Ooshie

A woman after my own heart!!!

I had forgotten I was responsible for that!

As mentioned, I am having some problems with it, but I am actually really enjoying it. If it continues this way, it will get 5/5 from me based purely on enjoyment

Lonesome Dove is a great read, Steve, you should make it a definitely buy!

Yours is a much nicer cover, bobblybear. The one I have is the one to the left of Timstar's picture, with the young girl - uninspiring is exactly the right word for it!

I'm enjoying Wolf Hall, but have to say I'm finding it a bit confusing too. I keep having to re-read bits to sort out who is talking, and sometimes to check exactly when something is happening.

You are so right, frankie!

Oh, crisps chips! I thought you meant fries chips! (Well, I am Scottish )

Oh, wow, that is a great resource! I have just ordered the final 3 in the series, so I'm just in the mood for some trivia browsing

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Synopsis - from The Folio Society To what extremes can the human body and spirit be driven? Whether out of passion or violence, this question is central to Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong. When 20-year-old Stephen Wraysford arrives in Amiens in 1910 to learn about the textile business, he has little idea to what extent his life is about to change. Staying with the prosperous manufacturer, Azaire, Stephen begins a passionate love affair with his host’s wife, Isabelle. Their ultimately doomed relationship – beautifully, hauntingly drawn – is the focus for the first part of the book. Six years later, Stephen prepares to march into no-man’s-land in the Battle of the Somme. Birdsong offers unflinching descriptions of the First World War: the dangerous, claustrophobic tunnelling work; the grotesque injuries suffered by the men; the mix of terror and adrenalin that keeps them going. Faulks’s characters compel our attention, and his narrative, whilst never eschewing the horrors of war, remains tender and moving to the end. Powerful, evocative and utterly compelling, Birdsong is literature at its finest. The author’s introduction, included in this edition, explains the personal and creative journey he undertook in producing his masterpiece, while evocative illustrations by Swava Harasymowicz perfectly capture the novel’s progression from love story to chronicle of war. I had seen the recent BBC tv adaptation of Birdsong, and will be going to see the play in a few weeks, so I thought it was time I finally got round to reading the book. However, I had forgotten just how much I dislike books about the two World Wars. I just find the misery the men went through too depressing. There are other strands to the story as well which I got on better with . It is a good, well-written book and for those who enjoy books set in the wars I would think it well be just just the thing, but I only gave it 3/5 as I couldn't say I enjoyed it.

Like chesilbeach, I had expected it to be a much more dry and difficult read than it actually was. It was a very pleasant surprise! After the positive comments on the Constantine translation, I might try that at a later date, too; I would be interested to see how they compare.

Yes, it's always hard if you have been reading books you really love and then have to move on to something else!

It's a few years since I read Neuromancer, but I loved it and it is one of my favourite books - I have read it several times and hope to get round to reading it again! I liked the sound of The Difference Engine, I will have to decide whether to give it a go too.

I definitely hadn't been paying attention there, had I? You are quite right, of course, it is Thomas Cromwell in The Other Boleyn Girl! I'm looking forward to Wolf Hall, glad to hear you enejoyed it so much Willoyd

1. Did you enjoy reading this style of novel in the form of letters? Yes I did; at first I found it difficult to be sure who was writing, but soon got to know the "voices" of the characters and enjoyed the letters. 2. Were you engaged immediately with the story, or did it take you a while to get into it? I was engaged with the story very quickly and didn't find it hard to get into 3. There are a lot of characters referenced mostly by their title instead of their name, did you find it difficult to remember who all the characters were? I quite often find it hard to remembers characters in books, and did have to remind myself quite often who was who (not often enough to spoil the story for me, though). 4. Did you have a favourite character? And a least favourite? Not really, I liked the baddies and the goodies quite equally! 3. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? No, I enjoyed the story as a whole, I can't say that one part stood out for me more than the rest. I enjoyed the intertwined intrigues that continued the whole way through it. 5. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? No, I enjoyed the whole book. I do remember feeling it had flagged slightly at one point but can't now remember what point that was, so it obviously didn't bother me too much. 6. Do you think the Marquise and the Vicomte deserved the fates they were given at the end of the story? No, I don't think I would look at it that way. There would have been no story without them! (Well, maybe there would, but it would have been a bit dull I think.) 7. We've already had some discussion on the differences a good translation can make, which edition and translation of the book did you read, and what did you think of the translation? My edition is a second-hand Folio Society hardback, with the translation by Richard Aldington; I certainly got on fine with it. It had wood-engraving illustrations, which aren't my favourite type, but It was a nice book to handle with a pretty cover and slipcase and nice quality smooth paper which all added to the reading experience. 8. Have you watched any film/television/theatre adaptations of this story? How successfully do you think they were? I have seen the Glenn Close/John Malkovich/Michelle Pfeiffer film from the late 1980s a couple of times, and reading the book has made me want to watch it again. I hadn't read the book at the time and can't remember now exactly how closely the story matches, but I did think it was a good film. 9. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Yes, it was, I did enjoy it a lot. 10. Would you recommend the book to others I would probably recommend it to others on BCF if I thought it would interest them, but I don't really know many people that read much, and certainly not more classic novels like this

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory Synopsis - from Amazon Fabulous historical by No.1 bestseller Philippa Gregory, the queen of Tudor novels. Set in the court of King Henry VIII, Mary Boleyn attracts the attention of the young king and becomes his mistress; when he tires of her, she sets out to school her sister, Anne, as a replacement. Politics and passion are inextricably bound together in this compelling drama. The Boleyn family is keen to rise through the ranks of society, and what better way to attract the attention of the most powerful in the land than to place their most beautiful young woman at court? But Mary becomes the king’s mistress at a time of change. He needs his personal pleasures, but he also needs an heir. The unthinkable happens and the course of English history is irrevocably changed. For the women at the heart of the storm, they have only one weapon; and when it’s no longer enough to be the mistress, Mary must groom her younger sister in the ways of the king. What happens next is common knowledge – but here it is told in a way we’ve never heard it before, with all of Philippa Gregory’s characteristic perceptiveness, backed by meticulous research and superb storytelling skills I read quite a few Philippa Gregory books when I was in my twenties, but had forgotten just how much I enjoyed her writing. I found this interestingly written and quite gripping and really looked forward to getting back to it every time I had to put it down. There are over 20 books listed as references at the back, so I hope it should be fairly accurate on a lot of the history of things. I have just realised it was the first book of a series, though, so I will have to decide whether to go on and read the rest! Also, it has a couple of mentions of Oliver Cromwell, and as I have just ordered Wolf Hall for next month's Reading Circle, it is an interesting little introduction to that. I wonder whose writing style I will prefer, Philippa Gregory's or Hilary Mantel's?

Yes, I hadn't thought of that!

I have read about a dozen of the Aubrey-Maturin books and really look forward to them. I have to ration them to no more than two or a row or I would just keep on and on!

No, when she says "my Chevalier" she is referring to someone else (I don't know that I ever quite got his name, but Sparknotes says he is the Chevalier de Belleroche).

I have always enjoyed John Grisham books over the years. Have you read The Partner? It has to be my absolute favourite.

Oh dear, oh dear, this just getting too traumatic for words!

Perhaps we should have a Watching Circle as well as a Reading Circle

I found it a really poignant read too, it is a book that has really stuck with me over the years.