Hayley

Hi Simon, welcome to the forum. Is this a specifically book-themed party? Because Alice in Wonderland cupcakes with ‘Eat Me’ iced on the top would be my choice, if so.

Oh wow, this is a good one and I don’t remember it! I think it must have been just before I joined the forum. (Although I do remember Katrina1968! I always loved your avatar). I love the idea of the simple life. Everything just tastes better when you’ve grown it yourself and there’s definitely huge satisfaction in making or mending something, rather than throwing away and replacing it. There are a lot of factors that make it very difficult though. As you said with the solar panels @Virginia, a lot of things require an initial outlay to even become an option. Time is also an issue! I have some herbs growing in my garden and there were three apple trees growing here when I moved in. They’re small and quite wonky, but we had a fair few apples from them last year - this year there’s hardly any. I’d imagine the weather hasn’t helped but I need to do some research to see if I can help them do better next year. I’d also like to try growing chillies next year . When I tried growing cosmos, 1 grew insanely tall, 2 just grew leaves with no flower and the others did nothing. So I’d call that a win 😂

I just bought this, so hoping you’re not about to tell us it’s awful 😅. I felt like this about one I DNF’d years ago but I don’t think Fairy Tale is particularly long. King said in an interview that he wanted to do something different with this one so - fingers crossed!

They are. Thanks Poppy ❤️ Brian recommended the film too! (In the group read thread). If they managed to capture the tone of the book, I’m sure it will be really good

Thanks everyone ❤️

I'm sorry for being very quiet around the forum recently. September was a bit of a difficult month, which ended with the death of my nan. Books have, as always, been a good escape though, so I have a few reviews I finally feel up to posting: The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews 3.5/5 - I liked it! 3.5 almost feels a bit harsh for this book and I did consider bumping it up to four. Set in the seventeenth century with a significant focus on witch trials and suspicion, this slightly reminded me of my last read, The Devil and the Dark Water, only this one had a very different atmosphere. Where The Devil and the Dark Water had deaths and intrigue galore, this one had a more sinister and more mythological tone (partly for this reason, it also reminded me of The Essex Serpent!). We begin with the narrator receiving a letter from his sister, telling him that she has suspicions about a new woman who's come to work for them. He returns to find that all of their farm animals are dying and things are lot more complicated than he first assumed... It's not immediately clear whether the supernatural is going to be real or imagined in this book and it's interesting to consider it from both sides. If something truly supernatural happened, does it make any of the consequences better? The moral wrestling of the main character is the key element of this book, really. He has his own past demons and serious ethical dilemmas arise when some of the women around him are arrested for witchcraft. The narrative jumps between the past and the present, with the present events seeming incredibly strange and really driving you to want to know what led to this point. I did really enjoy the book and would happily recommend it - it's a really interesting read. I found some elements of the plot unsatisfying, personally, which is why I didn't give it a higher rating. Tales from the Depths and Other Strange Tales from the Sea ed. Mike Ashley 4/5 - I loved it I read this while on holiday in Cornwall, with a view of the sea, and that really was the perfect way to read it. It's one of the British Library's 'Tales of the Weird', so you get a selection of short stories from various eras, with a short explanation at the beginning of each one to explain a little bit about the author, the story itself and why it's been included in the collection. All of the stories in this one were good - there genuinely wasn't one I disliked. There was enough overlap between some of the themes to note interesting patterns, but simultaneously they were all individual enough to keep me both intrigued and entertained through every story. I looked forward to finding out what would be next every time I started a new tale. Some of them are genuinely really creepy, so maybe not for those who hate horror, but otherwise I highly recommend . The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern 5/5 - It was brilliant This is the kind of book you can really escape into and, at the same time, a book that was definitely written for people who really love books. In fact - I think it's for people who really love stories in all their forms. It's like a celebration of narrative in every form, wrapped in a magical metaphor. On the surface, the book is about a world you can travel to (if you're the sort of person who can find a door) which is essentially like the most incredible library you can possibly imagine. Only somebody is trying to stop others from reaching this place - and obviously destruction and chaos ensues. We follow one main character, Zachary, for most of the narrative (he's very nerdy and likeable) but his story is interspersed with snippets of things that seem like fairy tales. Those tales weave cleverly into the main plot eventually, but I can imagine them becoming a little frustrating for those who prefer a faster pace. I liked them. Even when they seemed entirely unrelated to what I'd just been reading, they seemed like pieces of a puzzle at their most intriguing, or bed-time stories you could just dip into to distract yourself for a few minutes. I highly recommend this one. It's just pure, crazy, brilliant imagination. And I really wish the place beyond the door really existed, so I could sleep in a library and have cupcakes on demand. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera 4/5 - I loved it This book is essentially like a modern folk tale, which immediately appeals to me. The author wrote it for his granddaughter, who asked him why the heroes in stories were always boys and the girls were just waiting to be rescued. So, this uses actual Maori mythology and introduces the modern life (well, 80's life) of a family who are trying to maintain their traditions and heritage in a world that's becoming increasingly commercialised and losing the connection between humans and nature. As such, it's partly about equality, partly about respecting the environment, and partly about the importance of cultural heritage. It doesn't feel particularly didactic though. It's short and very easy to read. Interestingly, each chapter begins with a short section following a whale pod on their journey, before returning to the human family. It's beautiful in it's simplicity and it did have me welling up on a couple of occasions. Definitely recommend. I'm now reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Leaves are definitely changing here. I bought a couple of munchkin pumpkins to make my house feel more autumnal too 😄.

