Ben

Happy reading in 2017 bobbles. I wouldn't worry too much about the TBR, aren't most people's on here lost causes by now anyway?

Might not have been around on the reading lists much for a couple of years, but always enjoy the annual Kylie reading thread. Glad to see your TBR is as typically massive as ever and your lists just as fabulous. Have a wonderful 2017 Kylie.

The Amazing Adventures... is high up on my to-read list as well. Read his excellent new novel/memoir/mash-up Moonglow earlier this year and it was one of my favourite reads in 2016. Managed to crack on with Big Sur today and should have it finished tonight. Kerouac's style definitely isn't for everyone - and takes getting used to - but I've really enjoyed this. Like I mentioned yesterday, very much a different dynamic to the more popular On the Road but still a fascinating, probing read. Not sure what to pick up next, have been eyeing up Zadie Smith's On Beauty...

Hi Claire, just thought I'd swing by and wish you a happy 2017 - both with your reading and otherwise. Will be a bit more active on the forums this year so have 'followed' your book blog and hope to check by often.

Brilliant stroke of luck. Hope that's a sign for good things for you in 2017.

Oft, thanks for that Janet, have heard some great things. Sounds like it's definitely worth a purchase.

Thanks Gaia, right back at you. Hope you manage to read lots of wonderful books.

Seeing in the year with Big Sur by Jack Kerouac which I started about a week ago but only managed to read a tiny bit of. (Less than 50% complete and it counts as 2017 read in my opinion.) Enjoying it actually - so different to the better-known On the Road.

(Glad this thread was resurrected.) The church is blowing a sad windblown "Kathleen" on the bells in the skid row slums as I wake up all woebegone and goopy, groaning from another drinking bout and groaning most of all because I'd ruined my 'secret return' to San Francisco by getting silly drunk while hiding in the alleys with bums and then marching forth into North Beach to see everybody altho Lorenz Monsanto and I'd exchanged huge letters outlining how I would sneak in quietly, call him on the phone using a code name like Adam Yulch or Lalagy Pulvertaft (also writers) and then he would secretly drive me to his cabin in the Big Sur woods where I would be alone and undisturbed for six weeks just chopping wood, drawing water, writing, sleeping, hiking, etc. etc. Big Sur by Jack Kerouac.

Can I join the out-of-control, 300+ TBR pile club please? In all seriousness, I hope you have an excellent 2017 year (both reading and otherwise). Looking forward to hearing your reviews and general thoughts over the next 12 months.

Thank you! My reading definitely has picked up over the last 24 months. I'd say I read quite widely - I'll try anything once, but have been trying to read more classics/modern classics/books I *should* read (if that makes sense), recently. I'm a bit more serious with my reading than I used to be, I guess - but still tuck into those 'easy reads' now and again! Yeah, it's probably insurmountable considering the rate I buy new books, but what can you do? I'll have fun trying to get it down I'm sure.

0.

Okay, I think that's about it... have a few possible challenges in mind that I'll have a think about, but don't really want to commit and leave myself picking books I'm not in the mood for. Anyway, THREAD IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Hope you all have a good 2017 and read some marvellous books. I've been a bit absent around here in the last couple of years - more on-and-off than a frequent visitor - but I do fully intend to get around everyone's threads this year and get some good discussion going... Here's to a wonderful 12 months of reading!

Holding post.

