Hayley

Well I finished Fludd... To be honest I found it a bit odd. The blurb confused me for a start. The three things that seemed important to me in the blurb were the tapestry, the 'art of coffee making' and the theme of transformations. Both the tapestry and coffee are mentioned once, and not at remotely important times, and it's really not about transformations. I found it difficult to get into the book. By the time I got to chapter five I completely lost motivation to continue because I felt like nothing had really happened. The last few chapters are a bit more exciting, but then the story took on another weird trait. There's a really odd thread of supernatural in the text which just baffled me. I think I worked out what the ending was meant to mean... But if I'm right there are still a lot of things that don't make sense. Those of you who have goodreads will notice I rated it as 'ok', which is because technically I thought it was well written, and there are some parts I thought were done very well. I can see what the appeal might be to others, but overall I just didn't enjoy it that much. It just felt a bit muddled and didn't grip me enough. I think I'm actually going to take a couple of weeks break from my challenge since I'm going on holiday soon and I already have the books planned that I want to read while I'm away. I'm thinking of starting 'The Blade Itself' when I get back, but I might have changed my mind by then so I'll wait and see

I do use bookmarks, but they are so easy to lose! I find them all over the house. I have a little organiser box and I've started using one of the drawers in it just for bookmarks, so whenever I find one around the house it goes in the drawer, then I at least know where I can find one of them For books I'm using for uni, since I'm often reading quite a few at once, I use post-it notes. I keep loads of them by my desk so they're easy to find, and they actually stick to the page so they definitely won't fall out!

Hi and welcome Interesting title, it isn't a reference to 'The Secret of Monkey Island' is it?

I went to an amazing bookshop this year which might be able to help, they have a pretty big collection of antiquarian books, and they're lovely people. They don't have a website but they have a page on abebooks which I'll link you to. You would have to check if they ship to America but I'd say it's worth phoning them. Even if they don't have anything they might be able to help you find what you're looking for http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Bosco-Books-Looe%2C-Cornwall/695623/sf

Thank you Athena It definitely seems like a re-readable book, I'll be keeping my copy for the future too! Thanks Ben. I think there's always that fear with such a popular 'classic' that it can't possibly live up to expectations, but this one certainly did I don't know how my next read is going to live up to it though. I've only read the very beginning, but between the (seemingly) alcoholic priest and the frizzy-haired, nosy housekeeper, I feel a bit like I'm reading an episode of Father Ted... but not a funny one. It wouldn't be fair to judge it this early but it doesn't really have me gripped from the start.

I loved this book, I just finished reading it, it has such a beautiful message. I have a couple of things I was wondering though, for those who have read the book... and second... I would be very interested to hear other people's thoughts

Ok you were both right, I loved To Kill a Mockingbird! Such an incredibly heartfelt message, delivered beautifully by Scout's narrative voice which also gives it a wonderful simplicity. The child's perspective is done so well it really makes you feel just how ridiculous the prejudiced norms and values of the adult world can be. I particularly liked Dill's conclusion.... “There ain’t one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I’m gonna join the circus and laugh my head off.” There are a few things about the book I'd really like to discuss but I'm sure we probably have a thread for this book so I'll post them there I think I'm back round to best sellers now so I'm going to try Fludd by Hilary Mantel, the blurb for which is.... Fetherhoughton is a Northern mill village, remote, backward, veiled from the twentieth century by moorland fogs. Father Angwin, its parish priest, presides over the souls of its brutish tea-swilling inhabitants. He has lost his faith and replaced it with a strong desire to be left alone - especially by the new-broom bishop. In the convent, the nuns work away at their tapestry, depicting the plagues of Egypt. The young Irish nun, Sister Philomena, yearns for freedom and a good meal, while the demonic Mother Perpetua plots her downfall. One night, a visitor appears at the priest's house, wrapped in a cloak and carrying a black bag. His conversation is learned and his table manners mysterious. Who is this Fludd? The new curate? The bishop's spy? A practitioner of dark arts? He has come to introduce the art of coffee making; to stir up dead passions; to force confrontations. 'I have come to transform you,' he says. 'Transformation is my business.' To be honest I just picked it because it was first on my bookshelf, and it's nice and short. It's not a book I would have bought for myself, and it definitely doesn't seem like anything I've read before but we'll see

Thank you My sister read it at school too and liked it but my year did different books (I can't actually remember which was my GCSE one, I think it was Enduring Love) I've had a bit of a crazy week (deadline combined with a series of weirdly unlucky events, like the side mirror randomly dropping off my car in the middle of the road...) so I haven't been able to spend much time reading To Kill a Mockingbird but I'm about half way through and it's really good so far, but I'll say more once I've finished! I agree that the first half is better...

