Alexi

Thanks Kylie! I plan to watch the movie at some point but maybe I should go and see the play instead. I have every confidence your show will be much better than the others you see

I finished A People's History of the United States which was fascinating and a little disturbing. I then watched the Republican debate. Not recommended in the same weekend!! Now starting The Thirty Nine Steps. Bit nervous about this as seen VERY mixed reviews but at least it's short if I don't like it

I like Willoyd's idea of reading 1001 from the combined list, so there are 300 that I don't have to touch. The English Counties and US States lists are really helping me knock a few off and I've read so few that there are loads on the list o actively want to read before I have to contemplate those I haven't heard of or don't really fancy.

Result!

I'm now on 60 read from the combined list of books/fiction books/novels/whatever you should read before you die. In 2015 I crossed off 10: The Time Machine by HG Wells Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Tinker, tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carre Middlemarch by George Eliot Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Wild Swans by Jung Chang Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga I'm trying to knock off 10 a year so I feel I'm making some, if slow, progress

Those are my chapters too but in a slightly different order?! I'm halfway through - reading alongside a US history tome - and thoroughly enjoying so far!

Slytherin for me. Really not sure how to take that one!

So sorry Anna - I totally misread your post! I should have known you wouldn't spoil

Having not read the book I would guess so! Unless it's mentioned within the first few pages.... As I said not read it. It's on my TBR though. I will have to read Don't Let Me Go I think as it comes so recommended Anna - In Cold Blood was fantastic, much stronger than Breakfast at Tiffany's in my opinion. I've got quite a few of the US states challenge and English Counties on my TBR so hope to be better read by the end of the year

I also bought it in that deal Janet! Glad you're loving it, that normally means I will too

I've finished Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde (it was alright, but not a lot more), one of her weaker ones maybe? It was due back at the library so I took a break from A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn which I will now return to. It's amazing but what a tome! I will of course be reading Just William alongside it

I intend to read this at some point in 2016 so good to see such a positive review!

So sorry I am so late Frankie, but I just wanted to wish you a massive congratulations on the new job It sounds fantastic!

Sounds right up my street that. Great review Brian, another for my growing wish list!

I really loved the book and loathed the film from memory - although like the others it's been years since I read or saw it! Whatever the pros and cons of each ending, WHY change it? If you don't like the book, write an original film screenplay, don't change the ending. That makes it A DIFFERENT STORY ENTIRELY. /pet peeve

Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde Synopsis: For five years Pearl has managed to keep the past from catching up to her and her bright, frail five-year-old son. Life has given her every reason to mistrust people, but circumstances force her to trust her neighbor Mitch with watching Leonard while she goes off to work. Then one day Pearl drops her son off…and never returns. They are an unlikely pair: Mitch is a young, unattached business owner, and Leonard is a precocious, five-year-old boy. But together they must find a way to move forward in the wake of Pearl’s unexplained disappearance. Their bond as parent and child shifts and endures, even as Mitch must eventually surrender Leonard to a two-parent home. Is it possible to love the people who can’t always be there for us? The answers will surprise and move you. As their lives unfold, profound questions emerge about the nature of love and family. (Fro Goodreads) Thoughts: This is the second of the author's works I have read and it was by far the weaker of the two. The chapters are narrated by Pearl, Leonard and Mitch in turn and encompass thirty years of their lives, focusing especially post Pearl's disappearance, and whether it is possible for Leonard to still love his Mother who is no longer there, how that love is different from his love for Mitch, etc etc. A quick read, this didn't match up to the author's previous work, which was very deep and emotional. This centred more on the magical nature of love and faith, rather than confronting the issues head on - and I really felt she could have done here. Pearl is only 13 when she had Leonard, to a much, much older man clearly therefore committing a crime, raising Leonard by herself, her Mother is a drug addict - what happened to her by the way? - and her other adult role model is a prostitute. So much to go at and yet instead we have Leonard struggling with this 'forever love'. Maybe I'm too cynical, maybe I just didn't get it. I liked it, but it was nothing special and had little of the emotional pull of her other book, When I Found You. I will give her another go and hope this is the exception. I was going to rate this a 3, but that seems generous after this review! It passed the time ok and it wasn't a chore to read - and I did like the characters so I shall stick with 3/5 (I liked it)

A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam Synopsis: As young widow Rehana Haque awakes one March morning, she might be forgiven for feeling happy. Her children are almost grown, the city is buzzing with excitement after recent elections. Change is in the air. But no one can foresee what will happen in the days and months that follow. For this is East Pakistan in 1971, a country on the brink of war. And this family's life is about to change forever. Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence, 'A Golden Age' is a story of passion and revolution, of hope, faith, and unexpected heroism. In the chaos of this era, everyone must make choices. And as she struggles to keep her family safe, Rehana will be forced to face a heartbreaking dilemma. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: This has been sitting on my TBR since 2011 and as part of my resolution to read more 'pre-2014' books, I picked it up early in the year. It counts for Bangladesh in my World Challenge. Set in the Bangladesh War of Independence, it was certainly perfect for that challenge. Told through the eyes of single mother Rehana, who is trying to raise her two headstrong children through war, we see the country's turmoil. Both her children get heavily involved with the war, while her family who live in West Pakistan (now Pakistan) are supporters of the Punjabi army who are massacring Bengalis. We experience the anguish, the horror and devastation through the eyes of Rehana, and even though Anam doesn't do graphic descriptions we do feel that horror of war. So far, so good. What let this down for me was a simple disconnect with the main characters. I did feel I got some (meagre) understanding of what the country was like in 1971 and t was eye-opening, yet I struggled to connect with the main characters on a deeper level than those on the periphery. As a result, I struggled a little with the ending, which concerned them individually rather than a country as a whole. I'm glad I read this and I enjoyed it, but there was something missing to stop it from being graded higher. 3.5/5 ( I liked it)