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Wishlist: 97. Acquired and moved to TBR. Adams, Richard: Watership Down Adiga, Aravind: The White Tiger Adler, Renata: Speedboat Arango, Sascha: The Truth and Other Lies Ashworth, Andrea: Once in A House on Fire Ashworth, Jen: Fell Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories (#1) Atwood, Margaret: The Heart Goes Last Barrett, Shirley: Rush, Oh! Barry, Kevin: Beatlebone Bassani, Giorgio: Within the Walls (#1) Bassani, Giorgio: The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles (#2) Bassani, Giorgio: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (#3) Bassani, Giorgio: The Smell of Hay (#6) Beauvoir, de Simone: Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter Bennett, Arnold: The Card: A Story of Adventure in the Five Towns Benz, Chanelle: The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead: Stories Blunden, Edmund: Undertones of War Burnet, Macrae Graeme: The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau Carr, J. L.: A Month in the Country Casares, Bioy Adolfo: The Invention of Morel Charters, Ann: Kerouac: A Biography Clegg, Bill: Did You Ever Have a Family Connelly, Michael: The Black Echo (#1) Cusk, Rachel: Transit Donoghue, Emma: The Wonder Doughty, Louise: Black Water Enright, Anne: The Gathering Eugenides, Jeffrey: The Virgin Suicides Fallada, Hans: Wolf among Wolves Faulks, Sebastian: The Girl at the Lion d’Or Gadda, Emilio Carlo: That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana Gardiner, Meg: China Lake (#1) Gardiner, Meg: The Dirty Secrets Club (#1) Graves, Robert: Goodbye to All That Gyasi, Yaa: Homegoing Hanff, Helene: Underfoot in Show Business Harding, Paul: Tinkers Hardinge, Frances: Fly by Night (#1) Hardy, Thomas: The Complete Poems Hertmans, Stefan: War and Turpentine Houellebecq, Michel: Whatever Houellebecq, Michel: Submission Houellebecq, Michel: The Possibility of an Island Houellebecq, Michel: The Elementary Particles Houellebecq, Michel: Platform Houellebecq, Michel: Lanzarote Hughes, Ted: Birthday Letters Hutchinson, Ishion: House of Lords and Commons: Poems Johnson, Adam: Fortune Smiles Jones, David: In Parenthesis Kang, Han: Human Acts Kanon, Joseph: Leaving Berlin Kerouac, Jack: The Subterraneans Kerouac, Jack: Lonesome Traveler Kerouac, Jack: The Town and The City Kerouac, Jack: Doctor Sax Kerouac, Jack: Desolation Angels Larson, Erik: The Devil in the White City Liptrot, Amy: The Outrun Lovelace, Amanda: The Princess Saves Herself in this One Mailer, Norman: The Fight Mandel, John St. Emily: The Lola Quartet Mandel, John St. Emily: The Singer’s Gun Marias, Javier: Thus Bad Begins Maugham, W. Somerset: The Razor’s Edge McCarthy, Tom: Remainder McCullers, Carson: The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories McCullers, Carson: Collected Stories Mezzrow, Mezz: Really the Blues Montanari, Richard: Shutter Man (#9) Norris, Barney: Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain O’Brien, Edna: The Little Red Chairs Pena, Gonzalez Veronica: The Sad Passions Perenyi, Eleanor: More Was Lost Pinter, Jason: The Mark (#1) Rankine, Claudia: Citizen: An American Lyric Rhys, Jean: Good Morning, Midnight Rhys, Jean: Voyage in the Dark Roper, Robert: Nabokov in America: On the Road to Lolita Seay, Martin: The Mirror Thief Sebastian, Mihail: For Two Thousand Years Sheers, Owen: Pink Mist Smith, Ali: How to Be Both Spufford, Francis: Golden Hill Stegner, Wallace: Angle of Repose Stegner, Wallace: Collected Stories Strout, Elizabeth: My Name is Lucy Barton Szabo, Magda: Iza’s Ballad Tisma, Aleksandr: The Book of Blam Vasquez, Gabriel Juan: Reputations Watson, Mark: The Place That Didn’t Exist Wilcken, Hugo: Colony Wilcken, Hugo: The Reflection Williams, John: Butcher’s Crossing Winslow, Don: The Power of the Dog (#1) Zink, Nell: Mislaid

