Alexi

Great review Anna! Another for the wish list...!

A shame Cutting For Stone has been chosen so late in the year J, when I know you get busy with Christmas (And other things, I always seem to get less reading done in the last couple of the months of the year until the last week, when I'm traditionally off!) I remember it taking me a while but it being utterly worth it.

Haha! I lived in Randwick so Bondi was a convenient shopping mall basically. The beach sucks, I always tell everyone to go to Coogee instead.

Thanks Kylie I definitely want to read another Austen in 2015, Emma I think. She is one of those authors that thoughtfully hasn't made it that hard to read everything she's ever written, but when the books are so good it doesn't feel like much of an advantage! Thanks for all the Stephen King recommendations, both in film and book form! I loved The Shawshank Redemption so I must look out the short story it's based in I think. Stand By Me and The Green Mile seem good next ones as well. Argh, I need to live forever so I can get through my books/film lists. Or give up work and have someone pay me to do it...

I don't "do" horror which is why I haven't seen many films or read anything before this year! I have Stand By Me on DVD to watch though

Ah, but I have a mother who claims to have read everything he's ever written! (I haven't been able to verify the accuracy of this claim, but I know she will believe she has read everything he's ever written!) Have you never seen The Shawshank Redemption? Yes my Mum did make me watch that.

Thanks Anna! I haven't read many disappointments this year, I was probably due one He really does. I can't believe I reached the grand old age of 28 without reading one of his works

I really enjoyed this installment as we we got the nasty and nice bits of society side by side. The reappearance of Squeers was a welcome one for me (merely because I hope by the end he will get his comeuppance!) and I thought it was then really nice that alongside those memories we were introduced to the Cheeryble brothers. The Nicklebys' luck does seem to be turning... I hope I haven't tempted fate there! I'm also nervous about Hawk and what that incident could do to poor Nicholas in the forthcoming chapters. As for Ralph, I also don't think we've been told explicitly what it is but it seems to revolve around the lending and collecting of money. It doesn't seem to be entirely above board either - given he isn't at home to the tax man! I'm also looking forward to this week's instalment, which I'm hoping to read before the weekend. I'm currently immersed in a non fiction book on corruption in the police and Scotland Yard which seems to suggest we haven't come nearly as far from Dickensian times as we would like to think - certainly in the 1980s and 1990s.

I didn't realise The Shining was on the list. Ooh yay, will get to cross it off

This. I'm always nervous when different authors take up another's work.

Too many books, too little time I've read 11 off the list so far, and am reading a 12th in Nicholas Nickleby I read a few all at once at the start of the year.

I used to visit a tiny little bookshop in Bondi when I lived there but they shut down about a month before I left.

#52 The Shining by Stephen King Synopsis: Danny was only five years old but in the words of old Mr Hallorann he was a "shiner", aglow with psychic voltage. When his fathe became caretaker of the Overlook Hotel his visions grew frighteningly out of control. As winter closed in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seemed to develop a life of its own. It was meant to be empty, but who was the lady in room 217, and who were the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? Any why did the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive? Somewhere, somehow there was an evil force in the hotel - and that too had begun to shine... (Goodreads) Thoughts: I read my first Stephen King, 11.22.63, earlier this year and loved it so much I was keen to try another almost immediately. I don't "do" horror, so I approached this with some trepidation urged along by friends, family and a recently found love of Mr King. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it might be, but I think that is because the evil was portrayed as supernatural, from the sounds of the introduction the film portrays it as one man's madness and that sounds like it could be far more scary on film - but I will reserve judgement until I have been forced to watch it! King is such a natural storyteller and his characters are ones to fall in love with, entirely. I loved his descriptions of the old hotel coming alive with parties in the 1920s and 1940s, and the little boy Danny is just a delightful character with so many levels. He can "Shine", which means he can read the thoughts of others even if at five years old he doesn't always understand them. But what he does understand through his visions guided by an "imaginary friend' is that someone is coming to get him in the hotel. His father's descent into madness and captivity by the hotel is wonderfully drawn, aided by the past scenes we are shown. He's struggled with alcoholism, flies into rages, has broken his son's arm and been thrown out of the school he teaches in for beating up a pupil. How much is the hotel and how much is Jack Torrance? There in lies King's mastery, and the horror of the story. It's great, and has reinforced by mission to read everything King has ever written. 4.5/5

