Janet

Hi Lanka - welcome to the forum. I've deleted your duplicate post. I hope you enjoy being a member of the forum.

Because Claire is a supersleuth™! I'm glad you found your book.

I was going to have a good year this year too and I'm up to 15! Not as bad many as you, but still more than I intended!

I missed your original post but I'm sorry to hear you're poorly. Music is great and there is no point in forcing the reading - it'll come back when it... and you... are ready.

Great review, Hayley. Is that the first Jasper Fforde book you've read? He's one of those authors that I'm really curious about, but at the same time I'm worried that it might be too off the wall and that I won't 'get' it...

North and South? Thanks - that's good to know - I shall look forward to it even more!

Wow - this thread hasn't been posted in for a long time! I found a Bookcrossing book in a charity shop today... so I bought it! It was only 60p and I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't a BC one as I already have a free version of it on my Kindle, but I know that when I've released books and they haven't been 'caught' (I think only one of mine ever has) it's a bit disappointing, so that's why I purchased it. The charity shop wasn't the last release place, so I guess whoever caught it before didn't release it again and it just found its way there. I love the idea of Bookcrossing, but I also don't like the idea of the books never being found. I 'released' two in Bath a few years ago and later that same day I saw the plastic bag I'd put one of them in (which was labelled by me as "FREE Book - please read the note inside", which is how I knew it was mine) in a gutter (blooming litter louts ) but I never found out who took the book.

I'd like Lizzy Bennet's Mr Darcy, but don't tell Peter! Rather than a Cloak of Invisibility I'd like a Portkey. Imagine being able to go anywhere in the blink of an eye. Imagine how many BCFers I'd be able to visit!

Thanks for the info about Howards End (I thought the apostrophe must just be a typo. ). I've downloaded the sample but not tried it yet. Yes, that's the version I have. I listened to disc 1 and some of disc 2 on my walk to and from work today. I was 'into' the story straight away and I do like the narration. I can't wait to listen to some more. Luckily our forecast is good for the next 10 days (if the BBC website is to be believed) so hopefully I can listen to plenty more this week. It's an easy read - I'm enjoying grumpy Ove and the unfolding of the story.

Thanks, Alex. I listened to some of disc 1 on the way to work this morning and I think I'm going to love it too!

That's good to hear. I am looking for an alternative to Pride and Prejudice too, but was reluctant to choose Howards End (no apostrophe ) because I really disliked A Room with a View. I might download the Kindle sample and see what it's like. Edit - I'm a third of the way through A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and have also borrowed an audio book of South Riding by Winifred Holtby which I am going to start listening to tomorrow.

You have to try Rebecca (okay, you don't have to, but I think you should!) - it's a fantastic book. I'm glad you enjoyed Jamaica Inn

I loved Cold Comfort Farm and I've loved every single Dickens and Shakespeare that I've read so far! Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

I've downloaded it. I think Cranford is my favourite read of this year so far. I really didn't want it to end.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I felt the same when Cranford ended, so I know how you feel.

Thanks - I've just spotted that it's £2.99 on Audible so I'm going to have to buy it!

Thanks - maybe I won't rule him out entirely.

I finished listening to Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell on the way to work - oh my, I *loved* it! Prunella Scales narrated it - it's the first audio book I've listened to with her as a narrator - she was very, very good. I really want to read some more of her stuff now! I think North and South is a Counties Challenge so I am going to push it up the list!

