bree

Ah chesil it was a trick question, I got it right as they mentioned But I got almost everything else wrong. Three on ten for me too.

The first question. How COULD they do that to

I've seen similar worn-out ones here James! Not in a shop though. Wouldn't the frames get you a bit stiff-backed on long hikes?

They look rugged - lovely ones! I think I'm beginning to understand why you like them so much

Ah that's a wonderful one James - it wouldn't suit my needs - but I love the design. The buckles are particularly nice.

Ah no, my Northface had a built-in section for laptops - I think that design is obsolete now - couldn't find a picture of it! I like the Kestrel much better - I think it suits my frame better - and I'm amazed at how much I can pack in and still not feel the weight. It also never looks "bulky". The Northface was shorter and broader than the Kestrel - and my shoulders would feel the weight after a while - no matter how I adjusted the straps.

Thanks for explaining vodkafan - I don't know much about the technical words - but I do love looking at different backpack designs. I had a faithful Northface which I finally retired - and recently got a gorgeous green Osprey Kestrel. It's perfect for short-travels and for hiking. Not sure what frame that is though!

Also, there are shorter books that may take longer to read - because of what they deal with, and how they're written, isn't?

1. A small wooden cottage with a lovely garden 2. A bowl of flowers, a book and a glass of water 3. Watch it quietly and try not to startle it 4. A plain white teacup 5. Fill it with tea

That's very encouraging! I hope to read it later this month.

Mine was: WIFE, BOATMAN, HUSBAND, LOVER, ASSASSIN

Hello Lucybird Yes it was a good read - I may try and read the sequel as I'd love to know what happens to John and Lorraine

I just read a YA book called The Pigman by Paul Zindel. It had a riddle/game described in it. I thought it'd share it here. As to the origin of the riddle, Zindel says: "I got it from the famous playwright Edward Albee who told me about it the night he and I had a meal together. He told me he learned it in Greece." Riddle (in verbatim, from the book, including the image): "I'm going to tell you a murder story, and your job is just to listen. There is a river with a bridge over it, and a WIFE and her HUSBAND live in a house on one side. The WIFE has a LOVER who lives on the other side of the river, and the only way to get from one side of the river to the other is to walk across the bridge or to ask the BOATMAN to take you. One day the HUSBAND tells his WIFE that he has to be gone all night to handle some business in a faraway town. The WIFE pleads with him to take her with him because she knows if she doesn't, she will be unfaithful to him. The HUSBAND absolutely refuses to take her because she will only be in the way of his important business. So the HUSBAND goes alone. When he is gone, the WIFE goes over to the bridge and stays with her LOVER. The night passes, and dawn is almost up when the WIFE leaves because she must get back to her own home before her HUSBAND returns. She starts to cross the bridge but sees an ASSASSIN waiting for her on the other side, and she knows if she tries to cross, he will murder her. In terror, she runs up the side of the river and asks the BOATMAN to take her across the river, but he wants fifty cents. She has no money, so he refuses to take her. The WIFE runs back to the LOVER's house and explains to him what the predicament is and asks him for fifty cents to pay the BOATMAN. The LOVER refuses, telling her it's her own fault for getting into the situation. As dawn comes up, the WIFE is nearly out of her mind and dashes across the bridge. When she comes face to face with the ASSASSIN, he takes a large knife and stabs her until she is dead. Now, on a piece of paper (or in your head), list the names of the characters in the order in which you think they were most responsible for the WIFE's death. Just list WIFE, HUSBAND, LOVER, BOATMAN, and ASSASSIN in the order you think they are the most guilty." Don't read the spoiler, until you know your "list"! Even without the "interpretation" in the spoiler, I thought it made a good way to find out how our mind perceives a situation and whom we blame. So if you understand what I'm rambling on about , and played along, do post your list please

