willoyd

Day 24: A book that you wish more people would've read There are a number, and one (or at least the author of the book) I've decided to save for my favourite all-time book, but the simplest way to solve this was to go to my highest ranked books on LibraryThing, and choose the one that has least entries ascribed to it. And that is a book and author that I suspect pretty much nobody on this forum has heard of: The Ruins of Time by Ben Woolfenden It's a long time since I read it, and it's now out of print, but it's basically a mystery set around the lead character investigating his family's history: When his father retires from teaching to devote himself to his obsessive research into his family history, Tom is by turns irritated and bored. But the multiple layers of dry genealogical facts unfold into the mysterious story of Elias Crane, Tom's grandfather, a minor artist in the late 19th century artists' colony in Newlyn, and his strange and troubled affair with Victoria Southley, a beautiful foundling adopted by the local vicar. This story forms a gripping novel-within-the-novel as Tom is drawn, in spite of his ambivalence, into his father's fanatical quest for the truth; and when his father dies, it is Tom who struggles to put the remaining pieces of the jigsaw together to breathe life into the past. I certainly remember being enthralled. It was Ben Woolfenden's first novel, and he seems to have sunk without trace, which is a pity, because it was an excellent book, and one that has attracted a number of good reviews. As it is, only 9 others have listed it on their LT lists, which is far too low for the quality of the book. I wonder what if more had read him in the first place??

Day 23: A book that you've always been meaning to try, but haven't Another one where there are loads of possible answers, but a couple stand out like a sore thumb, of which I'm going to nominate Les Miserables. Just never seem to get around to getting going, even when my teenage son (who had just finished it) urged me to. It's going to have to be a summer holiday read, as there's no time for a big doorstop like that one at any other time, but I've missed the boat this year. Maybe next!

Day 22: Favourite book that you own The implication is that this is more about the volume than the words. The one I go to most often is the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. I go to it almost every day, and think it's the most amazing repository of information that there is. However, if it's a book that I would read, then I'd probably say that, rather than name one book, I'd nominate the set of Charles Dickens books that I own - published by the Folio Society, and incorporating the most amazing illustrations by Charles Keeping. I've got a number of limited edition books etc which I love, but this just has everything - great to handle, great to read (font size and text is perfect), superb illustrations, and wonderful covers, made up of a collage of illustrations in the book. For an example, I've attached the cover of Bleak House below. I just love reading these - it's a whole different experience. Well - I tried attaching the cover, but keep getting the message "The server returned an error during upload". Anybody able to help as to why?

Day 21: Favourite book from childhood There's a fair number of favourites from childhood, but one series stuck with me for years, and was the first set of books I ever collected: The Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome, out of which I'm going to name Winter Holiday as perhaps my favourite. Most people say it's We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea, and this is up there, but I loved the winter setting and the stories the children built around that - and S&A always means the Lakes to me (although Secret Water was also a big favourite).

Day 20: Favourite romance Missed a day as away out of touch, so catching up tonight. On the basis that I'm not allowed to include those mentioned up to now, I'm going to nominate Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy - not a conventional romance maybe, but there's plenty of romance in it! A brilliant book, that kept me enthralled from start to finish, with the setting of early independent India being just as important a theme as the main threads. If that's not sufficiently romantic, then it would have to be Nancy Mitford's Love in A Cold Climate - not just romance (heart-breakingly so), but screamingly funny in places.

Day 19: Favourite book turned into a movie Loads! Quite a few have been mentioned already, but I'm going to apply my non-repeating rule rigorously here to help me sort this one out. So, it's not going to be Sense and Sensibility, or Bleak House (counting TV adaptations as movies!), or indeed Master and Commander, all leading contenders - superb films of superb books. No, my choice is going to be another superb film of another favourite book: A Very Long Engagement by Sebastian Japrisot. The book had already established itself as a favourite long before the film came to the cinemas. However, the film was one of those that has also become a favourite. It's in French, with sub-titles (which you forget about very quickly), which I think adds to the atmosphere, with the wondrous Audrey Tautou in the lead role. She is investigating what happened to her lover, who was shot in WW1 for deliberate self-harm in trying to get a discharge. The mystery ratchets up remorselessly, never letting go throughout (and that applies to both book and film!). One not to miss.