Reviews, reviews, reviews... Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie Synopsis: Was it a misstep that sent a handsome stranger plummeting to his death from a cliff? Or something more sinister? Fun-loving adventurers Bobby Jones and Frances Derwent's suspicions are certainly roused--especially since the man's dying words were so peculiar: Why didn't they ask Evans? Bobby and Frances would love to know. Unfortunately, asking the wrong people has sent the amateur sleuths running for their lives--on a wild and deadly pursuit to discover who Evans is, what it was he wasn't asked, and why the mysterious inquiry has put their own lives in mortal danger... (From Goodreads) Thoughts: Ah, Agatha, what a joy you truly are. I really enjoyed this one, even though it isn't one of her most-loved. This isn't Marple or Poirot, it is two amateur sleuths and Christie has great fun with this - they are wonderfully oblivious, distrust alibis and behave exactly as if they are 'playing detective'. Wonderful. They do have a 90s horror flick tendency to deliberately wander into overly stupid situations the reader can see from a mile off but that is all part of the charm, and the wit between the two is great. Christie has fun with her reader here as well - I was fairly sure I had the solution from early on, only to have my poor hopes dashed 3/4 through and everything then turned around again to show I was spot on - although typically the details were a little muddled until Christie sorted the ends out. Really easy, enjoyable stuff as ever from the Queen. 4/5 ( I really enjoyed it)

Willoyd has tempted me into another challenge (!) The US States challenge goes alongside the English Counties Challenge nicely, and I am ashamed to say I have only read 7 so far so it seemed a must to add to it. (Shamelessly stealing Willoyd's list!) I have added this to the start of my log to keep up-to-date progress, but here is my status as of January 2016. Books in RED are ones I have read. 01. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee (Alabama) 02. White Fang - Jack London (Alaska) 03. The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver (Arizona) 04. True Grit - Charles Portis (Arkansas) 05. East of Eden - John Steinbeck (California) 06. Plainsong - Kent Haruf (Colorado) 07. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates (Connecticut) 08. The Saint of Lost Things - Christopher Castellani (Delaware) 09. To Have and Have Not - Ernest Hemingway (Florida) 10. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell (Georgia) 11. From Here To Eternity - James Jones (Hawaii) 12. Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (Idaho) 13. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow (Illinois) 14. The Magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington (Indiana) 15. A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley (Iowa) 16. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (Kansas) 17. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe (Kentucky) 18: Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice (Louisiana) 19. The Cider House Rules - John Irving (Maine) 20. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (Maryland) 21: Walden - Henry David Thoreau (Massachusetts) 22. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (Michigan) 23. Main Street - Sinclair Lewis (Minnesota) 24. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (Mississippi) 25. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain (Missouri) 26. A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean (Montana) 27. My Antonia - Willa Cather (Nebraska) 28: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson (Nevada) 29. Peyton Place - Grace Metalious (New Hampshire) 30. Independence Day - Richard Ford (New Jersey) 31. Red Sky at Morning - Richard Bradford (New Mexico) 32. ]The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald (New York) 33. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier (North Carolina) 34. The Round House - Louise Eldrich (North Dakota) 35. The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace (Ohio) 36. Paradise - Toni Morrison (Oklahoma) 37. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey (Oregon) 38. Rabbit, Run - John Updike (Pennsylvania) 39. The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike (Rhode Island) 40. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (South Carolina) 41. Welcome to Hard Times - EL Doctorow (South Dakota) 42. A Death in the Family - James Agee (Tennessee) 43. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (Texas) 44. The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff (Utah) 45. Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter (Vermont) 46. Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver (Virginia) 47. Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson (Washington) 48. Washington DC - Gore Vidal (Washington DC) 49. Shiloh - Phillis Reynolds Naylor (West Virginia) 50. The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach (Wisconsin) 51. Close Range: Wyoming Stories - E. Annie Proulx (Wyoming)

The Gilmore Girls was a TV show, featuring teenage heroine Rory Gilmore, who was a big bookworm. Someone with way more time than me (!) created a few lists of all the books mentioned on the show. I had about 3 different lists but Kylie kindly sent me a master list collating them all. Im not actively doing that one, I just look it at about once every six months to see if I've read any more of them. Once I have a list, I like to tick!

I'm halfway through A People's History of the United States but have taken a short break to read Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It's due back at the library and I was running out of time. I'm a third through and it's confusing at times due to constant time jumps, but it's hard hitting stuff. Enjoyable.

Your US states challenge looks very intriguing. I've only read a very few on that list - despite being obsessed with the country! Well, travelling it at any rate. I really shouldn't add more challenges.... But I've already made a note of the list! Like you I enjoy ticking things off. Even challenges I'm not actively pursuing, eg the Rory Gilmore list, I scan every so often and tick the new reads off. It's a sickness.

I have also downloaded Just William! When are we starting?! *chomps at bit* Been on holiday - apologies for delayed reply...

I have similar thoughts on short stories - the only ones I've ever really enjoyed are Sherlock Holmes, and his character and place are already long established. I did enjoy Stephen King's Different Seasons, but they are the longest "short stories" I've ever seen! It's a very difficult skill to draw the reader in with well-developed characters while having some semblance of plot in such a short time IMO. I have Wolf Hall on my TBR but for some reason keep putting it off.

I finished A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam and have started by first non-fiction of the year - A People's History of the United States which is already fascinating and horrifying!