Kell

I'm sure someone has - or perhaps if you give us all a bit more info about him and the books he's written, you'll inspire some of us to give him a try. Perhaps you'll nominate a book by him for the reading circle next month?

Just thought I'd update and say that when I picked up on this challenge on 12 May, I had read 39 books(and left a 40th unfinished). At this point, I've now read 52 books from the list, so I think I'm adding to my "read" pile at quite a fair pace, considering I'm doing this challenge along-side several others. I'd like to have finished another half a dozen by the end of the year - i think that's a fair expectation!

Well, i started off with the Nursery Crimes books (and loved them both) and have now moved onto the Thursday Next series. Fforde's writing is very clever as well as being highly entertaining. I hope you'll give him a try (if you're going for Nursery Crime, start with The Big Over Easy, if you're going with TN, start with The Eyre Affair).

Hiya Princes Orchid - I'm another who's getting into all things oriental, loves a good psycho between the book covers and is on the ever-on-going search for a book that will completely creep me out! Hope you'll enjoy it here.

Not always - I can think of quite a few where the main character is quite happy at the end of a DK book, although quite often one of the main characters dies horribly, and they certainly go through many trials and tribulations...

Well, of the batch I took away with me, I finished Anne of Green Gables and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and got 2/3rds of the way through Lost in a Good Book. All excellent reading too, I might add!

A belated hello and from me too, Donna - sorry I didn't pop in sooner - I've been on holiday! Hope you enjoy it here!

I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Lost in a Good Book and am totally loving it! I have the next two Thursday Next books waiting to be read also, and am SOOOOO looking forward to getting to them!

I read this whilst away on holiday and have to say I found it absolutely enchanting! Although if I'd met Anne in person, I possibly would have found her constant chatter highly annoying, she has such a sunny and positive disposition that I think she's pretty much impossible to dislike! Watching her overcome obstacles and achieve goals, all with a smile on her face and a wonderful adventure on her mind, was some of the most fun reading I've had in a very long while. There was quite a lot about the story that I could predict far, far in advance, but I simply didn't care - I wanted to read on anyway and was rather sad to finish it in the end!

Hello and Father Author! I read American Psycho not all that long ago and rather enjoyed it - the pitch-black humour throughout really appealed to me and I was very aware that people were giving me funny looks as I laughed whilst reading it! I hope you'll enjoy yourself here and will pass many pleasant hours discussing good books with the rest of us!

Well, out of the fist list you posted, I'm pleased to say I've read 19, have a further 3 on my shelf, waiting to be read and another 11 on my wish list! I'm amazed at one of my favourite folk Tales (Vasilissa Most Lovely/Beautiful) is on that list - I've always loved that story and used to frequent a shop named after the wicked witch in the tale - Baba yaga!

More recently, I ended up researching a little about Freud and his cronies after reading The Interpretation of Murder, and following on from that, I went a little further and ended up checking out slightly later crimes, such as the Leopold and Loeb case - I now have a bit of an interest in the jazz era because of it...

Title: Lost in a Good Book Author: Jasper Fforde ISBN: 9780340733578 Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton First Published: 1988 No. of pages: 371 Started: 13/8/07 Finished: 14/8/07 Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed is back to embark on an adventure that begins, quite literally on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. The sinister Goliath Corporation wants its operative Jack Schitt out of the poem in which Thursday trapped him, and it will do almost anything to achieve this - but bribing the ChronoGuard? Is that possible? Having barely caught her breath after The Eyre Affair, Thursday must battle corrupt politicians, try to save the world from extinction, and help the Neanderthals to species self-determination. Mastadon migrations, journeys into Just William, a chance meeting with the Flopsy Bunnies, and violent life-and-death struggles in the summer sales are all part of a greater plan. But whose? and why? Review: Jasper Fforde is fast becoming another favourite of mine due to his witty writing,clever characterisation and perfect plotting. Although the story is rather complicated, I never once got lost (after all, I had Miss Haversham to guide me!), and found that I was taking the title very literally - I really was lost is a very good book! What was possibly most pleasantly surprising was that there were one or two references made to books that I had recently read, and which I was not expecting to crop up (such as The Little Prince) and I was tickled pink that I "got" the joke (for my previous venture into Fforde-dom with The Eyre Affair, I prepared by first reading Jane Eyre, as I knew it was an integral part of the plot). There's also the added bonus that, in reading Fforde's Thursday Next series, I'm being inspired to try some of the classics I missed before!