To Be Read: 339. 01/01/17: 349. Read 2017. Adiche, N. Chimamanda: Half of a Yellow Sun Amis, Martin: Time’s Arrow Amis, Martin: Money: A Suicide Note Andrews, Virginia: Flowers in the Attic (#1) Anonymous: The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 1 Aristotle: Ethics Atkinson, Kate: One Good Turn (#2) Atkinson, Kate: Life After Life Atkinson, Kate: A God in Ruins Atwood, Margaret: The Handmaid’s Tale Austen, Jane: Emma Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park Auster, Paul: Invisible Baldacci, David: The Last Mile (#2) Bakewell, Sarah: How to Live Ballard, J. G.: Cocaine Nights Barclay, Linwood: No Time for Goodbye (#1) Barrie, J. M.: Peter Pan Barry, Sebastian: Days Without End Bate, Jonathan: Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life Bauer, Belinda: The Beautiful Dead Beard, Mary: SQPR: A History of Ancient Rome Beatty, Paul: The Sellout Bellow, Saul: Herzog Bellow, Saul: Humboldt’s Gift Berlin, Lucia: A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories Bernieres, de Louis: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Bjork, Samuel: I’m Travelling Alone Bowler, Tim: Starseeker Bradbury, Megan: Everyone Is Watching Brontë, Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Bulgakov, Mikhail: The Master and Margarita Bukowski, Charles: Tales of Ordinary Madness Burgess, Anthony: Earthly Powers Burton, Jessie: The Miniaturist Bussi, Michel: After the Crash Calvino, Italo: If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler Camus, Albert: The Plague Camus, Albert: The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt Carre, le John: The Night Manager Carre, le John: The Pigeon Tunnel Carre, le John: The Secret Pilgrim Carrel, Lee Jennifer: The Shakespeare Secret (#1) Cast, C. P & Kristin: Untamed (#4) Cast, C. P & Kristin: Hunted (#5) Cervantes, de Miguel: Don Quixote Chabon, Michael: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Chandra, Vikram: Sacred Games Clarke, Susanna: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Clarkson, Jeremy: I Know You Got Soul Coates, Ta-Nehisi: Between the World and Me Coben, Harlan: Promise Me (#8) Coben, Harlan: One False Move Coben, Harlan: Drop Shot (#2) Coben, Harlan: Fade Away (#3) Coben, Harlan: Back Spin (#4) Connelly, Michael: Angels Flight (#6) Connolly, John: Every Dead Thing (#1) Cooper, Susan: Over Sea, Under Stone (#1) Cooper, Susan: The Dark Is Rising (#2) Cooper, Susan: Greenwitch (#3) Cooper, Susan: The Grey King (#4) Cooper, Susan: Silver on the Tree (#5) Coupland, Douglas: All Families Are Psychotic Cussler, Clive: The Golden Buddha (#1) Cussler, Clive: Dark Watch (#3) Dahl, Roald: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Dahlquist, Gordon: The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters Danielewiski, Mark: House of Leaves Darwin, Emma: The Mathematics of Love Davidson, Andrew: The Gargoyle Davidson, Lionel: Kolymsky Heights Davies, Martin: The Conjuror’s Bird Dawkins, Richard: The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution Dawkins, Richard: The God Delusion Dawkins, Richard: The Selfish Gene Deaver, Jeffery: The Stone Monkey (#4) Deaver, Jeffery: The Devil’s Teardrop Deaver, Jeffery: The Sleeping Doll (#1) DeLillo, Don: Underworld Dickens, Charles: Bleak House Dickens, Charles: David Copperfield Dickens, Charles: Oliver Twist Dickens, Charles: Little Dorrit Doerr, Anthony: All the Light We Cannot See Donnelly, Jennifer: A Gathering Light Donoghue, Emma: Room Doyle, Conan Arthur: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers Easterman, Daniel: Midnight Comes at Noon Egan, Jennifer: A Visit from the Goon Squad Eliot, George: Adam Bede Eliot, George: 'Brother Jacob' Eliot, George: Middlemarch Ellison, Ralph: Invisible Man Ellroy, James: Perfidia Enright, Anne: The Green Road Eugenides, Jeffrey: Middlesex Falconer, Duncan: The Protector Fallada, Hans: Alone in Berlin Farndale, Nigel: The Blasphemer Faulkner, William: As I Lay Dying Faulkner, William: The Sound and the Fury Faulks, Sebastian: Charlotte Gray Faulks Sebastian: Human Traces Feist, E. Raymond: Magician: Apprentice (#1) Ferrante, Elena: My Brilliant Friend (#1) Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair (#1) Fielding, Helen: Bridget Jones’s Diary: The First Columns (#1) Fiennes, William: The Snow Geese Fitzgerald, Scott F.: Beautiful and Damned Fitzgerald, Scott F.: This Side of Paradise Flanagan, Richard: The Narrow Road to the Deep North Fletcher, Charlie: Stoneheart (#1) Foer, Safran Jonathan: Here I Am Fountain, Ben: Brief Encounters with Che Guevara Forster, E. M.: Where Angels Fear to Tread Fowles, John: A Maggot Frank, Anne: The Diary of a Young Girl Franzen, Jonathan: The Corrections Franzen, Jonathan: Purity Fullerton, Stuart George: An Introduction to Philosophy Galbraith, Robert: The Cuckoo’s Calling (#1) Gentle, Mary: 1610: A Sundial in a Grave Gibbins, David: Atlantis (#1) Gogol, Nikolai: Dead Souls Golding, William: Lord of the Flies Goodkind, Terry: Debt of Bones (#0.5) Gosse, Edmund: Father and Son Grisham, John: A Time to Kill Grisham, John: A Painted House Grossman, Lev: Codex Gundar-Goshen, Ayelet: Walking Lions Hallberg, Risk Garth: City on Fire Hamilton, K. Laurell: Guilty Pleasures (#1) Hammett, Dashiell: The Thin Man Hannah, Sophie: The Point of Rescue/The Wrong Mother (#3) Harari, Noah Yuval: A Brief History of Humankind Harari, Noah, Yuval: A Brief History of Tomorrow Hardy, Thomas: Far from the Madding Crowd Hardy, Thomas: The Woodlanders Hardy, Thomas: Under the Greenwood Tree Hardy, Thomas: Jude the Obscure Hardy, Thomas: The Mayor of Casterbridge Harris, Charlaine: Dead and Gone (#9) Harris, Charlaine: Dead in the Family (#10) Hawking, Stephen: The Grand Design Hemingway, Ernest: The Complete Short Stories Hemingway, Ernest: A Farwell to Arms Hemingway, Ernest: For Whom the Bell Tolls Hemingway, Ernest: To Have and Have Not Herr, Michael: Dispatches Highsmith, Patricia: The Talented Mr Ripley (#1) Hill, Joe: The Fireman Hill, Nathan: The Nix Hill, Stuart: Cry of the Icemark (#1) Hislop, Victoria: The Island Hobb, Robin: The Dragon Keeper (#1) Hobb, Robin: Dragon Haven (#2) Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Apprentice (#1) Hobb, Robin: Royal Assassin (#2) Hobb, Robin: Ship of Magic (#1) Hobb, Robin: Mad Ship (#2) Homer: The Iliad Hosseini, Khaled: A Thousand Splendid Suns Hughes, Richard: A High Wind in Jamaica Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables Hurley, Andrew: The Loney Hurwitz, Gregg: I See You/The Crime Writer Ishiguro, Kazuo: The Buried Giant Ishiguro, Kazuo: The Unconsoled Ivey, Eowyn: The Snow Child James, Marlon: A Brief History of Seven Killings Jennings, Amanda: Sworn Secret Johnson, Adam: The Orphan Master’s Son Jones, Sadie: The Outcast Joyce, James: The Dubliners Joyce, James: Ulysses Kadare, Ismail: The Siege Kant, Immanuel: The Critique of Practical Reason Kemp, Martin: An Autobiography: True Kerouac, Jack: Big Sur Kernick, Simon: The Crime Trade (#1) Kernick, Simon: Siege Kesey, Ken: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Kilworth, Garry: The Welkin Weasels: Thunder Oak (#1) Kilworth, Garry: The Welkin Weasels: Castle Storm (#2) King, Stephen: Revival King, Stephen: Insomnia King, Stephen: It King, Stephen: Lisey’s Story King, Stephen: Pet Sematary King, Stephen: The Dark Half King, Stephen: The Gunslinger (#1) King, Stephen: The Eyes of the Dragon King, Stephen: The Shining King, Stephen: The Stand King, Stephen: Salem’s Lot King, Stephen: Under the Dome King, Stephen: Finders Keepers (#2) Kingsolver, Barbara: The Lacuna Kipling, Rudyard: The Jungle Book Knowles, James Sir: The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights Koontz, Dean: Intensity Koontz, Dean: Life Expectancy Koontz, Dean: Midnight Koontz, Dean: The Taking Koontz, Dean: Velocity Kostova, Elizabeth: The Historian Kundera, Milan: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Lalami, Laila: The Moor’s Account Lasdun, James: The Fall Guy Lethem, Jonathan: A Gambler’s Anatomy: A Novel Levi, Primo: If Not Now, When? Levy, Andrea: The Long Song Ligotti, Thomas: Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe Lindsey, Jeff: Darkly Dreaming Dexter (#1) Lindquist, A. John: Let the Right One In Lispector, Clarice: Complete Stories Lodge, David: Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader Lowry, Lois: The Giver (#1) Ludlum, Robert: The Hade’s Factor (#1) Ludlum, Robert: The Bourne Identity (#1) Marshall, Ian: The Official Manchester United Book of Facts and Figures MacBride, Stuart: Cold Granite (#1) Mailer, Norman: The Naked and the Dead Mailer, Norman: The Executioner’s Song Martel, Yann: Life of Pi