poppyshake

I am a member I think but it's a while since I've been there. I'll have to go and have a rootle around .. thanks for the tip Kylie Ah I'm sure you'll love it then ladyM .. hope you do anyway

Ah, you're the first person I've come across that shares my antipathy for 'Madame Bovary'. I did read it all (practically had to staple it to my forehead to keep from putting it down) and it was like wading through treacle .. actually treacle is too sweet .. it was like wading through mud. I couldn't care about any of them and so ultimately I didn't care what they did either. So far it claims top spot for my least favourite classic. Don't keep an open mind, close your mind up like a tapped oyster .. only kidding, you might like it, a lot of people do, so many in fact that I've always been convinced that I must have read an entirely different book. I don't want to discourage you. Kylie likes it and I'd trust her opinion over mine anyday. Conversely, I really loved 'Everything is Illuminated' .. very quirky and original. Hope you like it too.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson Waterstones Synopsis: Major Ernest Pettigrew (Ret'd) is not interested in the frivolity of the modern world. Since his wife Nancy's death, he has tried to avoid the constant bother of nosy village women, his grasping, ambitious son, and the ever spreading suburbanization of the English countryside, preferring to lead a quiet life upholding the values that people have lived by for generations -respectability, duty, and a properly brewed cup of tea (very much not served in a polystyrene cup with teabag left in). But when his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Ali, the widowed village shopkeeper of Pakistani descent, the Major is drawn out of his regimented world and forced to confront the realities of life in the twenty-first century. Drawn together by a shared love of Literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs Ali soon find their friendship on the cusp of blossoming into something more. But although the Major was actually born in Lahore, and Mrs. Ali was born in Cambridge, village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as a permanent foreigner. The Major has always taken special pride in the village, but how will the chaotic recent events affect his relationship with the place he calls home? Written with sharp perception and a delightfully dry sense of humour, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a heart warming love story with a cast of unforgettable characters that questions how much one should sacrifice personal happiness for the obligations of family and tradition. Review: Alan bought this home from the supermarket for me when I was still laid up (and feeling a bit fed up) with the flu. The blurb on the back says it's 'a very jolly joy' and 'a book to make you laugh' so he thought it would make a nice change from all the ghost stories and downright depressing tales that I'd been reading lately (the theory probably being that the sooner I cheered up and got back on my feet the sooner I'd be back to making his tea and generally looking after him.) It's a book that I'd had half an eye on anyway and although I didn't think the paperback cover was quite as beautiful as the hardback .. it's still extremely pretty. It's quite a simple story about widowed Major Pettigrew. He's feeling a bit down after the death of his brother Bertie and unexpectedly finds friendship, and a shared love of books, with the village shopkeeper, the recently widowed, Mrs Ali. They bond over readings of Kipling and cups of tea. The village as a whole is apt to disapprove as Mrs Ali (Jasmina) is of Indian descent (even though she's never been further than the Isle of Wight!) and their own respective families are not exactly joyous about it, especially Jasmina's who would rather she stayed behind the counter where they can keep an eye on her. Major Pettigrew's only son Roger is a bit too wrapped up in his own life to be too concerned. He's completely obsessed with money and social climbing (think truffle dusted food, goatskin loungers and black fibre optic christmas tree's) and rides rough shod over his fathers feelings without being the least aware of it (for one thing he thinks the Major should get rid of his books and free up some space for an enormous TV!) His rudeness and arrogance are in fact a source of amusement to the reader because it provides the Major with plenty of chances to exercise his dry sense of humour and anyway you get the feeling that underneath there's probably a decent person struggling to emerge, he just needs to grow up a bit. Problems familiar to rural village life raise their head, there are threats of new housing estates, animal welfare protesters, gossiping locals and an awful golf club dinner dance - the theme of which is 'An Evening at the Mughal Court' - which manages unintentionally to embarrass the Major and insult Jasmina in one fell swoop. There is also the problem of the pair of Churchill rifles, which were left, one apiece, to the Major and his brother on their father's death. Now that Bertie has gone, it was their fathers intention (and very much the Major's wish) that the rifles be reunited but Bertie's family and Roger have their own agenda concerning them, which involves selling them to the highest bidder. And, of course, there's the friendship between the Major and Jasmina which develops with each passing day. The Major's quite 'old school', he's someone who sets a lot of store by good manners and politeness but ultimately he has to decide what's important in life, should he cling to the old traditions, bow down to familial responsibilites and continue with this life of interminable golf lunches, shooting parties, afternoon tea and village ladies with their 'blunt tweedy concerns' or should he strike out and do something bold for a change, relax a bit and take a chance. After all, you're never too old for love are you? This is a fairly gentle story, nothing particularly explosive happens, though there is a lot of hustle and bustle. The key to making a simple story work like this is to make sure your main characters are likeable and they are. It worked anyway, it was a nice comfy cosy read, the sort of story you might see dramatised on the BBC on a Sunday evening or over Christmas. It might be considered a bit twee for some but I don't mind a bit of occasional tweeness. I felt cheered by it and it definitely helped improve my mood .. I can't say that I jumped up and immediately made a batch of scones or anything but I did feel a lot less mopey 8/10

Great review of 'Flowers for Algernon' Tunn. It's on my wishlist anyway but I'm looking forward to it even more now

Great review bobbly .. I loved 'At Home' too but I must admit that 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' was just too clever for me. I picked up bits and pieces but most of it went right over my head (you've only got to say the words particle physics to me and I'm lost.) I love Bill's writing though and his sense of humour.

