Hayley

@poppy It wasn't but I will tell her about that, it sounds like something she'd like, thank you

I read a book last year that you might like actually, Jamrach's Menagerie. It's set in the Victorian period and very well written. I'd be happy to send you my copy if you'd like to try it?

Hope you have a great reading year Noll Your journal sounds like a great idea, looking forward to seeing it! I was watching a video of one of the Ys games yesterday but I'm not sure which it was now. I know there's quite a few, have you played any others? It's good to know there's a decent story!

The worst part is I only have a small room to keep them all in... They're literally everywhere! I'm really glad you think Diary of a Nobody is good. I got it at one of the library discard sales because it looked interesting but I've been a bit reluctant to start it because I wasn't sure what to expect! Thanks Janet Of the three Jules Verne books I've read so far Journey to the Centre of the Earth is my favourite, closely followed by Around the World in Eighty Days. I'm hoping the others will live up to them!

My sister saw a book a few weeks back, she thinks on the waterstones website, about a girl who can do magic (or has something to do with magic) and she works for Mary queen of Scots. She showed me the book at the time but now neither of can remember what it was called or who wrote it, it's so annoying! Really hoping someone will know what it was!

You have some brilliant books on your list and some I really want to read this year too. Hope you have a great reading year!

Happy new year Chrissy! Hope you have a great reading year

I love your Waterstones quest, what a great idea! Which has been your favourite so far? Hope you have a great reading year too

Thank you both! I definitely do have lots to choose from @Inver! I'm going to try very hard to get my shelf list down and not add too many new books this year. I'm running out of space

The Discworld Re-Read A little bit of background for this because not all of these books will be re-reads. I started reading Terry Pratchett's books when my sister gave me The Wee Free Men when I was thirteen. In the twelve years since then I have read the vast majority of the Discworld novels but in completely random order. I actually thought I had read all of the Discworld novels apart from I Shall Wear Midnight. But then a few weeks ago I picked up The Last Continent in a shop and when I read the blurb I realised I don't think I have read that either. If I have I remember very little about it. Anyway, that got me thinking that it would be really nice to read, or re-read, all of the books, in order this time, making sure I haven't missed any out on the way. I'll be reading the books in between others from my list, but will cross them off here as normal here once I've read them. 1. The Colour of Magic 2. The Light Fantastic 3. Equal Rites 4. Mort 5. Sourcery 6. Wyrd Sisters 7. Pyramids 8. Guards! Guards! 9. Faust Eric 10. Moving Pictures 11. Reaper Man 12. Witches Abroad 13. Small Gods 14. Lords and Ladies 15. Men at Arms 16. Soul Music 17. Interesting times 18. Maskerade 19. Feet of Clay 20. Hogfather 21. Jingo 22. The Last Continent 23. Carpe Jugulum 24. The Fifth Elephant 25. The Truth 26. Thief of Time 27. The Last Hero 28. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents 29. Night Watch 30. The Wee Free Men 31. Monstrous Regiment 32. A Hat Full of Sky 33. Going Postal 34. Thud! 35. Wintersmith 36. Making Money 37. Unseen Academicals 38. I Shall Wear Midnight 39. Snuff 40. Raising Steam 41. The Shepherd's Crown

