frankie

^ Kylie mentioned it on FB. It made me want to cry. I'm really not supposed to buy any books for various reasons, and they go and put another awesome 25 hours sale together.

Do you mean bobblybear? That's just two, though

I'm sure others enjoy writing them, too. I just have other things on my mind and have left the reviews hanging.

Go ahead and read it, and then let me know! Yep, that's a solid plan On another note: I have so many reviews to catch up on! The idea of having to do them is not enticing in the least.

I've only just noticed that you've acquired a copy of The Rosie Project. I thought it was genius! The idea and the execution... I really hope you will enjoy the book. I'm looking forward to your review on it

Kidsmum: @ "for some reason i could see Henry as looking like Sheldon from the Big Bang, i suppose because he was quite geeky" Not the kind of connection I made... I think Henry's geekyness was of a different sort than Sheldon's, and for that reason I don't think he looked as 'nerdy' as Sheldon. Very interesting, though! This is getting really interesting! Bring on the different Henries, everyone! Did you guys have any other people posing as any of the other characters in the book? I agree. Better looking (although what's better looking is of course relative), but not in an obvious way. Not handsome! But better looking yes. And tall and squarishly built, yes! Um... I don't know any current SNL people... Will Ferrell???

I think it was easier to sympathize with Richard also because he wasn't part of the 'initial murder'. He wasn't part of the crazy bacchanals and I don't think he was as deluded as the others. He really was sucked into the events unwillingly, by the others. I think I'm used to things not being translated in books... I think it's astounding how many books have a sentence or two of French in them and those sentences are usually not translated, as if the author expects the reader to know his/her French. [Although sometimes if I'm reading a Finnish translation of an English novel, the Finnish translator has added a footnote and has translated the French for the benefit of the reader. That's very considerate!] It always annoys me, but I'm used to it. So personally the untranslated Greek didn't really bother me. The victim was hardly talked about, now that you mention it! I don't think the group felt sorry for the farmer not on one single occasion. They were only worried about themselves. Well said, about being drawn into something just like Richard Always happy to see new people discover this book, as it's one of my favorites! And I can say from personal experience that the book is re-readable: I enjoyed it probably just as much the second time as during the first. Of course I knew what happened from before, but I'd forgotten a few important and rather big elements in the story, so that helped It was creepy indeed, but I do think that it must flatter a young student's ego to be handpicked by a professor. I know I would've been very flattered back in the day!

I'm sorry I'm late to respond to the latest posts, lately life's been ... well, life! This seems to be a favorite among many of us It was a very clever idea of Tartt, and it was so well executed. Chilling! I'm glad to hear that! Do you think you will give The Little Friend a go? That is actually a very good point. He was so selective with his students, and then gave the impression that they were all very special and close to one another. And then when the doody hit the fan, he wanted nothing to do with it! I've also wondered if he suspected his group of the farmer's death. He was, after all, a smart man, and he knew his students and that they weren't quite the same... Surely it must've at least crossed his mind at some point. Yep, the month flew by! I'm really happy with the circle and how things went, and also very curious to see how many will now read The Little Friend and/or The Goldfinch

I'm so sorry for being so late with my reply, I've had other things on my mind! I agree, he was very passive. Everything rather happened to him, he didn't make anything happen himself, did he. Except for the cruising, like you said. I understand the desire for cruising, he was a yound lad, but I didn't really get his lack of orientation with other things. I've heard about this, and read about this (in other places than just this novel), but it's hard for me to grasp, I was so young in the 80s (born in -81) and I don't know if me being Finnish also contributes... I don't know what differences there were between the UK and the States and Finland, and other places. It does remind me of American Psycho, I think that book is set in the 80s, too, with all the yuppies, comparing their cell phones and clothes and apartments and making such a fuss about the font and color and style of their ... calling cards? Not calling cards.. Business cards? This is very interesting! =) I agree with Janet. With such uncaring and uninvolved parents, it isn't all that surprising that Catherine was so bitter and hostile towards them. And when one's suffering from mental illness, one does get self absorbed. I think it's part of the illness. It's very hard to be happy for others or concerned about other people's lives when one's feeling so bad about oneself. Yes, I felt it odd when all of a sudden there was no mention of Leo. It was really upsetting to hear about him eventually. And that's a good point about the HIV tests and the 3 month incubation period, I didn't think of that. Like I said before, I was too young in the 80s to know/remember about the 'yuppie years', but I do know that we also had that period of people being more well off and things looking really great in the 80s. I'm not sure to which extent, and I'm not sure how it would compa re to the UK and US, but I would guess it wasn't to the same extent. Yes I also wondered what was the point of all the details. I don't know Hollinghurst personally ( ) but I don't think he seems like the person who loves to drone on things that he shouldn't really drone on. So I believe he did it on purpose. What the particular purpose was... I don't know! Oooh, very awkward about the house guest, Janet! I also found it odd that he kept living there for so long. I somehow have a feeling that rich people are rather particular about their belongings and their houses and they don't like people overextending their welcome. Why Nick wasn't kicked out earlier is beyond me. I don't think Feddens thinking of him as Catherine's 'keeper' could've been the only reason for keeping him on for so long, because surely they weren't so oblivious as to see that Nick actually seemed to have very little to do with Catherine, at all! I also thought it was rather curious everyone gave it 3/5. I almost gave it 4/5 but ended up with 3/5. Even if none of us really loved it, at least none of us hated it! =D And I think that what's more, it's the kind of book that at least I personally have thought about a lot after finishing it. It somehow comes to mind every now and then, and I think that's a sign of a good book =) Like I told you before, The Swimming-Pool Library by Hollinghurst is on the 1001 Must Read Books list and I've been really curious about it before, and I've wanted to read it for a long time, but Hollinghurst has always intimidated me. Now that I've read The Line of Beauty, he doesn't intimidate me anymore and now I can actually go ahead and start looking for a copy of TW-PL! =) Here's the blurb in case anyone's interested (from amazon): "On entering a London public lavatory in blithe pursuit of quick, anonymous sex, beautiful and roguish young aristocrat William Beckwith isconfronted instead with an ancient, doddering member of the British House of Lords who, after muttering an incoherent string of polite non sequiturs, promptly keels over at his feet in embarrassed but undeniable coronary arrest. After saving the old man's life, Will is invited to tea by the grateful and slightly senile Lord Nantwich, who, surprised by Will's impressive lineage and appalled at his state of idle unemployment, engages the young man to write the Nantwich life story. Thus begins the unusual relationship that forms the core of this funny, sad and beautifully written novel. The Swimming Pool Library weaves a rich and fascinating tapestry of Britain's gay subculture spanning pre-World War I through the sexually abandoned early '80s, stopping short at the doorstep of AIDS. Hollinghurst's prose is fresh, witty and wise, and his ever-surprising, sinuously unfurling story is told with insouciant grace and unabashed sexuality." I have to say, I was initially interested in this book because of the title, alone The swimming-pool library. What the hell is that? I'm fascinated! I only read the blurb after finishing The Line of Beauty... And it sounds a lot like TLoB, with the same themes etc. I wonder if Hollinghurst is a one trick pony... But I'm still interested. Actually, if I'd read the blurb before reading TLoB, I may not have been that interested, but now that I've read and enjoyed TLoB, I'm definitely keen on reading this, too! Anyways. February's over, so I do want to thank you Janet for choosing such a great yet possibly tricky theme. I've enjoyed the convos! (Although of course this doesn't mean this should be the end, people might still come to talk about the book and if so, I'm one to read one the comments )

