michael

Nice general question!! To me, it has to have a rattling good plot that moves along, characters that develop...and the writing has to be pleasant and easy to read. This let's, for instance, Dan Brown out: good, page turning action, but the characters are fairly faceless and the writing just makes me cringe. Jo Trollope on the other hand, writes beautifully, and her characters are great...but not a lot happens. I read her a lot though. So does a book need all three elements, or are they sort of mutually exclusive; would the full banana be too much? (no fruit jokes here, Poppy)

It's a bit contorted and, as with most of his books, irritating if you know anything about the subject matter because he tends to get the technical details just slightly wrong. Witness "The Andromeda Strain" where, at the beginning of chapter 4, he uses a binary code and gets it back to front. I'd give up! His new one, "Next" is rather better. Timeline was good...except they kept cutting peoples heads off.

I actually stopped reading one of his (on-line) because I knew (thought I knew?) what was going to happen next. Google him to be scared...

...so apparently its chinese and chocolate eclairs or maybe just chinese chocolate eclairs?

or just re-read something you know you love...

anything that mentions the booker prize on the blurb (especially "nominated, runner up, shortlisted"). Also any auto-biogs of people I LIKE: too many of them turn out to be not so nice when you read their words. michael cane was a case in point for me, one of the very few books i've ever given away.

i have found that you don't need planks and bricks to build bookshelves; you just need planks and...books. Of course the ones you want to read are always the ones that are holding up the ends of the shelves.....

Hi Kell, my folks live on the West Coast, Loch Torridon so I know Inverness well, but have only been to Aberdeen once...to the Hyperbaric centre...part of the hospital complex, for decompressing north sea divers. You get it cold, west coast gets it wet?

well I'm not sure I'd really want to know; one of the advantages of having a lousy memory is that I can re-read a book that I've read quite recently and enjoy it all over again. (Also applys to stuff I've written which is even more worrying!) but thanks for the suggesstions, i'll have a look. anything to keep me organised.

maybe she's having a fling with the librarian ....or the hairdresser

I absolutely love a transatlantic flight; can read a whole book in one go. (and another while waiting for the wretched flight sometimes!!)

i'm a photographer so i always look at the cover first. If i like it, I'm much more likely to open it and read the first page. If I don't like it, I get hung up on how I would have done the cover differently, and I forget to read it!

the fines are small huh? my wife missed her hair appointment yesterday so she took back her overdue library books. She claims the damage to the wallet was about even!!

now I'm worried! I'm sure I've read lots of books this year, i even remember what some of them were about, but i never keep count. i'd lose the piece of paper....wouldn't you?

Hi Candybar, I joined just a few days ago and this bunch are real friendly!

Hi Hamster, I like your pictures! I invent scientificccyyy things and some cool stuff too, like a windsor chair that's also a music stand. It's on www.michaeljdixon.co.uk if you want to have a look. Did anyone ever read the sequel to Three men in a boat? when they climb a mountain. 3m on the Bummel I think it's called. It wasn't half as good. He should have stopped after the first one.

...he said shyly. I'm a photographer/inventor who never finishes anything except books. This looks like a fun place. Favorite author would depend on mood/alcohol level. Favorite book? Maybe "Touch Wood" by Duncan Hamilton (fifties racing driver), or "Three men in a boat." My Dad read this, completely straight-faced and said he couldn't see anything funny in it; seemed like a straightforward description of what would happen if you tried to take a boat up a river. Hope to chat!