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The Watcher 2/5 Jane Palmer While on holiday last year in Portsmouth I unearthed two books by an English writer called Jane Palmer. Her thing seems to be SF with a second-wave feminist twist. This one was the first I attempted. It started off really well and hooked me in. On an alien planet far away the intelligent bird-like life forms (which can change sex when needed, but seem to spend most of their time being female) have come under attack by a vampiric creature that moves through space and eats energy. With instruments they manage to track the creature back to its source, which turns out to be Earth. The bird creatures are not a space faring race, but they get in touch with another ancient race which is interested in Earth for its own reasons; they are amphibians who want to colonize the oceans of planet Earth once the humans have died out, which they figure won't be too long the way we are going. On behalf of the bird race they agree to send an agent to Earth to locate and destroy the creature. This is the Kybion, which is a unique thing of half machine and half genetic material, which has the ability to construct and disguise itself. I was fascinated by the concept of the Kybion, especially when it accidentally comes into contact with a group of shipwrecked Victorian humans when it is only half constructed, and cold-bloodedly decides to use them for it's own purposes. The action then moves on 100 years and centres on an orphaned Indian girl living in England. Unfortunately for me the plot then became very silly, and became more and more a lightweight romance where the author had fell in love with her characters and didn't want anything bad to happen to them. For that reason I could only give it 2/5. I still love the Kybion though.

The Paris Enigma 5/5 Pablo de Santis It seems fitting to start off my 2017 reviews with (in my opinion) an absolute stonker of a book. This one surprised and delighted me so much. The main story is set in Paris of 1889, (which is why I originally picked up the book) but there is very little in the way of historical description or setting. However I didn't even miss it, and it was a revelation to me that a story can work so well without it. It is a very meta-physical book, you feel you are glimpsing the hidden nature of truths and realities. There seem to be no absolute truths, everything is in flux, and that sort of writing excites me no end. Twelve great Detectives from all over the world are to meet at the upcoming Paris World's Fair while the Eiffel Tower is being built, bringing their twelve acolytes, who in their different ways acts as foils and sidekicks to the great men. However, at the last minute the renowned Argentinian detective Renato Craig becomes melancholy and sends his newly appointed acolyte Sigmundo Salvatrio in his place. Salvatrio is only the son of a shoemaker , and feels he is there under false pretences, but since childhood he has always secretly dreamed of being a great detective himself. When one of the Detectives is mysteriously murdered he attempts to prove himself. This is not a book of action and fisticuffs or even much clever deduction. But if you love flowery dialogue and tongue-in-cheek metaphysical exposition (I do) in your stories then this is worth a look.

Thanks Athena, Mr Cat, Pontalba and Poppyshake! Great to be back actually

Mine is not too hard, and my top two choices will probably surprise nobody! Jack Vance George Gissing Frank Herbert Jane Austen Bill Bryson Samuel R Delaney Richard Dawkins Marcus Chown Ali Smith Neil Gaiman

Welcome Sargasso! If you are reading Nabokov I know one person for sure who will want to talk to you...

Is it a bit intense then?

I never heard of a BuJo. These look great!

I currently don't have a working kindle, but I looked up your problem in a kindle guidebook I bought a while back. I couldn't find that quote search function mentioned, so you might have to read the book again. What you definitely CAN do is highlight anything you want when you find it, and then either store it in notes or find it again anytime. I agree with Muggle Not that a kindle is a great asset in any case. My daughter is on a literature course and she uses it for research a lot. Many hundreds of the classics and old books are free for kindle, so the device kind of pays for itself within the first few minutes of ownership.

Little Pixie, your TBR made my head spin. I feel sooo much better about mine now. Good luck

Hi Brian, good luck with your 30 book goal, I am sure you will manage that. I haven't read The Ipcress File but i have quite recently watched the Michael Caine film and Funeral In Berlin and The Billion Dollar Brain all in order. I love Caine as Harry Palmer, he such a sullen but resigned insolence to his superiors about him.

