Kell

Thought I'd add my own review too: Notes on a Scandal Author: Zoë Heller ISBN # 0670914061 Publisher: Viking First Published: 2003 244 pages Rating: 5/10 The Blurb: When the new teacher first arrives, Barbara immediately senses that this woman will be different from the rest of her staff-room colleagues. But Barbara is not the only one to feel that Sheba is special, and before too long Sheba is involved in an illicit affair with a pupil. Barbara finds the relationship abhorrent, of course, but she is the only adult in whom Sheba can properly confide. So when the liaison is found out and Sheba's life falls apart, Barbara is there... The Review: According to the note on the front cover, Notes on a Scandal was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2003, however, I really can’t see why. When the basis of the plot is an older female teacher becoming embroiled in a relationship with one of the 15-year-old boys in her class, you expect something a bit risqué, perhaps a little tantalising, somehow sensationalist in its approach; but this is nothing of the kind. In fact, the one word I could really use to describe it all is “dull”. There were no remotely likeable characters to be seen – Sheba was naïve, selfish and incredibly stupid; Barbara was just plain odious – a creepy, immature, stalker-type hanger-on who insinuates herself into the lives of those she chooses as her “friends” to the exclusion of all others in order to make herself feel important. This could have been in interesting foray into obsession, but it was just too boring – in fact, I barely made it to the end. It had so much promise but utterly failed to deliver. To be perfectly honest, this was my second attempt at this book and I wouldn’t have bothered revisiting it at all if it hadn’t been chosen as this month’s reading circle for discussion. I found it pretty pointless and a real chore to plough through. There is no way I will ever read any of Heller’s other work, even if it gets picked for a reading circle – I’ll just pass thanks.

Finished Autobiography of a Geisha last nght - it was pleasantly honest & refreshing - certainly different than other Geisha memoirs I've read so far. Very enjoyable. Moving onto The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo. After 20 years, I thought it was time to revisit it!

Well, i was a bit disappointed by Notes to be honest. I'm not even remotely tempted to try anything else by Zoe Heller & I cannot for the life of me understand why this was nominated for the Man booker Prize. Ah well. Have now moved onto Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda which is so far shaping up to be rather interesting. Masuda was at the poorer end of the Geisha world, it seems (I read Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki earlier on in the year & she was part of the elite, so this story is very different, while still sharing some basic elements). I'm absolutely fascinated by the whole concept of Geisha, so it's nice to see all the angles of it in factual accounts & memoirs like this.

Next summer I think. I can hardly wait!!! I think they've timed it to roughly coincide with the release of the film of Order of the Phoenix...

I'm about 1/2 way through now, and I think I'll finish it after all, but Im' still finding it a bit of a slog, as I'm still finding it largely dull. I have to say, I can't stand Barbara - I find her the most annoying, self-centred, immature character ever & as for Sheba, well, talk about niaive - I just want to shake her & tell her to wake up!

I LOVED Life of Pi! Looks like you have a good list there - hope you enjoy them all!

LOL - thanks, Gyre. I've actually been a lot slower this month - been working such long hours that I've scarecly had time to myself & my lunches have been cut short. Have taken to reading in bed & then being barely able to get up in the mornings!

Have finally started Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, but so far (after 4 chapters) I remain unimpressed. I tried reading this one earlier in the year, but I wasn't very well at the time & attributed my inability to get into it to my illness. It seems it's a case of I'm finding the story rather dull & I don't particularly like any of the characters. I'll persevere a while longer, as it's the Posh Club choice for November & our next meeting is a week tonight, but if it doesn't improve soon, I don't think I'll be finishing it. I've yet to see the reason it was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2003...

Ooh, yum!

Me too - it actually started a spark in my head about a possible story, actually. Not directly to do with fairies, but kind of indirectly, in a round-about, barely glancing off the subject kind of way - it was more the tone of it that got my brain ticking over...

LOL - yes, there's a lot of humour in the unlikeliest of places.

Just watched tonight's episode. Ah well, still rather enjoyed it.

Yup, these were the ones I was given once I got to school & I was mortified because I was already way past that reading level. The next level up was Bangers & Mash (two chimps who only wanted to have some fun but who were always in trouble) but I was past them too. Actually, when my sister got to that reading age, Bangers & Mash got their own cartoon on the telly with a theme tune done by Chaz & Dave!

Tell you what - I'm really enjoying Oracle so far - such a cool premise & so far it's been handled really well (I'm about a dozen chapters in at the moment). Hope it keeps it up!

Bitten and Smitten Author: Michelle Rowan ISBN # 0446617008 Publisher: Warner Forever First Published: 2006 390 pages Rating: 7 The Blurb: Sarah Dearly has had a bad date. What else would you call being buried alive before dessert? Not to mention the bite mark on her neck and the creepy way her date keeps saying that he's sired her. Then these guys with stakes show up and turn her date into dust! Sarah runs for her life, only to be rescued by a tall, dark, and handsome stranger. Sure, she interrupts him as he's about to throw him-self off a bridge - but as far as rescuers go, Thierry de Bennicoeur will do. The only problem is their age difference. He's a 600-year-old vamp with a death wish. She's a new kid on the block with a need for someone to show her the ropes - and to keep her one step ahead of the vampire hunters. Sarah doesn't know what to make of all this. She's got a hankering for blood lately, but she doesn't feel like a monster, just like an unemployed girl looking for love - even if the object of her affection can't go out in the sun for very long. The Review: There seems to be a bit of a rush on both supernatural romance and vampires at the moment and with Bitten and Smitten, Michelle Rowan has pounced on both and run with them. Being set in Toronto might draw comparison with Kelley Armstrong

