Jue xxx

I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany last night. Despite another trip to the library and coming back with an armful of books, I have decided to be strong and finally finish Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks before starting a new book. I borrowed Birdsong from the library three months ago but didn't have the chance to finish it, as it was reserved by someone else so they wouldn't let me renew it. I liked it so much that I bought it to finish it off.... but I keep going to the library and coming back with more books, so I have never had the chance to finish it! I will not start another book this time until I finish Birdsong! (It's a great book, by the way.)

I finished Owen Meany last night, and I don't quite know what to say about it. I thought it was far too long (it took me almost three weeks to read), and I found myself skimming parts of it, but other parts were really good, and the end (last 40 pages or so) was fantastic and pulled the whole book together. I'm glad I perservered with it because the I really enjoyed the end, but I wouldn't read it again.

Same here! Just can't help it!

Oh, also... Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. For the reason that I bought all the 6 Austen novels in one volume. I started with Pride and Prejudice and loved it, then went on to Sense and Sensibility and found it really dull, so it's put me off trying the others a bit. I thought I'd give Austen a bit of a rest and go back to her later.

War and Peace... for exactly the same reason as above! I WILL read it one day!

Perhaps the title is ironic? Like the book was actually written as a cure for insomnia?!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (the first book of the trilogy only - other two tbr) 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 1984 - George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D

Please stop the suggestions!! I've added all of the above to Mount tbr and now blown my New Year's Resolution! (which was to reduce the size of Mount tbr before adding more to the list!)

Yes, I know we shouldn't take these lists too seriously, but there are several versions of lists of "books everyone should read" floating around, and I have recently started selecting books off these lists to widen my reading repertoire, and been pleasantly surprised. The lists have recommended titles and authors that I wouldn't otherwise have chosen (as unfortunately I am often too easily swayed by a pretty cover), and I have to say I have enjoyed some good reads lately (Anna Karenina excepted - hated it!)

Yes, why do we feel so guilty for not finishing a book? I have struggled through so many of the ones I haven't enjoyed, rather than giving up on them and starting on a new one that I might like!

Yesterday's episode is being repeated on Ch4 at 12:05pm (20 minutes' time!) in case you missed it on More 4 yesterday like I did! Have Sky-plussed the series now.

I printed out the 1001 list ages ago, and have managed to resist buying this book for so long, but I finally caved in today and ordered it from Amazon.

I have read and enjoyed A Handmaid's Tale. The Blind Assassin is creeping up my tbr list and I'll be ordering it from the library very soon.

I gave up on Anna Karenina, and remember feeling really guilty for it! It's had so many great reviews on this forum that I found myself forcing myself to read on, in case I was missing something, but I just couldn't get into it. I've marked the page I stopped at, in case I decide to give it another go in the future. However, I loved The Time Traveller's Wife, Life of Pi, Never Let Me Go and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, all of which have been mentioned in this thread, so it just shows that everyone's different!

Still snowed in, so finished Life of Pi by Yann Martel and started A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Owen Meany's not grabbing me so far, but then I'm only 30 pages in. Has anyone else read it? Does it get better?