I finished Kaffe med musik last night and started reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Okay, I've only read 31 pages but I can already see what the fuss has been about

Well, on the first full weekend of the month, the people who have the time and want to participate in the read-a-thon, can go ahead and read on and see how much they manage to read during the weekend. You can then post in this thread if you like, to share which book(s) you read and maybe how many pages you managed to read and how many hours it took. The next read-a-thon is next weekend, I hope you can join in on the fun!

This is so true. It's amazing how a great teacher can get kids interested in subjects they might not have been interested in before. I always loved math as a subject in school, but hated math lessons in junior high school because I couldn't get on with the teacher at all. Then I got another teacher in high school, and he was brilliant and I started loving the lessons again. And English was always my strong subject in school and I liked the lessons just fine, but hated them in high school because we had such a moody, drama loving teacher. I haven't, but I've thought about it. I think if I were to see him around town some day I might bring the subject up I love how you got an hour per week to just read a book in class. That's great!

I watched Thorne: Scaredycat. I watched Sleepyhead last week. I'm off to imdb to see if they've done more of these. Good ones! Edit: It was wonderful seeing Lorraine Ashbourne again! She's great I can't remember where I know her from, though... I have a feeling I will imdb that, too!

I don't know if you're being very brave or just plain crazy Enjoy! As it is to be enjoyed... Oooh, bargain! Great find On page 72 of my current read. I've discovered what the title is about (Coffee with Music)! It's coffee with the optional addition of whisky Reminds me of The Men from the Ministry

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Oops Jänet Way to go for finding the silver lining, though! Libraries are wonderful

Which titles are you thinking about then?

Fair enough So now I've got to be careful about my passing comments as well as general, unmoving comments? Geez... I hope you are able to find some decent space opera soon enough

That's another great cover, Athena! I can only echo what Kylie said: it's a great book, and if you like it as much as we did, it won't feel such a long read, because you'll be flying through the pages

Oh, what a brilliant, heartwarming book it is Very happy to hear you enjoyed it! I started my second book by Karin Brunk Holmqvist, who wrote one of my favorite books of last year. This is another book of the elderly. Very good so far

I've never seen the movie, but I've seen a few pics of it, and some of the book covers... But I have to say I would never have realized that the woman in the cover (in Kylie's post) was Vivien Leigh. And quite honestly, I thought it looked very modern, and almost a bit like a contemporary chick lit kinda book. If I saw a cover like that in a bookshop, I wouldn't look at it twice. I like the other copy in Kylie's post, though, and the one pontalba has ^ That's my copy. It's a paperback, and it's one of those that allows a bit of bending without doing any damage to the book, the spine or anything. I love it. I should really re-read the book sometime, because I've got Scarlett and the Rhett Butler book on my TBR... Such a fantastic book! I never expected it to be so great...

It would, wouldn't it But I meant something lighter. Something rather mindless! PT deserves more than that from me

I finally finished A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe. What a great book! I could've read on and on... But I am glad to have finally finished it. It was such a long novel, and such a heavy book. Not at all ideal for reading in bed. I have no idea what to read next. It has to be something short, something whimsical... Something funny, perhaps. Something completely different.

Seriously? People do that? How rude and thoughtless Personally I would've had no idea how to pronounce her name, and I would've had to ask, but I love the sound of 'Eefa' and I think Aoife looks incredibly pretty written down. I think it's a gorgeous name Edit: And so is Islay, by the way Very pretty names

This one's my first, but it will not be my last! I'm really, really enjoying it