chesilbeach

I've been neglecting my diet and exercise over the last couple of months, but I'm starting again with determination today. I've not been completely lazy, and after my car was out of action a few weekends ago and I had to walk everywhere, I've kept that up and tried to walk whenever it's practical. I've also been trying to make sure I prepare a big salad box to take to work with me instead of relying on sandwiches, but I need to make sure I get back into that every day. I've already done some exercise this morning, and I'm about to walk to the shops as well. But my biggest thing is I'm going to give up sugar in my coffee and tea. I've done it in the past, then always ended up going back to having sugar again, so hopefully, I can do it for good this time.

My Friday bake this week was this Carrot Cake Traybake:

Been a while since I've done one of these, but my favourite song of the moment is Someone To Watch Over Me sung by Ella Fitzgerald - beautiful.

I'm still on my YA reading streak at the moment, and today I finished The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead and started the next book in the same series, The Indigo Spell.

Sorry I've been a bit late in answering the questions myself, but thank you everyone for your response so far. I know there are a few others still reading and it's really interesting to read everyone else's thoughts about the book, so I'll be back for some discussion once I've read them all properly.

1. Did you enjoy reading this style of novel in the form of letters? Yes, and since I chose the theme for the month, it might have been a bit odd if I didn't! I do enjoy epistolary novels, I find them very easy to read, and I like seeing the story from so many different points of view. 2. Were you engaged immediately with the story, or did it take you a while to get into it? I fell in love with the book after the first letter. I had been expecting it to be a bit of a chore, and I'd almost felt disheartened when it won the poll, but as soon as I started reading it, I immediately fell into the story itself. 3. There are a lot of characters referenced mostly by their title instead of their name, did you find it difficult to remember who all the characters were? This question is one I've specifically asked, as it was something I did struggle with. I've never seen the Glenn Close/John Malkovich adaptation, but I had seen Cruel Intentions so I was a bit familiar with the general storyline, but I ended up looking up who played each character in the Malkovich film so that I could picture them in my head as I read the story. 4. Did you have a favourite character? And a least favourite? I actually liked reading the letters by both Valmont and Cecile, but I think the Valmont was my favourite. I liked that despite the fact what he was doing was despicable, he was honest in his letters to the Marquise, while she was my least favourite character as she was devious and manipulative with everyone, even playing the Valmont, that I wondered how sad you would have to be to isolate yourself from the warmth of friendship of anyone else in the world. 5. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I did particularly enjoy the letters leading up to Cecile succumbing to the predatory Valmont, and the initial part of their affair. 6. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? No, and again this was a surprise for me. I had been expecting a dry and dated novel, and had thought the whole reading experience was going to be rather dour, but there was so much life and verve in the story, and other than needing extra concentration at the beginning to remember who was who, I never felt reading it a struggle at all. 7. Do you think the Marquise and the Vicomte deserved the fates they were given at the end of the story? Absolutely! How could their evil and manipulation be rewarded?! It seemed fitting that there was almost in a redemption for Valmont as he was able to sacrifice himself in the duel, while the Marquise was left to a long and lingering pain, in the most dreadful way for a woman in society in that period of history. 8. We've already had some discussion on the differences a good translation can make, which edition and translation of the book did you read, and what did you think of the translation? I read the Penguin Classics version with the translation by Helen Constantine. I was quite careful about choosing the edition I read, as I do read at least a handful of translated novels every year, and I know that a poor translation can ruin a story, but I feel that, particularly with classic novels, Penguin tend to reliable with the quality of the translations. After some of the discussion on the forum about this novel, I did have a look using the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon for some of the other editions available, and being able to compare them with my edition, I feel that Constantine produced a version that was more readable than any of the others I looked at. 9. Have you watched any film/television/theatre adaptations of this story? How successfully do you think they were? As I mentioned before, I have seen Cruel Intentions and although it's been a while since I've seen it, I think as a modern interpretation it did actually capture a lot of the flavour of the book in a contemporary setting. I definitely want to watch the Close/Malkovich version at some point, as I'm curious to see it as a period piece. 10. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Well, in case you can't get that from my other answers, YES! I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I'm really pleased it was chosen, as I don't think I would ever have read it otherwise. 11. Would you recommend the book to others? I always struggle with this question, as everyone is different in their reading tastes, but I think if I knew someone who was starting to read classics, I would definitely recommend it, and also to anyone else who loved classics who this one had passed them by.

Masterchef Australia

Sweet & salted popcorn

Hello Phil

Finished the last books in the Drake Chronicles series by Alyxandra Harvey, and have started The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. Definitely on a YA streak at the moment!

I'm going to have to look up the Body Finder books as well now ...

I bought this one when it was on the Kindle Daily Deal, and read it over the 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.

My library website shows five copies in the region, Kidsmum, so perhaps that might be another option for you?

And Goblet of Fire wasn't dragged out????

Hi Sarah!

The first one has to do a lot of scene setting, but from book two onwards, you get straight into the story, so that improves them but, personally, I think they peak at the third book The Prisoner of Azkaban, and after that they all need a decent edit.

Mushroom and pea cannelloni

Do we really need to answer that?! I've been reading some more YA today, and I'm halfway through Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey now.

A Month In The Country is an excellent book, Kidsmum. I read another of Carr's books a couple of weeks ago, How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won The F. A. Cup, which is completely different from AMITC, but was totally wonderful in its own way. I'm planning to read all of his books over the next couple of years, and I've only been delighted with these first two forays into his work.

I almost downloaded Warm Bodies today as one of the people I follow on Twitter said she was so pleased people had recommended that she read the book as it was far better than the film. Actually decided to go with a book in a series I'm partway through reading, as I needed to take less of a risk with my reading as it's hit a bit of a sticky patch at the moment, but I definitely think I'll read Warm Bodies at some point.

I read A Long Way Down with my reading group a couple of years ago, and I felt pretty much the same as you did, Lucybird. Although I remember the book generally, I can only actually remember details of one of the characters, so it obviously didn't make that much of an impression on me!

Haven't updated much for a while, but have finished Back Story by David Mitchell. Haven't felt like reading much over the last week, so kick started my reading with a very easy humorous book - Susie by M. C. Beaton - and then fell back on some good old YA with The Pledge by Kimberly Derting, and am halfway through Bleeding Hearts by Alyxandra Harvey. May need to have a week or two of these type of reads before trying to find out if I'm up to going back to some weightier subjects.

Top Gear

Pretty traditional - we have bookshelves in most rooms, plus I think we still have some boxes of books in the attic.

It looks fantastic! Wish I could have a slice now