willoyd

A couple of problems: Firstly, the upgrade has left the posts in my book blog thread in a mess. As Claire says, there doesn't seem to be a facility to change the font (which is very disappointing*), but whilst she reports that all her posts have been put back into the default font, so at least they look consistent, mine have not. Some posts are the in the font I was using (Verdana), others look as if they're in the old default font, whilst others are a mishmash of the two, or others. Any chance of being able to, at the least, convert them into one font, even if it's only the new default? Second problem: every time I change screen, I get an annoying popup asking me if I want notifications. Even if I click on the 'Later' option, it persists. I'm assuming it will do until I give in and say yest - but I don't know what degree of notifications it intends to keep sending me, where it sends them (more junk mail) or why, so don't want to say yes until I know more! When I click on 'Learn More', it come up with an Error #404 screen. Any chance of it - the popup - simply being erased? Otherwise, largely neutral on the change. It currently looks more corporate, including the font, so don't know whether that's a good thing or not to others, but I suspect we should reserve judgement until the BCF skins are in place. * Later edit: I notice that there is an opportunity to insert code. However, having tried a bit to insert code, doesn't seem to work, or if it does, I'm not able to make it work without some guidance!

That's easy - none!

While Flocks Last by Charlie Elder *** This is the story of the author's attempts to see the whole of the UK Red List (most threatened) of birds in one year. I don't really know what I expected of this book, picked up on a whim in our local charity shop. Being a keen birdwatcher, I can understand the motivation, and was intrigued at the prospect. It certainly achieved some of it - I could certainly empathise with some of his frustrations and joys! However, whatever those expectations were, it didn't really live up to them. Interesting enough, and worth reading to the end, but I put it down with a nagging sense of something unsatisfying. I think it's partly because of his style. Too many authors portray themselves as keen but bumbling amateurs - is this the infamous British self-deprecatory sense of humour? Bryson (yes, I know he's American!) does this on occasions, Tim Moore all the time (which is one reason why I hate his books), and it's obviously a popular approach given these authors' sales; they are matched by many others (especially in travel books), but I can't abide it: this self-deprecating humour thing is all one big act, and it reads as utterly false and insincere. Fortunately, Charlie Elder doesn't overindulge this, but there is still that streak running through it. I was also somewhat bemused at some of his journeys. Yes, go to the Scottish islands for corncrakes, or the Isle of Man for hen harriers, but why travel all the way to Scilly to see song thrushes for goodness' sake (there's one singing in my garden as I write, and it's suburban Yorkshire!)? On the other hand, I loved the way that he set up the journey to the islands and put all that time aside to see the corncrakes, but then stumbled over them within minutes of arriving at his accommodation - yet he spent so long chasing down other birds. That's so typical of the birdwatching experience (and one of the reasons it can be so much fun, and rewarding!). I enjoyed some of the insights and discussions the birds, population trends, and conservation. I was somewhat envious of his ability to tap into professional expertise with such apparent ease - and the opportunities that provided him with, visiting sites etc not normally available or publicly known, which, to be honest, made me wonder quite what sort of achievement this was. I admired the toleration of his family, who were obviously not soul-mates when it came to this particular hobby..... In all, I finished the book (and it was worth finishing) with somewhat mixed feelings. On balance though, whilst it had interest, I felt it was an opportunity lost; it was a bit too lightweight for me, and ultimately left me with the question, which came first, the book or the challenge? The book itself went back to the charity shop.

Wonderful, isn't it? The clocks have gone back, it's light until a decent time in the evening, the wildlife is waking up, shoots are out on the trees, but the leaves aren't clogging up the view (one of the things I love about winter is that we can see the shapes of the trees, what's in them and what's through them), and the undergrowth hasn't gone rampant; we don't have to pile on layers every time we go out, yet it's not hot (high teens temperature is my favourite!). For me, spring and autumn are easily the best seasons!

Can't remember precisely why, but that was pretty much my reaction - but I don't think I lasted more than 80 pages or so. Certainly not enough for it to count as a proper attempt (I need myself to reach a quarter of the way through to do that).

Just finished part one of Sons and Lovers, about a third of the way through. Almost stunned as to how good this is. My only previous experience of Lawrence was reading Lady Chatterly's Lover in my late teens, finding it singularly dull. This is simply and beautifully written, emotionally intense without becoming sentimental. I love the balance between the three elements. So far, this has been a revelation.

