Kylie

Tinymoz! I'm sure you'll receive more book recommendations than you'll know what to do with!

I like London as a setting, especially in older novels. The place just has so much history, which I think really adds to the atmosphere.

Yet more books added to my wish list. My complete wish list can be found here. John Brunner: The Jagged Orbit John Brunner: The Shockwave Rider Harry Harrison: Make Room! Make Room! Gabriel Garcia Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude Tom Wolfe: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Except for Marquez and Wolfe, I have either read these books and loved them, or have them on my TBR pile. Seeing as our tastes seem pretty similar, I'm going to add both missing books to my wish list. Oh, wow! I was just checking out this Wikipedia article about The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and the book mentions many of my favourite bands/singers and authors. This one's going straight to the top of my wish list! It sounds awesome. I don't know how I've missed it until now! Thanks Horsecorset!

Absolutely. So long as we're all enjoying what we're reading it doesn't matter how much we read! That said, I like seeing how many books everyone has read. It's amazing how far-flung the numbers are this early in the year.

I've done that It's a nuisance, especially when the next train going back isn't due for half an hour or so! The funny thing is, if I'm tired on the afternoon train, nothing will keep me awake; I'll just nod off. But in the morning, I can read all the way going to work, no matter how tired I am. So I might be tired to the point where my eyes are sore, but I won't/can't sleep unless I 'force' my eyes shut.

I often get sleepy when reading. When I re-read a sentence a dozen times and still don't take it in, then I know it's time to put the book aside and have a snooze. I always put my bookmark in first though!

It's Mother's Day today, and my Mum doesn't like a fuss, so I'll be buying us Chinese food for dinner. It's Mum's favourite (and mine too!)

I've read 24 books so far this year, which is really good for me. I usually aim for 1 per week (52 per year). I've had a really good reading year so far, with a fair few books receiving 9 or 10 out of 10. I've only had one mildly disappointing book, which was Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea. My highlights include: John Banville: The Book of Evidence Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre Truman Capote: In Cold Blood George Orwell: Animal Farm Honourable mentions to: Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility AB Facey: A Fortunate Life Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol Richard Matheson: I am Legend Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

I bought Aldous Huxley's Brave New World Revisited today. It's a collection of essays written almost 30 years after he published Brave New World. He looks at the predictions he made back in 1932 and compares how society has changed in the intervening years.

No, I didn't request it. Because it's in the middle of a series, I figure it wouldn't be much good to me. It would probably encourage me to buy the rest of the books to read them as well, and I'm supposed to be laying off buying books

I've read about 14 chapters and am really enjoying it. Of all of Jane Austen's heroines, Fanny reminds me the most of myself. I'm not liking too many of the other characters though - they're all very spoiled and selfish, despite trying to make themselves appear otherwise.

Hooray! Australia is finally part of Early Reviewers. There is one book to 'choose' from and it's the 4th in a series so I won't attempt getting it, but it's nice to know we're part of it now. Hopefully more publishers will get on board in future

I've added a couple of dystopian novels to my wish list. John Brunner: The Sheep Look Up John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar

I managed a whopping 8 books last month - a new record for me, I think. My total for the year now stands at 24. With regards to my various challenges, my running totals stand at (completed challenges in orange): CL: Classics Challenge (12/25) +3 1K: 1001 Books Challenge (9/20) +3 RD: Reading through the Decades Challenge (9/11) +0 BF: Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (3/10) +0 YA: Young Adults Challenge (5/10) +2 SF: Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (9/8) +3 AU: Australian Literature Challenge (4/6) +1 DY: Dystopian Challenge (5/5) +1 BB: Banned Books Challenge (3/5) +1 I completed 2 challenges in April and made good progress on others. I'm a bit behind in my BF Challenge, so I'm hoping to read two books for that challenge this month. I only bought 7 books in April, compared to 13 in March. This is due at least in part to joining the 'read 3, buy 1' support group.

Breath Tim Winton Rating: 7/10 Published: 2008 Number of pages: 216 Summary (taken from blurb): When paramedic Bruce Pike arrives too late to save a boy found hanged in his bedroom he senses immediately that this lonely death is an accident. Pike knows the difference between suicide and misadventure. He understands only too well the forces that can propel a kid toward oblivion. Not just because he's an ambulance-man but because of the life he's lived, the boy he once was, addicted to extremes, flirting with death, pushing every boundary in the struggle to be extraordinary, barely knowing where or how to stop. So begins a story about the damage you do to yourself when you're young and think you're immortal. Comments: Breath is a coming-of-age story about the teenaged 'Pikelet', who befriends the reckless 'Loonie' and their surfing mentor 'Sando'. Pikelet and Loonie develop a friendly rivalry and push themselves and each other to their physical and mental limits. Under Sando's watchful eye, they gradually become more daring and take on bigger and more dangerous waves. While I sometimes found myself getting a little impatient with all of the surfing descriptions, I also got more and more absorbed, to the point where I imagined that I felt a little short of breath at the same time that Pikelet was struggling for breath after getting dumped by a huge wave. The vivid descriptions really enabled me to be there, cresting the waves right alongside Pikelet. As the story goes along, it gets more and more depressing as Pikelet gets in over his head. Ultimately it's a story of triumph, but there's always an underlying current of sadness that permeates throughout the entire book and doesn't make for a particularly happy read, albeit it's a very good read. This isn't usually the type of book I would go for, but it's by one of Australia's most critically-acclaimed authors and I've been wanting to read his work for a while. I'm looking forward to more of it. Started: 29 April 2008 Finished: 1 May 2008