I am 90% sure there is, but I am going to check my kindle handbook and get back to you.

Hey Dan if you enjoyed the Bryson but wanted something scientific but a little more focused you could try the books by Marcus Chown. Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You is a particular personal favourite. Made me think for an hour I was a physicist

One would hope that academics should be well read!

I never knew there was such a lovely illustrated version. Mine was just a thick doorstop paperback.

I bought that a couple of weeks back for the kids to watch. I was underwhelmed by it. Helena Bonham Carter put in a lacklustre but very hammy appearance and the whole thing was pretty boring. Don't know why such a fuss was made of this film at the time.

Welcome. Firstly, congratulations on reaching eighty years of age. Only twenty more to go! You didn't say whether you ever read for pleasure. I have only tried a kindle, so I don't know about any other type of E-book readers. I do believe the kindle has the quote search facility you want, and I know you can take notes and stuff , although I never did. A kindle is an extremely worthwhile and good value device, I can vouch for that. You don't have to go for the fancy versions, the basic one has those features you mentioned. I was able to directly google Lord Melbourne's quote, (which was about his opposition to the abolition of slavery) and lots of articles came up.

Thanks Brian you too!

It never gets any smaller. But I am not afraid.

All on the kindle I'm afraid. I haven't read one yet, are they good?

If the writer is Ali Smith they might not understand her book right away, let alone in 100 years....

Salmon or mackerel Red Peppers Orange baby snack peppers Tomatoes Carrots Eggs Bananas Apples Oranges Cheese Onions Milk Bio yoghurt These are the things I always have fresh in my house, so eat every day, but I get things like broccolli, kale and chicken or minced beef in for specific meals when the kids are with me.

Surprising but good news!

URGENT SHORT LIST TBR This seemed to work last year, so I will do it again: I will give my TBR a quick bunk up by finishing all the books I have already started. Woman on The Edge Of Time Marge Piercy London The Biography Man Of Two Worlds Frank and Brian Herbert Victoria Victorian Things Asa Briggs Shopgirls Pamela Cox and Annabel Hobley Dear Bill Bryson Ben Aitken Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge Lindy Woodhead

EXTRA TBR!! The above TBR list is transferred from last year with the pitifully few books I read from it removed. Many of them are on the kindle so I won't make any headway into that lot until I get a new one. The list below consists of "Tree Books" that seem to attach themselves to me when I go into charity shops. I haven't been listing them but I have been quite good at reading them straight away lately. I will attempt to get some sort of a list up sometime later today. The Serpent The Dragon Atlan The City all by Jane Gaskell Renoir My Father Jean Renoir Annie May's Black Book Debby Holt Shopping, Seduction And Mr Selfridge Lindy Woodhead Medusa's Children Bob Shaw Overlay On a Planet Alien Both by Barry Malzberg S.T.A.R. Flight EC Tubb Where Underpants Come From Joe Bennet Letters Of An Indian Judge To An English Gentlewoman Bone Idle Suzette A Hill Frankenstein Unbound Brian Aldiss 7 Trips Through Time And Space anthology Rahne Susan Coon Night Watch Andrew m Stephenson Close To Critical Hal Clement At Home Bill Bryson Wonderland Avenue Danny Sugarman Dorian Will Self Night Lamp Jack Vance

