Ruth

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was such an unusual book - a kind of dreamlike melancholy infused the whole story. But it was captivating and I would definitely read more by this author. Next up is Behold Here's Poison, by Georgette Heyer.

I'd definitely recommend Far Above Rubies - and you certainly don't need to be a fan of Dickens to enjoy it (he may have been a terrific novelist, but a good husband he most certainly was NOT!) Next up is The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender. I bought this while on holiday in America last year, and have been meaning to get around to it for ages. The cover itself is making me hungry though! It has a picture of a large yummy looking slice of cake on it.

A Girl Like You was a great read - excellent chick lit and just what I needed after Monster Love. My next read is Far Above Rubies, by Anne-Marie Vukelic, which tells the story of Charles Dickens' wife.

Finished Monster Love - extremely well written and gripping, but very disturbing. I definitely need something lighter now, so my next read will be A Girl Like You, by Gemma Burgess

Adriana Trigiani didn't let me down As always, I thoroughly enjoyed her book Queen Of The Big Time. Bit of a change of pace next - Monster Love, by Carol Topolski.

I've now finished reading Bleak House - took me two weeks, which is a long time for me, but it was worth it. I'm now reading Queen Of The Big Time, by one of my very favourite authors - Adriana Trigiani

All of my Austen books are of the style on this site: http://www.readjaneausten.co.uk/index.html Although I do have two copies of Pride and Prejudice - one of them is the Penguin Classics copy.

Thanks Ben It was a terrific book - told entirely through the letters of occupants of Guernsey just after WWII, and an author from London. It detailed the German Occupation in Guernsey, and the current events in the lives of the occupants of the island. Highly recommended!

Started and finished my first book of the year - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I absolutely adored. Fab way to start my year's reading. I highly highly recommend this book!

January 1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - 5/5 2. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens - 3/5 3. Queen Of The Big Time, by Adriana Trigiani - 4.5/5 4. Monster Love, by Carol Topolski - 4.25/5 5. A Girl Like You, by Gemma Burgess - 4.25/5 6. Far Above Rubies, by Anne-Marie Vukelic - 4/5 February 7. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender - 4/5 8. Behold Here's Poison, by Georgette Heyer - 4.25/5 9. The Detective Branch, by Andrew Pepper - 3.75/5 10. Dancing With Mr Darcy, by various authors - 4/5 11. The Wilding, by Maria McCann - 3.5/5 12. Past Imperfect, by Julian Fellowes - 4.5/5 March 13. Death by Chocolate, by Toby Moore - 2.5/5 14. Cuban Heels, by Emily Barr - 4.75/5 15. The Lonely Tree, by Yael Politis - 4.25/5 16. Zeebrugge: A Hero's Story, by Stephen Homewood - 3.25/5 17. Remix, by Lexi Revellian - 4/5 18. Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure, by Dave Gorman - 4.5/5 April 19. Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell - 4/5 20. Frozen, by Lindsay Ashford - 3.25/5 21. Bitter Sweets, by Roopa Farooki - 4.5/5 22. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle - 3.5/5 May 23. The Idea Of Perfection, by Kate Grenville - 3.5/5 24. Lennox, by Craig Russell - 3.5/5 25. The Call Of The Weird, by Louis Theroux - 3.75/5 26. The Innocent, by Posie Graeme-Evans - 2.5/5 27. Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - 4/5 28. Fairy Tale of New York, by MIranda Dickinson - 4/5 June 29. The Various Flavours of Coffee, by Anthony Capella - 4.25/5 30. Celebrity, by Marina Hyde - 5/5 31. Small Island, by Andrea Levy - 4.5/5 32. Legend Of A Suicide, by David Vann - 1.5/5 July 33. The Green Mile, by Stephen King - 5/5 34. The Girls, by Lori Lansens - 3.75/5 35. Singin' In The Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece, by Earl J. Hess and Pratibha A. Dabholkar - 5/5 36. The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff - 4.5/5 37. Unless, by Carol Shields - 3/5 August 38. Super Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner - 3.5/5 39. The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde - 3.5/5 40. Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer - 3/5 41. The Bookseller of Kabul, by Asne Seierstad - 4/5 42. The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry - 2.5/5 43. French Women Don't Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano - 1/5 September 44. Time For One More Dance, by Charlotte Sadler - 2.5/5 45. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Bronte - 5/5 46. Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allan - 2.5/5 47. Call For The Dead, by John Le Carre - 4/5 October 48. Lost Light, by Michael Connelly - 3.5/5 49. A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare - 4.5/5 50. The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion - 3.5/5 51. The House of the Wind, by Titania Hardie - 3/5 52. Rat Pack Confidential, by Shawn Levy - 4/5 November 53. Before I Go To Sleep, by S. J. Watson - 5/5 54. One Day, by David Nicholls - 5/5 55. French Lessons, by Ellen Sussman - 3/5 December 56. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski - 5/5 57. Lady Blue Eyes, by Barbara Sinatra - 3.25/5 58. Avenger's Angel, by Heather Killough-Walden - 3.5/5 59. The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, by Various - 4/5 60. Oscar and the Lady In Pink, by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt - 3/5

Kill-Devil and Water was a great read - much better than the second book in the Pyke series, although perhaps not quite as good as the first.

