Alexi

When I Found You. I picked it up cheap on kindle last year and the book box finally turned it up! Haha, I blame myself for Phillip K Dick! I don't think I was in the right mood for it. I will give him another go at some point, and will definitely be looking out for more by Catherine Ryan Hyde so I shall still e paying attention to your recommendations

They massacred PS I love You in exactly the same way and I loved that book. Although my tastes have changed significantly since so not sure what I would make of it now. Anyway, it's very frustrating. Why the need? Is the US film audience that obsessed with seeing films set in their own country? A little insular and disturbing if so! But I can't see it would make much difference.

I read the first in that series when it first came out as a teenager. Christ, 15 years ago. I remember really enjoying it although I couldn't tell yiu much about it now. I didn't realise it was a series - I'd have instantly bought the others!

My thoughts exactly! I'm about a third of the way through The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. Not getting much reading time ATM and its a bit of an epic.

I didn't get on with Far From the Madding Crowd much, but my Dad adores Hardy and has made me promise I will give him another go However, the majority have scored at least 4 - like you, I adored Nicholas Nickleby and have found Middlemarch a joy. Really must get around to the review. Sorry for hijacking your thread a little Willoyd!

I'm ashamed to admit I had only read a few on the list before we started - they are all books I feel I should have read! I've replaced them with alternatives - although I think two of them were to counties we had a couple of options for anyway. I also have only read two so far this year, and have read 14 out of the total now. Hoping to cross off a few more before 2015 is out, as I've hugely enjoyed the vast majority of those read so far.

I'm 50 pages into The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. Think it could be a mammoth this one and might take me a while! In the meantime I should be catching up on reviews...!

Love that cover J!

Catherine Ryan Hyde I was persuaded to try one of her books after seeing Anna and Athena go on (and on ) about her.

Brilliantly - to the point I've already finished it It had a slow bit in the middle for me, but she really tugged on my heart strings and she packed a lot of issues into one book. Will definitely be reading more by her

Such a condition on my TBR would mean not a chance - unless someone discovers the elixir of life anytime soon

Yes I do totally agree with this, it did feel like a nice holiday after Tinker, Tailor...! I loved the community feel too - do places like this still exist? If so, When I retire I'm going to settle in small town New England and just travel to NY for baseball and NFL. That sounds ideal.

Great review BB. I've seen so many positive reviews for this, I really must bump it up the TBR.

I haven't seen the movie - I wonder if that might prove less complicated for me now I know the gist?!

