Kell

Ooh, I like the sound of this one! And I LOVE your new Mr Darcy avatar!

Well, there have only been two 10/10 books for me so far this year, but there have been a few 9/10 books, so here are the best of the bunch so far: Ronia, The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgrn - 10/10 The Plucker: An Illustrated Novel by Brom - 10/10 No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong - 9/10 Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride - 9/10 The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly - 9/10 The Prestige by Christopher Priest - 9/10 The Thee Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (audio book) - 9/10 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (audio book) - 9/10 On top of that, I've had 19 books I rated 8/10 and 6 audio books rated 8/10. It's been a pretty good year for books so far - I hope it continues in a similar vein!

Hello and to the forum, Lone Watie. I hope you'll enjoy discussing your favourite books and authors with us!

Did anyone else find the end very sudden and abrupt? I found I wanted just a few more pages to round things off a bit...

I'll freely admit I kept away from the Harry Potter books for ages because of all the hype, plus I was a big fan of the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer and thought they wouldn't live up to that. It wasn't until I'd seen the third film (The Prisoner of Azkoban) that I decided to read the books - the reason was that there were moments in the film that didn't make much sense to me and I thought, "Hang on" If I read the books, it's sure to fill in the gaps!" I got hold of the first book and whizzed through it pretty quickly. When I was done, I bought the next three and read them immediately. The others followed and I've been desperately awaiting the final instalment to see if Rowling can possibly live up to the promises! I still love the Artemis Fowl books, but I love the Harry Potter ones too, on their own merit. I think a large part of Rowling's success has come because her books appealed to children who had never before been interested in reading - and it spread like wildfire! The media then picked up on it and it went super-nova! A large part of the appeal is that it's something both kids and adults can enjoy and it's encouraged families to talk about their reading together, whcih, in turn, encourages more reading and more communication on other subjects, which can only be a good thing. The kids that started out with the first book when it was first published have grown up with Harry and when they have kids of their own, they'll want to pass him on to the next generation - these books are going to endure in the same way that Lord of the Rings has - there's myth and magic all wound up in a boy who is painfully human - a kid who is a little different from everyone he has known as a child - and all kids can identify with that feeling. Harry makes it OK to be different! I only wish I could have had these books when I was an awkward kid because I was the odd one out who never fit in and would have loved for the kind of revelation that Harry gets!

It was originally called The LEGEND of Crickley Hall.

Here you go - THIS is all about Digestive Biscuits.

Hello and to the forum, Stephanie! I'm another Harry Potter fan (yes, there are quite a few of us here!) - I actually read loads of children's books - I guess I'm just a big kid at heart! I hope you'll enjoy it here.

I an SO going to have to try Literacy and Longing in LA - it sounds right up my street!

DWMG - Yes, Stephen King is a very diverse writer with, I believe, something for everyone. My own favourites of his are: The Stand Different Seasons (four novellas in one book - all excellent) Carrie Gerald's Game Misery Dolores Claiborne The Dark Half (originally published under the name of Richard Bachman) The Shining Each of them has something different about it, and most of them are not strictly horror, which might surprise some people who may have pigeon-holed him as a genre writer!

Like Nici, I've not really found any books that disturbed me, but I think it's because I've almost become immune to it, rather than avoiding those books. Folks at work thought I was strange because I was laughing at American Psycho, but I thought the dark humour was hilarious! Other people thought it strange that the over-riding emotion I felt while reading We Need to Talk About Kevin was boredom - I could have done with MORE nastiness in that one, just to liven things up! If all this makes me sound a bit like a psycho, I'd just like to reassure everyone that I'm actually a very nice and mostly stable person really!

I find fiction more fun, for sure. All my text-book type books have been read multiple times, but it's mostly been a case of maybe a chapter here and a chapter there till they're done, then they're used for reference (I'm usually pretty good at remembering where I saw something mentioned, and they all have very good contents and indexes so i can always find what I'm looking for quickly and easily).

The system won't actually let you have an empty post, so you might have to type something like "coming soon - books read" or even just "holding pattern".