Oooooh yes! You’ll love it, I think. I literally couldn’t put it down for the last few chapters. It has the most tension of the series so far! Ok, Victorian it is! I can actually cross-over with my previous challenge book, as Treasure Island was published in the 1880s 😄 but I’ll search my shelves for my next challenge read!

This probably won't be my final update because I'm still finishing Treasure Island, but I also read The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera this month. It wasn't something I actually sought out to read for the challenge (I ended up reading it because it's a course book for one of my students) but it fit in perfectly and it was actually a really lovely book!

I don't know how I missed this but wow, that's lovely and seriously impressive! The hands will look cool next to each other.

It would be fun to do a history one and see which era everyone chooses! As it has two seconds though, are we all happy to proceed with the Victorian theme for this one? I really want to know what it is! Please get any objections in by tomorrow because it will be October 1st .

My suggestion: I really struggled to think of a potential theme for this one, but based on the success of our 'Victober' reading group last year, I would like to propose The Victorian as our final theme of the year. As with Victober, the books could be from the Victorian era or modern books with Victorian connections. There are plenty of spooky options for Halloween and Christmas books for December!

Well October is imminent, which means it's time for our final group read of the year! (Apologies that our suggestions for this one are coming a little late!) As a reminder, or for those who haven't participated before: ‘Throughout 2023, the BCF Book Club will be in session! We will vote on categories four times per year (January-March, April-June, July-September, October-December) and participants will choose a book from that category. This means that we might not all be reading the same book, but we will all be reading from the same category.' So please throw your suggestions for our October-December group theme into the thread below!

I hope it does!

Could it be The Chronicles of St Mary’s series by Jodi Taylor? The first book is called ‘Just One Damned Thing After Another’.

I don’t remember Piranesi being in there! I want to re-read it now 😄

That’s exciting! Good luck with the studying . Glad to see that you’re still enjoying Sherlock Holmes too! I did want to read this but I think watching the movie ruined it for me. I’m not sure I’d be able to get into it already knowing what happens at the end!

That does sound intriguing! I approve 😂

The Starless Sea might actually last to the end of September if I continue at the same pace for the rest of the month, but otherwise my final group book will be Treasure Island! Does anybody else remember the Disney movie Treasure Planet?

☹️ hopefully it’s mild and you’ll be over it in no time - the newer variant is supposed to be much, much less serious. Plenty of vitamin C, water and rest!

Who could be unhappy with steak, potatoes and cake? 😄 Are you making the cakes yourself or buying them ready made? I enjoy Christmas preparation but I’ve never had the stress of having to host - I’m sure I’d feel differently if everyone was coming to my house!

I don’t but I’ve used Goodreads to keep track of books that I own in a long series. I think I started doing it with the Dresden Files - I’d bought a couple of books from much later in the series (because they were really cheap in a second hand bookshop and I assumed, at about book 2, that I’d want to read them eventually), but I realised there was a good chance I would forget which ones I’d bought. I marked the ones I owned as ‘want to read’ (taking any I didn’t have off that list, since it wasn’t like I’d forget about them) so that way I could easily tell which I had on my shelf already . I realise that you can make categories on Goodreads, but my way was quicker!

Immediately adding this to my wish list based on your review!

I’ve never craved hot buttered toast as much as when I read the breakfast feast part!

I feel like I’d enjoy some cosy crime this autumn. I’ll have to scroll back through your thread 😄. Lovely food descriptions will inevitably make me want reading snacks though.