bree

Lots of films the last couple of days- Fast Five The Beauty and The Beast (first film with the little one) The Body In The Library (adaptation of Christie's novel) Drive Drive was particularly impressive. The silences and the soundtrack. Wow.

Hello Rosemary and welcome

Granted. But everyone would be so in awe of you - you'll have no friends. (sorry : ) I wish I could jump tree to tree like monkeys do. (And no wealth of knowledge Miss Poppy Chubb-Baggins - I just noticed it now when I searched for the Sackville-Baggins Also make I claim some Bilbo-kinship too, please? Bree is the village next to The Shire )

Granted. But you'll have to share it with those horrible cousins of Bilbo's (Sackville-Baggins) and they'll always keeping stealing your stuff - especially your food. (And did you know there was a "Poppy" related to Bilbo : ) I wish I could run for miles and not get tired.

I didn't much like the O'Sullivan twins either. The series always felt like The Secret Seven did to The Famous Five. Malory Towers - I completely loved. And another shorter series (just three books) - was The Naughtiest Girl - which was a firm favourite.

Glad you're fine Sofia Stay warm

The Past When did you start to love reading? I was naturally drawn towards books - having always seen my father with one. And I loved stories - for very many years I went to bed with my father or grand-mother telling me made-up stories every night. My mother would get me many picture books - and some where along the way all those squiggly lines become words and I started to read and have always liked doing so. What books did you love as a child (either read to or to read yourself)? My father read out many stories from the children books he had in our native tongue - Kannada, which I loved. The moral-tales from The Panchatantra are the ones which I remember vividly (I dare say most Indians do). It's a collection of animal fables which have been passed through the generations for centuries in our country. (On the same lines as the Jataka Tales of the Buddhists.) Also in the 80s(when I was a child) the then Soviet Union and India had entered into some kind of a friendship-treaty which brought to our markets a beautiful collection of affordable Russian literature. My prized possessions were a set of Russian fairy-tale books and a gorgeous collection of a translated children magazines : Misha. (A picture I found)- Of the books I read on my own it was always those by Enid Blyton. The Folk of The Faraway Tree, Mr. Twiddle, Mr Muddle, Pink-Whistle are all old dear friends. Childhood memories of reading (if you have them)? I was an only child till I was around 8, and mostly was by myself except when I met my cousins. So I was almost always reading story books. Or "solving" puzzles in my numerous puzzle books. I remember when I was around 9, my mother complaining to my teacher that I was always with a book. My teacher told her that she should be happy as she was having a hard time getting the other children to read. On hind-sight I wish my mother had stuck to her gut feeling, and I hadn't been into books all the time. Not because it did me any harm - but I really wish I had pursued a sport and had also been more physical active than I was back then. Did you read books for school? Yes. A week after the academic year ended we'd be given our set of books for the next year - and I'd read the English Textbooks end to end. And then went around collecting the books of my older cousins and reading them as well. Favourites Favourite book: Heidi ~ Johanna Spyri Favourite author: I'm not really loyal to authors - I usually try and take each book for itself. Favourite genre(s): Anything actually in fiction. Except that I've never been able to enjoy horror or science fiction (this goes even for films) Your Collection Do you own an ereader? No Ebooks or physical books (or both)? Physical books Hardcover or paperback (or both)? I like both. I like the affordability of a paperback - and I love the feel of a hard-back. (I love the sound and feel of my nails on it!) New books or used books (or both)? All through childhood I was bought plenty of new books and have loved them. For a few years now I've fallen in love with pre-loved books : "used" books which have been handled with care. Each of them seem to have a little bit of history and a sniff of mystery - and I often wonder at their journey before reaching me. Big books or small books (or both)? It doesn't really matter. What language are most of your books written in? English. Favourite book shop(s): In my home-town, Bangalore, there's a shop called "Blossom Book House". The ground-floor sells new books - the top two floors sells pre-loved books. You can spend hours here losing yourself and all sense of time. They also buy back books from you. So each time I visit mum's place I spend a delightful couple of days giving back books I no longer want - and getting some "new" treasures. It's run by lovely people who let you take your time there and only interrupt you to offer you coffee. Do you buy a lot of books? I don't buy more than I can read - so no. Do you spend a lot of money on books? Not sure how to answer this! It may sound strange but I don't have many needs to spend much money on - so given that context what I spend on books is the most I spend for anything (apart from basic necessities). Amount of owned books: All the books I've collected through the years are at my mothers - and I probably have more than 600. On my last visit I gave away many of the ones that I knew I wouldn't read again, and didn't want to keep for the little one - so not sure how many are left. At my home here, I have around 35 - and I'll probably exchange half of them the next time I go the city. Amount of books read: I really can't say! For a long time - I'd read a book-a-day (except for a MAD "Mills-n-Boon" stage when I was 16 - where I sometimes read two and even three on holidays) Then in between - for around five years I hardly read anything - except re-reads of a few favourites. So I can't arrive at a number. Amount of books TBR: 12 Reading How often do you read? I try to read for at least an hour every night Where do you read? Mostly on my bed. If the sun is out, and I'm not working, sometimes on a chair in the balcony. When do you read? Mostly at night. Sometimes in the afternoon when the little one is napping. How fast do you read? I don't know. The Forum When did you join this forum? February 5, 2012 How did you find this forum? A search-engine query for book forums brought me here, and I loved the beautiful way it was organised and I signed up. (Thank you Athena for this - I had a pleasant few minutes reliving my childhood )

I actually didn't like Da Vinci Code - the film - much. Tom Hanks looked like he sleep-walked through it

The Twins at St Clare - I probably belong to the pre-historic generation too

laces

He is amazing isn't it? I love the words he's put on the site as well. (Link: Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert)

shine

Granted. But you'll never wish for anything else again. I wish for a fresh piece of chocolate cake.

Hello earthsista and welcome.

Hello Karsa I love this book cover and the font on it You do pick gorgeous looking books - sorry you didn't enjoy it better though!

Hello SueB, I joined here much later than you did - so you wouldn't know me. I have however seen your posts around the forum. Welcome back.

hexagon

Granted. But we'd all be cockroaches. I wish for a piece of chocolate cake.

Hello Korenith, A very well written review - thank you for sharing it here. I'm looking at reading my first Murakami this month. Here's a thread which may help you decide which one to read next- http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2973-haruki-murakami/page-1

That's scary. Hope everyone in the US is safe.