chesilbeach

No reason why you should get into the Harry Potter books, Anna, thank goodness we all have different tastes. I enjoyed them, but I don't like much contemporary crime, so I don't think these crime novels will be for me, to be honest, but I know lots of people here are interested in that genre, and also interested in Jo Rowling too. Each to their own! I know what you mean about Amazon though - my wish list is enormous, and they just keep recommending more ...

There's a bit more detail on what she says in the article on The Bookseller website

Finished Hawksmoor, Our Garden Birds and Don't Point That Thing At Me this week, so the reviews are piling up! Hoping to get to them this weekend though, especially with all the thunderstorms forecast. I've found the Kindle Summer Sale on the Amazon UK website, and have been compiling a list of possible purchases from there, and it's rather a long list. It would more than double my TBR, and if I was being really strict, only six of the books are actually on my wish list, but they're all such bargains, that I'm not sure I'll be able to resist the rest. The sale runs until the first of September, so I don't have to make my mind up now, but I had been hoping to get that TBR down much lower before splashing the cash. I'm also trying to read all my tree books, so I haven't been using my Kindle for a while, and I'd be tempted to pick it up and go through the lot, as I'm not sure I'd have the willpower to resist the bright, shiny new books on it. I think I'll mull it over today, and think about what to do in the morning. In the meantime, here's hoping I can reduce that TBR a bit more today!

Amazon UK currently have a Kindle summer sale on with up to 80% off some titles, and includes some books that have been popular on the forum, so well worth a look. I've got my eye on We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, Geek Girl by Holly Smale, Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe, and some travel/memoirs among others. The sale runs until 1st September 2014.

The author Joanne Harris often tweets at list of 10 things on a subject over the course of the day, and here are her 10 reasons to read YA. I agree wholeheartedly!

I finished Don't Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli yesterday, and also Our Garden Birds by Matt Sewell which I'd been dipping in and out of for a little while. Going to start Q: A Love Story by Evan Mandery next, and with the thunderstorms raging over night and forecast for today too, I think I'll have plenty of time to allocate to reading today!

A bit more J. K. Rowling news, although this time for her Robert Galbraith crime novels: J. K. Rowling plans crime book spree

I finished Hawksmoor!!!! I'm still not sure I understood some of it, and I'm still trying to figure out the ending, so hopefully my book group discussion will shed some light on it all. Have absolutely no idea what I'm going to read next, so better go and peruse my bookshelves to see what I can find.

I'm still reading Hawksmoor. I've been reading for seven and three quarter hours, and I'm still only at page 168. There's four chapters and 49 pages left. Two of those chapters are in eighteenth century English, which I really struggle to read, but I'm hoping with another session this evening, I *might* be able to finish it either tonight (if I'm lucky) or if not, tomorrow lunchtime. I can't deny, that as good as the story is, I'm finding the style very demanding, and I'll be glad to finish it. I often end up reading some of the sentences more than once to try and understand them, and it's a long way out of my comfort zone.

Saw this tweeted today ... bibliopoesy meaning "the making of books"

Haven't updated my bookish activity for a while, but since I did last post, I've finished: Cider With Rose by Laurie Lee The Tornado Chasers by Ross Montgomery Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz Our Woodland Birds by Matt Sewell The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin I need to write some reviews, but not around tomorrow, so it might be another week before I get chance, but I enjoyed Cider with Rosie much more than I thought I would, LOVED The Tornado Chasers, really enjoyed Russian Roulette, chuckled through Our Woodland Birds and found myself reading another crime novel with The Winter Queen after it was recommended on R4's A Good Read, but it was very good. Now reading Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd for my reading group. It's slow going, but rewarding, although I'm still nervous as people have told me how creepy it is. I wasn't sure if I'd read it before, sometimes I thought I had, and others not, but now I think I may have started it in the past and given up on it. I feel like I've been reading it for hours and hours (it's probably about 5 hours in total) but I'm still only on page 87! Thankfully, it's only 217 pages, so I should finish before the book group meeting.

