Polka Dot Rock

Hello Rennie! I am indeed enjoying Small Island It's taking me a bit longer to read as I was out all weekend and this week I've been preparing for my holiday (woo!). I'm hoping to finish it by Saturday at the latest as I already have a small ton of books to take with me!! It's an extremely good book: the racism is very disturbing in parts as you can forget how all pervading it could be after WWII. It makes me feel sick. When Hortense doesn't realise what it will be like, I just put my head in my hands as I could see what was going to happen. But it's great that someone had the guts to write about all this terrible prejudice and still make the whole experience readable. I'm really enjoying the characterisation too, I feel like I'm really getting to know these people with all their faults and quirks.

Oh Andy, as opposed to buying books from an "exciting Japanese influenced fiction" promotion by Waterstones, where all the publishers of those books paid a good deal of money to be part of that promotion?

That's really useful to know, Em. I just thought it was 'one of those things'. But I could do with training myself up, what with going back to full-time studying. Did you do anything in particular?

I had to do that too. It's weird - I can't read a lot of text on screen without losing concentration! I got through so much printing... But at least I had a printing/photocopying allowance

Neither do I. For some reason, the titles Amanda Ross picks (for it is she, not R&J who selects them) for the non-summer list are more appealing. Like most of you, I've read quite a few R&J list books without realising that they would become picks! But I have nothing against them doing it and it doesn't put me off When they featured Lori Lansen's The Girls (great book btw), I enjoyed the coverage they did: really interesting. The other aspect of this list is that - superficially at least - it provided the first opportunity in a long time that publishers managed to wrestle a little promotional control from the big book chains. As we all know, WH Smiths, Waterstones et al charge publishers sky-high fees for promotional space. Well, after Amanda Ross introduced the R&J lists, publishers can now negotiate with the retailers! Because if their book is featured, they know it will sell by the truckload and the retailer looks silly if they don't have it in stock. Some small publishers and quite a few independent retailers have benefited because of this new tactic. However - and nothing has been said about this so I'm not implying anything - that doesn't mean that Ross isn't influenced by the publishers of the books she reads... Or she may be totally impartial, who knows? But at least it's made things interesting in the bookselling world! Amanda Ross isn't called The Most Powerful Person in Publishing for nothing!

Re: Winnie the Pooh lyrics Thank you both - you have made my morning! Re: Books/fanzines of a teenage obesession Yeah, that's what I thought too: I devoted so much of my life to the Manics that it seems a shame to throw all that stuff out. I still like reading some of the 'zines! (I wrote for some and did my own too ) I used to read them, too! I loved them. I even named my guinea pig after Kristy! (I just liked the name, really) I remember being so sad when Louie (Kristy's dog) died and they played "Louie, Louie" when they buried him... I can't believe I still remember this stuff!

Do you mean the animated Disney ones (as I believe you do)? Yes, I loved them! It was the first 'long' feature I watched as a tot without becoming bored. I also liked how they kept the stories in 'book' form - especially as I liked the original books, too. Coincidentally, this weekend I was desperately trying to remember all the words to the theme tune: "There once was a hundred-acre wood / Where Christoper Robin played / *mumble mumble mumble...*" then it would list the inhabitants (I always liked the "Kanga! And little Roooooo" bit ), which ended with "But most of all Winnie-the-Pooh... Winnie-the-Pooh! Who? Winnie-the-Pooh! Cuddly *mumble-something-or-other* bundle of fluff..." etc. As you can see, I struggled somewhat!

Of course! Aw, that's a lovely story! And thank you for posting that picture - I was feeling very bored and fed up - seeing them has now cheered me up So thank you Wrath!

I still have all my Calvin & Hobbes books and dip into them, on and off. And I would never let go of any of my Roald Dahl books! What's really funny is that I still have all my Manics (Manic Street Preachers) biographies from when I was a teenager, as I can't bear to get rid of them: it would seem like a betrayl of my teenage self! Same goes for all my dog-eared fanzines (lovingly printed on black and white photocopy paper, lol).

Aw thank Rosie, I'll look out for it! Oh and please let me know what 199 Steps is like, once you start reading it The Apple (More Crimson Petal Stories) is out in paperback in a couple of weeks so I'll be keeping an eye for it when I'm on hols. Definitely at the top of my Want To Read list

I don't give in to many, but Jane Eyre always makes me cry and Incredibly Loud & Extremely Close made me sob.

I guess it would: it's amazing how many books use war as a contextual backdrop! Atonement by Ian McEwan would also qualify as a 'war time' novel. (Ooh, the hospital scenes - blimey!) And not forgetting non-European wars: next week, I'm intending to read Half of a Yellow Sun which is set during the Biafra war in Nigeria.

Aw, I'm SO pleased Jules!! Is it feeling like a huge read or are you flying through it?

You're welcome, Judy With all this (much deserved) fan-fare, I feel quite inspired to read it again.

I enjoy novels set during wartime that offer a different perspective to the battlefield. The book I'm currently reading, Andrea Levy's Small Island, provides some read food-for-thought about the West Indian volunteers for the British Armed Forces in WWII (particularly when juxtaposed with black American GI's. I was so shocked, perhaps naively). One of my favourite books, Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman is set predominantly in Nazi-occupied Europe. It's quite different in both subject matter and style, but I think it's a stunning evocation of that specific part of WWII. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon uses the Nazi occupation of Prague as a starting point, before exploring how WWII eventually impacted upon America, especially the Jewish community. Very moving and unusual. Again, it makes you think about the war from a different historical and cultural angle. To return to the Home Front, I thought Sarah Waters' recent novel The Night Watch brilliantly fictionalised the experience of the civilians left in London during the Blitz (especially the new and changing roles for women). My history friend specialises in studying women's lives during the two world wars, and she loved this novel. Plus she hates reading fiction, normally. So high praise indeed, lol. Next week, I'm hoping to get a copy of Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut as I've wanted to read that for ages now. Fingers crossed!

