chesilbeach

We've just watched Gravity. Absolutely loved it. How on earth did they do it? OH is quite knowledgable when it comes to special effects and even he was impressed. The debris speeding towards them in one direction, while they span around and you still get visuals in the mirrors on their wristbands and in their visors? Wow.

Well, I've jumped on the bandwagon! Behold, the Jar of Destiny: As an added bonus, I've decided to put £1 in the tin every time I read a book from the jar. This way, as my TBR gets smaller, a little pot of book money will build up, so every now and again, I can have a splurge at the bookshop!

I want to put a bit more focus on my challenges this year, so I thought it would help with that.

Even those photos make my stomach churn… I am not good with heights!

Good luck with your reading, Abby. I have the Daisy Goodwin book on my wish list - she's presented some fantastic programmes for the BBC, and she's a successful television producer as well, and now she's writing books as well! I think she's brilliant, and have been wanting to read that book for a while, and seeing it here has bumped it up my wish list again.

Hope you have an enjoyable year of reading in 2015, Vixen

Good luck with your reading this year, Tim. Some of those look very heavy … take care not to pick up an injury! It'll be like weight training, carrying those around.

I hope you have a great year of reading, Alexander. Interesting… I couldn't get on with White Teeth but I loved On Beauty!

Determined to have a find some reading time today, but have petrol to get, shopping to buy, people to visit, etc., so I'm off shortly to try and get organised to see if I can do it all this morning, and then have after lunch free.

I've decided to redo my TBR list on the first page of my thread so it now includes all the books I actually have to read, including all the books from the various challenges and author lists I have underway, but to categorise them to make it easier to see exactly what my choices are when I pick my next book to read. Nice bit of book organisation for a Saturday morning!

Thanks, muggle not, that does look interesting - I'll bear it in mind

She was the only person to get off the train and as it pulled out again, leaving her on the empty platform, she watched the receding line of carriages tail into the distance; the dried leaves, caught in a flurry of air, chased after them down the track. The Dynamite Room by Jason Hewitt

I finished Perfect yesterday, and I'm going to start The Dynamite Room this morning.

I've just seen this review of Reading The World and I'm definitely adding it to my wish list!

Perfect by Rachel Joyce Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): In 1972, two seconds were added to time. It was in order to balance clock time with the movement of the earth. Byron Hemming knows this because James Lowe has told him and James is the cleverest boy at school. But how can time change? The steady movement of hands around a clock is as certain as their golden futures. Then Byron's mother, late for the school run, makes a devastating mistake. Byron's perfect world is shattered. Were those two extra seconds to blame? Can what follows ever be set right? Review: I thought Joyce's first book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was ok, but not a special story for me, so I tried to read this with an open mind, but I just don't connect with her writing. The narrative flips between the historic story and the modern day on alternate chapters, which I struggled with in this book, as it did stop the story really flowing for me. There's a big reveal towards the end of the book, but I'd picked up on this very early in the book, so that came as no surprise for me. There's nothing wrong with the writing, there's nothing wrong with the story, and it actually rolls along quite well, never feeling like a chore to read, but it just didn't touch me and I never took the characters to my heart. I think, at the end of the day, me and Rachel Joyce aren't going to get along, and I don't think I'll be reading any more of her books. Her books are best sellers, and I know lots of people enjoyed Harold Fry, so I'm sure she won't lose any sleep over me, but I think it'll be very unlikely for us to meet on my bookshelves again.

Oh my, what have I started???!!! I only suggested a mini read-a-long, and it's now a juggernaut! I love this place I've just finished a book, and was putting it back on the shelf, and spotted my MT book, and had to drag myself away to stop myself reading it now

http://www.waterstones.com/blog/2015/01/waterstones-week-in-books-quiz-16th-january-2015/ A whopping 9/10 for me this week!!!!

I'm just over half way through Perfect, and hoping to finish it this afternoon. I've then got some bookish digging around to do later on …

After a late night last night, I've just finished work, and have decided to have a lazy afternoon catching up on the forum and then reading my book. That's it. Nothing else. I've just let out the most contented sigh I've ever heard!

I couldn't think of a suitable thread to post this in, but I had to share it with you all! https://twitter.com/booksaremybag/status/556058896637644801 I thought it would be nice to have a place to share pictures we come across of interesting ideas relating to our favourite subject, or maybe an unusual window in a book shop, or perhaps an image of an amazing library. This is an oldie but there are more and more mini libraries popping up around the place, and old phone boxes are becoming popular choices. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/nov/30/phone-box-mini-library-somerset Anyone got any more?

It's calmed down and is just a bit chilly this evening, but this morning, I left the house in a hailstorm to find my car had collected a few inches of hail piled up the windscreen. The half hour drive to work (normally twenty minutes but drove much slower due to …) consisted of hail, heavy rain, sleet, snow, sleet and finally heavy rain again by the time I got out of the car at the other end!

Thank you The horror book was Cat Out Of Hell by Lynne Truss - here was my (very short!) review http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/12450-claires-book-list-2014/?p=414019

I finished Gunpowder Plot today, and I've started Perfect by Rachel Joyce.

I think they have updated them, but fortunately, mine are all old copies! I was really lucky to find the first one in the charity shop … you might be lucky, Kay, or perhaps you might find a copy at the library?

^ That was the first single I bought with my own money, Kay. I adore Kirsty and still regularly listen to her brilliant Tropical Brainstorm album, particularly good for singing along to in the car.