Title: Anne of Green Gables Author: L M Montgomery ISBN: 1853261394 Publisher: Wordsworth Classics First Published: 1908 No. of pages: 280 Started: 8/8/07 Finished: 10/8/07 Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: When Anne Shirley "erupts" into the Cuthberts's lives, they don't realize how fond they will become of the red-haired orphan. Both entertained and exasperated by her constant chatter and imaginings, they soon find it hard to remember what Green Gables was like without its adopted daughter. Review: I never would have read this book if it weren't for the Book Club Forum Reading Circle, as it never appealed to me, even as a child, but I am very glad I did, as it is absolutely enchanting! Although if I'd met Anne in person, I possibly would have found her constant chatter highly annoying, she has such a sunny and positive disposition that I think she's pretty much impossible to dislike! Watching her overcome obstacles and achieve goals, all with a smile on her face and a wonderful adventure on her mind, was some of the most fun reading I've had in a very long while. There was quite a lot about the story that I could predict far, far in advance, but I simply didn't care - I wanted to read on anyway and was rather sad to finish it in the end!

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Author: Lisa See ISBN: 0812968069 Publisher: Random House First Published: 2005 No. of pages: 258 Started: 11/8/07 Finished: 12/8/07 Rating: 8/10 Synopsis: Set in nineteenth century China when girls had their feet bound and spent the rest of their lives in seclusion, illiterate, and isolated. In one remote county, women developed their own secret code, "nu shu" - meaning "women's writing" - the only gender-based written language to be found extant in the world. A very imaginative, original story, by a gifted storyteller. Review: Despite several very harrowing themes and scenes, Lisa See's portrayal of a very special relationship between two young Chinese girls is a work that radiates love, passion and friendship, as well as hardship and suffering, and the result is stunning. The intricate weaving of the story reflects the growing friendship between Lily and Snow Flower and I was completely drawn into their lives. I was actually inspired to do some further research into the tradition of foot-binding as a result of reading this novel and find it intriguing (even while I find it very distasteful), and I will certainly be looking further into this period in Chinese history, as well as looking forward to many more offerings from this author!

Title: The Memory Keeper's Daughter Author: Kim Edwards ISBN: 0143037145 Publisher: Penguin First Published: 2005 No. of pages: 401 Started: 15/8/07 Finished: 22/8/07 Rating: 8/10 Synopsis: What would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? In 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins, he immediately recognizes that one of them has Down Syndrome and makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and to keep her birth a secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is an astonishing tale of redemptive love. Review: This is one of the most touching tales I've read this year! The characters were beautifully written and the story was heartbreakingly wonderful. Seeing the twins grow up separately, watching them grown and learn, each with a different family and dissimilar set of circumstances, was something quite magical. Edwards has a lightness of touch that keeps it from ever becoming maudlin and the tone remains refreshingly light, whilst still portraying a very serious subject. I will look forward to seeing what else this writer will produce in the future, as I expect good things!

Title: Half of a Yellow Sun Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ISBN: 9780007200283 Publisher: Harper Perennial First Published: 2006 No. of pages: 433 Started: 23/8/07 Finished: UNFINISHED Rating: 5 (for the part that I read) Synopsis: The lives of five characters are caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the Nigeria during the 1960s. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo's beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents' world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father's business; and Kainene's English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds. As we follow these intertwined lives through a military coup, the Biafran secession and the subsequent war, Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise, and intimately, the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place. Review: I just couldn't finish this book, try as I might - I couldn't get into it at all. Having read Purple Hibiscus earlier in the year, and having been assured that this second offering was much better, I had expected something more, but I found Half of a Yellow Sun to be far too fractured to enjoy it properly. Each time I started getting into the story, the point of view switched to a different character, so I was never on steady ground with any one of them. Then, the story switched from the early 60s to the late 60s, then back and forth between the two, so I couldn't keep the story straight either - I found it incredibly frustrating. I was also disappointed that the one character I did want to "hear" (Kainene), was not one of those whose point of view was shown (instead we got her sister - Olanna, the houseboy of her sister's lover -Ugwu, and her own lover - an English man called Richard; none of whom I particularly liked). Not only that, but the relationship-side of the story was sadly predictable and I found myself anticipating events far in advance. The only elements I did enjoy were the story of the civil war (which was very interesting), and the smattering of Igbo words used throughout - I found the language very beautiful and the way it was integrated into the dialogue was so clever that I found I could easily understand the meaning in the words, even where a translation was not provided. These, however, were not enough to make me persevere and plod through the rest of it and I left the last quarter unread with no curiosity to see how it ended.