Started reading Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd yesterday for my reading group. It's a bit demanding, and s-l-o-w going at the moment!

Strictly Ballroom is my favourite film ever! Love both those routines, and I'd been planning to use the second one, and match it with the flamenco scene in Mission Impossible 2, which also has Antonio Vargas in it as the owner of the villa. I love flamenco, and would love to see more of it on film. Can anyone recommend any films with flamenco in them? Here's the clip from MI2: Ooh, that's tricky. I'll need to have a think about it, there are just too many. Some of my favourites have to include the AT in Moulin Rouge, Scott & Fran's Paso Doble from the end of Strictly Ballroom, the hand jive from Grease, and I can't leave out Dirty Dancing, which was one of my favourites as a teenager. But then I go back and I'd have to include the Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend routine in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Pick Yourself Up with Fred and Ginger in Swing Time, and almost anything I've seen Cyd Charisse dance. That hasn't really helped has it?!

I love films with dancing! I'm going to start off with a couple of tangos: Moulin Rouge! - El Tango de Roxanne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s12XiAOtjcg I love how Baz Luhrmann takes modern songs and reworks them into musical versions in her films, and I'm sure anyone who's seen Strictly Come Dancing or Dancing With The Stars will probably have seen Roxanne used for tango or Argentine tango. Take The Lead - Así Se Baila El Tango: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6VvR3hkePI And another one for Strictly fans - the lucky lady who danced with Antonio is former Strictly professional Kaya Vishilas.

Chuffed with my 7/10 this week http://www.waterstones.com/blog/2014/07/waterstones-week-in-books-quiz-11th-july-2014/

Rowling writes new Harry Potter story I'm not signed up to Pottermore, so don't know what the story's like, but I'm sure lots of HP fans will be devouring it!

I think I'd better wait and see if I'm germ free first! I don't think anyone would want to eat something I'd baked while coughing all over it … ewwww, doesn't even bear thinking about! *shudder* I think I'll have to content myself with reading my baking books instead

I think it's a related book without actually being an Alex Rider book. The back cover says: Contract killer Yassen Gregorovich has been given his orders: KILL ALEX RIDER. As Yassen considers his mission, he remembers a secret from the past that connects him to the fourteen-year-old spy. What is it that makes one of them choose to do evil? What does it take to make a killer?

I did something I rarely do today … I went into the bookshop and bought a book on the day of publication! I absolutely loved Alex, a Dog and the Unopenable Door by Ross Montogomery, which my other half bought me for Christmas, and following the author on twitter now, I knew that his second book, The Tornado Chasers was out today, so I couldn't resist popping in on the way home from work to get a copy. It was also in the Buy One Get One Half Price offer, so I also got Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz as well, which will complete my set of Alex Rider books. Very pleased with myself Hoping to finish Cider With Rosie tonight (or perhaps tomorrow), and I can then start on The Tornado Chasers straight away! I had hope to finish CWR at lunchtime, but my head was too fuzzy at work, and I just couldn't concentrate on it. Fortunately, there's no football on tonight, and all the big tennis games are out of the way, so if I set my mind to it, I should be able to finish the last 40 or so pages this evening.

Not "Stupid Janet", definitely "Stupid bed". I swear they move in our way on purpose - I'm forever knocking my shin on the corner of the coffee table, when I'm sure I was miles away from it I enjoyed The Radleys too, and I've got The Humans near the top of my wish list for future purchase too.

I didn't like the hard ones that came with the iPod, and I used to use them with my first iPod, but got fed up with replacing them because the wiring would come loose in one or the other buds, or near to the socket. The one's I've bought have been much more reliable, but like I said, the left one does still tend to pop out occasionally.

We finally got round to watching The King's Speech and I thought it was pretty good. Very enjoyable, and loved Geoffrey Rush in it.

^ And so emphatically too!

Well, I'm almost finished, and I can categorically state, I've enjoyed it much more than my 13 year old self did! I still think it's flawed, but I *am* enjoying it even if some of my prejudice is still lingering in my head. You can't go wrong with some Literary Detective escapades, can you?