A batch of quick reads, as have had some time at home: + Soulless by Gail Carriger, as I needed to read a steampunk novel for the Popsugar challenge this year. Thoroughly enjoyable nonsense! **** + The Marble Collector by Cecilia Ahern. A solid enough read for my reading group. Fairly predictable stuff, well enough written, without setting the world alight: made a pleasant change but not an author i'm in a hurry to revisit. The twist of basing the story around the whole marble playing/collecting theme added extra interest. *** + Polly, The True Story of Whisky Galore by Roger Hutchinson. Read this in preparation for a trip to the Western Isles later this year, the film being one of my all-time favourites. As interesting and as informative as I hoped - a good read. **** Now on to something a bit more meaty: Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence. Approaching this with wee bit of trepidation as I really didn't get on with my only previous experience of Lawrence, Lady Chatterly's Lover, but have been assured they are different, and that S&L is better! We'll see.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly ***** The book upon which the film is based. Whilst both cover similar material, the role of African-American women human 'computers' in the development of NASA (and its predecessor, NACA - National Advisory Committee on Aerospace), the two are quite different in style. The film is shown as the story of a trio of friends working for NASA in the early 1960s as the USA is trying to catch up (and overtake) the Soviets in the space race. It makes for a great story (Hidden Figures is one of my favourite films of the year to date), but accurate history it is not. The book, on the other hand, is the history. Starting in the war years, it tells of the increasing importance of this group of women, and the ways tht they broke through both racial and gender barriers in a state that was so committed to segregation that it was prepared to close schools (and the education system) down rather than accept Federal rulings that they must be integrated. Whilst the film is probably true to the spirit of the history, it is definitely fiction, including the prominent scene of Al Harrison (a fictional character made up from around three real-life people) smashing the 'coloureds' toilet sign (the whole issue of the coloured bathroom being half a mile away happened to Mary Jackson, not Katherine Johnson, anyway, and not in such a dramatic fashion). As history, the narrative is perhaps rather more impersonal than the film and, because it covers so many more women than just the three in the film, it is rather more removed from the action. However, Shetterly still manages to bring her subjects to life, whilst her respect for what these women achieved, and how they achieved it, shines through (to that extent it can't be regarded as objective history!). She does have to move backwards and forwards between characters a bit, and the core of the history covers around a quarter of a century from the mid-war years to the end of the sixties, but I found that she had organised it such that I never really lost track of any of the threads. Whilst some reviewers have found the transition from film to book (the commonest direction) hard, I found it fascinating. One has to accept that films have to be heavy compromisers, more so certainly than a book. So, whilst enthused by the film, it was good to read about the history on which it was based, and to see quite how the director had manipulated the historical material to create such an inspiring story. If he'd stuck to the history, it would have been fine as a documentary, but it was never intended to be that. As it is, book and film complimented each other - but I'm glad I read/saw them this way round.

....and finished. Can't say I'll be trying any more - a very dated, awkwardly plotted story with a cliched setting and sterotypical, mahogany characters, almost laughably so. Saving grace was that it was short.

There's a big club of us like that!

That's the basis of the English Counties Challenge, and the US States Challenge that I've set up for myself (yet to get going on that one properly). TBH, I think it's the more interesting way to do it too, but that may be because of my Geography background (more interested in place!).

Finished While Flocks Last, an easy, pleasant, if rather innocuous read, where the author, Charlie Elder, travels round the country through one year trying to 'spot' the UK Red List for birds. Trying out Margery Allingham now, with the first Albert Campion story, The Crime at Black Dudley.

Probably more my level then!

What word processor do you use? Have you set the language to British English (some come with the default of American English).? I use Microsoft Word, which is set, under File > Options > Language to 'English (UK)', and American spellings (like 'traveled') are picked up as errors.

I've been a lifetime fan of Sherlock Holmes, ever since my father introduced me to them when I was 12, and I followed him round some of the guided walks that he led, but have to agree that I much prefer his short stories. The only full length novel that worked for me was Hound of the Baskervilles, but even then it never felt much more than a filled out short story. On the other hand, his short stories were so good that they had the same impact as full length novels.

In the UK, "He's gone to the hospital" would mean that he has gone to a specific hospital, but not necessarily for treatment (indeed, a logical response to the statement wculd be "Why?", as in has he gone for treatment, or for another reason? He might even be a doctor or nurse off to provide treatment!).. 'To hospital' means that someone has gone for hospital based treatment, without defining precisely which hospital they've gone too. If you add "off", as in "I'm pissed off", then it can mean angry over here too, in a fed up sort of way!

