chesilbeach

Marvellous achievement, frankie, well done!

Glad to hear you enjoyed Remarkable Creatures, peacefield. One of Chevalier's better books I think. I think she's fairly recently published a new book too, but haven't had chance to look it up yet, so maybe I'll do that later today.

It rained yesterday, and it's raining again this morning. Although ... it does give me an excuse to stay in and do plenty of this :

Another fan of The Devil Wears Prada here, although I read her next couple of books too, and didn't like them anywhere near as much. There's going to be a sequel to TDWP published later this year called Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns which I'll probably try too.

Hello and welcome Jenna! People who own a Kindle and love it, often seem to start reading more than they ever did reading tree books, so you're in good company! I love mine too

Hi Emily! You're not alone! I suspect rather a lot of us here have the same problem, and this place is the perfect solution.

Not had a great week generally, but reading wise, Thursday was the final straw for To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf for me. 68% read, but after the week I've had, it's definitely not worth plodding on with something I'm enjoying so little. I can appreciate the quality and style of her writing, and I think that's what's kept me reading this long, but I need a story to move me through a book and that's just not what this book is. It will not stop me from trying more of her books in the future, but this one is being abandoned. Haven't decided what to pick up next yet though - will consider my options this morning.

Yep, I'm sure I've had "the look" from someone who was carry a very large (and dreary if you ask me) textbook of some sort - perhaps I misread it, and it was jealousy that they were carry a huge doorstop with them!

Wow, two great presents! A belated happy birthday to you, Laura

Taking that long to get home sounds like my idea of an absolute nightmare, Chrissy, and I dread snow as I have to drive to work in it and worry about exactly that sort of situation. Glad to hear he got home safely in the end!

I remember reading a few articles about introducing some sort of age ratings for childrens books last year. I've dug out a couple on the Guardian's website (one reporting a pro/one rebuttal against): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jul/09/childrens-books-age-certifications-gp-taylor http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/jul/10/charlie-higson-reading-ages-debate I don't have kids, so I have to admit, I've not really seriously considered it, but I based on your original post ian, I wonder if there should be some sort of parental guidance advice available for the books somewhere? I read a YA book at the weekend, and when I looked at it on Amazon, I noticed a review complaining about how sexually active the 17 year old heroine was, and that she was far too young. There was nothing explicit in the book, but there was an implication of the girl and her long-term, serious boyfriend sleeping together, so I was surprised by the comment. This makes me think about some of the comments in Charlie Higson's rebuttal in that who would decide how to rate the books? Perhaps what's needed is something like the BBFC's parental guidance app/website for films, which contain details of what you can expect within the films they rate?

There are definitely booksnobs out there - I used to get it more when I read paperbacks, but now I tend to have my Kindle in public, so I only get the people who sneer at ereaders rather than the content I'm actually reading! I've had people make snarky comments when I've been reading something they felt was beneath them, but I usually just put my headphones in and ignore them - probably not the best way to deal with them, but I'm not going to let them bother me. With regards to the number of books people read, I know a few people who only read when they're on holiday, so for them, four books over the course of a few weeks away would sound about right. Julie - you definitely deserve a gold star! Here's the best I can find:

Oh dear, it seems to be a day of struggling! I'm struggling through To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I'm reading it for my monthly book group, so I'm determined to finish it, but it's really not my sort of book I'm afraid. Can't wait to get to the end, if I'm honest.

Don't worry about it bobblybear! Feel free to come over to the Reading Circle thread and answer any questions you can, and let us know why you didn't like it - it will all add to the discussion.

If you want to read one of her other non-crime books, I'd recommend Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Lucybird. It's been years since I read it, but I remember enjoying it a lot.

No, I don't like the after taste they leave in your mouth. I'd rather go without.

Thanks pontalba, I think I might consider cutting down first too, especially in my tea. Coffee is easy, I like the taste of it without sugar, and I only got used to having it as a flavoured syrup at the coffee shop, so when I'm at home or at work, plain coffee will be fine. Tea, however, is a different matter! I'm going to cut that down gradually, although if I switch to green tea, I'm happy having just lemon with that, or I can drink an unsweetened mint tea too, but my normal tea is Assam with milk, and I love it with sugar, so that's going to be the hard one. I've only put on a couple of pounds, but I think that's more down to the exercise rather than the diet, as I haven't really overindulged, so hopefully getting back into the exercise will bump start my weight loss again.