Playing Beatie Bow Ruth Park Rating: 8/10 Published: 1981 Number of pages: 196 Summary (taken from blurb): The game is called Beatie Bow and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an extraordinary, sometimes horrifying, adventure as she finds herself transported to a place that is foreign yet strangely familiar. Comments: Abigail is an insightful, although not always likeable, teenager who lives in The Rocks, an historic area located next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. While chasing a young girl through the maze and alleys of The Rocks, Abigail finds herself transported back in time over 100 years, to a time when poverty and illness were widespread, and lives were very different. She is taken in by a family and discovers that she must help them to preserve The Gift. The story is well-written and Victorian-era Sydney is portrayed very realistically (presumably, I wouldn't actually know having never lived in that time myself!). What I mean to say is, The Rocks are really brought to life. I know the area a bit, which is always an asset when reading. It's a very interesting place and I'd love to go and retrace Abigail's steps through the labyrinth that is The Rocks. I last read this book when I was in primary school, some 15 years ago at least, and I had very vague recollections of it. I think it's still a common text in most primary schools, and long may it remain that way! Started: 27 April 2008 Finished: 29 April 2008

The sequels to Rendezvous with Rama are quite different to the original. They focus more on characterisation and a bit less on the science fiction aspect, and I can understand why you might like them less than the original. They both have their merits though, and I would recommend giving it another try! For me, the story itself made up for any problems I may have had with it being different to the original.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe CS Lewis Rating: 8/10 Published: 1949 Number of pages: 89 Summary (taken from Dymocks website): When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent to stay with a kind professor who lives in the country, they can hardly imagine the extraordinary adventure that awaits them. It all begins one rainy summer day when the children explore the professor's rambling old house. When they come across a room with an old wardrobe in the corner, Lucy immediately opens the door and gets inside. To her amazement, she suddenly finds herself standing in the clearing of a wood on a winter afternoon, with snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy has found Narnia, a magical land of fauns and centaurs, nymphs and talking animals - and of the beautiful but evil White Witch, who has held the country in eternal winter for a hundred years. Comments: I'm told by a childhood friend that we both read this story in primary school but I had no recollection of it so I was looking forward to reading it (again). I wish I had paid more attention and read the entire Chronicles of Narnia when I was a young'un so perhaps I could experience the magic a bit better. Reading the story as an adult is fun, and it was a good read, but I feel I was missing something that can only be experienced by a child. I enjoyed the story for what is was, and didn't notice too much of the religious symbolism until afterwards, when I'd stopped to think about it and read other reviews. This is my favourite way to approach a story, especially for the first time. If I want to delve deeper into the symbolism I'll have a re-read at a later date. Overall, a very pleasant read and I look forward to reading the rest of the Chronicles. Started: 25 April 2008 Finished: 27 April 2008

Glad you liked it, Gyre! It's one of my favourite books

Thanks Michelle What did you think of Rama Revealed? I haven't read it yet, but I'm interested to hear whether you think it is a fitting end to the series.

The Garden of Rama Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee Rating: 8/10 Published: 1991 Number of pages: 593 Summary (taken from blurb): In the year 2130 a mysterious spaceship, Rama, arrived in the solar system. It was huge - big enough to contain a city and a sea - and empty, apparently abandoned. By the time Rama departed for its next, unknown, destination many wonders had been uncovered, but few mysteries solved. Only one thing was clear: everything the enigmatic builders of Rama did, they did in threes. Eighty years later the second alien craft arrived in the solar system. This time, Earth had been waiting. But all the years of preparation were not enough to unlock the Raman enigma. Now Rama II is on its way out of the solar system. Aboard it are three humans, two men and a woman, left behind when the expedition departed. Ahead of them lies the unknown, a voyage no human has ever experienced. And at the end of it - and who could tell how many years away that might be? - may lie the truth about Rama... Comments: The Garden of Rama is the third book in the Rama series and is the most monumental work yet. I thought it was a great read and it doesn't suffer from a lack of characterisation as many other science fiction novels do. It's largely because of this that you can tell it is more heavily influenced by Gentry Lee than Arthur C Clarke. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. While it has the characterisation, it also lacks a little in Arthur C Clarke's sheer brilliance. The story spans many years and many adventures and overall is a rollicking good, light read. It was particularly interesting to see how the humans reacted to their new environment onboard Rama and what they made of their chance to begin a new civilisation and avoid the mistakes that mankind has made on Earth. I can't wait to read the final book, Rama Revealed, to find out how it ends. Started: 17 April 2008 Finished: 25 April 2008

I'm on the Penguin mailing list and last week got an email saying the first 50 readers to email them would receive an advance copy of Tim Winton's new book, Breath. Lo and behold I got home last night to find a package for me! I was so excited because I've never won anything in my life and I was sure I'd be too late with my email I've had Cloudstreet on my TBR pile for a while, and I really should read that first, but then I wouldn't have the fun of reading an advance copy!

Hi Kelly and welcome!