Ben

Welcome back.

Ah yes, Gothic fiction - we did that at A Level as well. From the list I only tackled Shelley's Frankenstein which was very good and still stands as one of my favourite classics. I'm not much of a typical horror fan so I'm hoping the texts bring something different to the genre; which I'm sure they will otherwise they probably wouldn't have been chosen for us to study.

Still trundling on with A Game of Thrones. According to my Kindle I'm 75% through, and it's great so far.

Hello, welcome to BCF. Who are some of your favourite authors?

Was obviously fixed. I bet Isner thought oh no not again and lost on purpose.

My favourite series of all time. I'd agree that the romance doesn't come in until the later books, but still an absolutely fantastic series.

I was going to watch the Shakespeare 'The Hollow Crown' series but decided to stick with the tennis instead. Was delighted to see him come through in four sets and I now have a date with BBC iPlayer for Richard II tomorrow.

Fair comment Claire, I just got excited that's all. Laura, that was Mahut and Isner, now that was amazing. Final set in that match was like longer than any other match or something stupid. They had something similar today but not as long, 17-15 to Cilic in the fifth against Querrey this evening. Actually it's been a pretty amazing day of tennis; a woman earlier got the first ever Wimbledon 'Golden Set' - winning an entire set without losing a single point.

I'm pretty sure that was one of the greatest things I've ever seen on a tennis court. That's what I love about tennis, history just keeps happening. Congratulations Andy Murray on staying focused and coming through in an absolutely brutal fourth set more against the clock more than the player at the other side of the net.

Brought down to earth a little bit this afternoon. He can go home delighted though, I'm sure.

*shrugs* Murray should have to prove himself against one of the elite three if he's to win Wimbledon otherwise his victory will be downgraded. Of course he'll have still won the competition, but there'll always be that idea of 'he's only won it because the others were beaten in earlier rounds.' Plus I don't think Djokovic was ever really in trouble yesterday. Federer was, but he battled through it like a champion.

Ah, I thought they had done a good job with the television adaptation but I'm not even halfway though Martin's A Game of Thrones yet and once again the book outdoes the on-screen equivalent without much problem. I'm really enjoying the novel so far. It hasn't even seemed that long to me; there's always something happening, and I haven't come across any dull chapters so far. I think Tyrion is even more excellent in the novel, and I didn't think that would be possible after watching Peter Dinklage do an excellent job in the series. I also think the background information about the history of the different Houses and rulers is integrated exceptionally well into the plot of the text. As you can see I'm really enjoying it and although it's still reasonably slow going I'm at least getting somewhere and enjoying it immensely as I go.

I only say it because he's hell-bent on winning back his No. 1 spot and breaking the record for the most weeks held at the top. I know it gets a bit dull with them dominating the game all the time, but he's just sensational and elegant like you said, that I couldn't begrudge him what would probably be his greatest achievement. Plus, I don't like Djokovic, so really I'd prefer to see Rodger reign.

Beautiful pictures, I hope you had a great time.

This. Nadal's a gentleman and it was great to see him so gracious in defeat when some of the others can be complete idiots. Also, get in Rodger Federer! From two sets down, 4-6, 6-7, he showed true champion spirit to come back, battle through a tough fourth-set decider, then take the last in emphatic fashion. I was worried for a moment that he was going out, but I think he really intends to see this one through to the end.

I like Tsonga too, he's always so happy. Put her on mute? I agree, the men's finals are always much more thrilling. 2008 final still stands as one of the greatest games of tennis I've ever seen. I suppose the last great ladies' final was Lindsey Davenport and Venus Williams back in '05, but you always seem to get a better battle in the men's matches.

I love Nadal. Poor Nadal. Whereas that bloody winging giant man - I'm glad to see the back of him!

Haha you're right Claire, I can just say one of you was absolutely spot on. Win-win situation. Ah, that's okay, I just wondered; it does seem an obscure list with virtually all the authors and novels unknown to me, but I guess it makes sense with the type of 'specialist' modules that I'm doing. I'm looking forward to studying Frankenstein again, it really was a book that I loved looking at for A Level.

Oh. Never mind, we'll see how I get on. Any others you've read/recognised on my new modules, Kylie?

I'll.list some I think you should read just from my 2012 reads. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. The Green Mile by Stephen King (If you fancy reading more King after Carrie). Of course I don't know if you have already read any of these but I thought I'd have my input.

I'd be worried if you didn't have so many more books to read after being on here a couple of weeks.

Thanks Timstar. I really enjoyed the television adaptation so it'll be fascinating to see how well they adapted it from the books; what they included and left out. I also want more of my favourite characters from the television series - Tyrion, Arya, etc. - so this is the ideal solution.

Long overdue Review for Fuminori Nakamura's The Thief, which was rather good in the end. 4/5. I'm having an awful reading month at the moment; it seems June was the time for the inevitable drop of pace in the amount of books I've read. I really have lost all sort of a mojo for the best part of this month so far, and it's really disappointing. I haven't had the motivation to do anything recently. I am still reading Crime and Punishment which I have practically read about twenty pages of. I've also got Sworn Secret by Amanda Jennings to start soon because it's a review book. *sigh* In any case, I made a start on A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, the first book in the long series. I've just finished watch Season 2 of the television series and I thought to myself that waiting until next season to find out what happens next is going to be far too long. The answer: the books. I'm going to start with the first then see how I get on from there. It's perhaps a bit of a silly decision in light of my loss of mojo, but if a good epic fantasy isn't enough to get me out of my slump, I don't know what is. Synopsis: The first volume of George R R Martin's glorious high fantasy tells the tragic story of treachery, greed and war that threatens the unity of the Seven Kingdoms. Martin unfolds with astonishing skill a tale of truly epic dimensions, a story of treachery and ambition, love and magic. Set in a fabulous world scarred by battle and catastrophe over 8000 years of recorded history, it tells of the deeds of men and women locked in the deadliest of conflicts and of the terrible legacy they will leave their children. In the game of thrones, you win or you die. It's started great so far, and I know it's had a lot of love on here, which makes me even more excited to get cracking with it.

Nadal's incredible. I was slightly nervous when he went 4-0 down in the first set, but he was just adjusting to the surface and soon got back to playing excellently.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak. I read the entire series earlier this year; enjoyable, quick reads, and certainly a relief from bigger, more challenging classics such as The Picture of Dorian Gray for instance.