Alexi

I'm halfway through The Kindness of Strangers by Mike McIntyre. I started it as something I could dip in and out of while away with work, but am surprising myself by just how much I'm enjoying it and I'm dipping in more than out

I get though around 5 books per month as well Anna - sometimes 6 but it depends how busy work and social stuff is. I wish I could read as much/as fast as Claire (I'm not that fast a reader despite how much reading I do!) but as long as I'm enjoying it then it's all good. Some books take longer than others - I'm shortly going to start Pride and Prejudice which I reckon may be one of the longer ones How are you going with progressing your reading lists, Claire? I'm trying to progress the English Counties list - done 10 out of 48 so far!

This is really encouraging. I won't give up quite yet

Thanks for all the suggestions - you're all making me even more excited literally counting the days - I have an app that does it for me! I'm about to book tickets to go and see the Lion King on. Broadway, and definitely want to go to a few museums and just spend time sitting in Central Park. I believe you need to book in advance to climb the statue so going to look into that now.

the Dinner seems to be a real marmite book - I really didn't get on with it, but I know I ordered it due to a) the promising plot and b) the good reviews on Amazon!

Good luck Julie, we will all be thinking of you x

Yes yes and yes We are visiting friends in Connecticut but I think in NY and Boston we will be being proper tourists. I have a challenge to take more than 1400 photos (the number my Dad made me sit through when he got back from South America ) Thanks Julie! I'm counting the days

New York, Connecticut and Boston SO EXCITED!

I'm the opposite, I feel like I'm reading too many short/easy books at the moment but need books I can pick up for 30 mins and then not read any more for 2 days to keep going through work trip season. Epics to return as of August - got my eye on Pride and Prejudice (gulp!) and 11-22-63. I really enjoyed The Cuckoo's Calling

I really like the sound of Looking For Alaska - thinking I should give John Green another go after not getting on with the Fault in our Stars.... V impressive haul Gaia

I'm just back now for a couple of days and then away again from the weekend for the rest of the month, so sorry for missing your post Gaia! I'm taking 2 weeks in September to head to the US and I can't wait

What Kay said!! I also find it impossible to be neutral. Sometimes I like to think I'm neutral, and then get very annoyed/excited (delete as applicable) by a goal! Germany for me on Sunday also. Won't bother with 3rd/4th place, find it a totally pointless exercise.

I definitely want to read more of Zevin's work. I will look out for that one - also want to read her novel Elsewhere. Memoirs was an easy read, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. Thanks Gaia! It was a great discovery - I should visit the library quick selection shelf more often...except the TBR would be even more out of control of course.

I really want to read Carrie! I'm not sure about audiobooks, I like the actual act of reading too much!

#35 Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin Synopsis: When Naomi tries to piece back the fragments of the last three and a half years of her life, she discovers a lot. She has a boyfriend but can't remember him, her mother and father are divorced, and she has forgotten that she is supposed to hate her mother. She also has a group of friends which simply doesn't seem that attractive any more and, despite having meticulously kept a diary, she only mentioned what she ate every day in it! But it's not all bad, because when a girl loses three and a half years she gets a chance to reinvent herself. After all, who is to say that everything has to be the same? Thoughts: I picked this up from the quick selection shelf in the library. I enjoy plots that revolve around memory loss. I really enjoyed this one. It's aimed at young adults, but there is definitely enough here to keep us older adults entertained! Naomi has the unique experience of waking up without her memory, and rather than feeling like a 12 year old, she feels like a 16 year old with no memories who doesn't like the person she has become or the friends she has. She's quite an annoying character at times - selfish, impulsive and just plain naive! - but she reads like a teenager struggling with her situation, which is nice. She was a character I could root for and could understand, despite the flaws. I know it rings true, but I cannot stand teenagers claiming they have been in love more than once. Once I'll allow, but twice or more? Naaaah. /snobby twenty something I didn't really like the ending, but I thought the book was great and I will be looking for more of the author's work. 4/5 Last book I will finish for a while I think, I'm away on work stuff for ages now.

