chesilbeach

Hope you have a good reading year in 2016 Kat

Heavy rain forecast for this morning, and it's a bit chilly this morning too.

I think it's a problem at the Independent's website. I've just gone to their book pages and clicked on the article again and it fails to load now. I've deleted the link and will check back later on the site to see if it gets sorted out.

I've got the audiobook of South Riding for the English Counties Challenge and I've lined it up for my daily commute when I go back to work on Monday. I might get the Kindle version as well as it's only 99p so I can use the WhisperSync and read it as well. I don't always get on well with books with too many characters, so I've taken that on board from your review to make sure I concentrate when I start to see if I can get them all in my head!

Thanks James Yes, I'm open for business now. Although I keep a record of the number of books I read, I'm not really bothered by the numbers - I'd be much happier reading fewer books that blew me away than read masses of books that were just passing the time ... it's just finding those crackers that's the tricky bit!

Hi Jessie, welcome back!

Finished The Star of Kazan, which is a very traditional tale, but then I guess Eva Ibbotson is a very traditional writer so it was sort of expected. Going to start A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig next, as it's my last Christmas themed book from the pile of books I got for Christmas, and I'd like to read it before I have to go back to work next week.

I'd missed that one, so I've actually read double what I originally thought!

Here's the list of must reads for 2016 from The Independent EDIT: The page is not accessible at the moment - will check back on website later to see if it becomes available again.

Bestselling books 2015: Fifty Shades still on top I know there are things like cook book and colouring books and other non-fiction, but I have to say, the only book I've read on the list is the Harry Potter book that's still in the top 50!

I haven't read this article in full yet, but I'm hoping to read The Old Wives' Tale in the not too distant future, so adding the link here as a reminder for when I've finished the book, as it sounds like it's going to be both an interesting book and an interesting article! Others might find it interesting too. The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett – an extraordinary story of ordinary life

Having a lazy final weekend before it's back to work next week. Plan on doing as little as possible.

I think it was just because all the books that I might have been tempted by, I've already read! There are some good books on there, just no new ones that appealed to me. It's so annoying that they haven't shown you what's added each day and you have to go through all 31 pages of books to find out what's been added. I've done it every couple of days, so will probably just do one last perusal on the the last day now. I've read some more this morning and am now about a third of the way through The Star of Kazan and hoping to finish it today.

Actually, it's from each county in England, not the UK. The UK includes the countries Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but we've stuck specifically to England counties only at this stage. We came up with it after a discussion about a similar challenge for all the states in the USA.

I saw heartbreaking photos of the flood damage caused to The Book Case bookshop, with all of their stock having to be binned after being submerged in the floods, but heartwarming to see the book industry rallying around to help. Leading authors join drive to help flood-hit Yorkshire bookshop

Just had a look through this one ... Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld jumps out at me! Not only because it's part of the series of modern retellings of Jane Austen stories which I'm reading, but also I love Sittenfeld's books, so this is a no-brainer for me! Later in the year, I'm extremely pleased to see another Ali Smith novel due in August too.

I'm looking forward to a couple of books coming out in paperback, as they're only in hardback at the moment. They are Public Library and other stories by Ali Smith (May) and also At Hawthorne Time by Melissa Harrison (April). There are also some new children's books I'm looking forward to ... Perijee and Me by Ross Montgomery and Beetle Boy by M. G. Leonard both due out in March and Strange Star by Emma Carroll due in July.

Good luck with your reading in 2016, Chrissy ... hope it's a good year of books for you!

Happy reading in 2016 Athena.

Wishing you a very happy reading year in 2016 frankie!

Hope you have a great year of reading in 2016, bobblybear!

Hope you enjoy your reading this year James

Hope you have a great reading year in 2016, Kylie. You've done so well on reducing your book buying, so fingers crossed you can keep it up!

Happy reading in 2016, willoyd, hope you find some more 6* books!

If you want to try something different Michelle, I'd recommend Posy Simmonds. I've read Tamara Drewe and Gemma Bovery and thought both were excellent.