~Andrea~

'My life and Times' sounds great. I really liked Three Men in a Boat, and your review makes me think I'll love his autobiography too, especially the wrestling with fundamentalism which I'll be able to relate to as well. Sigh, another one for the wish list I also enjoyed The Power and the Glory, although I completely missed the gospel parallels (it's not unusual for me to miss the layers in a book ). I thought it was a very moving and interesting story, not your run of the mill novel. I'd like to read some more Greene some day. Great review again.

The sea urchins was a tough challenge alright. I love Monica's face when she's watching them do the skills test. I can't say it looked very appetizing even when prepared properly though I'm glad Keri and Oli stayed although I felt bad for the other two when they are such good chefs. It was a tough group but the ones that went home deserved to go on the day. I agree Poppy, Oli seems lovely. And I always like to see the women do well.

Is anyone else watching this? Is it me or does there seem to be more contestants than usual? Just when I think we're going to get to the interesting 'finals' but they seem to introduce yet another ten contestants for Monica. Perhaps I've just started watching it earlier than usual.

Will do

Thanks everyone - I'm going to go for the Kobo. Just need to pick a colour now and I'm getting it for my birthday instead of Chrimbo so should have it in a couple of weeks

I read C S Lewis's The Great Divorce while I was away for a long weekend (I didn't want to take The Historian with me as it's such a tome). The Great Divorce was a quick and wonderful read. There's something about Lewis's writing that I find comforting and reassuring. I'd never read this one before. It's about heaven and hell (well mostly about hell) and while that could be a disturbing topic I found it very positive. The inhabitants of hell take the regular bus to the outskirts of heaven where various family members, friends try to persuade them to stay. C S Lewis manages to talk about spiritual things in a wonderfully imaginative, magical way, while remaining very down to earth about it all. I loved this and think it'll be a book, like many of his, that I'll want to revisit again.

The Beginners. I really loved it - even though as a 'quirky comedy' it wasn't actually a barrel of laughs - more tragi-comic actually, but very good. I saw this recently. It's a truly wonderful film - yes has to be in my top 10 now.

Thanks. I'm leaning towards the kobo at the moment as it looks a bit nicer than the nook.

Oh sorry Janet. I didn't realise that. Anyone else?

Have you heard of the Beagle Janet? Not sure it that's something that could work for you? Thanks BIGhay. How do you get your ebooks? Does your kobo have wifi so you can get them directly from an online bookstore? If so which ones do you use?

I don't know - I don't use the library. I suspect they support e-pub.

Thanks for your replies. I am only really bothered about being able to read in epub. I want to be able to download a book straight to my device without having to bother converting it. I know if I had a kindle i would end up buying all my books from amazon as it would be easier, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. As far as i know the Kobo, Nook, and Sony all read epub which is an industry standard rather than a proprietry format like Amazon's mobi.

I'm thinking of getting an e-reader for Christmas, but I don't want a kindle as I don't want to be so tied to amazon. Does anyone have a non-kindle e-reader? How do you find it? How easy is it to get e-books onto it? Would you recommend it?

Just saw this. They claim to provide the convenience of shopping online and supporting your local bookstore at the same time. Never used them myself but might try them next time: http://www.hive.co.uk

Welcome back Pixie - and Andie

Thanks Scarlette. I am enjoying it although finding it a little slow.

I quite like to read creepy stories in the winter (not necessarily for Halloween). I'm currently reading The Historian, a modern dracula based story, so that fits the bill quite well.

Hope you enjoy it Chaliepud. I know you like your doggie books

How did you like The Turn of The Screw? I loved it. I find Henry James shorter ghost stories quite creepy.

I finished Search Dogs and Me last night. It was really good. All about how Neil Powell trained and used dogs in mountain rescue, natural disasters and for other police and customs work. This was a very readable book and a must for all dog lovers. Next I'll try and get back into The Historian.

Thanks Frankie The light book is definitely a lot easier. My stress levels are more manageable at the moment. Just waiting for the storm to pass over.

Great review of Watership Down, one of my all time favourites. Glad you enjoyed it. It's definitely a 10/10 book.

I like the sound of Me Before You - adding it to the wish list.

OK, anyone want to guess what I'm thinking?