The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud by Ben Sherwood Synopsis: Charlie St. Cloud was a blessed boy, destined to do good things in high places. But all that changed the night he survived the car crash that killed his little brother, Sam. Years later, Charlie is still trying to atone for his loss. He has stayed at home, in his snug New England fishing village, tending the lawns and monuments of the ancient cemetery where his brother is buried. You see, Charlie is graced with an extraordinary gift: he can see, talk to, and even play catch with Sam’s spirit. Theirs is a perfect, magical world, untroubled until Charlie meets Tess Carroll, a captivating, adventurous, yachtswoman training for a solo trip around the world. Suddenly he is faced with a choice – between death and life, the past and the present, holding on and letting go. (From Amazon) Thoughts: I seem to be drawn towards books exploring the afterlife at the moment - not entirely sure what that says about me and I don't think I want to know! This one is different again. Charlie survives the car crash that kills his brother, but he discovers that he can see and play with his brother's spirit at sunset within the grounds of the local cemetery. Charlie has abandoned his own life and dreams to stay close to Sam and his feeling of guilt are well explored. Then Tess arrives on the scene and Charlie begins to realise he may be forced to choose between his past and his future. I enjoyed the world that Sherwood presented us with, but unfortunately I guessed both twists to the book - I felt they were too clearly signposted. The rest was simply a little too saccharine for my taste. I'm all for some romance (although chick lit isn't my bag) but this went too far and it like taking a large gulp of sugar every time I opened the book. However, the world Sherwood created and the relationship between Charlie and Sam saved this one for me and I enjoyed both those elements which is reflected in the rating. 3/5 (I liked it)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre Synopsis: The enduring novel by one of our greatest storytellers. George Smiley, small, podgy and at best middle-aged, is one of the meek who do not inherit the earth. Yet he is also a senior British Intelligence officer, as devastating as he is self-effacing. In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy we meet him in short-lived retirement, deserted by his beautiful wife, wrestling with idleness and disillusionment. And haunted by the secret fear that one day, out of a past so complex that he himself could not remember all the enemies he might have made, one of them would find him and demand a reckoning. At the dead of night, in the house of a member of the Cabinet Office, a mission is put to George Smiley. ‘You’ll take the job, clean the stables? Go backwards, go forwards, do whatever is necessary?’ As Smiley retraces path after path into his own past there is no longer any difference between the two: forwards or backwards, George Smiley has embarked on a blind night walk with God knows how many bodies at the end. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a world of hoods and lamplighters, scalphunters and pavement artists, where men are turned, burned or bought for stock; a world of moles, legmen, listeners and watchers. And George Smiley is one of le Carré’s most memorable heroes: a troubled man and superb professional of infinite compassion. (From Amazon) Thoughts: This is the second book by Le Carre that I have read, the first being The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I really enjoyed that one and with TTSS supposedly an even better piece of work I was expecting good things. George Smiley is a wonderful character and the anti-thesis of James Bond as an old, sacked agent. Now he's employed to spy on the spies. In the same vein as the anti-James Bond, this book isn't glamourous. It's slow and methodical, but where I found it fell down was it was simply too convoluted. Jumping between time and narrator left me confused and even in the present time it was difficult to follow exactly where Smiley was in his investigation. In his attempt to keep the reader guessing and in a similar level of darkness as our protagonist, I felt Le Carre when too far and left me feeling in a blur for the majority of the novel. However, my total enjoyment of his previous work left me wondering - was this a lot more convoluted or was it simply my mood? I've been away with work a lot this month and maybe it required more concentration than I thought I was giving it! I will certainly be trying a third by the author to decide which book was the exception. 2/5 (It was ok)

It's on my TBR and a few folk have recommended it both off and online. Keep looking at it on the shelf... So many books, so little time.

I really enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep - although like Willoyd's review mentions, it's all in the plotting rather than any great writing style as such. I know what you mean about the batshit crazy but I raced through it and it kept me hooked despite the signposting of the twist. It's been made into a film now and I believe the reviews were decidedly mixed although I haven't seen it personally. Difficult to translate that plot onto film successfully though I think and build suspense in the way the book can/does.

Wow what fantastic photos! Glad you're having such a good time.

Been away with work for the last couple of weeks but managed to finish off Middlemarch and read The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes - my last collection of the Sherlock short stories. Just two of the novels left for me now. Genuinely had no idea what to read next so let the box pick and it has selected When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Time to find out what all this fuss is about!

Janet!! That has really tickled me. I've never seen the film or read the book but have also been inspired to change that by your review Willoyd.

Not quite as good as the first I don't think but it's still great - I keep reading for five minutes only to look up and find 50 pages have gone by I love the world she's created and I already want to go straight on to book 3 but I think I shall savour them - there's a couple of "between the books" short stories too.

If you go and it's full of kids you can always pretend you just wanted a browse in Waterstone's! But I bet there are likely to be a few adults there as well and I think Janet is right, you don't want to regret not going

Good luck with the renovations Kylie! It sounds amazing. I'd like to do something similar - the woman who owned our house before us had cream carpets with young children (?!) so they were a little grimy to begin with and our cat has also made a couple of messes so it needs to go at some point. Bizarrely, the only carpet that isn't cream is the master bedroom, where the small children were surely least likely to make mess/drag in dirt. Tis a mystery!! I always wanted to do City2surf but never got around to it before leaving Sydney Have a fun if busy weekend!!

I've just cracked open book 2! I hope you enjoy it if you get to it - but I read a couple of positive reviews on here which is how it made it onto mine, so hopefully you will! The film is on Netflix and I keep meaning to watch and compare. I'm so bad with films though, I tend to fidget. Ah. Well, yes. There's six books so far and a couple of short stories in between....