Kylie

Welcome Finrod and Tim! Nice to see more men joining up. Finrod, the only Vonnegut I've read so far is Slaughterhouse-Five. What would you recommend that I read next? Tim, I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something but haven't had any success yet! Eternal Sunshine was certainly one of a kind. I hope someone else can help you more.

Welcome to the forum Dan! Nice to have you here. I have an Excel spreadsheet that I try to keep updated, but mostly I prefer to use LibraryThing. There are quite a few members here who use it. One useful feature is that you can tag your books any way you like. One quick glance at my tags tells me I have read 284 books on my 'TBR' pile and 221 on my 'read' pile. Slightly skewed figures there and I'm hoping to tip the scales the other way next year I also keep some simple text files on my iPod of books and authors that I'm interested in. I often go blank on author's names in bookshops so I can just turn on my iPod and look up the relevant note to remind me what I'm searching for. Very handy!

I don't have much to add except to say how impressed I am with this thread. We have managed to discuss a potentially explosive issue (religion) without arguing, despite our differing beliefs. Boy I love this forum. If only the rest of the world were so tolerant towards each other's beliefs...

Oh no! I hope you didn't have anything spoiled for you! Both The Stand and Northanger Abbey are on my TBR pile for next year so I'll be interested to hear what you think.

I mentioned in an earlier post that you can transfer your own ebooks to the Kindle, which is a big plus for me (but the price tag still lets it down). Here's what Amazon has to say about it:

Writeoff, I agree. Dystopians are my favourite kind of novel. It's so enjoyable (and yes, disturbing too) reading various authors' different takes on future societies.

Nothing's wrong with them expressing their opinion, but what gets me is when they try to force their opinions on others by telling them to boycott the movie (I was raised Catholic by the way, and my comments apply to various religions, not just Catholicism). People should be able to make up their own minds by reading the books and/or watching the movie. I think that's the only real way they can have an informed opinion. I also think kids should be able to make up their own mind. People give entirely too much credit to the influence of books on kids sometimes. With the Harry Potter series, people were anxious that their kids would turn to witchcraft (which goes to show their ignorance of that religion), and now with His Dark Materials they're worried that their kids will become atheists!

Hi Deidre and welcome! Looking forward to discussing books with you!

I think I might start with the first two. For one, there's a part of me that would feel very weird starting a series in the middle, even if they are in little 'branches' of their own. And secondly, if the first couple of books are weaker than the rest, then I would rather start with those so I can 'build up' to the better ones, rather than start off great and be disappointed later. Does that make sense? If I don't particularly enjoy the first two (which I'm sure won't be the case!) at least I know that it will only get better! I intend reading my first Pratchett early in the new year. I can't wait! I've been wanting to read these books for sooo long.

Good for you V! It must be wonderful to be inspiring people to read books that they wouldn't otherwise read. Keep up the good work!

I think I prefer The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, but it's been a while since I've read it. There's Harry Potter of course, and I love a trilogy by Jonathan Wylie called The Unbalanced Earth and another standalone book called Dreamweaver.

I would have to agree with Dracula, although I don't have a great deal of experience in horror. For such an old book, Dracula freaked me out a little.

I think that's a bit unfair Talisman. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of us have said that we understand where you're coming from, and have then proceeded to put our own points across courteously. Just because we don't agree with everything you say doesn't mean that we are acting like children. For someone who said they didn't want to make a big deal out of this, you are certainly making a big deal out of it! I suggest we drop the argument now and all agree to disagree. I think we're all agreed that there are good and bad points to buying second-hand, both from the author's and publishers point of view and the point of view of the reader. And if we're not all agreed on that, at least we all have our love of books in common don't we? Good, let's be friends You're right Supergran. I frequently find myself in bookshops these days thinking 'oh, that's what <insert BCF member name> has been reading'. From what I understand, John Kennedy Toole became depressed and later committed suicide after his book was continually rejected by publishers. Then his mother finally got it published 11 years after he died. There are a couple of universities here that hold annual book fairs. They're very popular as the books are dirt cheap and all the money raised goes back into facilities for the students and the university. It's nice to think that my love of reading is helping someone get an education (in some remote, indirect kind of way! )

Some more books I've bought in the last week or two: Jean M Auel: The Mammoth Hunters Jean M Auel: The Valley of Horses William Goldman: The Princess Bride Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Antique Doll #36 Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife Terry Pratchett: Going Postal(Discworld #33) Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent (Discworld #22) Terry Pratchett: Thief of Time (Discworld #26) Terry Pratchett: Thud! (Discworld #34) Paullina Simons: Eleven Hours (this was a freebie!) EB White: Charlotte's Web/Stuart Little/The Trumpet of the Swan I'm hoping to get this updated with my recent reviews in the next few days. I've been getting a bit behind!

