JudyB

Must try that - my daughter wanted me to buy some exotic fruit so I'll plant the seeds afterwards. I planted an avocado stone that took ages to sprout but now that it has it's shooting up at a rapid rate!

Just finished Kept: A Victorian Mystery by D J Taylor. I enjoyed this and could see the influences of the Victorian writers in it. I love a good Victorian mystery and this certainly had the feel of a real Victorian novel. Found myself confused at times by the jumping around of characters - would forget who was who at times. However the description of the Great Train Robbery was brilliant and it was interesting to see how it would all come together. Up until now I was unaware of the Great Train Robbery so benefitted from learning something new from this novel - always a bonus.

I found Great Expectations to be very atmospheric and of course it has that gothic element with Miss Haversham (ooh hope I've spelt that right - out of practice). One of the things I love about Victorian novels is their relevance to today's society - ie. not that much has changed and also at times I find that things I thought were 20th century had been around a lot longer than that.

Nice to see you've given One Good Turn 10/10 - it's on my wishlist.

Ooh thanks Amy - I'm about to start reading The Earth by Emile Zola as my April Classics Challenge. Love your avatar by the way - I think the Moomins are gorgeous - have you read The Summer Book by Tove Jansson?

Hi Squawk - if you like reading then you'll fit in well here - doesn't matter what or how many. Hope you enjoy it here - it's a very friendly place.

I find with a lot of these lists that I've read the authors mentioned but just different novels to the ones that appear on the list.

I've read 15

Aaah yes aren't they gorgeous when they go all gooey. We have a patio burner and sometimes we light it once it goes dark and sit outside melting them and chatting - lovely.

Just added 3 more to my wish list - all chunky classics inspired by the gothic novels mentioned in Northanger Abbey.

The scheme is called BookStart and the first bag is 0-12 months, 18-30 months and then 36-48 months. I think they generally give the first one at 7-9 months.

Oooh yum Lemon Meringue - haven't had that for ages. I used to request it after being poorly as a child and off my food - always a sign I was getting better. Hope you enjoy it Nici

My curiosity was aroused when I read Northanger Abbey - was it easy to get hold of?

Just popped on to librarything and I've 11 on my TBR list and 35 on my wishlist. (If anyone wants to see what they are click on link in my signature and click tags and then TBR and then wishlist.)

I buy my cheese from the farmer's market - they do a particularly nice apricot stilton which is so sweet it's like cheesecake - mmm!

Icecream - have you had your book bag for Katie yet? They're free and you get them from your health visitor or the library - there will be two more bundles when she's a bit older. Sorry can't remember off the top of my head whether it's 18 months and 3. When she gets a bit older a lot of libraries do reading schemes where you can get certificates for taking out/reading a number of books. Your local library may also do storytime or rhyme time.

1. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (I love everything about this - it's poetic, the descriptions are wonderful and the characters brilliant) 2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (a moving novel which teaches the reader about Afgan culture but also contains universal emotional truths) 3. The Rotter's Club by Jonathan Coe (brilliant characterisation and it captures the social and political climate so well - I think Johnathan Coe is a Dickens of our time) 4. Therese Raquin by Emile Zola (shocking and compelling tale) 5. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens (love this as it deals with the expansion of the railways and so is a social commentary of that time and also looks at forgiveness) 6. Bleak House by Charles Dickens (wonderful mystery and brilliant set of characters) 7. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (another shocking and compelling tale) 8. What a Carve Up! by Johnathan Coe (set in Thatcher's Britain Coe combines comedy and satire with wonderful characterisation). 9. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (undoubtedly my favourite Austen - I love the character of Catharine Moreland - and the title alone conjures up wonderful gothic images) 10. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson (brilliant story) If you asked me another time my list would probably change slightly as it's so hard to pin books down as favourites - I would say though that the top 5 would probably always stand.

Yes and me - a 'quiet little gothic mystery' sounds just what I like. PDR: thanks for the info on Bewick - must dig out my OU stuff to see what it says in there - I think there may have been examples of his illustrations.

Did you enjoy it?

Yes first they kicked and knocked it down and then jumped all over it! Two squadies having fun! Once it was clear we discovered that it had been there so long that the earth around it was quite high and we left it like that to create raised beds - we've left it a little bit wilder down there to encourage wildlife plus we have a pond.

Wondered who'd got the shed down - bet that was a big job. We pulled ours (very robust made of corrugated iron) down years ago - my husband invited his friend round to help - think they really enjoyed it!

You've done well there Nici - there's nothing more satisfying than a lovely garden - hope the sun shines so that you can relax in it and enjoy your hard work.

I thought Case Histories was brilliant - I think she writes a good detective story - looking forward to One Good Turn.

Have just started Kept: A Victorian Mystery by D J Taylor - birthday present from my daughter. Summary taken from WHSmith Egg-stealing in the Scottish highlands, fraud and felony on the streets of London, and strange goings-on in the fens. Captivating and ingenious, full of suspense and teeming with life, "Kept" is a Victorian mystery about the extreme and curious things men do to get what they want. It is August, 1863. Henry Ireland, a failed landowner, dies unexpectedly in a riding accident, leaving a highly-strung young widow. Not far away, lives Ireland's friend James Dixey, a celebrated naturalist who collects strange trophies, a stuffed bear, a pet mouse, and a wolf that he keeps caged in the grounds of his decaying house, lost in the fog on the edge of the fens. The poachers, Dewar and Dunbar, with their cargo of pilfered eggs; Esther the observant kitchen maid, pining to be re-united with her vanished admirer; the ancient lawyer Mr. Crabbe made careless by snobbery; John Carstairs, in search of his cousin, the elusive widow; an enigmatic debt-collector, busily plotting an audacious robbery; various low-life henchmen; and Captain McTurk of Scotland Yard, patiently investigating the circumstances of the Mr. Ireland's death and many other things besides- all are drawn into a net of intrigue with wide and sinister implications. Ranging from the lochsides of Scotland to the slums of Clerkenwell, and from the gentlemen's clubs of St. James's to the Yukon wilds, "Kept" is a gorgeously intricate novel about the urge to possess, at once a gripping investigation of some of the secret chambers of the human heart and a dazzling re-invention of Victorian life and passions.

How can you be grumpy working in a library? I have to confess though that one or two customers scare me a bit but even then I just smile! - nervously!