Hayley

Arthur Conan Doyle's other 'Professor Challenger' stories too, The Poison Belt, When the World Screamed and The Disintegration Machine are really interesting. The Lost World is my favourite though. Edward Bulwer Lytton wrote a science fiction book called The Coming Race in the 1870s. He has another one called A Strange Story but I can't remember if it's got any science fiction elements, it's mostly about belief in spiritualism.

I forgot in my last post that I needed to update my acquired list at the start of the thread, which I've done now to include Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine. It was a random buy from The Works as it was on sale, had a very pretty cover and is about books . It was also my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I got a really beautiful new hardback edition of Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men from my sister and a book from a friend called What Would Alice Do? which is a pretty little book of advice based on Alice in Wonderland quotes. I haven't added these last two to my acquired list since one is a book I've already read (although I do definitely intend to re-read it) and the second isn't the kind of book you sit and read from cover to cover, I think the idea is you open it randomly for an inspirational Alice quote. Since my last post I also finished reading A Symphony of Echoes but I need to put Fragile Things up first before I forget! Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman Comment: A brilliant mix I think the best thing about this book (and probably about Gaiman in general, actually) is you never know what you're going to get. It's writing that always feel original and different. As soon as I started the first short story (an attempt at combining Sherlock Holmes with the style of H.P. Lovecraft) I knew it was going to be interesting. There was only one story in the collection that I didn't like and that was 'The Problem of Susan' which is set after the events at the end of The Chronicles of Narnia. The following spoiler is actually for the Narnia books rather than the Gaiman story... Apart from that one though I really enjoyed this collection, although it did deal with some quite disturbing themes sometimes the characters are brilliant, the settings often have that dreamy edge-of-fantasy quality that I love and I was pleased to find a little American Gods story, which was very good.

I can't believe it's been three weeks since my last update! I did at least get some more time to read in those three weeks though and I've finished Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash and Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman since my last post. I literally only finished Fragile Things about an hour ago though so I'll just do a quick review of Batavia's Graveyard for now... Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash Comment: Intense If I didn't know this book was about a true story I probably would have thought it was too far fetched! As well as the dramatic story of shipwreck and mutiny some of the characters have entire backstories which are equally eventful. There were a couple of sections of historical detail where I just felt like I wanted to get back to the story but the detail was actually interesting, it's just that you can't help but wonder what happens next in such a seemingly unlikely series of events. The style of the book was actually not what I expected at all. I don't really know why but I thought it would be a sort of standard third person novel format, based on a true story but embellished with details, such as the speech, which couldn't be known. It's actually more of a history book with no real dialogue and is incredibly accurate (the author gives all the sources for his information in detailed notes.) Dash is a good story teller and the book feels action-driven and compelling to read, particularly the last few chapters. I think the thing that stood out most for me and which I ended up thinking about long after I put it down was the very deeply psychological questions it raised. I had quite contrasting emotions about who I should feel sorry for. I would recommend it, but definitely not as a light read!

I think The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is set in the late 1800's in America but I've never read it so I'm not sure if it fits your plot description. Sorry if that's useless but thought I'd mention it just in case

I've never thought about it before but I don't think I've ever seen a book with a character named Hayley either! Interested to see if you find one now

Aww they're such lovely pictures! Very cute cat and very pretty tree, I love those (is it called a magnolia?) and blossom trees in Spring

That is a really difficult one! I definitely wouldn't put J.K. Rowling in there, even though I've read all the Harry Potter books and really loved them when I was younger. There are so many people who could be in there! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle maybe, anything related to Sherlock Holmes gets a huge following even today. Wilkie Collins, for writing what most people consider the first detective novel in the English language (full length novel anyway). J.R.R. Tolkien for his huge influence in fantasy. Arguably Terry Pratchett as a more modern choice, although maybe I am slightly biased, he did break a few records and was knighted for services to literature. And then there's the children's authors, like Lewis Carroll! I think @willoyd's list of Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Woolf and Chaucer is a good choice though. I think a lot of people would agree with that. It covers a long time range and all they were all highly influential. It is ridiculously hard to choose 5 though!

@Athena I can see all the emoticons in tests 1 and 2. The only ones I can't see on this page are the last 2 on your post at the top of the page. And thank you so much for fixing my thread when you're already so busy! I just edited my post, took the missing smiley out and put it in again and I think it's working now! I've also been having the Internal Server error, quite a few times today and last night, I'll email you the details Michelle.

After an incredibly busy couple of weeks I actually can't wait to get back to reading properly again! I've updated my recently acquired list to include the first five books in the Railway Detective series (which I found as a boxed set on sale in The Works for £4) and Francis Hardinge's The Lie Tree (found in a Marie Curie charity shop for £1), both of which I'm pretty excited about! Time for the first review with the new update so I hope this ends up looking ok! Bedford Square by Anne Perry Comment: A very Victorian detective novel This book isn't just set in the Victorian period, it's very clearly inspired by Victorian detective novels in the focus of the plot and the style used, which I really liked. I think Victorians would have liked it too, it's packed full of social scandal, violent death and shocking twists, as most good detective novels were I think it's possible, but very difficult to solve crime before the reveal, which I know is a feature a lot of people do like, I was very shocked at the end though! There were a couple of small moments where I thought 'is that really what someone would have done in that time?' but not enough to really change by opinion of the book in general. It's a good classic-style detective novel and I'll definitely be keeping a look out for others in the Inspector Pitt series (even though I really need to stop buying books...)

