Icecream

It can be confusing Nici. Don't worry. The style isn't for everyone.

You see now I like to read in the evenings too, but if I leave it during the day I often find I can't be bothered, like I've waited to long (similar to not sleeping when you should and getting overtired), so I find time in the day too.

I usually divide my books into daily readings and try to get 30 or 50, sometimes just 20 pages a day. It doesn't always work, but sometimes does.. And I also find I can read a page in one/two mins..

happyanddandy, yes, mojo is, I believe, taken from Austin Powers, when he loses his mojo. I am not doing very well with my current book, but I think I am just feeling generally unmotivated at the moment. I'm feeling guilty about not doing housework, even though I am mostly doing what I want to, and I don't get the time to read much. I am very much enjoying the book now..

Welcome to the forum Carm.

I couldn't finish my post as the baby was crying.. I usually need a book that has something to say for itself. I tend to go for fantasy because apart from escaping, I can be hard to please. To really love a book it has to say something to me and also be a little intellectual (either that or get inside my head).

There are lot's of reasons for me. I enjoy fantasy books like Tolkien and Harry Potter because I feel I can escape into a different world. The Vampire's Seduction and Frank Perretti's THis Present Darkness also have this element, although the latter is more real as it deals with human manipulation by good vs evil in the form of angels and demons. Some books like Empress Orchid and The Heavenly Man are interesting because of the culture element. Reading books like Susan Howatch's Heartbreaker, Karma and also with Empress Orchid, I identified with the character. At the moment I am reading the mIst Over Pendle and I only like it because it is about the place where I live. The book is rather slow and a bit boring..

I thought exactly that Gyre, but she did halucinate!

I thought about Kitty being locked away in her mind, but the thought soon trailed off when I knew what she was going to do. She was so close to Esme when they were children, and then she steals her child, her family and her life..

Yes this happens, I think, to all of us. I too, lost mine a few days ago but got it back. Sometimes it goes for weeks. A great book does help too.

It is worse than the book makes out to, if you can imagine that (I know people who have been in/worked in them). The book paints a very near picture though. It makes you wonder what family means to someone who can put their own child or spouse in a place like that. There are other ways of dealing with people if need be.

The sad thing about this book, is that it still happens. There are people even today put into these places by their families for no reason, or for small things.

I was wondering something along the same lines just this morning PDR. Maggie, what inspired you to look into/research mental institutions and their practices/ mental illness?

I have joined, but I just don't have time to go through all my books. Maybe I'll start a few at a time, but I really have more important things on my agenda at the moment.

I have been wondering about this too, because there a a lot of books lately that have grabbed me, but there are a lot over the years that haven't. I think I will have to make a list and get back to you on this..

I often struggle to even have a bath quickly enough sometimes. Katie often wakes up as I go back to the bedroom. I usually read when I am feeding bubbly, but it depends if she is being fussy or not. At the moment, as she is going to bed a bit earlier I am reading in the evenings between her and my bedtime. Next week that will change.

It seems very strange how. It said in the book she had schizophrenia, which I have seen and I know people with it haeve halucinations, but then it is only a matter of a doctors opinion anyway in many cases. The label often doesn't mean anything..

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell is a great book. It affected me in many ways. It is a ver personal story, and very well written. It jumps around in time, but keeps its continuation by exlaning what needs to be explained, while holding back only on the main plot line. This is definitely a must read for anybody. The book certainly also promotes further reading. I've posted other commments in the reading circle thread.. I'm continuing with The Mist Over Pendle now. I've just realised how slow I'm being at reading..

I finshed this a couple of days ago but haven't had chance to come on. I can't remember which day it was now, but when I finished it, I think on Tuesday, it was a very strange day.

No one with schizophrenia is mad.. I understand that girls then wouldn't know as much as we do, but when there is something moving around inside you and you are growing bigger, it is very hard to ignore.

You will have to let us know if they are any good..

Hi Maggie, I just finished The Vanishing Act.. too. I was just wondering if you had any explanation why Esme did not know she was having a baby. It could be due to her madness od couse, but you know her best.

I think Kitty's thoughts have to be fractured because otherwise she would probably have had to come later on in the book (as a central character this would not be a good thing, or be easy to write) or we would have had to read about the life she led in the nursing home (not important and probably boring) otherwise she would have given the game away too early.

I don't think I've read a book without chapters before. I might have done. I try to find a suitable break to pause at, but often I a intrigued and read beyond a natural break, then I realise i am too tired (or busy) to go to the next one.. It is good to read about different times in the book. I like to read about the time of Esme and Kitty's childhood.

I treated PPs Karma with the utmost care, and this taught me how to read a book without cracking the spin. Being a task previously alien to me, I started to do it out of habit with The Vanishing Act... , however I have cracked the spine just a little bit, as Katie is being fussy lately and I keep leaving the bookmark places or just have to put the book down quickly..