ian

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens Little Dorrit is a classic tale of imprisonment, both literal and metaphorical, while Dickens' working title for the novel, Nobody's Fault, highlights its concern with personal responsibility in private and public life. Dickens' childhood experiences inform the vivid scenes in Marshalsea debtor's prison, while his adult perceptions of governmental failures shape his satirical picture of the Circumlocution Office. The novel's range of characters - the honest, the crooked, the selfish and the self-denying - offers a portrait of society about whose values Dickens had profound doubts. Little Dorrit is indisputably one of Dickens' finest works, written at the height of his powers. George Bernard Shaw called it ‘a masterpiece among masterpices’, a vedict shared by the novel's many admirers. My Thoughts. I like all the Dickens I've read up to now, but I will admit sometimes I find him to be a bit long-winded. I found The Pickwick Papers to be that, and, dare I say, A Tale of Two Cities. When I saw how long the book was (I read this on the Kindle, so it wasn't immediately obvious), I did wonder if I would be tempted to skip passages. As It was I didn't need to. I found the story rivetting from start to finish. I hadn't seen any of the adaptations on the TV, so I wasn't aware how it ended. To be fair, it's pretty easy to see how most of Dickens books will end, although there was a pretty big twist I didn't see coming. Some of his depictions of the government, here represented by a department called the circumlocution office, reminds me that nearly 200 years later and nothing has changed! You could argue that Little Dorrit herself is too passive and I could see that annoying some readers after a while. She isn't anywhere as annoying as Nell The Old Curiosity Shop. In the end, I loved it 5/5

I'm glad to hear it - I was vaguely disappointed in the ending. Hasn't stopped me wanting to read the book though. Hmm - £3 on Amazon for the KIndle version - I'll be downloading that when i get home tonight!

Here's mine (as it stands right now - ask me again in five minutes, it will have changed!) Stephen King Dean Koontz Jeffery Deaver JRR Tolkein Jane Austen Ian Rankin Robert Crais Charles Dickens Julian May Michael Connelly George RR Martin would have made the list, but seeing as he can't seem to be bothered to write anything, or at least get it published, he will have to stay off it!

I'd like to seconf Little Pixie's suggestion of Desmond Bagley. Running Blind was one of the best of his that I have read - also The Tightrope men & Landslide are pretty good too.

I've read five books so far this year that I gave five out of five for; The three musketeers - Dumas The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling) Revival - Stephen King The Casual Vacancy - J.K.Rowling Kidnapped - R.L Stevenson There were a number of books that I rated 3 out of 5, but of them, one stands out as a nearly didn't bother finishing; The Girl on the train - Paula Hawkins

I quite like Chris Evans generally, but he does have the kind of personality that insists on being the centre of attention all the time. That's fine for the radio show he does, but can be a bit wearing on the TV. That's my opinion anyway. So, TOP Gear will have to take a completely different direction to before, which is a bit of a shame. I liked the format as it was (middle-aged guy enjoys watching three other middle-aged guys mess around and act like big kids: BIG surprise!) but I did see a point not too far in the future where that would have run out of steam. I read this morning online that James May will be doing a new thing on the BBC, so I imagine I'll still be able to indulge my inner child.

The fact that this kid apparently sat in this bible/ prayer meeting for an hour beforehand is for me the worst part. He got to know those people. They probably shared details of their lives, hopes & dreams for the future.

Strangely enough, your review of Sixteen actually makes me want to read it! Like you, if I had read it thinking it was going to be a serious, credible expose of clandestine operations during the cold war, and found it to be instead the ramblings of a fantasist, I would be pretty peeved. But now you've given us the low-down, I want to read it just for a good laugh!

A bit of both - I first read "Many-coloured" to "Adversary" in about 1987. I actually didn't find out about the existance of the Galatic Mileau series until about 2006 or so. I got hold on them at the library and read them all, but they didn't have a copy of Intervention. Money was very tight in those days, so spending on new books was a no-no. Now, not so much and two clicks of a mouse now, and a copy could be on its way or on my Kindle, so I have nothing to blame but my own apathy and TBR pile!

