All I want for Christmas is .............

All I want for Christmas is...........a book - or should I say, several books!

What's on your wanted list this Christmas?

Is it the latest TV blockbuster?

 A new crime novel like the new Sherlock Holmes by Anthony Horowitz?

A true tale of heroism such as Ian Fleming's Commandos?

Or a book about your favourite hobby. Maybe baking? Football? Ballroom Dancing?

Let us know what is on your wish list this Christmas.

   

Is one enough ? - singles and sequels

This month we're wondering whether you can have too much of a good thing?

Was Doctor Zhivago enough as a stand alone novel?

Do the various spins off from Gone with the Wind by other authors match up to the original?

Was the 9 year wait worth it for the last in Jean Auel's The Earth's Children series?

 Let us have your views on singles and sequels.

 

Desert Island Books : your best reads of all time

Now that many of us have had our summer holidays we wondered if any of your holiday reads were special enough to take with you to a desert island?

If you could only take 5 books would you choose a classic? A book on your "must read" list? 

A brand new title by a favourite author? An old well thumbed novel? A non fiction favourite?

Or if you had a suitcase washed up with a lucky dip selection what would you like to find inside?.....

Your moderator this month is : Jill

The books that got away...

                     

We really enjoyed chatting about our favourite children’s books with you last month – lots of happy memories, most of them involving exotic adventures far removed from our everyday lives.

This month we’re chatting about the ones that got away – the books you started and couldn’t finish or the books you keep meaning to read but something else always gets in the way (usually another book you know you’ll enjoy more).

One of the authors who visited Bexley Libraries was asked if he always read to the end of a book. He told us he'd worked out how many books he was likely to be able to read in his lifetime:

"The resultant total was so pitifully small that, with an exultant cry of ‘Life’s too short for Midnight’s Children!’, I hurled the book across the room."

I can certainly relate to that, having only managed to get through the first few pages. More books that got away from me (these are my personal opinions only – if you enjoyed them, we'd love to hear from you):

The Night Watch: Poorly written with wooden characters and awful dialogue.

Suite Francaise: A lot of hype attached to this one but I found the characters unappealing and didn't care enough about them to finish the book. 

Scoop: In my early 20s, I read all the Evelyn Waugh books I could get my hands on and loved them. When I tried this recently, I found it tedious and unfunny.

So, some questions:

• Do particular books appeal at different times of our lives?
• Does it depend on the mood we’re in? 
• Which books just don't live up to the hype surrounding them? 
• And which ones have you hurled across the room or simply avoided?

This month's moderator: Sharon