chesilbeach

I was exactly the same, Janet. Wonderful, isn't it?

Now I'm all for you catching up with your reviews, Kay (lord knows, I need to get my own backside in gear in this area too ), but do you have to make the books sound so good? I now have Gigi on my wishlist - fortunately, I've already read I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings so that's one I don't have to do the same for!

Scrooge the 1970 version with Albert Finney - a colleague told to me it was their favourite Christmas film ever, but I thought it was just okay - still don't think anyone will top The Muppet Christmas Carol version of that story. Just watching You've Got Mail, as I came across it while channel hopping.

Hello Beth! In addition to the info Maureen has posted, you'll also find that members often set themselves up with their own reading list thread where we keep a note of the books we read and/or review them, so if you can't find a thread for a specific book, you might be able to search and find that someone has written about it in their reading blog What was the book you read in an afternoon? Must have been good to have engrossed you that much!

Fantastic news, June! Congratulations

I hate Wembley too. The sound is poor in the arena, the floor is way too big especially when they keep going to wide shots while the couples are dancing as we can't see anything, and they go way over the top with props, gimmicks and generally anything to detract from the actual dance I know that they do it because their normal studio is used by Children In Need, and the other studio is smaller, so it means an smaller dancefloor, and I know they sell tickets for the Wembley "spectacular" to raise money for Children In Need, but I think the only people who enjoy it are the people at Wembley. Still, I'm looking forward to tonight, no Bruce and extra Claudia! Kay, you'll be pleased to know Nat has totally won me over now, and she's one of my favourites, so I've got my fingers crossed for her & Michael. So much for no theme week meaning "pure" dancing - looking at the photos from dress rehearsal, there's more stage sets than Hallowe'en, something else I can't stand. Despite all that, it's still my favourite programme, and the thing I look forward to all week during the series

Been struggling to settle to Out of Africa and decided I needed a kick start to my reading, so decided to try Seeking Crystal, the third in Joss Stirling's Benedict YA series. An easy but satifying read! Trying to figure out what to go for next now.

Hi Maria! I notice you're reading The Colour. I read it earlier this year and really liked it, so I hope you're enjoying it too.

Unfortunately I didn't, Ruth. Thought it was too sentimental and a bit predictable. It is the book the film was based on, but I'm finding it a struggle as it's very dated in it's language, and the colonial type of superiority is making me uncomfortable.

I'm far from a grammar expert, but if I read the sentence in your quote and pause with the comma, I believe that it could make sense and convey a different meaning from "he took his time so his friend could get away." As you haven't started it with a capital letter, I assume it's the end of a longer sentence so could, therefore, actually need the comma to make the point the author wanted. I would much rather have extra commas or the occasional wrongly placed comma than to have none at all, which makes reading very difficult as I never know where to pause to take a breath!

I finished The Art of Racing in the Rain yesterday, and today I've started Out of Africa for my local reading group meeting next week.

I watch ITT religiously, karen! I don't mind the different professions wearing the SCD outfits, but I could do without the fashion section generally - Michael & Natalie only got 5 mins compared to 10 discussing the fashions from last weekend, and I wish Julien would stop squealing, screeching and being generally SO LOUD!!!!

1. Who was your favourite character? I quite liked Zoe, although maybe she was written as a child older than her years, and perhaps a tad unbelievable that she would have that level of comprehension of what was going on around her at that age? I don't have that many dealing with children, so I always find it difficult to judge. 2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest The one chapter I did really love was when Denny took Enzo out in a race car on the track. I loved that they encapsulated him in a bedsheet to keep him safe, and I loved the idea that after all his television watching of races he finally got to experience it and loved the thrill of the speed. 3. Was this the first book you've read by this author.. has it encouraged you to read more? Yes it was the first, and I don't think I'd be looking out for another book by this author, but I wouldn't avoid it either. 4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I struggled with the whole tone of the book. I felt it was weighed down with sentimentality, and by using the device of telling the story through the dog eyes, was a way to avoid dealing with too realistic a portrayal of Eve's illness, and actually felt a bit shallow in the actual story. I also didn't like the way Annika was shoe horned into the story, and from there on, everything got a bit too predictable for me. 5. Did you feel you were viewing the world through the eyes of a dog? No. I never felt it worked, because no matter how much you believe animals have more comprehension of the human world than we give them credit for, they also have their own natural instincts and behaviours and none of these came across to me in Enzo's character. 6. Are you a fan of motorsport? .. did you enjoy its incorporation into this story? I'm not a particular fan of track racing but I do like rallying, but my Dad is a huge fan of F1, so I remember it always being something we had to make sure to watch when I was little. I didn't mind it being a part of the story, and a good way to show the parallels between Denny's own story and those of races, drivers and motor racing, but I did get transported back to my childhood of boredom as my parents were engrossed in the F1 races, and my eyes glazed over, and I did start skim reading some of these sections about half way through the book. 7. What was your take on the evil toy zebra and why did Enzo rip Zoë's toys apart? It seemed fairly obvious to me that it was meant to be an hallucination brought on by dehydration, and knowing someone who's had hallucinations, I know that most of they can't remember any of them once they feel better. 8. Is Enzo anything like your dog/pet? .. do you believe that animals know more than we give them credit for? I don't have a pet, but I'm a dog person, and we've looked after other people's dogs for them in the past, and Enzo wasn't anything like any of the dogs I've looked after. I do think they have comprehension to a certain extent, and the idea that they can smell cancer has been in the news in the past too, so that part felt like it could be genuine, but I don't believe that a dog could have the level of human nature that the writer gave him. 9. Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience? It was far from my favourite book of the year, but equally certainly not my least favourite either. I did skim a few chapters, but I think the years of exposure to F1 as a child have put me off track racing, so I think I didn't enjoy it because of my aversion to the motor racing element more than anything else. 10. Would you recommend the book and if so to whom? I'm not sure I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't tell anyone not to read it either. I think it just wasn't my cup of tea, but I can see why others would appreciate it.

