Kell

to the forum - glad to have you here.

Well, I'd say that to qualify as "proper" Chick-lit, a book would have to feature the following: - Written by a woman - Main character(s) = single women (although one or two of her friends may be married) - Must go through at least one cr*p boyfirned during the course of the book - Must have a dilemma where she must choose one man over another - Must have a happy ending

I just finished it this morning and went straight onto Green Metropolis to order the sequel! Loved it, loved it, LOVED IT!

Head for a genre you know you generally enjoy and try them first - at least you're more sure of having something that will grab your attention a little more. Once you get into the swing of things, try other genres - perhaps off-shoots of the ones you already enjoy - and expand that way.

Well, if you decide you can't wait for it, you can get it on DVD from Amazon for the miniscule price of

It's a mini-series, Nici - 6 parts, I think (if I remember correctly). It's been showing a few times over the last few weeks though, so if you've missed an episode or two, it should repeat again shortly. Well worth watching though - an excellent cast and a pretty faithful adaptation (although, obviously, not exact).

I'm busy reading The Chocolate Lovers' Club by Carole Matthews. I don't usually go for Chick-lit, but lately I've been completely unable to focus on or finish books, so I thought I'd give something lighter a try and this is proving just the ticket! It's light, funny and heartwarming, and the characters aren't all Bridget Jones-y (i.e. they're not completely incompetent twits - they're very real women with real problems and a love of chocolate). I'm really enjoying it and it's putting me back on track for reading again, which is fantastic, because I was beginning to feel a bit down about not being able to get down to much reading over the last few months!

Yes, the US have had about 10 episodes (before the writers' strike kicked off), but then had a big break. I've seen all of the episodes up to that point, but now I'm having to wait till eveything kicks off again and I'm DYING to find out what happens next! I'm so impatient when it comes to that sort of thing.

There's the flip-side too - the opposite of Chick Lit is Lad Lit - written by men, for men, usually with a bit of a comic slant and always with a male lead. I'd never even heard of it till I read I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan. Apparntly Nick Hornby is also considered Lad Lit.

to the forum, Jude. I'm sure you'll get the hang of things pretty quickly, and don't be afraid to ask - we're a friendly bunch.

A hale and hearty to our 1000th member, Red Alligator. I hope you'll enjoy it here.

The reading circle choice for April is Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones: 'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' It is Bougainville in 1991 - a small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of "Great Expectations". But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns. Some 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? (You do not have to answer all, or indeed, any, of these questions, they are meant only as points for you to perhaps mull over as you read, and provoke more discussion. Please feel free to ask and answer any questions that come up as you read.) Some additional questions taken from www.readinggroupguides.com: (DO NOT READ THESE QUESTIONS TILL YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK, AS THERE MAY BE SPOILERS INVOLVED)

I'm up to date with the American schedule of this show, so I've seen 10 episodes and am desperately awaiting more!

I'm reluctant to mention my favourites, because I every time I do, they get cancelled! I don't watch much TV but the shows I love are: Firefly (cancelled) Farscape (cancelled) Dead Like Me (cancelled) Boomtown (cancelled) Desperate Housewives CCI: Crime Scene Investigation NCIS JAG (now finished) The Unit I'm up to date with all the American scheduling of these programmes, so at the moment, the only thing I have with "new" episodes for me to watch is JAG, as we came to that late and we're only just into season 4 now.

Hello and to the forum, Mike. I hope you enjoy it here.

That's exactly who I was about to recommend. He has three books out so far (Cold Granite, Dying Light and Broken Skin) and all are excellent!

Not really, no. In fact, not at all. It was almost 100% lacking in Pratchetty humour. That was a major part of the disappointment. I think I shall have to make The Mob (the makers of CoM and HF) my number one enemies and hunt them down!

Well, part two was marginally better, but still not all that great. They even messed around with the "previously, on The Colour of Magic..." bit and showed things completely out of sequence, such as Rincewind and Twoflower heading towards the rim and THEN showing them falling off the dragon, when it was falling off the dragon that led to them being swept rimward in the first place - that was just sloppy! Still not impressed. I wish someone would just take on the entire series and do them as really big budget films, with directors who really understand and love the books, with careful consideration of casting possibilities! This production got the look of the Discworld right, but the effects were well below par (considering the quality of CGI today, I was very disappointed with the CGI on show in this production and that of Hogfather).

To my mind, if a book is hostwritten, then it should be the person who wrote it that gets the award (if it wins) - not the minor-league celebrity whose name got put on the cover to garner more sales.

Did anyone else watch the first part of Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic last night (the 2nd part is on tonight)? I did, but found myself every bit as disappointed as I was with Hogfather. Huge chunks left out, total lack of pace and miscasting galore. Was initially really chuffed to see Jeremy Irons as the Patrician, but then heard the "howwid" speach impediment he'd given the character and nearly threw up in disgust! David Jason was fine as Rincewind, but just too old for the part (plus, if they go on to make the rest of the books this way, what happens when Rincewind meets Albert, eh???). And Sean Astin as Twoflower - well, he's doing what he can with the material, but he's all wrong for the part - the character is supposed to be Auriental (yes, I know that would be Oriental on the round world, but we're talking Discoworld here). I'll still watch tonight to see how badly they massacre The Light Fantastic (yes, they've tried to do the two books together under the title of The Colour of Magic, rather than deciding to do them both justice). The first two books are not my favourites in the series - not by a long shot (in fact, along with Eric, they rank among the ones I didn't enjoy much at all - they were garbled and unorganised in comparison to the later Discworld novels), but I cannot believe anyone who seriously wanted to adapt Pratchett for the screen would make such a hachett-job of it! Think of the fans, for Small Gods' sake!

I missed the first 20 minutes of this but tunes in anyway, despite not having read any of the books. Have now decided that I will definitely HAVE to read the books as I really enjoyed it. It was just so, well, lovely is the only word I can think of for it!

to the forum, Slim - it's good to have you here.

to the forum Z10 - I hope you enjoy it here.

I'm hard pushed to pick a single favourite, but there are several that I return to time and time again: - The Stand by Stephen King (uncut edition) - The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis (with the exception of the 3rd book, A Horse and His Boy) - Ronie, The Robber's Daghter by Astrid Lindgren THere are others I reread too, such as most of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.

If I get completely involved with the characters and disappear into the plot, then that's an excellent book. I often prefer books where the "bad guy" gets away with it or is shown as the hero or anti-hero. For example, The Talented Mr Ripley - the "hero" of the story is, essentially, a murderer, but the reader identifies with him and, because the so-called "good guys" are pretty obnoxious and spoiled, we side with him over them. It's an unusual feeling to be cheering the guy that's doing the killing, but I like the unusual in books.