Booknutt

My grumble with the price thing is the first part costs what it does and then there's a second part costing more. Frustrating the fans who wait for the second part and probably costing £25-30 for both, expensive for many of us, whether as gifts or a treat for ourselves. The sad fact is in the everyday world, books are luxury items, excepting educational ones. Actually maybe I'm grumbling in the wrong direction here? Shouldn't an authors publishers keep a weather eye on the author and their doings? OK, only part of the blame to Mr. M. then. I can understand an author having trouble with their plot, especially in such a character packed story, with each one determined to go their way despite the word count. That's why it's best not to leave them unattended too long, I bet they resent the restriction of being channelled into a storyline again. It'll be a headache to wrestle that lot back into order. We're all behind you Mr. M. - Happy All.

Having posted the same grumble in the wrong place, I shall now grumble in a right place about the length of time we are waiting for the GoT series to continue. The years have slipped past, I've gained silver threads among the auburn and creaks in places I don't want them and still we wait. (I wonder what sort of state George Martin is in?!) It's time we at least had a publication date to countdown to. Everyone say Aye!! Next - the 2 part story of the Targareyns. First part to be released on Amazon at over £12 soon. second part probably similar in price next year. Then of course the Starks, the Lannisters ... Prepare to sell your cars people, the Winter of Expense is Coming! In brief, Mr M. stands to make a fortune from his series 'cos as fans we'll pay eventually even if we wait for a price drop. So, wouldn't it be nice if he shared his good fortune with the people who are providing it - and dropped prices a bit for us first? Or am I being too unworldly for even fiction? Happy All

Oh for heaven's sake! I'm far too young for senior moments! Apologies to Stephen King fans for the brief commercial for Game of Thrones. Thanks for pointing it out Frankie, I clearly hit the wrong title and didn't even notice. Should be more alert to these things really. Happy All

As far as the Game of Thrones series goes its difficult to choose a favourite, as each one was good as I read it. I think the best though was perhaps the last - and now we have waited year after year after year to find out what's happened to our favourite characters. Frankly it's getting beyond a joke! An author who has made a fortune from his work does owe some loyalty to the fans who have shown loyalty to him, and it's time we had the next book in the series. With due respect Mr. Martin has had a long break' and refreshed himself with other writing. A publication date would at least be something to look forward to. Meanwhile I can't help resenting the total price of the two part story of the Targareyns. Currently the first part is about to be published at over £12 on Amazon. Would be nice as a Christmas present but even if someone would buy me it I wouldn't let 'em. It may be shocking to say it here, but there is a limit to what I'll pay, or allow to be paid, for books which I'm not actually gagging to read. Since part two is likely to be the same price that's an estimated £24 for the history of one family from the saga - how many are there again? I'll wait for a second hand paperback! Am I just being an old grouch? Or one of a growing number? I'm listening ...?! Happy All

Encouraging news to report everyone I've been put on a low dose of daily atorvastatin for the cholesterol issue and, after a blood test was gobsmacked and delighted to have a negative result!I Not only that, my asthma improved too immediately, and I can manage a couple of short slopes locally without puffing, which I did before. How weird and wonderful is that?! I may have to stay on the tablet (One a day) since the situation seems to have come about through family history and age rather than bad diet (said she trying hard not to sound smug!) but it's a small price to pay. I just need to stay aware of what I eat and limit what I now think of as "red zone" eats. Y'know the best bit? As someone who is carrying a bit of extra weight I'm used to doctors assuming that I overeat the bad stuff whatever I say. Vindicated!! No lectures! No disapprovals! The silence was resounding! I love it! Seriously though gang it is worth sticking to your daily routines as we encourage our bodies towards improved fitness. This time I've been lucky but it took years of retraining beforehand to help produce that nil result. Thank you for your encouragement everyone. I needed it, and still need to stay firm on the healthy path. Enjoy your fellow health Nutts

The trouble with this forum is that I get loads of prompts to get reading and there just aren't enough hours in the day Who wrote the "Turn of the Screw"? It's a good creepy classic. Charles Dickens wrote several spooky Christmas stories though of course "Christmas Carol" is his best known. Kylie mentioned the "Women in White" by Willie Collins, he also wrote the detective novel "The Moonstone" an old favourite of mine. Non creepy, but good! Happy everyone. Add more!

This topic caught my eye as I pottered about and what a bombshell question! Just as well a list of books was on offer to choose from or war could have broken out everybody has their own favourite, after all. I've read the others on the initial list given in the first post except - The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton) and The Haunted Bookshop (Chris. Morley) It's the time of year for a bit of spookiness folks so has anyone read Haunted Bookshop? Sounds very interesting. Wonder if it applies to our high street bookshops too or just the little poky ones?! Any other suggestions for a good classic for us to enjoy please leave it here. Happy everyone.