28, so I still have a way to go! (She wrote 66 according to wikipedia, plus some short story collections) Start with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd! That's her best I've read so far IMO. Catching up on a couple more reviews... #34 Gargling with Tar by Jachym Topol Synopsis: No synopsis, because all the ones I could find (apart from the book jacket which I cannot locate right at this minute) are too spoilery for my liking. Hopefully, the review ill go someway towards rectifying Thoughts: This counts for the Czech Republic in my World Challenge. (Author born in Prague, although obviously the book is set pre-divide into CR and Slovakia). Ilya is a young orphan, whose life is torn upside down when the Soviets invade, the nuns who look after his 'Home from Home' are escorted away and a Communist commander turns up to teach these small children the way of war, sabotage and weapons. Chaos and brutality reign, leading to violence and even murder. As civilisation starts to break down, Ilya takes up with some Soviet troops for whom he becomes a guide and interpreter, and must learn to survive in an unfamiliar world in which he has lost his friends and has taken up with 'the wrong side'. I suspect rather a lot of this is lost in translation, because it reads like it should be satire. However, it is interesting in places. Particularly, we learn within the first few pages that the title is a reference to lying, so just how reliable is our narrator? It may sound odd, when you have just read a synopsis detailing war, violence and murder to complain that not a lot happened for long periods, but Ilya spent far too long IMO leading the Soviets round the countryside, and it felt slow and repetitive. Basically, I think the pacing was wrong, because so much happened in a few pages followed by nothing for 50. The character of Ilya is interesting, mainly because I'm not sure the author sufficiently fleshed him out to us to explain his actions. I get he was just trying to survive in a land torn apart by the invasion and uprising, but he did certain things he didn't have to do, which were not really rooted in his character or past experiences. Was I just supposed to write them off as "war" or "narrator exaggeration"? (Why can I never spell exaggeration without spell check). It is unique, and intrigued me sufficiently to earn a 3 rating, but is a bit hard work to get through. 3/5

#33 By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie Synopsis: While visiting Tommy's Aunt Ada at Sunny Ridge Nursing Home, Tuppence encounters some odd residents including Mrs. Lancaster who mystifies her with talk about "your poor child" and "something behind the fireplace". When Aunt Ada dies a few weeks later, she leaves Tommy and Tuppence a painting featuring a house, which Tuppence is sure she has seen before. This realization leads her on a dangerous adventure involving a missing tombstone, diamond smuggling and a horrible discovery of what Mrs. Lancaster was talking about.(Goodreads) Thoughts: You know what to expect with Agatha, and when mojo is taking a ride through the woods somewhere I find she is one of the best people to bring it back. The characters of Tommy and Tuppence return larger than life and as fabulous as ever, although the hints of post war sexism do continue to annoy me just below the surface. While Tommy is away at a conference, Tuppence is led a merry dance as she tries to locate the house and whether it has any connection the mysterious musings of Mrs Lancaster, who of course no one else would take seriously! As usual, it's a clever solution, and just when you think you've worked it out, Ms Christie throws a curveball. I would like to read all her works one day, and I'm making reasonable progress. She never disappoints. 4/5

I've just finished Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin, which I loved, although the ending annoyed me slightly. Like Athena, I'm in the mood for some non fiction, so I've started Scottish Independence:Weighing Up the Economics. Lots of talk about it as September draws closer and I'd like to add more to my knowledge.

I agree about Nadal's endless fiddling between points - annoys the hell out of me, especially if I can't devote enough time to the match! I see a Federer win today, although I will be hoping for the opposite. Crowd likely to favour Federer, which will any Novak, who hasn't been playing to his best this tournament anyway.

Copied over from my reading log! (I read this some weeks ago and forgot to post my thoughts here!) I'm glad I'm doing the English Counties Challenge because this isn't the sort of book I would have ever picked up without it. I enjoyed this. It's not packed full of action, in fact it's rather slow in places, but it harks back to an earlier time when people did wander in and out of each other's houses, and growing food/flowers was a preoccupation for many rather than twitter and Amazon. Silas is a brilliant creation, and I would love to know how much is based on the real life relative of Bates', and how much is fictionalised. He's great - devilish, affectionate, prone to great exaggeration and lying, a great storyteller, boastful, vain and hilarious. It's a collection of short stories, so of course I did prefer some over others - my favourite was the Lily, which was clever and showed off Silas' character and sense of humour to perfection! I've rated it as a 3, because while I did get a feeling of an earlier time, and indeed Bedfordshire, I wanted to ear more about Silas and less about his house and garden. I think my main issue was that these were a set of short stories originally designed to be serialised, not put together in one collection like this. That does mean the "scene setting" of the house, garden and vegetable growing did get a bit repetitive, but probably not unexpected given the original serialisation. On the whole, an enjoyable read thanks largely to a great cast of characters.

Thanks Gaia and Julie. I had to laugh at the men rioting at the idea of women being introduced into the system - can't imagine many men enjoying segregation at college/university these days

Don't worry, I jinx him enough Been following him since 2009 so I like to think I liked him before it was cool. I do admire Federer though. It's Nadal and Murray I struggle with!

I'm supporting Kvitova because of Laura Delighted to see Djokovic win the semi - love him.

I like that! Great reviews Julie, I'd be interested in reading both...more for the wishlist!

Ah, I see. I'll get round to it one day I'm sure - will probably re-read the whole series. I loved them.