Kylie

'No. He isn't extraordinary. He is simply a man and no more, and is subject to all the fears and all the cowardice and all the timidity that any other man is subject to.' One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey

This puts me in mind of that old quote about the journey being more important than the destination. Very true. Even if the path is well-trodden, it doesn't become any less exciting to walk! I re-read a lot of books and I can't imagine only wanting to read a book once (unless I really didn't enjoy it). I think re-reads can be good because you might miss something the first time around or you might be able to better understand the events leading up the conclusion. And sometimes I do forget the ending, or important events leading up to it (even in the latter Harry Potter books I recently re-read!) As for mysteries, I don't read too many. I know if I ever get around to dusting off my Nancy Drew books, they'll all seem brand new to me because I've forgotten everything that happens! Ruth, I love To Kill A Mockingbird too. I re-read it recently for the first time in years, and it will be getting read a heck of a lot more in future, that's for sure!

You're welcome I just tried importing mine again because I've recently catalogued a lot more of my books. 89 got imported and 146 didn't. It missed out some really well-known, obvious books and yet managed to add some really obscure books! Weird.

I'm so glad you're enjoying the series Fireball! I kind of wish I'd waited until they were all out before I read them - then I wouldn't have had the excruciating wait between books! And they're only going to get better from where you're at now! I hope you can avoid all the spoilers until you finish - have fun!

HandD, try this: 1. In LibraryThing, go to Tools. In the middle column, under Exports, click 'Export all records as tab-delimited text'. This should create an excel file containing info regarding all of your books. 2. In Shelfari, go to Build Shelf, and under 'Import Library File' click 'Choose File' and select the excel file that was created by LibraryThing. This should go through and search the ISBNs and add the books to your shelf. I hope this helps!

Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut Rating: 9/10 Published: 1969 Number of pages: 157 ISBN: 0099800209 Summary (taken from blurb): Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller - these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this latter-day Pilgrim's Progress, a miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse, in the most original anti-war novel since Catch-22. Comments: A great book, with some interesting and thought-provoking ideas. Before I read it, I heard some people say that this book changed their lives and others have said it's not the same when re-read after a long period of time; I think where you are in your life may determine how much you get out of this book. For me personally, I think it's one that needs repeated readings in order to fully appreciate it. One thing I didn't particularly like: I couldn't quite figure Billy out; throughout the whole book he seemed to be in a daze, which can't be what he was like all the time because he was clearly still able to function normally most of the time. The book is amusing in parts (dark humour) and cleverly written, but mostly it's terribly sad as you see what the horrors of war have done to Billy, and the parallels between his memories of the war and the hallucinations that occur thereafter. It's a great anti-war novel (but not as great as Catch-22, in my opinion!) A much better review of the book can be found in this thread. And there are many more great reviews at the librarything.com link below. Not everyone will enjoy this book, and I can understand why, but I would highly recommend it nevertheless. There aren't too many books that I feel should be read; this is one of them. Started: 22 July 2007 Finished: 26 July 2007 Slaughterhouse-Five (at librarything.com)

I imported my LibraryThing books into Shelfari a while ago. It didn't import a lot of them and a lot came across with no covers or wrong covers. I haven't done much with it since. I like some aspects of it; you can add notes to each book (different than adding tags) and dates that you bought/read/loaned it etc. I'm happy to stick with LibraryThing for the moment. It works much better for me.

Conquest also stands out for me. It's a song that immediately stuck in my mind and I keep coming back to it. I still need to listen more to get to know the other songs better. I love Blue Orchid, Little Ghost, The Denial Twist and I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely). I think the whole album is brilliant. I think The White Stripes are brilliant I don't know their other albums so well yet, but I do love Seven Nation Army from Elephant.

I actually liked this part (maybe I'm just a sucker for a happy ending - I'm pretty sure I cried during this part ). I think in the 6th book when Harry was catching up with the Weasleys for the first time in weeks and he asked about the Percy situation, he was surprised that Percy hadn't come around but the Weasleys pointed out that it is hard to admit when you're wrong. I think that Percy realised that putting his pride before his family was pretty stupid when they were all in such danger and might not survive. And he is, after all, a Weasley, so there's gotta be some goodness and loyalty in there somewhere! I guess Ron did the same thing in a way - defected from his 'family' but then came back because he knew where his loyalties really were.