I agree! Surely Terry Pratchett has sold more books from his (how many now, about 40?) Discworld novels than, for example, Stephanie Meyer? And where's Charles Dickens?? To be honest there are a lot of authors on this list I have never heard of but I have bought... William Shakespeare Agatha Christie Enid Blyton Dr. Seuss J. K. Rowling Stephen King James Patterson (kind of... I bought a book the library were getting rid of by him last week. I haven't read it yet though) J. R. R. Tolkien C. S. Lewis Dan Brown Beatrix Potter Roald Dahl Lewis Carroll Although actually Blyton, Seuss, Rowling, Lewis, Potter, Dahl and originally Carroll were bought for me by my parents when I was younger... does that still count??

My niece loves them too, they seem to be the new 'thing' at school. Does anybody remember skoobies? Aww that's so cute!

I've finished Cell now and I'm happy to say I really enjoyed it. I've seen negative reviews where people say it's just a zombie apocalypse novel, and in a way it is but at the same time it's much, much cleverer than that. There are quite a few really gruesome parts, but they don't dominate the story at all, the fear for most of the novel comes from how realistic King makes it feel. There are a couple of things, towards the end that I thought... ok it's pushing it with the realism now, I don't think that's very believable... but I would say 95% of it is. And the characters were really good, likeable and believable, you do feel as though you care what happens to them at the end. On a more serious note it's an interesting view on how quickly the world would change if we were to loose our communication systems, and on how we would behave towards each other once survival instincts kicked in. Overall it was a really enjoyable book, even if it did freak me out a bit at times but I would recommend it I've just started To Kill A Mockingbird which, based on its classic status and Ben's very enthusiastic recommendation, I have high expectations for

I was thinking about my dream library and I remembered a scene from a film, which I found on youtube so I'm sharing it. I'm sure you've all seen it already https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fM7q3g8kjc Although personally I would have made it more purple

Is there anyone in particular you thought should be on there Athena? I have to admit I don't recognise any of the authors from the Dutch team, is there anybody you would recommend? I agree, and I think Pratchett should be on there too (I'd love to hear the conversation on that bench!)

I just wondered if anybody had seen this, I thought it was a pretty fun idea http://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/penguin-cup/#uk Would you make any changes to the teams?

Dodger was great Athena, I'm sure you won't be disappointed when you come to read it It feels a bit weird at first when there are real historical characters introduced, but it's really well written (of course!) and you get used to it pretty quickly. I just checked (using goodreads) and I'm apparently 51% through Cell. I did think I'd have finished it (or at least nearly) by now but I've been doing a lot of non-fiction reading for my thesis which has taken up a lot of my reading time. Luckily the really short chapters in Cell make it easy to read in short bursts. For example I just read a chapter while my laptop was starting up

I would definitely recommend I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. It fits the criteria perfectly, although it's hard to explain exactly why without giving away what happens in the story! It has a brilliant message about ordinary people's ability to be extraordinary, and to learn from their past and their mistakes and keep going. And it has a really good mystery element, which really makes you want to read the whole thing in one go! It also won the Michael Printz award for excellence in Young Adult literature

I'm not sure what you mean by an illustration of the photo at the front of the book, but if the photo is on the cover, the source reference will be somewhere near the barcode on the back cover. If the photo is just in the middle of the book, and doesn't have the source directly underneath (or to the side of) it, there should be a list of image sources either on the first or last few pages of the book. Near the contents or the index. Hope that helps, I know it's frustrating when you can't find a source reference!

