chesilbeach

I don't read much mainstream crime fiction, but the books I do read tend to be more quirky, either in that they are comic and humorous (Jasper Fforde, M. C. Beaton), historical (Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde Mysteries), or YA (Ally Carter, Meg Cabot) and I doubt if many of them would usually be categorised as crime but other people!

I should say that it's been about five years since I read the book, and I didn't want to re-read it, but I do remember it, so hopefully I can still join in the discussion! 1. Did you like the book? What was it that you enjoyed? If you didn't like the book, what were your reasons for disliking it? I did like it, but I'm definitely not a fan of ghost stories, so I don't think I was ever going to love it, but that's a failing on my part not the author. I liked the quality of the writing, and I think Hill did a fantastic job of evoking the 19th century period through both the style and the dialogue. 2. The narrative is quite sparse and the characters few, did you find it easy to engage in the story? Yes, because of the writing, it felt like I was reading a contemporary novel of the period, and I love stories that start at the end and the narrator recalls his tale from the past, which I find I tend to engage with at an early point. I'm sure I remember reading at the time, that Hill wrote it both as an exercise for herself and as an example that could be used in schools to show how to write in the style of the 19th century. I think she achieved that goal pretty well! 3. What were your expectations when you started this book and were you proved right or wrong? I had been warned before I started it (as I don't like horror), that it was very frightening, and I shouldn't read it at night on my own, but I actually didn't find that to be the case. Now, admittedly, I did read it in July, so there were no cold, dark nights to read it on (even in our British summer), but it still didn't scare me at all. 4. If you have seen the stage production, TV version or film of The Woman in Black, how did it compare to the book? No, I haven't seen any, but then being a scaredy-cat, I think I'm more likely to be frightened by a visual interpretation of it, so I've particularly avoided them. 5. Was this the first book you've read in this genre/ by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? It was the first ghost story I've read, and I've read a couple of others since, but I do tend to avoid them as I don't like them generally. I've tried to read some of Hill's crime fiction for my book group, but again, I don't like the type of very realistic violent crime novels that she writes. However, I was impressed by the writing, and I did read Howard's End Is On The Landing which turned out to be an absolute gem, and I adored it. Her children's books have also been recommended to me, and I'm curious to read her sequel to Du Maurier''s Rebecca, Mrs. de Winter, so I will read some more in the future. 6. One of the themes of the novel is fear. Did you find the novel creepy – were you scared? As I've mentioned before, I didn't find it scary, but I think that's the way my mind decided to cope with knowing it was supposed to be scary, that I tried not to visualise it too much in my mind. I think I'm my own worst enemy at scaring myself by over thinking and trying to visualise things that are far worse than anyone could have written, and I purposely distanced myself from the story while I was reading ito, to make sure I wasn't too scared. Not sure if that makes sense! 7. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? This is the only question I can't really answer. I remember the overall feel and experience of the book, and I remember discussing it in my book group, and I'm sure there was something I brought up that I wasn't totally convinced by, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. 8. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Yes, I did enjoy it, which surprised me, due to my dislike of ghost stories, and I think I would recommend it to others if they like 19th century fiction or ghost stories. I did buy a lovely hardback copy for a friend for Christmas, as I know he likes reading that genre.

Wow, what a fantastic summary, bree - it looks gorgeous! It sounds like a pretty good reading month to me too.

Here's one for The Beatles fans on here: http://twitter.com/tomhasson/status/297622679442321408

I'm still reading Mapp and Lucia and still loving it as much as the first time I read it!

Well, they haven't quite gone this far, but I've just spotted that some reviews are now marked Amazon Verified Purchase

I don't read the rest of the blog, but I do read the book news on newspaper websites, so that's where I pick up most of my answers from. I've only been following the quiz for a few weeks, and this is my highest score yet!

This made me chuckle ... http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-fife-21292873

The News Quiz

I did get 9/10 this week, but like Raven, that was with a couple of educated and lucky guesses, but what I like about it is that I often find out some news I've missed during the week

I found an ARC of one of her books left on a train once (at least I assume it as an ARC as there was no bar code or price marked on it anywhere). I have to admit I never read it, and gave it away to someone I know who liked her books. Maybe I'll ask to borrow it back one day!

For anyone who enjoys book quizzes, here's a link to the Waterstone's blog Week in Books quiz: http://blog.watersto.../category/quiz/ It's out every Friday, and it's a nice little literary challenge about the weeks booky news.

Thankfully I remembered to WD40 the lock on my petrol cap cover before I went to fill up today, so no embarrassing moment with my key stuck in it today!

Yes, it was, although I haven't seen it yet. I keep meaning to try and get a copy of it on DVD at some point.

Water

I'd love to borrow it, thanks.

Just watching the episode where Leonard remembers first moving in as Sheldon's roommate. Sheldon is interviewing Leonard, and while they're looking around the apartment: Sheldon: When do you evacuate your bowels? Leonard: When I when to? Sheldon: When you have to? I'm sorry I don't rent to hippies.

Yesterday I read Heist Society: Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter, a non-fantasy YA, although it's highly fantastical that a group of teenagers are extremely clever, successful thieves, but just the sort of book I enjoy for my pure entertainment reads. Started a re-read of Mapp and Lucia by E. F. Benson for my reading group this month. This will be my third reading of it in five years, and it's still making me smile and chuckle, and I'm absolutely loving it. I'll be so glad to have someone to talk to about it, as I don't know anyone else who's read it.

I'm so pleased you enjoyed Q : A Love Story, Kay. I have to admit, I'd never heard of it, but it was on your wish list and Mr B's had a copy, so it seemed a perfect find! Sounds really good, but I haven't looked at the spoilers as I think I might be reading it in the future thanks to your review.

Pointless

Yes, we tend to either record stuff and fast forward through adverts, or mute the television. There are actually rules in place to determine the maximum amount the broadcasters can increase the volume between the programmes and the adverts.

Brian's answered your questions, but I would just add that the Kindle Keyboard is no longer available. The only Kindle device that uses the e-ink technology is the standard Kindle Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display. I also have an old Kindle Keyboard and having seen the Paperwhite in the shop, I would never switch, as backlit screens are a problem for me too, and I found the text to be nowhere near as clear as on my own. I can read my Kindle for hours without any problems at all, but something like my iPad is a maximum usage time of an hour for me before I get a headache.

Glad you enjoyed the title story of Christmas At Cold Comfort Farm, Kay. You might want to take a break from it anyway, but the two stories you've read are the only two with a Christmas setting. There is a running theme of love throughout all the stories, but no more Christmassy ones.

I've just seen that ... There is a long synopsis on the website where I found it, but I haven't posted it here as it is quite long and I'm concerned it might be a bit spoilery, but if you want to have a look, it's here: http://www.chicklitc...medaymaybe.html

Just finished The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Jumped Out Of A Window and Disappeared. Glad I made the effort to finish it, but I wasn't as enamoured of it as every else