sadya

An interesting article about judging books by their covers: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/can-you-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-1944752.html

Never mind, I just found them on YouTube.

I love Adrian Mole books, though I haven't read them all. It was years ago, but I still remember the Townsend humor. I'm planning on reading some Dutch translations of the Mole series to my daughter, hoping to share the Townsend humor with her. So they filmed the books for telly? What were they called? I'd like to watch them, perhaps they're somewhere online? (YouTube?) When were they filmed?

Books by Zafon and Kostova.

Yesterday, I've finished the two Austen books I hadn't read before, which means I can understand each discussion of the 'Jane Austen Book Club' now. Perhaps I'm going to read it again after a few months, if not this year, definitely next year. I'm looking forward to this and actually thinking about buying this book.

I'm going to finish the last chapters of this book today. It's my first book by Elizabeth Noble. I went to the library for 'The reading group' which I didn't find, so I ended up with this one which is a nice read. It's easy and a quick read. The characters are interesting enough to absorp me into the story. It does remind me a bit of old tv shows like 'Dynasty', you know, a bit soapy feel. Not meant to degrade the book though. But there is a mother who had left her daughter when she was just 4 who has now been discovered by the daughter after she is an adult now and a mother herself, there is an unfaithfull husband, there is the widower who is in love with a dear friend and they fear to ruin their life long friendship if they get involved romantically with each other, there is the lonely career-woman who is confused as well and trying to figure out what she wants in life and who she really is and why her life turned out that way, there is the memory of the dead dear friend whom this group of friends cherish (whose husband, the widower is in love with one the friends of their group), there is the child anxious about his parents possible divorce, etc. It's written nicely and the characters are real enough. It's almost as if you know them as real people. You get involved in their emotions and care about what happens to them. I like this book, but it's not a favorite or something I would buy. Definitely worth reading though.

Sue Townsend became one of my favorite writers after I read Adrian Mole. I also enjoyed 'Public Confessions of a Middle-aged Woman' very much. Difficult not to laugh out loud. I haven't read her other books yet. A few weeks ago, I was in a book store and noticed her name on a book. I was excited and immediately grabbed it, because it was the section of the book store where you can find many books which cost a bit less. I was surprised to see the title, 'The Queen and I'. Hesitating to buy that I put it back. Didn't seem like a topic for her and I wondered if it would be as funny as what I had read until now. But the reviews here seem pretty good.

I didn't vote, because I like most of the genres you selected. I'm not very fond of horror, but I do like mystery and paranormal stuff. I like historical books, funny books, too many genres to vote for one or two only. I like non-fiction as well (amongst these are biography, autobiography, some physics topics but not all, religions and other ways of life, space, social topics about contemporary life as well as life in former ages) Some of the genre of books I don't like, are love stories, you know, books which are only about love and no other topics. Love is in many books, but then it's a part of a different plot, when it's only about love, I'm not likely to read it unless there is something very special about the way it's written. And I don't like most travel books, unless there really is something about the way they're written. If they are part of another story line, it's different. For me, there have to be more elements than the travelling alone. That's all I can think about right now.

I didn't vote, because it depends on how I feel and on the kind of books I want to read. Sometimes I read 3 or 4 books, sometimes it's two books. I read almost every kind of book. I like non-fiction as well as various genres of fiction. I've read more classics than contemporary fiction, but I'm catching up now. (this forum helped me to find some nice contemporary fiction)

I was like that with each book I read while growing up. Couldn't rest before knowing what else was in the book. Nowadays I don't have that with each book anymore, perhaps because I read two or three books at the same time and when the other book is a bit more intriguing I dump the other and finish the more intriguing book first before I read the rest of the other book. It does take more time nowadays to finish some books, while I read other books in two or three days, depending on the number of pages. But I have to mention, I have a lot of time to read. I can't find a job, so I'm home with just my children and though it's not nice financially, I do get more time to what I love most, read. I guess everything in life has a positive and negative side.

I don't like to leave a book unfinished either, even if I don't like it. Nowadays I have the chance and plenty of time to read any available book.

