Madeleine

What a great idea (I loved Spike Milligan's interpretations of the Bible by the way, very funny). My top 5 winter/fireside reads are (in no particular order) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - moors, madness, old houses, bad weather , etc Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier - more moors and bad weather, plus it all comes to a head over Christmas Dark Matter by Michelle Paver - set in the Arctic Circle during winter, so no daylight for 2 months and very cold The American Boy by Andrew Taylor - set in a mixture of London and the countryside, mistaken identity, unrequited love Lord of the Rings - just a wallow, perfect for holiday reading and it has such a dark, wintry feel to it

Bumping this topic as I finished this book last night, overall I loved it, I agree with other posters that it's fascinating to see how both Margaret and John Thornton change, Margaret finally finding her feet although she was pretty outspoken when pushed. I loved how she helped protect Thornton during the riot, she seemed so put upon but when really needed she wasn't afraid to put herself in possible danger, I did think that her father, though he was a lovely man, did take advantage of her a bit, even given the constraints of the time. The book seemed surprisingly modern at times eg with the mill-workers protesting at cheaper foreign (from Ireland!) labour being brought in, and even the writing seemed more up to date than in some Victorian novels I've read, however I did struggle a bit with the local dialect, luckily my copy had a reference section to explain various words (such as "clemming" listed above). It did remind me a bit of Pride and Prejudice, a sort of grittier version I suppose, and Thornton is a bit like Darcy, although he's a self-made man and, I think, much more hands on in business than Darcy, but the initial relationship between the two main characters is quite similar to P & P. My other gripe, and I notice other reviewers have brought this up, is the ending, which is very abrupt and almost more of a business deal (as did often happen then of course). I saw the TV series (I have it on DVD as well) and think that the ending in that was much better, albeit more romantic! But a great book overall, and I loved the two main characters, who I think are very well-matched.

I've managed to get my wishlist on Amazon down quite a bit, to 31, and I have a shorter one on Waterstone's - about 15, although most of them are on my Amazon list too. Considering last year it was over 95, that's not bad for me!

I haven't counted them for ages, but I have around 65 on my "mental" list, and goodness knows how many others dotted around, usually from book series which I need to catch up on. So yes way too many!

I love bookmarks and usually buy one from wherever I visit, eg stately homes, they're all in my bedside drawer and each time I start a book I take the next bookmark from the front of the row, and the one I've just used goes to the back to wait it's next turn!

I thought Georgia was a bit under-powered this week, due to her illness I expect, and neither waltz did much for me, to be honest I usually find the waltz a bit boring. Loved Jay's Charleston, thought the Doctor Who theme really worked although I'm not sure what happened at the end either, it was a bit clunky but apart from that it was my favourite dance of the night. I think the other couple should have gone in the dance-off, won't say anymore in case anyone hasn't seen it/read about it in the papers yet!

I've almost finished this and I'm really enjoying it, I agree it does get a bit "issue" heavy at times but it's certainly still very topical (eg the issue of "foreign" workers being brought in) and overall she handles the issues well. It does remind me of a grittier version of "Pride and Prejudice", although I think Margaret has led a bit more of a sheltered life than the Bennett girls, who all jostled for space within their family, whereas Margaret is an only child who hadn't seen much, if anything, of the outside world until they leave for the North. She's so put upon at times that I felt really sorry for her, and her father in particular seems a bit thick-skinned towards how she was feeling, although he was kind and was also suffering in his own way, but occasionally I wanted to shout at his attitude towards her, but I suppose those were the conventions of the time. For a classic I've actually found it surprisingly easy to read, occasionally a little bit wordy but overall I've found it quite fast-paced, with all the misunderstandings common to the course of true love not running smoothly!

Yes definitely the first 4 Vampire novels, after that they seriously go downhill, although I quite enjoyed Blackwood Farm - the 9th one I think, which can be read as a standalone book.

