Hayley

^ I second that! You should definitely get the cover they show in the listing! Maybe they'll let you exchange it for the correct cover? I'm now going to go and look for the pretty covers myself, since your review made me want to read it

Thanks Athena The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis - I actually finished this a couple of days ago but I'm still not really sure what to say about it. I think the main emotion when I finished it was shock (actually that was probably my main emotion for the last quarter of the book). It didn't end how I expected it to. Not that that's a bad thing. Obviously, having been written by C.S. Lewis, the main positive is that it's wonderfully and uniquely written. There was one thing that bothered me a little in the plot but it requires a spoiler... Anyway, overall I did enjoy reading it, it was interesting and I'm glad I did read it but it wasn't my favourite in the series.

I went into a charity shop at the weekend and got three books (Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Strings of Murder by Oscar De Muriel and a hardback copy of The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton) for £3.50, they were all in excellent condition too so I was very happy with that

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I'll admit, originally I was just attracted by the very pretty cover of this book (this one http://www.bookdepository.com/Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/9780099554790 , there does seem to be about three different covers). When I found out it was set in the Victorian period (late Victorian though, I think it went from about 1870-1902) I had to read it. Victorian entertainment is something I find really interesting, particularly the way some entertainments would use new technology to try to make the magical seem real, which does actually relate well to the book. Honestly it isn't the most amazing piece of writing, there are times when some of the devices the author uses are a bit obvious and verging on cliché. Sometimes the actions and speech of the characters don't seem entirely fitting for the time period either but it didn't really matter that much, because the point of the book seems to be to encapsulate an atmosphere of magic, fantasy and dream, and it does that perfectly. From the first chapter you really do want to explore the circus, opening every tent is like discovering a magical secret, even finding out what treats the food stalls sell is interesting. The plot is also interesting but for me the atmosphere really made this book. So back to Narnia next for the final book, The Last Battle. I did (of course) get The Shepherd's Crown, the final Discworld novel but I haven't decided when to read it yet. I think I've picked it up and just read the dedication about three times. I'm considering re-reading all the other Tiffany Aching books first, it's been a while since I read those and I don't want to miss any references in the new book! I'm also aware that, although I'm very excited to read a new Discworld book, I'm going to be very sad when I finish it knowing there won't be any more. Then again, I might just get too excited and read it straight after The Last Battle, we'll see

Thank you Chrissy and Kylie I'm having the serious problem of 'so many books, not enough time' at the moment! I'd hoped to read at least 2 new books while I was on holiday recently but ended up being so busy doing other things I didn't even finish one! Now I'm home it's back to crazy work amounts for the next month so I'll just have to put up with it for a while. Oh well, on the positive side I'm enjoying the book I started reading on holiday, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I'm quite far through it so it shouldn't take me too much longer to finish, then I'm going back to Narnia

I saw this earlier and it made me laugh so, since I know there are a lot of other Discworld fans here, I had to share it... http://www.epicreads.com/blog/what-is-your-discworld-name/ I'm No'-As-Wee-As-Wee-Fergus-But-Smaller-Than-Big-Fergus-Fergus

While I'm happy none of our libraries have had to close this is still very sad news. It seems fiction is being massively undervalued here. Hopefully more libraries will take on the idea of donations.

I was really excited for this book because I loved To Kill a Mockingbird but I saw the spoiler mentioned above in the newspaper today and it's really put me off. On one hand I feel like I need to read it and know the whole story, but on the other hand I REALLY don't want it to ruin the first book. This is what I've read too. I thought it was interesting in one article I read they suggested Go Set A Watchman wasn't really a prequel at all but a first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird that was never meant to be published. I'll definitely be waiting for some reviews and thinking harder about reading the book now.

