Ben

Book number twenty-three; tragically done and dusted. I'm sure you've all experienced the feeling of loss when you've just finished a fantastic novel; you sit sadly for a few minutes knowing that you're done. I just experienced that feeling as I came to the end of American Gods not ten minutes ago. It's taken me about five or six days to read it, but it's been well worth it. This is the first book of Neil Gaiman's that I have read - aside from Good Omens which he coauthored with Terry Pratchett - but I think I might have to invest in a few more of his; the writing was wonderfully captivating and had me turning the pages in earnest, eager to find out what was going to happen next. Well, I will review this one as soon as time allows, but for the minute let's just say I recommend it wholeheartedly. 5/5. Now comes the near-impossible task of choosing what to read next. Fortunately, this time the choice is a little more simple, as I'm already partly way through Derren Brown's new book, Confessions of a Conjuror. It'd be a shame not to finish it, as I have enjoyed it thus far.

Must say, I was a very happy chappy last night - well, the early hours of this morning; it was a great job by our boys.

Got a lot of love for Alistar Cook at the moment, that man's batting has been top notch. Delighted with our first innings of 317-2, and I have to say we're definitely looking good at the moment. Of course, I'm not making any predictions or saying anything yet because there's a lot of cricket to be played; we all saw what happened in the first test as well. Really looking forward to seeing how this turns out, though.

I think your right my friend; when it comes down to it, I think it's just personal opinion on what a person feels they can achieve during a year's reading. Then if they don't reach that, they are disappointed; such as I am this year. I think it's because I reached a pretty impressive 48 last year; I expected to read a similar amount, but the added pressure from school-work obviously brought my total down. I also seem to read more during the holidays, especially during the summer holidays because that's when the school year is all wrapped up and I have chance to settle down. As for reading at my school, I imagine most of the kids there could count the amount of books they've read this year on one hand, and still have some fingers spare. But of course the amount of books some people get through on here, I can never fail to admire.

Read 100 pages of American Gods throughout today, and I'm really starting to get stuck into it now, about 300 pages of a good 635 in - possibly less, I'm not sure exactly. I'm sure it'll be finished in no time, but I'll have to see how much time I can make for myself. Let's hope that with a bit of luck I might be done by this weekend. I must say, though, I would definitely recommend this to absolutely anyone.

Hey Inver good to hear he's getting back to fitness quickly, and hopefully he'll be back on the picture and scoring goals in no time.

Indeed, I'm around 200 pages in and it's starting to gather pace well now. The way which Gaiman writes is just wonderful though, I find the hours passing by without worry or thought. I'll no doubt have a shot at giving it a proper review when I've finished, but even this early on I'd recommend it wholeheartedly my friend.

Australia 245 all out; some good bowling from England there, but you did make it easy for us, I have to say. Got to admit, I'm really enjoying watching The Ashes this time around; for some reason the time difference has deterred me, it's just made me more nocturnal.

Oooh look, a reading thread - what's that again? I'm sad that I've only managed a tragic 22 books this year so far; I suppose I could excuse myself and say that it has been a busy school year, but once again I should have found more time to read. This year has been one of my worst for a while to be honest. I've enjoyed one of my favourite reads ever, though, with Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, so that is some good news at least. Ah well, for the minute I'm settling into American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and although I'm only a tiny bit through it, I think it's one that I'm going to enjoy immensely. Other than that it's back to reading textbooks and reading over my own scrawls; which should have some notes in there somewhere.

I agree with everything your saying Raven my friend, we definitely didn't get into the game early enough, and I guess I'm just being a little harsh on Russia because I'm frustrated we weren't successful in our bid - I'm sure their efforts in hosting the World Cup will be fantastic for sure. As for the questions being asked of the media, I'm sure you right on that front as well. I think everyone seems to be more annoyed due to the fact we haven't had the best year in English football - especially with our efforts in the World Cup this year; this has just topped that off. We do need to re-group and shift our focus back to getting our team good enough to win us some trophies. I guess we'll just have to see if we can do that.