Well, I thought I'd have a bash at answering those questions: 1- Who was your favourite character and why? I think Mellors was my favourite character - I loved his quiet self-assuredness, and the fact that he could be tender and yet still not feel he was dismissing his own masculinity. He wasn't in the least pretentious, although he was good at fitting himself to the situation as he saw it (shown by his changing accent) and would stand up for what he believed in. 2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest? I loved the scenes between Mellors and Constance - I especially liked how the "love-talk" was handled - Mellors even managed to make the unmentionable "c-word" sound gentle and not at all derogatory. I also enjoyed the lightness of tone throughout the novel. 3- Was this the first book you've read in this genre/ by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? It's the first I've read by D H Lawrence, and I will certainly read more of his work. I've read other books set during a similar period, but in different areas and slightly different social sets (for example, The Great Gatsby focuses more on the American party set; A Taste of Blood Wine is 99% set in England and, again, features more of a social scene; P G Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories are also very social, with lots of visiting other people and places). This felt more stationary and confined, which, I think, added to the feeling that Constance was trapped in a place and marriage that did not make her happy. 4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? No - it all flowed very smoothly for me and I had no trouble at all. The language was gorgeous, the descriptive passages were delightful and the characters were well-drawn - what's not to like?! 5- Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? I expected it to be a lot more steamy than it actually was - it turned out to be quite demure by comparison to some other "erotic" novels (such as Fanny Hill by John Cleland). Overall, I enjoyed every moment. I spent a lot longer reading this book than I usually do (mostly because I was so exhausted from jury duty all last week), but I savoured every last second of it. It was rather a refreshing read!

I like something catchy or unusual, for example, the first Kelley Armstrong novel is called Bitten - it's short, catchy, easy to remember, and is relevant to the plot (the main character, Elena, was bitten and became the world's only female werewolf). The Curious Incident of the Dog ni the Night Time by Mark Haddon is one that caught my attention - yes, it's long, but it's so unusual that it really jumps out at you. And it's relevant to the plot too.

The Queen of Tambourine was our reading circle choice last September (thread HERE). You got a lot further than I did - I couldn't get into it at all and couldn't stand the lead character. Not my cup of tea!

Hello and to the forum, Cath! I'm sure you'll find plenty of new authors to get your teeth into here.A few of my own favourites are Terry Pratchett, Kelley Armstrong, Christopher Brookmyre, Stuart MacBride and Simon Scarrow (and that's barely skimming the surface!). Take a peek at the reading blogs section and see what everyone's been reading - I'm willing to bet that you'll find something that grabs you and screams "READ ME!" at you! You might also consider joining in the reading circle (Lady Chatterley's Lover by D H Lawrence) or the comparative reading circle (Dracula by Bram Stoker and Carmilla by J Sheridan LeFanu) - whether you've read them before or not, there should be some interesting discussions to join in. I hope you'll enjoy it here. )

Goblet of Fire is my favourite HP book to date - it's so full of action and adventure with real thrills and spills along the way. It's where things really start taking a darker turn - really I think it's the turning point in Harry's life where he realises that he has to shoulder a great responsibility and there's the very real possibility that he could die in the process!

Glad to hear you're enjoying the Brookmyres. I don't think I've found one yet that I didn't love. My favourite to date has been The Sacred Art of Stealing - very clever!

I don't really have a preference of one over the other - my only problem is when the narrative is in present tense, whether in first or third person: "I go to the shop and I meet Gerald who offers me a crisp from his half-crumpled packet. I decline his greasy offering in favour of a healthier snack - I must watch my figure after all!" or "She goes to the shop and meets Gerald who offers her a crisp... she must watch her weight after all." I think I hate the latter more - it just smacks of contrivance. I'd rather read something in the past tense.

Glad you're enjoying the MacBride books - he's one of my new favourites!

It's funny that Lawrence seems to think that women are more able to focus on things for longer periods of ti... oh, look at the butterfly! Ahem! Yes, about the ability to focus - I must have a particularly male mind in that respect! Also, although I'm only up to chapter 10 (so not too much of Mellors as yet - we're still just beginning to get to know him), Mellors seems to have that ability to focus in the same way, and on the same level as, Constance, whereas her husband seems more flighty and prone to mentally wander off onto another subject at the drop of a hat. I think you're right - Lawrence's style seems peculiarly feminine - if this were a newly published book by an author whose name I'd never heard, I would assume that D. H. stood for something like Diane Helen, or Doreen Heather - I definitely would have attributed it to a female writer.

I quite often change my mind about what I'm in the mood to read. I'll be reading one and anticipating the next one, but when I finish the first one, I'll realise I'm in the mood for something completely different fromthe one I thought I would read next. I've also had some books on Mount TBR for almost two years now. I know I'll get round to them eventually, but I just haven't been in the mood for them yet.

I noticed that - it seems to be most often when someone's having a bit of an inner dialogue - almost like the character is talking to themselves. It feels like they're reassuring themselves that something is so. Surprisingly, I quite like this tactic on this occasion - usually it would drive me round the twist!

Wrath - I've been doing exactly the same thing over "crisis"! He does seem to persist in that phrase. I'm enjoying his descriptiveness though - it's quite poetic and flowing.