So I genuinely thought I had posted a review for Beautiful Ruins already... I think I might have closed the page without posting I enjoyed Beautiful Ruins a lot more than I thought. My biggest worry was that it would be a clichéd romance but it really wasn't, the romantic aspects were dealt with very well in my opinion. The narrative frequently flips back and forth between time periods, which was actually really interesting once I got used to it. You end up with a sort of double suspense, wondering both 'what's going to happen next' and 'what happened to bring us to this point?'. The only real negatives I had (apart from the cover... which I still don't like!) were completely personal preference, I can't really fault the book for them. First of all I think the book would be a lot more enjoyable to someone who loves film. I've never been particularly interested in films but clearly the author of this book is. The other was the use of real people (actors / actresses) as characters. It actually took me a while to realise they were using real characters, which is probably proof that you'd enjoy this more if you like films! The book is very emotionally driven and I'm not sure I really like the idea of making up such an intense fictional story about someone who is a real person... who didn't really do those things... it just feels a bit odd to me. But the two main (fictional) characters I really liked, they seemed interesting and genuine and the actual plot overall kept me hooked. Anyway... I just moved on to my next challenge book, which is from the sci-fi/fantasy bundle, with The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I have high hopes for this one since I know a few people on here have recommended the author and it is more 'my kind of book' anyway. It might take me a little bit longer to read though since I have a lot of work to get finished this month. Obviously I will still be reading at every available opportunity though

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - All the wonderful aspects of the previous Narnia books combined with far more exploration that previously seen and I loved that. Every stop on their journey is so individual and interesting. As an adult you do end up thinking about the moral significance of each island as well, but it still doesn't ruin the magic. I did think there was something slightly sad about this one, which is difficult to explain without including spoilers, but it's a sort of sweet, hopeful sadness. It definitely left me appreciating, again, what a great author C.S. Lewis was. I'm going to go back to my challenge now, probably with The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, but then I think I'll finish the Chronicles of Narnia. I don't really want to get to the end of them, it's been so nice discovering so much more about a world I loved as a kid. I might have to buy a new book to cheer myself up

Yeah it is Sousa, I just checked I think The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is also about Prince Caspian isn't it? I definitely think they're the kind of books that are worth re-reading as an adult. I loved reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe again. I think a lot of the enjoyment as an adult (apart from the nostalgia) is that with an adult perspective you can appreciate the quality of the writing and the historical relevance as well as the magic and the story. I decided to go back to Arthur Conan Doyle and read the two short stories The Disintegration Machine and When the World Screamed before carrying on with Narnia so... The Disintegration Machine - I was actually pretty tempted to give this three smileys. It's quite difficult to say why I liked it so much without any spoilers, so I will just say I loved the ending. It makes you think, and is a little controversial, but so perfect for the story. It really is extremely short too, I think it was about 50 pages, maybe less, so definitely worth reading. I would have liked it to be longer actually and find out more information about the machine's background, but maybe it wouldn't have had as much of an impact that way. When the World Screamed - This was my least favourite of the Professor Challenger stories. It's written from the point of view of a different character, who isn't in any of the other stories, which I didn't particularly like. The new character didn't really have much... well... character. In all the others the characters are very individual and memorable. I also found that, although this is a really short story, I did start to get a bit bored around 3/4 of the way through, which I don't think should happen in a short story. On the other hand the idea behind it was really interesting and the concept of a living world reminded me of Discworld. So bonus points for that

Thanks Athena, I've read a few of the Sherlock Holmes stories and really liked all of them, I think you'll like them I had read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child but none of the others. The ones I'm reading now are actually my sisters, we were talking about the books and she had bought the whole set a few years ago so she asked if I wanted to borrow them . It's really nice reading more about Narnia, I had no idea how far C.S. Lewis went into the history of the land. I actually finished the book yesterday so: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis - While I couldn't honestly say I liked it as much as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it was still a great book. The more of the series I read the more I see what a brilliant piece of fantasy writing it is as a whole. I love the diversity of fantasy (and folklore/ fairy tale) characters in the books and that really stood out in this one. There were a few new characters and they all fitted in perfectly. It's the kind of world where you put the book down and wish it could really exist! I was slightly embarrassed that I fully expected Caspian to be an adult in the book, based on the fact that (although I haven't actually watched the films) I'd seen a picture of 'Prince Caspian' in a film where he was at least 20 years old. I spent quite a few chapters wondering when it would skip ahead in time. At least it reminded me to never trust the film! . I'm not actually sure what I'm going to read next yet so I'll come back to that