In all fairness we did actually have the best bid; our presentation was fantastic and the effort we have put into trying to bring the World Cup to England for 2018 was inexhaustible. I cannot for one minute understand how Russia have attained the honour; the premiership is one of the best - if not the best - league around, with some of the world's best players. Russia have yet to start building stadiums yet, whereas we have some of the most passionate and atmospheric stadiums there can be. I think that when all's said and done, this bid has come down to who has successfully managed to bribe the FIFA executives to earn their votes. Obviously we haven't managed this very well; all I can say is it's a disappointing day for those such as Beckham who have worked hard for this, and for English football in general.

I spot some fantastic titles on that wishlist; good choices. I really did enjoy Catcher in the Rye, and of course you can't often go wrong with Stephen King. Also heard good things from Banks' The Wasp Factory; a friend at school has chosen it as one of her coursework titles and offered to lend me it as I thought it looked intriguing. In any case, enjoy your choices when you get around to receiving them.

Why hello there Mac, good to see your still reading good novels. I see your still much enjoying Mr Kerley's writing; I really do need to get ahold of another of his books, because I enjoyed the one I did read a while back. Maybe a 'JA Kerley' search will be neccesary when I hopefully get my Amazon Kindle at Christmas.

Watched the vast majority of The Ashes so far - despite most day's starting at midnight our time, and me needing to be up for college the next day. I lost heart after Australia's first innings lead, and admittedly I thought they'd bowl us out for a win. However, must admit that our boys did us proud saving the draw and batting fantastically, especailly Alistar Cook of course, and all the late nights - early mornings - were more than worth it in the end. Can't wait to see how this is going to go.

Right, I've been looking at the Kindle for a very long time now, and I just can't make my mind up. I'll always prefer turning pages over physically in a real book, but I have to admit the e-reader seems to have its benefits. The price for the Kindle including 3G - which would be more preferable for me - is now only £149; a price that has declined a lot since its release. My worry was that although the battery life seems fantastic, the display astonishing, what are the prices for the ebooks themselves, like? A quick scan shows me I'm looking at books like The Lost Symbol for a mere £2.76. I would never consider paying the same price for an e-book as I would a real book, but the Amazon Kindle seems to offer brilliant prices. The more I look the more I'm tempted to get hold of one of these, yet I'm still reserved; I honestly don't know if I'll like it. Hmm, who has one and here, and what do you think of them?

Hey Cayleb, I'd just like to offer my introductions as well; welcome to BCF. It's a wonderful place here, a delightful little - well, not so little - community, and I'm sure with your evident passion for books, you'll settle in great. I hope one day to amass a collection similar in size to your own, and I confess that I'm jealous of the fact you are surrounded by so many books. Anyway, I'm Ben, feel free to hit me up for a chat whenever you like, and I'm sure I'll see you around the forums.

I've only asked for one book this year, and that's Stephen Fry's new one, The Fry Chronicles. Normally I'd have a list planned, but I haven't read much this year at all, and I'm far too busy with exam preparation at the moment. Besides, I don't really want anything for Christmas this year, aside from world peace, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. In all fairness I have a substantial amount of books on my shelves that I haven't yet read, which I'd love too, so I'm fine for the moment.

Well I in all honesty haven't read much this year, but I'll give it a shot nevertheless. Your favourite read of the year? The Picture of Dorian Gray. - Oscar Wilde. Your favourite author of the year? Oscar Wilde. Your most read author of the year? Stieg Larsson. Your favourite book cover of the year? 1984 - George Orwell. The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, then the one you read the least of)? In all fairness I've abandoned a fair few books this year, but it wouldn't be fair to post them because none were because the book was bad. Your favourite literary character this year? Why none other than Dorian Gray; mysterious, thought-provoking and intriguing without question. I'm afraid they're the only one's answerable for me this year; though this is a great thread poppyshake.