Vanwa

Josh does justice to everything he sings I think

I absolutely adore this song, and there's something special in the way Josh Groban sings it in particular I find

I keep forgetting to watch them this year, which is a nuiscance because I loved the first two series. My fantastic little sister will no doubt buy the whole thing when it's released on DVD again though, so I will probably hit the supermarket, get a bottle, some chocolate and a box of kleenex and marathon it then

The BBC Robin Hood?

I have just started a reread through the Shannara series, halfway through The Elfstones of Shannara at the moment. Even though I've read it countless times, I'm finding myself just as rivetted as the first time. I can't see a thread on him in here, and wondered if anyone else has an opinion to express on Brooks and his stories, or would like to discuss them

Ooh I think: The Inklings (all of them, would be fantastic to eavesdrop on some of those conversations!) Chaucer (I would love to have a conversation Chaucer-esque!) Terry Brooks (I wonder how he would converse with Tolkien) Jane Austen (just so I could say thank you ) Peter Jackson (so I could see how he interacted with Tolkien, and witness what Tolkien's response to the movies and their director would be)

1. Lifehouse 2. Josh Groban 3. Matchbox 20/ Rob Thomas 4. Goo Goo Dolls 5. Bon Jovi Easy Peasy

Have scrolled through a few pages and can't see a thread on this author (kick me in the shins if I'm wrong ) I read two of her novels a few years ago: My Life on a Plate Don't You Want Me? I found both of these absolutely hilarious (I mean tears-rolling-down-my-cheeks, shrieks-of-laughter-heard-from-the-other-end-of-our-street hilarious). Has anyone else read either of these?

We moved a few years ago, and several of my collections wouldn't fit around the house. My Cornwells, along with some others of my favourites are boxed up in the attic, where I can't get to them. The spiders in residence up there are huge....

Hi Katrina! I have done the LOTR marathon, and I have done it with the BBC Torchwood series that was on in the UK a couple of months ago (5 episodes at an hour each). I've also done it with the BBC P&P with Colin Firth. I have to say I enjoyed each marathon, but apart from Torchwood (because I can't) I'd much rather read the books non-stop x

Perhaps Bookjumper, it just boils down to a lack of manners. Or the fact that some of us, myself and obviously yourself also, have actually been brought up with them I get really irritated when someone neglects their "Ps and Qs" aswell. It's common curtesy. And to be honest, it beggars belief when a four year old child walks past my mother in the street and tells her where to go, in no uncertain terms and in the words of Gordon Ramsay.

Also quoting Sirinrob's Bookjumper quote but can't find the energy to skip back to the original post. My sister had a friend in college who has a medical condition which prevents her from walking very far and standing too long (some kind of balance issue in her brain). If she does so, she gets very faint. She has a medical card which she has to carry with her all the time. My sister actually witnessed on several occasions very new and very energetic OAPs who would flash their OAP buspass at her friend and demand that she give up her seat for them. They would then argue the point with this girl about her medical condition as they had earnt their "right" to the seat on the bus because they have been alive for 65 years. I mean for crying out loud... Mind you, thinking about this brings back an experience of my own. I was sat on the aisle seat of the bus next to a lady with about a zillion shopping bags, preventing me from keeping my feet entirely tucked in. An elderly lady got up from her seat before the bus stopped moving, and the bus jolted, she swung to the right and tripped over my foot. As she started to fall, I jumped up and grabbed both of her arms and kept her standing. Good deed of the day right? So I was flabbergasted when she proceeded to bawl me out for reading on the bus. I mean, if you struggle to walk and are a little unsteady on your feet, you would be patient and wait for the vehicle to come to a halt really. Usually I manage to remain calm in agitating situations. But I was so shocked at her behaviour and "holier than thou because I'm older than thou" attitude, I believe, before returning to my seat, my reply (which to my satisfaction prompted a round of applause) was something like this... "I should have just let you fall. Maybe you would have learnt to respect your youngers. My mistake." The majority of the other elderly people on the bus joined the clapping

Haha I'm starting to think I'm the only person in this forum who likes Terry Goodkind! Booksforlunch, come back and talk to me! It's lonely here in this thread Is there anyone else who actually likes TG apart from BFL and myself? Show yourselves, be not ashamed

Hi and welcome Jessi! Fantasy and classics? I like you already

Same, it's driving me nuts! Taking ages!

