Janet

Kay, at a guess! I wonder if she'll make you one?!

Great photos and I'm glad you had such a good (if bittersweet ) time. Canada looks awesome! We're saving up to go in (hopefully) a few year's time.

That's what I said I'd do, but having got so used to them I don't, apart from on our recent holiday when I wore my old reading glasses a lot of the time as I didn't want to damage my new glasses. They definitely do take some perseverance, Gaia, and they're not for everyone. My Mum prefers to stick to her bifocals.

Peter says my brain must be a strange and peculiar place to be! The market bit comes from our recent holiday in Mallorca (Alcúdia, to be precise) and yes, the doggy bit from our conversations yesterday. Jojo didn't look like Jojo (but was definitely her). I didn't recognise you in my dream but you were wearing a white crocheted beret even though it was boiling hot - but I recognised her! We used to have a cocker spaniel (sadly things didn't work out with him), Charlie - he adored water, unless it was clean! A muddy puddle? Yes. A stagnant pond? Definitely. A nice warm (but not too warm) bath. No way!!

I hope you enjoy your new books. I read some of Greene's Travels With My Aunt a few years ago but I didn't really get into it and I've been meaning to revisit it. I really enjoyed Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (if asked I'd have said you were bound to have already read this!). Sadly our Blackwell's in Bristol is closing down today. I'm not really surprised as it has downsized considerably in the last couple of years, but it's a shame all the same. The one in Oxford is a wonderful store.

This has nothing to do with books, but last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again... that I was walking through a huge outside market somewhere with Peter, and we walked past a dog grooming table and I recognised Jojo standing on it having a wash, cut and blow-dry! She was standing very still and absolutely covered with foam from the shampoo and the groomer was massaging it into her and then hosing it off with a hosepipe!

Please familiarise yourself with the rules about posting on the forum. Thanks

Definitely Kay! (And probably others!). I wondered why you'd said bathroom, Hayley. I assumed Claire had edited her post!

Your doggies are the right way up now.

^I think the clue is in the book title, Hayley! Great photo. Moi? Nothing!

It's a regular occurrence these days! I have so much stuff in my head that I just can't retain things like I used to be able to! : I remember loving it, but the story has faded over the weeks...

Oh bother! I did enjoy it, but it hasn't really stayed with me, sadly.

Hi Sarah. I discover new books from either wandering round Waterstone's/Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights/other physical bookshops and charity shops or from Websites such as Amazon and Goodreads - but also (and probably mainly...) from reading the 'blog' section on this forum. I'm irresistibly drawn to a good cover! I don't have a specific way of choosing what to read next - I just see what I fancy (like others here, I have dozens and dozens of unread books to choose from and yet often find I don't fancy any of them!). One thing I don't do though is read one book after another by the same author or even of the same genre. That's why I don't read many series books - I tend to prefer one-offs, although there are some exceptions, of course.

Hardacre by C L Skelton The ‘blurb’ Hardacre is the sweeping rags to riches story of the Hardacre family. This dramatic family saga follows generations of the Hardacres from Victorian times to the 1950s. Set against the backdrop of major historical events, Hardacre traces the family's humble beginnings to their position of great wealth. Sam Hardacre makes a tough yet honest living as a fish gutter. But he has ambitions for a life far removed from the harsh existence on the quays of the north English coast. Through drive and determination he builds a business empire and amasses a fortune. His wife, Mary, once a poor street urchin, must learn to adapt to her new role as mistress of a grand house in Yorkshire. Sam's sons, Joe and Harry, inherit some but not all of their father's qualities. Their opposing personalities lead them to make very different choices about their futures. Meanwhile, their younger sister, Jane, is born into a life of privilege and has no experience of her family's early struggles. The three siblings and their offspring will know love, hate, passion and tragedy, as they live through the dramatic events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The lives of the Hardacres are shaped by the extraordinary events of the Boer War, the Great War, the Wall Street Crash, the Second World War, Hitler's Germany and the London Blitz. Hardacre is a gripping pageturner; a tale of ambition, fate and family ties. Sam Hardacre is a fish gutter by trade and life is tough at times. After marrying Mary and starting a family, Sam needs to improve his lot in order to provide for them all so he comes up with a plan which, if successful, could change the family’s fortunes for the better… I read this book (and its sequel) when I was about 12 years old and although it’s not the kind of book I would read now it popped up as a 99p Kindle Deal book so I thought I’d download it for nostalgic reasons. It’s an historical saga type of book and starts in the Victorian era, ending around the time of the Second World War and is a typical rags-to-riches tale. I was surprised at just how much of the story I had retained and bits came back to me as I was reading. It was rather long-winded in places. I quite enjoyed rereading it but I don’t think I’ll be rushing to read Hardacre’s Luck again! The paperback edition is 512 pages long and is published by Harper Collins, but is out of print in book format. It was first published in 1976. The ISBN is 9780583127868. I read it on my Kindle. 3/5 (I enjoyed it) (Finished 18 May 2015)