I'm the King of the Castle - Susan Hill Waterstones Synopsis: Susan Hill's "I'm King of the Castle" was first published in 1970. Telling the story of two boys forced to live together by their widowed parents, it is a chilling portrayal of childhood cruelty and persecution, of parental blindness and of our own ambivalence to what are supposed to be the happiest days of our lives. Review: I read this whilst I was quite ill with flu and I think it added to the general feeling of dread that came over me when reading it. It's quite a simple premise really, two boys - Edmund Hooper and Charles Kingshaw - are thrown together when Kingshaw's mother takes up the position of housekeeper at Warings, the large house where Edmund and his father live. Edmund and Mr Hooper have a cold and distant relationship, they are strangers really. They've only just inherited Warings and Mr Hooper tries to get Edmund to take an interest in the old ancestral home but Edmund feels nothing particularly for the house or his father. Mr Hooper announces one day that Edmund will have a companion, Mrs Helena Kingshaw is going to take up the post of housekeeper and she will be bringing her son Charles with her. Charles is almost eleven so the boys are of a similar age. Mr Hooper hopes that Edmond will welcome them but little does he know his son. Edmond's first thoughts are 'it is my house .. it is private .. I got here first ... nobody should come here'. Charles is also feeling nervous, he hadn't wanted to come, it's just another house to which they don't belong, another house that belongs to strangers. As he approaches the doorway a lump of plasticine is hurled down at him from an upstairs window, Charles picks it up and finds a scrap of paper inside with 'I didn't want you to come here' written inside. It's a bad beginning and a portent of things to come. Edmund soon sees that Charles feels inferior and insecure and he takes every opportunity to drive those insecurities home. He tells Charles (untruly) that the bedroom and the bed he is to sleep in are where his grandfather lately died. Charles does his best at first to appear brave and assertive but his efforts come to nothing. Like all bullies Edmund senses his weak spots and exploits them. He jeers at him about his lack of money and poor schooling, he cross questions him about his father (who is dead) and mocks his mothers motives in coming to Warings. Any time that Charles does find something to amuse himself Edmund finds a way to ruin it, he watches Charles's every move, taunting and ridiculing him. Sometimes he appears to offer him the hand of friendship but it's only for the sadistic pleasure of snatching it away again. He's a constant presence lurking in the shadows .. even if Charles can't see him he can feel him watching him. He locks him in creepy rooms and accuses him of being a thief if he so much as picks up anything to play with. Eventually Charles becomes so unhappy that he decides to run away, he plan's it quite meticulously and gets quite a way before he realises that Edmund is following him. They get lost in Hang Wood and Edmund soon reveals his own weaknesses, he is terrified of thunderstorms and is practically prostrate with fear during one. Charles sees now that the power has shifted but he doesn't wield it, preferring to be sensible and keep them out of danger. He doesn't want to be rescued or found though, he feels that if they can just stay there in the wood then everything will be ok. He can cope with Hooper in the wood. Just before they are found Edmund had fallen into the water and he wastes no time in telling their parents that Charles pushed him in deliberately. When they return back to Warings things continue exactly as before. Charles's only thoughts of comfort are that time will pass, eventually he will grow older and be free of them all. The parents, even when made aware, are ridiculously unbothered. The two boys are the same age, they're bound to have their little fights but ultimately they will become great friends. Fuelled by Edmunds increasing accusations they are inclined to think that it's Charles, if anyone, who's behaving badly which upsets and embarrasses his mother no end. Their main concern is for themselves, Mr Hooper is lonely and is enjoying the company of Helena and Helena is happy to have found security at last. They've taken the step of enrolling Charles in Edmund's school so after the holidays they can return to (boarding) school together. Edmund tells Charles with glee that the persecution will continue at school only this time he'll be helped by his friends. There are no ghosts in this story but it was a far more chilling read than any of the ghost stories of Susan's that I've read .. I approached each new chapter with dread. It won't make you smile once, there is no light and shade .. there's only varying degrees of shade (most of them black.) Hope comes in very small drops and they soon evaporate. It's very harrowing and claustrophobic and to be avoided at all costs if you're at all depressed or low. Having said that I found it utterly compelling, the pages almost seemed to turn by themselves. I was just so anxious for Kingshaw to find a way out of his misery. I can't say much more without ruining the ending, but it stayed with me for ages after. I was bullied as a child at junior school and though it never reached anything like this magnitude I can still remember how it felt. You think it will never end. I must just say a word about the cover, it's beautiful. It's more navy than it looks in the picture and is designed by Zandra Rhodes. 9/10

Ha .. and I'll do the same and you'll owe me money by the end of the year. For a start, ever since I saw your bookshelves I've been hankering after my own set of Wodehouse books .. and that's going to be pricey (you'd better start saving now.) I hope you enjoy Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth Kylie .. I was going to say that's it's a lovely creepy winter read but of course it's summer with you isn't it .. I'm sure it'll be just as good in the heat. I've added the Bloomsbury books to my wishlist as well .. oh dear .. it's never ending. Thanks Peacefield Hope you enjoy 'The Small Hand' .. I'm getting into Susan Hill lately and I can't wait to see the adaptation of 'The Woman in Black' with Daniel Radcliffe .. I'm intrigued to see how he does. Thanks Janet I've been enjoying my reading so far this year ... all those lovely Christmas books to get stuck into. I don't like hardbacks either but sometimes make an exception as I did with 'The Small Hand' .. the cover was so lovely and I'll bet they'll change it when the paperback comes out. I bought the hardback copy of 'Howards End is on the Landing' too because although the cover stayed the same in paperback it didn't look quite so good. I can't get as comfy with a hardback though you can't curl up with it. Ah .. thanks Pickle .. I really hope you like it, I'm sure you will it's a lovely book. Tell me about it, I have no restraint when it comes to bookbuying (well very little anyway .. I did browse Waterstones yesterday and came away with nothing so that's a start.) That's why I've put two lists on here .. one of books I'd like to read and one of book's that I should read because I've got them sitting on the shelf (and they were all on my wishlist once.) I hope it's going to shame me into reading more from my shelves and stop me from willfully adding to my wishlist (it won't but I can try )

Let's Kill Uncle - Rohan O' Grady Waterstones Synopsis: When recently-orphaned Barnaby Gaunt is sent to stay with his uncle on a beautiful remote island off the coast of Canada, he is all set to have the perfect summer holiday. Except for one small problem: his uncle is trying to kill him. Heir to a ten-million-dollar fortune, Barnaby tries to tell everyone and anyone that his uncle is after his inheritance, but no one will believe him. That is, until he tells the only other child on the island, Christie, who concludes that there is only one way to stop his demonic uncle: Barnaby will just have to kill him first. With the unexpected help of One-Ear, the aged cougar who has tormented the island for years, Christie and Barnaby hatch a fool-proof plan. Playful, dark and witty, Let's Kill Uncle is a surprising tale of two ordinary children who conspire to execute an extraordinary murder - and get away with it. Review: It was the title that made me pick it up and it turned out to be as wicked, funny and delightful as I hoped it would be. It's one of the Bloomsbury Group Novels ... lost classics from the twentieth century (similar to the books that Persephone publish) and it tells the tale of young orphaned Barnaby. We first meet him on board ship just as it is about to dock at the remote Canadian island where he is being sent to live with his uncle. Also on board is Christie, who is making her way to the island for a holiday and the pair of them are at loggerheads. They have been leading the ship's crew a merry dance during the journey, getting up to all sorts of mischief and generally behaving disgracefully. Barnaby's uncle has been detained in Europe and so for the first few weeks he resides with Mr and Mrs Brooks. Christie is staying with the goat-lady at her 'cheerfully untidy' farm. The goat-lady is very kind and well meaning but Christie is homesick for her mother and cannot settle. She doesn't like the food (though everyone else would .. for breakfast there is golden fried potatoes, pink ham and scarlet tomatoes ... freshly baked bread and and butter with raspberry jam .. clotted cream and fresh blackberries .. really, we're in the land of Enid here) .. Christie only want's her old favourites - cornflakes and tea. Barnaby is having food issues too, Mrs Brooks has fixed him her (late lamented) son's favourite meal of a coddled egg, a bowl of bread and milk sprinkled with brown sugar, weak tea and a minutely cut up apple ... Barnaby can't face eating such nursery food but he soon sniffs out the superior fare being served at the goat lady's and, not to be outdone, Christie suddenly finds the food more to her liking. After a bit of a hostile start, Barnaby and Christie become reluctant playmates and begin exploring the island. The place has a very unfortunate history, some people think it's cursed. Thirty three men left the island to fight in the first and second world wars and only one came back alive ... the islands policeman Sergeant Coulter, a fact which has made him feel undeservedly guilty. The island hasn't any young people therefore and so the islanders have a bit of a tough time of it adapting to these two boisterous, not to say wilful, youngsters. Sergeant Coulter has his work cut out keeping them in check but they soon grow to love the stern but kindly policeman and he comes to care for them. There is a depression hanging over Barnaby whenever his uncle is mentioned and he soon confides in Christie that his uncle is mad, that he killed his Teddy Bear (he cremated him) and would soon kill him too (for Barnaby is due a fortune when he comes of age.) At first she's inclined not to believe him, but when uncle arrives on the island, his behaviour towards Christie soon convinces her that Barnaby is in fact telling the truth .. and so there can be only one solution .. they must kill uncle first. Uncle is indeed insidious and there's more behind his plotting and scheming than just the mere acquisition of Barnaby's fortune. The adults on the island all take him at face value, they think he's the kind, eccentric old codger that he's pretending to be and so, despite confiding his fears to Sergeant Coulter, Barnaby decides that he and Christie will have to come up with a foolproof way to get rid of him .. but uncle is clever and keeping one step ahead is impossible. This is a lovely mix of dark and light, for the most part it's really warm and humorous but there are dark, dark moments in it and plenty of suspense. I absolutely loved the children's relationship with the policeman and also their infatuation with the island's man-eating cougar 'One Ear'. Completely oblivious to his man eating tendencies and despite his deep aversion, the children easily seek 'One Ear' out and generally manhandle him (in a way usually only seen in cartoons) for they've never had a pet and they think he fits the bill. The cougar doesn't dare attack them as he knows it will mean certain death for him if he does and so he is forced to accept their carresses, whilst all the time thinking murderous thoughts. Great fun. 8/10

Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader - Anne Fadiman Waterstones Synopsis: Anne Fadiman is the sort of person who learned about sex from her father's copy of "Fanny Hill", and who once found herself poring over a 1974 Toyota Corolla manual because it was the only thing in her apartment that she had not read at least twice. "Ex Libris" wittily recounts a lifelong obsession with books. Writing with humour and erudition she moves easily from anecdotes about Coleridge and Orwell to tales of her own pathologically literary family. Review: Another book that's perfect for bibliophile's. Anne has written eighteen essays about her love of words and books. It's only a short volume .. I read it in an afternoon, but it sings of the love she has for collecting, organizing and of course reading books. Little gems like 'The Odd Shelf' which Anne believes we all have in our houses somewhere. The shelf that contain's books/publications that bear no resemblance or connection to any of the other books in our libraries (Apparently George Orwell had a bound set of ladies magazines which he liked to read in the bath and Phillip Larkin had a rather large collection of spanking related pornography ) Anne has an extensive collection of books on polar exploration as she has a yearning for what C.S. Lewis called 'Northernness'. I didn't think I had an 'Odd Shelf' but now I think about it I have got a collection of books about walking .. you know the sort of thing pub walks/tea shop walks/river walks/coastal walks ... which I use far more in my imagination that I do in actuality. I feel like once I've sat and studied the maps in the books for half an hour then really I've had enough exercise for one day. Another essay is entitled 'Never Do That to a Book' where Anne explores the theory that there is more than one way to love a book. I have had to admit to certain book abuses in the past but sensitive readers may well need to look away when reading this piece. Anne says that her family are lovers of words in books but are not particularly attached to the paper, cardboard, cloth, glue, thread and ink that contain them ... her father, for instance, whilst reading on a flight, used to tear off each page of his paperback after he'd read it and throw it in the bin in order to reduce the weight. The family literally love their books to pieces. There's lots here to enjoy .. including a piece on private proofreading (you know, where you can't help but spot the spelling/grammar mistakes on menu's, manuals, catalogues and so on.) I must admit to doing this even though I know my own spelling .. and particularly punctuation .. is far from perfect. However I'm not nearly as bad as Anne's mother who filled large envelopes with clippings of all the mistakes printed in her local newspaper and mailed them to the editor when they got to a suitable size. I didn't get quite as much pleasure from reading it as I did Susan Hill's 'Howards End is on the Landing' .. it wasn't quite as comfy cosy and there was less discussion about actual books but it was still a delight and I'm definitely going to look into her other writings. 8/10

The Small Hand - Susan Hill Waterstones Synopsis: This is the chilling tale of a man in the grip of a small, invisible hand...A ghost story by the author of "The Woman in Black" and "The Man in the Picture", to be read by the fire on a cold winter's night. Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer's evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning and stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, and, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakeable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. Intrigued by the encounter, he determines to learn more, and discovers that the owner's grandson had drowned tragically many years before. At first unperturbed by the odd experience, Snow begins to be plagued by haunting dreams, panic attacks, and more frequent visits from the small hand which become increasingly threatening and sinister. Review: Well as the synopsis suggests, I did read it on a cold winter's night .. and it was occasionally by the fire too. It was another of the books that hubby and I read together (annoyingly because again he worked out one of the main plot revelations which probably would have passed me by and it denied me my final shiver .. really I should put a gagging order on him ) Susan has such a way with ghost stories, she knows just when to increase the tension and when to let it thrum quietly in the background. So, Adam Snow finds himself stumbling across an old derelict house whilst looking for directions. Like all good storybook characters (for instance those that insist on exploring forbidden west wings etc) he is impelled not only to approach the garden gate but to give it a good nudge in order to gain entry (and good on him really because it would have been a terribly short not to say uninteresting book if he'd just driven on until he reached a petrol station and asked for directions .. however that would be my advice if anyone finds themselves in a similar situation ) But still, curious people always make the best literary characters .. especially in the horror/thriller genre. The garden is completely overgrown and nature is busy reclaiming it, it's a bit of a mystery because it looks as if it might have been quite grand once and Adam comes across what seems to be the remains of an old ticket booth as if it were once open to the public. It's whilst he is standing there in the dusk, surveying this mystery, that he feels a small hand creep into his. It's definitely the hand of a small child but whose and why? Afterwards Adam doesn't really think overly much about it (which is because he's a storybook character, anyone else would be looking in the yellow pages for an exorcist pronto), however he soon begins to experience some rather frightening anxiety attacks and it's not long before he feels the small hand once more in his. At first he's comforted by it, see's it almost as a friend, look's for it even, but soon it's beginning to behave in a much more sinister fashion. It's probably not for hardcore horror fans - there won't be anything here to truly terrify and there's no vampires or gore, it's far more like the old fashioned ghost stories which is just how I like it. I liked the way that Susan rather cleverly made Adam a dealer in antiquarian books which meant that in between the chills and the frights she could chat away about stuff like Shakepeare's First Folio (write about what you know and love .. it always sounds convincing.) The attempts at jokes here are because I'm writing this at night, with the wind whistling outside .. I'm just trying to convince myself that I'm not frightened by the tale which is rubbish because I am .. my flesh definitely does creep when I think about it. I must just add that the cover is beautiful, if you have to buy hardbacks (and I seldom do) then let them be small and beautiful like this one. 8/10

Thanks Kidsmum I hadn't read anything of John's before, though I have since bought another book by him. I would highly recommend it .. but I know you're trying to avoid adding too many books to your wishlist. Perhaps it might be one for the future, when you've read all the one's on your shelves.

Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth - Chris Priestley Waterstones Synopsis: A boy is put on a train by his stepmother to make his first journey on his own. But soon that journey turns out to be more of a challenge than anyone could have imagined as the train stalls at the mouth of a tunnel and a mysterious woman in white helps the boy while away the hours by telling him stories - stories with a difference Review: I absolutely love this series of books. They are just creepy and spine tingly enough to make me feel enjoyably scared and not so terrifying that I can't sleep at night or start looking for faces in mirrors or hands creeping out from under beds (because of course, they are meant for children .. having said that one or two always freak me out more than is comfortable.) I love the way in which there are lots of little stories within the story and how they all build to the final revelation. In this case, the central character is Robert and he is travelling to school by train. There are a number of people that get into his carriage .. he doesn't know their names but going on their appearance he nicknames them .. the Major, the Farmer, the Bishop, the Surgeon and the Woman in White. Apart from Robert and the Woman in White, all the occupants of the carriage soon fall fast asleep and when the train comes to a sudden stop, the Woman in White begins to tell Robert some tales in order to help pass the time. These stories all have a supernatural, creepy element and unsurprisingly they make Robert feel very uneasy .. and this is coupled with the fact that his stepmother awoke from a catnap just before Robert boarded the train and said she'd had a premonition about the journey and thought he should catch a later train instead. The stories vary in creepiness, you can sometimes work out what's going to happen as you go along and it's fun guessing (as it helps relieve the tension). Alan and I read these to each other, a chapter each, and he managed to work out the outcomes of most of the stories before we got to the ending being far more clued up than me, though sometimes his guesses were wide of the mark. My favourites among the tales were 'Gerald' .. a story of puppets (which let's face it are always creepy .. along with clowns) and 'A New Governess' .. which is a favourite subject for terror. As Robert get's more and more freaked out, he starts to question more and more what is actually happening during this train journey .. why isn't the train moving and why won't the other passengers wake up. I love David Roberts's drawings, they help make the books special .. I'm not keen on the new covers which have different artwork and no inside illustrations. I guess they are supposed to be the 'adult' covers .. I'm sticking with the children's one's, they're quirky, creepy and absolutely perfect. I'm hoping Chris will do more tales of terror. I just love them. 9/10

Oh good, we'll blame it on her if you don't like it but I shall definitely try and bask in some of the reflected glory if you do Exchanging books is such a great thing to do, most of my friends just don't read the same books as me, my sister does so we are always swapping and recommending but most of my friends prefer more lighter 'chic-litty' books .. in fact they'd prefer to read a magazine ... my books horrify them.

Goodness, your 2011 blog is on page five already! Good luck with the cold turkey ... it's all about willpower. Though you will definitely have to keep your eyes shut when you visit this forum ... it's just an encourager of booklust ... and then there's the March World Bookday, how are you going to avoid that? I must read more of the books on my shelves too .. the library is my main problem. I've always got books on loan so I always have to take them back, so I always have to just take a quick peek, so I always come back with more books ... will try and send hubby back with the returns next time (but then libraries here are being threatened with closure at the moment and so it's important to use them as much as poss .. oh dear! .. I suppose I could just ferry a lot of books that I don't want to read back and forward .. that would be very virtuous.) Yours and Frankie's lists are phenomenal ... I've read shorter short stories (I think I'll count them in on my January reading total) I see one of the books you've read is Sylvia Plath's poetry book 'Ariel' ... what did you make of it? I must get around to reading 'The Bell Jar', it's a book I've been meaning to read for ages. I kind of know it but just snippets. Loving the pics of your bookshelves .. real close ups and everything .. I can read the spines .. bliss! I usually have to get the magnifying glass out whenever I see a bookcase in a magazine .. loving those Wodehouse's I am jealous, my shelves are more scattered than that. Yours look fantastic. Doh! how was I to know my post would push you onto page six!!

Great review of 'The Small Hand' Chrissy I read it recently and enjoyed it. Like you, I like Susan Hill's style of storytelling and the way she sets up her stories .. more like the ghost stories of old. A great little book to read in Winter.

Lot's of great classics on your list, I must read more classics this year .. I remember loving 'the Mayor of Casterbridge' ... though it's due for a re-read I think (as it's all got mixed up in my head.) .. I cried buckets over it as I recall. Hope you enjoy your 2011 reading

Thanks Kylie I really would recommend Hilary's book, I thought it was extraordinary. I'm a bit more reticent about recommending 'The Sea, the Sea' (even though I enjoyed it more) because I know a lot of people find it dreary but I know you have it in your sights anyway and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you like it as much as I did. Thanks Frankie, and thanks for the offer of 'The Bell' .. I'd be delighted to have it I don't mind reading scruffy books, I borrow lots from the library and from friends .. some of them have had a dip in the bath and one I read a while back unintentionally came in three parts. I've been looking through your lists (which are like books in themselves) to see if I have anything I can offer in return and I have a copy of 'Mr Rosenblum's List' which I'm more than happy to send if you'd like it (and haven't already got it.) Anyway, I'll pm you my address, pm me yours .. if you'd like me to send the book.

*note to self* I must, must, must read more books from my own bookshelves in 2011 The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly Waterstones Synopsis: 'Once upon a time, there was a boy who lost his mother ...' As twelve-year-old David takes refuge from his grief in the myths and fairytales so beloved of his dead mother, he finds the real world and the fantasy world begin to blend. That is when bad things start to happen. That is when the Crooked Man comes. And David is violently propelled into a land populated by heroes, wolves and monsters, his quest to find the legendary Book of Lost Things. Review: This is the sort of book I really enjoy, one where you can let your imagination take flight. The story is set during WWII and centralises around David, a young boy who is struggling to come to terms with his mother's death and his father's re-marriage to Rose. He has a new little brother too - Georgie - to whom he feels jealous and resentful. His feelings are all muddled, he feels rejected and ignored and nearly everything he loved has become lost to him. Just when he might have been able to have his father all to himself along have come Rose and Georgie. David begins to have attacks .. black-outs which leave him hearing strange sounds and amongst these is the voice of his mother calling .. his books have begun to whisper too. David and his father have moved out of London to escape the bombing and into Rose's house so all familiarity has gone, his new bedroom is a little attic room filled with strange books which also murmur and grumble as they rub shoulders with David's own books... the fairy tales in these richly illustrated books intrigue David ... they seem more sinister than the tales he is used to and he is visited in his dreams by the Crooked Man who says 'we are waiting - welcome your majesty - all hail the new King.' Following an argument with Rose, a particularly hurt and resentful David follows the sound of his mothers calls outside to the garden where he sees a German bomber hurtling towards him as it falls stricken from the sky. In order to escape a collision David dives, Alice style, through a gap in the garden wall to emerge in a land where the fairy tales in the books he's been reading have come to life. And the Crooked Man (an even more malevolent version of Rumpelstiltskin who can travel between worlds), is waiting for him there. This is a typical boy to man journey but told in a unique way. It's easy to see the parallels between David's real life troubles and this perilous quest to rescue his mother (or keep her memory alive in another sense.) There are problems and riddles to be solved and a lot of lessons to learn and growing up to be done. Along his journey David encounters some well known fairytale figures, but they're slightly skewed and sinister versions of the tales we love .. we're more in the realm of Angela Carter and Grimm here than Disney. There are wolves, loups (half human/half wolves .. Little Red Riding Hood enjoyed the company of wolves much more than we were led to believe apparently), harpies, trolls, the animal mutilating huntress and witches who have a fondness for the flesh of children but there's also the odd comical tale .. like the one featuring Snow White who is as un-Disneyesque as can be .. in fact she's an obese harridan who is plaguing the life out of the dwarves .. and also characters that want to help David like the Woodsman and the Knight. And all the while as David makes his way towards the Fortress of Thorns where he feels sure his mother is, the Crooked Man is following, keeping David in view, in some cases keeping him from harm, for he has a darker much more treacherous purpose for him. I am at my happiest engrossed in adult fairy stories, and this was another nice chunk of escapism, it's easy to read but that's because it's so engaging. It's not for children .. unless they are quite robust as there's a fair amount of violence and gore, although I suppose it does still read very much like a childrens book, just a very dark one. It doesn't quite go as far in originality and twisted story telling as Neil Gaiman but it's very much in that vein. 9/10

