chesilbeach

I did enjoy the book, but I can't deny, it felt like a bit of a chore at times today! Needed to be done though

The shortlist for the £40,000 price has been announced today: 10:04 by Ben Lerner (Granta) All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (Faber) Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (Granta) Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (Granta) Family Life by Akhil Sharma (Faber) How to Be Both by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton) Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín (Viking) Outline by Rachel Cusk (Faber) Personally, I'm delighted to see Ali Smith on the shortlist - no surprise since How To Be Both was one of my favourite books of last year, and she's my favourite author.

It's been a bit of a marathon reading session today, but I've finally finished Citadel, all 692 pages of it. Up next is my library reading group book choice for this month, All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky. I've enjoyed others of her books I've read, so looking forward to it, just a teeny weeny bit of a shame that it's a second book in a row set in wartime France … would have liked a change of scene.

Minus figures on the thermometer earlier this morning, icy pavements and roads, lots of scraping required on car, and very foggy to boot! Lovely walking back from the shops though as the sun came out, and it has turned into a beautiful, bright, crisp day.

I'm looking forward to both Misty Falls and Stung, but you're right, Stung is still a be pricy on the Kindle at the moment. Will try to keep an eye on it too, to see when it drops down a bit.

That's another reason why I don't re-read much, Kate … I already have way too many books I want to read that I haven't got to yet, that there isn't time to re-read ones I've already read.

I'm five pages off the half way mark of Citadel. I'm determined to finish it today so I've got 351 pages to read. Must stop procrastinating here and get on with it!

It's a bit icy here today! Walked down the road to the car, and stepped on a slippery bit and slid into the road … managed to stay on my feet and avoid the car turning the corner into the road, but it was a bit dicey for a second. Took the car to the garage to be serviced, and then walked to the village for a coffee and a bit of reading time. Managed about half an hour before the mums and babies arrived en masse, presumably after dropping off older children at school. Got too noisy then, even with earphones in, so headed back, and now about to settle down for a serious reading session.

I think Enid refers to things that have happened in between books rather than in previous books. Because each book is only one term out of each year, we miss two terms each time, so she gives you a bit of info as to what might have happened while we've been away, after all, life still goes on even if she doesn't write about it! She seems to like the summer term as I think it allows her use of the swimming pool and to make use of the outdoors, as if she writes in the winter term, they'll all be cooped up inside too much, but it means we don't read about the winter and spring terms, so she just recaps any incidents she needs to in order to give a bit of back story to any characters or plots she's talking about.

Hello Graeme! Welcome to the forum.

Waiting for the BAFTAs later tonight …

Someone tweeted me a link to this dream wall for book collectors today, and I'm totally envious. May need to knock down some walls and recreate this in my house! I almost called this thread "Bookshelf Envy" as I'm so jealous of whoever owns this house.

I've got Misty Falls on my Kindle, waiting for some time off work to indulge in a YA feast, so good to know the series is still going strong. Did you know the sequel to Struck is out now? It's called Stung and was released last week. I'll probably add that to my YA binge when I get there too.

It's The Big Bang Theory time again Tonight it's the one where they make an app which solves equations

Phew! That could have been a bit spooky … but looks like the jar is being nice to you today thought. Looking forward to seeing what you think about The Winter Queen too.

Same here!

This is quite interesting … The Telegraph republished their original 1960 review of To Kill a Mockingbird.

I've been thinking about re-reading recently. Last year, at the talk I went to about her book, Ali Smith discussed re-reading, and how she wondered why you would only read a book once. She was convinced that books should have more to reveal than it takes in a single reading, and that revisiting books should allow you to find more references and intricacies that you may have missed out on the first read. I have to say, I've only read the majority of her books once, but I have been thinking that I need to revisit them all again, especially the novels, as I think, for me at least, there is more to be gained from them. There is a feature in the Guardian about rereading as well (it's a few of years old, I know, but it's still interesting), with authors explaining the books they most often reread (or not, in some cases). I'm still of the opinion that most of the time, I will still only read a book once, but I think books I've loved that have depth to them, I need to consider revisiting again to see what I missed the first time around.

That sounds like a reasonable prediction! *groan* I know, it was a terrible pun, but I just couldn't resist it

The Lego Movie. Not bad, better than Frozen but not something I'd watch again.

How weird would it be if Carter Beats The Devil was your next pick … I'm really sorry if it is, Kay, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean it

Glad to see you enjoyed The Crimson Petal and the White, it was my favourite book the year I read it too! Can I ask what you thought of the description of Victorian London by a contemporary writer? I thought one of the stand out aspects were his description of place and society, going to places and situations that Dickens just couldn't in his own time.

I think I'll leave it for now, Hayley, but thanks for the offer. If it'd been a 9/10, I'd be biting your hand off, but I could do without too much of the predictable at the moment!

I'm definitely going to get Utopia Triumphans. Hopefully, it'll help me find other new composers to listen to as well. I'm not very knowledgeable about classical and choral, and tend to stumble across things by chance. OH introduced me to Byrd and Brittan, mainly because they were sung by Harry Christophers The Sixteen, but apart from that, I'm in the dark with choral pieces. Hope you enjoy the Byrd, it's an absolute favourite of mine.

If you do, let me know how you get on. On The Go was the first time I heard his work, so it has a special place in my heart, but Fletcher Moss Park is beautiful. Who am I kidding … I love all his albums!