Michelle

Fantastic! Do you know which one?

We're close then.. just have Dime Store Magic in a different place. There was just something about that one I really enjoyed.

Although I haven't quite finished Haunted, it's my least favourite. I can just about put them in an order, although it's difficult... Dime Store Magic Stolen Bitten Industrial Magic Haunted Anyone else?

Independent Online Review of the year: Books

Article

Here's an article about various book reviews. Rounding Up The Round-Ups It links to various ones, including: Barnes & Noble New York Times

Wow! Sounds very very cool!

See, as much as I loved it, I can't really remember the ending! I can remember a very cute gardener though!

Did you know that the 2nd series has had poor reviews in the US? A shame really, I also loved the 1st series.

This first post will be edited so I can keep a list of my books as I read them, and my brief thoughts. Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas I really enjoyed this book, kept me glued. Started strange, picked up speed, great ending. Some great ideas, some sad, touching moments. Graham Masterton - Spirit Started off promising a rather predictable ghost story, but had an interesting slant to it. Better ending than I expected too. Child of Time An easy read, but an interesting idea, and it holds you well. Graham Masterton - Devil In Grey Another good one, very graphic to start, but with an interesting turn. Believable main character. Neil Gaiman - American Gods Gave up on this one, just wasn't grabbing me. Dean Koontz - Forever Odd A good follow up, with some more interesting people and ideas from Koontz. Disappointing ending. Graham Masterton - Famine Half way, and I may give up. I've kept going, with a hope that it'll improve.. very predictable, does not the usual twists I now expect from Masterton. Isaac Asimov - Caves Of Steel Interesting glimpse into a future.. where billions of humans live without real sunshine or fresh air. There were probably lots of in depth stuff that went over my head (haha), I simply enjoyed it as a good read. Kate Mosse - Labyrinth Oh my goodness - what a great book. The two storylines were great, they combined well, and came to a great conclusion. The characters was believeable and I adored Alais, one of the 2 main characters. had me in tears three times! JD Robb - Origin In Death Good story from Robb, but the characters aren't as good as normal. JD Robb - Memory In Death Much better.. good story, but more importantly, the 'magic' is back with the characters! Clive Barker - The Hellbound Heart Not too impressed with this. Gory, but not scarey, superficial. Philippa Gregory - The Other Boleyn Girl A fantastic historical novel, well written and researched. Laurell K. Hamilton - Guilty Pleasures I'm afraid I gave up on this too. (I think I'm getting fussy in my old age! lol) Peter James - Host Enjoyable book, despite being quite long! Stephen King - Cell Very enjoyable book, but lacking the usual depth of character and storyline that King includes. Nicci French - Killing Me Softly Interesting storyline, good ending, well written. Robin Maxwell - The Secret Diary of Annr Boleyn Written in a very different way to The Other Boleyn Girl, but still a very enjoyable read. Builds up to a good ending. Maggie O'Farrell - After You'd Gone Intriguing story, very well written. Charlaine Harris - Dead Until Dark A better vampire book, well written, enjoyable, and a page turner. Jim Brown - 24/7 Great page-turning thriller! Charlaine Harris - Dead In Dallas Another enjoyable book, really enjoying the characters. Dean Koontz - Velocity An interesting story, but not one of his best. Tess Gerittsen - Gravity Setting most of this story in space made it more interesting. Didn't work for me as a 'thriller', but I did get involved in the characters. Charlaine Harris - Club Dead This is an enjoyable series, and I love the characters. Kelley Armstrong - Broken Enjoyable, but for me, not quite as good as previous books. Graham Masterton - Innocent Blood A good idea, but certain points make it less believeable. Cathy Kelly - Someone Like You Started well, lags a little in the middle, with a nice ending. Graham Masterton - The Hidden World An unusual idea.. an adult fairy tale which will stay with me. Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian A long book, which suits long reading sessions, rather than short ones. I'm glad I stayed with it though.

Or downloaded.. we won't tell anyone?! :music: Mine was the new Texas album.. and it's fab!

Kell, those presents sound lovely. So much better than my husband anting a list of perfume, dvds etc etc So glad you had a good time.

Well at least I feel better now I know I'm not the only one!

Btw, in January, we will do our own Top 10 (at least), so stay tuned, and get your thinking caps on!

Kell, have a FANTASTIC evening! (I'm jealous!)

Honestly.. I'm not the best cook around, and my lot make it even more hard work! Bethany is (and ALWAYS has been) a fussy eater. So is Glen.. and they like different things. So, for example, take something simple like chicken. Glen and I like griddled chicked breast, but Beth will only eat nuggets (we are working on this one, mind you!); Glen only likes potato things, Beth has gone off these. So.. Glen gets griddled chicken, chips and beans, I have griddled chicken, rice and veggies, and Beth has to have chicken nuggets, rice and veggies. (Amy, bless her, will have a much of anything! lol) Tonight I'm cooking some mince... Beth and Amy will have it with spagetti, Glen and I will have it made into a shepherd's pie! Anyone else? Or am I being too soft??

Same for me then: BBC: 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien 3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman 4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling 6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee 8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell 18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott 22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling 23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling 24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling 25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien 30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute 41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery 46. Animal Farm, George Orwell 48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy 51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett 53. The Stand, Stephen King 65. Mort, Terry Pratchett 66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton 87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley 92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel RandomHouse: 4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien 5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley 5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee 6. 1984 by George Orwell 17. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute 18. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley 20. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 29. THE STAND by Stephen King 30. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford 31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 51. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams 56. ON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute 84. IT by Stephen King

We've done that a couple of times, and went to a Harvester. It was nice, but I missed my turkey!

Personally, I think that all these lists are flawed. Most people don't think right back, and really consider. Instead, they take the easy route, and think about things that have been recent. It can also depend on the age groups voting, and what they have read. Hmm.. after the 2005 Book awards are done, I think we should set up a vote for our top 10 or so. Should be interesting.

BBC The Big Read Top 100 Books How many of these have you read? Which do you agree / disagree with?

Our Christmas dinner will be for us and my mum, and will just be a usual Sunday roast really. The nice thing is that Glen cooks it, because he likes cooking roasts. Bad thing.. I'll probably get the mess he makes to clean up! lol So... Turkey for us, chicken for Glen (fussy sod!) Roast potatoes and mashed potatoes (he always does both ) Parsnips Sausages in bacon (not usual.. requested by me!) Variety of veggies Followed by Christmas pud for us Possibly mince pie instead for mum Probably ice cream for the girls! We don't even know what time we're eating.. late afternoon will probably suit, so that'll mean some sort of snack at lunchtime, whilst we're waiting.

That is a pain, BUT... that gap from an early December pay to a normal January one can be a nightmare!!

Right now, I assure you it's MINE! And it's almost gone! :oops:

On the subject of chocolate.. I am eating a Chocolate Orange, and it's just heavenly! "Don't tap it.. Whack it!"

What's gonna be on your table on Christmas Day? Who's making a traditional dinner, and who's doing something different? And for those in the UK, as turkey is traditional for Thanksgiving, do you do it again, or go for something else?