I wish we had a national night of the library! It's great that you found so many good books to buy at the library sale, as well as books you wanted to loan! I really liked Stardust and loved the Lemony Snicket books. I also read the Darren Shan book 'Demon Thief' years ago, I can't remember much about it now but I know I liked it at the time. I also remember it was meant to have a glow in the dark cover... that never actually seemed to glow in the dark! The cover did look like the one you have, but it had a sticker on it saying that it glowed in the dark, maybe yours does! How lovely to have found your old books too! I don't have many books from when I was younger, a lot of them were given away or passed down to my nephew, but I love looking at the ones I do have and remembering the feeling of reading them back then.

Hi I particularly like fantasy too, who are your favourite authors?

Time for the first finished book of the thread! The Land of Mist by Arthur Conan Doyle - I enjoyed this book in quite a strange way compared to the others. The story itself wasn't as good, and I didn't feel like the characters had quite as much impact as they did in The Lost World, but from a historical perspective it was great! The book is really heavily influenced by Conan Doyle's interest in Spiritualism. I think the reason a lot of people don't like it is because you can tell when reading it that it was designed to instruct about Spiritualism, the story is just there to carry the message. But on the other hand, mainly because of this instructive tone, there are some really interesting insights into both science and religion in the Victorian period. There's even an appendix where Conan Doyle explains the true source of some of the events in the book. Obviously it's well known now that things like faking 'ghost' photographs were common at the time, but to get a view of those things from the perspective of someone who believed them to be as much of a scientific marvel (if not more) as anything being produced in medicine or engineering is just really interesting. Probably not that great if you're not interested in the historical aspect though I did discover though that there are two other short Professor Challenger Stories, The Disintegration Machine and When the World Screamed. I'll probably read these soon but for now I'm going to carry on reading the Chronicles of Narnia with the fourth book, Prince Caspian.

I'm very jealous of people pre-ordering the pip-boy edition of Fallout4! It really did look amazing at E3, I was very excited about building your own settlement... and having a dog . I've been playing the 'Fallout Shelter' app on my phone, which is really addictive but also really making me want to play a real Fallout! I thought Rise of the Tomb Raider looked great too, and Fable Legends, and Assassin's Creed Syndicate (very excited that it's set in Victorian London)... I think I need to start saving up now!

Thanks Athena and Frankie Every time I think I'm going to be really organised something happens and I end up stupidly busy! Kylie the last thing I read was Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (that was one of my challenge books though so it's in the other thread) and now I've just started reading The Land of Mist by Arthur Conan Doyle. I read The Lost World a while ago, and The Poison Belt last month so I think this is the last 'Professor Challenger' book I have to read. I have seen a few reviews where people say The Land of Mist is the worst of the three, but I really liked the others so I'm willing to take the chance I decided not to review The Poison Belt on here because I'd finished it before I started the thread but, in case anyone is interested, you can REALLY see an influence on more modern horror and sci-fi in it. It's only short but definitely interesting if you like those genres. I also just realised my ratings system doesn't have an option for not liking a book. I was obviously very optimistic that day! Maybe they can have this cute little thumbs down hopefully I won't have to use it often though!

Thanks Athena I'm going to try my next challenge book now which, as I've run out of classics, is back to 'bestsellers'. I've picked Beautiful Ruins... 'The story begins in 1962. Somewhere on a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian sea and views an apparition: a beautiful woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an American starlet, he soon learns, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away in Hollywood, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot searching for the woman he last saw at his hotel fifty years before.' Another one that I wouldn't really have picked up myself, I'm slightly worried that it seems mainly romance focused. On the other hand the blurb suggests a potential mystery element that seems intriguing. So fingers crossed for a pleasant surprise Edit: I also don't like the cover for this one... I know that shouldn't bother me, but it kind of does. I was going to post a picture but I forgot my flikr password... but this is it anyway http://www.bookdepository.com/Beautiful-Ruins-Jess-Walter/9780670922659 .

