Michelle

I guess they're trying to compete with the other tablets. I'd be inclined to go for something like a nexus 7inch tablet, and download the kindle app - but then I haven't seen the Fire in action.

There are a couple of articles here which try to classify different types of readers. http://m.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/08/what-kind-book-reader-are-you-diagnostics-guide/56337/ http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/08/many-more-types-book-readers-diagnostics-addendum/56425/ I struggled to decided which was me, and then I found the following, which I think I have to go for: (And yes, I am a Pisces! lol) So - do you fit into any of their categories?

Can you please share usernames in this section - http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/54-our-extended-community/ - it just makes things easier

44 books so far, so not doing too bad. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness was for my YA book group, and I have to say I love it. It's a short story, and I think I read most of it in one sitting. My copy has illustrations, and they really add to the overall atmosphere of the book. I don't think I've ever actually cried when reading, but I did for this one! 0.4 was also a fairly quick YA read - the idea behind it was really good, but I did feel a little underwhelmed, and I really would have liked it to be longer and more involved. I will definitely be reading the next one though, 1.4. Since then, I've been trying a few different review books, all of which look really good, but are not really grabbing me. I fear it's more to do with the fact that I've been reading a lot of books from publishers, amazon vine etc, and I've been feeling pressured to get them read and reviewed. 0.4 was my own choice, and I found it quite easy to read. I've now decided to pick up one of my own choices again for a short time, and decided it was time for Rivers of London. I've heard so many good things on here about it, so how can I resist for much longer? In audio, I'm on The Dark Tower IV - it's gone into Roland's young history, and feels like a rather 'normal' fantasy book at this stage so I'm taking a break. Dark Tower readers... is it like that throughout this book? (Which also reminded me I'd forgotten to add books II and III to my list, so that's actually 46 books so far!) I've now started Speaks The Nightbird by Robert McCammon - it seems quite slow, but I don't mind that too much in audio - I'm hoping it'll draw me in, as many of them do.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your sentiments - if you steal a book from a school or college, they then have to replace those books out of their budget, instead of doing something else with the money. Who buys pencils? Well I do for one! I also take my own pens into work, as they don't supply them. In my eyes, stealing is stealing, and I really don't think it's expected anywhere!

Many people on here read and loved them before they became popular, myself included. (In fact I'm glad I did, because I tend to shy away from hyped books!) I do wonder if people now have unrealistic expectations because they're so popular. I also wonder if it's been forgotten that these were written as Young Adult books. This isn't to say in any way that YA books are inferior (I read tons of YA these days) but they are written to appeal to a certain group of people. Maybe if it had been written by someone else, with a more general audience in mind, it may have come across differently. I'm not entirely sure, but I will say that I read the trilogy, and also listened to it on audio, and I rarely re-read. I loved the concepts, the characters and the development.

This thread has gone quiet, so I would like to thank Michele for visiting, and for all your questions.

I've sometimes been emotional about a book, but this evening I've just finished A Monster Calls, and found myself actually, physically crying at the end. Such a simple tale, but so powerful.

Quite a few reviews to catch up with! 1st one - Katya's World by Jonathan L Howard I wasn’t quite sure how to do this review, so I’ll start at the beginning, and try to explain exactly what Katya’sworld is. It’s actually explained best in the prologue of the book – in just a few pages, you feel very familiar with the history of Russalka, and the people living there. To summarise though, Russalka is a colony on a distant planet, set many years into the future. The planet is completely waterlogged, and the surface of the sea is almost inhospitable due to violent storms. On the seabed, however, are many valuable minerals, and so an underwater colony was set up to mine these minerals for other colonies. Sadly, during this time, things seemed very unstable on Earth, and they eventually declared war on the planet. Many of the older generation on Russalka have lived through this war, as well as surviving the harsh conditions. Katya is a 15 year old girls who’s just finished training as a navigator, and is ready for her first day working on her uncle’s submarine. She comes across as being older, but considering the harsh conditions they live under, I would expect her to be more mature than her age, and this shows as the story progresses. This first voyage doesn’t go to plan, as they are forced to take on a prisoner and his guard. During the journey they come across a strange vessel which attacks them, and from there the story doesn’t let up for a minute! Katya finds herself in lots of different situations, and dealing with many different people, as events move swiftly. It’s soon clear that not only are Katya and those with her in great danger, but the future of the whole planet is soon to change as well. I’ll be honest, although I do enjoy some sci-fi, the idea of submarines in an underwater world didn’t really grab me, but the fascinating prologue certainly did, and I ended up loving this book. It actually has a wide appeal – it’s not just suitable for the YA market, although they will most certainly enjoy it; it’s not just for the male species (ok, I’m sounding sexist, and I don’t mean it that way, but books with submarines and war do make me think they would appeal to men); and it’s not just for sci-fi readers. Katya is only 15, but as I’ve already explained, she is very mature – so you have a young adult’s point of view, but it will appeal to all. There are some really good sci-fi ideas, especially in the technology used, but they are both believable and understandable, so readers won’t get swamped or lost. There are some good characters, both male and female, and covering various ages. The vessel which attacks them at the beginning sets up a very real threat, all against the background of a changing world. The pace of the book doesn’t let up, and there are plenty of twists and turns. The story told does resolve, so there’s no nasty cliff hanger, but it’s also left open for future books set in Russalka – and I for one am very keen to see where their future takes them.