The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch Waterstones Review: When Charles Arrowby retires from his glittering career in the London theatre, he buys a remote house on the rocks by the sea. He hopes to escape from his tumultuous love affairs but unexpectedly bumps into his childhood sweetheart and sets his heart on destroying her marriage. His equilibrium is further disturbed when his friends all decide to come and keep him company and Charles finds his seaside idyll severely threatened by his obsessions. Review: I really enjoyed this book, it's beautifully atmospheric and lyrical. I think it's probably going to set me off on an Iris Murdoch obsession .. in fact it already has ... whilst reading it I also managed to fit in Iris's only short story Something Special and am currently reading her husband John Bayley's beautiful Iris memoirs, I've also recently bought The Black Prince so she's becoming a bit of a project. The central character of The Sea, The Sea is Charles Arrowby, an ageing theatrical celebrity, and it has to be said he's completely unlikeable, although my opinion of him shifted quite a bit during the story I never found myself liking him at any point. At the start of the story you find yourself fairly in tune with him .. you can understand why anyone would want to take themselves off to a remote location by the sea to commune with nature and get away from it all .. Charles's wish is to find himself somewhere where he has nothing else to do but 'learn to be good' and this seems admirable, perhaps he is tired of the adulation and fame and yearns for the simple life. He has plans to write a diary/journal/autobiography .. perhaps novel .. he can never quite pin it down and changes his mind constantly. Perhaps it's just as well that I started the novel by being fairly well disposed towards him because he soon tests that to the limit. The house that Charles buys is called 'Shruff End', it perches on a small promontory and is exposed, isolated, damp and possibly haunted. The locals are fairly hostile, they seem less than impressed with their new celebrity neighbour and the sea (very much a central character in the book) and it's environs also turn out to be unpredictable and unaccommodating. Charles is spooked by all sorts of imaginary faces at windows and bumps in the night and things come to a bit of a head when whilst sitting with his notebook staring out to sea he momentarily see's a monster rising from the waves. Are these things just hallucinations or are they portents of things to come? He find himself and his cottage besieged by many of the people he has sought to leave behind, old love rivals, relations, friends and enemies turn up at his door, these people seem to both love and loathe him at the same time and it's through them that we start to see Charles's true character emerge and instead of 'learning to be good' he carries on being bad. This is a man who is far more used to manipulating and exploiting people than we were at first led to believe. His staggering conceit and lack of regard for the feelings of others really comes to a head when he bumps into Hartley, an old flame who he was once engaged to marry. Hartley was the one true love of his life and he has never really came to terms with losing her. They were very young when first together and seemingly devoted to each other when Hartley was suddenly whisked away by her family never to be seen again by Charles ... until now. It turns out that Hartley lives just a short way from 'Shruff End', she's an ordinary, rather unattractive and elderly housewife now but that doesn't matter to Charles. He see's her very much as she once was and is convinced that she needs rescuing from her rather brutish husband, Ben. This sets him on a course of actions which can only be described as bizarre, obsessive and self deluded. He thinks his intentions are honourable and finds constant excuses for his selfish behaviour. It is at times extremely uncomfortable to read about Charles's treatment of poor Hartley even though you do find yourself thinking frequently 'get a grip woman for goodness sake' but it's also fairly farcical too (you're constantly cringing and hoping that something happens to thwart his plans and scheme.) It's only in the aftermath of these disastrous encounters with Hartley that Charles really begins to assess his own true character. Perhaps one of the most interesting secondary characters is James, Charles's cousin and rival. Charles has never liked or understood him, there's a fair amount of jealousy and suspicion going right back to childhood. Though his character is perhaps only lightly touched upon I found myself drawn to him and wanting to know more and much of the mystery and magic which weaves it's way through the tale is wrapped up in his story. I also really liked the descriptions of the bizarre meals that Charles enjoyed concocting, it added an amusing and quirky touch .. I've since found out that they mostly came from the suggestions of Iris's husband John. The book is perhaps overlong, I felt at times I had got to the end when I hadn't quite and occasionally the story wandered too far and I found my interest lagging but on the whole I found it mesmerising, strange and quite unlike anything I'd read before. It's a story that's open to many interpretations and probably nearly every reader will take something different from it. 10/10