Day 18: A book that disappointed you Another one that is simple to answer, but this time because one jumps out at me straightaway: Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders I had been looking forward to reading this for a while, not least having seen Alex Kington's portrayal on the TV which I loved. But when I finally came to read it, rather than the rollicking good story with bite that came over in the dramatised version, I found a stilted, indeed wooden, account, with no life to it whatsoever; I couldn't bring myself to finish it even. So - one of those rare occasions when the TV was better than the book. On Philip Reeves, Poppy, I would definitely give Philip Reeves another go - I've been impressed with his writing: really good out-and-out adventure. As for your Northanger Abbey quote - 'nuff said!

Not a bookcase, but two shelves worth - I find it quite calming!

Day 17: Your favourite quote from your favourite book Simple this question: I don't have one. I've never really been into quotes. There are a few that strike a chord, but on the whole I don't like phrases being taken out of context, and can barely, if ever, remember them anyway. It's the book in its entirety that I enjoy. On the other hand, I do have some favourite openings, which I suppose can be counted as favourite quotes. One I often use with the children, because it so grabbed me at the time I read the book, is from Philip Reeves's Mortal Engines (one of my favourite children's books): It was a dark blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea. The picture that conjures up is amazing, and I was hooked instantaneously.

Day 16: Your favourite female character Almost impossible, there are just so many to choose from: in the crime department alone there is VI Warshawki (Sara Paretsky), Hannah Wolfe (Sarah Dunant), Mary Russell (Lauren R King) and Sam Jones (Lauren Henderson); classically, Jane Austen invented a fistful, including Elinor Dashwood and Anne Elliott, or what about Marian Halcombe (Woman in White) combining crime and classical? Or in the younger generations, maybe the real hero of the Harry Potter series, Hermione Granger, or the wonderful Cassandra Mortmain (Dodie Smith), or calm, sensible Flora Poste (Stella Gibbons)? Or on the slightly seamier side of life, perhaps Fiammetta Bianchini (Sarah Dunant again!), or the feisty, devious, delicious Becky Sharp? However, after much thought, and much changing of mind (it kept me occupied through a particularly tedious training session at work!), I think that it has to be Gudrid Thorsbjorndottir, the heroine of Margaret Elphinstone's The Sea Road. I know that I have already included the book, and I know that I could have chosen any one of those above ore more and kept to my rule of avoiding repetition, but once I thought about her, I really couldn't say no. She may have been a real person, featuring in the sagas, but is a mere cipher in those. Being based on a real person, I wondered if this might be a cheat nominating her, but it's only in Elphinstone's fiction that she comes really alive, stepping out of the shadows of those male dominated stories, right into centre stage, a strong, independent woman carving out her niche right on the extreme limits of the known world, talking directly to you the reader. I couldn't get enough of her or her story.

But, as I've said, I've not read all of hers by any means, and it was a close call: I have a particular fondness for The Years especially. And I've barely scratched the surface of her essays, letters and diaries! There is a fair amount of swash being buckled (or is it buckling being swashed?!), but it's not all by any means. One of things I like about these novels is how well rounded the characters actually are. A fair bit is based on the life of Thomas Cochrane (whose biography is definitely swashbuckling!), but there are other real incidents involved - The Mauritius Command for instance, is based very closely on a real campaign. The real story is covered in Stephen Taylor's superb Storm and Conquest, as part of a very exciting account of the Indian Ocean war from 1808-1810. If you like your swash buckled, then this is another must!

