struggled with the opening section ('The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing') so gave up on that particular occasion. I'm surprised I didn't pick it up again sooner as I'd read Ghostwritten (Mitchell's first novel) previously and loved it. Ah well, but at least I'm reading it now Thus far, I'm on page 145 so have read 'The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing', 'Letters from Zedelghem' and 'Half Lives...' and am about to embark on 'The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish'. As with Ghostwritten, I'm really enjoying this so far: it actually really reminds me of the Ghostwritten, especially with regards to the structure, but I can tell that this is a writer who has developed his skills somewhat since his first novel. There seems to be more of a deliberate juxapositioning of themes, genres, narrative, historical context etc, but the various 'stories' are slotting into each other more fluidly. (I'm being quite vague as I don't want to discuss specific details until I've read the whole novel ) One aspect of Mitchell's writing that I appreciate (and, I believe, has helped him to be embraced by the mainstream reading public), is that he really 'hooks' you into a narrative. Which is obviously key to a novel constructed of numerous and varied narrative. Ironically, I feel 'The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing' is still a difficult passage to start from, and although I became absorped by it eventually, I still think it's pretty monotonous to begin with. (Not that diaries from sea-faring types are normally riveting anyway! So I concede that Mitchell's created a convincing style, lol). With hindsight, I can see why I was put off Cloud Atlas the first time I tried: I think Ghostwritten's first chapter was brilliant and so allowed me to keep my hopes high for the rest of that novel, which didn't dissapoint. With Cloud Atlas, reading the first chapter and distinctly not loving it probably made me fear for the rest! Luckily, I appear to have been proven wrong. Hurrah! Really looking forward to getting on with the rest

You'll be way ahead of me by the time I get 'round to carrying on reading it, Maureen It is very enjoyable tho', I agree. * * * * * List Updated Well, my TBR pile has gained a fair few more inches this week! By verious means and from various places, I've ended up with the following: In Custody - Anita Desai (mother of Kiran 'Inheritance of Loss' Desai) Howards End - EM Forster The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, a Gentleman - Laurence Sterne (I watched A Cock & Bull Story last weekend and couldn't resist getting this as I enjoyed the spirit of the film so much Also, I rarely read anything pre-19th century!) Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde A Grain of Wheat - Wa Thiong'o Ngugi I'm really pleased as some of these I've wanted for a good while now, so it's nice to 'spice up' my interest again. It'll be great to read Howards End then re-read On Beauty afterwards: I've been meaning to do that since reading the latter last year. Well, I'm off to (sunny?) North Devon again and taking a huge pile of books - I can't make up my mind what I want to read the most!! Oscar & Lucinda - Peter Carey The Book of Not - Tsitsi Dangarembga The Secret River - Kate Grenville The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, a Gentleman - Laurence Sterne And I've taken Dante's Inferno and three text books to guilt-trip myself into starting my MA reading list

I'm going back to Devon tomorrow for a week and am taking more books this time than I did last time... It was for two weeks! I'm just not in the same disciplined frame of mind, I'm afraid So, going with me are as follows: Oscar & Lucinda - Peter Carey The Book of Not - Tsitsi Dangarembga The Secret River - Kate Grenville The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, a Gentleman - Laurence Sterne Plus Dante's Inferno and three text books from my reading list. Somehow, I doubt I'll get through them all, lol.

Well, I've hit a snag in my enjoyment of Life of Pi :eek2: Nothing to do with the actual book, which I am enjoying very much: it's me! I've been feeling so overemotional this week about moving and I realised that Life of Pi wasn't helping me feel better. All that talk of loneliness really started making me feel worse! So I had to give up this week, which is a shame. (I ended up re-reading Roald Dahl's Matilda instead as that's one of my favourite books and always cheers me up, lol ) I really hope I can go back to it soon as it would be a real shame to abandon it completely. I feel back-to-normal today but I'm not sure I want to risk tears by re-embarking upon that lonely boat!

Lost in a Good Book is winging its way to me very soon I'm really looking forward to the next installment!

Oh! I forgot about Poisonwood Bible!!

Lol, that happened to me too! It's most definitely in my top ten of all time, possibly top five :eek2: And thanks for mentioning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: I only read it this year and am in awe of how good it is! I'm always a little sceptical of hyped-up books but I'm not surprised it has become so well loved.

I could easily say the same about male writers

Hello Lauren! Quite a few of us stumbled across here by accident too :eek2: What are your favourite books and/or writers?

It's taken me ages to think about this! So here's what I think (at the moment): Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides The Crimson Petal and The White - Michel Faber The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Nieffeneger Unless - Carol Shields Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

Ah I didn't realise you had The Autobiography of Malcolm X! I read it at Uni and it's actually quite a surprising book. It's interesting how only one aspect of his life/career has become the predominant image of him, yet his beliefs and opinions evolved in some interesting ways. It's an intriguing book!

Ditto! :eek2: Especially as the longer it goes on, the less time I'll have to review it. I might just not open it and return it with 'Not Known At This Address' on it!!

I'm lovin' it too I keep resisting BBC3 tho'! Then again, I'll probably indulge next week as I'll be going on holiday the week after. That's my excuse anyway! Ah you see, now I can't abide Lost and that's exactly how I felt about that series! How bizarre! Oh I know! How shocking was it?? I think it's setting up an interesting issue that I think will begin to emerge... I want to slap him! Mind you...

Hullo there FA! I keep intending on reading American Psycho as I'm a big contempoary American lit fan But I'm pretty squeamish so could be a problem! I'm also reading Life of Pi - how are you finding it so far?

Finished Possession on Sunday: I really enjoyed it and marvel at the amount of work Byatt must have done in creating (wildly different) academic texts and creating two unique poetic voices, alongside a complex narrative. I must admit that I did end up skimming quite a bit of the novel (especially the poetry - Victorian poets just aren't my thing!), but this didn't hamper my enjoyment nor understanding. However, I think it was a good thing that I knew what was going to happen (because of reading John Mullan's How Novels Work), as I can understand why others may get frustrated with it. (My copy was from a second-hand bookshop and I could see from the spine that it had only been read to the halfway point. I can imagine that's typical for many reading Possession). I was left feeling extremely sad at the conclusion and actually just sat where I was for quite a while! It really made me think about love and 'doing the right thing', even if it may be it isn't what you really want. But I was also very amused throughout by the exploits of all the academics, who I thought were written brilliantly (and recognisably so!). As of last night, I'm now reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I've been pleasantly surprised by the opening chapters, as they are not how I presumed they'd be. Hard to describe exactly what I mean but I'm encouraged to continue

From 31st May 2007 I've just counted my TBR list again and I now have... 47. Which isn't as bad as I thought and I have recived a huge amount since then! So obviously I'm reading a lot... Thank god!

List Updated Possession is still ticking along nicely... It's quite a strange reading experience, actually: I keep skimming certain passages but I am really enjoying it. I don't really do that! (Unless it's a course book *ahem*) Last week, I listed the rest of my books on Green Metropolis and signed up with Book Mooch and Read It, Swap It. Well, I feel like a one women book despatching service! I can't believe how many books I've sold in the last three weeks with GM! On the swapping front, I have to say I'm enjoying Book Mooch more than RISI. I've already sent four books out, including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to Denver in America, and someone in New Zealand is kindly sending me a book. So I had quite a few books to add to my creaking TBR pile! As follows: Opening Skinner