Acesare*

Wow. I know a celebrity!

Me too! It's not so bad now that they've grown up, but with an 8 year age gap between me and the next oldest girl it used to be quite lonely!

1. I am the oldest in my generation (I have a younger brother and all my cousins are younger). 2. I once worked for Vinnie Jones's step mother. 3. I collect soft toys and have over 60 even though I've only bought 4 of them myself! 4. I live in London but am a country girl at heart. 5. I am naturally messy, but I am very anal about organising my CDs, DVDs, videos and books (all the same way up, no spaces, organised by preference, artist/actor, theme) and I get really annoyed if they're put back in the wrong places!

Reading her interview got me interested and I picked up The Surgeon for 30p in a charity shop - can't argue with a price that low!

Another search success! What search engine were you using?

"How's the recruitment going?" "Slowly. The Come and hear the Pregnant Wife Killer Justify Himself speil isn't exactly going down a treat." Maid of the Mist - Colin Bateman

I have discovered the joy of charity shop book purchases! I returned from Wales with 10 books to add to my 'to read' collection for the princely sum of

"He squeezed through the window, swam to shore and began weeping at his own foul luck. All his hurricane booty was lost, except for the packet of hash, which bobbed to the surfac eat the precise moment the first police car arrived. "Yet the drugs weren't the most serious of Gil Peck's legal concerns." Carl Hiaasen - Stormy Weather (not started reading it yet, it just happened to be sitting on top of the pile of books I unpacked from my suitcase and don't have shelf room for).

I agree, that innocence I noticed at the start has slipped away, although it's been so cleverly done that it's almost subconscious! As I've now finished this and some of what I mention here relates to parts near the end, I'll hide this bit. I don't want to ruin anything: I really enjoyed this book though, and I plan to read more from this genre and part of the world. I already have The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Geisha of Gion: The Memoir of Mineko Iwasaki by Mineko Iwasaki on my to buy list!

What's the code/link/whatever for getting that lovelky little piccy on my sig (here and elsewhere)? I'm not great with internet techy stuff (great with the horrid old pcs at work - scarily enough I'm in charge of the on site IT support staff when I actually go to work!)

I'm just bought Broken really cheap on eBay - can't wait for it to arrive!

I'm about 3 or 4 pages from then end of this now (I couldn't keep my eyes open or I'd have finished it last night!), so I don't want to spoil anything for those who're reading it at the proper time! I will just say (for the time being) that the pace really escalates to an almost hectic pace, but it's managed so well that you barely notice it! It wasn't until I read Kell's post that I realised how fast things were moving towards the end!

Why do some of the poems rhyme in English? From the context of the book they wouldn't have originally been written in English so they shouldn't rhyme when translated :?

I want to read Angela's Ashes- the film is amazing! The only biog I've read was Alan Rickman's and it was very interesting. He's a very talented actor (and occasionally over actor!) and the book was a gift from my aunt (who is a drama teacher and also acts) because I wanted to act when I was younger. I didn't think I'd enjoy it but it was very good.

Reading list Empress Orchid - Anchee Min (currently reading) A Big Boy Did it and Ran Away - Christopher Brookmyre Stormy Weather - Carl Hiassen Devil in Grey - Graham Masterton Broken - Kelley Armstrong (Ok, it's still quite short, but you have to admit it's different!) When those are done, it'll have to be the library

Sounds interesting!

I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying this book, just goes to show that the expanding horizons are worth it! I've worked out what makes me think the style of writing is quite innocent, descriptions are stated in fact rather than the simile and metaphor laden style I

About half way through chapter 3 of Empress Orchid and there seems to be a lovely innocence to the style of writing. It's going to take a while to adapt as this isn't anything like any book I've ever read before, and, as I've been reading so much Christopher Brookmyre, I need to stop looking for the sarcasm and the punchline! I'm having a bit of a struggle visualising the characters and the situation, I know nothing about Chinese and Manchu culture, it's completely alien to me at the moment! Perseverence and research are required!

Every single book I owned before Christmas had been read at least twice and the 40 odd Stephen King's I own have been read so many times I've lost count! The books I have read the most often are probably books 1 to 4 of the Gunslinger series or Ben Elton's Popcorn.

Harry Potter. Saw a film, thought it rubbish and refuse to read the books. Just doesn't interest me at all!

Finally got that write up on KOKO (see last page)

The First Casualty - Ben Elton

Be My Enemy - Christopher Brookmyre

Stephen King's films are almost all pants, but the books are great! If you don't read anything else by him, read the Green Mile - it's high on my favourites list! I have to agree on the biographies of people who are famous for no reason - the very fact that they are constantly in the media is infuriating enough, why do they think we want to know everything about them! And not just one biography, but multiple? No thank you! I tend to avoid sloppy romance stuff, as I just find that kind of thing nauseating and a bit girlie, and I'm not really a fan of sci-fi either.

We'll just have to keep posting and building ourselves up to top ranking everywhere!! Yeah!