I only bought this book last year but I'm pretty sure I won't read it for years yet. I get intimidated when I open the huge book and see the tiny print inside - and I know it's going to be a 'heavy' book and tough to get through (although worth it in the end, I hope!)

I bought this book recently after reading the recommendations on here. I'm really looking forward to reading it. So, when do September nominations open? Do we even need to bother voting?

Oh, I enjoyed them too, although seeing as I got the first four in a box set, they would have had to have been pretty bad for me not to read the rest! I think the latter books are more interesting because the story becomes more complicated and as you get to know the characters better, so you become much more involved and interested to see how it will all unfold.

Well, I've been blown away by the 7th book, so that now stands at #1 for me. 1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone I agree with both of you on the last two, Kell and Gyre. I like them but maybe because they're shorter, there's just not as much 'punch' to them, if you know what I mean.

Oops, sorry. I posted to the wrong thread I have the children's cover. I like the adult covers but the rest of my HP books are all children's covers so I had to stay consistent. My brother thought the adult's version meant that there was more swearing or x-rated stuff happening!

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows JK Rowling Rating: 10/10 Published: 2007 Number of pages: 607 ISBN: 0747591054 Summary (taken from blurb): Harry Potter is waiting in Privet Drive. The Order of the Phoenix is coming to escort him safely away without Voldemort and his supporters knowing - if they can. But what will Harry do then? How can he fulfil the momentous and seemingly impossible task that Professor Dumbledore has left him? Comments: Wow! What a phenomenal end to a great series! I won't put any spoilers here so don't worry about me ruining it for you. I absolutely bawled my eyes out at so many different parts. The book is full of action and excitement and terrible tragedy. What a ride! There is very little I would have liked done differently, which says a lot, because there are so many things about this book that could have been unsatisfactory. Possibly the only thing I would have changed (that is, left out altogether) was the epilogue: it just wasn't necessary, I felt. I'm still slightly overwhelmed with the whole thing, and therefore can't think of much else to say except that this is one brilliant book and has now overtaken Goblet of Fire as my favourite HP book! Started: 21 July 2007 Finished: 22 July 2007 Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows (at librarything.com)

SPOILERS RELATE TO ENTIRE BOOK - DO NOT READ IF UNFINISHED I was so sad to see that I also wish that

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince JK Rowling Rating: 8/10 Published: 2005 Number of pages: 607 ISBN: 0747581088 Summary (taken from blurb): It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Dursley's house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce one-to-one duel with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can't quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursley's of all places. Why is the Professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks' time? Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine... Comments: The 6th book sees the revelation of the Horcruxes and the mission that Harry and Dumbledore must complete to destroy Voldemort once and for all. This book is very much all about setting up the 7th book and giving the reader information that will be important or become clear in the final book. Another enjoyable installment and immensely sad at the end, where there is a showdown between two of my favourite characters, culminating in the death of one of them. Started: 14 July 2007 Finished: 20 July 2007 Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (at librarything.com)

OK, so next up on the classics list isn't One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I didn't have enough time to get it started in between Harry Potter books and I've since moved on to Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut as I've been desperate to read it for a little while now. So far, so good! I've also started listening to an audiobook of JM Barrie's Peter Pan, spoken by Jim Dale. This is my second attempt at an audiobook. The first time I tried, I went for a walk through some botanic gardens and got completely distracted by everything that was happening around me (which wasn't much - I'm just easily distracted ). I'll try to concentrate more this time So that's one 'modern' classic and one 'classic' classic on the go. After that, nothing is going to get in the way of reading One Flew Over...!

I had a hard time with Crime and Punishment too. It wasn't so much because there were a lot of characters but, being Russian, they were all referred to by several different names! Luckily my copy of the book has a list of characters and their alternative names at the beginning so I could just refer back to it.

