BookJumper

My mother/sister's copy at home as been read so many times an entirely new cover had to be made for it our of brown packaging paper - doesn't sound like the kind of book you grow out of, somehow ! I first read Steven King and Cristopher Pike at 11, Anne Rice in my mid-teens, nothing could scare me then... I'm much jumpier now than I was when I was little either that, or modern horror is just too in-your-face for my taste; I love stuff like the early King because they messed with your mind. Please, please do! A lot of people have told me they found it difficult to get into because it's just so vast and detailed, but it is precisely because it's so vast and detailed that there's so much reward awaiting the patient reader !

... The Dark Half yay!

I for instance loved both LOTR and the Earthsea Quartet (Le Guin is a brilliant writer); if your friend liked one she's bound to like the other. Note: the other two I suggested aren't 'similar' to Tolkien as such, but then IMHO neither is Earthsea - they're just really, really good fantasy books which there's no reason a fantasy fan shouldn't enjoy.

Sorry, no are you unsure whether to get it or not, is that it? What is it about?

Doubtless more will spring to mind after I post this; for the time being, may I recommend: - Keith Miller, The Book of Flying, about a gentle librarian of books only he reads on a quest for wings to win the heart of a winged girl, is quite simply the most stunningly written fantasy book I've ever read. - Neil Gaiman, Stardust, is about a young man who crosses the wall into Faerie to catch a falling star for his beloved, and finds more than he bargained for. Short, sweet, magical.

I'm not even sure about the 'almost'...! Next time, I'll just ask for book tokens as opposed to Amazon vouchers... .

Awww seriously, what the...? One might as well pay books 1p + P&P if paying next to RRP is going to make no differenc condition-wise! I'm sorely tempted to switch my purchases too 100% shop-bought, at least then I can personally check the state of books before laying down money for them !

I hope I achieve my reading goals also... I haven't actually physically attacked any actual book yet this year, ho hum better rectify that pronto! I haven't read Eoin's Artemis books yet, however: Douglas Adams's widow and daughter have, and personally declared him the only man for the job; also, the few sample pages that Eoin read at HitchCon 09 I found quite amusing. I think it all depends on what one's expectations of such a book are; I don't expect it to replicate the genius of Douglas (for how could it?), just to respectfully and tongue-in-cheekily pay homage to it. If it does that, I'll be happy.* * not that I'm going to get rid of my copy if it doesn't, as THE Arthur Dent and Zaphod Beeblebrox (as well as Eoin himself) have signed it. Haven't read any Abercrombie yet but as I, too, am a great fan of Messers Pratchett, Fforde and Gaiman your recommendation bodes well as for Neil - I respect his opinion (Gene Wolfe, Steven Brust and Hope Mirrlees are on my wishlist because of his good opinion), but I disapprove on principle of passing judgment on something one has not even attempted to read !

Abby, I'm so jealous... mmm, sushi.

Right, I'm officially off. I know it's cold and one doesn't want to be delivering parcels at five in the afternoon but is there any need for packages of books to look like they've been used as a football for the past week? My Amazon books arrived at last today, and nearly all of them have mangled corners. I dread to think what I'll discover in daylight. Then it'll be a case of deciding whether I can be bothered to send them back for replacements, which I probably will have to be as it will just vex me otherwise. *GROWL*

If you tell us what books you're undecided between I'm sure we could help, Kylie how about a nice What Should I Read Next thread?

I might be able to make the one in Milton Keynes on the 29th; I live in London and would have gladly gone to the Liverpool one as well, but both his London and Liverpool dates are a bit iffy for me . I've discovered a second book I'm looking foward to, and that's Passing Strange, Book 3 in Daniel Waters' Generation Dead series. If The Kiss of Life (Book 2) is any good then I'll definitely get this, although I'll have to wait for the paperback as I have the other two in paperback. I must say, the hardcovers with the tacky dead cheerleaders on the front are growing on me, but I shan't spoil the symmetry of my shelves and replacing the first two is out of the question 'cos Generation Dead was a present from OH oh well.

A Mod note first: we ask members to please try and use capitals and punctuation, and to refrain from using textspeak; not doing so makes posts very hard to read and understand, as well as looking (well) bad on a book forum . In answer to your question, I personally don't think I would go to a place like the one you describe, if only because the way I see it you can't have music in a reading space - a lot of people have problems concentrating on what they're reading as it is and music can just annihilate that concentration completely. I've tried and failed to read in Starbucks, for instance, because I kept listening to the music rather than understanding the words I was looking at. To be honest, my ideal book reading environment would be "all QUIET!!!" as you said - what's wrong with libraries ? I'd try to divide the reading from the discussing environments, as people who want to read will not be able to do so over the noise of other people talking. Other than that, I'd only get food involved if people were bringing their own books (think of the spillages waiting to happen!); in any case I'd say coffee is more important than food.

You're still alive so that's good enough for me !

I agree with everything you've just said, Univerze. Because money and shelfspace are so limited, I only buy books which I'm fairly positive I'll want to re-read further down the line; if by any chance I was wrong and I didn't like a book enough to want to do that, I'll give it away to re-gain precious shelfspace. There's books at home that I've read so many times it doesn't even matter what chapter I open them at; it's like those comfort films you've seen a million times so it doesn't matter if you just watch the best bits over a quick lunch. You can skip to your favourite part and laugh and cry along with it, according to what you need at the moment. What could be better?

Why thank you yours is pretty staggering as well. Re: my future library, I agree. Give Archimedes a lever, and he'll lift the world; give me the sweeping space and pots of money, and I'll rebuild the Lost Library of Alexandria.

Canticle sounds brilliant, I might have to read me some of that! And thank you Nightingale I do try.

Good morning to you too . That's good news about the freezability of peppers & co. How long do they take to defrost, by the way? I've tried tofu once and thought it inedible I might get me a few tons of Quorn chicken though, admittedly someone once made me a Quorn chicken curry and I couldn't taste the difference! No one's said anything to me about eggs so I'm guessing a few a week should be alright .

I'm afraid I find Eco to be presumptious and tedious:lurker: sorry! He's obviously very knowledgeable but I don't think he has the knack or even the desire to make his books intellegible and accessible.

I also had a go at the Shakespeare Secret, it started promisingly but the Shakespearean scholar in me quickly got frustrated at the increasing unbelievability of it all - ! I hope you like it better than I did .

Eeek 'The Mangler' sounds horrific:lurker:!

Glad you liked Confessions am I right in thinking this is your first Maguire? If so, may I prod you excitedly and reveal that Wicked/Son of a Witch are (wait for it) even better?

Soup last night was a mixed bag - edible for a first attempt, also nice n' smooth because I've found the pulse button on the smoothie maker, however the apples were rather old and fermented so it ended up tasting like not very good quality cider that said, you were right Andrea, it was more filling that exactly the same amount of veggies + water, how bizzarre. Will create a shopping list from the soup website and go veggie shopping in the afternoon. Question: can I actually freeze vegetables like I freeze meat? I don't exactly want to go buy new ones every other day. I agree cutting carbs for dinner out entirely is difficult, on the other hand my nan followed this diet to lose the weight she gained after an injury and it worked like a dream for her, so I'm doing my best to follow it as closely as I can. I already make stirfrys a lot (used to be the house staple when noodles, pasta and rice were still allowed) but alas, the cost of enough meat and veg for them to be entirely filling is fairly prohibitive! Curry sounds good though... Thanks for all your help guys !

If expert spiking assistance is required, I used to have mine bringht pink and punk-looking a few years back... !

Tomato and apple soup with bits of chicken in it - hopefully!