Hayley

I really hope so! We’re certainly going to try. I know that the technical issues we’ve had made it more difficult to post at times, or to load posts. Things are still ongoing behind the scenes, so to speak, to fix that, hopefully very soon! As soon as that fix happens there will be a few activities that I don’t want to reveal just yet! In the meantime I’d actually really like to hear what people do miss - what did you used to like seeing or taking part in that doesn’t happen any more?

I'm basically reiterating Luna here but yes most of us keep a book list on our blog thread, so we've never set up a separate section for them (although it's an interesting idea!).

It really wasn’t was it!? I only noticed it was on when I posted because of a post about Marian Keyes on Twitter! Yeah I had the same thoughts. The popularity of a book was clearly a consideration. I thought the trade section was a bit more interesting, actually. It’s nice to see so many interesting indie bookshops doing well. I also did not know that Canongate and Faber were considered to be indie publishers!

Embers sounds very interesting - I love nicely crafted gothic atmosphere!

That's how I felt about it too! Looking forward to digging in to the new one though I've been tempted to buy this a couple of times but I have seen reviews similar to yours before - that it's a bit disappointing, especially in regard to the loose ends. This one sounds good! Another one I'll be adding to my list

Wow, that really is a shame, on both counts!

The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, have just started! Is anybody watching the live stream? Are there any books you particularly want to win? I have to admit, I haven't actually read any of the shortlisted books (although some are on my list!) The Bookseller - Awards - The British Book Awards

Somebody bought an Alice in Wonderland one for me and that's really nice. I do think it's relaxing - it's so detailed that to colour it you really have to focus on the picture, which is quite distracting. It's probably also partly just that it's very aesthetically pleasing! That's a really interesting point. I wonder whether that's why so many of us also love notebooks and stationary!

Currently reading The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley (and it is taking so much longer than I expected!)

It's a shame that this wasn't as interesting as it sounds. The premise would have hooked me too! I have heard about the oddness of the Aberfan tragedy predictions before and I do feel as though it would be interesting to look at those from a psychological perspective. I also find the Scottish tradition of second sight really interesting, did they talk about that at all?

I don't! Here are mine for 10-2: - 'The Voice of Saruman' chapter is very satisfying, when Saruman gradually unravels - realising his lies aren't working any more when Theoden stands up to him and then finding that Gandalf is more powerful and can control him now - it's a real 'ha!' moment. (I wish we had a real Gandalf!) - I could do with a bit more explanation of why the colours are important to the council. I'm guessing that might be in The Silmarillion? I assume white is the most powerful role but why was Gandalf Grey to begin with? And what about the other wizards? - I feel really bad for Pippin with the Palantir. Gandalf says that there's something about it that draws you to look into it, so it wasn't entirely Pippin's fault! Although it does mean that Pippin gets to be a bit of an accidental hero, throwing Sauron off the scent of Frodo. - I also really like Pippin's curiosity in the Palantir chapter (maybe that makes me feel extra sorry for him too). It seems as though they were really quite sheltered in the Shire but he really wants to know about things and the way they work. Maybe another sign that, given the chance, Hobbits can be more than they seem. - I agree with Sam about the rope being magical - It's interesting that elvish things burn Gollum Agree totally with this. I do pity him and I do think he's mainly just a victim of the ring but, at the same time, there's something so deeply unpleasant about him sometimes! Thinking back to when he first found the ring - was he already a little bit evil at heart? The ring immediately makes him do something terrible but it hasn't worked that quickly on anybody else. Although even if that is the case it's still hard not to pity him and wonder what would have happened if Smeogol had different chances!

I second this recommendation but you should know that it has some magical realism elements. I'd add The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry (very beautifully written) and maybe The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman. Although the latter is very sad!

I had completely forgotten about this thread but you're right, there are some good ideas. Putting stickers or flyers into books to be donated would undoubtedly attract a few people to the site, but it would mean getting members access to those stickers and flyers - I'd have to work out the practicalities of that.

