Jessi

I jut got to the end of the first 'book' of War and Peace! Fourteen to go!

Welcome to the BCF, Sam

I did : ) I have something to start with now – anything better than 146 is a win : ) The Sign of Four – Arthur Conan Doyle (4/5) Once more I loved my Sherlock fix. Doyle weaves the same brilliant web as he did in A Study of Scarlet, giving us a little information here and there, before bringing us to a tight and satisfying conclusion. The mixture of great characters, past intrigue and supreme logical makes for a great read. I have gone pretty much straight on to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes!

I'm so glad your job (and reading) is going so well Frankie!!

I did - it was a lot of fun! I hope so. Though I worked out it won't be till April I have a full Read-a-thon off! Still, it was a good place to start

February Read-A-Thon Friday: 11 pages of War and Peace - 36 pages of Out of the Hitler Time Saturday: 6 pages of War and Peace - 37 pages of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -17 pages of Out of The Hitler Time Sunday: 15 pages of Out of The Hitler Time - 24 pages of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Total: 146 pages! So these are my stats for my first Read-a-thon. I must admit, I had hoped to do a little better, but considering I worked one day, visited a relative another and a friend the third, I can't complain! I will add up tonight, but I am still really glad I took part. If I hadn't I wouldn't have got this much under my belt with all the running around. I also got to the end of the 1950s housewife on my kindle (not sure how many pages!) so there is that too : )

That's good going guys! How did you enjoy Hard Times, Janet? Hope you carrying on feeling better!

Hope you're feeling better today! That is some good going, Athena!

Yesterdays count: 6 pages of War and Peace 37 pages of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 17 pages of Out of The Hitler Time

Have a good reading year Looks like you have had great reads so far!

Welcome to the BCF, Kerry!

Had hoped for a stronger start to the weekend, but I read about 11 pages of War and Peace and 36 pages of Out of the Hitler Time. Still, the weekend is young!

I hope you enjoy it

Well, I am pretty free on Friday even though I have to work Saturday annoyingly but it does seem to perfect an opportunity to miss! They are!!! Oh, I enjoyed the Rotten Romans - that's one of my favourites along with the Terrible Tudors

Thanks, Athena! I just could not remember/work out how to do that this morning lol! They are great, aren't they? I got them at the end of studying, hoping they'd make history fun again and they did! Yeah, I bed they are great read-a-thon books! I am hoping to take part for the first time this weekend - I can't decided whether to try and read one big book or a few smaller ones! I like your tactic though - it must make the transitioning between the books much easier! He he, I am glad it is not just me either I almost think they are more fun to read as an adult!!! It was a particularly gruesome one - I don't think I will re-read it any time soon, despite giving it a good score!

Barmy British Army - Terry Deary (4/5) I am not going to lie. In spite of being in my mid twenties now, I do still love a good Horrible History! I just think they are a great way into history for kids, give them loads of information while never understating the seriousness of the topic which some of them cover and yet still find the way to, at times, be genuinely funny. This book on the British Empire was no exception. It covered the rise of the British Empire to the later Victorian years and highlighted the slavery and the terrible cost at which it came. The cruelty on which the empire was built was the resounding message of the book (rightfully so) to the extent I actually skipped a few pages (about hunting) at one point as I just knew I did not want to know. That makes me somewhat of a coward I know but this book turned my stomach a couple of times - which means it did its job. It was really engaging and I feel like I learnt something from it. I still have 7 Horrible Histories to read this year I think - I am looking forward to them (and hoping they will not be quite so horrible as this one)!

SPOILERS FOR NORTH AND SOUTH AHEAD... Oh I loved, loved, loved the ending I must admit part of me was waiting for the train station scene from the BBC miniseries, but this was just beautiful...

... And now I have finished it!! What a beautiful ending <3

I am pushing on to the end of North and South now - in the last five percent!

Welcome to the site

Have a good reading year Needle!

January (I saw a couple of others had done a monthly summary - what a great idea! I wanted to play, so here is mine...) TBR January 1st: 303 Read: 10 Brought: 5 Best books: The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas and The Invisible Woman - Claire Tomalin TBR February 1st: 298 So I haven't done too bad looking at my goals. The main thing is my TBR pile has gone down and, for the most part, stayed down. Of the five books I brought in January, I have begun 2 and I don't feel too bad as I was waiting for The Romanovs and Doctor Turners Casebook since I found out they were being published. I woke up Thursday, knowing I could finally get them, like a kid at Christmas lol! As long as I keep going like this I could have 250 books on my pile at the end of the year - not great, but considerably better than right now lol! That said, I should not count my chickens yet - looking back over the past few years, January is a good reading month for me. Its keeping the momento going through the second half of the year I struggle with! I do need to pick up the pace with reviewing my books though!

Happy reading Looking forward to your review of The Lord of The Rings

The Invisible Woman - Claire Tomalin (4.5/5) This may very well be my favorite book of the year so far. I can only thoroughly recommend it. The first reason for this is just the fact Tomalin is such a wonderful writer. She really knows how to tell a story – and she does so beautifully. She brought a woman who could have so easily disappeared from history all together back into view in a fascinating way – and she comes back as so much more than Charles Dickens’ mistress. Nelly jumped off the page, at no mistake, as did her entire family. The way Tomalin builds the Ternan’s world was brilliant, fascinating and at times heartbreaking. The second reason – and as a past history student, I really appreciated this - is that Tomalin makes it crystal clear what is fact and what she has had to piece together from the fragments of evidence she has. Being upfront and honest – ‘this what I am speculating’ – really lets us consider what she is saying and draw our own conclusions and allows us to trust her judgment. What she states was just so plausible and well argued – and well researched. Needless to say I plan to read more of her work!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, Alexi!