Thanks Kylie I'm feeling much better now .. a big thanks to the mods who have allowed the past logs to be kept open Now I will try and catch up on some reviews. Giving up The Ghost - Hilary Mantel Waterstones Synopsis: From one of Britain's finest authors, a wry, shocking and beautifully-written memoir of childhood, ghosts (real and metaphorical), illness and family. 'Giving up the Ghost' is award-winning novelist Hilary Mantel's uniquely unusual five-part autobiography. Opening in 1995 with 'A Second Home', Mantel describes the death of her stepfather which leaves her deeply troubled by the unresolved events of her childhood. In 'Now Geoffrey Don't Torment Her' Mantel takes the reader into the muffled consciousness of her early childhood, culminating in the birth of a younger brother and the strange candlelight ceremony of her mother's 'churching'. In 'Smile', an account of teenage perplexity, Mantel describes a household where the keeping of secrets has become a way of life. Finally, at the memoir's conclusion, Mantel explains how through a series of medical misunderstandings and neglect she came to be childless and how the ghosts of the unborn like chances missed or pages unturned, have come to haunt her life as a writer. Review: I found this whilst looking for Susan Hill's Howards End is on the Landing and was intrigued straight away, I like reading writers memoirs. Hilary was a very individual child. When she was very small she lived with her parents and grandparents and as such got used at a very early age to adult company and conversation. She had a vivid imagination, and was fairly shocked on her first outing at school to discover a class full of what seemed to Hilary to be dim witted children reading impossibly dull books like Dick and Dora. She's outraged especially when she finds out that going to school is compulsory, it's a further disappointment to add to the one that she is only just coming to terms with ... the fact that she isn't going to suddenly turn into a boy. Hilary gains two brothers and her mum and dad eventually move into a home of their own but this brings with it it's own insecurities, Hilary is beset by worries that her mother will leave her in the night and she lays awake listening for the sounds. Jack suddenly arrives on the scene, Hilary is quite pleased because although she's only six, she has set her heart on marrying somebody and she feels Jack might do. One day Jack doesn't go home after he's had his tea ... Hilarys dad moves to one of the smaller bedrooms and there are whisperings and strange looks on the street. Not long after, Hilarys dad moves out, never to be seen again by her. Though she didn't enjoy her early years at school, Hilary eventually began to settle and flourish and became 'top girl'. She graduates and proceeds to study law at the London School of Economics and then transfers to Sheffield University to be with the man she loves and is soon to marry. Her life and career seem to be in the ascendancy but unfortunately the ill health that had always dogged her in childhood (as a child she was nicknamed 'Miss Neverwell' by a doctor) continues and she is forced to seek medical help. At first she is prescribed anti-depressants which is understandable as she is depressed, for one thing her health is bad for another she has no money but the side effects of these tablets are soon making her life a misery. She is sent to see a psychiatrist and her tablets are changed several times, she is moved on to some 'major tranquillisers' and told to stop writing (something she had started to do since being freed from her textbooks for a while), but the tablets make her feel almost murderous and the pains continue to stab through her. The side effects of the tablets grow ever more disturbing, in fact, the anti pyschotic drugs have the effect of making you act in a fairly pyschotic way - with terrible visions and frenzies. Hilary was too ill to continue with her studies or to get a proper job and so she got a fairly ordinary untaxing one, moved to another country and began to write a book. And it's whilst she's abroad, aged 27, that Hilary is eventually diagnosed as having endometriosis and a hysterectomy is performed. The rage that she feels over her many misdiagnosis's and the fact that she will now, even before she has even really thought about it seriously, never be able to have children of her own is painful to read, I have some experience of this myself and it's the first time I've ever read anything that so powerfully and accurately expressed the desolation felt. One of the first things her doctor says to her following the operation is 'Oh well, there's one good thing anyway. Now you won't have to worry about birth prevention.' as she says there are times when you are justified in punching someone in the face .. she didn't .. though goodness knows how. She still suffered from terrible pain though and the treatment for this was hormones, which made her weight balloon alarmingly, her hair fall out and her eyesight blur. It's perhaps in the aftermath of all of this that Hilary Mantel the novelist is born, in a way her novels become the children she will never have. I didn't learn much about novel writing, but that didn't matter, I thought it was one of the most powerful memoirs I've ever read. She is such a keen and sharp observer and her experiences just live on the page .. outstanding. 9/10

TBR Wishlist Addison Allen, Sarah - Garden Spells Alderman, Naomi - The Lessons Ashworth, Andrea - Once in a House on Fire Beach, Sylvia - Shakespeare & Co Beach, Sylvia - The Letters of Sylvia Beach Bowker, Gordon - George Orwell Braddon, Mary Elizabeth - Lady Audley's Secret Brand, Russell - Articles of Faith Brand, Russell - Booky Wook 2 Budnitz, Judy - If I Told You Once Bulgakov, Mikhail - The Heart of a Dog Braddon, Mary Elizabeth - Lady Audley's Secret Corrigan, Maureen - Leave Me Alone I'm Reading Davey, Janet - English Correspondence Day, Elizabeth - Scissors, Paper, Stone Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities Dostoevsky, Fyodor - The Idiot Fadiman, Anne - At Large and At Small: Confessions of a Literary Hedonist Fforde, Jasper - First Among Sequels Fforde, Jasper - The Fourth Bear Forster, Margaret - Elizabeth Barrett Browning : A Biography Fry, Stephen - The Fry Chronicles Garnett, Angelica - Deceived with Kindness : A Bloomsbury Childhood Gekoski, Rick - Outside of a Dog : A Bibliomemoir Gillard, Linda - Emotional Geology Goethe, Johann - The Sorrows of Young Werther Gordon, Lyndall - Lives Like Loaded Guns : Emily Dickinson and her Family's Feuds Grant, Linda - The Clothes on Their Backs Harris, Jane - Gillespie and I Hayman, Ronald - The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath Heat-Moon, William Least - A Journey into America Hemingway, Ernest - For Whom the Bell Tolls Hemingway, Ernest - The Sun Also Rises Hill, Suzette A. - A Load of old Bones Holland, Merlin - Irish Peacock & Scarlet Marquess : The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde Hoover Bartlett, Allison - The Man Who Loved Books Too Much Irving, John - The Cider House Rules Jones, Shane - Light Boxes Juster, Norton - The Phantom Tollbooth Kaufman Andrew - All My Friends are Superheroes Kelman, Stephen - Pigeon English Kilkerr, Justine - Advice for Strays Lanagan, Margo - Black Juice Lanagan, Margo - Red Spikes Law, Phyllida - Notes to my Mother-in-Law Lee, Hermione - Virginia Woolf Manguel, Alberto - The Library at Night Mirrlees, Hope - Lud-in-the-Mist Moore, Lucy - Anything Goes Moran, Caitlin - How to be a Woman Morrison, Toni - Beloved Murakami, Haruki - A Wild Sheep Chase Murdoch, Iris - Under the Net Naipaul, V.S. - Letters between a Father and Son Nicholson, Virginia - Among the Bohemians Ochsner, Gina - The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight Orwell, George - Homage to Catalonia Peake, Mervyn - Mr Pye Plath, Sylvia - Letters Home Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar Riggs, Ransom - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Rudge, Penny - Foolish Lessons in Life and Love Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein Spark, Muriel - The Ballad of Peckham Rye Stone, Irving - Lust for Life Strout, Elizabeth - Amy and Isabelle Trombley, Stephen - All That Summer She Was Mad Wall, Carolyn - Sweeping up Glass Wiesel, Elie - Night Winman, Sarah - When God was a Rabbit Winton, Tim - Cloudstreet Woolf, Virginia - A Room of One's Own Woolf, Virginia - Orlando Woolf, Virginia - The Voyage Out Woolf, Virginia - The Waves