Yay, new book log now open In 2017 I read 28 books, which just beat the 27 I read in 2016! I am, once again, challenging myself to read 50 books this year though. One year, I will manage it! On My Shelf: Aaronovitch, Ben. The Furthest Station Abercrombie, Joe. Best Served Cold Abercrombie, Joe. Half a King Abercrombie, Joe. Half the World Abercrombie, Joe. Red Country Adams, Douglas. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Adams, Douglas. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe Adams, Douglas. Life, The Universe and Everything Adams, Douglas. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace Ballantyne, R.M. The Coral Island Banks, Iain. The Bridge Banks, Iain M. The Algebraist Banks, Iain M. Consider Phlebas Banks Iain M. Excession Banks Iain M. Feersum Endjinn Banks Iain M. Inversions Banks, Iain M. Look to Windward Banks Iain M. Matter Banks Iain M. The Player of Games Banks Iain M. Use of Weapons Barker, Clive. Weaveworld British Myths and Legends vol. 1: Marvels and Magic. ed. Richard Barber British Myths and Legends vol. 2: Heroes and Saints. " British Myths and Legends vol 3. History and Romance. " Brontë, Anne. Agnes Grey Brontë, Anne. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Brontë, Charlotte. The Professor Brontë, Charlotte. Shirley Brontë, Charlotte. Villette Butcher, Jim. Blood Rites Butcher, Jim. Dead Beat Butcher, Jim. Death Masks Butcher, Jim. Proven Guilty Byatt, A.S. The Children's Book Carrell, J.L. The Shakespeare Curse Christie, Agatha. Murder on the Orient Express Clarke, Susanna. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Cogman, Genevieve. The Invisible Library De Muriel, Oscar. Mask of Shadows Dickens, Charles. Nicholas Nickleby Dickens, Charles. The Old Curiosity Shop Dickens, Charles. The Pickwick Papers Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Return of Sherlock Holmes Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Valley of Fear Doyle, Arthur Conan. His Last Bow Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes Dumas, Alexandre. The Three Musketeers Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose Faulks, Sebastian. Birdsong Fforde, Jasper. The Well of Lost Plots Gaiman, Neil. Smoke and Mirrors Galbraith, Robert. The Silkworm Gaylin, Alison. Into the Dark Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows Grossmith, George and Weedon. The Diary of a Nobody Hardie, Titania. The Rose Labyrinth Hardinge, Francis. The Lie Tree Hardy, Thomas. Under the Greenwood Tree Harkness, Deborah. Shadow of Night Hodgson, Antonia. The Devil in the Marshalsea Hoving, Isabel. The Dream Merchant le Carre, John. A Most Wanted Man Marston, Edward. The Excursion Train Marston, Edward. The Iron Horse Marston, Edward. Murder on the Brighton Express Marston, Edward. The Railway Viaduct Miéville, China. Kraken Miéville, China. The Scar More, Thomas. Utopia Morton, Kate. The Distant Hours Mosse, Kate. Citadel Owen, Lauren. The Quick Peake, Mervyn. Titus Groan Peake, Mervyn. Gormenghast Peake, Mervyn. Titus Alone The Penguin Book of English Short Stories Ed. Christopher Dolley Pratchett, Terry. I Shall Wear Midnight Pullman, Phillip. Lyra's Oxford Ruickbie, Leo. The Impossible Zoo: An Encyclopedia of Fabulous Beasts and Mythical Monsters Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men Taylor, Jodi. A Trail Through Time Tolkien, J.R.R. Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wooton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Verne, Jules. Five Weeks in a Balloon Verne, Jules. From the Earth to the Moon Verne, Jules. Round the Moon Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Wells, H.G. The Time Machine Wells, H.G. The Island of Dr. Moreau Wells, H.G. The War of the Worlds Wells, H.G. The First Men in the Moon Wells, H.G. The Invisible Man Acquired in 2018: Arden, Katherine. The Bear and the Nightingale Arden, Katherine. The Girl in the Tower Brennan, Marie, A Natural History of Dragons Burton, Jessie. The Muse Clarke, Susanna, The Ladies of Grace Adieu Collins, Wilkie. No Name (library) Garber, Stephanie. Caraval Lynch, Scott, The Lies of Locke Lamora Pinborough, Sarah, Mayhem Underdown, Beth. The Witchfinder's Sister Vance, Jack, Lyonesse Vance, Jack, The Green Pearl Zafón, Carlos Ruiz. The Prince of Mist

You have some books I really liked on your round robin list, The Night Circus is one of them Hope you have a great reading year!

Happy new year Athena, looking forward to reading your thread this year!

I forgot how behind I was on here! First, three very quick reviews to catch up... The Frost Fair by Edward Marston Comment: A good mystery This is actually the fourth book in a series, following detective Christopher Redmayne. I didn't realise it was part of a series when I bought it but it didn't really make a difference. There are some characters which are obviously introduced in previous books but I never felt like I was missing anything. There's nothing particularly outstanding about the book but it was a good 'whodunnit' type mystery with an interesting set of characters. I enjoyed reading it but I think I prefer the Railway Detective series by Marston. Little Women by Lousia May Alcott Comment: A sentimental classic I already knew the story of little women when I started this because me and my sister used to watch the film. Imagine my surprise when the book ended and a lot of very important events had still not happened! I genuinely didn't realise that Little Women was published in two volumes, or that there are further two sequel books in the series. Apparently the edition I have (Collins Classics) is only the first volume. Aside from that shock discovery though I really enjoyed reading Little Women. It has such a fantastic cast of individual and memorable characters and, although it's very obvious in delivering moral messages throughout the story, it also has a very sweet way of showing people with various temperaments and personalities just trying to be good people. It's easy to see why this is a classic and I'm really glad I read it. .A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry Comment: short but interesting I spotted this in the discard pile at my local library and bought it for 20p, mainly because I recognised the author from her mystery novel Bedford Square, which I read earlier this year. It does feature a character from the same series as Bedford Square, and gives them an interesting background, but you definitely don't need to have read anything else from the series before A Christmas Journey. It's a very short book, only 154 pages long and very easy to read. It wasn't exactly what I expected. I thought it would be a short little murder mystery set at Christmas but it was actually more about the social, financial and emotional struggles of women in the early 1800s. The actual journey of the story is really just a way to explore these themes. There is a bit of a mystery to be solved but it's more fitting the pieces of the story together (and it's harder to explain than I thought without giving a major plot point away). It was interesting and worth a read anyway. I didn't read much in the couple of weeks before Christmas but I'm about a quarter of the way through Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors and I now have lots of new books to add to my list! One of my sisters gave me Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, which sounds amazing. Another sister gave me a beautiful edition of I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, which is the only Tiffany Aching book I haven't read. And another sister gave me a Waterstones voucher! (I have amazing sisters). My fourth sister traditionally gives me pyjamas every year, so I also have something comfy to curl up and read my new books in . With my Waterstones voucher I got... Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel (the third book in the Frey & McGray series - I loved the first two) The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (third in the Thursday Next series, very excited about this) A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (fourth book in the Chronicles of St. Mary's) The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch (this is on sale in Waterstones too so I was particularly pleased) Lyra's Oxford by Phillip Pullman (such a pretty little book with a short story and various little things in relating to the Dark Materials world!) I have no idea where to start with them all but I predict a great reading start to 2018!

