Nienna

Yah, probably my favourite as far as Dickens goes. I do love the characters, especially Miss Havisham, but only really appreciated them once I finished reading the book. I guess it's not his stories I don't like, just the slightly convoluted way he writes, and I've read a lot of wordy classics, so I'm supposed to be used to that! Also (3rd strip): http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=0 Also also (cause these comics are awesome):http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=55

Good idea! I usually love classics, though. There only seems to be a few exceptions that I struggle with and Dicken's always seems to be one of them. But I do love the TV adaptations, and his books always seem to have that feeling of grandfather storyteller, so maybe having someone else read them to me would help!

Not a book, but definitely something to familiarise yourself with: The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Spooky!

I have 6 or 7 Dickens novels and have never really quite enjoyed any of them. I can't put my finger on why, though! You seem to read a lot of 19th C lit, do you not think there was just so much better from that period?

I have a memories box in which I collect lots of little things from places I've been and things I've done - ticket stubs, little bits of merchandise, photographs, labels, shells from the beach, wine corks from special occasions (I'll write where from on the bottom of them). It's nice to pick it up every once in a while and go, "Oh yeah remember when we did that?!"

I've always really liked the word sentinel for some reason. It sounds really strong and protective or something. :

No see this is what I like! Books in second-hand shops are supposed to look all used! I like knowing a book has a bit of history. I especially love it when I find a very old book and it has an old pencil enscription inside it like "Mary Smith, 1934, St.Dominic's Grammar" or something like that - I like imagining other people getting the same pleasure from the exact same book I have. I like the pencilled price because it gives it that proper independent bookshop feel - stickers are so chain store!

Personally, I am a culprit for most of these things. Usually I'll try to keep books in good condition but eventually it ends up just not being possible! Most of my books (unless they're HUGE) I carry around my bag so they end up getting naturally dog-earred and creased. When I get to about the middle of a book it starts getting annnoying to half-open pages whilst trying to keep the spine perfect, so eventually i'll just get peeved and give it a big crack open so I can see the whole page. I also balance stuff all over the books in my room - cups, keys, stationary, whatever, and I use them as writing desks! I used to be REALLY picky about damaging books, but I gave all that up when I realised it just wasn't gonna happen. The only books I now try to keep perfect are collectors editions or expensive ones. I don't usually take those out of the house. I actually kind of like used-looking books now. It looks like they've had a good, rigorous read! The one thing that does really rub me up the wrong way though is when people borrow books and then lose them or forget that they've borrowed them and they say they haven't! You can't really say anything to them 'cause it'll sound like you're accusing them of lying, but you KNOW they were the last people to have them and you never got them back. I lent one of my Harry Potters to someone in England while I was at university and never got it back - now I have an incomplete set! Rage.

What?! How can you just SKIP a whole section?! That would just irritate me sooo much until I had to go back over it again - I have to explore every single corner of a book or I feel like I haven't even read it.

BAZ LUHRMAN FILM?! Oh em gee. =D Sounds like it would be spectacular! Yeah there were some great comments in that thread. The book has an actual aura that I think everyone that read it picked up on, but either disliked it or accepted it. I guess to like the book you have to be able to read books that aren't feel-good or happy and still get the message, still enjoy them for the reason they are... maybe.

Cookie's avatar has genuinely inspired me to make cookie monster cupcakes! Which I am doing TONIGHT. Will post up pics!

Have it on my TBR pile! Looking forward to it. Seems to be quite an interesting little piece!

I read it I think about a year ago. It was a weird one for me because I thought it was a great book, but at the same time it was sort of an uncomfortable read - a credit to Fitzgerald's writing skills, I think, because I have a feeling it was meant to feel uncomfortable. You get a sense of Carraway's awkwardness and confusion as he enters into the glitzy, materialistic social circles that seem to only care about appearance. He is uneasy when he begins to realise the hints of criminal activity, which he eventually becomes unwittingly entangled in. It has a real sense of a breakdown of moral integrity, which sort of makes everything a lot more tense because you're unsure of what some of the characters are capable of or whether they're fake. Fitzgerald unfolds the characters slowly, especially Gatsby, so it's intriguing but also a little frustrating trying to figure them out. There's always that sinister undercurrent in the background which makes it quite a dark novel. A book with a lot of depth, I think. Enjoy!

1. STRAWBERRIES - I think I could live of those babies. They have to be the big, ripe, red, sweet-tasting ones, though. 2. Honey chilli chicken - I looove chinese take-away, and Belfast seems to be the only place where they do this specific dish. I don't know why, 'cause it's delish. Laden with calories, of course, but beautiful. 3. Cadbury's Chocolate - specifically Cadbury's! 4. Cheesecake - my own home-made chocolate orange variety, preferably. 5. Garlic chicken kievs - for something savoury. I do have a sweet tooth.

About 100 pages into A Song of Ice and Fire. Been PRETTY SLOW with reading this weekend. (Probs due to having my first taste of alchy-hol in about 2 months.) Also read another chapter of Wolf Hall, which I think I have now been reading on and off for about... 6 months. :|

Ye Olde Oak. Diet or excersize?

I remember those! They were great. Did you (or anyone) ever play the Discworld point-and-clicks? My idea of Rincewind came from them - I played them before I'd even read any of the books! They also turned out to be ridiculously hard. o_O

Glad someone else does this! I definitely envisage them as cartoons. As well as the Kirby covers, Terry tends to write them as quite exaggerated characters, both physically and in personality, so I guess this lends a hand in making them very colourful and story-bookish in my head.

Tyres ...

Moon. Beach or mountains?

... without a penny to my sorry name. I got ...

Hannover, Deutschland

Yes Kylie, I think dated is the word! I imagine it was an exciting book back in 1915 - something like what James Bond is now. Credit for being the first "man-on-the-run" novel!

About 50 pages into A Game of Thrones. Why is it that fantasy books always have to drop about a thousand names and relations within the first few chapters?! I mean do they all do this on purpose to confuse us into thinking it's clever or something?:motz:Still, somewhow enjoying it. (I'm making notes).

The Thirty-Nine Steps Tom Buchan Plot: In May 1914, Europe is close to war and spies are everywhere. Richard Hannay has just returned to London from Rhodesia in order to begin a new life, when a freelance spy called Franklin P. Scudder calls on him to ask for help. Scudder reveals to Hannay that he has uncovered a German plot to murder the Greek Premier and steal British plans for the outbreak of war. Scudder claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone. A few days later, Hannay returns to his flat to find Scudder murdered. If Hannay goes to the police, he will be arrested for Scudder