Marie H

Hello Jeckyll, and welcome to the forums

No pontalba, you didn't sound at all huffy, and I am glad that we can give out with our opinions here! Definitely diversity babies .

Thanks poppyshake, I think I must be sounding a bit terse and tetchy with my posts at the moment I have to admit that I loved the St Clare's novels as child, and It took me years to realise how hideously snobbish. They were I do find Wyndham's writing is similar to Enid Blyton, and I think it was his Cockney working-class bit (which was very much as coming from the Dick Van Dyke School of British Character Acting ) I agree, we're not wishy-washy with our opinions, and its great when we discuss/disagree . I think I must vent my spleen slightly too strongly sometimes . I also got rather wound up about Jorge Luis Borges's Fictions earlier this week, and after that I was still as mad as a wet hen when I finished Trouble with Lichen .

Yes, I feel there is a certain deja vu/replay going on here.... . The Janet and John series were the first learn-to-read in school, in the UK 1950s and 1960s. (So I was was being sarcastic re Wyndham, (as Karsa Orlong would get the reference, I would think ) I find Wyndham’s writing style is very dated, and after reading Chocky and Trouble with Lichen I think that the ideas are very interesting (especially in Trouble with Lichen, and the possibility of reducing the ageing process, very apt in these days), but I find some of his characters are odd. It is mostly terribly middle class, but some of them (Cockney working class characters in TWL) were almost parodied, it just made me cringe. I know now that Wyndham novels are not my cup of tea, and I fully admit that SF is not my genre either. I seem to have hit a raw nerve with criticising Wyndham’s work, but hey, that’s great to discuss and disagree here! .

Wow, what a great book haul there you have Athena ! I hope you enjoy reading them

Ah, I seem to have a different opinion on Wyndham's work from you. . I thought that the idea of the book's "what if?" speculative fiction was good, but I have found his style of writing so.....rigid maybe...or stilted. It felt that the characters were unreal. Strangely dated, for the early 60's British writing. I found his Chocky in the same way. He's just not my cup of tea.

Thanks julie, as I'm interested in the history of Dogtown, or other such communities that have been, and now there is Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a New England Ghost Town in Amazon.uk.

Read the first 100 pages of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch - and it's a very good read ! Finished John Wyndham's Trouble with Lichen, but it was a odd book to read. A great "what if?" - what will happen when the discovery that a lichen can reduce the ageing process, and when injected that humans could live for 200 or 300 years. But Wyndham's writing style is weird, to me - a combination of British information film of the 50's and a Janet and John book. .

The reading Bingo could be a good change when looking for books of similar genre(s) as usual.

Yes, I'm interested in the history of the 'real Dogtown', but I haven't found that much so far, but a book In the Heart of Cape Ann, or The Story of Dogtown by Charles E. Mann (Proctor Brothers, Publishers; Gloucester, Mass.), 1897 seems to be an actual history it. There are some external links via Wiki, and they are interesting, the snippets I've read so far. I do love it when books lead me on to other subjects .

.....Very cheeky.... .

Wa-hey, collected Donna Tartt's The Goldfinish from the library . 771 pages of it . this weekend, I think.

Good to hear your reading mojo is working well . Susan Cain's Quiet was a dull read, for me, so it will be interesting to see what you think of it. The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate are just an absolute hoot , but bitter-sweet at the same time . I sometime re-read them (again and again) as they are wonderful as a pick-me-up, on the same level as P G Wodehouse. I hope you enjoy them

Cullen Skink, with oatcakes.

That's a very good second-hand experience , and now I hope that you enjoy The Last Days of Dogtown too. I really was hooked.

I'm glad that you liked Longbourn, as have it 'on request' from the library

Sounds very similar, as I'm not very good as expressing a book's synopsis. And there aren't that many ways to describe how you loved a book. It is easier to say how much I loathe a book though, and is quite therapeutic to vent my spleen too!

I like to keep the library staff busy, and it should keep my local library going, rather than closing it down. Blimey, no library - that would we unthinkable! The Library of Unrequited Love (synopsis from Amazon UK) One morning a librarian finds a reader who has been locked in overnight. She starts to talk to him, a one-way conversation that soon gathers pace as an outpouring of frustrations, observations and anguishes. Two things shine through: her shy, unrequited passion for a quiet researcher named Martin, and an ardent and absolute love of books. I hope it is good, as it sounds right up my street, book-wise nerd that I am It reminded of the case of the guy who broke into your local library!

Yup, it's a cracker of a book . Great review too poppyshake . It is a tome though, I'm only read 2% of it so far.

Great review , but my heart sank a bit when the first paragraph was negative-ishe . Worth it though. I'm having to re-read the first chapters, it's hard to follow what is a going on, or non-going-on, so far.

That's good , as both pontalba & yourself's high ratings. It's on my TBR list

Sounds a dire book nursenblack . One to avoid, as are many of the 'erotica' these days .

Ditto Chrissy & Devi for me, and thank goodness for public libraries !

Yes, I've seen quite a few of mixed feelings reviews of OCB . I think that book might stay on my TBR for quite a long time