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You should join Laura - your TBR pile says so! Thanks Janet. You are a sort of godmother for this challenge - as it was from your Roald Dahl challenge that it all began.

Watched the third Bourne film last night - Bourne Ultimatum. I appreciate how gripping they've managed to keep each one - none of the sloppiness that sequels usually suffer from.

Ah the luxury of being young...

I'm sold. (I've nothing against sci-fi - I've just felt that I maybe a bit too thick to "get" it)

Wow 7 out 19. I'm impressed by your Matilda Quotient No seriously, that's cool! Do join in! I did Jane Eyre at school, with a lovely teacher - so I do like it. But I always fear that left to read them by my self, the classics would go straight over my head, or make me fall asleep. It's time to find out! And do join in!

Thank you Ruth. That is pretty much what Janet said too - so that's two of you now! Will look out for it (and hope to parrot what you said after I read it)

Roald Dahl's Matilda was the last book I read - and I found myself intrigued by the books the child-wonder had read. From this link: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett ✔ Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ✔ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë ✔ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ✔ Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Gone to Earth by Mary Webb Kim by Rudyard Kipling ✔ The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Animal Farm by George Orwell ✔ Moby-Dick by Herman Melville Ivanhoe by Walter Scott The Red Pony by John Steinbeck I've read only Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre and Animal Farm - so sixteen more to go! If you're a bit silly like me, and think this could be fun - do join in!

Nice list Gad. And wow, you've already ready 23 books this year! Good going

Yay! Do join in - and yes, a quick search will throw up the online free e-books. I have read the Big Four too - but I don't seem to remember it(!)

Jim Carrey's thriller : The Number 23. It was interesting to see Carrey in new light!

Mr. God, This is Anna just arrived - thank you poppy for reminding me of it in your 30-day challenge. Looking forward to reading this!

I just completed reading Christie's Partners In Crime - a collection of 14 short-stories with Tommy and Tuppence as the leads. While the stories are not her best ones, it is a light-hearted read, with each short-story mimicking the style of a famous fictional detective of the period - 1920s. I was tempted to read the originals, and picked up the list from this wiki link. This is the list of the 14 authors and their detectives (and in some cases the exact book alluded to): Herbert George Jenkins - detective Malcolm Sage (1921) R. Austin Freeman - Dr Thorndyke Valentine Williams - detective brothers Francis and Desmond Okewood (The Man with the Clubfoot : 1918) Isabel Ostrander - detectives Tommy McCarty and Denis Riordan (The Clue in the Air : 1917) Arthur Conan Doyle's - Sherlock Holmes (The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax : 1911) Clinton H. Stagg - the blind detective Thornley Colton G. K. Chesterton - Father Brown Edgar Wallace Baroness Orczy - Polly Burton and Bill Owen (The Old Man in the Corner : 1909) A. E. W. Mason - French detective Inspector Hanaud Freeman Wills Crofts - detective Inspector Joseph French Anthony Berkeley - detective Roger Sherringham H. C. Bailey - detectives Dr. Reginald Fortune and Superintendent Bell Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot (The Big Four) Most of them seem to be available as free e-books on the internet - which makes it easy. I hope to enjoy this challenge, and re-visit "Partners In Crime", to fully appreciate the parodies. If you could make any sense of this, and it interests you, do join in!

It is soothing and uplifting isn't it?

Matilda Roald Dahl ★★★★☆ Synopsis: Matilda, is a young girl, who has an extraordinary mind. It is capable of grasping grown-up literature, solving mind-boggling arithmetic problems, and coming up with ingenious ways to get even with her parents. Her parents aren't exactly lovely, for at best they neglect her, and at worst they put her down any which way they can. Soon Matilda begins school and meets her lovely teacher Miss Honey and the terrifying, cruel headmistress : Miss Trunchbull. As Matilda's genius flowers under Miss Honey's love and attention, she finds out that her sweet teacher has a sad secret past. What does Matilda do to set things right for Miss Honey, and what eventually becomes of her, is what the rest of the story is about. Thoughts: Splendid book! Clever little plot. And the characters, though a bit caricature-esque (in Dahl's signature style), are completely entertaining. I sometimes wonder if Dahl's books aren't more black-humour, than children literature - because while you're chuckling at something funny - the literal fact that you're laughing over isn't funny at all. But an enjoyable and thoroughly happy read. I can well imagine children rooting for her as she plots and plans and thwarts her parents first, and then the tyrannical Miss. Trunchbull. Also, throughout the book are references to real life books that Matilda prodigiously devours, and this list inspired me to trigger off the Matilda Wormwood Challenge) And this quote - from the book - it will serve me well to remember it: It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful. Some parents go further. They become so blinded by adoration they manage to convince themselves their child has qualities of genius. Well, there is nothing very wrong with all this. It's the way of the world. It is only when the parents begin telling us about the brilliance of their own revolting offspring, that we start shouting, "Bring us a basin! We're going to be sick!"

It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful. Some parents go further. They become so blinded by adoration they manage to convince themselves their child has qualities of genius. Well, there is nothing very wrong with all this. It's the way of the world. It is only when the parents begin telling us about the brilliance of their own revolting offspring, that we start shouting, "Bring us a basin! We're going to be sick!" Done with Matilda! What a splendid book! ★★★★★

Yay! Me too. But poppy is the true-blue Heidi fan - she had her own goats and named them the same as Heidi!

Completed the Christie's Tommy & Tuppence collection of short-stories : Partners In Crime. A light read - made enjoyable only because of the duo - the plots are rather insipid. 2.5 on 5 this one. Hi Gad, that sounds fun! How did you find the first book - Anne of Green Gables?

Partners In Crime Agatha Christie ★★★ Synopsis: Tommy and Tuppence are set up as a front in a detective agency, by Mr.Carter (their old friend in secret government services). They are to look out for anyone who comes and mentions certain code-words. In the meanwhile, they manage to solve many petty, and some not-so-petty cases. Thoughts: This is a collection of short-stories - linked together and building to a climax. It the second of the five Tommy and Tuppence books. In each of the stories, Tommy and Tuppence do a tongue-in-cheek imitation of detectives from old classics. The stories themselves are rather weak - but the characters, the conversations and word play, are delightful. This has made me curious enough to read the original detective stories (who are parodied here) and I've started a Crime Classics Challenge. I'd like to re-visit Partners In Crime after I'm through with that, so that I can enjoy it better. All-in-all, I don't think Christie shines with short stories - she needs more pages and chapters to flesh out her villains and red herrings.

Hello DJMonty!

Wow! How exciting! (I have around 20 of them in paperback and hope to own them all someday) Enjoy yourself! I'm tempted. But sci-fi. Oh dear. But I guess one book won't hurt...

Matilda arrived this afternoon Will start as soon as I complete the Christie. HG Wells = sci-fi, correct? Not my cup of tea - but glad you enjoyed it!

I agree, it sounds interesting. Will look out for it, Gad.

I'm more of a discomfort-zone-non-reader (how weird does that sound!) I won't read horror (The Shining was enough to confirm that I'm a scaredy-cat) and sci-fi (my mind just doesn't seem to be able to appreciate it). Anything else I'm willing to try at least once.

Hello Gad, I've spotted your posts in a couple of threads - welcome! I'm quite new too - but lovely people here - and you'll soon feel like you've always belonged.

Oh - woo-ops! (Where's the foot-in-mouth smilie when you need one?) Will store Guy Gavriel Kay in memory, and look out for them.