Mac

I think I have this reputation already. I irritated the living bejesus out of the staff here at first - and probably still do! I get really paranoid about stuff like this. Especially if I'm a little hung-over. You'll get to grips with it very quickly, I'm sure. Hope this finds you very well and chipper!

Morning Seiichi. Hope you're well, mate. This is glum news. I hope it doesn't turn into one of those 'Donna Tartt' things, where we wait a decade for another novel and it turns out to be pants!

I truly adored this book. Is there any more out there by Kostova? What a talent!

Hi Loo. Without Fail I remember being a good one. The Visitor too. One Shot I enjoyed less, but this may have something to do with my mood at the time and I'd just finished another 'does-what-it-says-on-the-tin' thriller, so was perhaps a little weary of the genre. I really think it's about my attitude when it comes to thrillers. If I go 'Okay, fella. Let's switch off the brain and enjoy the ride', I'll lean towards loving them. If I'm feeling all poncey and intellectual, I'll get bored very quickly. I even bore myself when I'm in those moods, though. Have you tried Harlan Coben (I'm always banging on about this guy - I'm so dull!)

I used to love the series by Susan Cooper called The Dark Is Rising. They made a film out of the second novel, but I couldn't make myself see it for fear of it spoiling my memories of it (also, they changed the age of Will from 11 to him being in his teens and made him American instead of English - bizarre, as far as I can tell, because the book is set in and based upon myth and legend of English folk-lore). I began my reading life with The Hobbit when I was about 7 or 8 years old - I was quite precocious in this respect - and adored it, going on to read The Lord Of The Rings when I reached about 10. I could never, and still can't, get through The SilmarillionI, however. It's one of those books where I think 'Life is too short, matey!' and sling it over my shoulder. Don't be silly, Mac! When have you ever done anything but treat your books with reverential (if not obsessive) care? You just placed it lovingly back on the shelf, didn't you? Aaaaand we're talking in the third person again....in through the nose, out through the mouth....

Hello, my name is Mac, and I'm a recovering mojo loser. The last time I lost my mojo was in January this year *waits for applause*. Some of you guys have been suggesting the short story thing. Great idea. It's a very frustrating thing, losing one's mojo, is it not? When you love being drawn into another soul's thoughts and images, their mind and their emotions and then suddenly bang it all stops and nothing seems to work. I'm quite lucky in that I don't have an ariel to my television (through choice), so I don't watch the boob tube. I watch DVD's as and when I want. I used to find that I'd turn anything on and sit there watching a load of c**p until I became so brain dead I'd have to sleep. No time for reading! D'oh! I got back into reading this time by picking up a Lee Child novel, so I, too, am looking forward to his new one coming out. Whoopee!

Me too. Daft as a brush when it comes to technical what-sits. I'll find those two books and have a go. Was The Remains of the Day one of his?

Hello and to this site. It's terribly good and everyone is very, very lovely on here. I'm sure you'll be addicted within days (whether this is a good thing or not, I have yet to decide! ) Hope you're well, and all that jazz.

I have Beloved on my TBR shelf. I be keen on this one, if I'm aloud to join in.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 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

I loved The Shadow If The Wind and I, too, cannot wait for the next one to come out. It'll be a happy dat, that one will!

I've waxed rhapsodic about this guy along with the rest of them, but I'll reiterate that his words are soporific to me. I find his imagery beautiful, his prose lyrical, his whole style melodic and harmonious. Do give him another go. It seems a general consensus that Norwegian Wood is very different to his other books, but I still adored it. Check out my thoughts on it, if it helps, on the thread Mac Reads 2009. Eee...Murakami - he's my hero!

I thought Watchmen was a cracking good adaptation as well. Very loyal to the source material. Excellent graphic novel, excellent film.

I was nicknamed 'Allsports' at school, because I was completely dreadful at all sports. However, nowadays I enjoy my karate, which I'm reasonably proficient at and I like knocking some balls about on the snooker table, if that counts. I can't stand football. I just don't get it. Ah, hey...look at these little guys... They're great, aren't they?

I enjoyed Angels & Demons most. I read this, fortuitously, just before The Da Vinci Code came out. I was absolutely hooked on Dan Brown by this point, so went and bought Digital Fortress and Deception Point on the strength of these. I shouldn't have read them one after another though (breaking my rule of 'page-turning thriller' followed by a more 'worthy' novel) and consequently found the other two a bit too formulaic for me - you know, clever hero sets out to unravel a mystery and meets a beautiful, intelligent woman along the way with whom he get's it on. Ho hum. I probably would have liked them more if I'd given myself a break from him, eh?

I was recommended this very author only last night, about an hour after you wrote this post! I shall have to find it. I'll nip to Waterstones today... Hope you're excellent and well, my friend.

I'm doing a gammon joint boiled in Coca Cola with mashed spuds, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and a lovely cheese sauce. It already smells good....

I heard the guy interviewed on The Today Programme on Radio 4 this morning. He sounded pretty cool, intelligent and deferential towards Austen. I'm actually tempted to read the thing. I couldn't stand Austen at school. Consequently haven't touched any since. I find it all most disagreeable.