Ben

Read about 200 pages of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Záfon yesterday, flying through it and I'm sure I'll get through some more today.

It has to be the fact that there's so many, because if we only had a few choices then we wouldn't really have much choice but to pick one up.

Forgot to do this one yesterday, will do day five later today so I'm caught up. Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series Tough choice for me, as I love all three books in the His Dark Materials trilogy, but I'm going to go with the first one: The Northern Lights. This is where it all started for me, and I feel what makes the series so good is its characters. As such, as this is where we meet most of them for the first time, I'm going to say the first book as my answer. Despite this though, I really enjoyed them all, and I don't think I've given a good explanation of why I prefer the first one.

Thanks to Kylie for taking the effort to look through a list of about two hundred unread books of mine to offer her suggestions and opinions on one's she'd already read. I was struggling to chose one at all; something I find ridiculous when I'm surrounded by so many good choices, so if it wasn't for Kylie I wouldn't be even starting another yet. I decided upon The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and it looks like it'll be a great read; the synopsis sounds interesting indeed. Synopsis: Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles. To this library, a man brings his ten-year-old son, Daniel, one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to chose one book and from the dusty shelves pulls The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. But as Daniel grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth between the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind.

Yeah, I think a lot of books can be too long, even if written well; sometimes it's hard to hold a reader's concentration for a good five hundred pages, unless of course the book is amazing.

I have to agree with everything you say; simply felt like we were witnessing the culmination of an incredible, historic season for Novak, who is just destroying the field at the moment. I struggle to bet against Nadal winning a match usually, and if Djokovic has beaten him five times in a row, I think that says it all.

Wouldn't have thought anything would daunt you Kylie. The Australian Book Mistress can't be stopped by a mere 560 pages of small print.

Forgot to pop on here yesterday, but on Saturday night, rather in the early hours of Sunday morning, I finished Love In The Time Of Cholera. This is definitely a tribute to how much I wanted to finish it, because I hardly noticed the hours flying by. My brief thoughts are below, but if you want a more detailed review, you can find it here. Love In The Time Of Cholera. - Gabriel García Márquez. Thoughts: I would like to begin by saying that this is such a wonderfully charming novel, and it was somewhat fitting that when I began reading this, I did so by candlelight. From the very first page I was gripped by the imagery; Márquez writes with such simple but beautiful elegance, and this style continues throughout. For some, the story of a love-stricken man waiting over half a century just to tell his teenage love that his feelings have never changed, could be considered desperate; for others, like me, it is a heart-breaking story of love, and I sympathised with the character of Florentino throughout. When he finally gets the opportunity to declare his love once more, the reader holds its breath in wait for what she will say. It it to be in vain, as although we have an initial answer, all is not revealed, as the story backtracks; we are left waiting another couple of hundred pages before we get some actual answers. All in all, this is a story of monumental proportions: Florentino's love for Fermina is endless; she is the only one he wishes to be with, even after so much time. Will he get the chance, or will he be rebuffed once more and left to suffer in the fact that his wait was for nothing? There's only one way to find out. 5/5.

I've played acoustic and electric guitar for over four years, although over the last couple have tragically started to stop playing as much. I used to be an okay player, but it takes dedication and that was something I lacked. I would love to start playing again and have said numerous times that I will, with varying degrees of success. I learned to read sheet music when I started, but I don't think it's necessary at all, as there are so many available tabs for playing nowadays. That said, it is beneficial and it made it easier to play in my eyes, when I learned to read sheet music. Hopefully one day in the not too distant future I'll start playing again.

Day 03 – Your favourite series Not a difficult decision for me this time, as His Dark Materials from Phillip Pullman is the best trilogy I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It has been a while since I last read them, so perhaps due for a re-read, but they're wonderfully pacey, intelligently written, and the diverse range of characters and personalities are just fantastic. Pullman managed to read open up a whole new world for me whilst I was reading these books, and they've held a place in my heart ever since.

