Kylie

Hi Puma, consider this my official to the forum. Glad to have you here.

Welcome to the forum! I have Bleak House on my TBR pile and I must admit that the size is a little off-putting, even though I love Dickens' work. I keep choosing his other, (slightly) shorter novels to read first

Nice save there MightyPuma I have Oryx and Crake on my TBR pile and I'm really looking forward to it. Welcome to the forum, by the way! Feel free to post an intro in the introductions thread.

What happened RedAlligator? Did you give the book back? Did your cousin get angry?

I feel the same. I like to have a stickybeak at what other people are reading, but I absolutely hate anyone else knowing what I'm reading (on the train anyway; I don't care at work). I always try to hide my book cover so no-one will see what I'm reading. And I don't really understand why I do it. I also don't understand why I'm embarrassed to be seen reading Harry Potter on the train. Maybe it's because they're so popular or because I have the kids covers, I don't know. I also don't think I'd read any books on the train that have nudie covers, such as Nana by Emile Zola and The Graduate by Charles Webb. I don't want people thinking I'm reading porn when I'm actually reading a high-brow classic or something!

Cliver Barker: Weaveworld Roald Dahl: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar HV Evatt: Rum Rebellion George Grossmith: Diary of a Nobody (I read an ebook version of this last year and found a lovely illustrated version) Banjo Paterson: The Man from Snowy River

I enjoy Franz Kafka. I read The Metamorphosis first and thought it a little...strange, but still enjoyable. I liked The Trial more.

I saw this last year and loved it. Absolutely terrific. The costumes are just amazing. I'm going to see The Phantom of the Opera for the first time in a few months, and also Billy Elliot.

to the forum Red Alligator! Congrats on being our 1000th member!

You beat me to it Pp! I was about to open my post with 'Hey Jude'. Anyway, welcome to the forum! Jane Austen is my favourite author and this year we have a reading circle that is focusing on each of her books every two months. We're doing them in chronological order so we did Sense and Sensibility in Jan/Feb and we're now doing Pride and Prejudice in Mar/Apr. Feel free to join in as we'd love to hear your thoughts!

I read this last year for the first time and loved it as well. I hadn't even seen the Disney version then - I watched it after I read the book. All I knew of the story was what I had picked up in Hook. I'm undecided as to whether I want to read the sequel. I have a thing about sequels written by other people. I'll wait to see what you think of it.

A Fortunate Life AB Facey Rating: 9/10 Published: 1981 Number of pages: 326 Summary (taken from blurb): Bert Facey sees himself as an ordinary man, but his remarkable story reveals a winner against impossible odds. At eight, his 'childhood' ended and he went out to work - clearing, ploughing, fencing, droving, sinking dams, boxing with a travelling troupe. He survived Gallipoli to become a farmer, but was forced to leave the land during the Depression. Comments: A Fortunate Life is the amazing true story of the life of Albert Facey, covering his life from his birth in 1894 to around 1976, six years before he died. Bert had little schooling and mostly taught himself to read and write. He began keeping notes about his life and eventually compiled them chronologically into this book at the urging of his family. The writing is not at all flowery or lyrical - Facey tells the story straight up and betrays little emotion throughout, only occasionally mentioning his loneliness in the bush, his terror during the war, and his deep love for his wife and children. The story is so chock-full of events that, had overly descriptive language been used, the impact of his story would have been lessened. A Fortunate Life moves along at a cracking pace and is a remarkable story of endurance and humbleness in the face of incredible hardship. The book gives a wonderful view of how life was lived in Australia during this time period. Highly recommended. Started: 22 March 2008 Finished: 26 March 2008

If I had to choose one very favourite show, it would probably be Gilmore Girls. Other favourites include: That 70s Show Roswell Scrubs Firefly Buffy the Vampire Slayer Russell Coight's All Aussie Adventures And British comedies such as: Extras The Office Fawlty Towers Ab Fab I never realised I was so big on comedies!

Hi Mike and I have Winton's Cloudstreet on my TBR pile - I haven't read anything by him before but I'm looking forward to it! Are there any of his that you particularly enjoyed?

Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys Rating: 5/10 Published: 1966 Number of pages: 177 Summary (taken from blurb): Jean Rhys' late literary masterpiece, Wide Sargasso Sea, was inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and is set in the lush, beguiling landscape of Jamaica in the 1830s. Born into an oppressive colonialist society, Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway meets a young Englishman who is drawn to her innocent sensuality and beauty. After their marriage disturbing rumours begin to circulate, poisoning her husband against her. Caught between his demands and her own precarious sense of belonging, Antoinette is driven towards madness. Comments: Nothing in this story particularly appealed to me. I found it very hard to identify with any of the characters or feel any sympathy for them. I don't think Rochester behaved or spoke in any way that was reminiscent of his character in Jane Eyre, so I struggled to make the connection between the two stories, although it improved slightly at the end, when the two books were overlapping. However, I did find it interesting when taken in a historical context, having previously known nothing about colonial Jamaica or the Creoles and emancipated slaves who lived and suffered there. The descriptions of Coulibris and the surrounding countryside were evocative and quite beautiful, but that's about where my praise ends I'm afraid. Started: 18 March 2008 Finished: 22 March 2008

The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde Rating: 8/10 Published: 2001 Number of pages: 373 Summary (taken from blurb): Meet Thursday Next, literary detective without equal, fear or boyfriend. There is another 1985, where London's criminal gangs have moved into the lucrative literary market, and Thursday Next is on the trail of the new crime wave's Mr Big. Acheron Hades has been kidnapping characters from works of fiction and holding them to ransom. Jane Eyre is gone. Missing. Thursday sets out to find a way into the book to repair the damage. But solving crimes against literature isn't easy when you also have to find time to halt the Crimean War, persuade the man you love to marry you, and figure out who really wrote Shakespeare's plays. Perhaps today just isn't going to be Thursday's day. Join her on a truly breathtaking adventure, and find out for yourself. Fiction will never be the same again... Comments: An interesting concept and quite well done. I'm sure there are probably a lot of little jokes that I wasn't 'getting', but I think on re-reading it I'd probably pick up a bit more. The story was cliched (as it's meant to be, I'm sure), but it didn't bother me, which was strange, because I when the read the same sort of cliched detective story in David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas (The Luisa Rey Mystery), I just found it highly irritating. It's certainly a gem of a book for a literary buff and contains a lot of intriguing little ideas and a quirky vision of the future. Not being much of an English history buff, there were some parts of the alternative history that I didn't quite get because I didn't know how that history had played out in our own time. The good thing about my ignorance is that books like these spur me on to research these events on the internet and thus learn while I'm enjoying the story. Thursday Next is a great heroine and I can see a bit of myself in her, which is always nice. Having owned this book for so long and after seeing so many great reviews about it, I was glad not to be disappointed by it (as can often be the case when you go into a book with high expectations). I'm looking forward to continuing on with the series. Started: 11 March 2008 Finished: 18 March 2008

I think you've already been beaten to it, Supergran. There are a couple of 'sequels' that I'm aware of: Mr Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll and Mr Darcy Presents His Bride by Helen Halstead. There are probably many others. I don't think I could ever read a 'sequel' written by anyone other than Austen herself. I'm sure there would be all manner of things that would irritate me. I can hear myself now: 'But Mr Darcy would never have spoken like that!' But I would love to hear about your take on it!

Welcome Slim!

Welcome Gabriel! Nice intro (and lovely name) Your English is perfect by the way. What's wrong with Croatia? Can't be the scenery - it looks like a gorgeous country. I would love to go there myself one day. Do you have any pics of your library? Somehow baking cookies doesn't seem to sit nicely with maiming people, although I guess you just never know huh? I'm going skydiving with a friend in a couple of months (first time). Eek!

A good read for me is something that stays with me afterwards, whether it's the plot or the characters or just everything. A well-written book will also get good marks from me. I love something that is written poetically and makes great use of the English language - something that makes me think 'how the heck do they come up with these sentences?' and also makes me a little sad as I realise I can never aspire to such greatness.

Hello and to the forum! What kind of books do you like to read?

Hi Fae and I'm also on LibraryThing (love that site!) as KylieL. Feel free to add me if you like.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee There are several other books I've given 10/10 to, and I count them all as my favourites, but the two above stand just a little bit higher in my regard.

Welcome PC! I'm a huge fan of Gilmore Girls. I've just finished re-watching the first season in anticipation of the 7th season finally being released on DVD in a few weeks. Only I've left it to late so I might just have to skip ahead to S5 or 6. I see a lot of me in Rory as well.

Thanks everyone Prospero, you're absolutely right about EAP. It should be one book. And I'll count Narnia as 7 separate books, but Graham Greene as one. Thanks for the help!