Marquez, Garcia Gabriel: One Hundred Years of Solitude Maugham, W. Somerset: Of Human Bondage Maurier, du Daphne: My Cousin Rachel Maurier, du Daphne: Jamaica Inn Maurier, du Daphne: Frenchman’s Creek McCarthy, Cormac: Suttree McCarthy, Cormac: No Country for Old Men McDermid, Val: The Mermaids Singing (#1) McEwan, Ian: Atonement Mill, S. John: Utilitarianism Mitchell, David: Cloud Atlas Mitchell, David: Ghostwritten Mitchell, David: Slade House Mitchell, Margaret: Gone With the Wind Modiano, Patrick: Little Jewel Modiano, Patrick: Villa Triste Montaigne, de Michel: The Complete Essays Morgan, C. E.: The Sport of Kings Mosse, Kate: Labyrinth (#1) Mowll, Joshua: Operation Typhoon Shore (#2) Murakami, Haruki: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Murakami, Haruki: Norwegian Wood Murakami, Haruki: Kafka on the Shore Nesbo, Jo: Nemesis Nesbo, Jo: The Redeemer Nesbo, Jo: The Leopard Nguyen, Thanh Viet: The Sympathiser Nimmo, Jenny: Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (#2) Nix, Garth: The Ragwitch O’Hagan, Andrew: The Illuminations Obama, Barack: The Audacity of Hope Orwell, George: The Complete Essays Patchett, Ann: Commonwealth Patterson, James: Max (#5) Perry, Sarah: The Essex Serpent Pinter, Jason: The Fury (#4) Plato: The Laws of Plato Poe, A. Edgar: Essential Tales and Poems Pollen, Bella: The Summer of the Bear Pratchett, Terry: Wyrd Sisters (#6) Pratchett, Terry: Hogfather (#20) Pratchett, Terry: Monstrous Regiment (#31) Preston, Marcia: The Butterfly House Proulx, Annie: Barkskins Puzo, Mario: The Godfather Pyle, Howard: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Pynchon, Thomas: V. Pynchon, Thomas: Gravity’s Rainbow Rand, Ayn: Atlas Shrugged Rand, Ayn: We the Living Rand, Ayn: Anthem Rankin, Ian: Knots and Crosses (#1) Rankin, Ian: Hide and Seek (#2) Rice, Anne: Interview with a Vampire Robinson, Marilynne: Lila Rowling, J. K.: Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 Rushdie, Salman: Joseph Anton: A Memoir Rushdie, Salman: Fury Rushdie, Salman: Luka and the Fire of Life (#2) Rushdie, Salman: The Ground Beneath Her Feet Rushdie, Salman: Grimus Rushdie, Salman: The Enchantress of Florence Sansom, J. C.: Winter in Madrid Sartre, Jean-Paul: The Wall Sartre, Jean-Paul: Nausea Schmidt, Sarah: See What I Have Done Skelton, Matthew: Endymion Spring Slouka, Mark: The Visible World Smaill, Anna: The Chimes Smith, Rob Tom: Child 44 (#1) Smith, Rob Tom: The Farm Smith, Zadie: NW Smith, Zadie: On Beauty Smith, Zadie: Swing Time Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Steinbeck, John: East of Eden Steinbeck, John: The Grapes of Wrath Stevenson, L. Robert: Kidnapped Suddain, M.: Hunters & Collectors Swift, Jonathan: Gulliver’s Travels Tartt, Donna: The Goldfinch Temple, Peter: The Broken Shore Thackeray, M. William: Vanity Fair Thiem, Madeleine: Do Not Say We Have Nothing Thompson, S. Hunter: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Thompson, Kate: The New Policeman (#1) Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace Towles, Amor: A Gentleman in Moscow Tracy, J. P: Dead Run (#3) Tracy, J. P: Live Bait (#2) Tremayne, S. K.: The Ice Twins Tuil, Karine: The Age of Reinvention VanderMeer, Jeff: Acceptance (#3) Various: Crimson Snow: Winter Stories (Edited by Martin Edwards) Various: Killer Year (Edited by Lee Child) Various: Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times (Edited by Neil Astley) Various: The Penguin Book of the British Short Story, Volume 1 (Edited by Philip Hensher) Various: The Penguin Book of the British Short Story, Volume 2 (Edited by Philip Hensher) Verne, Jules: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Vonnegut, Kurt: Mother Night Vonnegut, Kurt: Welcome to the Monkey House Wallace, Foster David: Infinite Jest Wallace, Foster David: The Pale King Walker, Alice: The Colour Purple Walters, Minette: Acid Row Wasserman, Robin: Girls on Fire Waugh, Evelyn: Brideshead Revisited Weinstein, Alexander: Children of the New World: Stories Whitehead, Colson: The Underground Railroad Wiesel, Elie: Day (#3) Wiesel, Elie: All Rivers Run to the Sea Wiesel, Elie: And the Sea is Never Full Winslow, Don: The Cartel Winthrop, H. Elizabeth: December Winton, Tim: Cloudstreet Womersley, Chris: Bereft Woolf, Virginia: Orlando Woolf, Virginia: The Waves Zweig, Stefan: The Post-Office Girl

