Janet

Finished The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson - 7/10 Moving on to Bill Bryson's African Diary which shouldn't take too long!

I like non-fiction although I don't tend to read masses of it. From my blog, in 2007 I only read one (George Orwell) but in 2008 I read 8 out of a total of 40 books in that year. I have lots of hardbacked factual non-fiction books that I dip in and out of like What the Victorians Did For Us, all of the Who Do You Think You Are? series, The 1900s House, Stephen Fry in America...

English Passengers by Matthew Kneale The 'blurb' It is 1857 and the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has set out for Tasmania, hoping to find the true site of the Garden of Eden. But the journey is turning out to be less than straightforward - dissent is growing between him and sinister racial-theorist Dr Potter, and, unknown to both, the ship they have hurriedly chartered is in fact a Manx smuggling vessel, fleeing British customs. In Tasmania the Aboriginal people have been fighting a desperate battle against British invaders, and, as the passengers will discover, the island is now far from being an earthly paradise ... It is 1857 and the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has a dream, in which he is told that the Garden of Eden is not, as is usually accepted, in the Middle East but is in fact in Tasmania. He decides he must explore the island to see if this is true, and after receiving financial backing, he sets about chartering a ship to take him to the other side of the world. Meanwhile, Manx Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley's ship has been holed-up in port in London by customs officials who suspect him of smuggling, but despite extensive searches of the vessel, they find nothing. Undeterred, and still suspicious after finding sheets from a French newspaper, they give Kewley a £200 fine. In order to pay this, the captain and crew decide to offer Sincerity for charter, and she's hired by none other than Rev'd Wilson. They are joined on ship by Dr Potter who is keen to join the expedition to 'Eden' to find specimens to help him write his book on the races of man. So begins an epic voyage that will take them to the other side of the world. In the meantime, through Peevay, an Aboriginal, we hear of the effect on Tasmania and the Aboriginal population of the settlement of white men through transportation and those associated with it who took over their land and tried to civilise the native population. These two main stories are overlapped throughout the book, as it jumps from 1830 to 1859 and back again, until coming together in a wonderful conclusion. I loved this book. It was recommended to me because I enjoyed The Secret River by Kate Grenville, but I found this book to be far superior. The characterisation is fabulous, from the pious Rev'd Wilson to the angry and bitter Peevay to the likeable and amusing, if not entirely honest, Captain Kewley, all of whom are totally believable and provoke different emotions. There are many other peripheral characters, all of whom are well-written and have their parts to play in this rich novel. Having read this and done some research into transportation/colonisation on the internet, I cannot believe the audacity of the English to go to another country and try to change the people who live there - or worse still, remove them all to an island in an attempt to colonise them whilst taking over their land! The sad fact is that the indigenous people of Tasmania died out as a result of this take-over of their lands, although some people are descended from them as a result of the white men abducting Aboriginal women for sexual partners. Excellent! The paperback is 462 pages long and is published by Penguin books. The ISBN number is 978-0140285215. 9/10 (Read April 2009)

Good luck with this. I don't actively avoid longer books, but I think sub-consciously I must do as I haven't read many books of over 500 pages!

I finally finished English Passengers by Matthew Kneale. Loved it - 9/10!

I haven't read anything by Waugh yet. I bought a copy of Brideshead Revisited in Oxfam a few weeks back. I didn't watch the TV series so I don't really know anything about it (apart from it featuring a teddy bear!) but I'm looking forward to it. I noticed the DVD of the recent film version is out now - I'd like to see that once I've read the book.

I picked this up in Waterstone's but I was a good girl and put it back. As it's a R&J book, I'm hoping it'll end up in many a charity shop before too long. It does look good.

Sorry. In this sequel's defence, it was written for a great cause as all the profits from the sale go to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley, June 1857 Say a man catches a bullet through his scull in somebody's war, so where's the beginning of that? English Passengers - Matthew Kneale

Again, you need 10 posts to be able to PM. You might find this thread helpful (although you're nearly there!).

If you still need prodding for something from your brown list, I'd definitely suggest The 39 Steps - John Buchan. A short but great read!

Nice to see you back. I'll move this to the welcome forum if that's okay, as I think it's more appropriate there. I look forward to getting reacquainted with you and reading what you've been up to.

Can anyone tell me where to find a list of which of his many titles are the black magic ones? My husband has read quite a few of them as listed below (years ago) - I'm not sure whether there are any more 'dark' ones. The Devil Rides Out Gateway to Hell The Haunting of Toby Jugg The Irish Witch The Satanist Strange Conflict To the Devil ~ A Daughter Unholy Crusade I've had a look on Fantastic Fiction but it doesn't say which are which genre/style ETA: I've found the details on the site someone linked a few posts ago - sorry!

Forgot to say, there was a continuity error between Peter Pan and its sequel... Don't click if you intend to read Peter Pan in Scarlet!

It was just rather lacking in excitement and (and I know this sounds odd, given that the original was fantasy) too far-fetched. It was very slow and I didn't think she'd captured the essence of the 'lost boys' at all. I loved Barrie's writing style and the humour in Peter Pan - this book didn't have much humour at all, although like you, Lucybird, I thought the opening line meant it would. It was darker than Peter Pan, and I don't have a problem with that, but it just wasn't as much fun as the original and it left me feeling a bit 'meh'! I didn't hate it, but I'd only give it about 5/10.

I read Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean today. It's the official sequel to Peter Pan. Big let-down. I've never read a 'sequel' written by a different author from the original book and after this, I'm not sure I ever will again.

Wow, blimey - all those books! I thought All Quiet... was excellent too.

Why, thank you! I love music - can't imagine life without it! From your list on page 1, I'd say we had quite similar tastes - you've some great stuff there too!

You'd be more than welcome!

" 'I'm not going to bed,' said John - which startled his wife." Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean