Esiotrot

Hi Echo - could you give me the details of the Coco Chanel book please? I would love to read it Many thanks Kx

This soup http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4772/potato-and-savoy-cabbage-soup-with-bacon with freshly baked baguettes - hope its as good as it looks!

Hi Hi Conor!

Hi Hi Jenni

Well said! I absolutely loved this book, after feeling like I had lost my reading mojo this has given it a new lease of life! I keep thinking about the characters and I am sure I will for a long time to come. If its in your Mount TBR ~ lift it to the top

From Jodi Picoults website ~ Breaking My Sister’s Keeper Film News: Dakota and Elle Fanning have been cast to play Kate and Anna Fitzgerald in the movie adaptation. They're younger than in the book – but so is Cameron Diaz, who's been cast as Sara. Cameron Diaz will star in the New Line Cinema adaptation of My Sister's Keeper - and filming will begin early next year!

I have read and enjoyed (in order of preference) My Sisters Keeper, Plain Truth, The Pact and Mercy. I read Mercy a couple of weeks ago and am sorry to say I was disappointed. Mercy is not Picoults strongest book and being Scottish myself I was bemused at the Scottish characters/ history references(ahem!). I think I have almost every other book she has had published on mount TBR with the exception of Nineteen Minutes - which would be the one I really want to read now!

Hey Missus:friends0: How was The Book Thief? Be interested to hear your opinion on Mercy by Jodi Picoult. I have read quite a few Picoults now but have to say its my least favourite to date. KxXx Edit ~ just read on the review thread that you enjoyed The Book Thief - going to treat myself to this at the weekend.

I hope to read 70 books this year My scoring system - borrowed from Bookcrossing is ~ 10: Excellent.This book has impacted me deeply, or has simply been a pure delight to read. 9: Great book - just a nitpick stands between it and a 10. 8: Good, solid book that I would recommend to others. 7: Good book, but ... it didn't grab me in a *big* way. 6: Decent, but not really my type of book. 5: I'm sure somebody else would like this, although I didn't. 4: Only OK. The line between taking it and leaving it is very thin. 3:Major problems. I don't recommend this. 2: Major problems. I recommend you DON'T read this. 1: Ugh! Stay away! It's hard to imagine *anyone* liking this book!!! NF = Not Finished January 2008 1. Mercy by Jodi Picoult ~ 6 2. The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve ~ 6 3. Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger ~ 7 4. The Shoe Queen by Anna Davis ~ NF 5 5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ~ 7 February 2008 6. Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis ~ NF 7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ~ 9.5 February was not a good month for me - far to much going on to find time to read!! Onwards to March March 2008 8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak ~ 9 9. Breaking the Trust by Lucy Clare ~ 7 10. I am Legend by Richard Matheson ~ 6 11. The No1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith ~ 9 12. Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre ~ NF 13. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen ~ 8.5 14. Poisoned Cherries by Quintin Jardine ~ 7 15. How to be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward ~ 8 April 2008 16. Never Let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro ~ 6 17. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller ~ 7 18. The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier ~ 6 19. Tears of a Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith ~ 8.5 20. The Vanishing of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell ~ 9 21. Nobody Loves a Ginger Baby by Laura Marney ~ 8 22. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan ~ 6 23. Karma by Holly A Harvey ~ 7 24. The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson ~ 7 May 2008 25. The Stepmother by Simon Tolkien ~ 6 26. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson ~ 5 27. The Last to Know by Melissa Hill ~ 8 28. Boy A by Jonathon Trigell ~ 8 29. The Queen and I by Sue Townsend ~ 6 June 2008 30. Helpless by Barbara Gowdy ~ 7.5 31. Eden Close by Anita Shreve ~ 7.5 32. His Other Lover by Lucy Dawson ~ 7 33. Rachels Holiday by Marian Keyes ~ 6 July 2008 34. The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Green ~ NF/4 35. Blood Ties by Sam Hayes ~ 8 36. The Colour Purple by Alice Walker ~ Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler ~

Just finished reading 'Catcher' - I found Holden irritating - I did sympathise with him to an extent but the book just didnt grab me and I had to force myself to finish it. I am glad I did but after reading some of the comments here I am sure I have missed something. Perhaps the simple answer is that I have too much on my own mind to read between the lines. I decided to try a modern classic for a change of scene and to try and rediscover my mojo but am left wondering why its a must read? Kx

DAMN! cant tempt you then?

