~Andrea~

I'm looking forward to trying some others.

A BCF member said "Look!" Whilst looking up from their book A penguin walked by

Haha, well I don't have a lot to compare it to. Your assessment bodes well for my future Dickens reads though, they can only get better. I'm going to tackle David Copperfield at some point, which I've heard great things about.

Congratulations Brian!!

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Set in Paris and London before and during the French Revolution, this historical novel centres around Alexandra Manette, a French doctor who was released from the French State prison, the Bastille after 18 years imprisonment. On his release he is reunited with his daughter Lucie, whom he has never met. The novel follows the lives of the doctor and Lucie, and a group of people they become connected with. Having never read any Dickens novel all the way through, I was determined to put that right this year. I'd picked this up from a charity shop ages ago and fancied giving it a try. To start with I found it somewhat long winded and wordy and had trouble keeping track of all the characters, however there were enough interesting and pacy sections to keep me persevering. I also felt the story seemed to occasionally go off on tangents and appeared a little disconnected. Perhaps that is a reflection of it being published in monthly installments originally, like many of his novels. However, as I progressed through it, it really became quite gripping, especially towards the end, and all those seemingly stray tangents were all tied up perfectly in the end. When I put it down I found I had thoroughly enjoyed it and was really glad to have read it. Definitely recommend.

Welcome everyone. Sorry to hear about your forum closing. I remember when this one nearly did and was very sad about it. Thankfully Hayley stepped in and saved the day! (Where's a superhero smiley when you need one) I hope you can all find a home from home here

Oh well done. Most of his books are really long which puts me off somewhat. I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities at the moment, one of his shorter ones. Prior to that I'd only read A Christmas Carol and half of Great Expectations. I would like to have a go at David Copperfield at some point.

If they do go for another woman I hope they choose an older actor this time; I hope they don't just cast young pretty actresses for the female versions. I want to see Miriam Margolyes do it

On the whole yes, although it's rather wordy in places with long sentences and gigantic paragraphs. Sometimes I have to reread a sentence several times because I've forgotten what it initially started saying by the time I get to the end of it! So it's taking some effort, but there are good, pacier bits as well. I'm about a quarter way in and I'm determined not to give up! Thank you

Previous logs: 2020 (7) 2019 (18) 2018 (14) 2017 (10) 2016 (9) 2015 (10) 2014 (19) 2013 (21) 2012 (19) 2011 (17) 2010 (19) 2009 (23) 2008 (26) 2007 (21) Completed: A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Sleepless - Louise Mumford Black Eyed Susans - Julia Haeberlin The Woman Who Stole My Life - Marian Keyes Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanna Harris Christian Theology an Introduction - Alister McGrath The Illustrated Child - Polly Crosby Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty The Bible made Impossible - Christian Smith Currently reading: The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman

Now that sounds just brilliant!

Yes I've heard that too. I'm looking forward to it

That's what I find Chrissy. They're great when I can't sleep. However I think I've become slightly addicted to them I'm on the last one in my puzzle book now so will be going cold turkey soon.

Well one film I saw recently (I think I watched it in about mid-December) was a film I really should have seen by now (given I'm 47!!) and that was The Godfather! It was utterly brilliant and totally lives up to its reputation. Just need to watch part 2 and 3 now!

Happy new year everyone! I'm currently reading 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Dickens. I'm not sure I've ever completed anything by him before. Hoping to start the year by rectifying that.

Ah brilliant. It sounds like you wonderful people are all over this. Thanks both

My reading (like most other things) has been absolutely rubbish in 2020! I think this is largely because I've got into the bad habit of doing sudokus before bed instead of reading, a habit I'm determined to break in the new year!!

I'm going to try a different browser just in case. Edit: Hmm no seems equally slow in Edge as it does in Chrome. The image issue is the same in both browsers too.

It seems I missed all the forum issues this Autumn! But it goes without saying thank you Hayley for keeping things up and running. I'm not as regular here as I could be but I love that this place is here when I need it. Sorry to bring up something negative, but is anybody else finding the forum quite slow? I've also been having issues adding images to posts (via 'insert other media' and then 'insert image from URL'). The box to allow you to insert the URL just seems to never finish loading, and keeps spinning, no matter how long I wait.

Thanks Gaia. I've read Rachel's Holiday which I think was even better than This Charming Man. I also have another loaded up on my e-reader ready for next year (although I can't remember which).

It was.

A Tiny Bit Marvellous - Dawn French Mo Battle, mum to teenagers Dora and Peter (aka Oscar) is about to turn 50. As a brilliant child psychologist you would think managing her own teenagers would be a piece of cake, however, relationships closer to home are not going well. Peter will only answer to Oscar, after his hero and alter ego Oscar Wilde, while she and Dora are barely speaking, and when they do it only turns into a row. Feeling taken for granted she is tempted into a reckless course of action which could turn the whole family upside-down. I wasn't sure what to expect from this as I'm always a little suspicious of celebrity authors, although since I think Dawn is a brilliant comic writer and performer I did have high hopes. I'm happy to report I really enjoyed it. The writing is very good, and even though some of the characters were a little exaggerated, it still worked. It's written in the first person by the three main characters, my favourite of which was the precocious and melodramatic Oscar, who probably had me laughing out loud the most. The story moves along nicely and I looked forward to getting stuck into it every night and kept turning the pages. It's a nice light humorous read and I would definitely recommend it. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Actually I have read one more book since then so I will have another review to squeeze in

I'm still in single figures

This Charming Man - Marian Keyes Charming politician Paddy de Courcy is getting married, and the women who have previously loved him can't believe it, especially Lola, with whom he has just broken up. Devastated, she retreats to a relative's cottage in a small farming town to recover. We also follow the stories of the other heart-broken women he leaves in his wake, and discover that Paddy de Courcy is not quite the charmer he first appears to be. I'm becoming a real fan of Marian Keyes. This is only the second of her books that I've read, but again I found it sharp, witty, laugh out loud funny, touching and in parts quite serious. She deals with difficult subjects with humour and realism. This is not a fuzzy rom com but a book about real life and real women with real flaws and problems. My favourite character was Lola, and I loved seeing how she adapted to small town life and made friends with the locals. I thought her sections were the funniest. Her parts are written in diary-speak which I know a lot of people didn't like, but I didn't really mind it once you got used to it. The book is a comedy but also manages to deal with issues of abuse and addiction with sensitivity. Top marks. I loved it.