Mia

Hammy, you should try and read Weaveworld. It's many years since I read it, but it was very good. I've also read The Thief of Always, and have Abarat on my TBR pile.

I wonder if any of our non-UK members have read and enjoyed these? I think they're wonderful, but I wonder how well they translate, as the humour is so British. You really have to know what Townsend is referring to in order to find them so hilarious.

That's a coincidence - I just posted the first Adrian Mole title in the "Never Ending Book Titles" game! I love Adrian Mole! I've read all the books. The most recent aren't quite as good, but they're still good. Sue Townsend is a wonderful writer. I loved The Queen and I too.

Anne of Green Gables is one of the few books I just couldn't finish. I think it was because the character of Anne just annoyed me so much. I'm afraid it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Oh, I loved Pyramids! Johnny and the Dead is still on my TBR pile. The ones I can't get into is the Truckers/Diggers/Wings series, and I didn't think much to Only You Can Save Mankind.

Nice one! Though I still feel that the first two books are not as good as the rest. Mrstrecool: I wish I was just starting Pratchett for the first time - all those excellent books ahead of me!

I've read the first four, and really enjoyed them. Artemis is my favourite character. I'll be reading the fifth as soon as it's out in paperback! I've also read The Wish List, which was very good, and The Supernaturalist, which I was less keen on.

I thought the film looked quite interesting, so I looked the book up on Amazon. If I remember rightly, the reviews weren't too glowing. I've never read any PD James before, but I might take a chance on this one if I can get it cheaply!

Yep, that's me! :oops: *toddles off to read the announcement* EDIT: Oh, that announcement. Michelle, I don't know how you expect us to notice that, stuck right at the top of General Chat with a big yellow triangle next to it. Very difficult to spot. *ahem*

New board? We're getting a new board? Have I missed something?!

Some people have all the luck. :grr: Believe me, you had a lucky escape, Michelle! I remember we did once refuse to continue with a book, but it wasn't an exam text. I can't remember the exact title, but I think it was something like "The Sound of Bow Bells" (will have to look it up). We all complained until the teacher gave up and substituted The 39 Steps. We didn't really like that much either, but we didn't feel we could complain after getting our own way about the original one!

LOL! I remember thinking that too! I'm sad to say that I hated all the books I read at school for O and A Level English literature. I'm surprised I've remained an avid reader, to be honest. Some of the ones I remember are: Spring and Port Wine Mist over Pendle Lord of the Flies (OK, that one wasn't too bad) Macbeth Anthony and Cleopatra King Lear To Kill a Mocking Bird Far From the Madding Crowd (Aarrrgghh!!! Hate, hate, hated this.) View From The Bridge/All My Sons An "epic" poem by Pope - "The Rape of the Lock" (it was a curl of hair you lost! Get over it!) Mansfield Park (why couldn't it have been Pride and Prejudice?) And so on... yawn... I get so jealous of all the people who studied fantasy and/or science fiction. We never did 1984, Animal Farm, The Hobbit, Jane Eyre, Goodnight Mister Tom, The Secret Garden... My school was utter pants.

My older brother read his books, so there were always plenty lying around the house. Around the age of 13 I read quite a few of them - Wilt, Blott on the Landscape, Riotous Assembly... the rest of the names escape me. I hardly remember anything about them (except the inflated condoms for some strange reason!), but I remember they were pretty funny. I just stopped reading them (I'm not sure why), and haven't picked one up for years.

"The Long Run"? I don't think they'd have got as far as they did if they'd had to run it! The Long Walk is one of my faves too. I agree with what Michelle says about trying a few different ones. It annoys me that King's pigeon-holed as a horror writer, when in fact very few of his book are pure horror. KW: Like reading about paranormal powers? Go for Firestarter, Carrie or The Dead Zone. Fantasy? The Dark Tower series or The Eyes of the Dragon. Epic tales of the apocalypse? The Stand. And so on... King really does write a diverse range of tales.

Five facts about me: 1) I can read upside down (that's upside down text, not me standing on my head!) 2) I was at school with a girl who once held a record for eating pies (and still might, for all I know) 3) I drive a Nissan Micra 4) I'm allergic to fish 5) My favourite colour is purple.

I avoid like the plague anything by well-respected, literary authors that I was forced to read for school - Hardy (man, was he depressing), Shakespeare, Ibsen etc. I hated every book I had to study at school. I also don't like true crime books, or horror, as I'm a sensitive soul!

I enjoyed them all, but the Rincewind ones are probably my least faves. I started with Mort, and then read the rest in order. IMO, the first two aren't as good as the rest, so anyone who starts at the beginning, please don't be put off! My faves are the City Watch books and Going Postal.

Velocity sounds a bit nasty for my tastes, to be honest - I'm a wimp! I bought it because I buy all Koontz's books, but it's fairly near the bottom of my TBR pile.

The Long Walk is my favourite of the Bachman books too. I also loved: The Dark Tower series Eyes of the Dragon Firestarter It Rose Madder (not many people seem to like this one, but I've always been fascinated by the idea of going through pictures).

Koontz's stuff is variable to say the least. At its best, it's wonderful (Intensity), but some would never have got published if they didn't have his name on the cover (The Taking). I currently have four of his books on my TBR pile: Velocity, Forever Odd, and two Frankenstein books. The guy writes them faster than I can read them! :shock:

The Abhorsen trilogy has a huge following. I've read all three, and preferred the middle book, Lirael, but I wasn't blown away by them. I think Nix has a problem with characterisation. I never felt I got to know Sabriel very well. I've also read up to Sir Thursday in the Keys to the Kingdom series. Nix has a huge imagination, but sometimes I feel too much confusing detail is included for a children's story. Not that I'm underestimating children, it's just that it sometimes gets rather confusing. I recently read Nix's new book, Shade's Children, and enjoyed that much more. It had more of a young adult feel to it, with some quite gory detail and concepts. I would recommend this one above the others.

I've read all the Hitchhikers books, but many years ago, so they're vastly overdue a re-read. I did enjoy the Dirk Gently books too, but haven't been able to get into The Salmon of Doubt for some reason.