Kell

Well, seeing as I'm off to Swindon next week, I thought I'd sort out which books I'll be taking with me to keep me amused whilst travelling and in those moments where I get a few minutes of peace and quiet to myself,so that I can curl up with a good book. Of course, I've decided to take with me more books than I'll read, just in case I find I'm not in the mood for one or the other of them once I've set off (I like to have a bit of a choice!). Here's what I'm taking with me: 1. Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery (reading circle choice) 2. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Posh Club) 3. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards 4. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See 5. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (because it's set in Swindon!) And I'll be loading up my iPod with: 1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (already part-way through) 2. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift 3. Howards End by E M Forster So how abut you guys? Anyone going away on holiday and taking a small library with them? What will you have with you?

I don't have any at the moment, because there's nothing on that I watch! The ones I do enjoy are: Studio 60 - I've seen all the episodes now, so I'm not watching it. Heroes - Ditto. Battlestar Galactica - Waiting for the new season to start. Desperate Houswives - Ditto. CSI: Crime Scene Investigators - Ditto. All my other favourites are shows that are no longer with us, as they got cancelled : Firefly Farscape Buffy the Vampire Slayer Boom Town Drive Sport's Night The West Wing So, at the moment, I'm not really watching any TV except while having dinner or occasionally when I'm not in the mood for reading and I channel surf to see what's on, mostly pausing only for a bit of an old film. Yesterday I caught part of Little Women starring Katherine Hepburn as Jo - she was incredibly over-the-top, but was still wonderful (she's such a joy to watch - a phenomenal actor!).

I have it and have re-read it several times - it's on my "permanently keep" book case as I love it so much. I think it's exceptionally well-written with very believable characters who evolve throughout the plot, and very tense (yet, still believable) situations. I've always thought it would make a wonderful movie, but I've no idea who I would cast in any of the roles. Actually, I've not read it in some time - perhaps it's time for a re-read soon! I love that it's about pampered women who are forced to fend for themselves in a volatile situation, testing their strength, resolve and resourcefulness. It's one of the books I'd want with me if I were stuck on an island somewhere, that's for sure, as it's full of useful hints and tips (like turning your bra into a utility belt and using the cups of it for fishing, and using your socks for straining bits out of water, and how to go about testing unfamiliar food, and how not to eat only coconut or get pawpaw juice in your eyes, and a million other things!).

I hope you enjoy it, Maureen - it was one of my favourite reads of last year - really a surprisingly refreshing story that proves Baddiel can do serious as well as light-hearted.

I'm suffering a loss of book mojo at the moment too - although I'm really enjoying The Name of the Rose, I've now been reading it for 4 days and I'm only up to page 196! It's 502 pages long, so I'm not even half-way through it yet! And if this is happening with a book I'm enjoying, think how bad I'd be if I wasn't enjoying it so much! I'm hoping to finish it by Tuesday night as it's a hefty book and I don't want to take it to Swindon with me - I already have several picked out for the trip and all are a good deal shorter than this one in the hopes that my mojo will revive!

I completely miss-read that as "Revolting Eagles" Sorry - hope you enjoy it! I have a couple of Jean Plaidy books on my own TBR mountain...

Well, I've joined Book mooch and have listed about 60 books on there. Does anyone else have a problem with that site being particularly slow? I'm on a 4-meg broadband line and it takes FOREVER for each screen to come up! Incidentally, can anyone tell me how to add friends on Book Mooch? I can't find a button anywhere to take me to where I can do that. If anyone wants to add me, I'm registered as Kell1976.

Yup - it was for books read, although there was a category for newly published books too. Anyway, back to this year's favourites so far - I'm currently very much enjoying Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - not quite as much as Pride and Prejudice or Northanger Abbey, but still, very much!

I hope everyone is taking note of their favourites for the Annual Book Club Forum book Awards! There's plenty time yet before it al kicks off (we run it in January, so you can take all the books you've read in 2007 into account, right through to the end of December), and I think we'll have HEAPS to choose from this year!

I've borrowed another Eco book from my Mam (I can't remember the name of it off-hand, but I think it's something like Baudolino), but I haven't put it on the list yet. I'm finding Rose to be a very slow, but very good and rewarding read so far (I'm not even 200 pages in yet, can you believe that?!). If the rest of it is as good as the first bit, then I'll be enjoying it to the last full stop.

I'm a bit worried about Half of a Yellow Sun as I read Purple Hibiscus a while back and was pretty unimpressed, despite all the accolades it seems to get - mostly I thought Adichie's style was rather flat - but I'm hoping this one will prove better. I've very much enjoying The Name of the Rose so far. I saw the film several times years ago and loved it, and I always meant to read the book - I can't believe it's taken me this long to get round to it! My friend, Amy, very kindly loaned it to me.

