frankie

They are really making you wait for that Hornby book, aren't they Good thing you got The Bell Jar though It's quite a quick read so I think you can finish it off soon and get to the Hornby book shortly. I went to the library to take back a lot of books that I've read. I didn't mean to borrow any, but what do you think, did I leave empty handed? You thought correct I got two Hornby novels and two Irvine Welsh novels and a book which name I can't remember, but it's by Judith Guest and peacefield'll know

I tried Miss Smilla many years ago and it was for a uni course. I really enjoyed the novel but found it to be one of those books that you really need to concentrate on. I think I had a lot of other uni stuff to do so because the story wasn't going as fast as I'd hoped, I gave up on it. And it being an obligatory read is always a factor for me, no matter how good the novel is This time I'm going to give it my all, however, and I'm quite looking forward to reading it. Snow is a funny thing, just like the people in Greenland we also have a lot of different kinds of words for different kinds of snow, us Finns. Not as many as they do, though The Finnish title would translate as 'Sense of Snow', pure and simple. I like that the English title has Miss Smilla on it

Awww Shin, have a hug I think everyone who's read Skin Privilege went through the same thing you're going through, or at least I can't see how they couldn't have. Where did you find out about the twist beforehand? Have you read the letter Slaughter wrote to her Grant County fans?

TCPaTW, Wicked and Trainspotting took me a long while to read but the 4 novels after that went flying by Happy times! The Bell Jar has really made me want to read Plath's journals even more, especially because I think they start when she's working during the summer and it's almost summertime here. It also made me want to re-read that superb biography about her. But I have too many books waiting to be read If you'll get into a very Strict Kylie -mode you might get the Hornby book read without writing all the great titles down along the way, yes. But you need to really focus and be determined! I'll be crossing my fingers when you get to reading it The slowness of Miss Smilla is only my opinion and who knows, if you really get into the story you might finish it in no time at all. I'd recommend you try and read it in big chunks and not in small intervals because for me it was easy to lose sight of the story and all the details if I didn't fully concentrate on it. Don't be too worried, I hope you'll find I am completely in the wrong and you'll have no problems with the novel

"Reviewing" continues with more pleasant books! Book 50. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (re-read) Just as I have announced hating the use of cusswords in The Crimson Petal and the White I go onto Trainspotting which is just as bad with the cussing if not even worse and tell you I didn't mind a bit! A strange kind of contradiction, one might think but alas! In Trainspotting it is more justified. The characters are by no means Momma's sweet little boys. Drugging, boozing, pimping, sexually transmitting HIV, stealing, getting a mate addicted, and serving the customer in the most nastiest way a waitress can, the whole lot! You've got it right here under the same title, and in Scottish accent as well. Quite riveting. This book never seizes to amaze, provoke and disgust me no matter how many times I read it. And I love every bit of it. Read the book, watch the movie! Rating: 4/5 Book 51. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby Rory Gilmore reading challenge Literary name dropping, my most favorite kind. The book's even funny. (Although I think you need to be British to understand all the jokes and cultural references etc.) 18 books made their way into my wishlist because of this so be aware! Rating: 4/5 Book: 52. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby Four people meet under the most bizarre circumstances I can think of. Each wants to end their life for some reason or another. You might think it gets depressing and ugly, which it does, but Hornby serves the story with dark humour on the side. Very deliciously written! Rating: 4/5 Book: 53. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die -challenge + Rory Gilmore reading challenge I love Plath's style of writing. It's in a way detailed and yet very minimalistic and to serve a point. And you can't help feeling the melancholy under it all. The story in itself didn't entirely amaze me, especially towards the end when it was all about how to end life. (I have no idea why but somehow I'd forgotten the book is about depression and suicide.) Rating: 3/5 Suggested reading: If anyone's interested in Sylvia Plath and her life, I would highly recommend Ronald Hayman's The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath. Book 54. Roommates by Emily Chase (re-read) A quick, comfortable re-read.