Day 15: Your favourite male character This ia actually more difficult than I anticipated. Almost every great 'character' I can think of is female (I can already see that's going to be difficult in a completely different way). Fortunately, there are one or two who jump reasonably quickly to mind (including Guido Brunetti and Horatio Hornblower), but the one I'm going to plump for is Jack Aubrey from the series of books written by Patrick O'Brian. I like him beause he is so human - with all his strengths (brilliant sea captain) and weaknesses (anything on land, especially dealing with other people). Even though I'm not one of his greatest fans, I thought Russell Crowe did an excellent job with his character in the film too. ]

Day 14: Your favourite book of your favourite writer I've not read all by any means, but as things stand at present, my favourite Virginia Woolf book is To The Lighthouse. Aside from showing off all the things I think she is brilliant at, there is a completeness to it that left a very satisfied feeling when I finished, and a depth that makes me want to go back and start again almost immediately. Other books of hers have generated a similar reaction, but this was the strongest. A close challenger for my all-time favourite book - in the top half dozen - even if not currently quite at the very top (I keep changing my mind!). BTW, I couldn't upload a picture of the cover. Every time I try, I get an error message saying "The server returned an error during upload". Seems to happen whatever the picture. Anybody else having this problem, or with a possible answer?

Interesting the number of people saying they deliberately browse a bookshop but then buy on-line. I suppose it's partly because I have a son who works in a bike shop, where they have to deal with this sort of customer all the time - picking their brains, trying out the bikes etc etc and they buying online (it's quite fun the number who then find they've made a big mistake, but that's another issue) - but I just couldn't do that, even with a multiple like Waterstone's (supermarkets, however, are a different matter, but then I don't browse in a supermarket).

Day 13: Your favourite author If I had been asked this question 18 months, the answer would have been very simple - Jane Austen. As mentioned earlier in this thread, I'd first read her when studying A-Levels, and she had sustained her top billing in my book ever since. However, at around that time I read my first book by Virginia Woolf, and she has rapidly developed into my number one author. I always find it difficult to say precisely why something or someone is a favourite or otherwise - it is really the total package and how you interact with it or them. I know she has a fearsome reputation, and yes, she can be challenging to read (not a a bedtime read!), but I just find that when I'm reading her books I'm completely and utterly wrapped up in them. I think it's something to do with the rhythms, the lyricism of her writing, which is almost hypnotic, and find her characters and settings wonderfully evoked. She so completely gets inside a character that, with virtually no 'telling' at all, the reader really feels they know the person concerned. You really do see the world from their point of view, to such an extent that if she then transfers to another person's viewpoint, it comes as an almighty shock - there is another perspective on this! But why she is a particular favourite is that I also love her non-fiction: her essays, diaries, letters are all as fascinating to read as her fiction and, in their own ways, as beautifully written (completely different style!). I have to admit I've only started really getting into these, but I'm hooked. And, on top of all that, or maybe partly the cause of all that, she is a fascinating person in her own way: reading Hermione Lee's biography has been one of the highlights of the year for me, not just because it's a supremely well written book (it is!), but because it's subject is so interesting. Complex is an understatement, but what a writer!!

Can only completely agree with your assessment. Read it some time ago, can't remember why as it's not my usual sort of book, and thought it complete rubbish.

Yes, I can't get over how much London has changed in the last 20-30 years. My father used to be a guide for the London Appreciation Society, and absolutely passionate about London history. I went on several of his walks (and had my own personal tours). I've since revisited some of the places we visited, and so often it's just been completely swept away. Obviously some (much?) of it needed to be, but, from an historical point of view at least, what the Blitz started does seem to have sometimes been carried on by developers. Still occasionally some interesting corners though.