Ditto! I forgot about auto/biographies - these are most definitely the genre I avoid. The only ones I like are graphic novel-style ones! The dominant trend for auto/biographies is one that really annoys me - especially with so many being ghostwritten! And I would never read any of the so-called 'misery-lit' books that are so popular right now... And people think some of my favourite books are depressing! That's exactly what I'm talking about! How blimmin' cheeky is that? (Nothing against Stephen King, btw: it's just how silly the ginormous 'LOOK! HERE'S A FAMOUS WRITER!!' typeface looks. And can be used to manipulate readers, as Bagpuss demonstrates)

Hello and I can already see that you are settling in so finely, it's like you've been here for ages! Glad you joined us

Ah ha! My cunning plan worked (BTW, Thank you for your kind words) Definitely my reading highlight of the year, thus far. I know, it's lethal 'round these parts... This is my revenge for all the books I've ended up buying becuase of reviews on here!!

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber Paperback: 894 pages Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; New Ed edition (30 Sep 2003) Language English ISBN-10: 1841954314 ISBN-13: 978-1841954318 I've been meaning to do a review of this for ages... If I had one word to review this whole novel: WOW. Where to begin? For starters I can't remember reading an opening quite as striking as Crimson Petal's is, and this high performing beginning has, thus far, been maintained throughout. It's like all the Victorian-era literature we love but with all the manky/scandalous/sweary bits left in Plus all beautifully written! Seriously, Faber is an extraordinary writer - the details he includes to really heighten the sense of 'being in the story' are exquisite! Yet, it's also an incredibly readable novel and very, very funny and bawdy. Actually, it's incredibly graphic in parts (as part of it is set in a brothel) - my eyes nearly popped out a couple of times towards the end of the first part! (Like this: , lol!) But it's all part of the narrative and the sense of the novel being what Victorian writers couldn't actually write, yet must have known went on, at the time. Faber takes on a bit of a Thackeray narrative persona too, which I just love. I couldn't wait to get back to reading it, and it really is true what some of the reviews said: at 835 pages long, it does feel too short! I was utterly bereft when I finished it - the characters were so sharply drawn that I really miss them now they are out of my life Definitely 10/10 - and I would give it more if I could!!

Yes, that often puts me off both crime novels and TV crime drama!! Sometimes it's so awfully cliched... Some of the funniest things I read are the letters Radio Times readers send in, parodying quite a few of the current TV series. Kate Atkinson uses Jackson Brodie who does seem to have classic fictional detective traits, such as having disasterous relationships with women, a troubled family background, being a 'maverick', liking a drink etc. But in One Good Turn, he just seems to unwillingly stumble onto things, much to his dismay! The reader is always ware of what's going on, whereas Jackson really isn't! We put the pieces together for him, in a sense. And that turns a potential cliche on its head (I haven't read Case Histories yet, but is Jackson handled in similar manner there?) Oh, and he is also just one of many characters that the reader follows!

I've read Things Fall Apart which is a great novel, obviously a very important one too with regards to African literature written in the English langauge. Andy - I'll check that article out, thanks for posting it Achebe also wrote a very in/famous essay (which title now escapes me ) about Conrad's Heart of Darkness: in very simplified terms, it suggested that it should no longer be considered as a canonical text because of it's overt racisim. Very controversial stuff, but all the more important in that it highlighted an issue that had been somewhat 'glossed over' 'til Achebe's polemic. It's really interesting, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

Chinua Achebe has won the Man Booker International prize! Which is both, for me, surprising and very pleasing as I love postcolonial literature. His fellow shortlisted writers were Britain's Doris Lessing, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie, Ireland's John Banville, the Americans Philip Roth and Don DeLillo, the Canadians Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and Michael Ondaatje, and the dissident Israeli Amos Oz. Here's a news article about it - Guardian: Man Booker International judges honour Chinua Achebe.

I usually try to persevere until it becomes a huge struggle to keep my attention - because when I put a book down unfinished, it normally remains unfinished. I just never have the will to pick it up again. However, when I've had to read unfinished or re-read books I didn't enjoy first time around for courses, it can be surprising how my opinion changes (Catcher in the Rye, for example). I've only put one book down unfinished this year which was Murakami's Norwegian Wood as I just wasn't interested in anything that was happening. And I should have abandoned Restless by William Boyd but I couldn't quite believe how awful it was!!

Generally, any book where the author's name is at least twice the size of the title! So John Grisham is definitely out then. I don't look at crime, thrillers or horror. It's just that there are so many books that I do want to read, I don't really want to make time for books I have no interest in. I hope that doesn't sound snobbish, because it isn't meant to be! But if someone recommended anything, I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. I don't read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy either, even though - like Emma also said - I enjoy it on TV and film. Weird.

For me, After You'd Gone is not only my favourite of hers, but is definitely in my current Top 10 favourite books that I've ever read. Wonderful novel. For me, Esme Lennox is the best thing she has written since What about you Michelle? What's your favourite?