Anna Faversham

Ben, just call the room where you keep your books and do your writing 'the library'! Then there's no guilt when you go and choose which book to read.

I'm another sucker for the charity book shops. I've bought some amazing books which I shall probably never get round to reading. I have a set of beautifully bound books about sailing ships. I love all those sails and the wind and the sea...ah me hearties. Wonderful illustrations of the the Mayflower setting sail and so on. I have several other treasured sets from the charity shops, all non-fiction, and I tell myself that if I don't get round to reading them then maybe my children will, or their children, or their children's children, or... - I just hope someone will!

Yes, I saw it and enjoyed it even though some of it was totally unrealistic. A GP would never behave as Dr Foster does: giving a patient drugs in return for following her husband and reporting back, and taking a mobile call during a consultation, and threatening a patient's husband. But, like you, I'll look forward to it next week!

I am a slow reader (busy life and just read in small snatches, excuses, excuses) but I like to absorb what a book is all about and yet still I miss the message most of the time. Writers are supposed to have some kind of theme in mind when they write such as 'good conquers evil' (a very simple one!) and I think I come away happy that this has happened but I have probably missed many signposts. Like Sadya, I sometimes read the reviews afterwards and am quite surprised to see what others have found within the book. This is a good thread; from now on I shall try and stand back and get an overall picture/message from books I read.

Hello Reverie, I'm fairly new too and also a slow reader. With some books, the most recent was Poldark, I like to savour the story, the language, the choice of words, and the descriptions so I understand what you mean. I hope you enjoy getting to know everyone. I often take a look at members' profiles which I find is a good way of remembering who is who!

Well I can certainly see why you have too little reading time! They have so much energy naturally at that age and then there's sugar treats on top. Phew! Hope you get a bit of a break on nursery days.

Raining here in Kent too. Raincoat with hood, wellies and umbrella weather. 3 year old girl? What about those cut out dresses to stick on dolls. New fangled ones come in books and are ready-cut and plasticky and very popular. Hope you get some good ideas.

Hello, and welcome. More reading time required. Yep! We've definitely got that in common.

What's the weather like? !!!! Dreadful. Torrential rain more or less non stop and I'm on holiday. However, I love the sound of rain battering the windows. It feels good to be inside.

If you like time travel romance with mystery and a dash of humour, you might like my book Hide in Time which is on a Kindle Countdown Deal for 99p until 1st September (or 99c US until 30th August). Reduced from £1.99/$2.99. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A3E925M?*Version*=1&*entries*=0 Athena - if I'm not allowed to publicize my own work, then please just delete this post. I couldn't decide if I should mention it or not, then it seemed wrong to leave this group out of the opportunity of getting a deal if they like time travel. Athena - Book Hippo works out what sort of books you like and puts them at the top of the list - that's helpful, I find. It's worked my preferences out well. I think it works them out from which books you click on.

Do you know about this site? www.bookhippo.co.uk It sends daily emails, or you can browse the free and discounted books from the website. I know there's lots of these sites but this one is particularly good and is a UK site and I use it.

Mid morning onwards there's been torrential rain, thunder and lightning; mid afternoon a sort of watery sun. Who knows for this evening! I have a sick pigeon wandering around the garden, broken wing. I couldn't bear to see it sitting out in the rain, hunched against a fence. Loads of better places to shelter. So I've put it in our little summer house and it's sitting on a perch and it's dried out. The door is open but it doesn't seem to want to go out - probably knows the rain is on its way again.

With Kindle books, if I don't know the author, I always read the blurb thoroughly and look for bad grammar or spelling, or the use of too many superlatives to describe something. Then I'll glance at the reviews as sometimes they give a good indication of the type of reader who has enjoyed the book. Reviews say as much about the reviewer as they do about the writer of the book! Sometimes it is obvious that the reviewer has chosen poorly for their personal taste.And others look like someone's mum or dad! None of my family has given my books a written review. Grr.... but at least I can truly say the reviews are 100% genuine, no relations, no money changing hands, no swapsies. And, most importantly, I always take a look at the 'Look Inside' feature because it gives me a chance to evaluate the writer's style. It is such a useful tool to help a reader decide. Thanks for the link, Brian, and I can see from that article that it must be extremely difficult to evaluate non fiction - that man and his whole array of self-help books on the same topic, just rearranging the words and titles - well my blood boiled.

I feel the same way as I see much forum traffic (not on here, of course) where writers are swapping reviews or asking where they can buy them. How can they do that! That link made me hopping mad for all sorts of reasons, not just the reviews.

Gosh! That makes ebooks look expensive! I've run out of space for proper book storage. I've tried giving some to the bookstall for the blind at our railway station, but I find it hard to part with them. And I'm so impressed by your reading list - both the quality and the quantity. That's it - come what may, I am spending this evening reading!

I read this in my newspaper, slightly different slant from The Guardian, and I wish I hadn't!

Hello LadyH and I am also a Kindle reader - it's the convenience! I can take it around with me and read in any spare minutes. Also, like you, my bookcases are overflowing. I have just started reading a Barbara Erskine book, something I saw recommended on here, so I hope you will find it a positive step joining us - I'm new too.

I've got four bookcases stuffed full and I probably have about 70 books still waiting to be read. All good, but no time. I mostly read on my Kindle now as it's easier to take it around with me. I long for long train journeys so I get a chance to immerse myself in my latest. I haven't counted how many are loaded onto it, but there's probably about 40 to 50 still waiting for me to start. And then...! Grr... Despite saying I wouldn't download any more until I'd reduced the TBRs, I saw a post on here about an author that I keep hearing is good and so I found a book of hers on Amazon and downloaded it and that is the one I am reading now! So no reduction in the TBRs.

I enjoyed 'Songbird' by Julia Bell. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Songbird-Julia-Bell-ebook/dp/B00955RUCM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1437336259&sr=1-1&keywords=songbird+julia+bell

Thank you, Chesilbeach. Yes and I'm slowly finding my way around.

Hello I'm new too and just getting to know my way around. I hope you will soon tell us a little about yourself.

Hello mirandashell, so if it's confession time, I'd like to join in! I found this site about three years ago and recommended it to a friend. We're both too busy for our own good. It never occurred to either of us that we'd not be able to find it easily again. All I could remember was that it was 'blue'. So not until I decided to do a concerted hunt for it did I find it again. Easily - oh so easily! Google's so much better these days! See you around mirandashell.

I prefer it to be quiet but there are some noises I am happy to have in the background, e.g. my husband playing his guitar (but not the organ). Like muggle not, I'm happy with nature's noises. The sound of birds singing is blissful, but the TV is aggravating and distracting. Silence is golden - anyone remember that old song?

Hello Alice. I'm new too and I have found everyone to be very friendly and although I am still finding my way around, I think you will find lots of threads that will interest you.

I had imagined that once my children were off hand, I'd spend sunny (haha) weekends sitting in the garden reading all the great books that I've never had the time for. But time rampages on, and I still have not read anywhere near as many as I want to. Although I do listen to audiobooks a lot. The trouble is, I spend any spare time I have writing! My first book was a time travel book and yet I'd never heard of Little Pixie's recommended successful author. I mention this to you Vodkafan because I see you are writing your first novel - watch out - it will take you over!