Gelfling

I love Daphne du Maurier. Has anyone read any of her short stories? I have read "The Birds and other stories," and "The Rendevouz and other stories." The latter wasn't so good, but the former is a delightfully dark collection of tales. Don't Look Now is also very atmospheric. She really let her darker side run wild with her short stories...it's no wonder many of them ended up as iconic horror films.

I love the dystopian genre (it scares me silly with the ideas and paranoid thoughts it triggers, but I can't stop reading) but I am at a loss for the next one to read. I have read: Nineteen Eighty-Four A Handmaid's Tale Animal Farm Oryx and Crake Farenheit 451 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Brave New World Any other recommendations would be appreciated

The same with my mum and grandma. For some reason, everyone remembers the opening line to Rebecca. It is certainly very haunting. I loved the subtle way that Rebecca's true nature was revealed to the reader. Mrs Danvers certainly gets my vote for the evilest woman in literature (though the headmistress from "A Clergyman's Daughter," and Umbridge from Harry Potter are close runners up)

Awe, I used to be able to tie flies...my dad taught me when I was about 9. I had my own little box full of feathers and silk and lumps of wax, bottles of tar and glittering ribbons and other treasures. He never quite finished teaching me to fish though so I don't think I ever used the flies I tied which made that hobby a little bit odd I suppose. He was keen on fishing though. Fresh trout is the most amazing fish to eat with freshly baked bread, don't you think? Drat, I have made myself hungry now and, seeing as I am an impoverished student, my chances of eating trout anytime soon are pretty slim

I love Terry Pratchett too. The Witch ones are my favourite (Witches Abroad is the finniest by far I think), but the Hogfather is hilarious too. Did you see the TV version of the Hogfather? They did really well with it I think: I never thought it would work as a film because so much of the humour and explanations is in the footnotes. Apparantly they're doing one of the Rincewind books now. ...ook

This is such a shame. I have this giant tome sitting by my bed waiting for me to start it, but I've not really heard any good things about it. I bought it because it looked arcane and interesting. Perhaps this is a good example of why books shouldn't be judged by their covers (though it worked for "The Book of Lost Things.")

I'm glad I'm not the only one then Which book has been your best discovery so far then (as a result of the big read)?

What are your favourite first lines from the books you've read? The lines that really send a shiver down your spine before you're sucked into the pages? This is one of my favourites: "In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages." - Perfume The opening line to Rebecca is wonderful too, but I'll leave that for someone else

Haha, well done Secondary to my book obsession, I may possibly have a Jim Henson obsession (and yes, I would marry Kermit if he asked).

I'm not sure if they had to do it twice. I have a feeling that Lord of the Rings may have only won it because the films were out at the time. I'm not sure if I'll read all 200 either...I mean, there's an awful lot of Jacqueline Wilson on it which I doubt I'll bother with (but if they fall into my lap I might in the end). I'm in no rush anyway. I remember when I first started it I was a bit obsessed and I kept starting multiple books at once because there were so many I wanted to read RIGHT NOW. I have since slowed down though I certainly won't be tackling War and Peace whilst I'm busy with uni. I've got so much out of doing it though. I've always loved reading, but I was in a bit of a rut with the type of books I was concentrating on (lots of Terry Pratchett, Bronte and Austin), so working through this list has really opened my mind to other genres and authors. Making myself try books I wouldn't normally be interested in has meant I've discovered quite a few new favourites. For example, I always hated sci-fi, but I found I loved Day of the Triffids and I've read a few more John Wyndem books as a result. The same with romance....not my genre, but I loved Katherine and Gone With the Wind (not so much for the romance in it though). I've read 117 so far (I was already on 50 when I started) .

Did anyone else decide to take on this task after the BBC's Big Read? ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/ ) I decided to read the top 200 favourite books as voted for by the British public after following this short series on TV, and 5 years later I'm still slowly plodding along with it (on account of discovering new authors and going off on tangents, or just by picking up interesting looking books). I'd be interested to know if anyone else started this in 2003: it's be nice to chat to a fellow big reader If so, is anyone still going or finished it?

Hello everyone, I've just found this fabulous forum: it's just what I've been looking for as I have already driven my poor friends insane with my constant book talk! I'm looking forwards to chatting with you all.