I'm not usually the biggest fan of poetry but I always liked Goblin Market. It's so beautifully written and I think it's interesting how many different interpretations there are of its meaning. Personally I read it originally as a story about love. The temptations of the goblins are purely physical and material, they give temporary satisfaction and excitement but they don't last and, ultimately, all they do is hurt Laura. Lizzie's love on the other hand is all about strength, loyalty and sacrifice. She gives Laura the same thing in a different way (literally the juice from the fruit), asking for nothing in return and this is a more honest and pure love that saves Laura. I've never read anything else by Christina Rosetti though. I get the impression you didn't like the other poems in the collection as much?

@Athena are those Christmas giant microbes on your tree!?? My sister would absolutely love those! It looks great, I can't wait to put mine up

Well that sounds confusing! Could be interesting though.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley Comment: Unexpectedly thought provoking This book really wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be an interesting mystery with a steampunk twist but that's actually only a very tiny part of it. The book is mostly about quite a big moral question, which is hard to fully discuss without spoilers but basically regarding control. It was interesting and definitely thought-provoking but actually I found the ending of the book quite unsatisfactory. It felt as though the author was presenting a solution to this moral dilemma that I just couldn't fully agree with, it felt very over simplified. On the other hand, I have since found out that there's a second book being written, so maybe the intention was always to explore it more in the next one. One more little issue I had with this book was that there's a significant event, near the end, which marks the point at which everything starts moving very quickly towards the conclusion. The event which triggers this though requires one of the characters to do something which seemed, well, entirely out of character. I found it very hard to believe they would have acted this way. On the same point, the events from that moment happen so quickly I actually got a bit lost. A couple of times I turned back a page to make sure I hadn't missed something or had read it correctly. On the other hand I thought it was a really interesting concept with some wonderful settings. I absolutely loved Katsu the clockwork octopus! The ending left me feeling torn though.

There's another one coming out!? I thought it was meant to be a trilogy. Looking forward to trying the second one anyway, I'm hoping we get to discover more about the book this time, I thought it was frustrating how little was revealed about it in the first one.

Well it's good to hear you loved Shadow of Night! What was it about the last book, was the actual ending disappointing or it just wasn't as good as the others as a whole?

Wow, 200 books! Congratulations!

Thanks Have you read the other two? I've heard really mixed reviews about Shadow of Night.

I don't know anything about that particular book but have found that old text books generally can have a very high value. I did a quick search on a university library catalogue and it looks like Gerhard might have quite a few academic publications on German grammar. If he's quite eminent in his field and the book, being older, is out of print and hard to find, that would explain it.

Yeah, I've been lucky this year! Unfortunately this one didn't pick up, I've decided to give up on The Geographer's Library. The main character is so not bothered about anything that it makes it very hard to care what happens to him. To be honest it's hard to care about any of the characters. For a murder mystery the plot is incredibly slow and actually doesn't even make you wonder who the murderer was. It was becoming a chore to read, which is just pointless. So, I decided to start The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street instead, which I've been looking forward to and I'm really pleased with it so far

Funnily enough Game of Thrones seems to be being used as comparison quite a lot, as in "could be as big as Game of Thrones." I would be disappointed if the tone differed significantly from the films, but not overly surprised. I think they'll just go down whatever route they think will make the most money to be honest. Christopher Tolkien's resignation as director of the estate just after the announcement wasn't exactly comforting either.