Kell

Now THAT'S funny!

My first proper job was working Sundays (and occasional Saturdays) in a dry cleaners. I started it on my 16th birthday and I saved every penny I made and put it into my college fund! I hated working there (my pay was

Im' only going away for a weekend at the end of the month for a wedding. However, it's just me and Xander, so I'll be spending a lot of time in our hotel room while he naps and once he goes to bed at night, so I'll take along a book (don't know which one yet - just whatever grabs my attention when I'm packing (I suspect it will mostly likely be a more recent acquisition though), and a small cross stitch project (I have a couple of small kits to choose from). THat should keep me entertained while His Nibs snoozes!

I only realised very recently that it was originally serialised - in this case it makes for exciting reading as there's always something to keep the reader hooked and turning the pages.

I think the points made there are all correct - I know some of them have been around fror a while (I read Confessions of a Bad Mother ages ago after my Mam recommended it - LOL), but it does seem to be something that's being promoted a lot more and on ALL the shelves at the moment. And Andy, I expect you're right about the upcoming "Empty-Nest-Lit" too!

After all the boyfriend/career angst chick-lit novels we've had for quite a while now, the new breed seem to all feature mums-with-toddlers/babies/pregnant bellies. I'm wondering if this is the birth (LOL!) of a new offshoot - the Mum-Lit novel? I''ve just started reading Momzillas by Jill Kargman and I have The Manny by Holly Peterson, but I've noticed quite a few other similar-sounding "women's fiction" novels recently: 24-karat Kids by Judy Goldstein and Sebastian Stuart The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy by Fiona Neill Gucci Gucci Coo by Sue Margolis The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center The Motherhood Walk of Fame by Shari Low Secret Diary of a Demented Housewife by Niamh Greene The Playground Mafia by Sarah Tucker The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy by Polly Williams Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella Confessions of a Bad Mother by Stephanie Calman The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson The Battle for Big School by Sarah Tucker Mummy Said the F-Word by Fiona Gibson Something Blue by Emily Griffin Three in a Bed by Carmen Reid And those are just the ones that immediately jumped out at me in a quick random search! So, is it just that the chick-lit generation of career v. boyfriend type characters have grown up and had babies?

After reading three Danny Wallaces in a row, I'm now moving onto something I would usually not read - light, fluffy chick-lit! However, as the lead character is a 32-y-o woman with a 2-y-o daughter surrounded by NY Yummy Mummies, (something that sems to be appearing on the shelves a lot lately), I'm wondering if this is the next step in chick-lit - Mum-Lit! Anyway, the book is called Momzillas and it's by Jill Kargman. We'l see how we go with it.

I know there are sequels and I fully intend to read them at some point too, it's just that I already have Monte Cristo.

It's been quite some time since I listened to the audo book so I won't answer individual questions, but I wanted to say that I LOVED the character of Milady deWinter - she's so manipulative and downright sneaky! There's just something about the "bad" characters in this novel - the Cardinal is an unholy man of God, and Rochefort is such a nasty piece of work that I could hardly wait for them to get their come-uppance (I adrored "reading" their parts - I usually do like the baddies!), but with Milady, I almost wanted her to get away with it all, even after the murder of Constance and her attempted murder of D'Artagnion. I could half understand D'Artagnion's reluctance to see her dead and also Athos' sorrow at seeing her executed after having loved her. I haven't yet read any more Dumas, but I certainly inted to (I have Monte Cristo on Mount TBR) as I loved his friendly approach to writing - I felt included in the action, as if I were one of the musketeers myself (a 5th one at that - LOL!). I felt it would have been wonderful to be friends with D'Artagnion, Porthos, Athos and Aramis, and to experience their adventures with them. Incidentally, if anyone is interested in seeing how much of The Three Musketeers' history is based on fact, I found an interesting source HERE, with links between the fictional characters and events and actual historical ones.

Last night I really couldn't be bothered cooking or coming up with anything exciting, so we ordered Chinese food for the first time in AGES. I had lemon chicken with rice (and old favourite of mine) and Dale had S&S chicken balls with chips (although he doesn't use the sauce - he prefers ketchup - daftie!). Xander had potato, sweet potato, carrot, salmon and mackerel and I made enough so that he has some for lunch today too (I'm sneaky that way sometimes!).

