Hayley

Oooh I didn’t know you could see the dress on display! I’d love to go and see that in the future! I thought the use of real people was nicely done in A Mask of Shadows. It didn’t seem jarring or clichéd like it can in some books. I can’t wait to see what you think of the next book Luna!

That sounds very frustrating. It's funny to think how much our perception of books changes depending on how we feel at the time. Hopefully the last half of July will bring better things, including better books

Hi, welcome to the forum! I love a good crime novel, and fantasy. I've been trying to explore science fiction more in recent years too, so I'd love to hear what your favourites are!

Oh dear, you aren't having that much luck with your recent books are you!? I think I'd have been tempted to throw the book away at this point! For her to claim that she's suffering from the housing crisis in Cornwall seems deeply unfair to the people who are working long hours in tough jobs in the same area and still struggling to find housing they can afford. You can't just not try because you don't like work and then claim to be in the same position. You wouldn't be able to afford a house anywhere if you just didn't work! It sounds like three stars was generous to be honest I've just read the introduction and am feeling a bit traumatised by the Everest story!

Ah, true. I'm only used to them nibbling plants but I suppose if it's just a little shoot they probably would destroy the whole thing. Somebody told me recently that I should put stones around the plants I want to keep slugs away from - does anybody know if that actually works? Would they not just climb over the stones?

Update on the plants: I'm pretty sure the tomatoes are doing well. I had to find a bigger stick for them because they were getting so much taller. The peppers are growing but some seem to have black patches (looking it up online tells me they're either meant to be that colour until they ripen, or they have a disease, so hoping for the former!). The cucumbers though are mysteriously disappearing every time I get a new shoot. Do birds eat cucumber shoots?? One of the other things about the new garden I didn't mention before is it has two little apple trees. They're both basically growing sideways because they'd been pushed out by other overgrown things behind them, but one of them is actually doing really well. I'm hoping we might be able to get them standing upright again at the end of the year when they're dormant, without killing them! There's also a smaller tree behind them which I think is a crab apple. That was totally enveloped by a clematis though, so it's a funny shape and just has a couple of small, pale fruits on it. Again, hoping it might revive next year!

Definitely adding this to my to-read list. I imagined Candide to be a slow, didactic sort of story. The outrageous disasters make it sound a lot more intriguing

Hi, as you can see in megustaleer's link, we don't allow promotional posts on this forum, so you wouldn't be able to advertise the books here. Thanks for checking

Itsmeagain, you start the new one! The internet in my area is acting up today, so my earlier post hadn't loaded in until after yours. I've deleted mine to avoid confusion. Sorry about that!

Wow, incredibly strange (and sad) to warn young people off texts that are considered to be so influential, just because of the genre! At least there was one! Yeah it is (or at least the first modern one) and I think possibly also the first locked-room mystery? It definitely doesn't deserve to be dismissed as 'pulp'!

The Admiral Benbow Inn in Penzance (from Treasure Island) is brilliant in real life. It's really quirky inside, with loads of antique maritime artefacts (the table I ate at was at a ships wheel!) and the food was lovely (and, perhaps surprisingly, very reasonably priced!). I'd love to go back.

I’m a bit late with this update, as this actually happened about a week ago, but I have a tomato plant, a pepper plant and cucumber seeds all in! I hope I’ve chosen the right places for them. There’s not really a specific sunny spot in this garden. The right hand side gets the sun in the morning, then the left gets it through the second half of the day. I went for the morning sun side because there was more space. They’re also a bit closer together than I originally intended because I was trying to avoid big old roots, hopefully they don’t mind! I also planted a couple of fox gloves, which have attracted loads of bees so I’m happy with that!

I think one of the issues with the Goodreads stars system is that people view the value of them differently. I've noticed through discussions on Twitter that some people think anything less than five stars is at least a little insulting to the book, while others would say four stars is brilliant. Personally, if I give anything three stars or more then I enjoyed it and it was worth reading. The difference is that some books are just good while others are absolutely amazing. I don't think I've ever given one star though because, like others have said, I wouldn't have finished reading it if I disliked it that much. As Luna said, life is too short and too filled with great books!

I like weird, I like alternate realities, but I'm not sure I'd like not having a clue what's going on! Unless it's all cleverly resolved by the end?

You know, after I posted I thought I remembered someone saying the film was based on a comic, most likely on here!

I've only read one but I'd definitely read more! There's something comforting, intentionally I think, in that type of classic detective story. They're compelling because there's a mystery but they're also relaxing, even though they're about murder . I have to say, I've never actually noticed that in a book. You'd think it would be picked up by editors!

I did, thank you I put my pyjamas on early and read in the evening for ages . I'm glad you got to read so many books, and especially that you thought one was amazing! I totally forgot to check what page number I started on too, so I can't be specific, but I know I read quite a few chapters! Happy with the progress anyway and still really enjoying the book! So close to finishing! Glad you're enjoying it too That's good to hear! Oh wow, I hope it does stay as good then!

Yes and really liked it! What a shame!

Thank you! I am enjoying it so far. I've had a lot of unexpected delays today (like, I went to get a washing line, which should have taken about 5 minutes, but the card machines went down, the guy at the front of the queue had no cash to pay which caused great confusion and then when I got out someone had parked in a way that blocked me in!) so feeling less confident about getting close to finishing the book, but I still think I'll read a good chunk!

Something simply isn't right, she said A dung beetle's climbed in my bed It rolled up my sock

I didn't even know there was a V for Vendetta graphic novel! Did that come out after the film or before it?

Basically seconding Chrissy here but I agree that to 'give law to the land' means introducing new laws to a place. 'The law of the land' is actually a very old legal term for the laws in force in a country. I think (although I haven't read the book) that he's talking about the rebels giving new law to the land, rather than the other way around though? So, in the extract you included, he'd basically be saying that people are getting out of hand, being overly cruel and uncivilised, but because of the nature of this conflict (where the population is rising up against the existing laws in the hope they can change things) it would be impossible to stop that cruelty from happening. And I also definitely agree that 'the lord of the forest engendering with a serpent, or the eagle with the wren' is a just a metaphor for extremely unlikely/ ill-matched couples. I'm pretty sure it's not folklore related.

Yes, about 300 pages I think! That sounds good, I hope you'll enjoy this read-a-thon then! I hope you'll enjoy some relaxing reading time instead and I hope that everyone in your family is okay!

Another indie offer - for the author’s birthday Angry Robot has 50% off the ebook The Second Bell by Gabriela Houston (described as Slavic folklore fantasy): https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/shop/year/2021/the-second-bell/

That is beautiful! And what a lovely setting for a library! Yay! That's excellent news. I've heard a few people say they felt better after their second one actually. I like Despicable Me, especially Agnes and the grumpy dog Aww, it's lovely that you got to meet her now! And now you can buy more books to fill the saved space . I do love going through my books too. I'm looking forward to getting all my books onto shelves in my new house for that reason (even though it's a bit of a daunting prospect too!). I particularly love how you arrange yours. You might have arranged them differently at your new house, but in the video you posted here of your shelves at your old house everything was so organised and reminded me of the way they organise book shops! I planted things in my new garden yesterday and I'm very excited about it. It's really satisfying to clear away all the overgrown things and find the way it used to be (like we found a little wall, a statue of a fairy, and even a hanging basket that had been totally covered over by ivy!).