~V~

I think I've said haven't I? Maybe not

Oddly I finished this this morning I then picked up 'Buried' by Mark Billlingham. The 'Thriller' is funnier than the Ben Elton (well I think so anyway) but MB is very dry and also an ex-comedian, just much less successful than BE I did see the parallels between the judges (especially Beryl/Sharon and Calvin/Simon) and doubt I'll look at one of these shows in the same way again

1. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder Utter drivel 2. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth Soap opera set in India. Soaps are ok on TV 3. Perfume - Patrick Suskind Boring, boring, boring. Then a barking mad ending The above three I am especially disappointed with as I had looked forward to reading each of them. 4. The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy Egotistical bore. Grrr.... 5. With No One as Witness - Elizabeth George Sorry Missus, you've lost it. I thought you wrote Whodunnits, not 'Oh look we solved the murder behind the scenes its'

I was the same when I read it. I was on holiday at the time and lay in the sun devouring most of the book in two days. the last three chapters I dragged out over a whole day as I couldn't bear it to finish

Everybody who I know who has got into it has loved it and rates it up there with other favourites However, I've never known a book that so many people just can't get into. Neither my parents nor my boss could get past the first few pages, unusual with all of them So maybe it's another that polarises opinion, as so many great works are?

I think it was maybe Hagrid that was reprieved and Tonks and Lupin who weren't going to. I say this because I fully expected Hagrid to die pretty well all through the book and it kind of led up to it in the Forbidden Forest when he was carried off, or when Grawp (is that right?) was stomping around Plus Lupin and Tonks were dead as a kind of aside. As if it was just slipped in - I thought their deaths were a bit underplayed. Plus they were both excellent wizards with unique talents so it's hard to see that they would lose many battles, especially both of them. Not sure I was too keen on the Epilogue either. A list of what they are doing now, like you get at the end of 'factual' films may have been better. I do think she wanted to avoid specualtion that there'd be another book, but with the kids, she's opened it up to that anyway - and we need to know if Teddy is also a werewolf

It's a monthly book read on here. People nominate the book they'd like to be read, then everybody votes and that book may be enjoyed by all who then wish to partake

I've just checked for you - avoid at all costs I say

Thank you - that's the love of my life. He died in April - I'm still in mourning for him

I half expected it to be revealed that all along it was Neville who was 'the boy who lived' and that Voldemort had only thought it was Harry due to Snape's obsession. To me, that was the only thing I ever hought Snape was guilty of

There's a lot of cross-referencing between her books too, I find. Bit of a nuisance if you've not read the book or it was so long ago you've forgotten the characters Ms Cooper, please note, I read stuff other than yours

That was almost my post I started Saturday afternoon and finished early yesterday evening. I even went to bed early on Saturday and fell asleep reading it! As for the wands, I think that it didn't matter which wand it was as long as it wasn't a 'wrong wand' if that makes sense. Like the wand Ron gave to Harry when Herione had broken his didn't work because Harry and the wand hadn't chosen one another, the same is probably true of 'Tom Riddle' and the elm wand I was upset with Hedwig and Dobby too. Dobby was always a favourite character of mine. Somehow they felt like Harry moving into adulthood as he was losing his pets. And I'm guessing becoming responsible for a young one too in some ways as his godchild's parents got killed too Now Snape, I've been championing him from the start. I never really felt he was a bad guy, just that he was a bit isolated. Didn't guess the Petronas was his though. Yes, the ending leaves it rather open doesn't it?

19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling Amazon Link I wanted to get this read before I got any spoilers. It's more grown-up than the previous books, more swearing and things happen that show more of a coming-of-age. I really enjoyed it and it'll be a shame there are no more to look forward to 9/10

18. The Bone Vault - Linda Fairstein Amazon Link I needed some 'safe territory' after the previous piece of garbage and this did the job nicely. It's the usual crime thriller and in this one you learn a bit about museums. Linda Fairstein is another of those authors who has constant characters and I read this one a bit out of synch. It didn't really matter though as they aren't so much to the fore that you care a great deal about them. Formulaic but did its stuff 6/10

17. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind Amazon Link I really hated most of this book. All apart from the mental end which made me laugh. If the book had been any thicker I would have stopped reading it. While reading it I was getting cross and it was affecting my mood - plus it took forever to wade through all the waffly passages. One paragraph was over two pages long ffs! I wanted to read this before I saw the film, now I probably won't bother with the film 1/10

16. Love Lives - Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees Amazon Link Great Chick Lit from this 'real life' couple. Nice and easy to read with some fun parts too. There's a great sex scene that had me in a bit of a dither in the dentist waiting room yesterday, especially when it was followed by something that is very true to me at the moment. Was a bit spooky. Nonetheless, it's only a 'good' book rather than a 'great' one so .... 8/10

15. The Twelfth Card - Jeffrey Deaver I'd forgotten how much I love Lincoln Rhyme books. The puzzles within them are so well crafted and the characters are sparse enough for you to paint your own pictures of them. This puzzle has layer upon layer and is a total page-turner Full kudos to Deaver too for making a point that he too didn't approve of the inappropriate casting of Denzel Washington as Rhyme. In this book he couldn't make it plainer that the quadriplegic is white 10/10

I'm not sure mine is a very impressive figure. And I'm very old so have had heaps of time B)

Have read - 48. Own - 46

I've copied the list down - I plan to work my way through it. I'll report back when I have

14. This Book will Save your Life - a. m. homes This book took me ages to read. However, it wasn't because it was difficult or boring. I really did enjoy it. It's an unusual book in many ways telling the story of a wealthy chap who has shut himself away from the world and how he starts to engage in life again. The author uses some wonderful techniques to enable the reader to visualise the story and adds some great, characters that are all true to life 8/10

me too i spotted it quite quickly but it was nice to see it unfold. i usually miss stuff when i take longer to read a book, so wasn't sure if i was sharp due to the fact i was reading it more or because i'd got into the mindset

mine too. but my fingers keep brushing past it

i adored jamaica inn and read it in one sitting. this was in the days when if i had days off and wanted to sit up all night reading, i could

but not nearly so dreary as the characters are quite nice and actually appear to be humans rather than the cold fembot scarpetta is