Kell

And here's my review to add to the rest... Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray Author: Oscar Wilde Narrator: John Gonzalez Publisher: www. librivox.org First Published: 1891 Running time: 6 hrs 19 min 46 sec Format: Audio Book Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: Dorian Gray, a young man of wealth and stature in late 1800

And here's my review too... Title: Disgrace Author: J. M. Coetzee ISBN # 0099289520 Publisher: Vintage First Published: 1999 220 pages Format: Paperback Rating: 6/10 Synopsis: A divorced, middle-aged English professor finds himself increasingly unable to resist affairs with his female students. After an impulsive affair with his student sours, and having been discovered by the college authorities, he is expected to apologize to save his job, but instead he refuses and resigns, retiring to live with his daughter on her remote farm. For a time, his daughter's influence and the natural rhythms of the farm promise to harmonise his discordant life. He and Lucy become victims of a disturbing attack which brings into relief all their fault lines. Review: Bit of an odd one this - the story didn't really seem to have a point to it, but it illustrated some of the dangers that people live with every day in countries of conflict while trying to get on with their day to day lives. I did enjoy it, but I can't really put my finger on why. There were moments where I rather enjoyed reading it, but those were heavily outweighed by the moments where I felt bored out of my scull. None of the characters seems to have any redeeming features and I couldn

Here's my review to add to the others... Title: An Open Vein Author: J M Warwick ISBN # 1933963964 Publisher: Grove Creek Publishing First Published: 2006 213 pages Format: Paperback Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: John discovers that Kane is really his father. Because he feels betrayed, he distances himself from his parents and willingly gravitates into a relationship with Kane he hopes will erase lost time. But the father-son bond takes a dark turn when Kane receives kidnapping threats against John. John suspects his parents are responsible. Kane just wants his son safe, and he tells John to stay inside the apartment. Then John gets sick and Kane must care for him. One night, John catches Kane adding drugs to his IV. John confronts Kane. When Kane spins out of control, John wonders how he will draw the line between reality and deception. John

Here's my review to add to the others... Title: The Robber Bride Author: Margaret Atwood ISBN # 1853817228 Publisher: Virago First Published: 1993 564 pages Format: Paperback Rating: 7/10 Synopsis: Zenia is beautiful, smart and greedy, by turns manipulative and vulnerable, needy and ruthless; a man's dream and a woman's nightmare. She is also dead. Just to make sure Tony, Roz and Charis are there for the funeral. But five years on, as the three women share an indulgent, sisterly lunch, the unthinkable happens; 'with waves of ill will flowing out of her like cosmic radiation', Zenia is back. Review: I think I'm missing something - by the accounts of other readers, Margaret Atwood is a great writer, but I just don't see it. I read The Handmaid's Tale and it was all right, but I didn't feel it was anything particularly special. Now I

Here's my review to add to the others... Title: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Author: Patrick S

