Deirdre

I´m so jealous, he´s an awesome writer. I hope you have a great time meeting him.

According to Wikipedia, Jasper Fforde is the cousin of the husband of Katie Fforde.

I've finished Wicked by Sara Shepard, but didn't really like it. I think she should have stopped the series with the fourth book, it feels like she's repeating the first books and the story tends to drag a little. Now I have started A Kiss of Crimson by Lara Adrian and I'm trying to finish The Awakening by L.J. Smith.

I am reading The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella at the moment.

Hello there, A couple of years ago I joined this forum, but due to personal circumstances I have been MIA for a few years. But now I would like to rejoin this group. I am a 37 year old Dutch female, mother of two little boys and an avid reader. I love almost every genre of books, although I am not a big fan of Real Life stories. I hope to meet lots of fellow book lovers here (which I doubt will be a problem) and maybe find new books for me to explore.

I definitely gave up on Out. It started to feel like a chore and there was nu fun in it anymore. I did love The Devil's Footsteps by E.E. Richardson, which I finished two days ago. It is the story of Bryan, whose brother was taken by the Dark Man after they had discovered a secret pathway in the woods, which is mentioned in some sort of skipping tune. Bryan has spent five years feeling guilty about this until he meets two other boys. They come to realise that there are a lot of children missing in there town and start to investigate what has happened. This book is a horror book meant for teens. I wish there had been books like these when I was young . I maybe would'nt have had the urge at an early age to start reading adult books. I think it is the kind of books that even grown-ups will like. It has been my best read in ages.

I'm sorry to say it but I gave up on this book today. I have read a little over half of it, but I just don't like it. First of all there was absolutely no character in the book that I even remotely liked. I think the book had a good start, but . So I just gave up as reading this book starts to feel like a chore. I just looked at the other posts including all spoilers and I don't believe there is anything in there that can change my mind. Maybe I have better luck with another book discussion in the future.

I'm not really getting into Out by Natsuo Kirino at the moment. I haven't figured out just yet what the problem is, I think it is just to depressing and there isn't one character that I can relate to. I'm hanging in there, but in the meantime am now reading The Devil's Footsteps by E.E. Richardson. I love this book. It is actually a horror book for teens, but it is very entertaining. Occasionally it reminds me of my all time favorite Stephen King novel It. I hope to finish it tomorrow, and then I probably will continue Out so I can look into the discussion and see if I am the only one who has trouble with it.

Today I finished my first book for 2008: The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen. This book is a sequel to The Surgeon which I have read early last year. It is about a female police officer who has put the serial killer The Surgeon behind bars. Then, one year later, there are some new killings which are similar to the MO of the Surgeon. A new killer is on the loose and to make matters worse, the Surgeon managed to escape from prison and he has some unfinished business. It did take me some time to get into this book, but once I was half way, it finally picked up some speed. And it made me realise that although I only finished her earlier book a year ago, I didn't remember much of it. Right now I'm going to continue reading Out. I have already started this book Januari 1st and I am somewhere round page 200 at this moment.

Today I finished Ghostlight by Marion Zimmer Bradley, probably my last read for 2007. Ghostlight is the first part in aseries about Truth Blackburn. In this part Truth starts to look into the past of her father. In the late Sixties her father was a sort of prophet, who gathered around himself a cult of people (including Truths mother). This cult tried to perform some sort of ritual which was meant to open the gates to the other world (that of the Gods and the Sidhe). Unfortunately things didn''t work out as planned and Truths mother was killed and her father dissapeared. Truth, who has spent her whole life hating her father for the loss of her mother finds herself at the estate of her father, where she meets a whole new group of people, that are preparing the same rituals that killed her mother. The big question is will she join them or stop them. I have mixed feelings about this books. At times I would find it fascinating, while at times I had no clue what the writer wanted with this story. I wanted to explore the Fantasy genre, and having read Marion Zimmer Bradleys Beyond the Mist of Avalon and The Firebrand in the past, I thougt this was a safe choice to begin this new genre. I do intend to read the other parts of this series as well in the near future. But right now I have returned to my favorite genre, the thriller, and started reading The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen.

On the Dutch bookforum where I also post there was a group read for Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinman. I didn't read it myself, but most readers were enthusiastic about this book. The comparison to Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, maybe known to some of you, was made very often.

Compared to other years I haven't read as much as I used too. Most years I read between 70 to 100 books. This year just 30. The main reason that I haven't gotten around to read as often as I used too, is that I have become the mother of a son in Januari and I have spend a lot of my reading time on him naturally and otherwise I have been too tired. I do hope to get more reading done in 2008 though.

Off all the books that I read in 2007 these were my absolute favorites: The Intruders - Michael Marshall The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield Immoral - Brian Freeman Every Dead Thing - John Connolly And my big discovery for 2007 were the Pendergast novels by Preston & Child.

I read this book when I was in Highschool and I absolutely loved it. I have been meaning to re-read this soon. I also have her unabridged diaries on my bookshelf, but have not come round to reading this yet. I hope to do so next year.