That’s exciting . I did love having our own tomatoes last year but we aren’t growing them this year because we’re not sure if Lilly would try to eat them (and apparently tomatoes are poisonous to dogs!). We did get a little (chest height) greenhouse type thing for Christmas though, so we’re growing three different chillies (jalapeño, lemon drop and chocolate habanero), as well as salad leaves in there. I also got a loganberry for my birthday but I’m not sure if we’ll get fruit from it this year! I can’t wait for strawberries. I have some strawberry plants coming back up from last year, so hopefully we’ll have plenty again

I thought we could use a thread which is similar to our kindle deals thread, but for physical books… Inspired by this pretty amazing sale (unfortunately UK only) from Orbit Books - all books on their website are 50% off (for Star Wars day!): https://store.orbit-books.co.uk/

Hi, welcome to the forum! I’m a paper book person too. I have a kindle but I find it harder to ‘get into’ ebooks. I liked Pride and Prejudice as well (although I didn’t really expect to like it as much as I did!). I’ve never read The Call of the Wild though. Might need to add that to my list!

That is interesting. I like the Matt Haig quote and the idea of books as treasure maps . I think most of the actual ideas are fairly obvious ways of studying though - most of us probably did them for exams at some point!

I felt exactly the same way about this book. Such a long book but I wanted it to be twice the length! Have you seen her short story collection ‘The Ladies of Grace Adieu’? All based in the same world as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and also excellent!

I guess the simple answer is yes, technically. It would really need to have a dedicated section though. We have talked about archiving posts before and organising by year is a good suggestion

This is me catching up because I forgot to come back to post on chapters 6-9! So... - Wormtongue is the creepiest character. He might not be the most evil, but he makes my skin crawl. - I really like Eowyn though, I think she's one of the most interesting characters. - The battle of Helm's Deep feels like the moment the good versus evil battle really expands into a world at war. I liked slight comic relief of the competition between Legolas and Gimli. - Tolkien shows his appreciation of trees again and I still love how epic the Ents are. - It's really nice that Legolas and Gimli promise to visit the places that mean a lot to each of them if they survive the war. Their friendship is a nice way of showing that deep-rooted prejudice against others is ultimately silly and meaningless. - You've got to love Merry and Pippin. The contrast between the previous few chapter's events and the two of them just relaxing with a pipe and plenty of food is funny and fitting. The fact that they immediately start playing host was also quite funny and very hobbit-like. - Their story also reinforces the 'trees/Ents are amazing' theory. - Flotsam and Jetsam is one of my favourite chapters because it feels like the tables are turning in favour of the heroes again and (nearly) everyone is back together. Definitely agree! And definitely think it's intentional, but becomes more important later... I guess if we see Lord of the Rings as following the medieval tradition of fantasy it does make sense for society to be structured that way. Although, does Hobbit society follow the same rules, do you think? There doesn't appear to be any Hobbit nobility or servants. That's a good point about merchants etc. though. They must have merchant routes, which is how the pipe-weed etc. got to Orthanc?

These both sound absolutely delicious! I've never heard of jam on a hot cross bun though poppy! This is like the time Chrissy mentioned putting cheese on them, I'll have to try it now

I actually found the writing more memorable than the plot of this one (although I did love it overall!). I thought it was very beautifully written, with the narrative cleverly weaving in the themes of the river and storytelling. Do you think that might be why you found it generally enjoyable, even though it's not the type of book you'd usually choose?

Haha, they did, thank you! The worst thing I've done is papercut my thumb It was very shocking! This isn't even a very busy road! Getting back on track with my reviews: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke 5/5 - I loved it This book was not what I expected and I don't want to reveal exactly why because I think the sense of discovery is partly what's so great about it. For the first few chapters I was utterly confused. Clarke introduces us to a very strange setting; a house containing tides and clouds and crumbling statues. It's also told entirely through the diary entries of a character who's equally hard to make out - but it works so well. Being broken up into the smaller diary-style sections makes the overwhelming strangeness of the concept far more digestible, although it simultaneously adds to the mystery of what this place is and why our narrator is there. Strange hints and mysteries gradually build up until, desperate to keep putting the final pieces together, I literally didn't want to put it down. Clarke is an immensely clever author and I so hope she has more books planned!

Oh yeah!! Actually I think there’s a part later that might back your theory up more. We’ll have to talk about it when you’ve finished! I’m still reading Kingsley’s The Water Babies but it is very slow going. I’m getting tempted to pick something else up and dip back into it later. [edit: no pun intended…]