TBR's on my Bookshelf Ali, Monica - Brick Lane Amis, Kingsley - The Old Devils (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Anderson, James - The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy Angelou, Maya - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Atkinson, Kate - Started Early Took My Dog Atwood, Margaret - Surfacing (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Atwood, Margaret - The Blind Assassin Auster, Paul - Mr Vertigo Baker, Frank - Miss Hargreaves (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Barbery, Muriel - The Elegance of the Hedgehog Barker, Pat - The Ghost Road Barnes, Julian - The Pedant in the Kitchen (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Benson, E.F. - Mrs Ames (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Blacker, William - Along the Enchanted Way Byatt, A.S. - Possession Bullington, Jesse - The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Byrne, Paula - Mad World : Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Carey, Peter - Oscar and Lucinda (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Carter, Angela - The Passion of New Eve Coe, Jonathan - The Rotter's Club Comyns, Barbara - Our Spoons Came from Woolworths (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Connolly, John - Nocturnes Craig, Amanda - Hearts and Minds Cunningham, Michael - The Hours (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Dahl, Roald - Boy : Tales of Childhood (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) de Bernières, Louis - Captain Corelli's Mandolin de Bernières - The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Gazman (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Defoe, Daniel - A Journal of the Plague Year Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe Dennys, Joyce - Henrietta Sees It Through (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Dennys, Joyce - Henrietta's War Devonshire, Deborah - In Tearing Haste de Waal, Edmund - The Hare with Amber Eyes Dickens, Monica - One Pair of Feet (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Drabble, Margaret - The Red Queen Dostoevsky, Fyodor - Crime and Punishment Eco, Umberto - The Name of the Rose Englander, Nathan - The Ministry of Special Cases Eugenides, Jeffery (Editor) - My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: Fallada, Hans - Alone in Berlin Faulks, Sebastian - Faulks on Fiction Ferguson, Rachel - The Brontës Went to Woolworths (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Fforde, Jasper - One of Our Thursdays is Missing Fforde, Jasper - The Fourth Bear (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Fitzgerald, F. Scott - Tender is the Night (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Fitzgerald, Penelope - So I Have Thought of You Fitzgerald, Penelope - The Bookshop French, Dawn - A Tiny Bit Marvellous French, Vivian - The Robe of Skulls Freud, Esther - The Sea House Funke, Cornelia - Reckless Gallico, Paul - Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Gold, Glen David - Carter Beats the Devil Grassic Gibbon, Lewis - Sunset Song Graves, Robert - Goodbye to All That (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Greene, Graham - Brighton Rock (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Grossmith, George & Weedon - The Diary of a Nobody Hay, Sheridan - The Secret of Lost Things (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Hemingway, Ernest - A Moveable Feast(Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Hoare, Philip - Leviathan Høeg, Peter - Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow Hoffman, Alice - Practical Magic (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Holroyd, Michael - A Strange Eventful History : The Dramatic Lifes of Helen Terry, Henry Irving and their Remarkable Families (birthday present) Hornby, Nick - Juliet Naked Hornby, Nick - The Complete Polysyllabic Spree Hunt, Rebecca - Mr Chartwell Isherwood, Christopher - Goodbye to Berlin Ishiguro, Kazuo - A Pale View of Hills Jacobson, Howard - The Finkler Question Jenkins, Elizabeth - The Tortoise and the Hare Jensen, Liz - My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Jones, Sadie - The Outcast Keneally, Thomas - Schindlers Ark (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Keyes, Daniel - Flowers for Algernon Kureishi, Hanif - Gabriels Gift (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Lawrence, D.H. - Women in Love (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Le Carre, John - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold Lewis, C.S. - The Screwtape Letters Light, Alison - Mrs Woolf and the Servants Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - Chronicle of a Death Foretold Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - Leaf Storm Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - Living to tell the Tale Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - No-one Writes to the Colonel Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - Of love and other Demons Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - Strange Pilgrims Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - The Autumn of the Patriarch Márquez, Gabriel Garcia - The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor Masters, Alexander - Stuart : A Life Backwards Maugham, Somerset - Ashenden Maugham, Somerset - Cakes and Ale Maugham, Somerset - Catalina Maugham, Somerset - Christmas Holiday Maugham, Somerset - Don Fernando Maugham, Somerset - Liza of Lambeth Maugham, Somerset - The Magician Maugham, Somerset - The Narrow Corner Maugham, Somerset - The Painted Veil Maugham, Somerset - Up at the Villa May, Sarah - The Rise and Fall of the Queen of Surburbia McCourt, Frank - Angela's Ashes (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) McCourt, Frank - Tis McGregor, Jon - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things McKenzie, Kirsten - The Chapel at the Edge of the World McPherson, Catriona - Winter Ground Melville, Herman - Moby Dick Mieville, China - Un Lun Dun Millar, Martin - The Good Fairies of New York Mistry, Rohinton - A Fine Balance Moers, Walter - The 13 1⁄2Lives of Captain Bluebear Morton, Kate - The House at Riverton Mosley, Diana - The Pursuit of Laughter (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Murdoch, Iris - An Unofficial Rose (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Murdoch, Iris - A Writer at War : the Letters and Diaries of Iris Murdoch 1939-1945 (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Murdoch, Iris - The Bell Murdoch, Iris - The Black Prince Murdoch, Iris - The Flight from the Enchanter (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Murphy, Peter - John the Revelator Murray, Paul - Skippy Dies Naipaul, V.S. - A House for Mr Biswas (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) O'Farrell, Maggie - The Hand that First Held Mine O'Hanlon, Redmond - Trawler O'Neill, Joseph - Netherland Orwell, George - Keep the Aspidistra Flying (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Pasternak, Boris - Letters to Georgian Friends (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Proulx, Annie - Birdcloud Preston, Caroline - Gatsby's Girl Ransome, Arthur - Swallows and Amazons Ransome, Arthur - Winter Holiday Rhodes, Dan - The Little White Car (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Rugg, Julie & Murphy, Lynda - A Book Addicts Treasury Sage, Lorna - Bad Blood Schlink, Bernhard - The Reader Skeslien Charles, Janet - Moonlight in Odessa Smith, Ali - Girl Meets Boy Smith, Ali - The Accidental Spark, Muriel - Far Cry From Kensington (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Spark, Muriel - Memento Mori Spark, Muriel - Robinson (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Spark, Muriel - The Comforters (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Spark, Muriel - The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie Starling, Belinda - The Journal of Dora Damage (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Stein, Gertrude - The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Stevenson, D.E. - Mrs Tim of the Regiment (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Stoker, Bram - Dracula Summerscale, Kate - The Queen of Whale Cay Tartt, Donna - The Little Friend Townsend, Sue - Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Tyler, Anne - Digging to America Udall, Brady - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint Updike, John - Rabbit Run (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Waters, Sarah - Fingersmith Waters, Sarah - The Night Watch Winterson, Jeanette - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Wood, Ronnie - Ronnie Woodsford, Frances - Dear Mr Bigelow : A Transatlantic Friendship (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Woolf, Virginia - Mrs Dalloway (Bought in Hay-on-Wye) Woolf, Virginia - Selected Diaries Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse Wyndham, John - The Day of the Triffids