Thanks for the information Onion Budgie, I'll look into that. Hopefully I won't find it all too depressing! Thanks everyone else too, the sympathy is much appreciated. Thinking about it, my Mum (and I think my Dad for a while) had to deal with high cholesterol too, Brian, you're right - I've done bit of digging already and it can run in families. Probably through the female side in my case, since my Dad got his in balance, eventually. Oh me, Oh my, getting more mature is a drag sometimes - I'll just have to stay young at heart! Enjoy your fellow Nutts.

Its not FAIR!! I've just come back from a medical this morning and my cholesterol is "a little" high! Me!! Who has been living on little more than fruit, veg and fresh air trying to shift a bit of weight for ages now! My general diet has never been healthier in my life. I walk everywhere I need to go within reasonable walking distance. I do all my own housework (a workout in itself). Where is the Justice?! If anyone knows of any books I can eat which will help the situation - please add them here. Thanks for bearing with the rant, everyone.

Hi Mystique, great to have a new member among us. It takes a bit of time to sniff about the topics and settle in, but we all love reading so there's always something to chat about!

Well, I got the date itself off Facebook, and have have heard of other celebration ones on other June\July dates too, but the spirit of my original post remains. All the hospital sagas and midwife novels enjoyed by many and made light of by many more, the historical novels involving the early days of nursing in hospitals or battlefields are history in fiction form. Easier to read, but still true. Stories which carry readers through that dedication to duty, developments in medicine, improvement of conditions, progressing, progressing, and we all benefit from it too! Come on - there must be somebody out there who's got some favourite "reads" to post here? Novels modern or historical, even factual stuff if you like? (Can't promise to read the factual books myself, though! I soak facts up more easily when encased in a fictional novel. Happy reading All!

This may seem like a bit of an odd topic for a book forum folks, but I do think our valuable National Health Service deserves 3 cheers on its upcoming 70th birthday. We'd be a lot worse off without it! Think of those "historical" novels of life more than 70 years ago - it's really not that far back. People had to pay for the doctor then, and pay for the medicines, regardless of their circumstances. Millions of course couldn't afford it, so had to make do with home remedies, and hope for the best. Life for the general population has improved hugely over the last 70 years, and most people alive nowadays can't remember a time when there wasn't an NHS to support us through our accidents or illnesses. So thank goodness there are those novels and factual books we read to remind us, of what is really an important part of our lives which we should really value more.

What did you think of the Tea Planters Wife, Madeline? It's escaped my clutches!

Anyone tried "The Sapphire Widow" by Dinah Jefferies? Basically speaking, the story of a bereaved wife who finds out her late hubbie had so much more in his life than she thought! All the right ingredients - shock, anger, pathos, surprises, dogs, threats, interfering mother in law(!), increasing relationship with attractive chap, all wrapped up in exotic location. What more does a reader need? (Apart from a comfy chair and a cuppa of course!) I enjoyed it - you might too. Got any suggestions for us other Romantics to try?

Currently enjoying "Beneath a Burning Sky" by Jenny Ashcroft. Yes, it's got slow burning romance of Olivia, (unfortunately married to utter bleeper Alistair) who bonds with Captain Edward Bertram a lodger in their Alexandrian home. It's the early 1890s so the pair are awfully British and decent about it. Halfway through the book and nothing more than a few conversations and horse riding lessons have taken place. Which is fine, real!y, because there is also a mystery and a kidnapping to be solved, and it's an interesting read, altogether. Yet this kind of book is referred to as "chick lit" in a derogatory fashion. Also in the charity shop where I get a lot of my books not rated highly, as the "men's type" books are on the shelves, while such authors as this are in revolving stands placed at a distance from them, but priced at a pound less for faster sales to the gals!! At least in that we win! Anyway, I've got a few more gathered in - Dinah Jefferies and Julia Grayson to name two, so here's hoping there's a bit of smoulder in them among a good story! Still hoping for suggestions though folks - whack 'em on here, please. A bit of romance helps the world go round. Happy reading to All!

I think I'd like to give the novels a try again before I'd watch a TV series. They usually tend to change or lose a lot of the original story, don't they? Probably won't be much of a problem for me either, as I only get Freeview TV, so it'll probably be about 5 years till I get to actually see it. Bound to have finished the trilogy by then!