We've been watching the cycling closely, and have seen no mention of this. Do you have a link? Added: I found this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=40593439 - if he really did do that, then yes, it's bad

The War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen Imagine being happily married. Then imagine one day you get a call that turns your world upside down: your husband is dead. You are devastated. You go to the funeral… And come face to face with his other widow. The War of the Wives brings us the story of Selina and Lottie, two women married to the same man. Simon spends a lot of time travelling, and some how he has managed to fool two women for many years – and at his funeral they come face to face. The narrative jumps between the two women, as we switch between their experiences, feelings and memories. It’s soon apparent that these are very different characters, and Simon has managed to live two very different lives with them. Of course, after the initial anger, they find themselves brought together, along with their children of various ages, and some handle this better than others. There are various strands to the story, including the reason behind Simon’s death, financial issues etc. I have to admit there were times when I wondered just how much could happen to two women, and to me, the reasons behind Simon’s death were not needed, as it just seemed a little too much. I’m also not sure about what happens to Lottie, but that does make for an interesting ending. Despite this little criticism however, this book certainly kept me reading, and I enjoyed the sharp humour Tamar appears to have.

I finally have one review written - three more to go from my current pile! Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas Eighteen-year-old Celaena is a trained assassin, who’s serving a life sentence in the salt mines of Endovier. She’s offered a deal - to represent the prince in a tournament to become the King’s Champion. If she succeeds, she will eventually earn her freedom, if she refuses she’s likely to die in the mines, like many before her. Accepting the offer, Celaena starts her training for the contest, keeping her true identity secret. We soon learn that she has been brought up as an assassin from a young age, and she’s a rather determined character. For me, the first half of the book was the slowest, but this did comprise of some really good world building, which pays off later in the book – by the time the story really kicks off, the world and the characters feel real, and it really comes alive. Calaena is an interesting developing character, but it was Chaol and Princess Nehemia who really caught my attention. Chaol is the Captain of the Guards sent to watch and train Calaena – he’s a rather guarded person himself, who doesn’t give much away. He appears to be very loyal, and caring when he allows himself to be. Nehemia is a princess who befriends Calaena, and there is certainly more to her than first meets the eye. If there’s to be a follow up (which I hope there will be) I want to hear more from her. As for the storyline, I don’t like giving much away, but it focuses not only on her competition and her own journey, but there’s also a supernatural turn of events which I thought was handled really well. The second half of the book doesn’t let go for a moment, as it comes to a satisfying conclusion. This book is complete in itself, but it’s left open to continue, and with a world so well built up, I really hope it does. For those who want more, there are also four novellas available as ebooks.

Eighteen-year-old Celaena is a trained assassin, who’s serving a life sentence in the salt mines of Endovier. She’s offered a deal - to represent the prince in a tournament to become the King’s Champion. If she succeeds, she will eventually earn her freedom, if she refuses she’s likely to die in the mines, like many before her. Accepting the offer, Celaena starts her training for the contest, keeping her true identity secret. We soon learn that she has been brought up as an assassin from a young age, and she’s a rather determined character. For me, the first half of the book was the slowest, but this did comprise of some really good world building, which pays off later in the book – by the time the story really kicks off, the world and the characters feel real, and it really comes alive. Calaena is an interesting developing character, but it was Chaol and Princess Nehemia who really caught my attention. Chaol is the Captain of the Guards sent to watch and train Calaena – he’s a rather guarded person himself, who doesn’t give much away. He appears to be very loyal, and caring when he allows himself to be. Nehemia is a princess who befriends Calaena, and there is certainly more to her than first meets the eye. If there’s to be a follow up (which I hope there will be) I want to hear more from her. As for the storyline, I don’t like giving much away, but it focuses not only on her competition and her own journey, but there’s also a supernatural turn of events which I thought was handled really well. The second half of the book doesn’t let go for a moment, as it comes to a satisfying conclusion. This book is complete in itself, but it’s left open to continue, and with a world so well built up, I really hope it does. For those who want more, there are also four novellas available as ebooks.

I've finished a few books recently, so I have some reviews to catch up on! Current book is Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings, which seems to be quite a fun YA book. With my audiobooks I've decided to take a break from The Dark Tower, and have started Some Kind of Fairytale by Graham Joyce.

Which leads me on to one of my favourite questions - what do you like to read?

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I do appreciate that the more interesting interviews and chats will be with well known authors, but obviously this is usually harder to arrange. I'm glad to see an overall interest, so I will see what can be arranged.

Thank you so much for your detailed answers Michele. Do you prefer having more say and control?

I did also go on to say that I know for a fact there's crime, horror and YA in there!