Alexi

The Margaret Atwood sounds really interesting - on to my wishlist and no doubt to be swiftly downloaded

Thanks both! Totally agree on the film Janet - I understand books have to be adapted for screen, but if you change the ending you might as well just write an entirely different screenplay and create something new. Pointless producing something which isn't the same story.

#56 The Woman in Black by Susan Hill Synopsis: Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose. I saw the play of this years ago and was very creeped out by it - it was very well staged, and the woman in black moved through the audience. More recently, I saw the film which left me completely cold. So, which way would the book go? I am pleased to report it was nothing like the film - which even changed the bloody ending so why even bother?! Kylie used the word atmospheric, and that's a perfect way to describe this book. Read alone in the house, in the dark, it very much gave me the creeps! It doesn't succumb to the temptations of ghosts and supernatural, there is no bloody violence, just a creepy, well-plotted ghost story. Arthur is a likeable character, despite his descriptions of superstitious country folk - and he is soon disabused of that notion! The descriptions are beautifully written and really add to the story, especially of the marshes and weather, which can turn from calm to terrifying in the same way as emotions can. What I realy loved was the descriptions of Arthur assuming the emotions of the woman in black, of total evil and despair. Brilliant stuff. 4/5

#55 The Gathering by Anne Enright Synopsis: The nine surviving children of the Hegerty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn't the drink that killed him - although that certainly helped - it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother's house, in the winter of 1968. The Gathering is a novel about love and disappointment, about thwarted lust and limitless desire, and how our fate is written in the body, not in the stars. This novel won the Booker Prize and is listed on the 1001 books list, and coupled with the fact I do enjoy a rich family drama I was looking forward to this. What a waste of reading hours I will never get back. This was clearly written in a style designed to appeal to worthy award givers - I can't imagine why else these confused ramblings of a self absorbed woman would be anyone's idea of a pleasant read. This novel is told entirely though the eyes of Middle aged Veronica, unhappy with her lot in life - a husband she is forcing apart from and two children. Entirely a selfish character, she wades through memories of Liam and herself from down the years. Memories are confusing and do jump around, but that's why most books aren't written as such, because they are difficult to follow, and leave the reader in a total spin. There is barely a plot here, what happens to Liam is written as a cliche and barely explored except through the reaction and effect it has on our narrator, who I could quite happily have launched into the sea herself and attended her wake with a smile on my face. She talks constantly about her large family but we never get to know them, they are written as mere shadows that revolve around her boring life. Awful, and I was so glad to put it down. I kept waiting for the story to spark and it never did. Wish I had abandoned. 1/5

Oh I will definitely read it at some point! I find with "richer puddings" it entirely depends on my mood and the plot, so it's impossible to tell until I've read it. I'm enjoying the English Counties Challenge - picking up a lot of books I've always meant to read and failed to get around to!

I'm a bit nervous about this now - like you, I never read it in my teens. Hmm. I was surprised at 3 stars after that review!

I might be able to join in with this one - at least for part of it. I'm off on Saturday and only working for a couple of hours on the Sunday.

I have the app and keep a manual list, so if you're sad I'm not sure what I am Brian! I've now read 48 books from the combined list of 1305. i wanted to have read 50 by the end of 2014, but not sure if I will squeeze another two in before the end of the year now.

I don't know why my review says present day - it definitely only really covers til around 2004. However, it was really interesting and certainly pertinent in light of recent scandals - we appear to have learnt absolutely nothing!

#54 Unctouchables by Michael Gillard and Laurie Flynn Synopsis: With Scotland Yard in the dock, now more than ever the public needs to know why the police cannot be trusted to investigate their own corruption. Untouchables, a five year investigation which the Yard tried to stop, provides the essential context to the phone hacking and other scandals currently engulfing Britain's most powerful police force. Republished after seven years, it was the first book to question the cosy relationship between the Yard and sections of the media, to explain why cops are incapable of investigating themselves and to expose the lack of independence in the new police watchdog. From the 1983 Brinks Matt robbery, through the murders of Daniel Morgan, David Norris, Stephen Lawrence, Jill Dando and Damilola Taylor to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, Untouchables reveals the cover ups, double standards and miscarriages of justice during the Yard's phoney war on corruption. Sunday Times journalist Michael Gillard and TV producer Laurie Flynn expose how the discredited use of supergrasses in the war on corruption has re-emerged in the new wars on terror and crime, with the same disastrous effects: prosecution misconduct, collapsed trials, huge bills for the taxpayer, victims left without justice and the guilty walking free. Thoughts: Wow, this is scary. I've never had much faith in the police due to racism I've witnessed first hand, but this takes it to a whole new level. It's packed with information from interviews and investigative journalism, and covers Scotland Yard corruption from the late 1980s to the present day. There is a big focus on Stephen Lawrence, but the bigger focus is on the fact that when complaints are made, or injustice is discovered, the institution is trusted to investigate itself. Officers who may have been involved in corruption in the past are left investigating their mates. I wonder what could possibly go wrong?! Very informative and had a nice style to it. However, it is long and the number of names involved (and how they pop up again and again in various guises!) meant it got a bit confusing in the last two thirds. Recommended reading for anyone with even a passing interest in the UK police or justice system. 3.5/5