Very much enjoyed Memoirs of a Master Forger - unusual and very absorbing. Just about to start Kill-Devil and Water, by Andrew Pepper - the third in the Pyke series.

Finished The Revenge of Captain Paine - the second in the Pyke Mysteries series. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the first book, mainly due to the overly convoluted plot. Enough to make me want to continue with the series though My next read is Memoirs of a Master Forger, by William Heaney. Looks good - fingers crossed!

Finished The Shining and enjoyed it a lot (it didn't scare me though). Did think it would have been a 'tighter' story if it had been about 75 pages shorter however. My next read is The Revenge of Captain Paine, by Andrew Pepper; the second in a series about the rogue detective Pyke set in the 1800s. I liked the first one a lot, so hopefully this will be a good book too. However, in honour of Jane Austen's 235th birthday, I'm also going to be reading the book of short stories inspired by her 'Dancing with Mr Darcy' by various authors.

I adore Jane Austen's books. All of them One of my all time favourite books is Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. Also I love To Kill a Mockingbird, The Handmaid's Tale and A Clockwork Orange - all modern classics I guess.

Any Shakespeare really. I love watching the plays (or movie adaptations), but I find actually reading him incredibly hard. I also struggled with Brideshead Revisited, but I think it might have just have been that it was not a book I was in the right mood for. I've kept my copy anyway, with the intention of reading it again another time.

Oh, fun!! Describe yourself: The Best A Man Can Get (John O'Farrell) How do you feel: Like Bees to Honey (Caroline Smailes) Describe where you currently live: Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) If you could go anywhere, where would you go: 84 Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff) Your favorite form of transportation: The Bronze Horseman (Paullina Simons) Your best friend is: The Glass Painter's Daughter (Rachel Hore) You and your friends are: Excellent Women (Barbara Pym) What's the weather like: A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) You fear: The Eleventh Plague (Darren Craske) What is the best advice you have to give: Few Are Chosen (M T McGuire) Thought for the day: Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (Winifred Watson) How I would like to die: After You (Julie Buxbaum) My soul's present condition: A Tiny Bit Marvellous (Dawn French)

You could try 'Who Goes There?' by John W. Campbell Jr (although it was published under a pen name of Don A. Stuart). It's only a short book, and it inspired the movie 'The Thing From Another World', which in turn inspired the movie 'The Thing'.

To Kill a Mockingbird A Clockwork Orange A few Jane Austen books

Not sure, but could it be 'The Human Encounter with Death' by Stanislav Grof and Joan Halifax? Link here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Encounter-Death-Condor-Books/dp/0285648748/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291993277&sr=8-2

Thank goodness it was short!! I was relieved to finish that one, although I quite enjoyed the story about the cross country runner and the one about electricity. The rest of the book just left me cold! Next up is The Shining, by Stephen King. Looking forward to this one.

Is it too late to do this? If not, here are my answers: 1. Age (<18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55+) 38 2. Gender female 3. What do you read on a daily basis? (blogs, newspapers, books, etc.) books, news websites 4. How often do you read for fun in a week? every day, for about 2 hours (over various sessions). On Sundays, I can easily read for between 6 - 8 hours! 5. What time of day do you like to read? All times! I usually read in the morning before getting ready for work, at lunchtime, and in the evening 6. Where do you read? In the big comfy armchair in the living room, and also while walking at lunchtime 7. How many books have you read in the last 6 months? About 40 books 8. What type/genre do you enjoy reading most? historical fiction or dystopian fiction. I also like fiction set in different cultures to our own 9. Why do you read? (entertainment, relaxation, learning, etc.) All of the reasons you stated - relaxation, learning and entertainment 10. What barriers prevent you from reading more? work and sleep! 11. Do you think reading for fun is important? Well...it is to me. I think reading in general is important, and people are more likely to read if they enjoy it 12. Do you fold page corners or use a bookmark? Use a bookmark 13. Do you prefer to read to music or in silence? In silence. I can easily read with the television or radio on in the background, but I find it hard to concentrate on reading if music is playing 14. Do you discuss books with your friends? Yes. As well as online reading groups, I belong to a reading group at the local library and I enjoy discussing the books we read. 15. Do you borrow books from the library? Yes, but generally only the ones I read for the reading group 16. Do you borrow/loan books from/to friends? No. I never borrow books from friends, and I don't really like to lend them out. I'm not selfish and if someone expressed an interest in a book I owned, I'd happily buy them a copy. But I've lost too many books by loaning them out, so I don't do that anymore (except very occasionally, to people I know can be trusted to return them).

I really enjoyed The Tapestry of Love, and would definitely recommend it. My next read is Continent, by Jim Crace, which is for my f2f book group. Looks like an unusual read, but at less than 200 pages, it shouldn't take long.

How about this one? http://www.amazon.co.uk/1000-Pocket-Positives-Inspiring-Quotations/dp/1857038967/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291298366&sr=8-3

I adore Jane Austen. I'm glad you're enjoying reading your way through her books Ian Northanger Abbey is probably her most maligned book, but I really like it.