Janet

It's good that you can actually get them delivered. I expect it's not cheap.

Yes, that's very true. I recently read Casino Royale. 'My' Bond was Sean Connery (I haven't seen the film mind you, and I know it was Daniel Craig in it, not Connery) - and when I read A Christmas Carol, 'my' Scrooge was Alastair Sim!

I lend them to my Mum because I know she's as careful with them as I am. I've just lent a book to my friend to take on holiday and she was sitting there bending it and flicking through the pages at great speed and I wanted to say something but couldn't bring myself to. I've no idea what it'll come back like!

I don't think many of my Harry Potter characters were like the ones in the films (my Hermione was very different), but now that I've seen the films I can only see them as their actors.

Good thread. I think you've expressed yourself perfectly. I build up a picture in my own mind. It just happens. To my knowledge, I've never repeated a scene in two different books. The last book I read, No Time For Goodbye bears absolutely no resemblance to anywhere I've ever been and nor does my current book - and neither bear any resemblance to each other!

I've been thinking of reading some Jeeves and Wooster books (I wonder where that idea came from! ). Do they need to be read in order?

Well, that didn't take long! Loved revisiting Alice. 10/10

EDIT (23 OCTOBER 2009 - I've changed the title to the popular shortened version of both Alice books because the thread has turned into a discussion of both and I didn't want to start a new one for Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The ‘Blurb’ Alice lives an ordinary sort of life, until one day she finds herself in the most wonderful world of mad tea parties and remarkable characters like the Mad Hatter, the Duchess, the Cheshire Cat and the Mock Turtle. Alice is delighted to find that nothing in Wonderland is the least bit ordinary. It’s been 30 plus years since I’ve read about Alice. I was a stage hand in a school production of it when I was about 15, so I knew the story quite well. It’s a great book. Quite unique in that although it’s Victorian (first published 1865) it doesn’t have any moral undertone - it’s just written for fun. I really enjoyed revisiting it and I must find a copy of Through the Looking Glass to read soon! The paperback is 138 pages long and is published by Puffin. The ISBN number is 978-0140366754. 10/10 (Read July 2008)

Finished No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay which I enjoyed. 8/10 I've just started Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll - I haven't read this for about 30 odd years but I know it well as I was a 'stage hand' in a school production of it when I was 15!

I've searched for a thread about this as I know quite a few of us were reading it, but there doesn't appear to be one so I thought I'd start the ball rolling. No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay The ‘Blurb’ The house was silent. No sound of her parents getting ready for work, or her brother late for school. Were they punishing her for last night? She’d been out on a date when she should have been studying, and had a huge fight with her father. So where was everyone now? Why had her family disappeared? Twenty-five years later the mystery is no nearer to being solved and Cynthia is still haunted by unanswered questions. Were her family murdered? Abducted? If so, why was she spared? And if they’re alive, why did they abandon her? Then a letter arrives, a letter which makes no sense. Soon Cynthia begins to realise that stirring up the past could be the worst mistake she has ever made… I really enjoyed this book. Okay, so it’s slightly obvious about half-way through how the story is going to pan out but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment of it at all. It’s an easy read (which is most likely why Richard and Judy chose it as one of their Summer Reads). I found it quite hard to put down, which is always a good sign. It seems to have divided opinions on Amazon, but for me it was a good and enjoyable read and I shall definitely look out for more of Barclay’s work. The paperback is 437 pages long and is published by Orion. The ISBN number is 978-0752893686. 8/10 (Read July 2008)

It's by John Buchan, not Richard Buchanan. I'll amend the title for you. I read this several years ago and thought it was great. I've been meaning to read more of his. My Mum has 'Prester John' on her bookcase, but its an old hardbacked version so I've not picked it up, but I might look at it next time I go over.

I loved that. I have Between Georgia on my to read pile too.

I was the same - I read it for the first time last year (aged 41!) and I wonder why I didn't give it a go before.

This has been happening on and off for the last few weeks so I wonder whether someone can help? Kell has got a countdown in her signature saying how many days until Tadpole is due. Sometimes I can see it and sometimes I can't. It's gone again today. I wondered whether it was due to me upgrading to Firefox 3 but it's very sporadic. I also wondered whether it was something to do with Java but again, I don't think it can be as it's on and off! Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

That's the thing though - I didn't look for them - they were so obvious!

I've heard that Waterstone's are notoriously difficult to get a job with. They probably just mean that they had an applicant with experience in book sales.

It's an autobiographical account of the author/poet Laurie Lee's childhood in Gloucestershire just after the first world war. It's quite old-fashioned but the prose is so lovely.

Finished East of the Sun by Julia Gregson (a Richard and Judy Summer Read). 6/10

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson The

A few authors come out in paperback first. There is no 'standard' timing for paperbacks to come out after hardback as far as I know. It seems to vary from publisher to publisher and even from book to book.

Perhaps if you click the 'hide age and date of birth' it only shows on the calendar and not on the front page? ETA: No, that can't be right. I just tried it and I'm not showing on the calendar!

No problem. It's a good job you hadn't ordered them from a paying site rather than a library. It's rather annoying when books are rebranded for different markets without the fact being made clear. I know some of Emily Barr's books have different titles in the USA/UK, as do Sophie Kinsella's!

I don't know what ILL is, and I hate to tell you this, but you've ordered the same book twice. The Shifting Fog is the same book as The House at Riverton. I believe it was originally called the former but then changed to THAR. Is it too late to cancel one?