Thought I'd just line up the books I'm taking on holiday with me (I can always take them down again if I don't read them, but as I'm scheduled to read them this month anyway, I'll probably leave them up will I get to them!)

We have something in common over our holiday reading then PDR - I'm reading the Adichie and the sequel to the Fforde.

That's a bit depressing - you'd think they'd want to read something lighter when they're on holiday...

Sometimes. I remember when I first read an abridged version of Dracula, I did HEAPS of research afterwards on Vlad Tepes, who was the inspiration for the Count, and it was intriguing. I also did loads of follow-up reading about Jack the Ripper after he briefly appeared in a novel I read years ago. I've since read several novels that feature him either as a major or minor character, and I always end up reading something else factual about him too - I find him a fascinating person.

Ooh, you've got some good'uns there - several that i've read and some on my TBR and wish lists too.

Hello and:welcome: Anne (do you mind if I call you that? LOL!) I think you'll find yourself in good company - we've got some right nutters on here (only nice ones, of course), and several writers, both published and aspiring among our members, as well as a few artists. I look forward to chatting about all your favourite books and authors.

I thought I'd have a bash at answering the questions I set in the first post (since I posted them, i think it only fair that I post my answers - LOL!): How do the portrayals of vampires in the two novels hold up to one another? In your opinion, is one character more strongly/weakly written, and in what ways? Overall, I think I prefer Dracula over Carmilla for both style and content. Stoker's story held more tension and terror, for me, and the multiple points of view added to the revelatory style of the story. The character of Dracula himself also seemed a much stronger character. Carmilla had such moments of langour that she often seemed very weak in comparison to the imposing figure of the Count. It's possible that having an actual historical figure as a basis for the character gave Dracula more of a grounding in reality and made him more of a fully-rounded character than Carmilla, who felt more flat; more a caricature than a fully-fleshed-out presence. How do the styles of prose compare? Are there major similarities/differences in the way the stories are told? There are definitely similarities in the format - Carmilla, although told from a single point of view, is related in the style of a letter written many years after the fact; Dracula, from several points of view, is composed of journal and diary entries, letters and newspaper articles, having the reader put the puzzle together, piece by piece, along with the characters. Ultimately, I found the latter more rewarding as the multi-points of view serve to confuse the reader and add suspense, whereas the former, with a single narrator, gives a biased view from someone who has the whole story in their possession before relating it to the reader. Both focus on sexuality and "deviant practices", and their perception in the society of the time in which they are set. Did you enjoy one novel more than the other? Which was it and why? Was there a particular part of either one that really stood out for you? Were there any parts you struggled with and why? I think it's already evident that although I did enjoy Carmilla, I got far more out of Dracula. The final journey in that story, with all the characters hurtling towards a single goal is some of the tightest writing and most tension-filled plotting I've ever read, yet it doesn't lose any of the beautiful, flowing description. I occasionally struggled with some of Lucy's scenes, as I think she's painted by the other characters as being far too good to be true, when to me, she is quite clearly not as innocent and pure as the others evidently think her, but this was balanced by Mina being such a strong female figure and active participant in the proceedings, right down to the final showdown. What do you think each novel says about society at the time they were written? "Polite society" was very repressed when it came to sex during the periods of both novels, and the forced taking of blood being reflected in deviant sexuality must have been very shocking at the time, as the two become irrevocably entwined throughout the narratives. Even now, the mixture of sex and blood is very erotic, ad makes vampires very sensual and attractive creatures. Vampires also reflect the greatest hopes and fears of mankind - the hope that there is life after death, but the fear of what exactly lies beyond and of the reanimation of dead flesh. It's a heady combination that continually fascinates us, and so we return time and again to those themes. Did you find either of the novels particularly graphic in any way? How do those scenes compare to graphic scenes in more modern novels that you have read? I found the descriptive style of Stoker far more interesting than that of LeFanu - Stoker felt bolder and freer in his choice of words, whereas LeFanu felt to me to be quite restrained in comparison. Although the situation of same-sex relationships in Carmilla may have been more shocking than the heterosexual ones in Dracula, the brutality of the attacks seemed far more violent and intrusive in the latter, and I thought they were more graphic. By today's standards, though, I have read far more graphically detailed accounts of both sexual and murderous scenes, but seldom to the success of those in Dracula, which were incredibly erotic in parts, if subtly described.

I've been having a bit of a play around on Shelfari, but I really don't find it user-friendly at all. I think I'll just be sticking to LT - it's much easier to sue and I like the layout for the group messages better there too - I hate that staggered reply system that Shelfari have going on.