I finished the book yesterday morning (took me two days to read). I cried so much while I was reading it. All those deaths... Now that I've finished it, I'd like to know what character JK Rowling gave a reprieve to and which two died that weren't going to. I knew Snape would be proven to be good! I've believed that from the first book. I was kind of hoping that Harry would come to those realisations before Snape died so there would be at least an understanding between them, but I can live with it the way it happened. I didn't think the last chapter was particularly necessary (I just couldn't make the transition from them being teenagers to them as married adults with kids), but I was glad to see that Harry gave the name of Severus to one of his kids and that he called him one of the bravest wizards he ever knew. I think if JK Rowling was going to add that final chapter though, she could have at least told us what else they were doing with their lives. Did Harry and Ron become Aurors? And what happened to the other characters? And the biggest unanswered question of all...is there really such a thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack? I guess I'll just have to use my imagination I can't wait to see this when it's made into a movie. Thanks for the adventures JK Rowling!

I'm almost done with the 6th book. I've purposely slowed down the reading so I'd be sure to finish today; that way I can carry on tomorrow without suffering HP withdrawal for a day (I've been reading them non-stop for almost a month, after all!). I love that you've put Hogwarts as your location Icecream I feel very much as though I've been living there for the past month (with the occasional sidetrips to Privet Drive and Hogsmeade) because I've been so immersed in the books. I have to say, I'm pretty excited about tomorrow I've been talking about the book a lot at work with another HP fan and we've just been getting more and more excited. I expect I won't be visiting the forum until next Tuesday; I'll be shutting myself away to read the 7th book, and I'm also going away so I won't have net access for a couple of days anyway. To all my fellow BCF Harry Potter fans, I hope you have a pleasurable reading experience and that it ends the way you hope it will! OK, I think I'm getting a little too caught up in the hype But what the heck? It's not very often such a huge event comes along in the literary world, so I'm going to milk it for all it's worth! :exc:

Yes, I need to listen to it a few more times too, although initial impressions are that I like it a lot. I got into the White Stripes through Get Behind Me Satan (one of the best albums ever!) and this one is a bit different (not in a bad way though).

One of my work colleagues always waits until it comes out in paperback before she reads it. I don't know how she'll last that long without accidentally finding out the ending. And it's frustrating for myself and other work colleagues because we can't discuss it in front of her! I went to see the new HP movie last night and a young guy (maybe early 20s) started asking me if I'd read all the books and was I getting the new book etc. He looked a bit rough - the kind of guy you would think has never opened a book in his life, but he was going on about how much he loved HP and he was almost bursting with excitement about the movie/books And I think that is the magic of Harry Potter and JK Rowling.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix JK Rowling Rating: 8/10 Published: 2003 Number of pages: 766 ISBN: 0747551006 Summary (taken from blurb): Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses. 'It is time,' he said, 'for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything.' Harry Potter is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is desperate to get back to school and find out why his friends Ron and Hermione have been so secretive all summer. However, what Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down... Comments: Another stunning chapter in Harry's life. This book loses points, however, for a few reasons. Harry is, for the most part, really irritating in this book. He spends most of his time shouting at the people that care about him the most. He redeems himself slightly in the DA classes, which are enjoyable sections to read - I think JK Rowling could have devoted more time to the DA classes and a bit less time on other parts (like the somewhat long-winded start of the book). It probably could have been trimmed a bit in other places too; this is one long book. Maybe Rowling was trying to make up for the earlier, shorter books. Dolores Umbridge also irritates me; it was a bit of overkill I think. The scenes that take place at the end in the Ministry of Magic are done well and are very exciting (also very sad). We also finally receive some answers to questions that have plagued the reader since the first book - namely, why did Voldemort try to kill Harry? An enjoyable, if long, read. Started: 7 July 2007 Finished: 13 July 2007 Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (at librarything.com)

I've been keeping mine up-to-date with all new purchases, but I haven't made much more progress in adding the rest of my books (mostly my books on the occult/supernatural so I'm not in too much hurry to add them - so long as I've got my 'novels' on there, I'm happy).