June 2011 (12 read) Our Spoons Came from Woolworths - Barbara Comyns (my bookshelf) 8/10 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (library loan) 9/10 The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas - Gertrude Stein (my bookshelf) 8/10 John the Revelator - Peter Murphy (my bookshelf) 8/10 The Brontës Went to Woolworths - Rachel Ferguson (my bookshelf) 9/10 A Study in Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (my bookshelf) 9/10 (short story) Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner (my bookshelf) 8/10 The Journals of Sylvia Plath - edited by Ted Hughes and Frances McCullough (a Frankie bookswap )10/10 Flush - Virginia Woolf (my bookshelf) 10/10 O Beloved Kids : Rudyard Kiplings Letters to his Children (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Hand that First Held Mine - Maggie O'Farrell (my bookshelf) 8/10 (1 listened to) The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and other short stories - Robert Louis Stevenson unabridged audio read by Michael Kitchen (library loan) 9/10 May 2011 (12 read) Stuart : A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters (my bookshelf) 10/10 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer (library loan) 10/10 Miss Hargreaves - Frank Baker (my bookshelf) 8/10 Gabriel's Gift - Hanif Kureishi (my bookshelf) 7/10 The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford (re-read from my bookshelf) 10/10 Love in a Cold Climate - Nancy Mitford (re-read from my bookshelf) 9/10 Veronika Decides to Die - Paulo Coelho (charity shop buy) 7/10 Dear Mr Bigelow : A Transatlantic Friendship - Frances Woodsford (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Bell - Iris Murdoch (my bookshelf .. thanks to Frankie ) 9/10 Mad World: Evelyn Waugh & the Secrets of Brideshead (my bookshelf) Paula Byrne 8/10 Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison (library loan) 8/10 (2 listened to) Phineas Finn - Anthony Trollope unabridged audio read by Timothy West (ipod d/l) 7/10 Money - Martin Amis unabridged audio read by Steven Pacey (library loan) 8/10 April 2011 (6 read) Moby Dick - Herman Melville (my bookshelf) 9/10 review The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald (my bookshelf) 7/10 A House for Mr Biswas - V.S. Naipaul (my bookshelf) 8/10 review Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky (my bookshelf) 10/10 Burnt Shadows - Kamila Shamsie (loaned by neighbour) 7/10 The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar (my bookshelf) 7/10 March 2011 (5 read) Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle (library loan) 7/10 The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis (bought for the 'Reading Circle') 7/10 Mrs Woolf and the Servants - Alison Light (my bookshelf) 8/10 Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Girl from the Fiction Department - Hilary Spurling (library loan) 8/10 (3 listened to) Can You Forgive Her - Anthony Trollope unabridged audio narrated by Timothy West (library loan) 8/10 Speaking for Themselves - The Private Letters of Winston & Clementine Churchill narrated by Michael Jayston & Eleanor Bron Part 2 (ipod d/l) 8/10 The Pattern in the Carpet - Margaret Drabble read by Diana Bishop (library loan) 6/10 February 2011 (9 read) The Bluebird Cafe - Rebecca Smith (library loan) 7/10 review Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord - Louis de Bernières (loaned from niece) 9/10 review Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes (bought for the 'Reading Circle') 9/10 In Tearing Haste : Letters Between Deborah Devonshire & Patrick Leigh Fermor (my bookshelf) 8/10 review Memento Mori - Muriel Spark (my bookshelf) 9/10 review Love Letters: Leonard Woolf and Trekkie Ritchie Parsons (library loan) 9/10 News from Nowhere - William Morris (library loan) 7/10 review Beloved - Toni Morrison (library loan) 10/10 Leonard Woolf A Life - Victoria Glendinning (library loan) 8/10 (4 listened to) Speaking for Themselves - The Private Letters of Winston & Clementine Churchill narrated by Michael Jayston & Eleanor Bron Part 1 (ipod d/l) 9/10 review I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett abridged audio narrated by Tony Robinson (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Severed Head - Iris Murdoch unabridged audio narrated by Derek Jacobi (library loan)8/10 The Master - Colm Toibin narrated by William Hope unabridged audio (library loan) 9/10 January 2011 (15 read) The Small Hand - Susan Hill (my bookshelf) 8/10 The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly (my bookshelf) 9/10 Tales of Terror from the Tunnels Mouth - Chris Priestley (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Dead of Winter - Chris Priestley (my bookshelf) 7/10 review Let's Kill Uncle - Rohan O' Grady (my bookshelf) 8/10 King of the Castle - Susan Hill (my bookshelf) 9/10 review Ex Libris - Anne Fadiman (my bookshelf) 8/10 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson (my bookshelf) 8/10 review The Iris Trilogy - John Bayley (my bookshelf) 10/10 review Mr Chartwell - Rebecca Hunt (my bookshelf) 9/10 review Bad Blood - Lorna Sage (my bookshelf) 8/10 review Along the Enchanted Way - William Blacker (my bookshelf) 9/10 review The Chapel at the Edge of the World - Kirsten McKenzie (my bookshelf) 7/10 review The Complete Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby (my bookshelf) 10/10 review The Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith (my bookshelf) 9/10 review

Poppy's Paperbacks 2009 Poppy's Paperbacks 2010 Books I love ... purple Books that I like a lot ... green Books that I like ... blue The rest ... black December 2011 (6 read) Follow Me Home - Patrick Bishop (library loan) 8/10 The News Where You Are - Catherine O'Flynn (library loan) 9/10 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (re-read .. my bookshelf) 10/10 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murakami (library loan) 7/10 Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal - Jeanette Winterson (xmas present) 10/10 Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman (my bookshelf) 9/10 November 2011 (5 read) A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan (library loan) 9/10 When God Was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman (loan from my niece) 9/10 The Windvale Sprites - Mackenzie Crook (my bookshelf) 7/10 Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman (library loan) 10/10 My Dear I Wanted To Tell You - Louisa Young (my bookshelf) 9/10 October 2011 (7 read) The Tigers Wife - Tea Obreht (library loan) 8/10 The Ambassadors - Henry James (my bookshelf) 6/10 Boxer Beetle - Ned Beauman (library loan) 8/10 The Monsters of Templeton - Lauren Groff (library loan) 9/10 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie (my bookshelf) 9/10 The Novel in the Viola - Natasha Solomons (library loan) 8/10 Jamrach's Menagerie - Carol Birch (library loan) 9/10 September 2011 (4 read) Far to Go - Alison Pick (charity shop buy) 9/10 Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi (charity shop buy) 9/10 First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde (charity shop buy) 9/10 The Perks of being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky (library loan) 10/10 (1 listened to) The Ninth Life of Louis Drax - Liz Jensen 7/10 August 2010 (10 read) A Pale View of Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro (charity shop buy) 9/10 Love Letters of Great Men - Edited by Ursula Doyle (my bookshelf) 7/10 Pastoralia - George Saunders (charity shop buy) 8/10 Goodbye to all That - Robert Graves (my bookshelf) 8/10 Digging to America - Anne Tyler (my bookshelf) 8/10 Red Dust Road - Jackie Kay (library loan) 7/10 The Girl Who Chased the Moon - Sarah Addison Allen (library loan) 7/10 Grace Williams Says it Loud - Emma Henderson (library loan) 10/10 Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (my bookshelf) 8/10 My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time - Liz Jensen (my bookshelf) 8/10 July 2010 (7 read) A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway (my bookshelf) 8/10 Skippy Dies - Paul Murray (my bookshelf) 9/10 Virginia Woolf - Quentin Bell (my bookshelf) 9/10 To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf (my bookshelf) 10/10 Once in a House on Fire - Andrea Ashworth (my bookshelf) 9/10 Henrietta's War - Joyce Dennys (my bookshelf) 8/10 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (my bookshelf) 7/10

I've got the dreaded flu lurgy at the moment (not sure if it is of the porcine variety .. rather hoping not) so I have a brain full of cotton wool, I'll have to do some retrospective reviews on my 2011 blog. Happy New Year everyone and good luck with your reading in 2011.