Day 12: A book you used to love but don't anymore Hmmm. The first category where, to be honest, I'm completely stumped. I can't think in of any. I suspect that if I went back to some of my reads as a child, they wouldn't have quite the same aura about them, but even then, when I have gone back to books, I've stil enjoyed and whilst I might not love them in the same way, I can see why I did, and still retain my passion for the effect they had on me. However, there are quite a few books which I initially detested but now like, even love (see my previous comments about Emma for instance, but not this way round. So, as I can't think of any to satisfy today's challenge, I'm going to take the liberty on this one occasion to twist it around to reread: Day 12 revisited: A book that you used to hate but don't anymore. I'm doing this partly because I've just done that with one book: Lord of the Flies by William Golding We were read this book in class when I was about 13, and I absolutely hated it. As I've seen it ever since, the teacher made the error of mistaking a book about children for a book for children (although maybe he thought we were more mature than I was). Ever since, Lord of the Flies has stood alone at the top of my most hated novels. But then, after some discussion with other readers, I decided to reread it last year, over 30 years later. And I really enjoyed it! Indeed, I was struck by how much happens, how vividly it is portrayed, and how well developed all the elements are in such a short work. I can't say I love it, that would be going too far (is it a loveable book?), but it is a far, far better book than I ever initially thought. So why did I hate it so? I think partly because I simply wasn't ready for it: it's very simply written which might lull one into thinking it's a good children's book, but the issues it deals with and the undercurrents, are anything but childlike. I also think there's another reason, but I'm not going into that now as it looks as if it might be more relevant to another, yet to come, day's challenge!

Lovely review Poppy. It's a while since I read the book, but your comments reflect very much what I remember of it.

Day 11: A book you hated Another day where there's quite a lot of choice, so I'm going to go for the most recent: Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink. Indeed, having almost equally disliked The Reader it may simply be the author (not personally, just his books!) rather than any one book of his. I can't quite put my finger precisely on why, but over the two books I developed absolutely no empathy with the characters, found them (the books) unremittingly grim, and, whilst I could see the point of The Reader, felt that Homecoming disintegrated into one of the silliest second halves of a book I've read to date. As I said in a (brief) review at the time, I think that, in spite of a real love of the country, I have a bit of a problem with German writers (at least those writing for adults), finding their work generally really turgid, hard work, and often desperately issue driven. I'm sure there are exceptions, and would love to know of them, but it does seem a trend.

Tons and tons and tons of fiction based around you. Just a few examples: I've just finished Connie Willis's Blackout and All Clear, much of which is set in just over Farringdon Steet from you. Also several books by Peter Ackroyd (including Clerkenwell Tales and The House of Doctor Dee). Just north of you was Fagin's den on Saffron Hill. Shoe Lane itself was the site of Thavies Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery, which is where the Jellybys lived in Bleak House. Earlier today, whilst cycling from home to school, I stopped to admire the view up the Worth Valley, and was thus able to see both the Keighley and Worth Valley Railwway (used in the Railway Children films), and Haworth with the moors behind, which of course was the home of the Brontes and the site of Wuthering Heights.

Kept by DJ Taylor * Subtitled "A Victorian Mystery", I was looking forward to reading this, having dipped in when buying, but having completed the first hundred pages I've ground to a halt. I quite enjoy the writing style, even if I think it overeggs the Victoriana, but at this point there seems to be hardly any plot, and definitely no properly established characters. Lots have been introduced, but none have moved beyond that stage. Taylor is good at the visual description, although everything is grey and gloomy, but there is insufficient to really engage the senses, and what's the point of describing a character in minute detail, if you promptly dispose of them? All in all, it just seems to be going nowhere, very, very slowly, and the writing isn't enough to want me to carry on - there's far too many good books in this world to persist with those that just aren't working.

I wonder if Emma is one of those books that needs rereading - that looks very much like what happened to me. Interesting, also, how whilst everybody's order of preference varies, Mansfield Park rarely makes it out of the bottom two. If pushed, I think my order would probably currently be S&S, Persuasion, Emma, P&P, Northanger, Mansfield Park, although 2nd-4th is close.

