Gelfling

Yeah, I know what you mean, it's a really sick book. The puppy torture and murder of homeless people nearly made me stop reading. I only continued because I needed close, haha.....which never actually came, come to think of it.

Thanks - will give them a try

George - I've never read any Ian Rankin, but I keep hearing his name pop up. Can you recommend a good one to start on?

I really liked the Historian. It's very atmospheric because of the slow, tense build up. Hope you enjoy

He's fab isn't he? I've only discovered him fairly recently as I read "The Book of Lost Things," which I fell in love with....a very gothic fairy tale. I hear they are making it into a film. Nocturnes is the only other book I've read. It's fantastic (and I think they are making a couple of those stories into films as well....certainly "The new Daughter," will be filmed). I havn't read any of his other stuff, have you? Any good?

I've not heard of it, but I know what you mean about children's books. I love revisiting the books from my childhood. I've actually recently got a beautiful edition of "Wind in the Willows," from the Folio Society, which I can't wait to read again. The only book I found I couldn't see the magic in any more was "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

Thanks Mia, I'll give it a go. Nici - I hate clowns, I can't think why they were invented and I don't know of a single child that finds them funny. If you share my fear and want a chilling read, try John Conolly's book of short stories "Nocturnes." There's a fairly nasty clown one in there

The book is always better, Kell

Thanks Nici, I've had this on my shelf since summer (I bought it because it was one of the BBC's top reads) and I've just not got round to it yet, but I think I'll give it a try soon. I love books that take you to the past and make you experience what it was like to live then. That's the reasons I loved "Katherine," much to my surpirse.

I loved this book so much! It's hilarious. It completely takes the micky out of the Omen films. I heard Terry Giliam has done a screenplay for it, but says they'll never get the massive amount of funding required for all the special effects. Shame. Loved what they said about Crowley getting the M66 and Azriel getting Milton Keynes

Yeah, I think he did pose as Owen actually, that must be it. Have you seen the film? They did really well with it I think. The actor (can't remmeber his name off the top of my head, even though IMDB is just a few clicks away, hehe) really got the character of Bateman right I think (especially in the scene when he's bubbling up inside about the business cards).

Dracula would be mine I think. I love the style in which it is written. It's very atmospheric, especially the captain's log from the Demeter, that's followed by a newspaper article describing how the ship came into Whitby harbour with the dead captain bound to the helm. I must confess though, I can not stand Stephen King. I've read "IT," and part of "Dreamcatcher," but I had to give up on the later because it just stopped making sense with all that Mr Gray stuff. His stlye of writing seems to contain too much gratuitous swearing and violence...I'm not saying I found that offense: I didn't, but it annoys me when it adds nothing to the plot or characters. It just seems to be used to shock people into reading. He's only getting one more chance from me; maybe the next one will be better. Having said that, I've never tried any of his non-horror work. The Shawshank Redemption is a fantastically moving film, so I won't dismiss him from my bookshelf yet. Also, to this day I am still scared of clowns, so maybe IT was a better book than I'm giving it credit for

Esiotrot, Dahl's adult stories are devilishly delicious Try "The Landlady," first, it's fab. I love Gerald Durrell's books....I can read them again and again and still get the same amount of pleasure from them. He tells the stories from his childhood with a wonderful mix of nostalgia, humour and wit. The stories from his later life, such as animal collecting in deep jungles and starting his own zew in Jersey are hilarious too. I am also getting quite into Angela Carter. I've only read "Magic Toyshop," "Night's at the Circus," and parts of "****** Chamber," but I love them. I'm trying to pace myself though, as I don't want to read all her books at once and then have nothing left of hers to read. The same with Daphne DuMaurier.

This was a great book, but very hard going due to the sick content. I'm not actually sure about the murders now that you mention it. I think they happened, or most of them, but you're right that he's a bit out of it for a lot of the book.

Nothing, I'm very open minded and always willing to try something - it's the only way you can discover great new reads. Having said that, if I have tried a particular author a few times and hated every book, I won't keep on reading that person's work. John Irving is getting one more chance from me. Let's hope "Cider House Rules," is better than oweny meany and the world according to garp.

