Hayley

Wow that's a lot of books in 3 months! What did you think of the Assassin's Creed books? I've thought about trying them before

It is a children's book, because it was written for children (well, specifically one child, Alice Liddell), but I think the fact it remains so appealing to adults signifies how good the book is. I loved it as a child and I still love it now! I didn't find it at all unsettling as a child though, I think Carroll ensures that you never believe Alice is really in danger. Even at times it should be obviously dangerous... like falling miles down a hole... Alice isn't concerned about it and therefore neither are you. At the one point Alice could potentially be in actual danger ("Off with her head!"), she is safely transported back out of Wonderland. I think that the Alice books are based around the idea of a child having to deal with a world full of stupid rules that seem to be nonsense, but which she is expected to follow anyway. And I think that's a theme we can all relate to and laugh about, as children but also as adults, now that we've learnt the rules and how to follow them, sometimes you still have to stop and think "wow, that rule is stupid, why would you have to do that!?". And who wouldn't want to visit a place called 'Wonderland' anyway?

I thought I'd share this offer I got an email about earlier. I usually use this website for pc game bundles and they're really good. You can choose how much money you want to give to the author and how much to donate you charity. I can't actually use this offer because I don't have an e-reader but I know a lot of you do so it might be worth a look You get the 4 books for whatever price you choose (literally anything). If you pay more then the average (which it says is $10.32 for this bundle... I think that's about £7) you get 6 books, and if you pay more than $15 you also get the audiobook of 'Homeland', narrated by Wil Wheaton. Link below... https://www.humblebundle.com/?utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ae76efeb23-newsletter_eBooks3&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_990b1b6399-ae76efeb23-96846045

Thanks Alexi and Chrissy I haven't finished the book yet (nowhere near) but I thought I'd just pop back to the thread to say it's not going slowly because I'm not enjoying the book, I've just had a lot of work to do this week, which involved a lot of reading other stuff. There's only so may words my brain can cope with in one day! I'm enjoying the book so far though. Although I'm only up to chapter 4, it's looking promising

I liked Gulliver's Travels, and pretty much everything I've read by Dickens and Terry Pratchett

Sounds really interesting, definitely going on the wish list!

I haven't seen it, but from what I know about it I would agree with you that it seems more disaster film than sci-fi. Sci-fi is usually more of a futuristic fantasy, Gravity (as far as I know) is just about a normal modern astronaut.

To be honest I pretty much want it because I like the other elder scrolls games too. I never play mmo's. I know it might sound a bit weird but I think having other real players in the game stops it from being really immersive. I've just played it pretty much as though it's single player. I want to know the end of the story now too . Did anybody follow the games BAFTA's yesterday? Here's the winners if you missed it http://awards.bafta.org/award/2014/games. I'm quite surprised Tomb Raider didn't get anything, and that call of duty doesn't seem to have even made it to the list of best multiplayer . I found another book related game too. A point and click 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', which I started a few days ago. Personally I'm finding it very annoying to play, and far less like the book than I expected. In fact, apart from the idea of going down a volcano to the centre of the earth where dinosaurs still exist, it's nothing remotely like the book. It also makes you run backwards and forwards a lot. Even when you saw something at the beginning that was clearly going to be useful, you have to play another half an hour to trigger a conversation to get the ability to pick it up, then run all the way back to get it, and run back to where you got to again. And in some cases if you do something in the wrong order (even though the order shouldn't logically matter), or leave a screen without picking something up, the game breaks or becomes unwinnable. After about an hour it feels a bit like . But if you want a good test of your patience, definitely try it

Thank you Athena I've decided to go for The Light Between Oceans, not for any particular reason really, I just read the blurbs of both books and felt like reading this one. Here's what the blurb says... 'A boat washes up on the shore of a remote lighthouse keeper's island. It holds a dead man and a crying baby. The only two islanders, Tom and his wife Izzy, are about to make a devastating decision. They break the rules and follow their hearts. What happens next will break yours.' So I thought that sounded pretty intriguing! It reminds me a bit of a book I finished recently, Half Broken Things, although that took more of a psychological, slightly creepy angle. The front of the book says 'This is a story about right and wrong and how sometimes they look the same...'. I think that's an interesting issue to explore so I'm hoping this book will do it well .

