Books do furnish a room

I found this an undemanding read; you need to ignore the debate about historical accuracy because there is little. As above, some of the writing is not great. That said I enjoyed it; however I read it when recovering from flu; I may have been feverish!!

I am currently reading a book by Johan Theorin called Echoes of the Dead. It is excellent; anyone else know this author.

I have recently read Bob Dylan's autobiography; it is well worth getting hold of and is brilliant in parts

I've managed 62; more than I thought. Obviously got too much time on my hands!!

Nausea is one of my all time favourite books; I read it when a naive 18 year old and it had a great influence on me; I also love Sartre's other novels, especially the Roads to Freedom trilogy

I love barley in soup! Life is all the better for difference. In the 1980s I went to a restaurant in Nottingham and on the menu was cod in strawberry sauce!! I have never tasted anything so revolting. My own fault really; the words cod and strawberry in the same sentence should have given it away!!

Thank you all for your warm welcome; still getting the hang of things. Chrissy; I was referring to the name I have chosen (Books do furnish a room); however you are also right about Sophie; she has sort of taken over the house, which has become Sophie's world!!

. Age (<18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55+) 45-54 2. Gender Male 3. What do you read on a daily basis? (blogs, newspapers, books, etc.) Books, work related stuff, blogs and websites 4. How often do you read for fun in a week? Most days 5. What time of day do you like to read? In bed at night and also between 7.30 and 9 when my wife watches soaps 6. Where do you read? in bed and I have a book lined room. 7. How many books have you read in the last 6 months? 50 or so 8. What type/genre do you enjoy reading most? Fiction; most types, biography, history 9. Why do you read? (entertainment, relaxation, learning, etc.) Relaxation, fun, learning, because they are there!! 10. What barriers prevent you from reading more? Time and work 11. Do you think reading for fun is important? Yes 12. Do you fold page corners or use a bookmark? Never; always a bookmark 13. Do you prefer to read to music or in silence? Silence or light background noise 14. Do you discuss books with your friends? Not really; hence this site 15. Do you borrow books from the library? No 16. Do you borrow/loan books from/to friends? Tend not to borrow; have loaned and lost!

Just finished "This Boys Life" (Tobias Woolf) and "The Man from St Petersburg" (Ken Follett). Enjoyed them both.

I haven't read Mullin's book, but I have read Alan Clark's diaries and they are immensely entertaining. I don't think they are informtive about the process of government and with changes in technology and 24 hour news things are very different. The Alistair Campbell Diaries and Blair's recent book say much more about the nature of modern government. There are other great political diarists out there from all political persuasions; many of them would be out of date in terms of modern goverment. However the current political elite are mostly cardboard cut outs (in my opinion), mainly because the more interesting characters get slaughtered by the media (Churchill and Lloyd George would never have achieved high office these days).

Far From the Madding Crowd; Thomas Hardy The Brothers Karamazov; Dostoyevsky The Magic Mountain; Thomas Mann

One of my favourites is Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie. Set in Nigeria in the 1960s

Poe is an obvious and excellent choice. Another classic write of Victorian Gothic is Joseph Sheridan LeFanu; very creepy ghost stories. It depends how you are defining gothic, but M.R. James also springs to mind. for a decent modern gothic tale try Drood by Dan Simmons Paul

I would agree that The Damned United is one of the best books written about football. I also rate Fever Pitch. I've ploughed through a few biographies and its like reading about paint drying.

Read these many years ago and loved them. I must re read them some time (life's too short). They came alive again for me when Jeremy Brett played Holmes.

I loved "Possession" and read it when it first came out. It appealed to my romantic side; it is also very well written. The poetry is believable, which is a difficult task to achieve. Paul

I also found the Woman in White haunting and preferred it to his others. If you want a modern gothic twist try "Drood" by Dan Simmons. It is narrated by Wilkie Collins and is about his relationship with Dickens; with a dash of mesmerism, laudanum and the gothic.

Of the options given it would be the Shire. If I could broaden it then it would be The Culture (Iain M. Banks) because you live a long time, there is a huge amount to do, a universe to see and you can change sex at will and see things from another perspective!!

Hi there; I've just joined and am still finding my way round. My name is Paul and have reached the grand old age of 50. I read all genres and have 7 or 8 books on the go at once. the cat in the picture is Sophie; the picture is from the rescue website before we adopted her! The name is from a character/book by one of my favourite authors. I am on leave at the moment and so making the most of being around in the day. Paul

I too think "The woman in Black" is very creepy; so too is "The Mist in the Mirror" by the same author. However M. R. James takes some beating when it comes to ghost stories, although some of them do feel a little dated now. The Virago Book of Ghost Stories is an excellent collection with some very creepy tales. Two by Marjorie Bowen stand out. They are both less then 150 words and both, I think, scary and pack a punch. Worth looking out for.

I very much agree with you Ian; this was my first Koontz and I was disappointed. I felt most of the book was just an introduction and the resolution was very brief and I didn't really get the moral point. Most of the characters on the periphery were of some interest but too briefly involved. A lost opportunity I think.

Read this a couple of years ago; I loved the general pace of the book and the understated way of writing about very little. The humour is subtle and I think transfers to the present day very well.

Just joined the site; My current reads are Vanity Fair; Thackeray Les Miserables; Victor Hugo Cash; Johnny Cash The Plot Against America; Philip Roth The Resurrectionist; James Bradley (just started) This Boy's Life; Tobias Woolf Lifes Little Ironies; Thomas Hardy I always have several books on the go at once; sometimes one takes over, but I usually read some of each one every day.