Janet

Thanks Paula. I used to have that picture of Matilda as my avatar on here - I ought to change it back in recognition.

So far, so good!

The Twits is the first fiction one I read - at the moment it has 3/5, but that may go up depending on how it compares to the rest of the books.

I read the first 60 pages of Pied Piper by Neville Shute (the Reading Circle book for March) this morning.

I don't own any annotated books, although I do quite fancy the annotated version of Alice in Wonderland. I shall look for some recommendations in here!

Oh goodness, clever you! I didn't even think to check Amazon - I just took what I'd been told about it as gospel! Thank you!

I've read two of his book so far this year - the first ever! I can't believe I got to this age without trying him before!

I am going to attempt to read all of the books that Roald Dahl wrote specifically for children, together with the two parts of his memoirs, Boy (which I have already read) and Going Solo. The Books 01. The Gremlins (1943) This book is unavailable and very difficult, if not impossible, to get hold of, so unless a miracle happens, it won't be included!* 02. James and the Giant Peach (1961) - finished 15.09.12 - 3/5 03. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) - finished 06.11.12 - 3½/5 04. The Magic Finger (1 June 1966) - finished 20.05.13 - 2½/5 05. Fantastic Mr Fox (9 December 1970) - finished 29.02.12 - 4/5 06. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (9 January 1972) - finished 07.11.12 - 1/5 07. Danny, the Champion of the World (30 October 1975) 08. The Enormous Crocodile (24 August 1978) - finished 28.01.15 - 3/5 09. The Twits (17 December 1980) - finished 01.02.12 - 2½/5 10. George's Marvellous Medicine (21 May 1981) - finished 03.04.12 - 4½/5 11. The BFG (14 October 1982) - finished 17.06.13 - 3/5 12. The Witches (27 October 1983) - finished 01.04.14 - 3½/5 13. The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (26 September 1985) - finished 05.03.12 - 3/5 14. Matilda (21 April 1988) - finished 21.12.12 - 4/5 15. Esio Trot (19 April 1989) - finished 05.03.12 - 5/5 16. The Vicar of Nibbleswicke - (9 May 1990) - finished 14.08.15 - 2½/5 17. The Minpins (8 August 1991) Children's poetry 1. Revolting Rhymes (10 June 1982) 2. Dirty Beasts (25 October 1984) 3. Rhyme Stew (21 September 1989) Memoirs 1. Boy (1984) - finished 06.02.12 - 5/5 2. Going Solo (1986) - finished 20.05.13 - 3/5 * See post by Hayley below. 15/22

Lovely pic, Ian. I love Disneyland Paris, although it's been a few years since I was last there.

LOL @ it being a trilogy – that does seem true of a lot of today’s books! I can understand this, especially if you know that area well. As someone who doesn’t I still thought some of the names in the section where Maria was leading the governess and the vicar on a wild goose chase were certainly… a bit over the top! Oh yes, that would be a good question for her. I can think of so many far better children’s books out there, so it would be interesting to find out why she felt it so good! Thanks for the responses.

Agreed - it would have been awful if it was just me!

How are you getting on with it, Laura?

Thanks. I should probably just accept it at face value, but I can't help thinking there would have been nothing left for her to inherit in terms of cash to restore Malplaquet by the time the Professor found a release document! Oooh, spooky! *Goes to look up book* { ETA: } If we ever get a Quincunx Tea Rooms in Bath I will take you there and buy you lunch to celebrate the unlikeliness of it all!

It does! I love the cover - it's so interesting! I forgot to say that as well as the Roald Dahl books, I also bought The Merchant of Venice for me - I was a stage hand at a school production of this many moons ago - and (for my Mum) King of the Cloud Forests by Michael Morpurgo. Hubby and I had a day out together yesterday because I had this weekend off work. We went to Malmesbury to visit the abbey - we got there about 11.15am and headed straight for a coffee shop and when we came down it was horrible - chucking it down with rain and really miserable, so we did three charity shops (that were near the coffee shop) and the abbey and that's all we saw of Malmesbury, so we'll have to go back! We then drove to Tetbury to have a look round, but by the time we arrived there it was torrential, so we didn't stop! We briefly stopped at Wooton-Under-Edge to buy some lunch, which we ate in the car park at Chipping Sodbury and then we popped in to see Peter's big brother and our sister-in-law and then came home!

Hurrah! And hurrah for us both being back on the forum!

It was quirky, and such an easy read. I'm looking forward to the sequels.

I'm keeping an eye out for it. I've been pretty lucky with charity shops recently - I have found, over the last three days, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me for 20p and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and The Fantastic Mr Fox all for 50p each! I also got The BFG and George's Marvellous Medicine for my niece who has also decided to collect them (as I already had those titles) also for 50p each. Gotta love charity shops! Since I last posted I have finished Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (loved this!) and Oscar and the Lady in Pink by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

Will do. Hope you enjoyed your lie in then.

Well done on another country, June.

I listened to an Oscar Wilde whilst following the playscript in the book - which helped with reading the play, but it was a bit disconcerting having the English upper classes talking with an American accent! The reading itself was excellent though (and as it was a play there were several voices) so overall it was an enjoyable experience. I haven't tried anything else from there yet.

Hurrah - hope you enjoy the Orwell! I've got Pied Piper too - I've been meaning to read this for years and years (it was on my parents bookcase before I was married!) so it's good that this RC is forcing my hand.

I bought a copy of that in a charity shop a few years back, but I donated it back to them when I realised it had been tampered with. Grr!

Lucky you. Poor them too though - I bet they're gutted!

Lovely pic. Did you resize it? It looks fine to me. I really want to go back to Paris!