Yes, when I said she wasn't the nicest of characters, I was being overly harsh and shorthand too. Longer hand, I think Emma is still young, and all she's had to date is a rather indulgent companion and a fairly useless father (on the parenting front): she's having to learn for herself, and she's in rather a privileged position which will give her a certain view on life. Basically, she needs to grow up, and for me a lot of the book is about that. On the plus side, whilst she is capable of being decidely unpleasant, she is willing to learn from her mistakes. And they are mistakes rather than her being at heart an unpleasant person. So whilst for a fair bit of the book she isn't the nicest of people, you know that she's OK at heart, and that she's got the potential to be so. I DO like Emma (if I didn't, I couldn't like the book), just not the way she behaves!

Day 10: Your favourite classic Which, of course, begs the question, what is a classic? Difficult, but one criteria that is sometimes used and which I'm going to use is that it's more than 100 years old, I.e. pre-WW1. Which suits me, as I'm not a great fan of 20th century 'classics' as a whole, with one or two glaring exceptions (e.g. Virginia Woolf). On the other hand, I love 19th century classics, which leaves quite a lot to choose from, so I'm going to split it into 3 categories: Favourite 18th century classic: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Yes, I know it was published in 1811, but Jane Austen is very much more of the 18th than the 19th century, the long 18th century which some historians refer to. Most people seem to prefer Pride and Prejudice (I do sometimes wonder how much that is down to Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth or their predecessors), or Persuasion. I love both books, just as I love all the Austen oeuvre (even Mansfield Park), but for me there is something very special about the mix of this book: the sharp contrast between Marianne and Elinor, the mix of characters (both male and female), some wicked humour (I just love the early scene where Mrs John Dashwood persuads her husband to do absolutely nothing for the rest of his family), the way the narrative works out - satisfying but not fairy tale, with an interesting twist at the point of resolution. This was the first of her published books, indeed the original version was written when she was 19 (OMG - how could a teenager write like this?!), and one can see where some of her later characters came from. Glorious, just glorious, enhanced by the wonderful Ang Lee film scripted by Emma Thompson (surely one of the most deserved Oscars ever). Favourite 19th century classic: Bleak House by Charles Dickens Yes, I know he all too often uses 5 words (sometimes 10 or more!) where one would have been enough, and this is one of his bigger books, but having enjoyed but not raved about a couple of his other books, this was the one that finally grabbed me, right from that amazing opening chapter where all he does is describe the London fog. Brrrrr! Gets you right down the spine! It's big, it's powerful, there's drama and mystery, there's an amazing cast of hundreds all drawn in Dickens's inimitable way, the setting is incredible, and the plotting mind-blowing. Just incredible. I read it at the time the TV adaptation came out, refusing to watch the latter until I'd read the book (happens quite a lot - thank goodness for DVDs!). In fact, I started it once and had to stop when I realised that my work was suffering at the busiest time of the year, and I sat down to read it in the summer holidays. Totally unputdownable. Then I watched the TV version, and it was good, very good, in fact it was brilliant, including the way it was reduced to 30 minute slots to make it equate more to Dickens's serialisations (leading to all sorts of discussion about relationships with soap operas - see this really interesting article) even if it had to inevitably be simplified. But the book is simply one of the greatest. Favourite foreign classic: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Yes, I like 'em big, and they don't get much bigger than this! One of those books that people often find really daunting, it's iconic of the big book, but it's so readable that it never felt to be a challenge - right from page one I really wanted to read it. A driving narrative, an even bigger cast than Dickens, a huge stage, and yet Tolstoy never loses his grip. I've read W&P twice now, and each time it's been pretty much unputdownable. One of the few books that was even better second time round, rereading it a couple of years ago, having first read it as a teenager. Can I choose between them? Agonisingly difficult, and I could probably only really tell by rereading them with that idea in mind. On a desert island, I'd probably take W&P purely because it would last me the longest. Bleak House is the most gripping - the intricacy of the plot is just amazing, and I'm a great fan of crime mysteries of which this is one of the earliest. But if push came to shove it might by a hair's breadth (and not even a human hair - too big) be Sense and Sensibility - it's just so perfectly formed, and would probably bear repeated reading the most. But what a horrible choice, possibly the most difficult of this series of questions.