So after having two years, I believe, without posting a book thread, I thought I'd settle back into a (virtual) comfy chair on my favourite forum and get back to posting my thoughts and feelings about books that I'm currently reading. (I also like the idea of having a platform where I'm not constricted by having to use 140 characters or less.) 2016 was a solid year as I hit 100 (102 to be exact) for the second year running after never managing it before, so I think I'll just set myself the same target and go from there. I intend to keep it simple, not forcing myself to complete certain challenges or read specific books, and just, I guess, see where the reading takes me. Hopefully to different worlds, eras, and towards some new literary friends. I'd be quite content with that. Quick Links TBR Wishlist Currently reading: Books Read 2017: 10. January Big Sur by Jack Kerouac. Thoughts. On Beauty by Zadie Smith. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly. Thoughts. Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin. Thoughts. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. Slade House by David Mitchell. The Loney by Andrew Hurley. Pet Sematary by Stephen King. The Tenant of Wilfell Hall by Anne Brontë. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada.

Really glad you enjoyed this, but disappointed it wasn't more than a three-star (although, I know, ratings aren't that important). It's probably in my top three books of all time and long overdue a re-read. I see your point about the one-dimensional characters but I think Fitzgerald packs so much into such a relatively short book, that I often find myself discovering more each time I read it. It's such a richly rewarding book for how short it is.

Well, to be fair... I think I only missed the last season, so I thought I might get away with watching the new episodes without needing to finish season seven - partly because I was excited to see what they'd come up with/what they'd do with it, like everyone else. I was also pretty familiar with how the orginal run ended, so didn't worry too much about needing to know something that I didn't already. In the end it didn't matter anyway: I imagine I'll go back and finish season seven at some point for completeness sake, but I enjoyed the new episodes very much without going back...

Watched - not by choice (was at the other half's house and didn't really have a say) - the "new" Jack Reacher film, Never Go Back? It was alright, pretty much what you'd expect from those type of films, and definitely sluggish in places. Also still can't understand casting Tom Cruise as Reacher but I suppose that's over and done with and he doesn't make too bad of a job of it.

You have a link, bobbles? Can't seem to get them all in one place.