If there isn't already a thread about the book, you can start your own under the 'Specific Authors or Books' forum. If you're not sure whether there's a thread, you can do a search for it. There's a thread for No. 1 here.

ii, you might like to check out this article, which seems to give some pretty good recommendations. Of the books mentioned, I have A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole on my bookshelf and it really sounds like an excellent read. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what you choose.

Hello and welcome to the BCF! I believe there are several members here who are fans of Alexander McCall Smith. I'm sure you'll love it here; everyone is very friendly and welcoming. BEWARE though: your TBR pile is about to grow exponentially with all the recommendations you'll be getting! Don't say I didn't warn you!

I've just started Part 3. I enjoyed Part 2 more than Part 1 because the action picked up a little. Can't wait to see what this ending is that you all keep going on about!

Dreams of Stone by Jonathan Wylie takes me back to a boring lunchtime when I was in Year 7. My friend had dragged me into the library (I loved books back then but didn't necessarily want to be spending every lunchtime indoors!) and I randomly plucked this book off the shelf and was hooked from the first page. I now have all 22 books written by this author. The same thing happened when I received from my teacher a copy of John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War Began, the most incredible series of books I've ever read. My series of Trixie Belden books by Kathryn Kenny. I bought numbers 1-4 and 6 for 20c each from a small book stall at an open day at a university where my Dad used to work. Another moment that started a love affair for a series of books, of which I have almost a complete collection. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams was a book I picked up from a garbage bag on the side of the road. I was visiting my friend's grandmother and it was their local council pick-up day so we were roaming the streets and looking for free stuff. The Beatles (Quote/Unquote) by Arthur Davis was the very first book I bought about The Beatles, when my interest in them was just starting. I fondly remember looking at the photo on the cover with my brother and trying to guess which one was which because I couldn't yet tell them all apart!

Very impressive Oblomov! Do you have them all stored in those plastic protection sleeves? I probably have 100 or so comics, but nothing particularly special - they're just from my childhood.

Donna Tartt's books certainly garner some different responses! I've heard a few people say The Secret History is definitely better, and others say that The Little Friend is far better. It will be interesting when I finally get around to reading them. I had a dream last night that I was in a small bookshop that was full of Stephen King books and nothing else. I tracked down The Running Man and it looked reasonably priced so I think I was going to get it. I think I'll definitely add it to my wish list, thanks!

I second Arthur C Clarke. He's absolutely brilliant. As Michelle said, the Rama series is great, as is the Space Odyssey collection. One of my personal favourites is The City and the Stars. I also have a collection of pretty much every short story he wrote and I can highly recommend that as well. There's also: Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked this Way Comes) John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos) HG Wells (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man) Jules Verne (Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea). A few other big names (that I haven't yet read) are Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein and Orson Scott Card. Ooh, I also recommend A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

Princess Ponti, I was looking at (and drooling over) the whole series of Anne... books in a shop the other day. I might wait until after Christmas and buy a few during the sales I only read an ebook version this year so it would be lovely to own my own copy. Have you read the entire series?

I understand what you're saying Talisman. I think we can all appreciate that authors are ripped off, but I'm sure they know what they're getting into when they decide to write, and hopefully they would keep a day job to pay the bills until perhaps they can make enough to write full time. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but we're all working hard and trying to get ahead in the world. If it's a choice between having more money in my own pocket, or in someone else's pocket, I would choose me every time and I won't make apologies for it or feel bad about it I've bought more than enough new books to help keep the book industry propped up so I think I'm entitled to buy a few cheapies now and then. Michelle was spot on when she said if she can't buy some of them used, she won't buy them at all. And if I was an author, I would prefer to have my work being enjoyed second-hand than being completely ignored by the book-buying public. Remember that this particular forum is full of book 'addicts'. We simply can't afford to feed our addictions by buying brand new books all the time. This is why we buy from second-hand bookshops. I think the average person who doesn't read as many books would be much more inclined to buy new rather than spend hours scouring second-hand shops for bargains. I don't think the BCF is indicative of the world at large. Besides all that, most of the second-hand books I buy are written by long-dead authors who can't use my hard-earned cash anyway

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends. I hope you have had a great holiday! The food sounds so delicious . If I ever get to go to the US, I think I'll time it for Thanksgiving/Christmas. It sounds wonderful