12. The Pigman Paul Zindel First published: 1968 Awards: New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year (1968), ALA Notable Children's Book (1970), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Nominee for Fiction (1969) Setting: USA, 1960s Synopsis (from behind the book): Meet Mr. Pignati, a lonely old man with a beer belly and an awful secret. He's the Pigman and he's got a great big, twinkling smile and would have made one @#$% street-corner Santa Claus, if you stuck a white beard on him in December. John and Lorraine, two high school sophomores, are his friends and know his whole sad, zany story. They tell it right here in this book - the truth, and nothing but the truth - no matter how many people it shocks or hurts. Thoughts: The book unfolds in the first person, in alternating chapters, between John and Lorraine. You get to know them, their thought, their families and the about their unlikely friendship with old Mr. Pignati - who they fondly call "The Pigman". It's revealed almost at the beginning that Mr. Pignati is now dead - and this narrative is a written document of his two friends. It is a well-paced book - written to capture the wandering minds of Young-Adults - and yet does a commendable job in making astute observations about life, mortality, growing-up, dreams, loneliness and relationships. You can't help but grow fond of the two young narrators, and of the lonely, eccentric Mr. Pignati. Yes there is teenage angst, but it is never shallow or trivial, and is only one of the many motifs explored. Another YA book that left me thinking. It well deserves to be called a YA classic - and I'd like to read its sequel - The Pigman's Legacy Something from the book: The Assassin Riddle Rating: ★★ : I liked it

^^ Thanks Athena - it looks like "rucksack" was derived from Dutch then! Makes sense after you explained it. Edit: Or German

Is a rucksack the same as backpack, vodkafan? Or it there some technical difference? And how many do you own?

challenge

Meanwhile I completed The Pigman last night and have picked up Love In The Time of Cholera - I've yet to start on it though. It's bright and warm again today, and along with the sunshine came my first parcel of five books 1. The Black Tower - PD James 2. The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper 3. Villette - Charlotte Bronte 4. The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy 5, Beloved - Toni Morrison

Hello kidsmum and Peacefield I hadn't heard of her till I picked up this book I will try and get hold of The Lady and The Unicorn - it's currently not available here. chesil, I luckily found a copy of Falling Angels - I think I'll buy when I books next month. I hope I enjoy it too. I ordered The Lions of Al-Rassan straight after reading your review frankie

11. Girl With A Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier First published: 1999 Awards: ALA Alex Award (2001), ALA's Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2001), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2006) Setting: Netherlands , 1664 - 1676 Synopsis (from Amazon): 17th Century Holland. When Griet becomes a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer in the town of Delft, she thinks she knows her role: housework, laundry and the care of his six children. But as she becomes part of his world and his work, their growing intimacy spreads tension and deception in the ordered household and, as the scandal seeps out, into the town beyond. Background (from wikipedia): Tracy Chevalier's inspiration for Girl with a Pearl Earring was a poster of Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. She bought the poster as a nineteen-year-old, and it hung wherever she lived for sixteen years. Chevalier notes that the "ambiguous look" on the girl's face left the "most lasting impression" on her. She describes the girl's expression "to be a mass of contradictions: innocent yet experienced, joyous yet tearful, full of longing and yet full of loss." Thoughts: It was easy to engage with the book - narrated first hand by the intelligent and intriguing Griet. It starts when she's sixteen - hen she first joins as a maid in Vermeer's household, and chronicles her journey for the next three years. We get to know of own mind, and of each of the characters in the artist's home. And beneath all the labels of it being a "historic" novel, it is essentially a coming-of-age book - of a girl who at every step knows her mind, her heart and her passions. I think what gave the novel an edge was- It however stopped short of being perfect for me as the book felt quite modern despite the historic premise. Also in a few places the author, I felt, used more flowery language than the narrative called for - which I'd have probably admired more reading as a young-adult. Rating: ★★ : I liked it

Wonderful review of David Copperfield willoyd - I'm looking at picking it up for this reading year. And you're my inspiration to read more classics

I hadn't heard of her till I picked up this book - so don't know what to expect! Good to know though, that many people have enjoyed this one

Come to think of it, it does have some similarities with The Passage to the Godforsaken !

strength