I'm enjoying this more and more as each episode comes around - really glad I stuck with it after the first two episodes which felt a bit flat to me. I'll be getting the book as soon as the series is finished. I will have to wait till then as I'm fighting the urge to read ahead and find out what's going to happen!

Have you read the sort of prequel books based in the Galactic Mileau? Not quite as good as that series, but it was good to follow some of the earlier story lines - and there is a great twist at the end of the last book (Magnificat)! I have still yet to get hold of a copy of Intervention.

"Monte Cristo" is on the Kindle, just waiting for me, so I will be reading it this year at some point. As for The Cuckoo's Calling, it's now passed the Mother-in-law test, so it must be good! She's got the second book too, so I'll be being very nice to her for a while, so I can borrow it after she's finished it!

Oh wow! Hope you like it!

The Yard by Alex Grecian Fans of "The Interpretation of Murder" and "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" will love "The Yard", a gripping crime fiction novel from debut author Alex Grecian, set in atmospheric Victorian London. During the aftermath of the Jack the Ripper case, Scotland Yard's brand new Murder Squad are faced with their most gruesome crime scene yet. "The Yard" will take you into the dark side of Victorian London and offers a fascinating insight into the birth of CSI. A new era of fear is just beginning...1889, London. The legacy of Jack the Ripper has cast a shadow over the city. Victorian London is in the grip of a wave of crime and murder, with its citizens no longer able to trust the police to protect them. The newly formed Murder Squad of Scotland Yard, made up of just twelve detectives, battles in vain against the tide of violence and cruelty. When the body of a Yard detective is found in a suitcase, his lips sewn together and his eyes sewn shut, it becomes clear that not even the police are safe from attack. Has the Ripper returned - or is a new killer at large? Walter Day, the squad's newest recruit, is assigned the case and finds a strange ally in the Yard's first forensic pathologist, Dr Bernard Kingsley. Can they find the murderer before it's too late? Or is London at the mercy of a serial killer even deadlier than Jack the Ripper? My Thoughts I brought this book in impulse along with the follow up "The Black Country". This got my attention, as I was born and brought up in the black country, so it had obvious associations for me. There dodn't seen any point in getting the second without reading the first book before it, so... First up, if you are a stickler for historical accuracy, then this book isn't for you. Some of the dialogue especially doesn't seem quite right,but in the end, for me at least, reading is about enjoyment, and I was able to put aside those points and just enjoy the story, which flows along nicely enough. The identity of the murderer is revealed fairly early on, leaving us with a police procedural. There are some interesting characters, whose back-story's are revealed at certain points so that we can see their motivation at the time. I wanted to dive straight into the second book, but I like a bit of delayed gratification sometimnes, so I'm going to split the two books by reading a bit of real victorian fiction: Little Dorrit. 4/5

Personal by Lee Child (Jack Reacher #19) Jack Reacher walks alone. Once a go-to hard man in the US military police, now he’s a drifter of no fixed abode. But the army tracks him down. Because someone has taken a long-range shot at the French president. Only one man could have done it. And Reacher is the one man who can find him. This new heartstopping, nailbiting book in Lee Child’s number-one bestselling series takes Reacher across the Atlantic to Paris – and then to London. The stakes have never been higher - because this time, it’s personal. My Thoughts Jack Reacher walks around random American town/City. Jack Reachers stumbles upon criminal activity/military buddy. Reacher investigates said criminal activity / military buddy, which may/ may not take him to a foreign city. Teams up with intelligent, sexy female, who he may or may not sleep with at some point. Has fights with various henchmen, usually 4 or 5 on one and beats them to a bloody pulp. Makes intuitive leaps of logic that turn out to be correct. Fights and beats boss man. Walks out of town without a word. When you pick up a Jack Reacher book, you pretty much know what you're going to get. Is there anything new in this one? Not really. Did I still like it? Yup, pretty much! There are still probably better written than most similar books - Clive Cussler, I'm looking at you - and at the end of the day, they are still a lot of fun to read. Maybe it's a man thing; but there is something satisfying in reading about bad guys getting their comeuppance. They say every man who has ever put on a dinner jacket / tuxedo since the 60's, looks at himself in the mirror and imagines himself as James Bond. I'll bet there are quite a few who day-dream about being a little bit like Jack Reacher. I admit it, I wouldn't mind it! So, overall, yes this series is formulaic and predictable. But it's still fun to read, and that still counts for me. 3/5

I was hoping to eat into the TBR pile I have, but I was mugged by the mother-in-law the other day, and she gave me the last Jack Reacher book - Personal. She's been asking about it ever since. I think she's desperate for me to read it so she can talk to me about it! Well, I don't need much persuation to read a Jack Reacher book, so that's what I'm reading now.

