Chrissy

25) Doctor Who : The Tales Of Trenzalore by Various Four stories from the 11th Doctor Who's time on Trenzalore, his incarnation's last planet. Although I enjoyed each, I could not see any of them as episodes, and they were a tad hot and miss with capturing the 11th Doctor complete personality. An enjoyable read all the same. 26) Doctor Who : Summer Falls by Amelia Williams When I saw this book I didn't expect much from it, but was pleasantly surprised. A good Science Fiction Mystery short novel.

I think that this may be just a USA thing muggle. You also have the 'Give As A Gift' facility, whereas we don't in the UK. Darn it!

24) City Of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare City Of Heavenly Fire is the sixth and last in the Mortal Instruments series of books, and is about 200 pages longer than the rest. What a great finale! Cassandra Clare created a great universe with this and her Infernal Devices series. With memorable characters and action by the bucket load this series has been entertaining and compelling. This last book contains all the right elements to make this a satisfactory end; love, friendship, betrayal, sacrifice, revelations, loss, and discovery. Fans of the series will not be disappointed.

Loved him in The Great Escape.

I always enjoyed his performances, and got the impression that he was a good man in life, with no gossip or revelations about him. I had no idea he was 86!

It's a tricky one to answer in many ways, without knowing what you have read and enjoyed already. If you can say which YA books you have liked, then that can lead onto non YA specific books that might fit the bill.

That is a great and eloquent list! Thanks for posting that up Chesilbeach. I second the wholeheartedness of your agreement! Just as a side note, my teen niece had recommended John Green's 'The Fault In Our Stars' to me when it first came out, and I finally got around to reading it recently, and loved it. My 79 year old Mum didn't know what to read next on her kindle, so I suggested she try it. She LOVED it. As she said, it's not something she would have chosen for herself but the characters were wonderful (she had huge sympathy for Isaac) and she felt compelled to read through to the end. Now, at 79 my Mum cannot be considered to be a part of the perceived YA demographic, and neither can I at 46, but three generations of my family really enjoyed this book.

Spike Milligan's books were the only ones I could think of too! If you do find others, do come and let us know imowas.

I was fine watching, looking across the scene, but as soon as he pointed the camera down over the edge my tummy lurched! Then the waterfall!!! Cripes, I think I'd find a different route if I were travelling there.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger made me cry! It's a firm favourite of mine. The Linda Gillard recommendation gets a thumbs up from me too, and you can definitely get all her books on kindle, but perhaps not all in paperback. The book of the moment that fits your criteria is John Green's The Fault In Our Stars. If you are after a good cry - this is pretty much guaranteed! Enjoy your six weeks!

Thanks Bobbly. Gibson is a certain kind of writer of certain kinds of books, and not the easiest to get along with. When I first tried to read Neuromancer all those years ago, I just couldn't get past the first 20 pages, despite running at them a few times. I then caught the blurb on the back of the copy I had and it referenced Raymond Chandler. I had a sudden light bulb moment and could read the book. It is basically the world of Phillip Marlow set way in the future. The tone is similar, the sardonic vibe of the text, the gritty descriptions that instantly give you an image. Even to the characters, central and peripheral. It may sound loopy, but it worked for me with this one. Let's just hope it works on the others I have to read!

They are fabulous photographs Muggle Not, such breath taking scenery.

23) Neuromancer by William Gibson I wondered how the technology had stood the test of time in this re read, the book having been written in the first 1984, and read by me within a year or two of then. The answer is, pretty well. It's the intriguing story of Case, a burnt out techno cowboy hired to hack his way through cyberspace to access a conglomerate system run partially by Artificial Intelligences and partly by thawed out family members. Until the conclusion, we are never quite sure of what he is looking for, why or for whom. Yet these things don't bother the reader as they might, and I think it's because it is one of those reads where the journey is more important than the destination As a reader you just have to submit to the universe of the story, accept that it is what it is and then enjoy the read. The characters are believable and tangibly grounded in their gritty humanity, their foibles and motivations revealing themselves as we step through the story. Case is a great anti-hero, and the modified fighting girl that is Molly a great partner in crime. The technology and it's associated lingo is a tad dated now, not quite the mind blowing stuff it was 30 years ago, but I would say it holds together well. The story is well paced, and the peripheral characters are vividly drawn. Can you tell I'm a fan of this book? I have the two other books from Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy, and having reacquainted myself with this first of the three, I think I should get around to reading the other two for what will be my first time.

It did seem a bit of a precursor piece didn't it? Oh, and hello Raven - how's things?

The SM Reine books are fairly short, and I flew through them as their pacing makes you read on! I am (mostly) enjoying my reading at the moment Athena, which is great as it tends to come and go. I really enjoyed Looking For Alaska. It has great characters that are instantly memorable and a plot that tugs you along nicely. I hope you enjoy it.

19) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green From fantasticfiction.co.uk ; Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten. Well ain’t this the story of the moment? With the film now out I thought it might be about time that I read the book. A great read from beginning to end. It is a touching and intelligent story that manages to avoid most of the cheesy sentimentality that you would expect in a book with terminally ill central characters. There is humour and pathos and life affirming dialogue. Whenever I read a really good YA novel I always wish that it had been around for my teenage years. But sadly, as the book says, the world isn’t a wish granting factory. 20) Looking For Alaska by John Green Having enjoyed TFIOS, I thought I would leap straight into Looking For Alaska by the same author. The story takes place at a mixed boarding school where the full time boarders are in frequent prank battle with the weekly boarders. Culver Creek is no Hogwarts style school though. The characters are vivid and real and flawed and funny, their quick development a real treat. Friendship, love, loyalty and the codes we live by accompany us on our journey through the months leading up to and from a devastating event. 21) A Big Hand For The Doctor (Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Novella) by Eoin Colfer I bought each of the kindle 50th Anniversary stories as they came out last year, but have only just started them as my in-between-longer-books reads. I have seen enough of the Classic Who to feel that Eoin Colfer did a good job at capturing the 1st Doctor’s character well in this novella. Resourceful, brave and a tad cantankerous the Doctor takes on a merciless and cruel foe. If this is the quality to expect from the 11 stories in the Anniversary set I have some good stories ahead. 22) It Happens In The Dark by Carol O’Connell I am a huge fan of Carol O’Connell’s work, so I always look forward to a new Kathy Mallory adventure. This one centres on a play, where on the opening night a woman dies in the audience, then on the second night the playwright has his throat cut whilst sitting in the same seat. And just who is ghost-writing the daily changes to the play on the chalkboard? The plot is tight, the characters well fleshed out and believable, yet something was lacking in this book. I felt I had read a really good detective story, but not a GREAT one, and GREAT is what I have come to expect from Carol O’Connell. Analysing it, I have concluded that one aspect I have always enjoyed is the slow burning development of her main characters, but here there was little of that. There were no new nuances in their personalities, no added shading to their back stories. They just came as they were and went through the motions of what was a complex but follow-able (for want of a better expression) story. Give Ms O’Connell a quirky personality trait to play with and she is in her element, but this time her element was played out only on the transient players, not our main cast, who remain the quirkiest of the lot.

14) The Descent Series by SM Reine (7 Books) I got the first three books of this series for free on my kindle. The story seemed interesting and I thought “Why not?” I am so very glad I did. When my mojo wavered a few months ago I decided to have a re-read of these well-paced page turners that I had enjoyed last year. From Amazon: Elise Kavanagh is good at one thing: killing demons, angels, and gods. For years, she was the death that supernatural creatures feared. More myth than woman, she walked the Earth as the embodiment of vengeance. James Faulkner is a powerful witch, and the only person she trusts. Together they are Kopis (sword) a fighter, and Aspis (shield) the supporting witch. The Descent and Ascension series are gritty urban fantasy books that tell their story as they travel Earth, Heaven and Hell and all the dimensions in between. 15) Seasons Of The Moon Series by SM Reine (4 Books) & 16) SOTM The Cain Chronicles by SM Reine (7 Books) Opens with Rylie Gresham and her adventures while at summer camp. This series and the adjoining series of The Cain Chronicles look at the challenges that Rylie, Seth Abel and all the new people in their lives face - against their own nature, their families and all the way up to secretive and deadly government agencies. 17) The Ascension Series by SM Reine (6 Books, so far) All that Elise has gone through has brought her to where she is now (something true of everyone!). She is essentially no different from what she always was, but there is now a firmer resolve and stronger motive guiding her and new abilities and talents that shape her approach to what she encounters in the books. 18) The Story Of My Face by Kathy Page From fantasticfiction.co.uk; A young girl grows up an outsider, then becomes drawn into the life of a local family with some curious beliefs. They treat her as a daughter, and take her away with them to a religious holiday camp. It is here that she is introduced to the Finnish Envallist branch of Protestantism, and here that events start to take a terrible turn. Rejected by some of the sectarians for her non-commitment to their beliefs, Natalie creates a rift in the group which culminates in a climactic event. Later, as an adult in Finland, she tries to make sense of what happened and to unlock the secret origins of Envallism itself. I wanted so much to like this book, and I persevered with it until the end, but it was a struggle. Kathy Page has a beautiful turn of phrase, and is able to depict a scene with searing clarity. For some reason the story just didn’t ring true on some level with me, and so I wasn’t able to engage my thoughts and feelings into the text in the way I would normally, and I ended up just not caring about the characters, or the whys and wherefores of the story.

Welcome back, it's good to 'see' you.

I have bought and read books by these authors from the list; William Shakespeare Agatha Christie Enid Blyton Dr. Seuss J. K. Rowling Leo Tolstoy Stephen King James Patterson J. R. R. Tolkien C. S. Lewis Dan Brown Arthur Hailey Paulo Coelho Stephenie Meyer Roald Dahl Anne Rice Lewis Carroll Patricia Cornwell