[The most disturbing work of fiction that you have ever read]

I've just finished 'Monster Love' by Carol Topolski, some parts of it were so horrific I really had to force myself to get through them :-s

[100 books]

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

[MonkeyCatcher's Olympic Challenge]

If you're looking for suggestions for the countries left blank, I'd definitely recommend:

 

'Mister Pip' by Lloyd Jones for Papua New Guinea;

 

'The Visible World' by Mark Slouka for Czech Republic;

 

And (perhaps rather tenuously!) 'The Historian' by Elizabeth Kostova.

 

Not really sure if you're looking for suggestions, but they're all brilliant reads. I'll definitely be trying some already on your list! :-)

[The most disturbing work of fiction that you have ever read]

Misery - Stephen King - I finished it but my imagination nearly stopped me.

 

We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver - was also disturbing for me in that it looked at parenting and nature vs nurture in detail - it really made you think

 

That's so strange, those were the two books that instantly sprang to my mind too! 'Misery' is the only book I've ever read that actually scared me; I actually found it scarier than the film.

'We Need to Talk About Kevin' was disturbing because Kevin was just so twisted! It dealt with the subject in a much more powerful way than, say, 'Nineteen Minutes' by Jodi Picoult.

[Orange Prize for Fiction 2009]

I am wanting to read all of the books on the list. I am going to start with Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman.

 

I've only read 'The Household Guide to Dying' (Debra Adelaide) and 'Girl in a Blue Dress' (Gaynor Arnold) so far, and I have to say I was really impressed with the latter! Scottsboro is definitely one of the next ones I want to read though, you'll have to let me know what you think once you've finished it

[Orange Prize for Fiction 2009]

Hi everyone

I'm relatively new here, and am currently working my way through this year's Orange Prize longlist. I was just wondering whether anyone else has read any of this year's books and what they thought of them?

[U.S. women's fiction and U.K. women's fiction]

I'm not sure if she's published in the US, but I would definitely recommend Mavis Cheek. I've only read three of her books, but all of them have followed the story of the older woman, and have been very enjoyable reads. I intend to catch up with the rest of her books as well, but I started with Mrs. Fytton's Country Life, and I've also read Pause Between Acts and Three Men On A Plane.

 

I would also recommend Amenable Women, which entwines the story of a modern older woman with that of Anne of Cleves. I haven't read any other Mavis Cheek books yet but if this is anything to go by then she's very good! :-)

[Have you read a book in one sitting?]

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. The character's story was so compelling that I was a bit disappointed that I'd read it all at once!