I have to admit I'm a bit of a dither about this series, I dived into "A Discovery of W" and if it had stuck with just witches and vampires may have sailed on through with no problems. Then daemons were added, romance came along, a hidden world was revealed - we were asked to accept a lot in the first book. Maybe that was the problem? I know I love the "Twilight" saga so the fantasy angle isn't the issue. The books are long, and while the author deserves credit for the full value she delivers in each, maybe a series of 4 may have helped in the "digestion" process for overwhelmed readers such as myself? As it is I've passed the book on to a pal, but maybe if I spot a copy in a charity shop sometime I'll grab it, and give Diana and Matthew and their adventures another try. Happy All

Jane Eyre again - I think Jane's loveless and bullied childhood, coupled with her own independent nature resulted in her emotional isolation among the people she came to know after she left Gateshead - do we think? Her friendship with Helen on!y happened because Helen was kind to Jane, the first person, apart from Bessie the servant, who ever had been. That kindness prised open the chink Bessie had made in Jane's protective shell, and she knew a short spell of friendship before Helen died and was grieved for. Then we hear of no other friendships. The shell had closed up again (?) and she didn't allow herself another connection. This is borne out with Jane's feelings for the motherly Mrs Fairfax and the "cute" Adele. Experiencing more concern and companionship by one than a governess could usually expect, and admitting the charms of Adele, Jane is still distant in her assessment of her attachment to either. To borrow from a song "Love Hurts" so maybe she's wary of getting too close again? Coming closer to meeting with Rochester - I admired the way Jane set off to walk a couple of hours to Hay to post a letter as dusk was coming on, on a frosty day! Completely contrary to the first sentences of the book. Wouldn't have fancied a country walk at night by starlight myself, but her "restlessness" demanded such measures... and look what happened then!

Moving on with Jane Eyre a bit. I felt she was remarkably ungrateful in landing such a cushy job as Thornfield appeared to be in the first instance. A pleasant senior in Mrs Fairfax, only one manageable pupil, her own comfortable room, 3 square meals a day, plenty of free time, the run of the house ... not bad at all for a first job! Yet she admitted she was restless. Almost as if she was so used to struggling for survival she found the quiet life boring? In her place it wouldn't have bothered me - I'd have dived into Rochester's library and not come up for air till those hoofbeats thundered towards me ...!

Oh let's give the kid a break, she was only 10 after all, and had been driven to revolt through fear and desperation over the bullying of her cousin John. Poor little thing!

Back to Jane Eyre again. What do we think of the "hero" children in this book? Helen, friend of Jane, with her patience and acceptance of suffering, is quite a contrast to Jane herself whose spirited nature helped her survive her awful Aunt and cousins, and will help her through her years at Lowood. On the whole, children were little adults back then. Only the kids of the rich had the luxury of a few years to play, and to enjoy being young. All the others worked in some fashion as soon as they were able! The pupils of the charity school may be seen as "fortunate" to receive an education at all, but life isn't easy for them there. For a child like Jane being submissive, meek and obedient is the challenge. Helen is just the opposite. Which one would survive best out in the world back then though?

I'm happy with Jane Eyre for the Group read. Have done a little already, and it's been ages since I last read it, so it'll be great to discuss it with other members. The lead into the story is always my "unfavourite" bit, as it deals with Jane's unhappy childhood experience in her Aunts house, and that nasty cousin John and his sisters. She was only there because her uncle took her in, and then he died, and left her at the mercy of his wife and family. What a fate! When her Aunt decides she will go to school, Jane is so happy planning all the things she'll do there. Poor little mite - she's got no idea ...

My fellow readers I do feel for you all. Brian, I agree your situation is disgraceful. Libraries after all were established for the not-wealthy in the first place. It's the better off and those who don't care about reading who vote them reduced or closed. Unfair, but true. Virginia and Litwitlou lovely to hear of your warm relationship with your own libraries, both large and small. Non readers really don't know what they're missing, do they? Share your own stories here folks ... We're and listening too.

Have just spotted another novel entitled "The Ghost Tree" by Sara Gain. Frankly, it sounds like something much too scary for little me. The mystery may be solved though, as it appeared that the Ghost Tree in that novel was a defense against a poltergeist. So the next "Erskine" seems likely to be a real hide-under-the-covers one. Ooh heck , just remember to take a torch, or buy an e-reader version!

Yes, my vote for the group read idea, Athena. Nothing too "heavy" though. I'd be looking for reading for relaxation, not actual study. For suggestions - a Poldark novel or two? Or likewise Outlander?. Or in lighter classics the Bronte novels, maybe? There's so much to choose from! Happy New years reading to All.