I got a bit side-tracked from my challenge again I was having a bit of a stressful couple of weeks so when I spotted Terry Pratchett's Dodger in the library, I decided that would definitely cheer me up I am enjoying Cell though. Not even half way yet so I won't give any kind of review, but it has been really interesting, and not quite what I expected

A lot of the time the source is written under the photograph, but I guess that isn't the case here. Sometimes there is a page at the beginning of the book, near the contents page, that lists the images used with their sources. I have seen books where this list is at the back though, generally next to the bibliography. But if the picture is on the cover of the book, it will definitely be on the back cover, by the ISBN as pontalba said

I'm a couple of days late posting this, I've been having a pretty hectic week. I finished The Watcher in the Shadows a couple of days ago. It was really good but I won't review it here since it's not part of the challenge. I looked back through my bookshelf and decided to try Cell by Stephen King as my next challenge book. I don't know why but I find scary books much more frightening than scary films. I think I find it harder to get into films, so I end up thinking practical things like 'I wonder how they got that effect', or quite a lot of the time 'why on earth would the character do that!?' But I suppose when you read a scary scene in a book it becomes as frightening as your imagination can make it. The Watcher in the Shadows was pretty freaky, so I thought I would be well prepared to start some Stephen King (although the cover suggests this is a thriller, rather than horror, I can confirm there are some pretty horrific images just in the first couple of chapters!) Blurb for Cell... The event which propels civilization into its second dark age is known as The Pulse. The virus is carried by every cellular phone operating in the world. Within hours, those receiving calls will be infected. Clayton Riddell, a young artist, knows he has to reach his son before the young boy switches on his phone. And time is running out... I'm not that far into the book yet but so far it's good. It's quite like a 'zombie apocalypse' theme. I think what makes Stephen King so good is that he writes genuinely believable worlds, which stay believable even when crazy things start happening. This one is a fairly thick book so it might take me a while to finish, but I'll update before then anyway

I don't really watch Eurovision, but I turned the semi-finals (I think) on the other day and saw a woman pull her ponytail off mid song. I don't know if it was supposed to represent something but it was so random it did make me laugh

Just had a quick search and the series seems to be 'coupling', the episode Alison King featured in was called 'the man with two legs' http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupling_(UK_TV_series)

That's so sad. That it's possible for a child to feel there's no way out but suicide is heartbreaking. I don't know what else to say Virginia except I hope you and your daughter are ok, and know that everyone here is thinking of you and wishing you well.

well that was rude! (I love the Black Country Museum, I think that should be included, it's basically a whole Victorian village, it's brilliant!) I live in Birmingham, which (like the Black Country... since it's next to it) has a really industrial past. We apparently have more canals than Venice, which was pretty useful for transporting goods at the time. Quite a few famous people came from Birmingham actually. The ones that come to mind are Black Sabbath and UB40 (and I think Led Zepplin, but possibly not the whole band) and Julie Walters. There is actually a 'Walk of Stars', I'll link the wikipedia page for it in case anyone's interested in seeing the others... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Walk_of_Stars We have the Cadbury factory too, which is great but I was slightly disappointed to discover they don't actually use waterfalls to mix chocolate. J.R.R Tolkien lived here, and you can see lots of the places he was inspired by in his writing. For example Sarehole Mill seems to be the direct inspiration for the Old Mill in Hobbiton, and Mosely Bog (which is next to it), Fangorn Forest. They have Tolkien Festival there once a year which is really good. I know W.H. Auden lived here too, but I don't know as much about that

Thanks Athena, I really did enjoy it more, Paper Towns was amazing! I actually don't think I have any negatives for it. It is so well written I don't know where to start complementing it. It's a brilliant portrayal of friendship, emotion and how we view the world and people around us. But it's also incredibly gripping and fast paced, as well as funny in just the right amount. The characters were just excellent. There were times when it's pretty easy to figure out some of the 'mysteries' before the main character, but it just does't matter, because you feel the truly important thing is his discovery, and what it will lead him to do next. It was just a beautifully written book, and I would absolutely recommend it to anybody. I have a little confession to make about my next read... my sister bought me two books I really wanted for my Birthday last week ('Possession' by A.S. Byatt and 'The Watcher in the Shadows' by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) and I actually can't wait so I'm going to read The Watcher in the Shadows quickly before moving on to my next challenge book I'm not sure which challenge book to go for next, I was thinking maybe Look to Windward but I'm not sure. Any suggestions for the sci-fi/fantasy category?