Janet

I've voted for Not Dead Enough... and added it to my Amazon wishlist!

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm pretty sure my Mum has a copy of David Copperfield (it's one of her fave books) so I'll borrow that one at some stage. I've added the others to my Wishlist on Amazon so I don't forget which ones you've suggested. ETA: Amazon have the Wordsworth editions for £1.99!!

Ooooh - is the Shakespeare Challenge something online, or something you're doing yourself? I want to read more Shakespeare after I've finished my A Level English Lit in June - I've only studied 4 so far.

I'm planning on reading some Dickens this year. I read A Christmas Carol over the holidays and I really enjoyed it.

It was half price in WHS when I bought it on Saturday.

Books read in 2006 - 20 Books read in 2007 - 30 FICTION On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan - 6½/10 The Book Thief by Markus Zusac - 10/10 Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - 9½/10 Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones - 9½/10 Strange Meeting by Susan Hill - 7/10 Shopaholic and Baby[ by Sophie Kinsella - 6/10 (if a bit fluffy!) For One More Day by Mitch Albom - 8/10 Casino Royale by Ian Fleming - 4½/10 Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler - 6½/10 The Outcast by Sadie Jones 7½/10 The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner 9/10 Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - 10/10 East of the Sun by Julia Gregson - 6/10 No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay - 8/10 The Rain Before It Falls by Jonathan Coe - 8/10 Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - 7/10 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - 10/10 Entertaining Angels by Joanna Bell - 8/10 Playing With The Moon by Eliza Graham 9/10 A Room With A View by E M Forster - 4/10 (Reading Through The Decades Challenge) The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett - 6.5/10 A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - 10/10 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - 8/10 Engleby by Sebastian Faulks - 7/10 The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas - 9/10 The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - 7/10 The Shack by William Paul Young - 5/10 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway - 10/10 CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT FICTION Peter Pan by J M Barrie - 7/10 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - 10/10 Forever by Judy Blume - 7/10 The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams - 10/10 NON-FICTION The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - 7½/10 The Road to Wigan Pier - George Orwell - Part 1 = 7/10 ..............................................-.... - Part 2 = 3/10 Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee - 10/10 Shakespeare by Bill Bryson - 7½/10 Eating for England by Nigel Slater 2½/10 Escape by Carolyn Jessop - 8/10 Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry - 9/10 1066 And All That by Stellar and Yeatman - 5/10 Number of books read in 2008 = 40

On Chesil Beach on Amazon The

Thanks.

Sounds interesting Gyre - thanks for the review. *Adds to Amazon Wishlist*

Did you watch the TV adaptation, DWMG? I did - I thought it was really poor compared to last year's Ruby in the Smoke. Not the acting, but the way they'd adapted the book. I know they couldn't fit it all into 90 minutes, but it seemed so very rushed to me.

Goodo! Oh do - you won't regret it! And it's only short too, which is a bonus!

I picked it up yesterday in WHS but I wasn't sure whether one needs to have read Great Expectations or to at least know the story, to fully appreciate it?

Thanks guys. To be fair, I read quite a few short books during the year. Animal Farm was very short as was A Christmas Carol. I also read quite a few children's books and again, they tend to be quick reads. 30 Books Read during 2007

Well, I didn't manage to finish it before Christmas, but I've finally finished A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It lived up to all my expectations - 10/10! I've read 30 books this year (pathetic compared to some, I know!) which is 10 more than I managed in 2006.

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I already had A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies on my Amazon wishlist. I don't know much about the others.

Welcome to the forum. For a long journey I would definitely take The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Such an amazing book. I'd also take 'Macbeth' and the accompanying York Notes! I'll let someone else have a go!

I've just finished The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman. Can't wait for the BBC adaptation now I've read it. Who knows, I might yet manage to read A Christmas Carol before next Tuesday now, seeing as it's only about 140 pages long!

The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman The

Isn't it funny how that can happen! I'm often heard to say "oh, I can't buy that - I've got too many on my to read shelf" but I always manage to talk myself into it. I used to stress about it, but now I've moved my 'to read' pile to a less obvious place so it doesn't bother me so much!

What's the significance of the blue titles, Kell? I'm sure it's something blindingly obvious but I had to get up at 3am for work today so I think my brain has seized!

No, I didn't. I know he says masses more than Othello but I didn't realise he was the only one. Have you seen the Kenneth Brannagh version by any chance? He makes a wonderful Iago!

I'm not sure I was on his side particularly, but I loved Iago from Othello - such a deliciously great baddie! Actually, Shakespeare does a good line in bad guys - Richard III was a good one too!

Clever!!

Do they have long chapters or something? I don't read very fast at all. Neither do I set a limit - it depends when I'm reading as to how long I read for. I tend to snatch reading where I can - a few pages whilst I'm waiting for my daughter to come out of school, on the park and ride bus if I'm going into town... and I always read before bedtime, but never for a set time/amount of pages. Some weeks I read loads, then I might have a week where I only manage a few pages!