Janet

I gasped when she did that - she was very brave!

That's a shame, but I understand how life gets in the way. I hope you manage to read it at some stage.

I couldn't really add anything to what you'd written about last week's installation - I agreed with all you'd written. I can't believe how quick this novel is to read. I know that sounds silly considering we've been reading it over the past four weeks and still have one week to go, but what I mean is that if I hadn't been reading this as part of the group it would have taken very little time to read the whole thing. I know it's only about 400 pages (depending upon the edition) but I still expected a book about the French Revolution to be a difficult read, and it just isn't! I have very much enjoyed this week's read. I guessed that there must have been more to Cruncher than just digging up graves! Madame Defarge is a very sinisterly written character - I knew she was going to be bad news! Manette has really come into his own now - I'm very pleased for him as I did think he'd always have mental health issues as a result of his imprisonment in the Bastille. Darnay is back in prison, but I think he and Lucy should be in for a happy ending. Here's hoping. I'm sure I had something else to add... maybe it'll come back to me?

I haven't watched the dance-off yet (Peter's out so we'll watch when he gets back) so I don't know who's gone. If Jeremy is in the dance-off then it will definitely be him. I've quite enjoyed laughing at him but I think it's time for him to go now. The Charleston was great last night.

I have to say that I was looking forward to Peter Andre, but his sycophantic manner is *really* doing my head in. I haven't actually voted for him and I don't see that changing unless he does! This week I voted for Helen, Jay and Jeremy! Karen Hardy just gives me the creeps so much. It's a pity she came back!

Was this your first read of it? What do you think? I've been feeling under the weather today. On the plus side, I read 230 pages of, and therefore finished, Love for Lydia by H E Bates and also read the very short poem book Dorothy Wordsworth's Christmas Birthday by Carol Ann Duffy.

Oh wow, that's amazing - congrats on both accounts. Are you staying in the same field of work and location of home? I did laugh at your review of Paper Towns! I said after The Fault in Our Stars... "I enjoyed this book but I didn’t love it. I expected to be quite emotional (I cry at the drop of a hat normally) but I wasn’t – which isn’t like me at all. I’m not sure why really. I enjoyed the story but I just didn’t warm to the characters. I realise I’m in a minority here, but there it is! I did like John Green’s writing style, and it hasn’t put me off trying another of his, but it just didn’t have that ‘wow’ factor for me." I think, after reading your review, I won't bother after all!

I miss Ottakers too. There was a fab one in Wells near where I live, and also one in Trowbridge, just over the border in Wiltshire. They had the *best* website too!

Oh dear! I'm not looking forward to this! I finished this week's installment of A Tale of Two Cities yesterday and read some more of Love for Lydia by H E Bates.

As is Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes - but only for the next 47 minutes!

I read bits of a few of those Ladybird books in Waterstone's last week - very funny!

I was a bit naughty today and bought a new book! Anyone who knows me knows I adore Christmas. And isn't the cover simply gorgeous?! And, by default, I have acquired another book... This one was on my wish list and my Mum picked it up in Waterstone's this morning and decided to buy it, so I'll get to read it after her. Yay!

I haven't seen that version - I don't actually know who Justine Waddell is. I shall look out for it. I haven't read it. I'm not sure I ever will but it was free and from what I can remember it was the best of a bad bunch and I couldn't not download a free book! I've just looked at all her covers on Amazon and I see what you mean about them looking like Harlequin/Mills & Boons!

Who is the author?

It's just the way Mike Batt sings it badly with a big gap in the middle!

I'm really disliking Jamelia. I was already but her simpering "I think people don't like me..." comment at being in the dance off didn't do anything to help! Of Saturday's dancers I think Carol should have gone.

Just a quick post from me because it's nearly bedtime! I finished this week's instalment on Wednesday and things have really picked up now, haven't they! I wanted to carry on reading! Poor Doctor Manette. The business of the word dig at the Tower of London really unsettled him, didn't it. And Lucie has several suitors now - I'm sure he has mixed feelings about that. The section set in France and featuring the Marquis was great and seemed to me to reflect the whole 'let them eat cake' element of the French Revolution, which it must surely be reflecting. That poor peasant whose baby died under the wheels of the Marquis' carriage, and the horrible reaction of said Marquis. I'm sure I had some more to say, but my mind has gone blank. However, I'm very much looking forward to this week's instalment. The writing is so good and the story enthralling. Top stuff.

