Marie H

Now that is intriguing.....

No, you didn't offend me, it is probably just my odd sense of humour .I agree, debate and discussion on our love/loathe relationship with books are keeping this forum interesting . I was mostly disappointed with Midnight's Children because I thought it might be in a similar writing style as OHYoS. MD was highly recommended to me by a friend (who loved OHYoS), and we both enjoyed magical realism. Maybe I hoped too much from MD . Strangely, Love in the Time of Cholera is the only Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel that I've failed to finish . Puns are welcome too .

....it's a very special book to me too, one that has stayed with me, where as many have become forgotten.

Yes, it is really interesting that people can have similar tastes in books, and then can also have complete different opinions of a seemingly similar book . I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I know that many other people loathe it. You can never be sure what someone's tastes will be .But the discussions and debates of the books in forums like this are why we are here .

I started off quite well, on Friday, but failed miserably over the weekend . Better next time....

I agree with Chrissy, the Lord Peter Wimsey series are great. Have you read any Sherlock Holmes stories? I have recently been reading the short stories, and they are superb.

Those carrots are very well behaved . Mine always are puny, and never grow in one direction, even when I try to sieve the soil/compost, to get rid of the stones. Lemons look really good too.

Congrats for 139 books this year (so far) !

I like to watch the BBC coverage of golf, but it's more enjoyable to titter at the commentary by Peter Alliss. He has a very dry sense of humour, and he can be a bit grumpy sometimes, but he makes me laugh! I will try to find his Golf - The Cure for a Grumpy Old Man sometime. Edit: His book is in my county library, so I've requested it. The Internet, what would I do without it?!

I thought it was just me, having only recently found the ability to video-skill, then I thought I'd lost the ability. Thanks Frankie .

Oh dear, Ben .....it took me some time to decide Midnight's Children to go as my nominee, as there were quite a few to choose from . In the end I chose MC because it was more of the disappointment I felt, as I had really enjoyed Entrantress of Florence previously. So, I didn't hate the book, (and only managed c. 20% read, and tried to carry on three times), it just left me cold, bored and exasperated. Should have I given it a bit more time? Was I missing something? (Obviously I may have missed something, as you have MC in first place, beating Crime and Punishment and The Importance of Being Earnest ). Feel free to sneer at/criticise One Hundred Years of Solitude, if you don't like it, but which is my favourite book ever, as these things can be therapeutic .

Great haul . £2.30 for hardback is great! After finding those new 12 books, light reading will be good for you, as you won't be plum tuckered out! *groan*

Your favourite read of the year? Ella Minnow Pea - Mark Dunn Your most read author of the year? Georges Perec The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, the one you read least of)? Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie The book that most disappointed you? What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye - Will Gompertz The funniest book of the year? How to be a Woman – Caitlin Moran Your favourite literary character this year? Ella Minnow Pea Your favourite children's book this year? The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery Your favourite classic of the year? The Shooting Party – Anton Chekhov Your favourite non-fiction book this year? Hallucinations – Oliver Sacks Your favourite biography this year? Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted – Andrew Wilson Your favourite poetry collection this year? Emily Dickinson Your favourite illustrated book of the year? A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness Your favourite publisher of the year? Vintage Your favourite audiobook of the year? Smut – Alan Bennett Your favourite re-read of the year? Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – Rachel Joyce

Ah yes, Alliss is a gem ​ , I love when he does 'people watching', on live BBC TV. Wonderful stuff

*snort* I did a double take, when the idea of a thread about filth, from pontalba !

Hope you enjoy your new haul , they seem were a good bunch, for a BHF 'library'. I find the BHF prices are a bit steep, as charity shop do. I hope your Dad loves the Peter Alliss book. I can spend hours listening to Peter's commentary on the golf/life in general

Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita (Harp and Kora) album Clychau Dibon This is so wonderful... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhYt8QQP_Ws

Basement Jaxx http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_DgWGOxvJo

It's taking some time to follow, without the punctuation marks, but he's witty , and it's a very short book.

Managed to read 3 hours yesterday, 2 hours this afternoon (but nodded off once or twice, side effect of a nice lunch ). Hope to spent most of the evening reading. The Shooting Party is a sheer joy to read, which helps.

Yeah, I'm very 'old school' too, there has been better than Teenage Angst, Nancy Boy & Hang on to your IQ.

A great review VF, and with the line of "All the magic made perfect sense and not an orc or elf in sight " really made me chuckle . .

That was a very good review ethan . I have been toying with the idea of reading The Goldfinch, it now is even more so after your last paragraph. Very evocative of serious feelings of angst, whether teenage or adult life .

I'm glad that A Fraction Of the Whole was good to read in the end . The last time I read any of it was almost 3 weeks ,so I must knuckle down to it again. Trouble is, I am so fickle with books. Crikey, I didn't realise that the book was that long, 710 pages! That's the sneaky way with the ebooks, you never know whether a book is a slim volume or an epic tome when you buy them .

Well, time went slightly weird yesterday, and after I intended to take a lot of time reading, I only managed to read two hours on The Shooting Party.Never mind, I have more free time today to spend time on the book, which is really enjoyable now.