The Herring Seller’s Apprentice by L C Tyler The ‘blurb’ His latest novel is going nowhere, a mid-life crisis is looming and he's burdened by the literary agent he probably deserves: Elsie Thirkettle, a diminutive but determined individual who claims to enjoy neither the company of writers nor literature of any sort. But however bad things look, they can always get worse, as Ethelred discovers when his ex-wife, Geraldine, vanishes close to his Sussex home. When the disappearance becomes a murder enquiry, the police quickly decide that Geraldine Tressider has been the victim of a local serial killer. I picked this up on a whim and okay, I admit it, the only reason I did was because of the cover! Not only is it very pretty but it also feels lovely – like velvet. The premise sounded great too – a mystery where the sleuth is a writer – and his crime-solving partner a literary agent. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that I didn’t like either of the lead characters very much. Ethelred is bearable… just, but I found Elsie to be rather irritating (I don’t know whether the author ‘L C’ Tyler identifies with the character of Elsie, or whether the similarity in names is just coincidence). I didn’t hate it - the investigation element of the book made a good story so it wasn’t all bad. I had an inkling of where it was going and I was right. Unfortunately the fact I didn’t like Ethelred and Elsie means I am very unlikely to read any more of the series. Pity, as the other covers are equally gorgeous… The series has some great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads so clearly I’m missing something. I just think the humour didn’t work for me. The paperback edition is 350 pages long and is published by ALLISON & BUSBY. It was first published in 2007. The ISBN is 9789780749018269. 2½/5 (I was okay) (Finished 27 February 2016)

After trying A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (and giving up after reading 100 pages) I don't think I'll ever try him again.

More William by Richmal Crompton The ‘blurb’ William is up to his old tricks in More William, Richmal Compton's second set of classic William adventures. When Aunt Lucy tells William that 'a busy day is a happy day', William does his best to keep himself very busy indeed. Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates his efforts to cheer up Christmas Day - and when a conjuring trick with an egg goes very badly wrong, William finds himself in more trouble than ever! This is the second collection of stories about the mischievous rascal William Brown! This time William’s escapades include him inadvertently giving a stranger valuable inside information about various residents in the village, running away from home to teach his family a lesson and ‘helping’ the men who have come to pack up his home when the family move house. As ever, William gets into plenty of scrapes that leave his family in a state of permanent wariness! He does, however, have lots of redeeming qualities in this set of stories and some of them go to show that despite his shenanigans, his heart is mostly in the right place! I very much enjoyed this collection – especially as they were wonderfully narrated by Martin Jarvis. I wish I’d read them when I was younger. I’m not sure I shall listen to, or read, any more for a couple of years, but I feel sure I shall revisit William at least once more in the future. The paperback edition is 272 pages long and is published by Macmillan. It was first published in 1922. The ISBN is 978 1447285595. I listened to it on audio book. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it) (Finished 24 February 2016)

Spooky! I hope they might show it eventually.

Did you read any more of Look Who's Back? I shall be interested to hear what you think of it when you finish it.

Thanks, Claire - I'd appreciate that. I've never even noticed that channel on Freeview before. I've 'liked' them on Facebook so maybe I might notice it on too - I'll let you know if I spot it.

I read this for the challenge and then forgot to post in here! In terms of the challenge, parts of it definitely capture the county of Greater London, albeit in Victorian times. This review is copied from my blog. As my next book was to be The House of Silk for my book club, Anthony Horowitz’s take on Sherlock Holmes, I thought I’d better try the real thing! I chose this particular one, despite it not being the first book to feature Holmes, because it is a Counties Challenge book. It’s a collection of 12 stories including such tales as Scandal in Bohemia about a woman who holds a photo of the King of Bohemia, which, if it got into the wrong hands, would have far reaching consequences for the him, The Adventure of the Speckled Band where a woman visits Holmes in fear of her life after her sister has died in mysterious circumstances which now seem to be repeating themselves for her, and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches about a young woman who is offered a position as a governess, on the condition she cuts her auburn hair into a particular style and agrees to wear clothes given to her by her employer. Holmes, together with his good friend Dr James ‘John’ Watson investigate these cases, often putting themselves in great peril. I very much enjoyed the stories and I loved Holmes and Watson’s friendship. I have seen, and loved, the BBC’s Sherlock featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character in a modern setting but hadn’t read the books or seen any of the TV adaptations. Having read this, I wonder why I left it until now to read any of the books featuring this brilliant detective and his trusty sidekick! Coincidentally, immediately after finishing this book I was channel hopping on TV and noticed one of the ITV Sherlock adaptations from the 1980s (ITV?) TV adpatation featuring Jeremy Brett as the great detective was on one of the Freeview channels. It was The [Adventure of the] Speckled Band and was a great adaptation – seems I should have tried it when it first aired!