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin The ‘blurb’ "Who the hell are you?" A.J. asks the baby. For no apparent reason, she stops crying and smiles at him. "Maya," she answers. That was easy, A.J. thinks. "How old are you?" he asks. Maya holds up two fingers. "You're two?" Maya smiles again and holds up her arms to him." A.J. Fikry, the grumpy owner of Island Books, is going through a hard time: his bookshop is failing, he has lost his beloved wife, and a prized rare first edition has been stolen. But one day A.J. finds two-year-old Maya sitting on the bookshop floor, with a note attached to her asking the owner to look after her. His life - and Maya's - is changed forever. Another book I picked up on a whim in Waterstone’s – although I guess it wasn’t really as it was right at the front of their Bluewater store on a large display stand, so I couldn’t really avoid it! Island Books is a small and successful independent book store run by Mr Fikry. He’s become rather grumpy since the death of his wife, and when a new sales rep turns up in his store he isn’t exactly friendly towards her, but soon after he discovers a small child who has been abandoned in the book store and his life changes forever… I really enjoyed this lovely, quirky tale – it’s a simple read which would make a lovely holiday read. The paperback edition is 320 pages long and is published by Abacus. It was first published in 2014. The ISBN is 9780349141077. 4/5 (I enjoyed it) (Finished 12 May 2015)

Great photos from all of you! Gaia - is yours the books you read during that week?!

Brilliant - thanks, Claire.

Thanks - I'd already looked there but they vary between 384 and 416 on there. My Kindle edition says 233 on the screen but the download of the book says 625 and Goodreads says 621 - and obviously the ISBNs vary, so I'd like it from an actual physical Penguin book if possible.

I finished Wuthering Heights today. Terrific. Does anyone have a Penguin paperback version and if so, could you please tell me the ISBN and number of pages? Thanks in advance.

I had the opposite problem in that I got to the stage where I had to take my glasses off to read! I've just got varifocals for the first time. Try Specsavers - you can have a trial period. You pay for both pairs (you get one pair 'free') - they're expensive so they only make up one pair and you try those for a month or so (although the optician I saw said I could try them for a lot longer if I wanted). If you don't get on with them they give you a full refund so it's definitely worth a try. They do take some perseverance - I really struggled in areas with lots of things going on (like shopping centres/supermarkets) but now I have got used to them and they're wonderful!

Goodness, it was lucky that the glass didn't shatter and go everywhere. I hope your bookcase is okay (and I'm glad Jasper was). That's a cute picture of him with your books!

I've just ordered a copy of it. I'm sure I'll enjoy it and I'm looking forward to the comparison. I do actually like the film (I guess having not read the book first) - my husband videoed it for me one Christmas (either '88 or '89) as I was working and he was off and he knew I liked it. He found an 'old video at the back of the cupboard' which was actually our wedding video! Oops!

This is a great challenge - you're doing very well at it too. I've just ordered Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It's something I've often thought of reading and your review has inspired me to do so.

I have read 72% of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (if that needs saying! ) since Saturday! This is something of a record for me with regards to a Classic. I can see why it is a Classic too. I have put this off for years but it's actually a pretty easy read and I'm really enjoying it.

Oooooh, I've never noticed a Giveaways section. Where do I find it, please? ETA: Oh, I've found it. Excellent - I shall enter. Thanks, Sari. ETA Again. Ah, you have to give your address before they pick a winner so I shan't enter after all. It's a shame though.