I've been rubbish at reviews the last few weeks! Here's a recap of what I've read with some notes on what I thought: A House In Mayfair and Susie by M. C. Beaton These two books are both part of ongoing series that have been republished under the M. C. Beaton name instead of one of the authors other pen names. Beaton has written under various names and was a prolific writers of these humorous period romances, but wanted to make a break from them so she could turn to the contemporary crime novels she now writes in the Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. I suspect her publishers have decided that since she has become so popular (especially as a lot of them have been on offer in the Kindle store during various sales) that it would be worth reissuing them under her new moniker. Both these two books are essentially historical romances, the first set in the Regency period, the second in the Edwardian, but as with her Agatha Raisin books, they are quirky, funny and entertaining romps. They are one of my goto series when I need a quick, light-hearted read that will while away an evening in front of the fire, or an afternoon listening to the sea when I'm on holiday. These two happened to be on offer, otherwise I probably wouldn't have read them just at the moment - I'm waiting for the rest of both series to come up in a Kindle sale, as I'm sure they will eventually! All the other series have, so I fully anticipate seeing the rest there too. Challenging Zed by Joss Stirling A freebie short story giving another perspective on the meeting of Zed and Sky from the book Finding Sky. Very quick, very easy read, didn't add much to the story than we already knew, and unless you're a die-hard fan of the series, I wouldn't worry too much about missing out on this one! The Pledge by Kimberly Derting I bought this one when it was on the Kindle Daily Deal based on Michelle's recommendation, and read it over a weekend. It was a great YA book, and has a fabulously weird feeling of both a historical and futuristic world, a dystopian society with elements of the fantastical too. Very exciting, and a really interesting story, well worth a read if you're a fan of the genre. Bleeding Hearts, Blood Moon and Blood Prophecy by Alyxandra Harvey These are the final three books in the Drake Chronicles YA vampire series. I don't want to say too much about them so I can't reveal any spoilers, but I really enjoyed the entire series - strong female characters, focus on story and thrilling adventure, but with some romance thrown in, and I like the fact that the girls rescue the boys as well as the other way round! Will be reading other books by this author as I was impressed by these. The Golden Lily and The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead The second and third book in the Bloodlines series which itself is a spin off from the Vampire Academy series. This series focuses on Alchemist Sydney Sage and as with Mead's other YA series, exciting, thrilling storyline, great one-liners and attitude from some characters, and the supernatural world is gradually expanding. The strong central female character goes through essentially the same moral dilemmas that teenagers growing up go through, but set in the context of a hidden paranormal society, giving the whole story an exciting, dangerous feel. Can't wait for the next book later this year! Pulse by Tricia Rayburn Again, another series book, this time the second in the Siren trilogy, and I can't say anything about the story without giving away plot spoilers for the first installment. I did enjoy it, maybe not as much as the first one, but a good read and I'll read the final book in the trilogy at some point, although I think I'll probably wait for a while before picking it up. I've got a couple of other books to review, but they deserve their own proper review, so I'll come back to those in the future!

The only kind of support group we can provide on this forum will encourage you to buy more books, not less! My TBR has never been quite that big, but I did set myself a challenge to reduce it to nothing last year, and actually achieved it, and joking aside, this forum definitely helped. Knowing I could come on here and receive encouragement, and that as my TBR dwindled, there were people who were genuinely rooting for me to achieve my goal was fantastic. If you ever wanted to set yourself a book challenge, then here's one place you'll get support. All I can say for me, is that it took a lot of willpower but was very rewarding as some of the books I been putting off reading for years ended up being some of the best books I've ever read - that was what kept me going through the tough times when I wanted to indulge in new books.

Hi Karen, I think I might have joined just before you stopped visiting, but lovely to see you coming back to discuss books with us all!

Hi supergran! Nice to see you back again. In the top right of the forum window, you'll see your username with a downward pointing arrow next to it. Click on your user name, then select "My Settings" from the menu that appears. On the left hand side of the next screen, click on the third option down, "Email & Password", and you'll be able to change your password there.

I did have a look at Google books to compare a few different translations, and most seem to tend towards the Constantine style of writing and phrasing, with the Dowson one being the exception. His version reads much more like a word for word transcription rather than trying to translate the text into the English language that a writer would use. The other few translations I looked at (I read the first letter from them), all have the same style and similar words and phrasing.

We bought some individual pea, brie and thyme pies at the food market yesterday, so we'll be having them for dinner tonight

Just made myself a coffee. Decaf and no sugar. It's just not the same