Jue xxx

I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany last night. Despite another trip to the library and coming back with an armful of books, I have decided to be strong and finally finish Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks before starting a new book. I borrowed Birdsong from the library three months ago but didn't have the chance to finish it, as it was reserved by someone else so they wouldn't let me renew it. I liked it so much that I bought it to finish it off.... but I keep going to the library and coming back with more books, so I have never had the chance to finish it! I will not start another book this time until I finish Birdsong! (It's a great book, by the way.)

I finished Owen Meany last night, and I don't quite know what to say about it. I thought it was far too long (it took me almost three weeks to read), and I found myself skimming parts of it, but other parts were really good, and the end (last 40 pages or so) was fantastic and pulled the whole book together. I'm glad I perservered with it because the I really enjoyed the end, but I wouldn't read it again.

Same here! Just can't help it!

Oh, also... Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. For the reason that I bought all the 6 Austen novels in one volume. I started with Pride and Prejudice and loved it, then went on to Sense and Sensibility and found it really dull, so it's put me off trying the others a bit. I thought I'd give Austen a bit of a rest and go back to her later.

War and Peace... for exactly the same reason as above! I WILL read it one day!

Perhaps the title is ironic? Like the book was actually written as a cure for insomnia?!

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (the first book of the trilogy only - other two tbr) 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 1984 - George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D

Please stop the suggestions!! I've added all of the above to Mount tbr and now blown my New Year's Resolution! (which was to reduce the size of Mount tbr before adding more to the list!)

Yes, I know we shouldn't take these lists too seriously, but there are several versions of lists of "books everyone should read" floating around, and I have recently started selecting books off these lists to widen my reading repertoire, and been pleasantly surprised. The lists have recommended titles and authors that I wouldn't otherwise have chosen (as unfortunately I am often too easily swayed by a pretty cover), and I have to say I have enjoyed some good reads lately (Anna Karenina excepted - hated it!)

Yes, why do we feel so guilty for not finishing a book? I have struggled through so many of the ones I haven't enjoyed, rather than giving up on them and starting on a new one that I might like!

Yesterday's episode is being repeated on Ch4 at 12:05pm (20 minutes' time!) in case you missed it on More 4 yesterday like I did! Have Sky-plussed the series now.

I printed out the 1001 list ages ago, and have managed to resist buying this book for so long, but I finally caved in today and ordered it from Amazon.

I have read and enjoyed A Handmaid's Tale. The Blind Assassin is creeping up my tbr list and I'll be ordering it from the library very soon.

I gave up on Anna Karenina, and remember feeling really guilty for it! It's had so many great reviews on this forum that I found myself forcing myself to read on, in case I was missing something, but I just couldn't get into it. I've marked the page I stopped at, in case I decide to give it another go in the future. However, I loved The Time Traveller's Wife, Life of Pi, Never Let Me Go and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, all of which have been mentioned in this thread, so it just shows that everyone's different!

Still snowed in, so finished Life of Pi by Yann Martel and started A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Owen Meany's not grabbing me so far, but then I'm only 30 pages in. Has anyone else read it? Does it get better?

I finished Life of Pi last night, and I can see why it's a Marmite book - you either love it or you hate it! I actually really enjoyed it. I think because it was so unlike anything I had ever read before - it has totally original storyline (if slightly unbelievable - but then it IS fiction!) and has moments of humour in it. I didn't quite understand the relevance of the first part, when he chooses his religions, and I found myself starting to skim through some of the first part, but once I'd reached the second part I found it a really good read.

Thanks for the review - Sounds great, so I have just reserved it online from the library. I'm number 118 in the queue! Think I'll end up buying it!

Snowed in again today, so I'm about to curl up on the sofa with a cup of coffee, and make good inroads into The Ghost Road by Pat Barker.

Stayed up very late into the night last night to finish this book - couldn't put it down until I'd finished it! Very bleary eyed this morning! What a fantastic, thought-provoking book; everyone should read it. It still feels futuristic even though it was written in 1948 and was set in 1984 - brilliantly written.

Oooh, brilliant - I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird at the moment, and it's top of the list! Sounds like it's going to be a good 'un then! Am certainly enjoying it so far - am about a quarter of the way in to it.

I'm about three-quarters of the way through this book (will probably finish it this afternoon) and am really enjoying it. Wuthering Heights is on my TBR list and I was going to read it next, but judging by the comments below I'll probably leave it for a while in case I find it disappointing in comparison. Therefore Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons has just been promoted to the next-to-be-read position.

I was going to suggest War and Peace too! I would also like to read Anna Karenina, so if either of those made the short list I would vote for them. (The last time War and Peace was nominated I was just a forum lurker and not a registered member, so I couldn't vote for it.)

I finished the book yesterday, and I have to say I thought it was great! I don't know what the movie makers were thinking when they made the movie adaptation, because to me it bore no resemblance to the book! Moving on to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood now.

I'm loving the writing style of this book so far - very light hearted and amusing - the pea in the ear incident already mentioned, the terracotta in the buttocks incident, and the drunken vicar filling the wine bottles (!), have all made me giggle! I agree that Cephalonia sounds a beautiful place, and the doctor is obviously passionate about the island. Enjoying it so far!

Hi, a forum newbie here, and Captain Corelli is going to be my first Reading Circle book! I ordered it at the library and picked it up this morning. Very excited! I watched the movie with Nicholas Cage last week, and thought it was very average, so I'm looking forward to see how the movie compares with the book. Well, here goes...