I thought it would be, but they're trying a lot out on the new consoles now so you never know! Star Citizen does also look amazing. Unfortunately it also looks like it might make my laptop explode if I try to run it I bought Thief for my boyfriend for Valentine's day (not at all because I also wanted it myself... ) I've watched him play a bit and graphically it looks incredible, it's actually really difficult too, I think it will take a lot of patience! I am looking forward to ground zeros, I'm happy they lowered the price for it too! I just hope this and Phantom Pain will be as good as the others, there's a lot to live up to! From the trailer it looks like Kojima has gone quite controversial on this one. Less than a month for Elder Scrolls Online too! I still wish it wasn't monthly subscription, but at least it's been reduced to about £8, which I think is pretty good. I don't usually play mmo's, but the beta got me addicted . Will anybody be getting it?

I used to really love Faerie Wars and The Purple Emperor by Herbie Brennan (actually I think there might be more books in this series now, but this was all there was when I read them). I've only ever met one other person who's read, or even heard of it.

I've just finished the first book of my challenge, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and it was brilliant. I genuinely never would have picked it up in a shop just out of interest, it's not a genre I'm particularly interested in, or set in a time period I would usually enjoy. But it was really, really good. There's such an air of mystery, of things not quite understood or fully revealed, that you feel the need to really absorb every sentence, to try and work out exactly what is happening. There are even quite long sections of the book where nothing exciting is happening at all, but you still feel that these mundane things are important in some way, it's still gripping. There are a few surprising twists along the way too which are so cleverly done, it is an amazing piece of writing. Also the introduction to the penguin modern classics edition (written by William Boyd) is a really good addition. Although the ending of the book isn't in any way misleading, the literal facts are easy to understand, the introduction (not to be read until after the book) explains some fine details which I didn't pick up on myself, and which make the ending of the book just fit perfectly. I'm going to choose my next book tomorrow, but I think it's between The Light Between Oceans and Paper Towns, based on Chaliepud's recommendation

I didn't watch the whole series but I did watch a couple of episodes with my sister and it seemed pretty good, the era seemed well represented, there were a few obvious references to things that were becoming popular at the time for example. I couldn't say for definite, since I only watched it a couple of times, but it seemed to be more focused on romance than anything else, which did put me off a little bit. On the topic of Victorian series', did anybody watch Ripper Street and is that any good? (and Vodkafan, did you watch Victorian Pharmacy? Think it was done by the same people who did Victorian Farm, it was really interesting too)

I'm pretty sure it means they can charge you extra if they need to (if customs do apply extra charges), but they might not need to. To be honest I never order from anywhere that has this warning, just in case! Do you live in the UK? I just had a look on amazon and you can get a new copy of that book for £13.24 plus £2.80 delivery, from a UK seller. I think this would end up about the same price, considering delivery, wouldn't it?

Yay that sounds promising I did like the look of Paper Towns as soon as it came actually, I might make that my second read. I thought that too, but then I suppose it is a good way of getting you to buy the rest of the series! Did you enjoy the series Michelle? Thank you As it comes so highly recommended, I decided to start with The Spy That Came In From The Cold. I've only read a few pages so far so I cant say much about it, but I do want to keep reading and find out what happens next so that has to be a good sign! Blurb for anybody interested.... The Spy Who Came In From The Cold: Alec Leamas is tired. It's the 1960's, he's been out in the cold for years, spying in the shadow of the Berlin Wall for his British masters. Now Control wants to bring him in at last - but only after one final assignment. He must travel deep into the heart of Communist Germany and betray his country, a job that he will do with his usual cynical professionalism. But when George Smiley tries to help a young woman Leamas has befriended, it may prove the worst thing he could ever have done. I'll probably have limited reading time over the next couple of weeks. I'm supposed to be going to Pembrokeshire for a few days (so really hoping the flooding isn't too bad by then!), and then the week after I have a pretty big chunk of work to finish. So many books, not enough time!

Thank you! I was tempted to read it straight away, but since it's the only book I actually wanted to buy anyway it felt a bit like cheating, so I'm going to try and save it for a while Thanks Janet, I don't know why I didn't think of pasting it from word, seems obvious now! Athena, you have quite a lot of these book on your TBR! It's good motivation to hear positive things about them! I didn't even notice that The Daylight War was the third in a series, I'd definitely appreciate you letting me know if it can be read on its own I think I'm going to start with either Storm Front or The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, since it's crime and thriller month! I'll see which one I feel most like reading later on...

Athena, I know your picture post was ages ago but I missed it and wanted to say I love the fact you have a companion cube and a chocobo on your bookshelves, two of my favourites . Also my sister collects giant microbes too, I've never met anybody else who has them Everybody has really impressive bookshelves, mine now feel very boring! I do have 2 small shelves with all my 'special' books on (either old or signed) that I love, but I might have to think of something to make the others more interesting!