Nope - if I did that I'd find ways of AVOIDING the book completely as my automatic reaction to having something imposed upon me is to immediately go against it - LOL!Like many others, though, if I find I'm not enjoying the book so much, I'll set it aside for another time or abandon it completely in favour of a different one.

"Thou shalt not kill" -

I listened to an audio book of The Three Musketeers read by none other than Michael York about 1 1/2 years ago ad he really brought it to life. So, although I didn't read a hard copy myself, I can honestly say it's worth sticking with - there's such swashbuckling excitement throughout and the cameraderie between the characters is wonderful fun. As the characters developed, I really began to feel I was a part of their little group and I was right there with them on their escapades. I really should read some more Dumas, as I loved this one!

And the last line is done in pastels to match the cats on the front. I just thought it went quite well with the picture.

Carrying on from this, I'm currently in the South of France to meet a man who shares my name, only to discover that he's currently in London - about 5 minutes from my flat. Would you credit it?!

I am currently a man on a mission to find 54 other men with the same name as me, and also that same man's long-suffering flatmate who is being dragged along for the ride. (Are You Dave Gorman? by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace).

A bit of both. My mojo went AWOL when I got pregnant with Xander and pretty much kept a low profile until very recently, when it started kicking back in again. I've been on a bit of a Danny Wallace bent lately. I read Join Me a few years ago (and promptly Joined Danny's Collective), and this year I've read Yes Man; Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe; and Friends Like These - all were hilarious. I'm now reading Are You Dave Gorman, which he wrote with, yes, you've guessed it, Dave Gorman, and so far it's pretty funny. I've only abandoned two books so far this year: Tom Robbins - Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas, which was recommended to me, but I just could not read it at all; and Louis de Bernieres - Captain Corelli

IT IS ASSUMED YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE READING THIS THREAD, THEREFORE SPOILER TAGS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN USED IN ORDER TO FASCILITATE EASIER AND MORE OPEN DISCUSSION This book is available cheaply from Green Metropolis or through Amazon (please use the link at the top right of this web page), or for free from Librivox (in audio) and Project Gutenberg (e-book). The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas: A historical romance, The Three Musketeers tells the story of the early adventures of the young Gascon gentleman, D'Artagnan and his three friends from the regiment of the King's Musketeers - Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Under the watchful eye of their patron M. de Treville, the four defend the honour of the regiment against the guards of Cardinal Richelieu, and the honour of the queen against the machinations of the Cardinal himself as the power struggles of seventeenth century France are vividly played out in the background. But their most dangerous encounter is with the Cardinal's spy, Milady, one of literature's most memorable female villains, and Dumas employs all his fast-paced narrative skills to bring this enthralling novel to a breathtakingly gripping and dramatic conclusion. SOME BASIC QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: 1. Who was your favourite character and why? 2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest? 3. Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? 4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? 5. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? FURTHER QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER (from Random House) 1. Discuss Dumas's use of historical events in the novel. Do you think a knowledge of history is necessary or unnecessary in order to enjoy the novel? Discuss the ways in which Dumas alters or takes liberties with real events in order to suit the story. Is his view of history sanitized in any way? 2. Dumas is thought of as the chief popularizer of French Romantic drama. In considering The Three Musketeers, do you think this reputation is an accurate one? How does Dumas use dramatic effect in the novel? 3. Contemporary critics were offended by the scenes depicting vice and violence in the novel. Do you find these scenes arbitrary or not? 4. Many critics have described the musketeers as well-developed stereotypes, but are there ways in which the musketeers transcend these stereotypes? Are there other, perhaps more complex ways of interpreting the four protagonists? 5. Discuss Dumas's female characters, in particular Milady. What is her role in the novel, and what does this reveal about Dumas's views of women, if anything? Does Dumas depict a war between the sexes? 6. How do the chapter endings contribute to Dumas's masterly maintenance of pace? How does this kind of device recall a play, and how does this speak to Dumas's strengths stylistically? 7. In what ways is The Three Musketeers a bildungsroman? Would you characterize the work as a youthful novel?

THe book you mentioned in the first post is one I've thought about quite recently, actually. I don't know an awful lot about it, but I've been hearing the title a lot lately, it seems, and it's starting to intrigue me, so it may well be one I get hold of at some point in the future...