Janet

We did Huckleberry Finn for A level (recently - I did it as a mature student) and I had to read some bits out loud to make it make sense!

I've been thinking about collecting editions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol for some time now. I have three editions already (one is a huge hardback illustrated by Quentin Blake - gorgeous) and there seem to be lots of versions available! I think I can picture the Austen books you mean, Kylie. The ones with pastel colours? They do seem rather chick-litty if they're the ones I'm thinking of.

At the end of last year, my friend from Kent came down with some stuff for my daughter from one of her friends. At the bottom of the bag were a few books - including a couple from this series. I put them on the bookcase and forgot about them until you mentioned this - I should dig it out sometime and try it! It was made into a TV series here it seems (it has one of those tie-in covers with the actors on the front) but I didn't see it.

I thought that was by John Connolly? I bought Join Me by Danny Wallace today. I wanted Yes Man but they only had a copy with Jim Carey's mug on the front and I don't want that version!

Yes, print size is definitely an issue. I have to check the inside to see how small it is before buying these days. That's one reason I never buy magazines with 'free' books inside even it's tempting, because they're nearly always smaller books with smaller print - I imagine it's to keep the costs down. I also want to read Byatt's The Children's Book which was one of the shortlisted books - that doesn't come out in paperback until January but I guess that will be here before we know it!

It's not a cost issue. I just don't like hardbacks.

I must admit I was curious so I Googled your books! I hated The Cacther in the Rye (ugh) but loved Prince Caspian (I was about 9 when I read it though, so I don't really remember it!) and I like the sound of the Graham Greene one.

I really want to continue with these, but I've got up to The Horse and His Boy and I keep looking at it... and then putting it off, and I don't know why. I read them years ago, of course, but have no real recollection of the story so I don't know why I can't seem to fancy this one.

The winner has been announced... Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel My Mum's reading this for her bookworms. I'm waiting for the paperback! ETA: More details

I agree - although I imagine JKR had to put an epilogue to stop herself being plagued with "But what happened to x, y and z?" letters! Hope you enjoy your Dan Brown re-reading.

I liked this but was disappointed by the ending and wished it had stopped before the epilogue.

I've never heard of London Belongs To Me by Norman Collins but it sounds right up my street so I've added it to my wish list. Thanks.

Wow - I'm so chuffed to have been able to help! Enjoy.

I can't find a proper synopsis of it, but could it be 'Challenge' by Warwick Collins? There are two sequels. A customer review - doesn't give much away! A bit about the author ETA: Rawr has found it! I had this window open whilst Googling so I didn't see his reply.

I don't mean to be rude, but I'm intrigued by your use of the old English 'shoppe'. Is there a reason you spelt it that way or were you just messing around?

I can't take the credit for it - I snagged the idea from Tracy (everydayxangels)! It comes from here - it's meant to show the counties you've visited but doubles up for this quite nicely, although obviously it contains non-Olympic countries too. I do it, paste it into word and then load it on Photobucket to get a full picture rather than uploading it directly from the computer. It's lovely to see one's progress this way.

Okay, I've had a sort out and here is my updated map: 11 Countries - 4% Afghanistan - A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (10/10) Austria - The Dragonfly Pool - Eva Ibbotson (7/10) Brazil - The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (8/10) Canada - No Time For Goodbye - Linwood Barclay (8/10) Germany - All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque (8/10) India - Coram Boy - Jamila Gavin - (6�/10) Ireland - The Sea - John Banville (3/10) New Zealand - Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones (9�/10) Pakistan - The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid (8/10) Sri Lanka - The Flower Boy - Karen Roberts United States of America - The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks (7/10)

After some dithering, and some sending of PMs, I have revised this slightly. Unless otherwise stated, the books read relate to the country in which the author was born. So, for example, Brazil is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, because that's where he was born, even though the book isn't based in Brazil. I still can't see me ever getting to the end of this!

For all you lovers of costume drama out there (me included!) a new 4 part adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma starts tonight on BBC1 at 9pm. More details here. I've never read the book. I started it a few years ago but wanted to slap Emma! However, having later read and enjoyed Pride and Prejudice I intended to try it again but didn't get round to it! Guess I'll watch this instead!