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Splinter - Sebastian Fitzek from Amazon Marc Lucas had it all, and lost it all. He is only slowly putting his life back together after the car crash that killed his pregnant wife, when things start to go strangely wrong for him. Nothing too sinister to begin with: his credit cards stop working. But then his key no longer fits his door, and he discovers someone else working in his office. Much worse is to come: he returns home to find himself face to face with his once-dead wife, and she doesn’t have a clue who he is. The next day, there is no trace of her. Could this have anything to do with the clinic? They wanted to test their ability to remove traumatic memories from live subjects. Marc had met them, just once, but declined their experimental technology. He now fears they may have begun their tests illicitly... Can he discover just what is happening to him before the waking nightmare he finds himself living overwhelms his sanity? Having read Therapy by this author, which was a brilliant thriller I was really looking forward to Splinter, and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed! Splinter gripped me from the start and I was off on a rollercoaster ride, there were so many twists and turns in this story that at times it left me breathless. The main characters world has been turned upside down and his sanity is in doubt, the reader is kept guessing to the end! A brilliant thriller, highly recommended - but be warned it's hard to put down once you start reading it. I hope more of Sebastian Fitzeks work is translated soon. 9/10

Book no.4 this year is, Splinter - Sebastian Fitzek (on kindle) looking forward to this one!)

I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde, such a beautifully written book My next read is to be, Splinter - Sebastian Fitzek looking forward to this one

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde from Amazon Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a success de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb. I knew nothing about this story before reading it and the only reason I read the book was because I downloaded it free to my Kindle, I actually expected it to be hard going and boring for some reason I couldn't have been more wrong! The language was beautiful almost poetic, the characters were well written and the story flowed. Having said that I struggled with chapter 11, it seemed unnecessarily long winded and I worried that the rest of the story might continue in the same way but by chapter 12 it was back to its wonderful self. I believe that sadly this was Oscar Wildes only novel it seems a shame perhaps I should look at some of his other work. I will almost certainly reread this book in the future. 9/10

Nearly finished The Picture Of Dorian Gray I`ve enjoyed it much more than I expected.

Charm, I'm thoroughly enjoying the book, it's so beautifully written, but it wouldn't do for us all to like the same things would it? I'm glad to see that your mojo has returned from it's travels as well!

Hi there Vodkafan how are you finding the kindle? This is the first book I've read on mine and to be honest I only got the book cause it was free! I'm very pleasantly surprised by it so far. I'm really liking the kindle as well.

Hi Tunn, I'm liking the sound of The Last Ten Seconds! I haven't read anything by Simon Kernick but I'll definately be checking him out sometime in the near future.

I'm a quarter of the way through The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde started this afternoon and enjoying it very much so far.

No 3 this year The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (kindle)

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson I finished this last night, I would have finished it sooner but work got in the way! I absolutely loved it from begining to end. I had been a bit reluctant to read this book mainly because when I hear something hyped up so much I usually end up being disappointed, but I'm so happy that it wasn't like that at all. The hardest part was keeping track of the large number of characters but I managed. I liked the character of Lisbeth Salander and look forward to finding out more about this unusual investigator in the other books that make up the millennium trilogy. I also look forward to seeing how the relationship with the journalist Mikael Blomkvist works out. 9/10

Well done Lopeanha that's a brilliant start! I've been trying to eat more sensibly this past week and miraculously I've lost 2lbs, I guess cutting out the picking between meals helped most. As a reward I downloaded 2 books as well!

Hello Tunn I'm glad you enjoyed Room, I've been thinking of buying it but hadn't got around to it but having read your review I'm going to Amazon to order it straight away!

Thanks Tunn, I was amazed that I sailed through 100 pages of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, because I really expected to struggle with it for some reason! I heard it gets better as well so I'm definately sticking with it If you like Stephen Fry I would seriously recommend Moab is my Washpot, it was a great read.

Number 2. started 9-1-11 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson

No lists of TBR's just a record of books I read in 2011 Number 1. The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry Once again Stephen Fry seemed to be sitting next to me and telling me his story, his voice comes through so clearly. Witty, entertaining, wonderful use of language (as one would expect from him) and honesty are how I would describe this book, which covers the eight years where Moab is my Washpot left his story. In The Fry Chronicles we hear about Stephen Frys university years and his life after leaving Cambridge. He tells of the beginnings of his acting and writing career while at university and about the start of his friendship with Hugh Laurie. He also tells of his sense of failure and insecurities. I was looking forward to reading this because I enjoyed Moab is My Washpot so much, I enjoyed this book a lot but maybe not quite as much as the first book. I think maybe I enjoyed Moab more because it was a totally different Stephen Fry that I was reading about, if that makes any sense! I'm sure a third book will be written and it will definately be on my wish list. 8/10

I started reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson I've had it waiting for weeks but because of all the hype I didn't expect to like it however I'm over 100 pages in and thoroughly enjoying it!

Hi Weave, I agree with Janet those two books are good especially Blackberry Wine I thought it was great! I'm glad you enjoyed Chocolat I know I did.

Hello Weave I'm good thanks, how are you doing? It took me a while to get around to Tenderness of Wolves and I've read some pretty mixed reviews about it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end so I'd definately recommend you read it. Hello Bobblybear, great name! I had the book sitting on the shelf for ages, kept picking it up and putting it back again for the same reason you hesitated! It really is a good story and I loved the way it was written. I keep meaning to check out whether Stef Penney's written anything else, must do that while I think of it.

My Kindle arrived from Amazon today so I've been checking that out, I've just got 2 free books for it, The Legends of King Arthur and his Knights and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The problem now is, do I read a book from the TBR shelf or let the kindle books queue jump? decisions decisions!

I finished the year off with, The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney I thought this was a beautifully written story and really enjoyed it. 8/10 and Letters From Father Christmas - Tolkien An enchanting book of letters and illustrations written/sent to Tolkiens children. 9/10 Total books read in 2010 - 34, not a bad total for a very stressful year.

Well done Frankie!

I've never been a gym person either, I also walk quite a bit, to and fro to work mainly so I could try to extend this, but that probably won't happen till the spring! I only bought the Wii so I could have the Wii Fit, and I was really good for a time, used it every evening but I haven't used it for a year or more, thats going to change though! As you so rightly say life has a habit of getting in the way and it is difficult to remain motivated, I think the thing is to find exercise you enjoy and to eat sensibly, also to never give up - if you have a day of eating the wrong foods just have a fresh start the next day. I did lose a stone last year following the slimming world diet so I think I'll give that a try but I wish somebody would eat all the chocolate and nibbles that are still here tempting me. Realistically I think mid January will be the time I really get going. Good luck everyone.

Indeed it was your comments and enthusiasm that really made me think seriously about ordering one, thanks Ben! Perhaps you could suggest Amazon gives you commision for getting customers?

I haven't read anything for a couple of days but I'm hoping for a relaxing reading day tomorrow to make up for it. I did however visit Amazon and I ordered the kindle with my christmas money I received, I'm really looking forward to using it.