Jenna..I recommended Gone Girl to my librarian and when she put it on the list, she was 299. I went to the authors website and told her how much I liked her book and recommended it to so many and received a nice thank you from her. I reserved her other two books as well. I read Defending Jacob. It was good, husband didn't like it though. I'm now reading Before I go to Sleep..S J Watson. Another amnesia book but am liking it so far.

Blimey, it's too long since I've been on here....note to self - must visit more often! Sheri - I read Your Inner Fish about six months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. This month, I've read a couple of books which might interest you. First, I decided that I'd see what the creationists have to say about everything (or, at least, one of them), and read Evolution - The Fossils Still Say No! by Duane Gish. He follows the story of life as written by evolutionists and just finds holes in the arguments; his main argument being that there are no real transitional fossils. It's a very frustrating book - it just picks holes in evolution and evolutionary theory over and over again without putting anything except "Goddiddit" as an alternative. To someone with a scientific bent, it's very tedious. I was able to spot a few of his flaws, but I'm not an expert on paeleontology, so the book does give the impression that evolution is dubious, to say the least. Then I turned to Evolution - What the Fossils Say and Why it Matters by Donald R Prothero. Prothero is a professor of geology, & a fellow of the Paeleontology society. Basically, he knows what he's talking about - and boy, does it show! In the first part of the book (entitled Evolution and the Fossil Record), he discusses the scientific method and why creationists cannot be considered to be scientists (basically, it comes down to the fact that if the evidence leads you somewhere, that's where you have to go - even if the bible tells you something else). He also discussed the history of evolutionary and geological theory, and systematics - the way living things are related to each other and how they are sorted out. In the second part of the book (entitled Evolution - the Fossils say Yes!), he more-or-less follows Gish in discussing the evolution of life on earth from the beginning. The difference is that he demonstrates, with dozens of examples, that the fossil record is far more complete with literally hundreds of transitional fossils between "kinds". He also takes the time to bad-mouth creationist quote-mining and their misapprehensions about evolution - he goes as far as accusing them of downright dishonesty in a lot of their books. It's a magnificent book, and I frankly don't understand how anyone could read it and still believe in young-earth creationism and flood geology. I'd thoroughly recommend Prothero - it's one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read on any subject. If you wanted to read just one book about evolution, to understand exactly what it's all about, and why the creationish arguments are so flawed, I can't think of a better one. It's worth reading Gish in parallel to see how dishonest a so-called scientist (he has a PhD in Biochemistry) can be - more-or-less HAS to be - when they are starting from a premise which they are not allowed to challenge. (The only down-side to Prothero is the fact that it's a BIG book - it's not one you can slip in your...

Finally got to read this thread! What with a computer problem and watery eyes, I got all behind. As regards having a house elf, that would be lovely. When I returned to work about 40 years ago, after the children went to school, I tried employing neighbours who were 'stay at home mothers' to do a little cleaning for me but after a couple of weeks they decided that they liked having their own money and got fulltime jobs! I picked up a couple of audiotape books from my local library for $1Aust each, that is really cheap! I have not tried listening to books until recently but found it ideal as I could not read for too long with the watery eye problem. Now I'm hooked because I have to listen word-for-word instead of skipping as I often do. It does seem to depend on the person reading how much I enjoy the book. Sometimes I disagree with their pronunciation and correct them as I would have done with my children when they did that! I have picked up an edition of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" which has his illustrations. Very interesting but it was a pity that he did not like Regency fashions and clothed the characters in mid 19th Century styles. I could not relate to them like that. We are used now to seeing the correct dress in the TV and film versions usually although the Greer Garson 'Elizabeth Bennet' was dressed incorrectly, I seem to recall.

I guess I am oblivious to style when the ideas engage me, because I'm one of those who loved the first couple of Dan Brown's I read (reverse order starting with TDVC.) Janalyn, can we credit Atwood with marrying ideas with style if the ideas have been done to death by other authors? Cindy, I enjoyed reading Picoult's The Pact for my book club, but have felt no need to read her further. How do you see her as beating one over the head with her ideas? I tend to lump her with the current crop of writers who I swear are on assignment from their therapists. They don't realize they can use many literary devices to get their points across without tedious blow by blow accounts of dysfunction. Hmmmm. Maybe that means I only buy into the stories if the ideas are those I like. Btw, I once read a George Elliot (or maybe it was a George Sand, I've tried to wipe it out of my memory) short story in which the entire first page was one sentence. Martin, you are right, it isn't exclusive to science fiction. However, I will use a science fiction example to note that I'll probable endure inadequate writing for the ideas more than I'll endure empty style. I don't like the writing style of Arthur C. Clarke at all, but he did have some fascinating ideas. (ducking for cover now) Does Kate Mosse have any fresh ideas? I thought she was reusing old stories. Anya, I've never gotten around to reading Sturgeon, but you have just moved him up on my list. Venusia, sure you didn't have too high expectations of The Birth of Venus what with your self-identification with the goddess? ;) I would have said that David Mitchell's prose, at least in Cloud Atlas showed a wide repertoire of style. I like your description of "lots of tell as opposed to show." I completely agree; it is one of my pet peeves. Mary, Mitchell's narrative approach was what kept me reading Cloud Atlas. Well, that and the fact that we were discussing it here. Sebald is another writer I want to read. I guess I come down on the side of ideas. I read all of Eco, even though I don't particularly like the writing, or maybe it is the translating in his case.