We'll have to agree to disagree I think Skylark! 1. IMO the pace wasn't at all slow. 2. Richard's attitude is nothing like that at all. It says repeatedly through the series that he resents having to kill, and that he does so only because he must. Even when he kills people he loves, he does so only because he has to. 3. Kahlan's "moaning all over the place" is in the beginning to demonstrate I think I would be a bit miffed. 4. As far as the rape and torture of women go, he has to give a background to the Mord Sith. Also note that its not restricted only to the women . I don't believe that Goodkind has done this for perverse reasons, but merely to tackle various controversial issues. This he also does with the wizards' rules. Another note on the suffering of women in his epic, take a look at the Sisters of the Light and their Women are also given a strong sense of character with the Sisters' use of dacras, Mord Siths' use of Agiels, the power of the Confessors. In these books, men suffer equally to the women. I think that Goodkind chose war, rape, torture, and murder as the issues he wanted to tackle with this epic. Many authors also do this, even from other genres (sorry to cross-genre here ). For instance, Patricia Cornwell in her Scarpetta novels: . And back to the fantasy genre JV Jones does it in her Book of Words series: Maybe something to consider; the fact that Goodkind writes about these issues as frequently as he does in this series and as graphically is perhaps that he is prepared to tackle something in this kind of depth that many authors shy away from. In other words, he does not feel the PC pressure we often feel when expressing ourselves, our beliefs and attitudes. At no point through the series does he morally condone any of these crimes, but in fact condemns them at every opportunity. Also note that in almost every war through history there have been instances where women have suffered, been raped and tortured. And frequently at that. Considering the medieval timesetting, these things would have alarmingly occurred all the time. It's simply that Goodkind isn't afraid to highlight it. Just my tuppence' worth

Could also be one of LJ Smith's Nightworld books? These are YA books about humans and members of the Nightworld falling in love and the rules against it. The Nightworld is made up of vampires, shapeshifters, werewolves, witches and so on. Each book is about a particular couple's struggle to be together. The rules are that if you're Nightworld, you can't fall in love with a human. And also you can't fall in love with a member from another Nightworld Race. The titles are Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, Enchantress, Dark Angel, The Chosen, Soulmate, Huntress, Black Dawn, and Witchlight.

Haha Larry, I do the same thing. I joined up to our library about 5 years ago, and I've been in once. I read the blurb on the back of a book, read the first couple of pages and thought "yeah that looks good". Then shamefully I caught the bus into the city, went to the bookshop, and bought it I'm also known for (and this is even more shameful) buying paperbacks, falling in love with the book and buying the hardback, keeping the paperback I owned originally, and then trawling the charity shops picking up various different paperback editions of the same book. Most of Terry Brooks Shannara series and Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series I have in the hardback and two paperback editions. I own the children's and adult's editions of the Harry Potter series, and there's a really nice hardbacked, ribbon-bookmarked collection of these for a couple of hundred quid in the bookshop which causes me to break out in a sweat everytime I pass it . I have a large, gilt-edged, silver-ribbon bookmarked copy of Complete Austen, a small boxed set containing all 6 books in hardback which are gilt-edged and red-ribbon bookmarked, and I have my paperback reading copies! I have never and probably will never part with a single book...

Really shouldn't have checked this thread...I'm sooooooo hungry. Jacket spud with a nice big salad shortly

The authors: Terry Pratchett (Discworld), Terry Goodkind (Sword of Truth), Terry Brooks (Shannara), JRR Tolkien (all works published to date) and Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials). The lesson: that there is no limit to the human imagination. I have taken lessons from other authors as well. Tolstoy's Anna Karenina has taught me that And there is even a lesson to be taken from Austen's Emma: before you give advice to someone, even if in the kindest and best-intended manner, be as certain as possible that even if your advice is generally correct, that the advice is correct for the person which is receiving it.

I've read that not only is it a different genre but a different style of writing BFL, and I'm rather looking forward to it

No probs Kreader. I think it was at about Pillars of Creation that I nearly lost hope, but as I'd read Phantom before I even read Wizard's First Rule (random grab off the store shelf) I knew the last ones would be fab, so carried on reading the middle ones just in case I missed anything relevant to the end of the epic. I've just read that back to myself, both in my head and outloud, and on neither attempt did it seem much more than verbal diarrhoea, so I'm hoping you can make some sort of sense out of it. If it carries on I might create my own thread up in General and settle for the title of "Vanlish - a Beginner's Guide To"...

Kasper in the Glitter - Philip Ridley Goodnight Mister Tom - Michelle Magorian The Ghost of Thomas Kempe - Penelope Lively Watership Down - Richard Adams The Snow Spider - Jenny Nimmo All of these have stuck with me for various reasons. Kasper in the Glitter has a special place in my heart. I can still here my year 6 teacher playing out the voices of all of the different characters everytime I read it. Never was there a room full of kids more animated than when he was reading to us. And I still crease up

Watership Down

I have a link for a pic of the US 1st, am I allowed to post links yet???