I really like the new look! It's very clean and neat looking I do seem to be having a bit of an issue seeing emoticons, although not all of them, which is a bit odd. I can see the smileys in the last 3 posts for example, but in Frankie's post at the top of the previous page I can just see one of those little mountain pictures you get when you have an image problem. If I scroll over it I can see ':)' so I know it is a smiley. There are lots of these little pictures on my reading thread too, but they were all put there before the update so maybe that would explain them. I tried opening the site on chrome and microsoft edge and got the same problem so I don't think it's a browser issue. It's not a massive problem, obviously, but if anybody has any ideas, they'd be much appreciated

I loved the first one but I actually think there are things about the second one that made it even better, I would definitely recommend it! And I think it's the 'plock!' it's just so cute Thanks, it really is, I can't wait to get the next one too! I was also trying to be good, but I just looked at my 'acquired 2017' list and I am not doing well so far this year . Peter Grant and Thursday Next are worth it though That's a good holiday tradition! I always find it hard to decide which books to bring on holiday but I don't think I could resist long enough save the next book in a series for it! I really loved the first one, I hope you like it! I've just updated my 'acquired 2017' list to include Bedford Square by Anne Perry, Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash (both swapped with vodkafan - thank you again if you're reading this ), The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley and His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (I realised I had some money on my Waterstones card, and these were on offer!) I'm reading Bedford Square at the moment and really enjoying it. I love a good mystery and anything set in the Victorian period so this is definitely my kind of book!

Oops I really got behind on here! Two very quick reviews, to catch up... The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch Comment: Another great part of the story I already knew this was going to be good before I started, based on the previous books in the series. This one really gave the impression that it was building up to something a little different, expanding the world that's established already with some interesting new characters and concepts and introducing a slightly more political theme. There wasn't quite as much of a basis in folklore and history in this one, which I did think was a shame since I really like that personally, although there was plenty going on to make up for it (and definitely some revelations that I wasn't expecting!). It was nice to see characters from the previous books being worked into the story too, it added to the feeling that this is a well-established and thought out world, but it's still one where literally anything could happen, since it is magic, and that's always exciting Now I don't want to have to wait for the next one! Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde Comment: I want a pet dodo and a job in jurisfiction! I love this crazy world. It's so brilliantly imaginative and so cleverly put together. But even through all the craziness and humour you still really feel for the characters and there are so many likeable characters (and some you really, really hate)! I'm trying to work out how much I can say without any spoilers but I absolutely love the idea of jurisfiction in this book. It's like every book-lovers dream world where you can literally be inside any book you want. What's not to love!? It also has a really gripping plot with some outcomes that I'm pretty certain nobody could possibly guess! I can't wait to get the next one, I'm so glad it's already out

I forgot to say in my last post that I bought some new books while I was in Hay-on-Wye at the weekend! There's so many bookshops there, it was impossible not to get at least one . I had some money that somebody gave me for Christmas and I still hadn't used so I bought a lovely Folio set of the Brontë novels with it! The books are silk bound, purple on the spine and then a sort of teal colour on the front and back, they're so pretty! I've already read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre so I didn't add them to my acquired list but I have added Shirley, The Professor, Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Vilette, all of which I'm excited to read . I also realised, when I went to add those books to my acquired 2017 list that I had missed some books out of my shelf list at the start of the year. I seem to have just got halfway across a shelf and forgotten to do the rest . They're all added now anyway, mostly Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells. I'm just over half way through The Hanging Tree now and it's not disappointing! Part of me really doesn't want to finish it because I know I'll have to wait ages for the next one but the bigger part doesn't want to put it down.

Oh yes I remember now! Thanks . I was thinking . I would agree with your deep and meaningful thoughts anyway, I think it absolutely works as a warning against corruption and fanaticism in organised religion. I think it's going to be particularly interesting to see the second two stories in this new trilogy and find out what has happened after the events of The Amber Spyglass!

We put fat balls out for the birds in my garden last year and ended up with a family of starlings all over the table and chairs. It was very cute seeing the mom putting the food into all the upturned beaks but we went through a LOT of fat balls . I'm glad to see you liked the later Dresden Files books, I'm nowhere near the twelfth yet but it's nice to know I'm in for some good ones when I do get there! I can't wait to read the short stories either. I wish I didn't have to wait so long!

So, how often does this book fair happen?? That was extremely good value, you definitely shouldn't feel guilty I've read The Resurrectionist and found it a bit strange to be honest but I do think it's worth trying, it's quite unique. Without giving away any spoilers, there's a very interesting twist at the end!

