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I've had it for about a month now, it's great. Still can't really compare it to the others - I'm going to read them all again in order at some point. It's safe to say that anyone who liked the rest needs it though.

I have A Feast For Crows. This may be an Amazon mistake, as I don't think it should be out yet. But it's sitting here all red and shiny... Smug grins and hermit-like behaviour henceforth.

I don't have kids (phew, if I did you could certainly call that a parenting failure), but here's a teenage perspective... I can think of nothing more insulting than being told I am too young for a book. There has been no book I have read that I have not been ready for. I had read all the...

I think Dubliners can be a bit deceptive where Joyce is concerned, especially as the format wouldn't have really worked with his usual dense style. Have a look at a page of Ulysses next time you're in the library and you'll see what we mean - made-up words and nonsensical onomatopoeia aplenty...

The thing with Joyce I think you have to remember is that sometimes, especially in Ulysses, he was deliberately trying to confuse and perplex - trying to keep the academic community guessing for years, in which he succeeded. If your copy has good notes it should tell you some of the key figures...

It's funny, I finished this last week and I loved it. But possibly more from a social point of view than because I liked the characters - in fact, Fanny Price may be the most wet and pathetic heroine I've ever read. It's definitely not my favourite Austen, but I did like it.

Also got my AS results today (well done alisa, by the way) and I'm feeling justified in being smug... English Lit. - A Politics - A History - A French - A General Studies - A :D :D Sorry, I'm a bit over the top today :D

Blackwells had Penguin Classics on 'buy one get one free'. I can't walk past an offer like that... Mansfield Park, Jane Austen Villette, Charlotte Bronte Shirley, Charlotte Bronte Bleak House, Charles Dickens Mmmm, annotated editions (drool)

Oh. Oh dear. Not FANTASY ART! Must... close... window.... No! It has me! Run, save yourself! I have a terrible urge to purchase a cloak!

It would take me about 3 hours for 300 pages, maybe more, maybe less. I've always been reasonably quick reader, so I can't tell you how to speed up. But think of it like this - you'll never be able to read all the books in the world, so it's a thankless task. You might as well enjoy the ones you...

Oh, you mean Elric the closet homosexual, the most annoying character ever?! Von Bek's cool though. Oh, those things are punishment for how sinful we all are, didn't you know? Quite understandable. I have that effect frequently. Hmm. Maybe the covers are different where you are. I just...

I'm only about 100 pages in, but I presume you mean all the slavery stuff they put in there? I quite enjoyed the film, but Edmund was deeply annoying and you got the feeling the film makers were trying to make some kind of point. The book is already infinitely better. I should have learned my...

Never read any Le Guin, so I'll have to take your word on that - I was thinking more along the George RR Martin, Michael Moorcock sort of line. While still not being gourmet, these might be considered microwave pasta. I always think, if God is so vulnerable and paranoid as to want to keep bad...

Mansfield Park, Jane Austen. I've already seen an adaptation of this, but it's not like you can really spoil Austen's endings... Really enjoying it, anyway, although am having the usual "you both obviously love each other, just figure it out and let's have the wedding on page 50, ok?"...

Anyway, it's blatantly all copied from Tolkien. Bearded hero coming back from the dead? Previously angelic being becomes Dark Lord? Sheesh guys, get some originality. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. You might be surprised how well-written and intriguing fantasy can be. Or it's brain popcorn, one...

(Wrestling the conch back...) Depends if they all started eating each other or not. Now THAT'S great literature. Why thank you. And if the fantasy annoys you so much, I guess I'll... just carry on reading it regardless. To be faintly on topic, I think everyone should be required to read the...

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte I actually enjoyed this more than I did either Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights the first time I read them, which just goes to show you shouldn't trust the popular choice. The heroine is strong and likeable, rather than insane or ridiclously submissive...

Lay off, jay, let's not get into this one again... :D Jennifer, who also loves fantasy

Not going to address all of this, because I don't have time, just the bits that struck me... :D Yup. Evidently NZ is the enlightened place I've been looking for all my life. I just know that in the UK, female politicians have it far worse than men. There was this whole showing-off thing in...

Sorry, what?! You let these things INTERRUPT READING?! Seriously though, I just deal with it. Life has a habit of interfering. I just make sure I read more the next day. This doesn't go for actual interruption while reading. The person reponsible tends to get the book thrown at them in that...