Ruth

Wow, that is a great story! I've been to NY and seen the Ed Sullivan Theatre, but never realised that I was right by Gene Kelly's former home! I watched Cover Girl at the weekend - an early film for Gene. He's partnered with Rita Hayworth, and in one scene he actually dances with a shadow version of himself. It's fabulous, and well worth checking out

Anchors Aweigh is the one where he dances with Jerry Mouse, and it is an amazing scene! I've seen On The Town, An American In Paris (oh, that 17 minute dance scene at the end is heavenly), It's Always Fair Weather (where he tap dances on roller skates) and of course Singin' In The Rain. I've also ordered Brigadoon and Cover Girl from Amazon, and have been on YouTube to see as many of his sequences as I could. I love the Moses Supposes scene in Singin' where he dances with Donald O'Connor, and of course the actual Singin' In The Rain sequence, where you can really feel the energy and exuberance coming off the screen. It's great to find a fellow fan ETA: Sorry, this was in reply to Peacefield, and I forgot to quote the post - oops!

I just think Gene was SO sexy! Very manly - and I love watching him dance. It's breathtaking, and I'm always utterly mesmerised. I'm trying to see as many of his movies as I can. Singin' In The Rain is one of my favourite films of all time - it's got to be the happiest film on earth, surely?! Yes, Sinatra looks incredibly young here, not much more than a boy really. And Kathryn Grayson was beautiful, with a fantastic voice.

Day 23 - a book you've wanted to read for a long time, but still haven't. Well!! Where do I start? There are SO many books which fit into this category. I've gone for Papillon by Henri Charriere. I've had it on my shelf for years, and one day I WILL get around to it!

Anchors Aweigh, with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. I have a bit of a 'thing' for Gene Kelly

If I've read a book, I can usually remember the plot. But I find that sometimes I'll remember a plot from a book, and cannot remember which book it actually was.

I'm afraid I've not been very good at keeping up with the 30 day challenge I tell myself that I never said it would be 30 consecutive days! Anyway, day 22 is Favourite book you own. It's like asking me to choose a favourite child!! Very difficult, but I think I'm going to say The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. This book just really struck a chord with me, and made me thankful for the life I lead.

Thanks Frankie I'm only 60 pages in so far, but I already have the feeling that I'm going to love this book!

I use Library Thing, and find it very useful. I keep all of my books listed on there. I also use GoodReads, but that's more a way of keeping track of what I've read.

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the book - it was very funny, but so true. Especially if you're feeling sick of the relentless celebrity culture which this country seems to be living in at the moment. Next book is Small Island, by Andrea Levy - been meaning to get to this one for ages!

So did I! And for years, I wished that I could have gone to boarding school and had midnight feasts all the time! I've just finished reading The Various Flavours of Coffee, by Anthony Capella and I REALLY liked it. Definitely recommended - it covers coffee (obviously - and beware, it will make you crave lots of it), the suffrage movement, equal rights, slavery, fair trade and more. Definitely recommended. Next up is a non-fiction read - Celebrity by Marina Hyde. Apparently it's about the current obsession with celebrity and is supposed to be satirical and critical and very funny.

Day 21: Favourite book from your childhood. I loved Enid Blyton books, and for this category was torn between the Famous Five books, the Malory Towers books, and the St. Clare's books. I went for the Malory Towers books in the end. This picture shows the cover of the first in the series, but I loved all of them.

Day 20: Favourite romance. This is a tough one, but I went for Jane Eyre in the end (I'm trying to pick a different book for each day, but sometimes it's too difficult)!

Finished Fairytale of New York, by Miranda Dickinson - a really enjoyable and comforting read, definitely more for female readers. Just started reading The Various Flavours of Coffee, by Anthony Capella - only a few pages in so far, but I really like it!

Day 19 - favourite book turned into a movie. I think I picked To Kill A Mockingbird for another category, but I'm also picking it for this one. One of my very favourite books, and one of the few times where the movie does the book justice. And it's got the lovely Gregory Peck in it

Finished Freakonomics, which I would definitely recommend - thought provoking, engaging and lots of fun. About to start reading Fairy Tale of New York, by MIranda Dickinson. I went to an author event at the library last night, and Miranda was the author in question; she was lovely, a great evening was had by all, and I'm looking forward to this one

Day 18: A book that disappointed you. Brideshead Revisited. I know it's a classic and I know it's much loved, but I was distinctly underwhelmed. As I've mentioned elsewhere though, I could at least appreciate the writing even if I didn't really enjoy it, and it may just have been that it was the wrong book at the wrong time. I've kept my copy anyway, to hopefully try again one day.

Day 17 - favourite quote from favourite book. Wow!! This is tough, because I don't even have only one favourite book...and there'sa boatload of quotes to choose from. Anyway, here is one of my favourites from To Kill A Mockingbird (spoken by Atticus Finch) "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."

Hi Kylie Yes, Freakonomics is one of those books that has me constantly saying to my husband, "Hey, listen to this..." Very interesting, and I like the engaging style as well. Ian McEwan has written a novel called The Innocent, but the one I read was by Posie Graeme-Evans - historical fiction set in the reign of King Edward in the 1400s. It had its good points and bad points - I think Philippa Gregory does it much better!

I've finished reading The Innocent - it was....okay. Lots of terrific historical detail, but clunky writing and a few pages of absolute smut that added nothing to the storyline marred it for me. Now started reading Freakonomics, whcih is fascinating! Day 16 - favourite female character. Jane Eyre - a strong woman, who refused to compromise her principles. I love the book and the character of Jane. Here's Ruth Wilson in the role - this was my favourite adaptation of the novel (and it stars yummy Toby Stephens as Rochester )

Hi Weave, I'm great thanks - how are you? If you do read Emma, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Day 15 - your favourite male character. No contest - Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. He is my literary hero (and the American Film Industry rated him No 1 in the list of movie heroes as well). Here's Gregory Peck (one of my favourite actors) in the role:

Day 14 - Favourite book by your favourite writer. This took some thinking about! I love Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, but eventually picked Emma. First time I read it I wasn't too sure, but when I reread I loved it. Jane Austen said that in writing Emma she had created a heroine who no-one but she would like, but I think she was too harsh on Emma - I adored her, meddling nature and all!

Day 12 - A book you used to love but don't anymore....I think I might have to skip this one. I rarely reread books, so if I loved a book, I'll always remember it as a book I loved. The occasional books which I do reread are ones that I really treasured reading and haven't gone off. Having said that, I used to read a lot of crime fiction and I'm not so keen on it anymore, but I really can't single out one specific book. So, I'll have to skip it go straight onto : Day 13 - Favourite author. Jane Austen For her wit and wisdom and because her books are an absolute delight to curl up with on a lazy afternoon. Some of the film adaptations are well worth watching as well

Day 11 - a book you hated. Easy - there's not too many of these to choose from, but I thought that The Birthing House by Christopher Ransom was the worst book I have ever read. Horrible and completely unbelievable characters, ridiculous storyline which goes nowhere, subplots which are picked up and dropped at random...frankly it just isn't worth the time!

Finished The Call of the Weird, by Louis Theroux on Saturday night - very interesting book, humorous and thought provoking. Yesterday, I started The Innocent by Posie Graeme-Evans - so far it's pretty good.