"Reviewing time" once again! Book 48. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber Rory Gilmore book challenge Hello, long book by Faber, recommended to many by the wonderful Emily Gilmore. A late-Victorian period & costume drama meets prostitutes and loads of dirty words. I cannot get over the explicit words for body parts, body odors and excretion in this novel, no sir-rree. I know I know, this is the kind of stuff Austen would hush about because she was more genteel-oriented and Faber just decided to reveal the other side of the coin of the era. It doesn't mean that you need to subject the reader to quite graphic and harsh scenes though. It's like trying to shock the reader just for the fun of it which rarely suits me well. Bye bye book, you're off to other hands. (Other Rory Gilmore -challenge readers were quite taken by the book so if you wish to read it, read their reviews.) Rating: 2/5 Book 49. Wicked by Gregory Maguire Rory Gilmore book challenge Boring, complex beginning, a very enjoyable part 2. And the rest just whooshed right over my head, which I admit is blond. Not to be read again by me. Again, other people have enjoyed the novel, you might want to check out their reviews as well. Rating: 2/5

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Well you've still got a week for it right? Although I have to say, you oughta get on with it pretty soon, at least I had a difficult time reading it the one time I tried it, it's really good but kind of slow to read, IMO. Sorry CW for going off-topic on your thread

Well of course not! Well, if you keep at it I'll just have to start reading Fractured instead of Miss Smilla! (Don't worry, I'll get to them both )

Kylie don't you go and egg her on!!

Oh c'mooooon!!! That's not fair!!!!!! Now I don't know whether you're pulling my leg and just spoiler-tagging something like "I knew you couldn't resist!" and "you naughty girl, read the book!!!" and "get the book right now or I'll kickban you from the forum!!". Or whether you have real deals hidden there. Ah man!! CW, help me out a little, Chrissy's teasing me!

Vinay, those are really beautiful! I've been wanting to invest in pretty bookmarks myself lately but I haven't made it to the stores yet. I don't think our little bookshops have any pretty ones though, only free ones that addvertise new thrillers and such. The whole bookmark culture hasn't landed here yet, me thinks!

Hiya Catwoman, how are you Seems like everyone is reading these House of the Night -novels, I might have to go and get the first book in the series and see what the fuss is all about! Hmph!! I just wrote you an e-mail, I hope your blackberry acknowledges it this time, haha I've saved the e-mail on my computer just in case. Anyways while I was writing to you I thought about how I haven't read any thrillers in ages and you'd give me a whooping if I confessed to you I still haven't read Fractured by Slaughter. I've just had so many books for different reading challenges going on. I do miss a good thriller though.

Finished Roommates (a lovely re-read), and I think I will start reading Miss Smilla today

Wow Abby, that's amazing!! What an accomplishment, I'm so proud of you!

Wow Luthien, that's a lot of books you've bought this year, I'm well impressed! By the looks of it you don't have any trouble reading that lot by the end of this year, though. Happy reading!

Hello Holly and welcome to the forum!

Hello Turin and welcome to the forum!

Ooshie and Kate, I actually would've like to go out this weekend, that's why I found sitting around in the house and only reading books a bit pathetic. In other circumstances there's absolutely nothing wrong with reading Last night I started and finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and started Emily Chase's Roommates.

Now now, don't make any hasty conclusions. See, I've done nothing but reading this weekend, a very anti-sociable 2-3 days for me. Some might think that's very pathetic, me being one of them, but rather than wasting my time wondering where everyone else is and why I haven't been invited to all the lovely BBQs there must have been around, I decided to not give a toss and enjoy my books Ha!

I've just finished A Long Way Down. I might start The Bell Jar now.

The more I read the more I realise I don't want to avoid any particular genre or author because that way I might really be missing out on a lot of great reads. I can't really know if a book is any good unless I try it, right? For example, I hated the movies Fever Pitch and High Fidelity, and also hated the book Fever Pitch when I read it years ago. That made me avoid Hornby's books like the plague. I was so annoyed that there are two titles by Hornby on the Rory Gilmore book list and that I would have to read them eventually. I grabbed the bull by the horn(y)s (hehe!) and read High Fidelity and was surprised that I really enjoyed it. After that I also read The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by him and loved it, and now I'm reading A Long Way Down which is an absolute gem! There was also this Finnish author I really despised for some reasons and figured I'd never read any of her novels. A friend of mine had felt the same way before but then she'd just recently decided she should try and read one of her books, and she loved it and read all the others and was really giving me a hard time for not wanting to read them. So I gave the books a chance and ended up liking them immensely and now she's my favorite Finnish author. Funny how things go sometimes. There is, however, this one author I know I won't be reading and that's Stewart Home. I tried his books in my teenage and they were disgusting. We have a Finnish equivalent for him and I won't be touching any of his books either. But I think that's a bit different because I've tried them out.