chesilbeach

Thanks all. I'm still not sure I'll actually try reading Wuthering Heights again, but I'm really pleased to have put it aside for now. I finished Pippi Longstocking this morning, and I'm really enjoying Northanger Abbey brought into the social media age!

We've finally got round to watching the last series of The Newsroom. We've got two episodes left to watch

Thanks Kylie, but I've put it back in the jar for now The Northanger Abbey is the modern retelling by Val McDermid, and it's the first one of these I've read so I'm intrigued to see how it goes. I've never read any of her work before as I don't like that sort of crime novel, but it's a Jane Austen story I know and love, so I'm hoping to enjoy it. The bit I've read was certainly very easy to read, and I fell straight into it. I've also got Joanna Trollope's Sense and Sensibility to read at some point too, and Alexander McCall Smith's Emma has been published as well now, but it's still in hardback, so waiting for the cheaper paperback and Kindle editions to come out.

Had a pretty good day yesterday, managed to go out for a walk, visit my dad, get the car washed and generally keep busy, but not sure what today holds. I think OH has some jobs for me to do, but hasn't let me know what they are, so I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for him to sort himself out.

Overcast this morning, but then it's been like that for the last few days and it's all disappeared and ended up sunny and warm. Forecast is for a cloudy day with a spot of rain this evening, but we'll see.

Sorry, I forgot to update this one after I finished book 3 I'm really looking forward to Ladislaw arriving in Middlemarch - I think you're right, and it will provide some fireworks! I'm not sure that Casaubon will die, I think it'll be quite interesting for it to play out if he lives longer, as it will highlight the misery of Dorothea's plight, making her grow up and change her ideas about marriage, and the opportunity of real love she may have missed out. It's going to be very interesting to find out what happens with the will and the inheritance … I suspect a few people are going to be shocked, and it will have further ramifications throughout the rest of the book. Just to confirm, book four should be finished by the end of next week, Sunday 3rd May.

Managed the same walk again today. Because it's along the seafront, I didn't need to listen to my audiobook, as I get to listen to the sound of the sea instead. Already the exercise is making a difference … my asthma has been much better in the evenings after I've been out walking or done some other exercise during the day.

It didn't look very promising this morning, but the sun's come out now, and it's a lovely day. Forecast says rain for the next couple of days, so making the most of getting outside today

Decided to pick another book from the jar, and first off I picked Heap House which I'd already read (well, started and abandoned), so I tried again, and came up with Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. Read the first four chapters this morning, but then later on, was sat on the bench, and decided I'd have a look at my Kindle, and Val McDermid's modern retelling of Northanger Abbey jumped out at me, and I read the first page, and was hooked, so I'm now reading this one too. Postponing West Yorkshire … decision pending.

Started both Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid this morning … yep, it's one of those days!

Reese Witherspoon set to record Harper Lee's new novel

25 years of Hubble

The book jar has given me Wuthering Heights as my next read. It's one of the ones I was dreading. I read it when I was 19 and hated it. I can't even remember the details of why I took such a dislike to it, but I know it made me miserable. I have a very distinct memory of being on the bus on the way to work and reading it, and desperately wanting to give up, but back then I never abandoned books. When it came up on the English Counties Challenge list, I was in two minds as to whether to chose it or whether to pick a Brontë I hadn't read before, but it was a free Kindle book, so I thought I might give it another go. Now it's come up, I'm not so sure. It's one of the few books I've tried to read that gives me a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I pick it up. I thought I'd be okay with it this time, now it was a book jar book, but I went to pick it up this morning to start it, and there is that feeling again. I'm on a roll at the moment with an especially good batch of books, and I fear that this would take me a couple of weeks to read and ruin my enthusiasm. I'm wondering whether to go for an audiobook instead … I already know the story, and I get on well with classics on audio, but it would cost me more money to buy it, and if I hated it, then that would feel like a waste too. I'd really like to read Agnes Grey or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, so there are other options for the challenge, but I feel like I *should* read WH again. I'm tempted to put it back in the jar and try for another pick just this once, and make the decision at a later date.

I've somehow managed to finish The Curvy Girls Club already! I loved it, possibly my favourite of Michele's books so far. Next up, the jar has thrown out an English Counties Challenge book … Wuthering Heights I really didn't like it when I read it years ago, but maybe I've grown up and can appreciate it more now. Fingers crossed

Walked back from the shops the long way round along the seafront again, and walked to the next bus stop again from the one I walked to last time, and got off a stop early to walk home too, although my feet are feeling it a bit now. I think I'll try and just keep the distance the same over the next few days, and then maybe up it a bit more next week.

I'm already a quarter of the way through The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman - I love it! I'm so pleased Michele did one of the author visits on the forum a while back, I've read nearly all her books since then, and I've really enjoyed them all, but this one speaks to me especially.

I'll be starting The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman today - my latest pick from the book jar. Really pleased with this, as I fancied something with a bit of humour, and it'll get me back to my Kindle after a few paperbacks in a row.

The Library of Congress's has created an online audio archive of major authors reading and discussing their work: http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/apr/21/library-of-congress-new-audio-archive-online

I know lots of people here have read or are reading The Girl on the Train, so I thought you might be interested in this interview with the author in the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/21/the-girl-on-the-train-paula-hawkins-new-gone-girl-female-thriller-authors-gillian-flynn

http://www.theguardian.com/books/quiz/2015/apr/20/rewritten-classic-fiction-quz I never realised how many rewritten classics I'd read or knew about! I got 10 out of 10 for this quiz, and only two answers were guesses!

Finished The Gallery of Vanished Husbands today … another review I'll write later on … hoping to catch up over the next few days The book jar has been very kind to me and my latest pick is The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman!

I know I haven't completely sworn off trying more science fiction after reading House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds, but I don't think he's an author I'd read more of, and certainly not a whole collection!

I finished The Gallery of Vanished Husbands today, and am about to go and pick my next book out of the jar … I hope it's feeling generous towards me!

Got a few days off work now, so looking forward to getting out in the fresh air to try and increase my walking distance. Don't want to waste the days, so I'm going to try and keep busy (and I include reading as keeping busy ). Might go and visit some friends and family as well.

You can understand why it's common name is a stick insect!