Agree with Sazed - your review of Jacob's Room had a lot to think about (I need to go and reread now!). Also agree with you, as To The Lighthouse is my favourite too, although I have a particular soft spot for The Years. Not sure though whether TTL is the best one to start with though? I'd probably give Orlando or Mrs Dalloway a go first, or even The Years. (My first was Mrs Dalloway, followed by The Years).

Glad you sorted that one out - I know how frustrating that sort of question can be! Thanks you for reposting here - I may well have missed it, as that is a part of the website I don't go to that often. I do agree about Carol Boyd - she's one of my favourite audiobook readers. I just wish she'd done a bit more of the sort of book I read. Her reading of South Riding was superb, and kept me gripped throughout.

Twentieth Century Women Is this the story of Jamie, a fifteen year old learning to be a man, helped on his way by the three women in his life (mother, lodger, crush) or is this the story of the three women who happen to be connected through Jamie? A bit of both probably. Episodic (marginally too much so to be a great film perhaps), character driven, set in pre-internet 1979, this is a warm, thoughtful, delicately drawn study of a household of fairly disparate but caring people getting to grips with life and all that it throws at them. Annette Bening is outstanding as Dorothea, Jamie's mother, a performance that was obviously far too subtle for an Oscar nomination (Emma Stone - they have got to be joking!!). and I loved Elle Fanning as Jamie's object of desire. OH thought it was a bit curate's egg, but I loved it for it's simple humanity, and for some of the wonderful humour - Bening trying to understand punk music was a joy! One of those films that'll probably slip under the radar, but ironically, that's probably part of its strength.

Depends what you mean by books that will become classics. When is a book defined as a classic? When does it move from a book that may become a classic to one that actually is a classic? If they are books that have stood the test of time, when does that time kick in? After 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, 100 years? Obviously not the first, obviously at least the last, but what about in between? Thus, Birdsong is almost 25 years old - a prospective classic? A book transitioning into a classic? A classic already? The Harry Potter books raise another point: children's 'classics' seem to be allowed sooner than adult 'classics'. Whilst HP may not yet be regarded as a full-blown classic (although I agree it looks likely to become so), it will almost certainly be regarded as one long before adult contemporaries are allowed as classics. So, for this list, I'm sticking, fairly arbitrarily, to books that have been published since 2000. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel Gilead - Marilynne Robinson Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides Pure - Andrew Miller And a trio of those I think should come to be regarded as classics, but I'm not confident will get there: The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor The Sea Road - Margaret Elphinstone (who?!) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell (much better than Cloud Atlas!) A gamble on a very recent novel: The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry And, beyond Harry Potter, two for the children's list to make up the ten in total: The Mortal Engines series - Philip Reeves The Northern Lights trilogy - Philip Pullman (just squeezes in with Amber Spyglass published in 2000).

Well, there we are in complete agreement, and if it was a toss-up beween reading Well of Loneliness or Kestrel for a Knave, the latter would win hands down. I think what I'm trying to say about Kestrel for a Knave and others of that ilk, is that they may well be true to life, but being true to life doesn't necessarily make it a book I want to read. For the same reason, I really struggled with Mis-Lit like Angela's Ashes, so much so that I abandoned early.

Have to say that I wasn't overwhelmed, giving it 3 stars out of 6. I didn't write much in my review last May - work getting in the way at the time: Can't be faulted in terms of quality of writing, but found the content thoroughly depressing; no sentimentalisation here, and probably all too true to life. Glad I read it, appreciated it, but can't say I enjoyed it very much. Will be interested to see how it translates into a play next week. I didn't find the play much different. For me Kes is one of those books I feel I ought to have read rather than want to have read. George Orwell does that to me too, as do a fair few from that era (e.g. Sillitoe, Braine, Storey, Waterhouse, Hartley, Durrell et al). All this probably says more about me than about the books themselves.

Given that latest figures show that e-book sales have declined for the second year in a row, and paper books have increased in sales, just as likely is that nothing will have changed, and that most people will get their reading pleasure from a paper book.

It might be correct if you wanted to take English back 200 years - which is about when it dropped out of use in Britain - but otherwise it is not. (This is a good example of where the US has preserved English as it was more than the British have!).

Sounds like a female version of Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar. It doesn't quite fit your description, but what about Louise Jensen's The Sister ?