So Djokovic does it. Was mildly surprised to see Nadal lose it, but it does make sense, as Novak is formidable. In any case, fantastic final, even if a little one-sided. I was disappointed in Nadal, but what can you do? Novak has been sensational over this year and all the signs pointed to him winning Wimbledon in the end. We all know anything can happen in Wimbledon though, and it wasn't set in stone with Nadal lining up against him in the final; Rafa has played brilliantly, as he always does, at Wimbledon this year. In any case, I enjoyed the final and this year's Wimbledon. Congratulations to Novak Djokovic who takes Wimbledon and the number one spot in tennis; fantastic.

I understand what you mean there, it's the sense of desperate longing that we feel from Gatsby, even though at heart you know Daisy can never be what he envisages. As for the film, I saw bits of it as a useful addition to the novel when studying it, and from what I watched it was good; I'll probably watch it all at some point I'm sure.

Almost forgot to do this, and it's only the second day.. Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times I will have to say The Great Gatsby as I know I have read this many, many times because it was one of my A Level texts, meaning it was somewhat required. I do enjoy the book though, and re-readings are certainly rewarding in a book that encourages the questioning of the narrator, his motives, and the rest of the characters in the book. For such a relatively short novel it is packed with intricate layering, detailed prose, and I didn't mind ever re-reading at all.

I'm similar, a novel can certainly hit me for six sometimes. Even if it's not in the actual crying sense, if I read something that really connects, that I can resonate with, I often find myself feeling strong emotional responses, like I'm sure many people on here will as well. That sounds brilliant vodkafan, think I may add it to my wishlist also.

I too thought it was lovely; Oscar Wilde really does write with such beauty.

Well I'm really enjoying it so far, I think it's fantastic. Oooh, that's interesting, I think I might check that out. I'll have a look at this, thanks.

Wimbledon, like I've been doing since it started.

It is a good game, both are playing very well and Tsonga's giving his all which is all he can do. I feel a little for him here, actually. He's knocked out Federer in what was probably one of the best games in his career, and now he's trying to give a good account of himself here and Novak is just moving and playing so well, giving him no chance at all. As for the Murray game, it's going to be a fantastic game; he'll be coming out fighting I'm sure.

Oooh, have you read much King? I really need too. I've read Duma Key but he has so many novels that I've had recommended from friends. As for Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, I've never read it but there was an extract in the front of one of my A Level texts, I forget which one, and I thought it sounded nice, so it might be worth checking it out at some point.

Oh Pixie, you definitely should; it's brilliant. As for his writing style, it's wonderful; I found myself wishing I had the poetic talent he showed.

I'm not seeing it Inver. Don't get me wrong I'd love him to win, but I really don't think he's got enough in the tank to take out Nadal; though let's hope I'm wrong. Djokovic looking very comfortable in this second set against Tsonga, so looking like a 2-0 set lead. Can the Frenchman pull out another miracle? I doubt it this time.

Okay so like a few others have been doing, I'm going to attempt the list of questions about books, throughout this month. Day 01 – Best book you read last year The best book I read last year has to be The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde no less. This was the first time I had read it, and when I read it on holiday I knew I had read one of my all time favourites. Wilde's writing style is just wonderful; I adored every single syllable, and I really want to get around to reading more of his work. Another one I think I should mention is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I read this late last year, and if I hadn't had read the aforementioned Wilde novel, this would have been my favourite. The concept of American Gods was one that had me hooked, and obviously Gaiman's naturally engaging style managed to pull it off, making it one of my favourite reads of last year.

I remember reading this last year. A friend of mine was studying it for one of her coursework texts, and I thought seen as though it was short, that I'd read it as well. I enjoyed it a lot; her writing style is engaging and beautifully poetic, and as it is a short story I left myself feeling disappointed there wasn't more.

Sounds about right too me; I love the first one, and always feel that the others are just a little down on the standard, even if I do still enjoy them.