Ever wondered which books we've read in the reading circle, but don't fancy trawling through all the threads to find the one you want? Well, here's a handy list with links to each of the discussion threads, listed alphabetically by author surname. The threads remain permanently open, so you can post your thoughts on these books at any point: A * Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid's Tale (Nov 2008) * Jane Austen – Emma (Jul 2006 and Jul-Aug 2008) * Jane Austen - Mansfield Park (May-Jun 2008) * Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey (Nov-Dec 2008) * Jane Austen - Persuasion (Sep-Oct 2008) * Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice (Mar-Apr 2008) * Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility (Jan-Feb 2008) B * David Baddiel – The Secret Purposes (Nov 2006) * Jo Baker - Longbourn (Aug 2014) * David Baldacci - The Christmas Train (Dec 2007) * Muriel Barbery - The Elegance of the Hedgehog (August 2012) * Clive Barker – The Thief of Always (Jun 2007) * Greg Bear – Darwin’s Children (Sep 2005) * Joanna Bell - Entertaining Angels (Sep 2008) * Louis de Bernieres - Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (Apr 2009) * Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451 (Jan 2010) * Bill Bryson - Notes From a Small Island (September 2012) * John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Jul 2009) * James Lee Burke - Heaven's Prisoners (Jan-Mar 2008) * Augusten Burroughs – Running With Scissors (Jun 2009) C * Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Jul 2010) * Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (Jan 2012) * Sarah Challis - Footprints in the Sand (Oct 2008) * Agatha Christie - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Nov 2011) * Wilkie Collins – The Moonstone (Sep 2009) * Robin Cook – Toxin (Oct 2005) * Bernard Cornwell – The Winter King (Jan 2007) * Patricia Cornwell – Trace (Jan-Feb 2006) * Michael Cunningham - A Home at the End of the World (Apr 2011) D * Philip K Dick - A Scanner Darkly (Apr 2010) * Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol (Dec 2008) * Alexander Dumas – The Three Musketeers (Jul 2009) E * Kim Edwards – The Memory Keeper's Daughter (Aug 2009) F * Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal and the White (May 2013) * Jasper Fforde - The Big Over Easy (Aug 2009) G * Neil Gaiman – American Gods (Feb 2006) * Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book (June 2011) * Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere (Feb 2008) * Jane Gardem – The Queen of Tambourine (Sep 2006) * Robert Graves - I, Claudius (Sep 2014) H * Mark Haddon – A Spot of Bother (Oct 2007) * Thomas Hardy - Far from the Madding Crowd (Jan 2009) * Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Scarlet Letter (Mar 2009) * April Henry - Girl, Stolen (Dec 2013) * Frank Herbert - Dune (Mar 2014) * Susan Hill - The Woman in Black (Feb 2013) * Peter Hoeg - Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (Jun 2010) * Alan Hollinghurst - The Line of Beauty (Feb 2014) * Khaled Hosseini - A Thousand Splendid Suns (Mar 2010) * Victor Hugo – The Hunchback of Notre Dame (May 2009) * Victor Hugo - Les Misérables (Nov 2010) * Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (Oct-Dec 2007) I * Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go (Feb 2009) J * Shirley Jackson - We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Sep 2010) * Mette Jakobsen - The Vanishing Act (Dec 2012) * Henry James - The Ambassadors (Oct 2011) * Sebastian Japrisot - A Very Long Engagement (May 2014) * Lloyd Jones – Mr Pip (Apr 2008) * Rachel Joyce - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Jul 2013) K * A L Kennedy – Paradise (Mar 2006) * Daniel Keyes - Flowers For Algernon (Feb 2011) * Stephen King – The Shining (Nov 2006) * Stephen King – The Stand (Sep 2007) * Rudyard Kipling – The Jungle Books (Jun 2008) * Natsuo Kirino – Out (Jan 2008) L * Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - Dangerous Liaisons (Mar 2013) * D. H. Lawrence – Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Jul 2007) * Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird (Mar 2008) * J Sheridan LeFanu - Carmilla (Jul-Sep 2007) * Doris Lessing - The Fifth Child (Apr 2012) * CS Lewis - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Dec 2010) * CS Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (Mar 2011) M * Henning Mankell - The Man Who Smiled (Jan-Mar 2008) * Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall (April 2013) * Yann Martel – Life of Pi (Jan 2008) * Graham Masterton – The Devil in Gray (Jan 2006) * Ian McEwen – Atonement (Nov 2007) * Anchee Min - Empress Orchid (Aug 2006) * David Mitchell – Cloud Atlas (Sep 2007) * L M Montgomery – Anne of Green Gables (Aug 2007) * Alan Moore and David Gibbons - Watchmen (Graphic Novel) (Jan 2011) * Kate Morton - The House at Riverton (May 2008) * Kate Mosse – Labyrinth (Feb 2006) * Haruki Murukami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle(Nov 2009) N * Azar Nafisi - Reading Lolita in Tehran (Aug 2011) * Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife (Nov-Dec 2005) O * Maggie O' Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (May 2007) * George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four (Oct-Dec 2007) P * Christopher Paolini – Eragon (Sep 2006) * Mervyn Peak - Titus Groan (Nov 2013) * Stef Penney - The Tenderness of Wolves (Jan 2013) * Jodi Piccoult - My Sister's Keeper (Feb 2006) * Terry Pratchett – Hogfather (Dec 2006) Q R * J K Rowling – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Jun 2007) * Jed Rubenfeld – The Interpretation of Murder (Mar 2007) * Salman Rushdi - Midnight's Children (Jun 2014) S * Jose Saramago – Blindness (Oct 2006) * Bernhard Schlink - The Reader (Oct 2009) * Asne Seierstad - The Bookseller of Kabul (Feb 2007) * Anna Sewell – Black Beauty (April 2007) * Karen Slaughter – Blindsighted (Mar 2006) * William Shakespeare - Macbeth (Feb 2010) * Mary Shelley – Frankenstein (Oct 2006) * Nevil Shute - Pied Piper (Mar 2012) * Neville Shute - On the Beach (Apr 2014) * Dodie Smith - I Capture the Castle (May 2012) * Art Spiegelman – The Complete Maus (Feb 2007) * Garth Stein - The Art of Racing in the Rain (Nov 2012) * Bram Stoker - Dracula (Jul-Sep 2007) * Peter Straub - In the Night Room (Aug 2005) * Vikas Swarup - Q&A / Slumdog Millionaire (May 2010) T * Amy Tan - The Joy Luck Club (Sep 2013) * Donna Tartt - The Secret History (Jan 2014) * William Makepeace Thackaray - Vanity Fair (Oct 2010) * Mirian Toews – The Flying Troutmans (Dec 2009) * Colm Tóibín - Brooklyn (May 2011) U V * Jules Verne - Around the World In 80 Days (Jun 2012) W * Alan Weisman - The World Without Us (Jul 2014) * Edith Wharton - Summer (Aug 2013) * Kiersten White - Paranormalcy (October 2012) * T H White - Mistress Masham's Repose (Feb 2012) * Laura Ingalls Wilder - The Little House in the Big Woods (Jun 2013) * Jeanette Winterson - Lighthousekeeping (Dec 2013) * Tim Winton - Cloud Street (July 2012) * Tom Wolfe – The Bonfire of the Vanities (Jun 2008) * John Wyndham - Day of the Triffids (Jul 2011) * John Wyndham - The Kraken Wakes (Oct 2013) X Y Z

