Hayley

'I will write a novel about the link to your account.' Well, that sounds mildly threatening

You will need a device with predictive text for this one! Just enter the first part of the sentence given and let your predictive text do the rest... I'll start... I will write a novel about

This has just given me an idea...

Just a reminder to get your votes in by tomorrow!

Hi Odin, welcome to the forum What kind of books do you like to read?

Please vote on the topics you would like to get through to the next round! At this stage you can choose as many categories as you would like. After voting please go to 'The Christmas Reading Challenge Poll - Round 2', where you will find the remaining categories. On Friday we will hold the third and final round, deciding which three categories we will use this year.

Please vote on the topics you would like to get through to the next round! At this stage you can choose as many categories as you would like. On Friday we will hold the third and final round, deciding which three categories we will use this year.

Got it! Thank you! 😁 Which ones are you missing?

Clue for this one: Can someone give me a clue for the dog please!?

Oh well done!! Which two do you have left?

Update: Had another look while I ate a sandwich and I’m up to 8 now. I have absolutely no idea what the dog behind the cash register is going to be 🤔

This is an interesting point so I looked it up and yeah, depending on the year, the percentages are really high! ‘The percentage of books adapted for film vary each year, sometimes substantially, as trends in popular culture must be followed. For example, in 2005 66% of films released were based on books, this then dropped significantly to 28% in 2011 and then rose to 65% in 2015.’ (From https://medium.com/publishing-in-the-digital-age/book-to-film-adaptations-caec7c65e96a ) That doesn’t mean they’re all good though 😁

It’s that time of the year again! The National Book Tokens site has just posted the hidden books game for this year - the prize is a £500 book token (how amazing would that shopping trip be…) but I just find them fun too. I have only managed to get three on my first try though… https://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/default.aspx?competition=19#

Another one I really loved was The Secret Garden (the 90s one with Maggie Smith in - I haven’t seen the new one!). I’d also second Shawshank Redemption @timebug.

How did the build go!? @Virginia you had a very productive day! What books did you get!? I don’t really have anything to share today, I had a very boring day with a lot of work in it 🥲. Pyjamas time now though!

You are well prepared 😄. The only book I have with Christmas in the title is A Christmas Carol, so I will need suggestions if that one is chosen!

Did people boycott the 2010 one? I remember there being big protests and calls to boycott in 2014. I don’t know how much of an impact it made though.

That’s brilliant 😄 Congratulations! That sounds amazing. Do you know what you’ll be reading?

Not really but it does have very Christian overtones, so why not? So one category as stories with a Christian theme? C.S Lewis could go in that one too. A book about a miser is a good one Mine too! I don’t think I know Sandman though, I’ll definitely look that one up. The Snow Queen would be a nice wintry Christmas read (although it freaked me out as a child!)

I wonder how many people will boycott it this year. My boyfriend loves football but even he has said he doesn’t feel like he wants to watch it.

I had a fairly relaxed Saturday because I didn’t have to work this morning! I even did a bit of online shopping and bought myself a book. We had a letter from The Horse Trust, addressed to the lady who used to live in this house. I was wondering whether I should let them know that she passed away, but it wasn’t a subscription or anything, just a Christmas brochure and a letter asking for support. I had just been thinking about how lucky we are that the woman who lived here left us such a lovely garden (after picking a big bag of apples from the three little apple trees!) so I bought a purple poppy and a pretty edition of Black Beauty from the brochure - which I hope she would have been happy with! Now time to curl up on the sofa with Lilly (my dog) and a hot chocolate

Thank you 😄 I’ve never actually read The Nutcracker, I just know the story from a cartoon film version I used to watch as a kid! Keep any suggestions coming everyone! I’m thinking we will do the poll next week, so we have time to vote and get our books sorted in time for December

Ooooh great suggestions so far. I would like to throw in: A book about a toy or gift. I'm thinking along the lines of The Nutcracker by Hoffman or The Toy Makers by Robert Dinsdale but other interpretations welcome . Also, a Christmas fantasy - for example, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or Terry Pratchett's Hogfather.

How would everyone feel about a reading challenge this December!? The rules would be as follows: Categories to be suggested by members in this thread - the theme can be anything related to Christmas (e.g. 'read a mystery set at Christmas', or 'read a book with snow on the cover'). The suggested categories will be posted as a poll and we will all vote on our favourite categories. The three most popular categories will be this year's challenge. This means that you can choose any book that fits within the themes, although of course we will discuss which books we're picking and you may want to choose the same book as others who are participating! If you have some ideas for categories already, please feel free to start posting them below!

That is a nice touch! I found a single volume of The Strand in a little second-hand bookshop years ago and I was most excited about the Sherlock illustrations!