Janet

Your list sounds like my husband's kind of reading. He's read all the Michael Crichton ones, part from 'Next'. Welcome to the forum.

Ah thanks Michelle - that makes sense. I did the drop-down box thing with my 'watch list' to make them friends. It says it's sent the request and they have to accept or decline.

That's true - there seems to be a lot of snobbery surrounding their choice of books. People I've spoken to often write the books off if R&J have picked them. I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to buy their recommendations - but neither would I let it put me off. I'd have missed out on the excellent The House at Riverton (and Mr Pip?) if I did! I've only watched Richard and Judy's show once - and that was specifically for 'Riverton' - it's not my type of programme.

I read a book called something like The World's Most Infamous Murders many moons ago. It had lots of cases in it like The Moors Murders, Lizzy Borden (?), Mary Bell etc, but I think a friend borrowed it years ago and I didn't get it back. I've read the Holly and Jessica book (written by one of their fathers) - that was so very sad.

I love the idea of it - I just somehow never get round to updating it. I think I've only listed two books. I might try to add some more today! ETA: What's the difference between Friends and Private watch list?

Finished The Outcast by Sadie Jones (a Richard and Judy 'Summer Read') - 7

"]The Outcast by Sadie Jones The 'Blurb' [from Fantasticfiction.co.uk] It's 1957 and Lewis Aldridge is travelling back to his home in the South of England. He is straight out of jail and nineteen years old. His return will trigger the implosion not just of his family, but of a whole community. A decade earlier, his father's homecoming casts a different shape. The war is over and Gilbert reverts easily to suburban life - cocktails at six-thirty, church on Sundays - but his wife and young son resist the stuffy routine. Lewis and his mother escape to the woods for picnics, just as they did in wartime days. Nobody is surprised that Gilbert's wife counters convention, but they are all shocked when, after one of their jaunts, Lewis comes back without her. Not far away, Kit Carmichael keeps watch. She has always understood more than most, not least from what she is dealt by her own father's hand. Lewis's grief and burgeoning rage are all too plain, and Kit makes a private vow to help. But in her attempts to set them both free, she fails to predict the painful and horrifying secrets that must first be forced into the open. Whatever you think about Richard and Judy (and personally I don't watch them - I always plan to watch the book reviews on Wednesdays but the timeslot is a bad one with children so I never quite get round to it) - they've picked some good books in their Bookclub, and The Outcast is another very enjoyable read. I think you might like this if you liked The House at Riverton by Kate Morton - it has that feel about it, although it's maybe not quite so good. Someone on Amazon described this as like watching a car crash unfold in slow-motion, and I think that sums it up rather accurately. It feels a bit long-winded in places, and yet I read it really quickly (for me) and overall thought it was very enjoyable - especially as it's her début novel. I shall certainly look forward to her future books. The paperback is 441 pages long and is published by Vintage Books. The ISBN number is 978-0099513421. 7½/10 (Read June 2008)

Yup the boys are back in town! I can't wait for this!

Hello Bronwen - welcome to the forum.

Oooh, I'd like to work in a bookshop - but I think I'd end up giving them all my wages every month! Welcome to the forum.

Hello Jordan, and welcome.

Shakespeare's Sonnet (116, I think) is often used. A few suggestions... THE KEY TO LOVE The key to love is understanding….. The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word But those unspoken gestures The little things that say so much by themselves. The key to love is forgiveness….. To accept each others faults and pardon mistakes Without forgetting, but with remembering What you learn from them. The key to love is sharing….. Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together Both conquering problems, forever searching for ways To intensify your happiness. The key to love is giving….. Without thought of return But with the hope of just a simple smile And by giving in but never giving up. The key to love is respect….. Realising that you are two separate people, with different ideas That you don’t belong to each other That you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond. The key to love is inside us all….. It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients That will take you to its threshold It is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work….. But the rewards are more than worth the effort…. And that is the key to love. Author Unknown If you don't mind a religious one, we had the traditional "the greatest of these is love" one at our wedding. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. Ephesians 3.14-end If I were to get married again, I might go for an amusing one! Yes, I'll Marry You Yes, I'll marry you, my dear, And here's the reason why; So I can push you out of bed When the baby starts to cry, And if we hear a knocking And it's creepy and it's late, I hand you the torch you see, And you investigate. Yes I'll marry you, my dear, You may not apprehend it, But when the tumble-drier goes It's you that has to mend it, You have to face the neighbour Should our labrador attack him, And if a drunkard fondles me It's you that has to whack him. Yes, I'll marry you, You're virile and you're lean, My house is like a pigsty You can help to keep it clean. That sexy little dinner Which you served by candlelight, As I do chipolatas, You can cook it every night! It's you who has to work the drill and put up curtain track, And when I've got PMT it's you who gets the flak, I do see great advantages, But none of them for you, And so before you see the light, I do, I do, I do! Pam Ayres

It often happens with me! Titles that spring to mind where I was sad to finish are The Kite Runner, Mister Pip and The House at Riverton. It is bittersweet, you're right! You want to know what happens but then you've nothing left to look forward to apart from wondering whether your next book will live up to expectations!

We commented on that too - it was decidedly odd. I'm pretty sure next week's isn't the last one.

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow! Our friends were in this episode. We knew they were going to be (the bloke is a permanent extra in DW and Casualty/Holby City), and one of the sons has been in one before, but all four were in this. What a buzz to see them!

"The Large Family" books by Jill Murphy. If you search for 'A Quiet Night In' on Amazon you'll find links to the others. My children (and especially my daughter) *loved* these!

Hello and welcome!

Finished Cider with Rosie today - what a lovely book! 10/10

Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee The 'Blurb' Cider with Rosie puts on record the England we have traded for the petrol engine. Recalling life in a remote Cotswold village some fifty years ago [Note: now 91 years ago - this is an old copy!] Laurie Lee conveys the semi-pleasant spirit of a thousand-years-old tradition. I know a lot of people read this at school, but for some reason, it bypassed me and it's one of those books that I've mean to read for years and years but it was only because I found an old copy for £1 in a charity shop that I've finally got round to it. It's the first part of Laurie Lee's autobiography, which starts in 1917 when he was three years old, and tells of his life in the rural Gloucestershire village of Slad. Lee's mother married a widower with three daughters - who moved to London and left her to raise them, together with their own children. Their scatterbrained mother believes that one day Laurie's father will return to them, but in the meantime raises his children and theirs in her own inimitable way! I've clearly missed out on a real gem. What a delightful, charming book which, despite being old-fashioned still entertains today. His prose is wonderful and it has some really chuckle-out-loud moments in it. The paperback is 231 pages long and is published by Penguin. The ISBN number is 978-0140016826. 10/10 (Read June 2008)

It is out in paperback already - I bought it this morning.

Has the rash gone now? Hope she's okay.

I did - it was great. I liked the bloke who is a bank manager in the Nationwide adverts in it too.

I'd just like to say Happy Birthday to Harry Patch - 110 today!

I don't listen to much classical music but I have an absolute passion for Gilbert and Sullivan!