That's a great idea Poppy. It is fun to think these things up My favourite book is Gormenghast, but that one is prooving to be difficult too. Unless I am lucky enough to find a bright carving on the twelth scale that is

Thanks to everyone who helped with my wallpaper problem....it turns out it was a combination of the wrong paste and me not cutting the paper to size first that caused things to go wrong, but I have wallpapered almost the entire house now so I'll be able to put it together. I'll have to put some photos up if anyone's interested. Anyhow - when the house is built I am planning to put in some literary references because books are so important to me and I'd like to leave me stamp behind, so I was wondering if anyonehad some ideas. One idea I had was to get a beautiful wardrobe, fill it with fur coats and paste the narnia scene inside (the winter forest with a lamp-post). I would really like some sort of reference to M.R.James' "Haunted Doll's House," because that is the story I was reading when I first had the idea to build a doll's house. I don't want a hanky ghost in the attic though

That's the one, thanks Gyre

Mine is "The Book of Lost Things," sorry - don't know how to upload an image. I bought the book soley because I thought the cover looked interesting and I did not regret it

Hey Moonlight, I've read it: it's really good. It was a fantasy, but with a gritty, real edge to it. Weaveworld (I think that's by Clive Barker) is similar in the sense that's it's not an airy-fairy fantasy like some of them are, but it's much more magical than American Gods, so if you do read American Gods and enjoy it, then you might want to try that one too.

EVERYWHERE! I have no space, they take over everthing. At home, all my antique and other special books live on the 3 top shelves. My other book case is jam packed and then there are piles on the floor...it got to a stage where I could no longer move in my room so I had to have a big, ruthless, heartbreaking clearout: not a nice thing because I am a horder of books, even the ones I didn't like. At uni, where I am at present, my books are mainly in stacks on shelves and my desk, though I am getting rather a large stack developing next to my bed.

If you liked Snowflower, then maybe you'd like: The Empress Orchid Wild Swans

If, like me, you occasionally yearn for something really unusual that you can't put down, then please participate in this thread:lurker: I have 2 books that I would like to inflict on as many people as possible. I discovered them quite by chance and I only wish that more people knew about them: The Pilo Family Circus - Will Elliot "Jamie's tyres squealed to a halt. Standing in the glare of the headlights was an apparition dressed in a puffy shirt with a garish flower pattern. It wore oversized red shoes, striped pants and white face paint. It stared at him with ungodly boggling eyes, then turned away..." This seemingly random, if bizarre, incident triggers a nightmarish chain of events as Jamie finds he is being stalked by a trio of gleefully sadistic clowns who deliver a terrifying ultimatum: You have two days to pass your audition. You better pass it, feller. You're joining the circus. Ain't that the best news you ever got? Jamie is plunged into the horrific alternate universe that is the centuries-old Pilo Family Circus, a borderline world between hell and earth from which humankind's greatest tragedies have been perpetrated. Yet, in this place, peopled by the gruesome, grotesque and monstrous, where violence and savagery are the norm, Jamie finds that his worst enemy is himself - for when he applies the white face paint, he is transformed into JJ, the most vicious clown of all. And, JJ wants Jamie dead... Geek Love - Katherine Dunn This audacious, mesmerizing novel should carry a warning: "Reader Beware." Those entering the world of carnival freaks described by narrator Olympia Binewski, a bald, humpbacked albino dwarf, will find no escape from a story at once engrossing and repellent, funny and terrifying, unreal and true to human nature. Dunn's vivid, energetic prose, her soaring imagination and assured narrative skill fuse to produce an unforgettable tale. The premise is bizarre. Art and Lily, owners of Binewski's Fabulon, a traveling carnival, decide to breed their own freak show by creating genetically altered children through the use of experimental drugs. "What greater gift could you offer your children than an inherent ability to earn a living just by being themselves?" muses Lily. Eventually their family consists of Arty, aka Arturo the Aqua Boy, born with flippers instead of limbs, who performs swimming inside a tank and soon learns how to manipulate his audience; Electra and Iphigenia, Siamese twins and pianists; the narrator, Oly; and Fortunato, also called the Chick, who seems normal at birth, but whose telekinetic powers become apparent just as his brokenhearted parents are about to abandon him. More than anatomy has been altered. Arty is a monsterpower hungry, evil, malicious, consumed by "dark, bitter meanness and . . . jagged rippling jealousy." Yet he has the capacity to inspire adoration, especially that of Oly, who is his willing slave, and who arranges to bear his child, Miranda, who appears "norm," but has a tiny tail. A spellbinding orator, Arty uses his ability to establish a religious cult, in which he preaches redemption through the sacrifice of body partsdigits and limbs."I want the losers who know they're losers. I want those who have a choice of tortures and pick me." This raw, shocking view of the human condition, a glimpse of the tormented people who live on the fringe, makes readers confront the dark, mad elements in every society. After a hiatus of almost two decades, the author of Attic and Truck has produced a novel that everyone will be talking about, a brilliant, suspenseful, heartbreaking tour de force. Any others

Neverwhere sounds like Alice in Wonderland for adults I'll have to try it. Have you read "Weaveworld" ? I think it's by Clive Barker. It's a rather nitty gritty fantasy (but quite wonderful).

Ooo, I've not heard of The Blue Lenses. I shall have to hunt it down. I think my favourite so far has been The Birds. It's terrifying, but in a very subtle way.