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Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman because it articulates some of what I feel about books. Apart from that a lot of my children's books that I still have.

Thank you Novella, she sounds like an interesting writer.

StillILearn did you find out anything interesting about Iris Murdoch? I'm thinking about reading one of her books.

Pablo Neruda and Isabel Allende are both authors I have been planning to read for a long time. Now I will! Thanks for sharing.

Tim Winton - An Australian author who has a new book out come to think of it ...

I don't so much 'put books down' - deliberately at least - as get distracted by other books. I often read more than one book at a time and sometimes one can drag on for ages while others get finished and I move on to new things. I did once stop reading I don't know how she does it because I...

Yay! More bookcrossers! I can't believe I haven't seen this thread before, but then I haven't logged on for a while. I first discovered the book forum through bookcrossing. They have a link to this site on their website. I've been bookcrossing for a while now. Like a lot of the people who...

Some words of encouragement I think it sounds like a lovely idea. I'd go ahead and do it and then work the kinks out as you come to them. I thought you might like to hear that a friend and I started a book club just over a year ago now. We treated the whole thing fairly casually and still...

Trafficking in Old Books by Anthony Marshall It's definitely aimed at a niche audience, so I think self publishing worked really well for him. And he's had his second book published by a 'real' publishing company as a result.

That makes a lot of sense purplemyst. I often think a lot of the subtleties of a book are going over my head, and when you do know a bit about the author and the context in which they wrote a book you get so much more out of it.

I think everyone has raised some really interesting points in this thread. I studied history at Uni and I work in Museums, so I'm fascinated. This is what I think is the key. Are you reading purely for enjoyment? In this case 'a good story' is all that's required. Bugger the facts. Or are...

I think John Marsden is one example of a male author who successfully writes from a female perspective. It's not Sci-Fi or Fantasy, he writes teenage fiction, but I really enjoyed a lot of his work, including So Much to Tell You and most of the Tomorrow Series which were written from the...

Tracy Chevalier I really like her books. Girl With a Pearl Earring is probably her most well known but I like The Lady and the Unicorn best. I also enjoyed Falling Angels I think she researches her books well and her style catches a lot of the feel of the times she writes about without going...

That was my fault, I saw verbal and ran with it. We don't have GRE's (that I'm aware of) in Australia. And I know Med. students here (it is related to medicine at least isn't it? I haven't completely missed the point?) have to do an interview section in their applications at least, not sure...

Mine changes frequently but for now it is: Oranges are Not The Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson The Robber Bride - Margaret Attwood Catch 22 - Joseph Heller Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen The Eyre Affair - Jasper FForde

You might like to read Anne Faddiman 'Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader' (not sure if I've spelt her name right sorry). She talks about different people's attitudes to their books and classifies readers as 'courtly lovers' or 'carnal lovers' depending on how they treat their books. I...

Another bookcrossing devotee I'm also into bookcrossing. :) If you want to try it there are lots of members who trade books instead of releasing them. That way they know the books are going to a good home. I used to keep all my books, but I'm starting to run out of room, and there are...

OK Halcyon, I found your other thread on 'are you good at reading' and I think I understand where you're coming from a bit better now. I would say if you're reading for a test the main thing is to skim through and highlight what you think are the key points. Does the author have an...

I always did quite well at written and spoken tests, but my strengths are the humanities, don't ask me to talk about physics. I think 99% of those skills come down to bullshit (hope I'm allowed to say that, will it get blocked out?). By that I mean you have to know how to bluff your way through...

I really liked 'The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God & Other Stories' by Etgar Keret (he's a little bit different and sometimes dark) and 'Idle Hour in the County of Hope' by Julie Simpson. I also like Penelope Fitzgerald who tends to write fairly short novels, but she's not to everyone's taste...