#51 The Second Half by Roy Keane Synopsis: Memoir by one of the greatest of modern footballers, and former captain of Manchester United and Ireland, Roy Keane - co-written with Man Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle. Thoughts: This, as the title suggests, is the second of Roy Keane's autobiographies following his first written in the early 2000s. This one deals with his controversial departure from Manchester United and the start of his career after football and into management. The departure from United was the big selling point of the book, but I personally found that to be covered adequately by the press when it happened back in 2005. I was far more interested in his exploits since then, and it definitely proved the more interesting part of the book. It talked about how his last experiences in playing caused him to fall out of love with football and Sunderland caused him to fall back in love again with the game. It's a shame what happened to him up there really, no manager since has done any better and many have done far worse really! I don't love Roy the man, although I bloody love Roy the player, but he's hardest on himself and I found this a good read if you ignore the headlines about all the controversial bits - stuff you probably read about back in 2005 anyway! 4/5

So far behind with reviews again! An attempt to improve this... #50 Alice in Time by Penelope Bush Synopsis: Things are at a crisis point for fourteen-year-old Alice. Her mum is ruining her life, her dad is getting remarried, and Sasha, the most popular girl in school, hates her guts. . . Then a bizarre accident happens, and Alice finds herself re-living her life as a seven-year-old through teenage eyes - and discovering some awkward truths. But can she use her new knowledge to change her own future? Thoughts: This is young adult, so I'm not the target audience, but I have read an enjoyed young adult and this missed the mark a bit. Alice is a "typical teenager", angry at the world around her and everything is everyone's fault but her own. Then Alice goes back to being seven and learns that perhaps her Mum isn't so bad, and that she's a bit to blame as well. The interesting thing to deal with here I feel would be her Mum's PND after the birth of her younger brother, which happens a week or so after her trip back in time, but this is a bit brushed under the carpet and it's more about how Alice deals with her problems with Sasha which emanate from choices made at the age of seven. We learn she'll get he Mum help with PND but we don't witness the experience of it, which seems a wasted opportunity. It kept me entertained for a few hours, but nothing more. 2/5

I enjoyed Curious Incident a lot, so this has gone on the wish list! Great review J

I first read Forever as an adult - I remember our school library had it but only for year 9 pupils and by the time I got there I was reading other things. I remember thinking it was a bit dated and unsure it would have had much impact on me as a 13 year old due to the fact I know I was already watching the likes of Pretty Woman on film, but actually, very few books I read then touched on it through teenagers. But I don't think it much depth particularly to the characters, that book was more about issue than the plot/novel IMO.

I must get around to reading a Catherine Ryan Hyde following all these recommendations!

I'm now up to date with Nicholas Nickleby and have dived into some non fiction - the murky world of police and Scotland Yard corruption has taken my fancy. I may be some time - it's an easy read but there's a lot to process and it's 765 pages

I'm asking for a new kindle for Christmas - really considering the paper white!

I've just finished Chapter 33 and have to say I'm a bit worried about our Nicholas for the same reasons as you two are - Mulberry Hawk is a nasty piece of work and could easily report him. Could even exaggerate his injuries? I do hope not! Nicholas is beginning to learn about the evil ways of the world though it would seem - he was a lot more careful with Miss Snevellici after his experience with Miss Squeers! I have the vintage kindle edition and its good, but every so often it mistypes Crummles as Crummies which is beginning to really irritate me!

I've finished Past Mortem by Ben Elton so am now catching up on Nicholas Nickleby I'm a bit behind unfortunately so it's two weeks for the price of one for me....

I've finished The Shining. I loved it but felt I needed something lighter so have started Past Mortem by Ben Elton which is so far an easy, enjoyable read. Still have an ambition to read everything Stephen King has ever written!

Yes! I was really confused for ages! I'm looking forward to rereading it

I've only read the first Bond (Casino Royale) as I am waiting to read them in order and the library doesn't ever seem to have the second book when I go in! Glad to see the rest of the series lives up to the first.