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It's strange that it does often seem to divide people between it being either their favourite or least favourite of her works. On the other hand, I love Mansfield Park. It's the only one left to read in my Austen challenge, and I'm looking forward to it immensely. I know it's quite long and doesn't have the light-hearted touches and wit from some of the other books, but I have always enjoyed reading it nevertheless. I read it when I was 19, and all I can remember is that I hated reading it. It was at the time when I used to refuse to give up on a book, and it took me a few weeks to actually make it to the end. I think I even threw it across the room in frustration at one point. I wonder now if I ought to give it another chance, maybe now that I've grown up, and my reading experience has more breadth and depth to it, I might appreciate it more. Something to consider. Sorry no. I read all three, and I initially thought the first one was ok, the second a bit better, but the third I just didn't enjoy at all. Since then, I've thought about it a lot, as it's often discussed, and I find the more I think about them the less I like them all. As for The Lord of the Rings, I read them just before the films came out in the cinema, as I wanted to read them first, and I found them a struggle. I detest made up languages, and these were the final nail in the coffin for these for me. I read it for the reading circle last year, and I could sum it up in one word - irritating! I found that with the characters and the dialogue especially, and was so disappointed as it had such promise as a story, I just didn't like the realisation of it. Shame really.

I knew you'd be happy about that one! I definitely want to read more Australian authors this year - I've got my own little wishlist on Amazon dedicated to all the Aussie books I've had recommended to me! Think this will be a good start

Great planning of your TBR, ashleighjane When my TBR was over 100 books, I used to plan the order of them so that I knew what I had coming up, and mixed up the different genres and non-fiction and found it really helped me stick to my challenge to read them all before buying any new books. Good luck with your 2013 reading!

Cheese and caramelised red onion chutney on fresh bread

Hope you have a good reading year in 2013, Diane

Admittedly, I watched the film before I read the book (not something I usually like to do), but I watched it on my own first of all, thought it was really good, so bought a copy for friends for Christmas, and we visited them the other day and all watched it together and everyone enjoyed it, so hopefully it's done the book justice!

Ooh, pleased to hear you're reading American Wife - I love Sittenfeld's writing, and she's got a new book out this year too, so I'm looking forward to that one enormously. I think the other book was Pedant in the Kitchen but I got that cheap on Kindle, so won't need to borrow that one, but thanks for The Moving Toyshop, which I'll definitely borrow next time we meet up. Have you been reading my mind? I have almost all these books on my wishlist, except the top one which I've just looked up and added! Fantastic selection, if you ask me (which you didn't, but I'm giving my opinion anyway ) Oh, and Down and Out In Paris and London isn't on my wishlist either, but I read it years ago and remains one of my favourite non-fiction books ever.

We just watched the film version a couple of days ago, and I saw the Kindle version of the second book was on sale until tomorrow, so thought I'd take the opportunity to get the first two for starters.

Just catching up with your thread, Ben, and while I've not read The Remains Of The Day, I can whole-heartedly recommend the film with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Worth checking out if you get the chance

The 12 Days of Kindle sale and browsing Amazon has been bad for my TBR collection, and so far this year, I've already bought: Back Story by David Mitchell Molly by M. C. Beaton Ginny by M. C. Beaton Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden The Dead of the Night by John Marsden Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey Ciao Bella: In Search of New Relatives and Dante in Italy by Helena Frith Powell Reading wise, I've started Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie, but I want to savour it, so I'm just reading one chapter each day. I've also read the first two books of Alyxandra Harvey's YA series of Drake Chronicles.

Here's the year ahead in books and the book world from the Guardian in the UK http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jan/04/2013-year-ahead-books

Hi peacefield - I just read this article about Laura Ingalls Wilder's books and thought you might be interested http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/dec/28/little-house-books-feminist-classics

This book is on the UK Kindle Daily Deal today (1st Jan 2013) for just £2.99, so think I might get it.