#53 Past Mortem by Ben Elton Synopsis: With old friends like these, who needs enemies? It's a question mild mannered detective Edward Newson is forced to ask himself when, in romantic desperation, he logs on to the Friends Reunited website in search of the girlfriends of his youth. Newson is not the only member of the Class of take back '88 who has been raking over the ashes of the past. As his old class begins to reassemble in cyberspace, the years slip away and old feuds and passions burn hot once more. Meanwhile, back in the present, Newson's life is no less complicated. He is secretly in love with Natasha, his lovely but very attached sergeant, and failing comprehensively to solve a series of baffling and peculiarly gruesome murders. A school reunion is planned and as history begins to repeat itself, the past crashes headlong into the present. Neither will ever be the same again. Pretty standard Elton fare this, but I do enjoy his books. It feels a bit dated now - does anyone still use Friends Reunited? - but it's a good yarn anyway. Underdog hero Newson is our detective, trying and failing to solve some murders but you know he'll get there in the end. Complicating matters are his love for his subordinate Natasha, plus romantic (?!) encounters with two of his old school friends. It's funny in places, with some disastrous sex, old school personalities re asserting themselves and some genuinely comic dialogue. We all recognise the school group from our own childhoods too, and the bullying mentioned is uncomfortable because we've probably all at some point experienced it, done it or known it is going on but some nothing about it. I saw the so,union to the murder case coming a mile off but somehow it didn't really spoil things. It's an easy read, and an entertaining, rip roaring plot. Enjoyable. 4/5

Thanks J, it's going well so far. Off tomorrow so planning to spend a good chunk of the day hiding under my duvet with it!

Thankfully I have finished The Gathering - total tripe. Now getting on much better with The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

Hope everything is ok Julie. Sending hugs

Another for the wishlist, thanks for the great review Brian Like you, most of my World War II knowledge is of the European theatre and the Holocaust. Sounds interesting to look at it from another perspective.

I'm very close to abandoning The Gathering. The only thing really that's stopping me is it is on the 1001 list, and as I only have another 130 pages to go I feel as if I must battle through!

Definitely will look for that one next then, thanks Anna! I am currently reading The Gathering by Anne Enright. It won the Man Booker Pirze in 2007, which is presumably what the style of this was designed to do. It's really quite pretentious and I don't like the way the author describes sex at all, makes it seem most unpleasant (!). However, I am enjoying the plot so I will keep persevering through the style. I am behind on reviews again as well. Sigh.

Seconded!

Great work Pontalba - I can only dream of hitting 100! Ive added The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case to my (ever growing) wish list

I've now started The Gathering by Anne Enright - it's a bit weird in style so far, but given it won the Man Booker Prize I should probably have expected that, I find most of them a bit weird in style

Ah the Squeers are just too much! Glad John Browdie was on hand to rescue young Smike. I really enjoyed this instalment, it flew by, although I'm finding a need to get used to Dickens' style again each week which can be rather troublesome for the first few paragraphs! The cucumber episode is most odd - I was thinking that Mrs Nickleby must have got hold of the wrong end of the stick! At the end of Chapter 39 my kindle says we are 62% of the way through, so I fear there may be a few more twists and turns left to go before the (hopefully!!) Dickensian happy ending.

LOL Janet! Too much cheese at bed time

I have I Am Pilgrim on the TBR what an excellent review, I must read it soon. Although I say that about too many books these says... I also agree about Weird Things. I got it for 99p, which I was happy to pay but £5 for a book you can finish in an hour just seems like a rip-off

I personally think two days is ridiculous to discount it. It should either be a cheap opening offer (so everyone buys it quickly and it gets up the charts) or a few months later to tempt people umming and aahing. Of course next time, people won't pre-order or buy on the day of release hoping for a discount on day 2 or 3 which doesn't do wonders for their figures!

Congratulations on 1000 books Frankie! Your mojo is going great guns, and it sounds like life is going really well for you in Espoo too I've not got rid of any books yet, but I am making an effort to read ones I've had on the TBR since before this year. I read one from 2011 last month and it was fantastic, and I'd forgotten all about it, including the synopsis! Our tastes definitely change - been looking at some books I downloaded when I first got my kindle and wondering WHY - but there are some gems too.