Bimbos of the Death Sun Author: Sharyn McCrumb ISBN # 0140118489 Publisher: Penguin First Published: 1987 219 pages Rating: 7/10 The Blurb: For one fateful weekend, the annual science fiction and fantasy convention, Rubicon, has all but taken over a usually ordinary hotel. Now the halls are alive with Trekkers, tech nerds, and fantasy gamers in their Viking finery --- all of them eager to hail their hero, bestselling fantasy author Appin Dungannon: a diminutive despot whose towering ego more than compensates for his 5'1" height... and whose gleeful disdain for fawning fans is legendary. Hurling insults and furniture with equal abandon, the terrible, tiny author proceeds to alienate ersatz aliens and make-believe warriors at warp speed. But somewhere between the costume contest and the exhibition Dungeons and Dragons game, Dungannon gets done in. While die-hard fans of Dungannon's seemingly endless sword-and-sorcery series wonder how they'll go on and hucksters wonder how much they can get for the dead man's autograph, a hapless cop wonders, "Who would want to kill Appin Dungannon?" But the real question, as the harried convention organizers know, is "Who wouldn't?" The Review: Every now and then I get pleasantly surprised by a book

Undead and Unemployed Author: Maryjanice Davidson ISBN # 0749936460 Publisher: Piatkus First Published: 2004 230 pages Rating: 7/10 The Blurb: 'And the first who shall noe the Queen as a husband noes his Wyfe shall be the Queen's Consort and shall rule at her side for a thousand yeares.' ~ The Book of the Dead 'If that rat 'person of dubious parentage' Sinclair thinks I'm going to be his wife for a thousand years, he's out of his f----- mind.' ~ From the private papers of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I, Empress of the Undead, Rightful Ruler of the Vampires, Consort of Eric I, Lawful King Nothing can make Betsy Taylor give up her shoe fetish - even dying and rising as the new Queen of the Vampires. Only being royally undead doesn't mean there aren't still credit card bills to be paid. Luckily, Betsy lands her dream job selling designer shoes at Macy's Department Store. Things couldn't be better - except for her new friends who keep pestering her while she's at work. As if she has time to socialise when there are deliciously sinful shoes to try on - and buy at a discount. It seems there's been a string of vampire murders in town and they're all clamouring for Betsy to do something about it. The worst part is she'll have to enlist the help of the one vamp who makes her blood boil: the oh-so-sexy Eric Sinclair. Only the last time she ran into Sinclair she accidentally fulfilled an ancient prophesy - and ended up married to him... The Review: Every now and again, it

I decided to read Bitten & Smitten by Michelle Rowan instead, so Oracle will be next. B&S wasn't bad at all - a nice light read, but nothing new.

Ooh, I might have to give this a try - I love a good vamp book & if it's a series it'll be something to really get my teeth into. Sorry - I just couldn't resist!

Oh, yes, Mau - if you go right back to the start of this thread, right there in post No. 2, they all have a number next to them. I'm currently on the 111th title of the year!

Try Gideon Defoe's Pirates! books - hilarious! And they'll have you crying "Aaaarrrrrrh!" & talking Pirate-speak for a little while afterwards - LOL!

Despite having quite the tackiest-sounding title I've ever come across, Bimbos of the Death Sun turned out to be a lot of fun & far better than I expected. It's a murder set at a sci-fi/fantasy convention & one of the authors (& a main character) has written a hard sci-fi novel called BotDS, so that's where the title comes from. It's definitley worth picking up if you've ever been to, or know anyone who's ever been to, a convention - it'll certainly give you a giggle! So, from one contemporary sci-fi themes to more sci-fi with Oracle by Ian Watson: When Tom Ryan stops his car late at night on a dark road for a man dressed as a Roman Centurion, his first thought is that he's picked up one of those amateur re-enactors... but the man, Marcus Appius Silvanus, appears to speak only Latin. he insists the year is AD60 and that the British Queen is Boudicca - and that he and his men of the Fouteenth Gemina are in hot pursuit of her. Tom and his sister mary shelter the Roman, but inadvertantly attract the attention of an unscrupulous journalist. He's not the only one interested in the Ryans: An IRA terrorist who was once Mary's lover in Northern Ireland tracks her down to tell her the plane crash which killed her parents 20 years ago was caused by the British security services. Deep inm the English countryside, those same servants of the state are busy exploiting the theories of a young prodigy to build "Oracle", a probe that can view the past - and, they hope, the future, so that threats to national security can be stifled before they ever occur.

Did she have wilting flowers in her tangled hair & a lot of occult jewellery? If so, then I'd say she was definitely Magrat - LOL!

I've never read any PKD, but I've seen a few movies based on his books: Do Androuds Dream of Electric Sheep became, of course, the wonderful Blade Runner; We Can Remember it for You Wholesale became Total Recall; Minority Report became... Minority Report (LOL!); & Second Variety became Screamers to name but a handful. I really should geet round to reading the books, because I enjoyed the films & would probably enjoy reading the originals too...

I suspect, since Garlick was capitalised & spelled with a "K", that it's a reference to Magrat Garlick. Have you read any of the Witches books in the series?