I would be delighted to swap if anyone wants my book which sounds like hell in a paperback to me! Kx

I should have read this thread before signing up What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy Synopsis During his decades of world fame as a novelist, Tolstoy also wrote prolifically in a series of essays and polemics on issues of morality, social justice and religion. These works culminated in What is Art?, published in 1898. Impassioned and iconoclastic, this powerfully influential work both criticizes the elitist nature of art in nineteenth-century Western society, and rejects the idea that its sole purpose should be the creation of beauty. The works of Dante, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Baudelaire and Wagner are all vigorously condemned, as Tolstoy explores what he believes to be the spiritual role of the artist - arguing that true art must work with religion and science as a force for the advancement of mankind. YIKES!!!

Sounds good Kylie ~ off to add to my wish list Kx

I have just started this book and am a bit daunted at the size of it at 835 pages it is the longest book I have ever read and the font is tiny! I am usually a quick reader and finish a book in less than 2 days so will see how long this takes. I am so looking forward to getting going with it. KxXx

Finished How to talk to a widower by Jonathon Tropper ~ 8/10 Synopsis When Doug Parker married Hailey - beautiful, smart and ten years older - he left his carefree Manhattan life behind to live with her and her teenage son, Russ, in the suburbs. Three years later, Hailey has been dead for a year, and Doug, a widower at 29, just wants to drown himself in self-pity and Jack Daniels. But his family has other ideas...Russ is furious with Doug for not adopting him after Hailey died, and has fallen in with a bad crowd. Claire, Doug's irrepressible and pregnant twin sister, has just left her husband and moved in, uninvited, determined to turn his life around. Then there's Debbie, their younger sister, engaged to Doug's ex-best friend and maniacally determined to pull of the perfect wedding at any cost. Soon, Doug finds himself trying to forge a relationship with Russ, reconnecting with his own eccentric nuclear family, and reluctantly dipping his toes into the shark-infested waters of the second-time-around dating scene. It isn't long before his new life is spinning hopelessly out of control...

Ah, I have read a few bad reviews on Wedding in December so was going to give it a miss for now. If you get the chance to read Where or When I would recommend you give it a go. I felt involved in the passionate obsession, desperate to know how it would turn out. It certainly evoked feelings and memories for me, makes you consider what would you do if you had a second chance with your first love.... kx

Finished Where and When by Anita Shreve at supper tonight ~ you can tell how much I have enjoyed a book when I finish it quickly, couldnt put this down! The story was nicely written, quite racy in parts. I felt sympathy for the partners of the main characters, but at the same time hoped the couple could find a way to be together. The ending although kind of expected, was sad. I also have The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve and am looking forward to reading it now. Which Anita Shreve books did you read H&D? Kx

I fancy Cloud Atlas too H&D but am determined to read some of the books I own before buying more! Kx

Hi H&D Thanks for the rec's I read the Lovely Bones last year and enjoyed it and I have On Beauty and White Teeth both in TBR pile. I started Where and When? by Anita Shreve tonight and liking it ~ What would you do if out of the blue, you received a letter from your first love? Sian Richards sees no reason why she can't write back to Charles Callahan. After all, it's been thirty years and they are both married with families. But when they decide to meet again, an innocent correspondence becomes a dangerous intimacy. Swept up in the past and consumed by an obsessive love, Charles and Sian risk everything to be together. A heart-wrenching, suspenseful story with an unforgettable conclusion Kx

My recent non-recommends are Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardam - Really disliked this book, the main character was pointless, couldnt finish it. Panic by Jeff Abbott - Too many twists and turns to be taken seriously Sheer Abandon by Penny Vicenza - Recommended by a client who raved and said it was the best book she had ever read, I have tried twice to read it but its not my cup of tea at all. Little Face by Sophie Hannah - had it sussed early on and the characters lacked substance. KxXx

Just finished The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez ~ 7.5/10 I really enjoyed this book, it is a subject close to me as I own a salon so reading about the differences in culture and the difficulties in setting up a Beauty school were very interesting. The story is a bit jumpy at times and I felt the ending lacked the substance that the rest of the book had ~ I hope there is a follow up book so the story can be followed through. Recommended KxXx

I really enjoyed this book, it is a subject close to me as I own a salon so reading about the differences in culture and the difficulties in setting up a Beauty school were very interesting. The story is a bit jumpy at times and I felt the ending lacked the substance that the rest of the book had ~ I hope there is a follow up book so the story can be followed through. Recommended KxXx

Reading this at the moment - so far love it but will let you know when I am finished K xXx

Finished The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards ~ 8/10 This is a beautifully written book, I found it a bit slow in places and heart renching but all in all a good read. I would def. recommend