Hayley

Hi @yellowducky! We do have a gaming thread, it's here Edit: @yellowducky, I've merged your thread with the existing gaming thread.

Cassandra Darke sounds like a great concept! I also agree with Brian, that is a great (and intriguing) cover. Glad you loved Pride and Prejudice so much too. I read it years ago and I know I liked it but I really cant remember much about it! I think it needs a re-read

Adding a late one in for the missing I: Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

I read the first couple of lines of that and thought 'ooh this sounds good' and then 'oh, maybe not so good...' It's a shame the writing was so flawed because the basis of the story sounds so promising! Hopefully the writing improves for the next two.

Glad to see you've enjoyed your last few books! Fingers crossed you get some 4/5's or 5/5's soon too though

Melmoth by Sarah Perry 5/5 - I loved it You know sometimes you get to the end of a book and just spend a few minutes sitting in stunned silence? This is one of those books. Most of the reviews I've seen of this book talk about the wonderfully gothic atmosphere and certainly has enough of that to give you goosebumps. There were two other things that I think stood out more than the atmosphere though, as great as that is. Firstly, the narrative voice is very clever. The book is partly made up of letters and diary entries but the main part of the story is first person with the occasional direct address to the reader, something which you would think breaks your immersion in the story, but it actually involves you more because this book is all about the idea of watching. That brings me to the second brilliant thing, which is the actual theme of the story. There are lots of intriguing mysteries and relationships but, ultimately, this is a book about the importance of what we witness and what we fail to witness. It's very much an emotional journey, one that takes you through different time periods (this is mainly the purpose of the diaries), forces you to see uncomfortable truths and leaves you shocked. As disturbing as some parts are, it's also a really beautiful book which, I think, perfectly displays a message that's as important to our own time as it is to the historical scenarios in the story. I didn't know what I wanted to read after Melmoth but in the end I went for a very different, more lighthearted, option with Jasper Fforde's Something Rotten. I've loved everything I've read by Fforde so far and I don't think this one will be an exception

'The Minotaur had been causing trouble far in excess of his literary importance.' Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

(I just realised I typed a reply in this thread and never pressed 'submit' ) I finished Melmoth (it was brilliant!) which makes a total of 150 pages for me for the read-a-thon. I didn't end up using Monday to read because I couldn't decide on a book. I think Melmoth gave me a book hangover @karen.d your poor mum! At least she's got you to help her out though and 170 pages was still more than me!

Oh yeah, I did see that list at the beginning of the year but I'd forgotten Pure was on there! You do have a few books that I've also loved on the list, so I think that's a good sign. I really want to read The Essex Serpent now too because Melmoth was amazing. I will post a review of it soon.

I didn't know Pure was one of your 6 star reads, I have it on my shelf (thanks to @vodkafan!) and now I'm looking forward to it even more! Now We Shall Be Entirely Free sounds great too, I'll be adding that to my to-read list. At the Edge of the Orchard sounds like a really interesting concept, it's a shame about the last third of the book.

Hi, welcome to the forum! That's an interesting choice of genre. I don't really know a lot about it, but I'm not sure it was particularly popular in Britain. I think Joanna Walsh should fit the criteria though?

I agree, all very good books @handshedown although there is a part of Tess I always hate. I won't bother to include spoiler quotes because I think all of us who've read it will know the part I mean!

Glad everyone's enjoying their books! I do think the read-a-thon's a great way to get yourself back in the mood to read. I read 40 pages of Melmoth last night (I had to make myself stop at midnight so I didn't just want to sleep through today!) and I'm looking forward to reading more later. I might extend mine until Monday, since it's bank holiday weekend here in the UK and I missed out on Friday!

Hi, welcome to the forum! What sort of books do you like to read?

And we have a winner for April... @Chrissy!!! Congratulations, I hope you like them!

Thank you! I can confirm, the cake was delicious. Lots of jam and buttercream I'm glad your appointment went well @Athena

Yay! I'm out during the day on Friday but I'm looking forward to setting aside lots of reading time this weekend. I'm hoping to at least finish Melmoth by Sarah Perry (it shouldn't be too difficult, it's really good so far!) but if I finish that I might go for some short stories

Thanks @Brian., I really do appreciate the feedback As a side note to all supporters, if there's ever a giveaway that includes something you already own, or it's something that you just don't really want, feel free to send me a message and ask to be taken out of the draw that month, it's no trouble!

Great reviews! I went to see Les Misérables in the theatre with my school and have wanted to read it ever since, it's one of those books I just never got round to. Your review has made me really want to read it again though! You've also made me want to re-read Good Omens. Terry Pratchett with Neil Gaiman was always going to be a winning combination!

Hi, welcome to the forum! I really want to read 'The Luminaries', are you enjoying it so far? What are your favourite classics?

O'Farell's book does sound interesting, it's always good to have a bit of a laugh too! Congratulations on the article publication! I'm interested to know what you wrote about the purpose of having children now!

Oh dear, @Madeleine, @Athena, I hope the migraines have gone away for both of you! It's my sisters birthday today so I'm having dinner with some of my family later. Because it was my birthday two days ago we always share cake today, it's become a bit of a tradition, so that's exciting because I love birthday cake . I can't believe April is nearly over. Does anybody else feel like this year is going really fast!?

Yay, new book blog! I want to read quite a lot of the books on your tbr list too, particularly from the Victorian list! I'll be interested in what you think of Jasper Fforde when you get round to those. I love them but they are really quirky.

I like that expression, putting the sci over the fi . I haven't read any crime fiction for ages, I'll keep a look out for your recommendations!

Great, although I do like to read books in publication order, it's interesting to see how they develop that way.