~Andrea~

Thanks Julie. Yes the year started out well but there have been a few disappointments. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the final Robin Hobb Live Ship book soon when OH lends me his kindle for a bit. So hopefully that will redress the balance

Yea that's exactly what I did - take it on faith

Wow - well it's been a while since I posted here! I finished Freed for Life and enjoyed it. Since then I've listened to The Martian, by Andy Weir, about a NASA botanist and engineer who gets stranded on Mars. It was very enjoyable and decently read by R C Bray. It's a bit like Robinson Crusoe on Mars, with the story of how an engineer overcomes one problem after another in their bid to survive. It was engaging and gripping, with interesting characters and a touch of humour thrown in. There was a lot of technical detail which I did have to kind of tune out of a little, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless. I would recommend if you like science fiction. It was originally self-published and then redistributed by Crown publishing. Pretty good for a first novel and well researched and convincing, at least for a non-engineer like myself. I've also been reading Philosophy of Mind - Classical and Contemporary Readings for some while now. It is very interesting but it's going to take me some while to get through. I've also started Barbara Vine's King Solomon's Carpet but haven't got too far with it yet.

Oh dear - well you might enjoy them, you never know.

I'm looking forward to this too. I recongnized the actress from the BBC Camelot series. I hope it's better than that series though

I finished The Sunday Philosophy Club and I have to say I wasn't impressed. I found it pretty slow (though it did pick up a bit in the second half) and found the endless philosophising quite tedious, with the ethics of every little thing discussed in detail (and I like philosophy - although perhaps I'm not such a fan of ethics). There just didn't seem to be enough story here and what there was wasn't particularly earth shattering. It was OK, I mean I managed to listen to it to the end, but I certainly won't rush back to this series.

I've been neglecting this thread! I've finished Through the Looking Glass and found it just as delightful (and weird) as Alice in Wonderland. I also finished The Case for Christ which I enjoyed even though when I started it I thought I was going to hate it. I'm still listening to The Sunday Philosophy Club and I've been finding it quite tedious although it is picking up a little now. I'm listening to an abridged version, so I dread to think how I'd struggle with the unabridged (unless they cut out all the good bits ) Yesterday I started Freed for Life by Rita Nightingale which is the true story of someone imprisoned in Thailand having had heroin placed in their suitcase without their knowledge by a so-called friend.

So Sorry Virginia. How awful and shocking. Kids these days are under so much pressure and technology seems to have made their lives more difficult in many ways.

Charles Dickens –vs-- Neil Gaiman Vladimir Nabokov –vs-- Terry Pratchett George Eliot –vs-- Edgar Allan Poe Paulo Coelho –vs-- JRR Tolkien E M Forster –vs-- Jane Austen Edward Rutherford –vs-- Oscar Wilde Leo Tolstoy –vs-- Gabriel Garcia Márquez Fyodor Dostoyevsky –vs-- Donna Leon Stephen King –vs-- George Orwell Peter F Hamilton –vs-- Franz Kafka

Loving Through the Looking Glass, although I think Lewis Carrol must have been as high as a kite when he wrote it as it is so surreal. I have to say I'm finding The Sunday Philosophy Club a little dull and I'm not really warming to Isobel much. I find her a bit of an opinionated fusspot. I will continue with it though as it's not terrible.

Started 'Through the Looking Glass' which I've never actually read before

Finished The Graveyard Shift last night. It was a lovely little YA story about a boy who is raised by the spooky inhabitants of a graveyard. Hmm - need to choose a new book tonight.

I started listening to Alexander McCall Smith's The Sunday Philosophy Club yesterday. Seems good so far.

Well I've given up on The Soldier's Return as I was finding it as dull as ditch-water. I've picked up The Graveyard Shift by Neil Gaiman instead and so far it's a million times better.

I love the sound of the C S Lewis book. And the Bridget Jones one (great review btw ) I'm glad you enjoyed My Cousin Rachel. I read it some years back and remember loving it though like others I can't remember it clearly.

I did start reading Neil Gaiman's Preludes and Nocturnes graphic novel but I wasn't really digging it. I got half way through and decided it wasn't really my thing. So I've picked up Melvyn Bragg's A soldier's Return instead. Not got very far in yet though.

Haha, that was funny, also frustrating to read. I kept wanting to shout, just get on with it woman! Heehee, not that I am immune from procrastination myself

Ah it was fab. I've just finished it. Very funny and what a likeable person she seems. I used to love the comic strip short films (though they are a bit dated now), Girls on Top and F&S etc. It was great hearing about all that stuff plus all the jet setting and glamour that seemed to come with the Ab Fab days. I didn't realize she'd had breast cancer though. Brave Jennifer

I really liked Lily Bard from Charlaine Harris's Shakespeare's Landlord. She was quiet and solitary, into keeping fit and liked cleaning, so I found I could relate in a lot of ways (not that I am as extreme as her in any of those areas)

I started listening to Bonkers by Jennifer Saunders on Thursday. So far I'm enjoying it a lot.

I finished Linda La Plante's Above Suspician today: From Amazon: Young detective Anna Travis has been assigned to her first murder case - and it couldn't be a more shocking, more horrific set of killings. They began eight years before; now the body count up to six. The method of killing is identical, the backgrounds of the girls very similar - all of them were drug-ridden prostitutes. Then a seventh body is found, same modus operandi, but this time the victim is a young student, sweet and innocent, with the "face of an angel." The profile of the murderer has changed dramatically. Anna stumbles on a vital piece of information which links one man to the killings. A household name, a much loved actor who is about to become an international movie star. He has charm, good looks and the gift of the gab. Denial and protestations of innocence spring easily and confidently from his lips. An arrest, in the face of intense publicity, would creat a media frenzy. And if he was found beyond doubt to be the wrong man, his career would be finished and Anna's hard fought-for reputation in the police force destroyed once and for all... With absolute authenticity and extraordinary power, La Plante takes us deep into the criminal mind and the criminal world. And, in heroine Anna Travis, she has created another memorable and utterly engaging new female detective. I enjoyed this a lot. I listened to it on audio and have to say it was excellenty read by Janet McTeer who did a fantastic job with all those different voices for the characters. The story was engaging and interesting, and while the writing was something of a step down after Room and The Secret History it was good enough for a detective novel and the dialogue itself well written. I did groan a bit at I didn't find the scene particularly believable. I would probably read more by Linda La Plante, and I have always enjoyed the her TV dramas.

I've been meaning to read the Kite Runner for ages. You've just bumped it a couple of places up my wish list I notice you have Olivia Joules on your TBR. I thought it was great, rather silly and quite light but a perfect holiday read.

Hmm I don't think we get that over here. That's good to know about the Goldfinch though. I'll definitely be reading it at some point.

Thanks Paula.

I finally finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt last night. My thoughts are on the reading circle thread here and are riddled with spoilers. I thought it was a wonderful wonderful book. I thought the writing was excellent. The imagery was vivid, the characters believable, original and interesting and the insights into human nature brilliant.