I've been thinking back a couple of months to when I listened to the audio book of Carmilla and was thinking that manipulation, power, superstition and sexual tension are major themes in both the books. If you've not read them yet, don't look at the spoilers! Carmilla: Dracula: Overall, I found Dracula the darker of the two novels, with more of the "fear factor" honed to a sharp point. I think this was possibly partially due to the fact that this story was from more than one point of view, and the majority of those "voices" were masculine, and so were given a harder edge. Whereas in Carmilla, the narrator is female and the delivery feels softer.

Yes, I believe that whenever characters in classic novels are "at their toilet", it's generally having a wash and scrub up, not actually "doing their business" as it were). You often read, "The maid helped her at her toilet." Which doesn't mean the maid wipes her mistress's bottom for her, only that she fetches and carries all the hot water and towels, brushes her hair and fixes it (if she's going out). With men it might include a shave.

Title: Mansfield Park Author: Jane Austen Source: Librivox.org First Published: 1814 Running Time: 16hrs 3mins 24secs Read By: Various Started: 1/8/07 Finished: 5/9/07 Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: Taken from the poverty of her parents' home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with her cousin Edmund as her sole ally. During her uncle's absence in Antigua, the Crawford's arrive in the neighbourhood bringing with them the glamour of London life and a reckless taste for flirtation. Mansfield Park is considered Jane Austen's first mature work and, with its quiet heroine and subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, one of her most profound. Review: Although this is possibly the most predictable of the Jane Austen novels I have thus far read, that predictability doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story, the characters, or the writing itself. Austen’s style is, as every, wonderfully light, and she weaves this very familiar tale of a young girl from an average background living with her wealthy relatives with an ease that must make other authors weep for such talent. Yes, I found myself anticipating the various changes in relationships and circumstances at ever turn, but I still wanted to read on for the sheer pleasure of experiencing it in Austen’s own words. Fanny is, perhaps, a little too good to be true, but that makes her no less likeable (which is rather strange for me, as I tend to like my characters with more flaws than are evident in Miss Price!), and I found myself eagerly anticipating the moment when others would fully appreciate her and love her as she deserved. If you haven’t read it already, do pick up a copy and be introduced to one of the sweetest characters ever written, presented in a style that could not be finer.

Title: The Name of the Rose Author: Umberto Eco ISBN: 0330284142 Publisher: Picador First Published: 1983 No. of pages:502 Started: 1/8/07 Finished: 8/8/07 Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: In 1327, Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville, accompanied by young novice, Adso, arrives to investigate. His delicate mission is overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in the same number of days, and Brother William must turn detective to sort things out. This is not only a narrative of a murder investigation, but also a chronicle of the 14th century religious wars, a history of monastic orders, and a compendium of heretical movements. Review: This was my first experience of Eco's writing and I have to say that I was quite impressed! Yes, I'd already seen the film of the same name years ago (and loved it), but now I was seeing it afresh and picturing some of the characters much differently than they had been portrayed. There is a fair amount of Latin used throughout the narrative, but as it's all used within context, the majority of it is easily understood, and those phrases not immediately clear are translated within the following dialogue, so one doesn't feel at all confused by the use of language. The language used is very descriptive and the plot is quite complex; add to this the sheer length of the novel and you have quite a heavy-going book, but it is one that is well-worth reading as it is an enjoyable journey from start to finish and I, for one, loved Eco's cleverness, both with plotting and characterisation, throughout.

OC = Olympic Challenge Ch = Chunk Challenge Cl = Classics Challenge MC = Modern Classics Challenge 1001 = from Peter Boxall's 1001 books to read before you die PC = Posh Club RC= Book Club Forum Reading Circle CRC = BCF Comparative Reading Circle Red = Unfinished Green = 10/10 Blue = Currently reading Books finished in October 107. The Messenger - A. E. Shipley - 8/10 108. Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold (Ch) - 8/10 109. Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift (audio) (Cl/1001) - 6/10 110. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte (Cl/1001) - 8/10 111. Join Me - Danny Wallace - 7/10 112. The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Cl/1001) - 7/10 113. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon (RC/Ch) - 7/10 114. The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith (MC/1001) - 9/10 Books finished in November Brick Lane - Monica Ali (PC/OC - Bangladesh) 115. Howards End - E. M. Forster (audio) (MC/1001) - 6/10 116. Lady Susan - Jane Austen (audio) (Cl) - 6/10 117. The Identity Factor - James Houston Turner - 8/10 118. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (MC/1001) - 8/10 119. A Room With a View - E. M. Forster (audio) (MC/1001) - 8/10 120. Love and Freindship (sic) - Jane Austen (Cl) - 5/10 Books finished in December 121. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (Cl/1001) - 7/10 122. Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs (MC/1001) - 8/10 123. Boy A - Jonathan Trigell (Library Thing Early Review) - 8/10 124. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickesn (Cl/1001) - 6/10 125. Orlando - Virginia Woolf (MC/1001) - UNFINISHED - 4/10 126. Framed ~ K Armstrong (instalment e-fiction on Kelley Armstrong's site) - 7/10 127. Becoming ~ K Armstrong (instalment e-fiction on Kelley Armstrong's site) - 7/10

