Parenthesis

All of them! I would, however, suggest you avoid Splinter of the Mind's Eye, The Crystal Star and Planet of Twilight, and at a push the Jedi Academy trilogy (Kevin J. Anderson's character development leaves a lot to be desired). Star Wars reading musts are: Shadows of the Empire (set between Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi), The Truce at Bakura (follows on immediately after Return of the Jedi), Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy and The Hand of Thrawn duo, all the books in the New Jedi Order series, and likewise the Fate of the Jedi series.

As an avid reader, amateur astronomer and past SETI@Home participant, I absolutely adore Carl Sagan for a plethora of reason. Loved the book Contact (my copy is love-worn), and the film less so, though still found it enjoyable.

Billy Brown, I'll Tell Your Mother is not a book I'm acquainted with (although, prompted by this post I have rectified this just now by reading a review), however, one book I found I had to give up reading after numerous attempts was Ken Folett's The Pillars of the Earth. The book is held in high esteem by so many, and yet, I don't understand why. I found it to be tiresome beyond extreme.

I purchased an old book (The Soul of Mary Olivane - great story!) from a secondhand bookshop and found the handwritten attempt of someone trying to compose their own poem on what was at the time of publishing several blank pages in the back of the book. Going by what had been composed, someone had a talent mind for poetry.

Hardbacks, paperbacks, I really don't have a preference. It usually expense, and to a lesser extent to which mark a book registers on my 'eagerly anticipating metre', that dictates which version of a book I purchase.

Alan Rickman is sublime as Hans Gruber! I love all the Die Hard films. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - One of my most favourite films. The film, based on a Tom Stoppard play of the same name, follows the misadventures and musings of the two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. A beautifully crafted dialogue driven comedy. Both Gary Oldman and Tim Roth are brilliant in the roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

I'm a full-time carer to my disabled son who has complex care needs. A part-time disability advocate and lobbyist. A part-time distance education student (Latin, and Religion and Philosophy). And like 70% of Earth's population an amateur writer. I do have faint memories of a career...once...a long time ago...teaching IT at TAFE (Technical and Further Education) institute.

I read the 'blurb' for The Tenth Circle, and though a story with a difficult subject matter as you mentioned, one that appeals to me nonetheless. I shall be giving The Tenth Circle a try. Thank you for the suggestion, lauraloves, much appreciated.

I have indeed, vodkafan. I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, and have read most of his work. American Gods slips right into my son's favourite genres; fantasy, mythology, sci-fi etc. The adult theme of the book will not be an issue as my son is 19, and will not grapple with the content. LOL! You may call me brackets, punctuation marks etc...anytime you wish.

The book plot does comes across as intriguing. I am curious to see J.K. Rowling's writing style and plot development away from Potterverse. I know I'll be reading A Casual Vacancy, however, it may have to wait until the paperback is released. Books in Australia are disappointingly expensive.

"Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire I happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town." A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

I am Bill Bryson beginning my trek along the Appalachian Trail with my trekking buddy the always amusing Stephen Katz (Matthew Angerer).

My reading opportunities over the last five days have been dismal. I have only managed to make my way through the first three chapters of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. A brilliant read thus far. Hilariously irreverent whilst at the same time managing to impart facts about the Appalachian Trail and surrounding area without being wearisome.

Hello, lauraloves. Pleased to meet you, and thank you for welcoming me. Always love meeting another Aussie. Thank you for the welcome and hello to you, too, Devi. I lived in Victoria (also about 45 minutes outside of Melbourne) for several years prior to moving to Tassie. I held the same thought of being widely read as you did, Devi...joining the forum showed me how erroneous thought that notion was, lol. The sheer diversity of the members' reading delights and habits as been an eye opener and a delight to read. I love the sharing of thoughts on a wide range of genres. I've already three books that I discovered via this forum! Hello there, vodkafan! I look forward to getting to know you.

The three oldest books in my collection are: Little Kitty's Knitting Needles by Rev. P.B. Power published in 1873 Pocket volume of selections from the poetical works of Robert Browning published 1890 The Rainbow Trail by Zane Grey published in 1915

Thbbt!

I acquired Elizabeth Bishop - Life and the Meaning of It by Brett C. Miller some time around 1994 for a course of study and never opened the cover. What a diligent student I was!

I have Anosmia (no sense of smell), so I tend to take a quirky interest whenever I see or hear something about the way a particular food smells. After reading the above comments I think I need not grieve the loss of the smell of mince, raw or cooked. lol.

I'll keep your secret if you keep mine.

A little 'Pride' by Syntax to begin to wind down my evening.

Thank you for sharing the link to the article, chesilbeach. An interesting read. I honestly had never associated the one with the other. It does put the story in a new light somewhat.

*scuffs ground with toe and blushes* I admit that I'm a huge Star Wars nerd, and in saying such I must own that I keep up to date with the novels...so much so that I pre-order each new release. Everyone has to have some nerdy/geeky literary weakness!

Two cups of strong coffee. Always.

Despite my little display of sarcasm I do love it here in Tassie. It's taken a few years to acclimatise to the slowness of the life pace and its oftentimes refusal to move towards modernity; I'm a Western Australian girl by origin. LOL, I solved the problem of being too far from familial ties...I followed my parents here. Ah yes, raspberry farms and bookshops, I knew there were reasons why I lived here! I'm already a book fiend, but my wanting to read book list has grown abundantly since I have been lurking here. I foresee an overrun broke household of books in the future! Thank you so much for the welcome, chaliepud, I'm pleased to meet you.

The relative anonymity of the internet does seem to breed its fair share of cretins with keyboards unfortunately. I'm all for a little ribbing and rivalry, however, the catch phrase is 'good natured'. I do look forward to sharing some fellow Aussie cricket fan camaraderie the coming summer season.