shelbel

Hi and welcome. Good luck with your studies.

1. I'm married with four children. 2. I'm the mother of identical twin daughters. 3. I enjoy restoring old interesting furniture and have completely restored and renovated two old houses. 4. I love all things red and retro. 5. I'm passionate about social justice issues.

My 15 year old twin daughters have both become addicted to a book series written by Australian Author John Marsden. This series seems to be very popular over here in Australia, the girls tell me all their friends are reading them to. Tomorrow when the war began The dead of the night The third day the frost Darkness, be my friend Burning for revenge The night is for hunting The other side of dawn

Hi Kate, reading your review on The Great Gatsby has remind me how lovely this book is, I think I might put this in the must reread again pile.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome

Hello and welcome

Wow! A book signed by Pete Best, as a Beatles fan I have to say I'm impressed and a bit jeolous. I'm sure there is a great story behind this acquisition.

I'm ashamed to say, (particularly on this forum were the Enlish Classic's are so popular) that I've not read alot of the English Classic's. I can only recall reading Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice in high school, and Sons and Lovers at uni. So I'm really looking forward to reading Middlemarch when I get to it.

I read "Curious incident with at dog at night" and "Girl with a Pearl Earing" at the end of last year. Both were great reads and I think you will enjoy them.

These are the books that I'm hoping to read this year: Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - I am half way through this one. Madame Bovary - Gustav Flauber Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak Middlemarch - George Eliot Alice in Wonerland - Lewis Carroll Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood A prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving A Son fo the Circus - John Irving Another Country - James Baldwin It's a bit ambitious, so I'll see how I go.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner The Graduate One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest To Kill a Mockingbird Edward Scissorhands What's Eating Gilbert Grape? The World According to Garp

thank you for the suggestion of Chekhov's short stories and plays, I will certainly add him to the reading list. I am currently half way through Anna Karenina and loving it. I am finding it a rather slow read as there is so much detail to absorb, his exploration of male/female gender roles in Russian society is absolutely fascinating. A friend of mine has suggested that I read Madame Bovary next as a complimentary read to Anna Karenina.

"Into the Wild" would have to be the best film I've seen this year. Sean Penn is amazing, the cinematography is breath taking, and the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder is wonderful. Enjoyed it so much that I read the book and purchased the soundtrack. Also enjoyed Walk the Line, Shawhank Redemption. I've not seen the Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford, but was wondering if that was the film Nick Cave did the soundtrack for.

All my children loved the Dr. Seuss books.

This is the first year in many that I've actually had the time to devote to reading for me, so I guess I've been a little manic.

Who is your all-time favouite author and why? This one I will have to sit on the fence for, it is difficult to just narrow it down to one. who was your first favourite author, and why? Do you still consider him or her among your favourites? My first favourite author would have to be Harper Lee, I first read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was fifteen for school, and it had such a tremendous impact on me. It was my first real introduction to social juctice issues, and I remember thinking at the time, that when I grew up I wanted to be just like Atticus Finch. This book is still one of my all-time favourites and every few years I pick it up and reread. Who's the most recent addition to your favourite authors, and why? My most recent favourites are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Truman Capote, Jeffrey Eugenides and Leo Tolstoy. They are all authors that I"ve read this year, and enjoyed immensely. If someone asked you who your favourite authors were right now, which authors would pop out of your mouth? Are there any you'd add on at moment of reflection? Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Truman Capote, Jeffrey Eugenides, Leo Tolstoy, Haper Lee. After a moments reflection, Ernest Heminway, John Steinbeck, Umberto Eco, the list goes on and on.

I am having a very productive year so far. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the Time of Cholera Anne Enright - The Gathering Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird Arundhati Roy - God of Small Things Thrity Umrigar - The Space Between Us Ann Patchett - Bel Canto Tracy Chevalier - Burning Bright Phillippa Gregory - The Other boleyn Girl H.F.M. Prescott - Mary Tudor Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex Sarah Hall - Electric Michelangelo Steve Toltz - A Fraction of the Whole Peter Carey - His Illegal Self Tim Winton - Breath Ian McEwan - Atonement Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's J.M. Barrie - Peter Pan Jack London - Call of the Wild Louis de Bernieres - Captain Corelli's Mandolin

I look forward to hearing what you think of "The Handmaids Tales", as I have been interested in reading some of her work for some time now.

The Graduate is one of my favourite films, I particularly love the church scene at the end. This review I found interesting Kylie, I have always wondered what the book was like. I think I will add to the ever growing TBR pile.

Hearty Beef and Tomato Gnocchi.

This is a hard one, there are way too many great classic works to just narrow down to three. Already the English, Russian and the French have been thoroughly covered. Maybe I can contribute a few American Classic's. 1. Moby Dick by Hermman Melville. 2. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 3. Call of the wild by Jack London.

I don't play a musical instrument myself, but my partner and daughter both play the classical guitar. Recently I have been enjoying listening to Australian classical guitarist Karin Schaupp, she does a lovely rendition of Mascagni Intermezzo for Cavalleria Rusticana.