Kylie

Hi Cassandra and

I was posting a reply on another thread about books at school and it brought up a lot of memories that I just had to share. In my final year of primary school I was selected to be a Library Monitor, which was a role given to maybe half a dozen students who had to write and apply for the job. Those of us chosen got a letter of acceptance and a shiny blue badge with Library Monitor written in gold, both of which I'm sure I still have to this day! The job meant I got to play librarian at lunchtimes, signing books out for the other kids. I was also one of a chosen few selected to attend a high-falutin' literary luncheon held with a bunch of children's authors and illustrators and students from other schools. I got some autographs and everything but I don't recall knowing who many of the authors were .

We had something like that too. And I think ours was also Scholastic. Ooh, I used to love getting the brochure to look at, and then collecting my order of a small stack of books. <sigh> Those were the days. Speaking of the Baby-sitter's Club books, I found a report card from Year 5 the other day. My teacher wrote a lot of nice comments about me and how I obviously loved reading. She then wrote: 'I would like to her reading less Baby-Sitter's Club books'. I cracked up laughing when I read that That was pretty much all I read when I was younger.

I read 5 books last month. My total for the year now stands at 33, which is quite impressive for me. I usually average 1 book per week, so I'm about 7 books ahead of where I would have expected or hoped to be at this time of the year. I have a lot going on this coming month though, so I might not have much time for reading at all! With regards to my various challenges, my running totals stand at (completed challenges in orange): CL: Classics Challenge (20/25) +4 1K: 1001 Books Challenge (13/20) +2 RD: Reading through the Decades Challenge (10/11) +0 BF: Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (6/10) +1 YA: Young Adults Challenge (9/10) +3 SF: Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (9/8) AU: Australian Literature Challenge (5/6) +1 DY: Dystopian Challenge (5/5) BB: Banned Books Challenge (5/5) Again, I managed to restrict by book-buying to only 2 books! I have 2 book credits at the moment, and I've just started my next lot of 3 with Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, following which will be The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

Oh dear, I hope you get your mojo back soon, Michelle! Maybe you just need a little break from reading (was that blasphemous?). My mojo has been on the blink for a few weeks while I've been struggling with The Jungle Book. Now that I've finally finished I'm hoping it'll pick up again with my next read, although I'm a bit worried that this struggling will persist with my next read and maybe ruin the book for me when I would otherwise enjoy it. I might go for a Roald Dahl and see how things go from there. I agree with Nici: maybe a re-read of a Raven Hart would help?

A few that I've read which generated a lot of discussion (either here or elsewhere): The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (already noted) Life of Pi by Yann Martel Atonement by Ian McEwan Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde The Lord of the Flies by William Golding To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Some other good ones might be: Animal Farm by George Orwell 1984 by George Orwell The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald And you could go for some lighter stuff in between the heavier books by picking some classic children's literature: Peter Pan by JM Barrie Black Beauty by Anna Sewell The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Peter Pan was recently reviewed on an Australian book club show and everyone loved it - it was the recommended read by a very staid former NSW politician. Surprising, but sweet ) I'm sure everyone else will have a lot more to add. I've only chosen books from what I've read in the past few years. I didn't necessarily love them all but I found they all had plenty of good material for discussion, often because they're controversial books that split people into love/loathe camps.

That makes no sense! It was said that the decision (although it was unpopular and led to Darrel Hair being banned from umpiring for a while) was within the laws of cricket. The ICC are now overturning their own laws! They keep changing them to suit themselves and in the process they're making umpires, teams and countries look silly.

I'm the opposite. I'm a terrible talker; I can never think of what to say. If I was to tell someone about The Book Thief I'd probably just end up saying 'it was a brilliant book' and leave it at that. Maybe I should send them a link to my reivew I much prefer writing - that way I have time to get my thoughts in order and set it out just right.

Congrats on starting your own book club! I'd be too scared to take on the responsibility (I'm not a very outgoing person). I think The Book Thief is an excellent book to start off with. There's certainly plenty of material that can be discussed!

I hope you both enjoy the classics you choose to read. I started a few years ago and it was the best thing I've ever done. There is a goldmine of terrific literature out there to be enjoyed. The stories are (I reckon) generally more brilliant than a lot of what is written nowadays, in large part because of the writing style, which I find more poetical. But of course, like anything, there are dud stories too

Thanks Sometimes I really struggle when writing reviews, even when I really enjoyed the book. And then sometimes it all just clicks into place (well, it still took me a long time to write, but at least I could think of something to write!)

I thought the first part was drawn out too, but personally I think it picks up a bit in the second part and it gets a bit more interesting.

The Book Thief Markus Zusak Rating: 10/10 Published: 2005 Number of pages: 584 Summary (taken from blurb): It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. And will become busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time. Comments: What a beautiful piece of work. One of those books that tugs at the heartstrings and reminds you why you love reading so much: for the chance to come across a gem like this every now and then. The characterisation is brilliant. The characters are so real - they're unique, flawed and beautiful, and I came to love every single one of them. The narration by Death and all the little asides that came with it is very well done. And it's interesting how Zusak uses Death to tell us what is going to happen, but manages to do so without lessening the impact of the story in any way. I could rave about the characters until the cows come home, but I'll try to restrict myself to a few short points. Liesel is a beautifully charming young girl, and her foster father, Hans Hubermann, is such a wonderful person - the type you wish you knew in real life. I enjoyed the infrequent but invaluable insights into Rosa Hubermann's real character and my heart broke for Rudy over and over throughout the entire book. Max Vandenburg's artwork also lent a lot to the book - much more insight is given into his character through his stories and art, all of which was very touching. I haven't read a lot in the way of WWII literature so I don't have much to compare The Book Thief to, but I love that Zusak gives the reader a German perspective of what was happening in their lives. This is one of the most powerful books I have read in a while and has definitely been added to my list of absolute favourites. A brilliant and very emotional read (I recommend having a lot of tissues handy). Having shamelessly gushed over this book, all that is left to say is that I very highly recommended it! Started: 10 June 2008 Finished: 16 June 2008

Cool, I've removed some of the elements from my page so it's a bit less cluttered.

My sentiments exactly kehs!

Thanks for the recommendation Sumnerkagen, and welcome to the forum!

Hi Carmen and to the forum! Sorry to say, but I didn't enjoy The Alchemist much at all. I think it's a book that's best read at certain times in one's life; I might have enjoyed it more if I'd read it 5 years ago. There wasn't much in it for me

I think you'll find that you can't edit a post until you have made 10 posts (in case you're wondering where the Edit button is )

Hi Posh and welcome to the BCF!