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford The ‘blurb’ "The Wombles" is the first ever Wombles book and introduces the stern but kindly Great Uncle Bulgaria; Orinoco, who is particularly fond of his food and a subsequent forty winks; general handyman extraordinaire Tobermory, who can turn almost anything that the Wombles retrieve from Wimbledon Common into something useful; Madame Cholet, who cooks the most delicious and natural foods to keep the Wombles happy and contented; and, last but not least, Bungo, one of the youngest and cheekiest Wombles of all, who has much to learn and is due to venture out on to the Common on his own for the very first time... So, how do you follow a book like Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children? By reading about The Wombles of course! When I was a child, Orinoco was my constant companion! I adored the books and I adored the TV show (I honestly thought that in the theme tune the Wombles were described as being common (“The Wombles of Wimbledon. Common are we…”) something that always made me rather cross! I expect most people know that the Wombles came into being due to the author’s daughter’s mispronunciation of Wimbledon! I came across a near brand-new copy of this, the first in a set of six adventures written by Elisabeth Beresford, in a charity shop and I simply couldn’t resist the gorgeous cover. The Wombles live comfortably in their burrow underneath Wimbledon Common. They exist largely because of the wastefulness of human beings who disregard useful items at the drop of a hat. The youngest Wombles are unnamed, but as soon as they are old enough they are taken to see Great Uncle Bulgaria and to consult his atlas in order to choose their own name. Once they have done this are sent out to scour the Common to recover these abandoned items which they bring back to Tobermory who sorts things out and stores them in his vast emporium because they are bound to come in useful at some stage. Bungo is now old enough to choose his own name (he does so by closing his eyes and pointing at the atlas – which doesn’t necessarily please the older members of the clan) and to head out onto the Common to take his part in collecting the useful stuff that has been abandoned or lost by humans. He, together with the lovable yet lazy Orinoco, kitchen assistant Alderney and the other young Wombles get into all sorts of adventures whilst Great Uncle Bulgaria and Tobermory look over them with great wisdom! The Wombles were certainly ahead of their time in regards to recycling! I have to say that whilst I did enjoy re-reading this, it didn’t hold quite the same charm for me as an adult as Winnie-the-Pooh or Paddington. It was good to revisit my old friends though and although I shan’t actively seek any more books, I might pick up another one if I come across it in my travels. The paperback edition is 229 pages long and is published by Bloomsbury. It was first published in 1968. The ISBN is 9781408808375. 3/5 (I enjoyed it) (Finished 28 October 2015)

I didn't take any notice of the dates when I read it either. Looking forward to seeing your after shots, and comparing them to their befores!

I'm sorry to read about your boy too. It sounds like you're doing all you can to keep him comfy and happy (of course you are - we wouldn't expect anything less of you). Give him a tummy rub from me.

I know lots of people who enjoyed A Fine Balance, so hopefully you will too. Bleak House is definitely something I want to read at some stage. I think I might make it when I'm on holiday so I can have a good run up at it. I see from Goodreads that it was originally published in 20 instalments so I'm expecting it to take a few weeks.

I haven't read it (or even heard of it before) but it has some good reviews on Goodreads. As someone who hates flying I have mixed feelings about reading a book featuring a plane crash!

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie The ‘blurb’ Born at the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India's independence, Saleem Sinai is a special child. However, this coincidence of birth has consequences he is not prepared for: telepathic powers connect him with 1,000 other 'midnight's children' all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts. Inextricably linked to his nation, Saleem's story is a whirlwind of disasters and triumphs that mirrors the course of modern India at its most impossible and glorious. When this was chosen by a member of my Book Club I felt sure I would love it. The premise was great and I was looking forward to reading about India and its vibrant, bustling, colourful culture. I actually found the beginning a real slog – it wasn’t engaging me at all and I kept making excuses to myself not to pick it up. Not a great start then! It was only thanks to Chrissy (for whom this is one of her favourite books ever) that I doggedly persevered. She assured me that it would improve after a hundred or so pages – and she was right… to a certain extent. The story, narrated by Saleem Sinai to his fiancé Padma, starts with him telling her how his Grandparents first met and moves forward through the story of his parents and his childhood to the present day, some time in the late 70s. Saleem is one of Midnight’s Children, born on the day that India gained its independence. Before his birth, a seer prophesised that Saleem would “never be older or younger than his country”, and that “there will be two heads, knees, and a nose.” Born exactly on the stroke of midnight, Saleem and the other Midnight’s Children all exhibit strange gifts – each one different – many a burden to their recipient. With Saleem’s gift of telepathy he has conferences with the other children, including his rival Shiva. Due to their birth being on the same day and to the actions of a woman called Mary, who later becomes Saleem’s Ayah, Shiva and Saleem’s lives become intertwined as the meaning of the prophesy becomes clear. The actions of the novel echo the events of India’s Independence and the partition of India and Pakistan. The historical aspects were interesting and I learned quite a lot from reading this. The novel features a very large and sometimes confusing cast of characters – I was very glad of my Kindle’s ability to pop up a reminder of who each character was! I have to say that I didn’t warm to Saleem at all, but I really loved his sister Jamila, known as the Brass Monkey. She grows up in the shadow of her brother and displays naughty characteristics in order to get herself noticed, yet despite the family’s obvious bias towards Saleem, Jamila is fiercely loyal to her brother, certainly in the earlier part of the novel. I’m not sure whether it was because the book took me so long to read that meant I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I’d expected to. All the ingredients were there, but for me it lacked the colour and excitement exhibited in Rohinton Mistry’s wonderful book A Fine Balance (which was kindly given to me by Chrissy a few years ago! ). That said, I am glad I read it and I think the content will make for a great discussion at Book Club and it will be interesting hear what the other members thought of it. The paperback edition is 672 pages long and is published by Vintage. It was first published in 1981. The ISBN is 9780099511892. 3/5 (I enjoyed it) (Finished 24 October 2015)

Well... Of course we can! I imagine it was this one (it's still on my laptop). I don't know whether you ever get British made-for-TV programmes in Finland, but I would urge you to try this version if it ever comes on TV and you have time... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186342/?ref_=nv_sr_1 It's not perfect (they seldom are, with a few notable exceptions) but I think it's a really good adaptation.

Oh yes! He's fast becoming one of my favourites. Awww. I'd forgotten all about that! I think it might have been him playing Oscar Wilde? Thanks. I have to thank Chrissy for the encouragement. If it wasn't for the fact it's a book club book then I wouldn't have persevered. I'm glad I got to the end of it for that reason.