chesilbeach

I love David Niven, and his voice just jumps of the page, and I absolutely love it. I'm about a quarter of the way through.

So pleased you enjoyed Frost Hollow Hall! Her second book is just as good, although a completely different story - it's called The Girl Who Walked On Air.

I didn't need to buy a new book in the end - I started The Moon's A Balloon by David Niven, as I read the first page and was immediately drawn in. It's great so far!

As much as I love toast, there is nothing worse than thinly sliced toast with just a scraping of butter, and since I only have it once a week, I think the extra thick slices with lashings of butter is allowed, don't you? If I was having jam, marmalade or lemon curd as well, then I'd have less butter, but today was a simple toast kind of day.

I don't eat breakfast during the week as I just don't have time, so Sunday is always a treat to have time with nothing else to do in the day, to have proper toast and lashings of butter! It's a lovely start to the morning with a cuppa and my book, it's a perfect lazy weekend breakfast.

I'm struggling a bit with choosing my next book. I'm desperately trying to stick to my TBR, but nothing is really jumping out at me. Wondering whether to treat myself to something off my wish list to spark my interest.

Oops, forgot to update my monthly progress at the end of September, so here it is now: As at the start of 2014 TBR: 35 books (excludes any books I own on my challenge lists) Jane Austen reading list: 18/24 books read = 75% complete J. L. Carr reading list: 3/8 books read = 38% complete E. H. Young reading list: 0/13 books read = 0% complete Persephone reading list: 6/104 books read = 6% complete English Counties Challenge: 7/48 books read = 15% complete Current status Books purchased: 72 5 pre-order 18 Kindle daily/monthly deals - one of these is an omnibus of 4 books 4 second-hand for English Counties challenge 45 other books Books received as presents: 6 Books read: 116 Abandoned books: 0 TBR: 13 books Jane Austen reading list: 19/24 books read = 79% complete J. L. Carr reading list: 4/8 books read = 50% complete E. H. Young reading list: 0/13 books read = 0% complete Persephone reading list: 8/107 books read = 7% complete English Counties Challenge: 13/48 books read = 27% complete

The Hartley's Jelly Pot ads is incredibly annoying!!!

Have a lazy day today The best thing about Sunday … time for toast!

I am still doing my challenge, although I haven't done much on it recently. It's still on my radar, and a few of the books have recently become available on Kindle, so perhaps once I've got my TBR under control, I'll get back to it again.

Yay! Glad you're enjoying it. I'm reading Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist at the moment, and will probably finish it this morning.

As you've already mentioned Michelle, I've read We Were Liars - I did enjoy it, but I wasn't blown away by it like lots of other people seem to have been. I haven't read The Dark Wild, but I did read The Last Wild which was the first book, and thought it was very good (and I also read Rundell's Rooftoppers which was brilliant, so if she recommends it, that's a good start for me ). It's aimed more at the 9-12 age range, which seems to now be called Middle Grade (shorted to MG) so for younger children than YA. I don't know anything about the other two, but from Frank Cottrell Boyce's comment about Flora & Ulysses, he's right, I DO want to read more!

What are the best and worst horror film adaptations? Do you think horror translates to the screen well?

Which mint tea have you settled on, Brian? My favourite is the Teapigs peppermint tea.

Who's the scariest character ever created in literature - the one you definitely would not want to meet late at night in a dark alley?

I finished The Dog this afternoon, and just contemplating whether to start Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Great review of Capital, Alexi. I agree with almost everything you say! I sort of got the impression that the characters were meant to appear stereotypes at first, but as you found out more about them, you found they were unique and individual to show that it shouldn't be right to make assumptions about them and their lives just because of stereotypes that are often characterised in media and society. That's was my feeling, anyway.

Ow, that doesn't sound good. I've had them for years, and I'm lucky I've never had a bad reaction. They do check each time to make sure you've never had a bad reaction, and that you're not allergic to eggs or chicken, but I've never heard anyone else have a problem.

I read my Nicholas Nickleby instalment yesterday too I also bought The Moon's A Balloon when it was on offer on the Kindle Daily Deal, as one of my colleagues had recommended it, so I'm looking forward to reading it. Yesterday I also finished reading Love With A Chance of Drowning and thought it was perfect escapism and how to sail the Southern Pacific ocean vicariously through someone else! Today I started The Dog by Kerstin Ekman, and it's very good so far.

Just had my flu jab … ouch! Sore arm now, but worth it to reduce the risk of catching a nasty flu virus.

I go through stages … sometimes it's tea and sometimes it's coffee. At the moment, I'm on a coffee streak. I think it's a seasonal thing - I like tea in the summer and winter, coffee in the spring and autumn. Have NO idea why, that's just the way I roll.

What type of horror stories to you prefer … do you like psychological, sinister mind games, or perhaps you're more of a blood and gore reader? Do you like it with a dash of comedy or do you want to be chilled to your bones?

I've just said in another thread that I don't read horror, and I think it's partly because I was exposed to very little scary stuff as a child, and genuinely didn't like being scared. I suffered from nightmares any time I did come across anything spooky or spine-chilling, so have actively avoided it ever since. It makes me curious though, what age were you when you started reading horror stories, and also, what lead you to them?

I'm definitely not a horror person. I don't like being scared, whether it's psychological thrillers, bloody, gory violence … in fact, anything that's just nasty. I don't watch horror films and I don't read horror books. I've just about managed to read a few books which some say are creepy, such as The Woman in Black (which I know is lightweight to some of our horror aficionados ) and I didn't find very scary, but I think it's because I suspect I almost skim read in order to try and not let it affect me. I know I'm susceptible to horror images and stories, and will suffer from nightmares if I succumb to books or films, so I avoid them. In fact, I'm such a scaredy cat, I'm getting more wary about venturing into "the last film you saw" thread and some book blogs on here, as I know there are posters for horror films and books in there that I find unsettling.

No-one in my family is or was a big reader, but everyone always encouraged me. My friends (outside of BCF, obvs ) don't read much, and though my OH used to read loads when we first met, his reading has tailed of over the years, but is starting to pick up again now, thankfully. As much as I love coming here, I do wish I had someone to talk face to face with about books more often!