As it's the end of the year, I finally feel like I can answer these questions now! Your favourite read of the year? William - An Englishman by Cecily Hamilton Your favourite author of the year? Jane Austen Your most read author of the year? M. C. Beaton Your favourite book cover of the year? A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, the one you read least of)? The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery The book that most disappointed you? Mrs Ames by E. F. Benson The funniest book of the year? Mark Steel's In Town by Mark Steel Your favourite literary character this year? Anne Elliot in Persuasion Your favourite children's book this year? A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Your favourite classic of the year? Persuasion by Jane Austen Your favourite non-fiction book this year? Findings by Kathleen Jamie Your favourite biography this year? Now All Roads Lead To France by Matthew Hollis Your favourite illustrated book of the year? A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Your favourite publisher of the year? Persephone (can't see this ever changing!) Your favourite re-read of the year? Persuasion by Jane Austen

Ha ha, knew you'd ask! Agree with: Austen, Jane: Sense and Sensibility Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice Carr JL: A Month in the Country Chevalier, Tracey: Fallen Angels Seth, Vikram: A Suitable Boy Don't agree with: Austen, Jane: Emma Bronte, Emily: Wuthering Heights Pullman, Philip: Northern Lights Tolkien JRR: The Lord of the Rings White, TH: Mistress Masham's Repose

I've read a few on your TBR, but nice to see you have both of these to read: The Earth Hums in B Flat - Mari Strachan The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals - Wendy Jones I loved both of them, and interesting that they have a similar setting and feel to them. I lent them both to one of my friends and she adored them too, and has since been giving them away as Christmas presents to her friends. Hope you enjoy them too. Happy reading in 2013!

Good luck with your reading in 2013, Steve. Can't say I've read many of the books on your TBR list, so looking forward to reading your reviews of them all!

Happy reading in 2013, Kay. Looking forward (as always) to reading your brilliantly entertaining reviews.

I always enjoy reading your reviews Willoyd, so looking forward to seeing what you have to say about the books you read next year. I was just going through your list of 6-star books, and delighted to see so many of my favourites on there, but have to admit there were a few I didn't get on with and rated 1- or 2-stars, so just goes to show, we all have different tastes! Happy reading in 2013!

Some great titles on your TBR list, Brian! Happy reading in 2013.

Good luck with your reading goals for next year, Jessi. I don't know if this will help you, but I've done something similar, and I have wish lists set up on Amazon for Kindle books (of course, I'm a bit OCD and have them all categorised by genre ) so that when I get a recommendation, I can add it to the wish list on the site, and that way have direct links to the books when I do decided I want to buy them. Amazon are also good at highlighting the books on your wishlist that have come down in price since you added them to the wishlist, so if you're looking at it, you can immediately see if there are bargains to be had, not necessarily on the Daily Deal page. Happy reading in 2013!

Good luck with your aims for next year, Kell, and happy reading in 2013!

Good luck with your reading next year, Nollaig. I've read a few on your TBR lists but the ones I would heartily recommend are: Happy reading in 2013!

As of the end of 2012 I have read: 145 books of which: 55 were by male authors 90 were by female authors and: 115 were fiction 30 were non-fiction and: 55 were paperback or hardback books 2 were iBooks on iPad 88 were Kindle ebooks and of that: 4 were Biography 5 were Chick-lit 8 were Childrens 7 were Classics 13 were Crime/Murder Mysteries 18 were Fantasy 17 were General fiction 1 was a Graphic novel 15 were Historical fiction 16 were Humour 1 was Maths 5 were Memoir 1 was Science Fiction 6 were Science 12 were Travel 5 were War 11 were YA I have read: 21 from my 2008 or earlier TBR pile 12 from my 2009 TBR pile 6 from my 2010 TBR pile 15 from my 2011 TBR pile 91 bought or borrowed in 2012 I have read 13 books from my Jane Austen challenge I have rated (FIVE=best; ONE=worst): 7 books at FIVE stars (3 of these were re-reads) 37 books at FOUR stars 85 books at THREE starts 12 books at TWO stars 4 books at ONE star Giving an average rating of 3.2 On average, so far I have read a book every 2.5 days. New 2012 books consisted of: 86 Kindle books purchased plus 6 free Kindle books (92 ebooks in total) 9 paperbacks purchased plus 6 paperbacks borrowed from the library plus 1 paperback borrowed from a friend plus 1 paperback won in a competition plus 3 paperbacks received as presents (20 paperbacks in total) My top five reads of the year were: 1. William - An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton 2. Findings by Kathleen Jamie 3. Persuasion by Jane Austen 4. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness 5. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen My least favourite book of the year was: The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery On the 31st August 2012, I completed my challange and reduced my TBR to ZERO books. As at 31st December 2012, the TBR list stands at 19 books.

Wow, I'm finally up to date with my reviews! Time for my annual review of the year - off to crunch some numbers.