OC = Olympic Challenge Ch = Chunk Challenge Cl = Classics Challenge MC = Modern Classics Challenge 1001 = from Peter Boxall's 1001 books to read before you die PC = Posh Club RC= Book Club Forum Reading Circle CRC = BCF Comparative Reading Circle Red = Unfinished Green = 10/10 Blue = Currently reading Books finished in July: 82. The Black Dahlia - J Ellroy – 4/10 83. Lady Chatterley's Lover - D. H. Lawrence – 7/10 84. Emlyn's Moon - J Nimmo – 8/10 85. The Chestnut Soldier - J Nimmo – 8/10 86. Dracula - B Stoker – 7/10 87. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling – 7/10 88. The Woman and the Ape - P Høeg – 5/10 89. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - M Spark – 3/10 90. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - M Twain (audio) – 7/10 91. The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin - M Leblanc (audio) - 8/10 Books finished in August: 92. The Name of the Rose - U Eco - 7/10 93. Mansfield Park – J Austen (audio) - 7/10 94. Anne of Green Gables - L M Montgomery - 7/10 95. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - L See - 8/10 96. Lost in a Good Book - J Fforde - 7/10 97. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - K Edwards - 8/10 Half of a Yellow Sun - C N Adichie - 5/10 Books finished in September: 98. Lovely Green Eyes - A Lustig - 6/10 99. Another Time and Place - S Grosser - 8/10 100. The Graduate - C Webb - 7/10 101. The Time Machine - H. G. Wells - 6/10 102. Wuthering Heights - E Bronte - 8/10 103. Stuck in Neutral - T Trueman - 10/10 104. The Secret Life of Bees - S M Kidd - 7/10 The Sooterkin - Tom Gilling 105. To Kill a Mockingbird - H Lee (audio) - 9/10 106. The Stand - S King - 10/10

April: 38. The Stone Pilot - P Stewart & C Riddell – 7 39. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Whaling - G Defoe – 8 40. Black Beauty - A Sewell – 7 41. Perfume - P Süskind – 8 42. The Tea Rose - J Donnelly – 9 43. The Rosary Girls - R Montanari – 8 44. Pride & Prejudice- J Austen – 8 45. Purple Hibiscus - A N Adichie – 7 46. The Fourth Bear - J Fforde – 8 47. Fluffy - S Lia – 7 48. Dress to Kill - E Izzard – 7 49. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - M Lewycka – 4 50. The Handmaid's Tale - M Atwood (audio) - 7 51. Nineteen Eighty-Four - G Orwell (audio) - 9 52. King Solomon's Mines - H R Haggard (audio) - 6 May: 53. The Separation - C Priest – 7 54. Daughters of the Doge - E Charles – 6 55. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - M O'Farrell – 8 56. The Bell Jar - S Plath – 2 57. Wideacre - P Gregory – 8 58. No Humans Involved - K Armstrong – 9 59. Broken Skin - S MacBride – 9 60. Jane Eyre - C Bronte – 8 61. Brave New World - A Huxley (audio) - 4 62. The Three Musketeers - A Dumas (audio) - 9 June: 63. The Eyre Affair - J Fforde – 8 64. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger – 6 65. Blood and Chocolate - A C Klaus – 6 66. Rosemary's Baby - I Levin – 8 67. Disgrace - J. M. Coetzee – 6 68. The Thief of Always - C Barker – 6 69. The Robber Bride - M Atwood – 7 70. Faceless Killers - H Mankell – 7 71. Ronia, The Robber's Daughter - A Lindgren – 10 72. Follow Me Down - J Hearn – 6 73. The Plucker: An Illustrated Novel - Brom – 10 74. The Little Prince - A De Saint-Exupéry – 7 75. The Wizard of Oz - L. Baum – 7 76. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - R L Stevenson (audio) - 7 77. Carmilla - J S LeFanu (audio) - 7 78. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - W Irving (audio) - 8 79. The Hound of the Baskervilles - A C Doyle (audio) - 7 80.Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure - J Cleland (audio) - 8 Candide – Voltaire (audio) 81. The Sign of the Four - A C Doyle (audio) - 6

