chesilbeach

I know we're a bit off topic, but have you read the Gervase Phinn books of his time as a school inspector in the Dales, poppy? I think you'd enjoy them, if you haven't read them.

I've started The Child's Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston today, and it was another of my Christmas presents.

That's the strange thing - the ones that became unavailable, were the ones with the television tie-in covers. The ones I originally bought were the covers like the one above, then they switched the next batch to all the television ones which then became unavailable, and now they're reissuing them again but with the original covers, but at a higher price! On the positive side, the library now have copies in, so I can reserve them for £1.20 which is much cheaper than the new editions.

Why don't we try for one book a fortnight and see how it goes? Some are definitely longer than others, so it might be that we find a fortnight isn't enough to be able to read other things as well, which I'm sure we'll all want to do. We can always adjust it if we need more time.

The sound of the rifle sound rang through the air. For a few moments it seemed as if the whole world had stopped. The Child's Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston

Well, at least if you foist them on me, they haven't cost me anything! I don't mind anyway, at least I'll get to read them and make up my own mind Thanks Steve. You never know about Alastair Reynolds ... I've already read a horror story this year and I NEVER thought I'd do that!

Hello! For YA, I'd recommend having a look at our Children's / Young Adult section, although if you like YA and dystopian fiction, I'd have to put a special mention in for The Carbon Diaries 2015.

The reviews are misleading - if you click on any of the Kindle editions, you get the same reviews, so you can't guarantee which edition they're reviewing, other than it's a Kindle edition. I wondered about the page numbers as well, but looking at the equivalent paperback edition from Penguin Classics (with the same introduction) it's showing as 880 pages. It doesn't say it's abridged, and looking at the sample, it looks the same, so I wonder if it's an error?

We did enjoy them a lot. Most of the ones we watched were from the first couple of series, and they were very close to the books. The only real difference I could find was that in the books he's from Scotland, but not in the television series. Apart from that, I could easily match episodes to chapters in the books.

Ok, well it looks like Middlemarch is next! I'm definitely going to buy myself a Kindle version (see my previous post ), so I've been having a look at the multitude of editions available, and I'm going to go for the Penguin Classics edition which is currently £1.89 - it's not the cheapest (although I couldn't find a free one), but it's a personal thing that I just trust their editions. Of course, we don't need to get the same version, but that's the one I'm going for. Looking at the table of contents, the eight books are split into between 9 and 12 chapters, so I was wondering how long you'd like to take to read it? I've already mentioned either one book per fortnight or per month, or maybe look at splitting each book up into two or three batches of chapters of four or five each week? We've got a few weeks to make up our minds, if we start at the beginning of February. Just wanted to say, in case anyone else is interested, this will be open to anyone to join in who wants to, whether or not you're doing the English Counties challenge … the more the merrier!

We watched a batch of episodes last year, as they were showing them on the Drama channel, and had recorded all of them, but our Sky box failed and we lost them all However, I can confirm that the drinking and driving is as prevalent as it is in the books on the television programme - and we actually watched the episode in your spoiler! Times have definitely changed and we've become much, much more aware of the dangers of drinking and driving since the programmes were first broadcast.

First proper day back at work after a long Christmas break … you know, I could take or leave it, I would actually rather have spent the day at home reading my book. Oh hang on … what are these bills that need paying … ah well, I guess it's back to the office again tomorrow.

I needed something fun to read after my last book, so I downloaded another M. C. Beaton historical comic romance which is going down a treat. Should finish it tonight, and then will go back to my normal TBR for my next book.

Cool but not too cold, dry and a bit windy. At least that's what it was like in the total of 5 minutes I've spent outside going to and from the car to work!

I would like to do Middlemarch as a group read, as I know I've started it before but it was in my pre-Kindle days and it's a really thick, heavy paperback, and I struggled carrying it around, so gave up after book I. I am still daunted by starting it again, but only because it's such a long book not because it was a difficult read. However, from what I remember, it is very densely written and looking at the eight books within it, I think they'd be difficult to read one per week, we might need to subdivide them again, or perhaps do one book per fortnight, or even one per month? EDIT: I'm also happy to do North and South too, if you would both prefer that one.