I finished Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill yesterday. For those of you who don't know this book, it's the story of a former rockstar who seems to purchase a ghost on the internet. It turns out rather soon that this ghost has some unfinished business with him. Pretty soon the rockstar and his groupie are fighting for their lives and searching for a way to stop this ghost. It was a fast read for me and one I rather enjoyed. However, there were some things I would find irritating in the book, especially in the scenes where the ghost would threaten his victims by using television programs or phone calls. Knowing that the writer is in fact Stephen Kings son, these particular scenes reminded me too much of Stephen Kings novels (like Tommyknockers and It). But when you're in for a good old-fashioned ghost story, this is the one you should read.

I have to say that I have a 100% fiction score for this year. Come to think of it I don't really enjoy non-fiction books. I can't remember any non-fiction book that I have read in the past couple of years. For some reason they just don't seem interesting to me.

I finished Brimstone today. Allthough I found the middle part a bit slow, it proved to be a good read after all. It took me almost four weeks to finish this one . The funny thing is that I experienced the same with their earlier book Still life with Crows. I might be experiencing a little P&C overdose at the moment, but still wish to finish the entire Pendergast series. Dance of Death is pretty high on my TBR pile at the moment. Currently finishing up Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. I hope to finish this by the end of this week.

I have read this book in the earlier this year and eventhough I enjoyed it I share the view of Chicken. I do believe the character of Margaret and some others were underdeveloped and I too had trouble with the timesetting. Margaret is not a modern girl, I placed her somewhere in the Fifties or Sixties but could be totally wrong.

Kylie, I also own the book These are my words. I have read this a couple of years ago and I absolutely loved it. I think the problem with non-fictional diaries is that they are not half as entertaining as fictional ones. If I would look at my own personal diaries which I kept in Highschool, half the time they are just extremely boring to me, let alone to other people. I own a book called The Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster too. I actually bought it and then came to discover that it was fictional too. The writer was however inspired by a woman who started her diary aged nine and kept it until she was 93. I would love to read a diary like that though, as so many exciting things must have happened through the decades.

I have read Anne Frank's Diary a couple of times, being dutch you can hardly not read it when you're in school. I have read a few fictional diaries such as the Adrian Mole diaries, Bridget Jones and Affinity by Sarah Waters. I must say I really enjoyed those. I do own a copy of the unabridged diary by Silvia Plath. Haven't started to really read it yet, but browsed through it and found that it will be a difficult read for me (especially as English isn't my native tongue), but I'm always in for a good challenge, so I hope to read it next year.

Although I have not yet finished Brimstone by Preston & Child, for some reason I can't really get into it. I loved the beginning, but now after 200 pages I think it is kind of losing its pace. I decided to already start with Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill, as I have been curious about this book for quiet some time now. I had no idea that the writer is Stephen Kings son. I will try not to have to high expectations about that, as it will be difficult to meassure up to him.

As the year is almost finished I will already start with my TBR list for 2008 and add the list that I have read this year so far. My current read is still Brimstone by Preston & Child, I'm not so fast a reader anymore since my son was born, and I probably will finish this year by reading Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill READ IN 2007: Sarah Waters - Affinity Val mc Dermid - The Torment of Others Jeffrey Deaver - The Bone Collector Peter Straub - Lost Boy, Lost Girl (dissapointing) Tess Gerritsen - The Surgeon Simon Beckett - The Chemistry of Death Cecily von Ziegesar - Gossip Girl Peter James - Dead Simple Richard Montanari - The Rosary Girls Melissa de la Cruz - The Au Pairs Cecelia Ahern - Where Rainbows End Preston & Child - The Relic P.J. Tracy - Monkeewrench Boris Starling - Messiah Diane Setterfield - The Thirteenth Tale Harlan Coben - Tell No One John Connolly - Every Dead Thing (Re-read, still loving it) Preston & Child - Reliquary Sebastian Fitzek - The Therapy Richard Montanari - The Skin Gods Preston & Child - The Cabinet of Curiosities Michael Marshall - The Intruders John Saul - The Blackstone Chronicles Jeff Abbott - Panic Brian Freeman - Immoral Preston & Child - Still Life with Crows Preston & Child - Brimstone Karin Slaughter - Blindsighted Joe Hill - Heart Shaped Box Marion Zimmer Bradley- Ghostlight TO BE READ IN 2008 (so far) Preston & Child - Dance of Death Preston & Child - The Book of the Death Preston & Child - The Wheel of Darkness Kate Mosse - Labyrinth Gordon Dahlquist - The Glass Books of the Dream Eater Markus Zusak - The Book Thief Elizabeth Kostova - The Historian Sheridan Hay - The Secret of Lost Things Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel Marisha Pessl - Special Topics in Calamity Procedures Karin Slaughter - Kisscut James Clemens - Wit'ch Fire

I read IT by Stephen King for the first time when I was twelve. It has taken me three years before I dared to go near a sewer again. I have never found another book that scared me as much as that one.

Birthday: 18 June Age: 33 Starsign: Gemini Single/Married/Other? Married Children? One, a very sweet baby boy who will turn one this Januari. Where do you live? The Netherlands Do you work? I work three days as a secretary in a small city hall. Favourite author? John Connolly, I just love Charlie Parker! Favourite book? The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and The Witching Hour by Anne Rice. How did you get here? Somebody on a dutch book site mentioned this forum.

I recently bought Thunderhead, so I will give it a go after I finished all the Pendergast novels. The Wheel of Darkness is coming out in Dutch translation early february next year. Your review looked interesting, so I can hardly wait until then. Luckily for me I still have three more books by P&C to go until then.