I loved Jay's dance, and Georgia's paso, I thought Kellie's was a bit hit and miss but I was still surprised she was in the dance-off, I'd have thought it might have been either Anita - whose rumba, I agreed with Len, wasn't sensuous enough - or Katie, who was great when she was being lifted, but once her feet hit the floor her legs seemed to belong to someone else ,it was like watching 2 different dancers to me. So I think either Katie or Anita will go next. It was inevitable that Peter would go this week.

My favourites so far this year is The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson, and The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark; my least favourites are the one I've just finished, A Place In the Hills by Michelle Paver, which I almost gave up on - hard to believe it was written by the same author who wrote Dark Matter, which was my favourite book a couple of years ago; let's just say she's improved a lot! Other no-no's were: Prince Lestat by Anne Rice - sheer boredom and I skipped quite a lot of it A Dance with Dragons by George R R Martin - book 5 of Game of Thrones, and after the first 4 books which I've loved, a huge disappointment, boring with lots of talk and not much happening, could easily have been edited into one book.

I do keep most of my books, apart from impulse buys and 3 for 2s where I had to get a 3rd book, or if I've read a book and didn't particularly like it, and they either go to a local charity shop (depending which one I can park nearest to, as a bag of books is pretty heavy...) or I donate them to a local charity which raises money to renovate an old house not far from where I live, although unfortunately I don't get to go there too often as they're not generally open to the public, and it's a bit difficult to get when it isn't open.

Yes in some routines they did seem a bit distracting. I think they worked on the paso as well, but could have done without them for some of the others. It did some more frenetic than usual for the Blackpool show, the opening sequence (I think someone else mentioned it too) was awful, totally manic.

Cold and rainy here too.

That's terrible, Virginia, I think you did the right thing. I hope you find something else soon with better colleagues.

I didn't like Kellie's dance this week either, I'm not a big fan of the quickstep although she did it very well but I don't really like the old-fashioned ballroom type dances. I agree with Kell about Helen, she doesn't do it for me either, she's good technically but as the judges said there was nothing special about her Charleston - I think her platinum blond hair and all the make-up gives her a doll-like image, and I just can't warm to her! The same with Katie, she's improved a lot but I've always thought she was a bit of a poser, even when she used to read the news, but to be fair she's not bad at all but I don't think she'll get to the final. I think Peter will go next, he's probably the weakest and most inconsistent dancer of those left, and I think it will be Georgia, Jay and either Kellie or Anita in the final. Loved Jay's salsa, I think having the extra dancers gave the routine a bit more depth as well, and he finally looked like he was enjoying himself!

I had to scrape the car a couple of times over the weekend, but now it's much milder but rainy.

I watched Wayward Pines and quite enjoyed it, thought it was a bit like Twin Peaks (which I gave up on after about 4 or 5 eps) and also Lost.

Never heard that claim before! However I just looked it up on Wiki and it does say that, yes Alistair McLean owned it for a while, although it doesn't say when.

Oh yes, what a dance, and Jay's Salsa was fab too - and finally some decent music choices! They were the two best dances, Helen's Charleston was good but very traditional and I think after Georgia's dance last week we're all expecting more than a bog-standard Charleston, she always seems to resemble a doll to me, I think it's the platinum blonde hair, she's good but I just can't warm to her. I thought Jamelia was the most improved this week but it was pretty inevitable as to the outcome, still maybe Peter will go next?

I read this earlier this year and really enjoyed it, just the right amount of spooky although I thought the ending felt a bit rushed and was a bit of an anti-climax. I did like the way she made the castle a character in it's own right, and loved Sholto, plus of course the hunky Alex

I'm surprised To Kill a Mockingbird has got so many characters, maybe a lot of them are fairly minor? I tend to only go by main characters, I'd have put Game of Thrones out in front as well!

Lovely tree, looks really pretty

Hi and welcome.

Yes NW is a very under-rated actress, but finally getting some much-deserved recognition (especially as she seems to be in practically everything at the moment). AbielleRose, apparently there's a sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding coming out.

I think the singers are terrible, sometimes I wish they'd just use the original recordings. The orchestra are good but the main male and female singers are awful!