Basically I've decided I should start trying more types of books. Most of the time I just stick to authors I read all the time (like Terry Pratchett...) but a lot of the time when I do try other kinds of books, I really like them. So, I'd read about the 'book bundles' offer WhSmith were doing on here, and when I noticed they were on sale I thought it would be a good opportunity to make myself try books I wouldn't necessarily have picked up otherwise. I got a Classics bundle, a Sci-fi and Fantasy bundle and a best selling fiction bundle. The challenge I'm setting myself is to at least try every book that came, even if it's one I think I really won't like, because you never know (and I think I owe it to my poor post man, those boxes were heavy!) Here are the books... Best Selling Fiction: Hilary Mantel - Fludd M.L. Stedman - The Light Between Oceans Ian Banks - The Bridge Paul Murray - Skippy Dies Jess Walter - Beautiful Ruins (out of all the books this is probably the one I'd be least likely to pick for myself) John Green - Paper Towns Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London Joanne Harris - Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé (the 'e' should have an accent, [which I have added - Janet ] I couldn't work out how to do it on here!) Stephen King - The Shining (I'm thinking don't read this one before bed... ) Corban Addison - A Walk Across the Sun Sci-Fi and Fantasy: Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Four (I was so exited this was in there, I've wanted it for ages! ) Peter V. Brett - The Daylight War Stephen Jones - Zombie Apocalypse Joe Abercrombie - The Blade Itself Jim Butcher - Storm Front Multiple Authors - Songs of the Dying Earth (not sure whether I'll understand all these since they're a tribute to Jack Vance and I haven't actually read any of his books...) James Herbert - The Fog Ian M. Banks - Look to Windward Stephen King - Cell (I also got 'The Return of the King' in this bundle but I'm not including it because I want to finish the first two books first!) Classics: Kurt Vonnegut- Cat's Cradle John Le Carre - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird Robert Lewis Stevenson - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Horror (I've actually read Jekyll and Hyde but not the other stories included) (I'd already read most of what I got in the classics bundle, so it's a bit thin compared to the others... I did get some nice editions though that I wanted to keep. In case anybody's interested the other books in the bundle were Bram Stoker's Dracula, George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Jane Austen's Emma, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). Now I just have to work out where to start... ideas anyone?

I've only read 2 so far! Although I don't count the factual books I'm reading for uni, since a lot of the time I only need to read certain sections, so that's my excuse (Just realised as I posted that I haven't changed my 'reading now' status since the beginning of January.... oops! )

deb I absolutely love the nineteenth century, it was an incredible time for literature (even if they did go off the epistolary novel a bit ). If you like collections of real letters I would recommend the letters of Lewis Carroll (or his diaries actually), he met so many interesting people during his life and has such an interesting personality, they're really addictive!

I've read a few of his short stories but none of his poetry, I do really want to read The Raven though. I have it in an anthology of American literature, so eventually I will get around to reading it!

Hello, I like your profile picture, it's very cute!

True that everybody does die eventually, but not true (in my opinion anyway) that what we do during our lives is irrelevant, and making good (or bad) choices makes no difference to the world. I thought the social criticism generally was very good in a lot of the book, even at times when it made you feel almost uncomfortable. But I just think this was a really bad message to end on. I'll have a look at Gateway though. I got the impression Pohl really is a good writer, so I would like to try something else by him. Thanks for the suggestion

A couple more I can think of are Lady Susan by Jane Austen and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Speaking of Frankenstein, isn't that an epistolary novel too? It's been a pretty long time since I read it but I'm sure it's at least partly made up of diaries.

I just finished this book and I really can't decide whether I actually liked it or not. My only real thought when I put it down was 'wow, that was depressing'. And in a way it should be depressing. The book is basically about the flaws of human nature. But I think it takes this too far. Even where there is goodness, the book seems to suggest it makes no difference. At one point Pohl literally states that no matter what you do, in the end you just die. (I should probably point out this isn't a spoiler, it's not about characters dying, it's meant in a general way). The other thing I disliked about the book was the amount of attention given to sex. It was becoming ridiculous. It really seemed like it was just there for the sake of it most of the time, it had no real plot value and often didn't even seem like realistic behaviour. But then it did have it's good points. And when they were good they were very good. There were certain moments that really tugged at your heart, you almost feel personally guilty for the way humans behave at times. There's part of you that thinks 'yeah that was stupid, but we really would do that, I can see it happening'. The non-human creatures are believable and the way future politics is represented is quite clever too (although there were certain aspects I thought didn't necessarily make sense). It certainly makes you think. Mostly about the way people behave towards each other, how we react to morally questionable situations, and generally how we can be incredibly stupid. I really don't know on this one. I can at least say that, having read this, I would definitely be willing to try another of Pohl's books. I just hope some of them are a bit less pessimistic!