Yay! I'm glad he enjoyed it

Us too!

I agree that it was another odd week for scoring! I'm sure Craig will be asked to justify that on It Takes Two tomorrow night I didn't think there was enough salsa content in Kimberley & Pasha's routine, and agree about Lisa's tango music being totally unsuitable. I don't think Richard covered at all for forgetting his steps but at least Erin managed to keep him moving around the dancefloor. Loved Denise & James, although when I first watched it I thought she'd missed a couple of heel leads, but watching it again, I can't see it again. Like you said, Kay, samba is rarely any good - I can only remember a few that I thought were great, and Victoria looked uncomfortable all the way through, but I thought Louis did a reasonable job, although I would have said 7 was a reasonable score for him. I'm not sure what it is about Colin that isn't quite working for me, but I thought his foxtrot was ok, but nothing more. Nicky looked like he was trying not to laugh all the way through his rumba, but at least he can put it behind him now. Fern may have picked up some good tips from the flamenco dancer in the training video, but it looked like she forgot them all in the main show, and she didn't use the floor at all, so it was all a bit floaty with no assertion in her performance at all. Natalie certainly knows how to get the best out of a ballroom routine, and I loved their foxtrot too, although Michael needs to keep more upright in some of the steps and lines. Dani was a joy to watch, and my dance of the night, although she still looks at the floor occasionally and she still needs work on arm placement.

I haven't read most of the posts here yet, but I'm up to chapter 13 and I'm finding it a bit sentimental and sort of lacking any depth. I'll keep going, but at this point, I'm not sure I'm going to like it much.

I've just finished the fabulous How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran, and I'm about to start The Art of Racing in the Rain for the November Reading Circle (and yes, I know it's already November and I should have finished it by now, not just starting it ) Also picked up The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith from the library, which was a rather stressful event using the automated machine Had to get assistance from the librarian at the counter twice, and took longer to check out one book than the combined total of my visits to the library for the year - gah! And they've moved all the librarians between the various libraries in the area, so I don't know any of them in mine any more.

I'm fine thanks, just busy with other things at the moment, so reading time is limited, to say the least! Good to see you around again

That's mostly down to the Kindle, isn't it? It's interesting how many people have found they read more once they've got a Kindle.

Welcome back, Pixie!

I'm not normally a big reader of war books, and I've had more than my usual fill of them this year, so I'll probably leave it for now, although I'll add it to my wishlist when I'm feeling upto it! Thanks for the recommendation Sue

The Girl At The Lion D'Or is one of my favourite of his books I've read, and I'm glad we seem to be on the same wavelength Sue! I know so many people who loved Birdsong that I thought I might be a lone voice. I did finish One Week In December but it was definitely my least favourite, and I found it a real struggle to engage with any of the characters at all. I did like his Bond novel Devil May Care but I guess I already know the character of that one, so was inclined to like it from the beginning.

I read it earlier in the year, and here's what I wrote about it at the time: This was a real page turner of a story. After the bright colours of the Amiens chapters, the muddy, almost monochrome palette of the soldiers in the trenches were such a contrast and reflected the nature of war. The conditions the soldiers worked and lived in, and the horrendous scenes of battle were harrowing to read, as well as portraying the claustrophobia of digging the tunnels under the fields in horrifying detail. A really incredible account of the reality of war. However, I don't think I'm going to be popular with this opinion, but after reading now my fourth Faulks book, I've realised why I never give them top ratings; I don't fully engage with his characters. I don't know why, but for some reason I enjoy reading (most of) them, but as soon as I've finished, the characters are gone. From what I'd been told, I'd thought I was going to take Stephen and Isabelle to heart, and feel a genuine emotional link with their story, but I never did. It was a fascinating book, and took me to places I'd never been, but I never felt that tug of emotion about them as people. I think this is my problem though, as like I've said, lots of people who I respect have told me that they did engage with them, so I'm putting it down to a fault on my part. Overall though, a difficult subject to read, but told in a very approachable way, and I would still recommend it to others, if only to read about the realities and hardship of a war that saw the loss of more than 9 million men, and left those who returned both physically and mentally scarred for the rest of their lives.

Brilliant review Kay - you've hit the nail on the head perfectly! I loved it too, and definitely going to read the rest of the books in the series, and if they keep up this standard, I'm hoping for a lengthy series