January: 1. The Winter King - B Cornwell – 7 2. The Prestige - C Priest – 9 3. Chart Throb - B Elton – 8 4. The Eagle in the Sand - S Scarrow – 8 5. A Life's Music - A Makine – 6 6. An Open Vein - J M Warwick – 7 7. Adept - RFinn – 8 8. The Boleyn Inheritance - P Gregory – 8 9. The Debt - S Kernick (audio) - 8 10. Beautiful Ride - D Winslow (audio) - 7 11.Master of the Storm - J Flint (audio) - 7 12. Cold Cold Heart- K Slaughter (audio) - 5 13. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - M Twain (audio) - 6 14. The Picture of Dorian Gray - O Wilde (audio) - 7 February: 15. The Bookseller of Kabul - A Seierstad – 7 16. The Sexual Life of Catherine M - C Millet – 7 17. American Psycho - B E Ellis – 6 18. Black Dog - S Booth – 8 19. The Complete Maus - A Spiegelman – 8 20. Hogfather: The Illustrated Screenplay - V Jean- 6 21. The List - T Ison – 7 22. The Spur on the Plate - M Rylance – 7 23. The Alchemist - P Coelho – 8 24. My Man Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (audio) - 7 25. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells (audio) - 5 26. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - M Twain (audio) - 6 March: 27. Of Love and Other Demons - G G Márquez – 3 28. The Interpretation of Murder - J Rubenfeld – 7 29. The Vampire's Seduction - R Hart – 7 30. The Crystal Chalice - D E Hill & S Brandenburg – 7 31. Deception - R Alcorn – 8 32. Karma - H A Harvey – 8 33. Good Omens - T Pratchett & N Gaiman (audio) – 8 34. Moving Pictures - T Pratchett (audio) - 8 35. Right Ho, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (audio) - 8 The Man Who Knew Too Much – G K Chesterton 36. Northanger Abbey - J Austen (audio) - 8 37. The Prisoner of Zenda - A Hope (audio) - 6

As I can no longer add anything to some of my posts in my book blog thread, I'm moving it all over here and ditching the old one... Mount To-Be-Read list HERE. Chunky Challenge list HERE. Classics Challenge list HERE. Modern Classics Challenge list HERE. Olympic Challenge list HERE. 1001 Challenge list HERE. If anyone's interested in finding out how I get on with the books as I read them, I'll only be making one post per book, so check back to the older posts too and you'll get my thoughts as I progress... Currently Reading: Orlando - Virginia Woolf (MC/1001) Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (audio) (Cl/1001) My Wish List (books I don't yet have, but will get when I can): Kelley Armstrong - Exit Strategy Kelley Armstrong - Personal Demon (out 2008) Christopher Brookmyre - Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks (out Aug 2007) Gideon Defoe - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists Ellen Dugan - Cottage Witchery Charlaine Harris � Dead as a Doornail Charlaine Harris � Definitely Dead Charlaine Harris - Grave Sight Stuart MacBride - (whatever he calls his next novel!) Terry Pratchett - Once More* With Footnotes Markus Zusak - The Book Thief

The search facility doesn't always bring them up though (for some odd reason). But if you think there's no need for it, it's less work for me - LOL!

Hi Annie, and welcome to the forum. I think the glitch there can be resolved in that it's a portrait of Dumbledore, whereas the picture of Harry's parents is a photograph. Although the wizarding photographs can move, I don't remember any of the subjects actually leaving their pictures, nor do I remember them having sounds, whereas the portraits have both abilities. And I was also very upset about Lupin and Tonks just dying off-screen. They deserved a bit about whatever battle they were fighting when they fell.

here's my review to throw in with the rest... Title: The Bell Jar Author: Sylvia Plath ISBN # 05710181789 Publisher: Faber & Faber First Published: 1963 258 pages Format: Paperback Rating: 2/10 Synopsis: A student from Boston wins a guest editorship on a national magazine, and finds a new world at her feet. Her New York life is crowded with possibilities, so the choice of future is overwhelming. She is faced with the perennial problems of morality, behaviour and identity. Review: I found this very cold, clinical and emotionless and had great difficulty identifying with the narrator - I just didn't feel anything towards her at all. Nothing much seemed to happen and despite her month in New York, her life seemed very dull. I got absolutely nothing out of this - it felt so disjointed and I felt it had very little flow. In a way, I'm glad she only wrote the one novel so, as I'm not into poetry, I won't feel obliged to try any more of her work. It felt like such a chore to read this and I kind of wished I'd put it down early on and given up on it

Aha! You see! One of these days I'll get round to compiling a quick-find thread for this section, so everyone can find the reviews quickly and easily. I've just done one for the reading circle forum (far fewer books and threads to list and link up there, so I thought I'd start easy - LOL!). It's always nice to bump up an older thread that others might have missed...

Here's my review to add to the other... Title: The Vampire