Ok - I have to enter this. One of my favourite fantasy authors is a woman called Julian May. In the early 80's she wrote a series of four books called The Saga of the Exiles; Book one was The Many-colored Land. She actually went on to write a number of other books that were set in the same universe as these, but these four books remain my favourites. The premise is that the known universe exists in peaceful co-habitation. Some humans now have psyhic abilities, although the majority still don't. Those with abilities are able to partake in a sort of universal communion of minds, called Unity. Of course, any society has out-siders and outcasts, and these books follow a group of these outsiders as they travel to exile. Exile is a one way trip through a time-machine that is fixed in Pliocene age Earth in Northern France. No one who has travelled through is able to return or communicate back. This group travels through the time-machine... and find that Earth is in fact being controlled by two alien races, who are constantly at war with each other. One of the races, the Tanu, enslave the incoming humans by palcing iron torcs around there necks that give them simple psyhic powers and enables the aliens to control them. The books tell the story of how these humans fight against these aliens. Not sure I've done them justice, but they are great books!

I've not read the book, and I'm finding the series a bit "meh" at the moment. It's odd, I find each individual actor really good (esp, Marc Warren), and I love the look of the whole program (money well spent on sets and scenes by the BBC, as usual), but it just hasn't grabbed me (yet) as much as I expected. As usual though, I really want to read the book now.

Just finished this, and I have to say that for me, it totally justified the hype. Really strong characters, and tight plotting throughout. I don't imagine it will be everyones cup of tea - it may be too slow for some - but for me, it enabled me to think more about the plot and try to solve the crime at the same time. As usual, I got it wrong!

In no particular order; 1. The Shawshank Redemption 2. Star Wars (original trilogy) 3. Tremors 4. Teminator 2 5. Spaceballs 6. Blazin' Saddles 7. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly 8. On the Waterfront 9. Some like it hot 10. Silent Running

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling) When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. Strike is a war veteran - wounded both physically and psychologically - and his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger . . . My thoughts Having read the Harry Potter and The Casual Vacancy, I ought to know what I'm going to get by now. Tightly plotted, great characters, and a twist at the end I didn't see coming. Like all good books, by the time I was past the first couple of pages, I was completely immersed in the world of Cormoron Strike. His back story is revealed slowly, throughout the book, which made more of an impact. I believe this is going to be a series? Can't wait! 5/5

Gaia, I found the language to be much easier than I anticipated.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. The young Gascon d'Artagnan and the legendary musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis are ready to sacrifice everything for love, glory and the common good. The wicked machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and his accomplice, the magnetic Milady de Winter, propel the devoted friends across seas and battlefields from masked balls to a remote convent, in order to defend the honour of the Queen and the life of Constance Bonacieux, d'Artagnan's true love. Dashing, knockabout, romantic, violent, chilling and tragic, this buoyant new translation of The Three Musketeers brings Dumas' masterpiece to joyful life. My Thoughts I approached this book with some trepidation. You never know what you're going to get with a classic book, do you? It might be written in arcane language; slow and incomprehensible. However, this reads, apart from some obviously more archaic language, like a modern thriller. The pace of the book is fast, there is plenty of action and humour. There is only one section that I struggled with slightly. This was the chapters that dealt with d'Artangnan's going back to find his friends after his trip to London. It felt a bit like Dumas was filling a bit. Yes, you get a lot of back-story for Aramis, Porthos & Athos, but it felt different from the rest of the book. Still a great read though - I will need to pick up Dumas' other books later in the year. 5/5

I'll be interested to see some opinions of this. I saw the trailer the last time I was at the cinema and thought it looked good, but wondered if I was seeing all the good bits in the trailer!

Oh that sounds really good - I'll check that out later!