I keep most books I buy, unless they're really outdated, like some history books which were written before there was better and newer information available. I threw those away, since giving them away would make someone else read the wrong or the incomplete information while there is something better and more complete available. Other books I gave away after I became less interested in those topics. I also gave away and threw away books which I didn't like at all, but that rarely happens, because mostly I try to buy something that will really interest or amuse me. Most books I gave away were childrens books when my children became a bit older and stopped liking those books or were simply too old for those. I did however once in my life throw away a book I liked: About two years ago, I had found a book I enjoyed as a teenager and had nearly finished, but then the holidays were ended and my parents didn't like me to read when I went to school. They thought the books would "take my mind off of the important subjects to learn at school". So I had to take that book back to the library without knowing what else happened and how it ended. After many discussions, my parents did start allowing me to continue to read even after holidays. I made sure my grades were fine so they wouldn't start prohibiting my going to the library again. Anyway, I've often thought about reading that unfinished book someday again to finish it, 'A brave new world' by Aldous Huxley. Then I found it in our local library about two years ago, for sale, it wasn't even a translation, luckily Huxleys own words. I was excited and wanted to buy it. But the lady of the library didn't want to sell it, but told me I could take it home and keep it. The way she said it though and her entire attitude were annoying to me, so at home, I threw the book away and decided to wait for another chance to buy it if I could afford it. Still haven't read it. It's one of those books I want to reread and this time finish.

I don't really have any rules or tics about that. Well, at least I can't stand it if a large book is between the smaller books, large books of a genre first, then come the smaller books of a genre, but that's not a tic, is it? I try to keep books of a particular genre in one place, but sometimes I just put a book anywhere. I don't have enough book-ends, so occassionally I use a book as a book-end, so that also causes many of my books not to be very organised.

I've given up on more books than I had first realised. Those unfinished reads were from years ago though. In recent years, I have finished every book I had begun reading or rereading. Some books were difficult to finish reading though, not always because of the writing style, but because of the topic.

I'm Catherine from Jane Austens "Northanger Abbey" and I'm also about to be, starting today, Freddy, Tamsin, Reagan and Sarah who are friends and form the Tenko Club in the 80's, about 20 years later our friendship we will see how real their friendship is. That's what the cover says anyway. I'll soon find out if from the moment I open the book and start reading, this is really what will happen when I'm Freddy, Tamsin, Reagan and Sarah.

I love this thread! We all thought the Cave Bookshelf was hilarious. Someone had posted this link on another website, can't remember where, perhaps it was here Anyway, here's the link: http://www.highsmith.com/search/page%20boy/Page-Boy174-Folding-Book-Holder-c_21709450/

'Anna Karenina' is on the list, it's number 31. I've read it many years ago. Perhaps one day I'll reread it, because now I've noticed my appreciation of books has changed over the years. I remember thinking, when I had read it years ago, that for me it was ok

'De kamers van het Kelly-blok lagen direct boven de hal.' Dutch translation of the first sentence of 'The Tenko Club' by Elizabeth Noble, meaning something like (roughly, badly translated: 'The rooms of the Kelly-building-block, were situated directly above the hall.' This however is the first sentence of the prologue and remembering a former discussion on this board about accepting prologues as part of a novel or not, here is the first sentence of when the actual story itself begins: 'Er zou een wet moeten zijn die het autorijden terwijl je huilde verbood.' Meaning something like: 'There should be a law which prohibited crying while driving.'

'About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet's lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an hansome house and large income.' (from 'Mansfield Park' by Jane Austen)

Thanks for the Wikepedia page. Well, I think the longest book I own right now is perhaps 'Verander de Tijd' which is a Dutch translation of 'Redeem the Time' by Sue Frost with about 560 pages, that's very meagre compared to the more than thousand pages of some of your books.

When I followed a creative writing course some years ago, they said that every writer needs another job alongside writing, because even if you are published and your books sell reasonably well, it's still not enough to make a living out of it. In Holland anyway. It said sometimes it's different in other countries where certain writers can live off of their books only, but not in Holland, perhaps only one or two writers can do that.