OK everyone, get out your books and start reading! Our choice for August is the children's classic, Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery. 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. 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.) Enjoy!

The originals or the remakes? (the original The Parent Trap was on TV at the weekend and I watched part of it again - I love that film! Also love the original Freaky Friday).

I've never seen the film, but I'd rather like to, I think! Anyway, here's my review of the book to add to the others: Title: The Handmaid

I thought I'd add my review too (read in March 2007)... Title: Karma Author: Holly A Harvey ISBN # 9871873671009 Publisher: Bookforce First Published: 2006 349 pages Format: Paperback Rating: 8/10 Winner of the Undiscovered Authors 2005 General Fiction category for the North East Region Synopsis: Karma is a light-hearted, comical story about Paige, a 28 year-old northern woman whose life revolves around sleep, caffeine and VH-1 rather than sex, drugs and rock n roll. She has money problems to rival the national debt, more people walking over her than a 'Welcome' mat and the requisite ex-boyfriend from hell. Paige has always lived by the belief that "what goes around comes around," but after a betrayal by a friend at work and unhappy memories aroused by an invitation to a school reunion, she decides to give fate a helping hand. Review: I started reading this in my coffee break and almost snorted coffee out of my nose within the first couple of pages - this could have been written about me! All the mention of singing along to Adam and the Ants, and seeing Biker Mice from Mars on the telly (it was a terrible cartoon!) could have been lifted straight out of my life. This is very funny stuff - light-hearted, but written with great warmth. I’m not usually one to get gripped by “chick-lit”, but will freely admit I lay on my bed all evening so I could finish it in peace! It makes such a nice change to have a heroine who doesn’t have a high-powered job and pots of money, or start out with the perfect boyfriend – here the heroine is a normal, down-to-earth lass who is struggling to make ends meet and hasn’t had a boyfriend in as long as she can remember (put it this way – she can count the number of her sexual conquests in the past twelve months on one finger!). She makes countless mistakes in her life – just like everyone else! It’s refreshing to see a heroine who one could not possibly feel jealous about when looking at her life. Comedic and tragic by turn - moving moments and pants-wettingly funny highs with a Geordie accent. I'd say this is my book of the month - excellent stuff!

Hello to both of you! *waves* Kerri - I've read Karma and loved it Samantha - I've not yet read Another Time, Another Place, but I definitely plan on doing so! A quick question to both of you, as your books are on very different subjects, how did you go about researching (if you did any - I'm sure you did, though!), and what did you enjoy most/least about the research side of things?