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): Beware of Long Lankin … When Cora and her little sister Mimi are sent to stay with their great-aunt in the isolated village of Bryers Guerdon, they sense immediately that they're not welcome. What they don't know is that the last time two young girls were at Guerdon Hall, their visit ended in a mysterious, violent tragedy. Something dark and evil has haunted the village for centuries. Now it has set eyes on its next victim, and it will stop at nothing to lay claim to her. With the help of local schoolboys Roger and Peter, Cora must uncover the horrifying secrets buried deep within Bryers Guerdon - before it is too late for Mimi. Bewitching and atmospheric, this is a truly stunning debut that will linger with you for days after the final, chilling pages. Review: I've said it many times … I'm not a horror story person. I avoid horror films and books like the plague, and I would NEVER chose to read this book myself, and was a little bit horrified that my OH decided to buy it for me for Christmas! I've been putting it to the bottom of the pile of books for the last week, but I decided to bite the bullet and read it, and just get it out of the way. The book opens with a poem, which in itself was a creepy start, telling the historical tale of the murder of the son and wife of the lord of the manor by the nurse and the eponymous Long Lankin. The story is set in the 1950s, so we're in an unconnected world of few telephones and limited transport, setting up a classic isolated country house mystery. The story is told from three points of view, Cora, the young girl who has been sent with her younger sister to a great Aunt in the country while her mother is absent, Ida, her great Aunt who has lived alone for many years, and Roger, a local boy who befriends the girls. The first half of the book sets the scene and starts building the suspense gradually, and you start to feel the sense of menace looming, then as the book goes on, the tension ratchets up a few notches, as more secrets are revealed and more evidence is found, and then the last third races along to a heart racing, spine tingling finish, with what I felt was a very unusual and unexpected conclusion. I'm going to spoiler tag the rest as I want to mention the themes and explanations within the story, so please DON'T READ IT if you have any intention of reading the book, as there will be plot spoilers in it!!! To sum up how I feel … it was a very good story, it was full of suspense and constantly left me uneasy, and built to an exciting and chilling ending, but, I'm still not a fan of horror stories, it hasn't convinced me to try more, and I won't read it again. It's hard for me to say whether I would recommend it, as I don't have any points of reference to say how good it is as a horror story, but I would be very interested to hear views from anyone else who does decide to read it.

I've just finished Long Lankin. Very unusual, and some very dark themes for a children's/YA book. Knew I shouldn't have read it while on my own in the house … at least it's still daylight.

I've had a problem getting the Phryne Fisher books in the UK too. I had them all on a wish list, and then just when I was going to buy book 5, they all became unavailable The library didn't have them either, so I've been trying to keep a look out for them, and I've recently seen they've been reissued with new covers, but they're much more expensive than they were originally! I'm hoping the library will get them in now they have new editions out.

The thing to bear in mind is that I'm a scaredy cat who can't cope with horror films or stories anyway, so even if I'm terrified, you probably won't be! Still, if you do read it, I'll be interested to compare notes.

I know we've officially got a couple of weeks left on the Nicholas Nickleby group read, but maybe we could have a think about doing another group read for the challenge after that. I was thinking of starting at the beginning of February? The books I'd like to suggest are: DORSET: Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy GREATER MANCHESTER: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell HAMPSHIRE: The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins LINCOLNSHIRE: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot WEST MIDLANDS: Middlemarch by George Eliot WILTSHIRE: Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope I'm definitely daunted by Hardy and Eliot, so one of those would probably be top of my list, but I'd be happy with any of the others. I can't remember what everyone else has read, so some of these might already have been read by others, or perhaps someone else might have another they'd like to suggest?

I've come up with some options, I'll post over in the challenge thread Thanks, Janet.

Wishing you a great reading year in 2015, Mona

Hope you have an enjoyable year of reading ahead of you Ian

PDC Darts semi-finals. Rooting for Gary Anderson who's in the lead against MVG at the moment… exciting game!!!!

Hope you meet your target this year, Laura - you've got some good books on your TBR!