Hayley

There's a series called 'Frey and McGray' (the first book is 'The Strings of Murder') which is set in Scotland in the late 1800s. McGray is a large Scottish man and Frey is a younger man who joins him from London. Unfortunately it's too new to be the book you're talking about, and there's no shooting range in the basement, but I thought I'd mention it in case it's similar enough to be of interest. I hope you find the original book.

At the weekend I went to Portland and walked on Chesil beach for the first time. It was extremely windy but a really lovely weekend. Planning to do some Christmas shopping on Friday afternoon and hoping the shops won't be too busy!

Our tree is finally up and I've managed to buy a few presents. I have a Christmas dinner with my boyfriend's family on Christmas eve, then one with my own family on Christmas day, and then a third one on boxing day with just a few people. So I might have exploded by the 27th. @muggle not the Disneyworld decorations sound amazing, I bet you felt incredibly festive after all that! @poppy I love the letterbox idea. It's a shame your holly doesn't last in the sun. On the positive side, at least you're warm!

Great reviews, as always Ghost Wall sounds very interesting, I have 'Bodies of Light' by the same author on my wish list but hadn't heard of Ghost Wall before. 'Weird Stories' is one I want to read too so interested to see what you'll think!

"The Five Love Languages" sounds like an interesting concept. So, is it suggesting that there are five different ways in which people communicate their love? It sounds like quite a psychological book so interesting that it's so easy to read.

Hello Seajay, welcome to the forum! What type of books do you like to read?

I wondered if anybody would notice that! I think I mentioned before that I have a friend, who is much better with computers than I am, who helped a lot when the forum was changing over. He's quite shy, so I've not been able to persuade him to join us, but he has been helping out in the background (he made the new patreon supporter logos, for example) and AdminBCF is the account he uses to do that. It's a bit like The Elves and the Shoemaker, he fixes things and then usually disappears before we see him

Hi Dolly, welcome to the forum!

That's good to hear! I did know there were more novellas to come but I hadn't heard that the final one would be about Nightingale during WWII, that should be interesting!

As you may have seen in the announcement, we have a special Christmas giveaway this year, thanks to https://www.secretbookclubuk.co.uk/ ! It has been very difficult keeping it a secret by the way... In case you missed the announcement details, the winner will receive a Secret Book Club Book Box and can choose their own preferred genre from the following six options: Crime & Thriller Mind, Body & Soul Debut Novel or Self Published History Young Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy All supporting members will be automatically entered into the competition (both those who support with patreon and those who still have active supporting memberships). If you want to be entered into the competition but you aren't a supporting member, you can support at https://www.patreon.com/bookclubforum at any point before the 25th December to enter. Good luck everyone!

I can't wait to read Lies Sleeping! Are you enjoying it so far? Did you see the news about the new novella too? October Man will be coming out on the 13th June!

I haven't, no. I haven't read very many science fiction books in general to be honest, but I'm hoping to try more. I think the first few science fiction books I read gave me the impression that the genre was generally about presenting humans as the worst thing to happen to the universe and that everything they touch is destined to fail spectacularly. Vance writes more about exploration, imagining strange new planets and races, and I really like that. Humans (and their descendants) manage not to be completely inept or evil as well, which is nice!

And the winner is... @poppy!!! Congratulations Poppy! If you send your address to me in a private message I'll get your prize sent out to you!

That is a definite issue with buying special editions of books. The only time I really ever read two books at once is if there's one book I don't want to bring out of the house! To continue with my review catch up... Night Lamp by Jack Vance 4/5 - I really liked it I'm finding it really hard to know where to start with this review because there is so much in this book, even though it's not particularly long at 380 pages. Actually, that may be one of the most notable things about Vance. The worlds he creates are so richly detailed that something that appears as a passing comment feels like it could be the premise of a whole new novel. The (very simplified) basis of this book is a child called Jaro. Two researchers on are on an expedition to another planet when they see Jaro being beaten to death. The child is clearly not originally from that planet, they have no idea where his parents are and, it turns out, he has no memories. The truth about Jaro's past forms the central (very compelling) mystery that needs to be solved. But there is SO much more. There's great satire about social classes, a scathing representation of economy and corruption, and some very interesting psychological aspects to a few characters. It's a book that really makes you think, without being remotely difficult to read.

Oh I see, Seymour having come up with the idea of the Pickwick club itself? It is an interesting concept. Dickens did have quite a fascinating life!

@willoyd that’s amazing! I had no idea the garden was based on a real place! I’m glad the spirit of the film and book are similar, I really want to read the book now!

Great reviews Ian! I've wanted to read The Secret Garden for a while so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I loved the film as a child, so my knowledge of the story is purely based on that and I get the impression there may be quite a few differences (I'm sure, for example, that Mary's parents die in an earthquake in the film)!

I really struggled with Moby Dick. It wasn't the whale descriptions that I found difficult to get through though, it was the explanations of the techniques of whaling. I actually can't really remember the descriptions of the anatomy of whales, I am also tempted to give it another try now! I hope you enjoy Don Quixote, I'll be interested to see if you think it lives up to it's fame!

Is it the folio edition? That one is lovely. I think American Gods has a very different feel to Neverwhere. If Neverwhere has a sort of modern folklore theme, American Gods is more like modern mythology.

It is a shame it's so fragile. At least it has a beautiful cover to display though! That's an interesting theory on Seymour that I didn't know as well. I did hear that Seymour's friends blamed Dickens for his death though. I'm not sure how likely it is that he was the mastermind behind the writing, because then we'd expect Dickens' writing to be different after Seymour's suicide, and I don't think it really was. Another theory is that Dickens had just told him he was being replaced by another illustrator, although I think if that prompted him to commit suicide he must have already been suffering. I hope someone with more knowledge than me might be able to give you more information on the book!

I have read American Gods, I've honestly never read a book by Gaiman that I didn't like. Neverwhere was probably my favourite and I can't wait for the sequel to be out!

Glad to see that you seem to be out of your reading slump! I've read really good things about The Girl Who Drank the Moon and thought it sounded good. I really love the cover art for it too!

Thanks @Athena There aren't a lot of illustrations in that edition, there's just one full page one at the beginning of each chapter. I do like Chris Riddell though, I agree the cover is pretty! I hope you like the book too when you get round to reading it!

Oooh Fireside Gothic sounds like a good winter read!

It should be the weekend after I think, beginning 7th December. Last one of 2018 too!