Thank you Athena! I hope you'll enjoy the book when you do get to it. There were definitely parts that had me hooked. Based on those comments I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy the second one though . I did think in the first book that the character's personalities seemed a little bit unpredictable. I might give the second one a try if I come across it in the future because part of me does still want to find out more about the secret of the book but, like I said, I won't be rushing out to buy it! I finished this a few days ago so slightly late review: Written in Bone by Simon Beckett Comment: Gripping and Shocking I only realised when I added this book to Goodreads that it's actually the second in a series but it definitely works as a standalone novel. I think there might be a couple of facts in this book that spoil the ending of the previous one though, just to warn those who might want to read them. I really enjoyed reading this book. Some of it was quite disturbingly gruesome but it was always fitting and it added to the urgency as four men try to find the murderer on an island that's been completely cut off by a storm. At first I thought this sounded a bit cheesy in a 'well isn't that convenient' sort of way but it really doesn't feel like that when you're reading, the writing makes the whole thing very believable. The twists are extremely clever and although I don't think it would have been impossible to work out who the murderer was in hindsight, I don't think many people would get it before it's revealed. I changed my mind so many times about who I thought it was! I really liked the main character too and found him very believable. I think I liked that there was nothing particularly special about him or his abilities but that he was just a normal person doing his job. I would definitely read the next one at some point.

What a great story! Both for the teenage author and for you finding that book!

I know it's probably going to be a really long time until publication but I'm so excited already knowing there's a sequel

These all sound really good, thank you

Oh ok, thank you . I think I'll need to re-read the original three before The Book of Dust because I honestly didn't even remember

It's been a long time since I read the original books but I loved them so I was really excited to see this news! This might make me sound really stupid but what was it about the last one that was anti-religious? I really can't remember it in that much detail but it was only a couple of years after reading them that I heard about how some people were complaining about the anti-religious nature of the books. I had always read it as a more political anti-corruption message and I never really got it. Particularly since...

Ooooh both good to know! I'm looking forward to this book a lot more since I mentioned it on here A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Comment: Great idea but many flaws I'm a little on the fence about this book. There is a lot going on and while I got really wrapped up in some threads of the story there were others I was really unimpressed with. There are two main plots to follow. One is about a mysterious magic book (the one I liked) and the other is a romance which, in my opinion, was far too unbelievable (yes, more so than the magic book ) and took away from characters I would otherwise have liked. There are also very clear themes of sexism and racism in the book. The way it dealt with the racism issue wasn't too bad but some of the sexism comments made me cringe. It felt like the author was trying far too hard to point out that she agreed with gender equality at times when the story was getting a bit sketchy on the subject. On the other hand I really liked the settings, the magic was interesting, there's lots of books involved which is always a good thing and the mystery did keep me hooked. I am considering buying the next book, because I do want to find out how this mystery turns out. Ultimately this was a very easy read with interesting aspects and a good mystery but it had a lot holding me back from loving it too. I have one more borrowed book left to read, Written in Bone by Simon Beckett. It looks like it should be quite good but I also can't wait to finish it because I've been waiting to read Ben Aaronovitch's The Hanging Tree for ages and it is definitely next on the list

I saw a Jack Vance book in my local Oxfam a few weeks ago but I can't remember what it was now! I remembered him being mentioned on here but it was about the third book in a series so I didn't get it. I'll keep a look out to see if they put any more in there though Have you read Songs of the Dying Earth? If you haven't, it's a book of 'stories in honour of Jack Vance' by a lot of different authors and I'd be happy to send it to you. It came in the book bundle I got a couple of years ago but I've never read a Jack Vance novel and this is clearly for people very familiar with his work.

Thanks Athena! Oooh there's a sequel!? Glad to hear you liked it so much, I'm happy I finally picked it up now! Second review of the year time Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov - Edited by Robert Chandler Comment: Brilliantly Assembled I know my comment for this might seem a strange one but the thing that really stood out to me while reading this book is the way it's put together. I knew from the blurb that the magic tales included are a mixture of original oral tales collected by folklorists and reworkings of other oral tales by prominent Russian authors. Until I started reading though I didn't realise that the tales are organised by date, taking you from the earliest collected oral tales through to the early twentieth-century and on to the soviet period. This really makes you feel like you can understand the way in which the tales progressed and changed through time. As well as this the stories are divided into sections by author and each author has a concise and interesting little biography, letting you know the context in which the tales were written and the potential influences behind them. There's a great range of authors too, about 15 in total, all with such incredible life stories and different styles. The tales themselves were very good too with some really interesting imagery and moral messages. My favourites were probably the ones related to the 'Mistress of the Copper Mountain' with her underground world where even the grass and trees are carved from coloured stone. This book would be brilliant for anybody interested in the history of folklore and fairy tale, anyone interested in Russian literature or even anyone who wants some interesting short stories. I would definitely recommend I started reading A Discovery of Witches a couple of days ago. Part of me is a little bit worried it might turn into a cheesy romance. So far it's mostly about books though so it's not going too badly