The TBR Pile organised! Victorian authors, obscure works and classics The Poor Gentleman Hendrick Conscience Two On A Tower The Return Of The Native A Laodician A Pair Of Blue Eyes Jude The Obscure The Woodlanders Far From The Madding Crowd all above by The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy Post Haste RM Ballantyne Autobiography Of Anthony Trollope Lady Anna Miss Mackenzie 4 above by The Way We Live Now Anthony Trollope Twelve Years A Slave Solomon Northup Letters Of Two Brides Balzac Birds Of Prey Charlotte's Inheritance Run To Earth A Novel The Doctor's Wife Lady Audley's Secret Mary Elizabeth Braddon Little Dorrit Charles Dickens The Mill On The Floss Madame Bovary Tess of The d'urbervilles Lady Susan Thoughts On The Education Of Daughters The Last Man Maria, Or The Wrongs Of Woman Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman The Perpetual Curate The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Equality Looking Backward 2000-1887 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Picture Of Dorian Grey Oscar Wilde Nicholas Nickleby Charles Dickens The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow Washington Irvine Little Women Louisa May Alcott Shirley Bleak House The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde The Moonstone The Woman In White Ruth The Importance Of Being Earnest Basil Les Miserables Mrs Oliphant Confessions Of An English Opium Eater Thomas De Quincey Testament Of Youth Vera Brittain Books set in Victorian times by modern authors Under A Cloud-Soft Sky The Singing Winds Shelter From The Storm Snow Angels Pure - Andrew Miller The Road To Samarcand Patrick O'Brian Reference works and 18th-19th century history, social history London The Biography Peter Ackroyd The Siege Of Krishnapur J.G. Farrell The Dictionary Of London Raj Lawrence James The Age of Revolution 1789-1848 The Age Of Capital 1848-1875 The Age Of Empire 1875-1914 Slavery A New Global History Jeremy Black Balti Britain - Ziauddin Sardar Asians In Britain 400 years of History Rozina Visram Random must reads Nice To See It To See It Nice Brian Viner It's A Small Medium And Outsize World John Taylor Cut Like Wound Anita Nair (signed copy, paperback printed in India!) Connections Rules For Virgins The Life And Loves Of A She Devil The Passion Of New Eve The Haunted Hotel Ten Interesting Things About Human Behaviour Slave Girl Sarah Forsyth (autobiography) The Man Who Loved Only Numbers Paul Hoffman (biography of Paul Erdos) The White Mists Of Power Kristine Kathryn Rusch Blitz The Civilian War 1940-45 Jane Waller Michael Vaughn-Rees (war memoir) I Think I'm OK Undercover: The True Story Of Britain's Secret Police King Solomon's Carpet Barbara Vine A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark Capital John Lanchester Good Behaviour Molly Keane Miss Peregrine's Home For Unusual Children - Ransom Riggs Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood Stephanie Plum series 9-20 - Janet Evanovitch Forgotten Voices of the Blitz Joshua Levine One Day David Nichols Geisha Liza Dalby In The Heart Of The Sea Nathanial Philbrick Spycatcher Peter Wright Ways Of Seeing John Berger Gunners On Tour Maurice Court Rivers Of London Ben Aaronovitch The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans The German Invasion Of Norway Geirr H Haarr Accidents In The Home Tessa Hadley Devoted Ladies Molly Keane A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry Lord Of The Flies William Golding Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier Untying The Knot Linda Gillard One of Our Thursdays Is Missing, Thursday Next First Among Sequels, Something Rotten, The Well Of Lost Plots, Lost In A Good Book, The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde Life Of Pi - Yann Martel The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson Alone In Berlin The Terror Round the Bend Two Eggs On My Plate Oluf Reed Olsen Infidel Ayaan Hirsi Ali Nerd Do Well Simon Pegg Forensic Clues To Murder Brian Marriner Bad Blood Lorna Sage The Voyage Out Virginia Woolf The Book Of The Dead The Other Side Of The Dale Gervaise Phinn SF Out Of Time-Five tales of Time Travel Strange Loops The Time Travel Megapack The Martian Way Isaac Asimov The Green Brain Frank Herbert The Steampunk megapack (26 stories) Viridis Lady Of Devices A Steampunk Adventure Steampunk Erotica Best New SF 25 Meeting At Infinity John Brunner Foundation Isaac Asimov The Naked Sun Isaac Asimov Of All Possible Worlds William Tenn The Makeshift Rocket Poul Anderson Life The Universe and Everything More Than Super-Human AE VAN Vogt