I kinda love old films, so among my favourites are: Bell, Book and Candle (1) * Arsenic and Old Lace (2) The Philadelphia Story (2) Bringing Up Baby (2) His Girl Friday (2) Harvey (1) Vertigo (1) * Rope (1) Rear Window (1) (1) Starring James Stewart - one of my all-time favourite actors (2) Starring Cary Grant - my other all-time favourite actor * Starring Kim Novak - my all-time favourite actress There are a couple of modern classics I adore too - they are just so sumptuous: Dangerous Liaisons (3) Valmont (3) Amadeus (3) Both are versions of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which I plan on reading at some point! And I'm also very much an 80s film fan: The Sure Thing The Breakfast Club Ferris Beueller's Day Off

to the forum, Marbles, from another Scotland-based member! I see you're reading Superstition by David Ambrose - I read and enjoyed that one a couple of years ago. I went on to read another couple of books by Ambrose, but, although I enjoyed them too, I didn't like them half as much as I did Superstition. I hope you'll enjoy it here.

Thank you. Your review is absolutely fine - especially for a first one.

That's exactly what I tried before and it didn't work. However, it seems to be working this time round - hurrah! Later: 102 of my 164 books imported. Ah well, it's better than nowt, I suppose - LOL!

I got this one for Xmas and read it back in January - enjoyed it immensely. Like SBW says, it's well written and beard Elton's trademark cleverness - he has an eye for satire that is hard to match! My own review HERE.

In comparison to the amount of books I read, very few of them are actually re-reads, and when I do re-read a book, it tends to have been quite some time in between readings, so chances are I've forgotten much of what happens - there are only a very few that I have re-read multiple times (The Stand and The Chronicles of Narnia being two examples), and each time I read them, I discover something new. There have also been occasions where I've read a book and finished it, only to realise on the last few pages that I've read it before!

Isn't it funny how so many of us started reading very early and very quickly advanced to a reading age beyond our years?!

Hello and , Margaret. What an unusual nickname - how did your pupil come to award it to you?

I always seem to sell in fits and starts - one month I'll not sell any, then the next I'll sell six in the space of 2 weeks or something like that. Sometimes it's older books, other times it's newer ones. You can never tell what someone will be looking for...

I'd like to add The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. It's got to be one of the dullest books I've ever finished. I kept waiting for something to happen and then realised that everything I'd been told in the first few pages was pretty much it. Talk about a major let-down!

I'd say that the main sets are: The City Watch (Vimes, Carrot, Angua, Colon & Nobby Nobbs, etc) The Witches (Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg & Magrat) The Wizards (Rincewind etc) Death Most of the books can be divided into those groups, but there are some that stand alone, such as Pyramids (which, I suppose, could be included peripherally in the City Watch books, as it starts in Ankh Morpork and the main character is an assassin, but it veers off to a place with pyramids that is eerily familiar). Some of the most recent ones have also been offshoots with Coty Watch characters briefly appearing in them, such as Monstrous Regiment, The Truth, Going Postal and it's sequel (soon to be published), Making Money. The first one is NOT set in Ankh Morpork, but Vimes shows up for a cameo appearance. The others are set in Ankh Morpork but the main characters are not in the City Watch (although there are a couple of them lurking about on the sidelines trying to shove their way to the front occasionally). There are, of course, many others, but I'm just trying to give a brief flavour of what you can expect. Incidentally, Rincewind was the original star of the show and was the main character in the first two Discworld novels, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, neither of whiich are, in my opinion, all that good, but give a good background to his character, and also that of Twoflower.

Massacre indeed - book 7 is a bit of a bloodbath! More deaths in this book than any of the others.

According to Wikipeida, the deaths are as follows: Charity Burbage Hedwig Mad-Eye Moody Rufus Scrimgeour Ted Tonks Dirk Cresswell Bathilda Bagshot Gregorovitch Gellert Grindelwald Peter Pettigrew Dobby Fred Weasley Severus Snape Remus Lupin Nymphadora Tonks Bellatrix Lestrange Lord Voldemort But there's no mention of Nagini or Colin Creevey (the photography lad from Chamber of Secrets - bless him!) in that list, so I think several have been missed out. Later: I've just found a full list of deaths through all the HP books HERE at Wikipedia. There are 22 mentioned for Deathly Hallows. There are also countless muggles killed "for fun" throughout the book and I'm sure the death toll at the Battle of Hogworts must number close to about 50.

I'm glad you enjoyed Cold Granite - you should try the sequels, as they get even better! I think Macbride is really getting into his stride now.