I've often wondered what the Shannara books are like. I didn't realise it was commonly criticised for its similarity to Lord of the Rings but I have to say that was my first impression too! I'm surprised at it being a 'mindless fun' kind of book though, I would have thought (probably because of the length) it was quite heavy going. Some of the elements (like the elfstones) would definitely be off-putting. But it seems worth another look as an easy read book

Since I've been reading so much outside of my challenge recently I decided I wanted a place to talk about my other books too! I have no hope it will be anywhere near as organised as some of the book blogs on here already though, hence the name I'm also going to keep it really informal... since I write about books formally all the time it's nice to just chat about them sometimes! I thought I'd go for a ratings system of smiley's. So... = It was ok = It was really good :smile: = It was amazing / I loved it I think that's everything to start with so please, come and join the chaos! The more book-related rambling the better!

I have to agree with Poppyshake, I love that kind of buffet! The host would definitely get bonus points for jelly in paper dishes

So I actually ended up reading all of the Peter Grant novels so far (my sister bought me the last two for my birthday) and I'm still really enjoying them, I'm so pleased I found that series. Looks like I will have to wait until November to read the next one but, on the positive side, at least there are more coming! I did actually start reading Zombie Apocalypse , but I decided today to make it the first book I am not going to finish. I can't say what page I got to because it has no page numbers but I gave it a good chance before deciding, I usually hate leaving books half read. I had a bad feeling from the first few pages, where the author was trying to set up the background of the story through an email sent after the event. It sounds like a good idea but it was done in a way that felt very forced. There was no subtlety to the way information was put across. The section was slow and boring and had no purpose other than to drop in chunks of information about a previous event. My second negative was actually in the layout, which I thought I would enjoy. Some of the sections are meant to be hand written letters, and in some cases the font is very difficult to read. I was going to take a picture to show you what I mean but don't have the connecting cable for my phone and laptop right now. An example would be that I had to spend a few seconds reading a word that looked exactly like 'dust' (even with the loop of the 'd'), before I realised it actually must say 'just'. The pace already wasn't great so being slowed down this way was even worse. Eventually I realised that I was literally reading it for the sake of reading it. I didn't care about the story or any of the characters and could happily go without knowing what happens at the end. But anyway, back to a more positive note, I feel like I've had really good reading motivation recently. I had a few books for my birthday and I'm looking forward to reading those in between my challenge books. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to read next so I'll have to update again once I've picked

I read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror recently and really enjoyed it. Jekyll and Hyde is a bit longer but the other two stories included ('Olalla' and 'The Body Snatcher') are really very short, and really good atmospheric horrors I also read a book called The Court Painter's Apprentice which had a psychological horror twist. I wouldn't say it's anywhere near as well written as the above if I'm honest but it was an easy read and it was interesting. I have a large print edition which is 178 pages long, I'd imagine normal print would be about half that. Good luck getting out of your readers block!

This made me laugh I won't be rushing to see the film but on the plus side seeing it mentioned did remind me to add the book to my to-read list!

The only film I've watched from the list was Galaxy Quest. I'm familiar with It's a Wonderful Life and Gattaca because we watched clips of both in school assemblies and I can definitely see the philosophical aspects of those but I'm not so sure about the Galaxy Quest argument. I do agree with Susan Haack when she writes that the film can be used to raise questions about the difference between the real and imaginary, as well as the difference between fiction and lies. But then it did make me think that if we follow that line of argument could we not say that every film, or every work of fiction in any medium for that matter, is equally a part of that philosophical question? Also, although it's been a long time since I saw the film, I feel like the importance of Galaxy Quest probably doesn't lie (no pun intended) in the question of fiction vs. lies, but in the ability of the ordinary to become extraordinary when the need arises. The characters in the film don't believe they can be of any use because they are 'only' actors, 'only' human but they push beyond their own expectations to achieve something they never thought was possible. I completely agree Ian, this is one of the greatest aspects of both sci-fi and fantasy