Kell

The copy I borrowed from a colleague has quite small print and a very flimsy-soft cover.

In both cases, which of the female characters was strongest? In Carmilla, it was always Carmilla herself, rather than Laura, who came across as the stronger character for me - Laura always seemed to come across as being very easily lead whereas Carmilla was manipulative and commanding, and in control of every situation. In Dracula, Mina truly was a tour de force! Lucy was quite coquettish and flirty, but Mina was such a steady, sure character; always sure of what was right or wrong and willing to accept the consequences of her actions at every step of the way, as well as playing a major role in the final scenes as well as any of the men did. Between Carmilla and Mina though, I'd put my money on Mina any day of the week - such quiet, inner strength! She had so many admirable qualities, yet never came across as being "too good to be true".

Wow! That's an impressive list already! I've read some of them and there are others I have waiting to be read, as well as still others I plan to read at some point in the future. I'll look forward to hearing what you think of them all as you read them. :eek2:

Some more info on him: WIKIPEDIA

I do agree - many book covers these days are very similar when on a similar theme. For example, when I was in the airport a couple of weeks back, there were a whole slew of identikit covers: - White/pale background - Small child/children with/without an adult hand holding theirs (washed-out colours) - Title in black/red in a font that looks like handwriting They were ALL child-abuse or touch childhood stories. ETA: I merged this thread with a previous one on the same subject, but left the redirect link in place in case anyone wondered

I recently read this one (borrowed off Purple Poppy) and enjoyed its simplicity and depth. I was also pleasantly surprised while reading Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, when The Little Prince was mentioned several times - I knew exactly what Fforde was saying and was glad I'd read it. Strangely, I'd never heard of it before Purple Poppy brought it to my attention!

I changed it as that's what the random quotes challenge originally was, but folks seldom go right back to the very first post. (It's actually page 123, but I mistyped - I've corrected it now). The original post said: We've just had so many new members since then I thought I'd add it to the title so everyone could see it, as often it's difficult just to pick a quote from a book you're reading (I know if I was asked just to pick a quote from a book I'd struggle to think of one).

Me too!

There are some I have no interest in whatsoever, and I've already decided that if I read one book by an author mentioned on the list and don't enjoy it, I shall not pressure myself to read the other books by the same author that might be there (personally, I find it weird that there are multiple entries for authors - although it would be difficult to narrow it down to just one in some cases, I agree!). I'd like to think I'll try most of them though, and I am trying to read at least one from the list each month, although if I can combine them with some of my other challenges (classics/modern classics/Olympic), it means I might get through more of them than otherwise. I'd like to read at least another 4 by the end of the year, and seeing as how I have almost 20 of them waiting already, that shouldn't prove too difficult! I think you'll find many of us here are in the same situation! :eek2: My husband has effectively banned me from buying any more till I've whittled down my TBR pile a little, but it doesn't seem to stop me from acquiring books anyway! I think the only reason I get away with it as that I sell on, swap or pass on through mooches, many of the books I've read, so they don't end up staying in the flat and taking up more space (although they build up more quickly than I get rid of them, i'll admit!).

That all sounds absolutely gorgeous! Especially the tartiflette - I adore tartiflette! Actually, I think I might have to make some this weekend once I get hold of some cream cheese... I think your dinner party is bound to go down well - you'll be inundated with compliments with all that delicious-sounding fare!

You always astound me with the amount of reading you do - you total bookworm, Tiger! And perhaps your brother will eventually become a member here and you'll both be fighting with your mum for computer time to visit the forum! Hope you enjoy reading Hand of the Devil - I just looked it up and it looks really good, so I'll be dying to hear what you think of it!

to the forum, ii - I look forward to hearing all about your favourite books and authors! :eek2:

I enjoyed American Psycho earlier in the year and love the sound fo Kiss Me, Judas by Will Christopher Baer - I think I'll look out for that one!

I'll admit to always loving children's books (I even ended up reviewing for a kids' books site for a while, till it sadly closed). Still, I've branched into classic children's books now too, which has widened things up nicely for me.

This is proving tougher than I thought! I'm busy narrowing it down at the moment. So far I have to choose from the likes of: The Plucker: A Graphic Novel by Brom The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde Cold Granite / Dying Light / Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride The Eagle's Prey / The Eagles Prophecy / The Eagle & the Wolves by Simon Scarrow The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Where's My Cow? by Terry Pratchett Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell As you can see, I have my work cut out for me, as I'm already thinking of more books that simply blew me away or even just entertained me wildly (I'm aware that many of the books I've enjoyed most of all might not be seen as worthy contenders by others, but they've given me some of the most pleasurable hours reading ever!). (I wanted to include The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, but it was first published in 1996, so it just misses out!)

Mine certainly have, although I was already gearing up for a change when I joined (it was actually one of my reasons for joining in the first place - expanding my reading horizons!). Since joining the forum, I have branched out into historical fiction, the classics and foreign authors, and have embarked on many challenges, all of which I'm enjoying immensely. I also adore the reading circle - I know there are one or two months I've missed, but I've taken part in most of them and have discovered some great reads through that, as well as enjoying discussing them with everyone else here.

I have a few of those in mind myself (you have several on there that are listed in the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die) - I'll look forward to hearing what you think of them.

Hello and , Lauren - I hope you'll enjoy it here. :eek2:

Every time I re-read this book (it being one of my all-time faves), I get a bit funny about coughs and colds, and it makes me think long and hard about how I would go about ensuring my own survival in a crisis. For it not being strictly a horror book, it certainly has some terrifying ideas contained in the pages!

Oh, you've got some GREAT reads coming up - they just keep getting better and better!

If I were to count all the books I WANT to read, there'd be literally thousands on my TBR list. So, only counting the unread books I have waiting, I have around 80-ish at the moment and that number will be increasing shortly as I have a birthday coming up and then Xmas is just around the corner. Although I read quite fast, I tend to acquire more books faster than I can read them (despite the embargo - hmmmmm!)

Yup - Pratchett was one author and Simon Scarrow another. I got in on the first book with Kelley Armstrong and have bought each of her books as they came out too.

I can pretty much guarantee if you were to offer up review copies here, they certainly WOULD get that second glance and THEN SOME! Actually, a quick question to both of you regarding that - how many review copies did you send out and how much feedback did you get from that? Was it useful to you in any way?

So, between 1997 and now? Ooh, I'll have to have a good hard think about this! i'll get back to you on this one...

I think you'll find that we enjoy a very wide range of genres and styles here - everything from lighthearted chick-lit/lad-lit and romances, to fiendishly clever mysteries and crime thrillers and everything in between (as well as all the detours - LOL!). We also all love hearing other people's thoughts on what they've been reading - many of us have been tempted to try something completely new and different because of another member telling all about it.