Pride & Prejudice--most romantic novel
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is the most romantic novel of all time

The top five selected by members of the Romantic Novelists' Association

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The fascinating story behind a book's success
Memory of Running by Ron McLarty is a book that I saw on a table in our local bookshop and felt drawn to. I bought it on impulse and only after I looked up a few reviews when I got home did I find out the fascinating story behind it's success. The story behind the story is just as amazing as the novel promises to be.

Please bear with me if you alrready know the fascinating and true story of how a book called The Memory of Running became a hit. It started as an audiobook--the first audio of an unpublished novel. The author, Ron McLarty is an actor and narrates audiobooks and narrated his own book. It became very popular and was praised by Stephen King. That's when publishers took notice. This is after the author had been trying to get the book published for 17 years! The book became a hit in the US and there is a deal with Warner Bros. for a movie. What an amazing story!

Chinese New Year , London Libraries, Rooster Reads
Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year and it's London China Week with all sorts of special activities and events during the week. It's the Year of the Rooster. Since today is a school/work day, the big New Year celebratons will be in London on Sunday, Feb. 13th.

Throughout February there ia a programme organised by the London Libraries Development Agency called Rooster Reads , special events celebrating Chinese literature, arts and culture in libraries across London.

You can read about the Year of the Rooster (or Cockerel) on this link from The British Library. and a Virtual Tour of the Chinese Printmaking Today Exhibiton.

Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife
Topic: The Time Traveler's Wife
I finished reading, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger last night and I can't stop thinking about it. I think it's one of the most beautiful novels ever written! I was completely bowled over by it. The Time Traveler's Wife is enchanting, poignant, heartbreaking, funny, sweet, romantic, riviting, and unforgettable.

It's the story of two characters, Henry DeTamble, a librarian and his wife, Clare Abshire, an artist. Henry is a time traveler but not by choice. He was born with a genetic disorder called "Chrono Displacement" which means he will suddenly vanish from the present and either go back or forward in time. The story isn't really about time travel though. It's about the relationship between Henry and Clare and their bitterseet romance. The narrative alternates between their viewpoints as Henry goes back and forewards in time. It's a convoluted plot but the pertinent dates and times are provided to actually make the flip-flop experiences quite logical. This becomes more apparent as the story progresses and the different events fit together in the present time.

I love the way the author has conveyed the range of emotions felt by Henry and Clare and described the nuances of married life. I also like the way she describes Henry's time-traveling disease. It's done so well that the author almost convinced me it's an actual medical condition!

The use of realistic dialogue, unusual metaphors plus believable characters and unpredictable situations all add up to a lovely and beautiful story.

My only quibble is with some of the language in the sex scenes. I thought some of the words were jarring in the story, especially when it was from Clare's viewpoint which I felt didn't ring true with her character. It's such a lovely romantic story and I felt like the strong language spoiled it just a bit. Apart from that, I would say the book is a sheer delight from start to finish.

The Time Traveler's Wife is a book to get lost in and forget about the outside world. It is a book to remember and treasure. A real classic.

BBC One is launching a new book club tv programme in April 2005. Jeremy Vine will present the show and each programme will have a celebrity guest or author. The shortlist of 24 books was announced today.

I think it's interesting that Richard and Judy's bookclub is mentioned in the article on the BBC website. Richard & Judy are on channel 4 and have a very successful chat show at 5pm Monday-Friday. Last year, they started a bookclub and a lot of people predicted it wouldn't work. It was a huge hit and book sales sky-rocketed for the books chosen by their bookclub. The BBC is obviously hoping to have the same success with their show.

Congratulatons to Stefanie from So Many Books for being chosen as one of the Top 10 Literary Blogs by the Guardian. Well done. She deserves the honour.

Topic: Pass your books on
I know most readers can't bear to part with any of their books and I understand the feeling very well as I used to be like that. However, lack of space (English houses are small) necessitates my being brutal and parting with a good portion of my library .

I donate my book overflow to the local charity shops which always makes me feel good. Another idea is to "release" your books as BookCrossing invites you to do, meaning you deliberately leave your books in a public place to be discovered by a lucky person. A new idea but similar to bookcrossing.com is Pass the Book which works in a more personal way. You share your books with your friends and they share with their friends and so on. Each reader in the chain must promise to pass the book on and keep the chain going. Just like bookcrossing, the PasstheBook website also provides directions to copy and print and place inside the book.

Posted by expat-writer at 6:29 PM GMT

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Book Review: Deadly Decisions
Topic: Deadly Decisions
Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist in North Carolina and Quebec in addition to her career as a successful author. She's written a series of novels about a character, Temperance Brennan (Tempe)who also happens to be a forensic anthropologist. Deadly Decisions is the third book in the series, following on from Death du Jour and Deja Dead. Tempe is able to solve crimes scientifically but of course there are always dangers lurking just around the corner.

In my opinion, Kathy Reichs is a far better writer than Patricia Cornwell who writes similar novels in the same genre. Reichs uses her knowledge and experience from her job to add authenticity to the stories and make them more believable and more intense. Saying that, I was just a bit disappointed with this book. I think Kathy Reichs added too much detail and there are times when the plot almost gets lost among all the extra information she wants to share with her reader.

Deadly Decisions is about motorcycle gangs and drugs and murder. The action swings between Canada and the US. It's a good thriller although I feel it's longer than necessary.

One final note: I feel obliged to warn readers to avoid books by Kathy Reichs if they dont like gory descriptions of decomposing bodies!

Topic: The Secret Hour
The Secret Hour by Luanne Rice is a legal, romantic thriller. The story is about John O'Rourke, an attorney defending a serial killer. The lawyer is a widower trying to cope with the demands of his job as well as raising his 11-yr old daughter and 14 yr-old son.

The story starts with a brick through their window (showing the intense feelings aroused because the lawyer is defending a killer) and the arrival of a young woman, Kate Harris. She is searching for her sister and has followed a trail of clues that may or may not point to the same killer John is defending.

This is the first book I've read by Luanne Rice and I had high expectations because she is a bestselling author of numerous novels. Unfortunately, my expectations weren't fully met. A lot of the story is too predictable and I think the author took too long to create a feeling of suspense.

If you want to read a romance with a bit of suspense mixed in, this is for you. If you are looking for a nail-biting thriller, I would give it a miss.

Topic: Turning the Pages
Another feature on offer from the British Library has been available since last year (April 2004) and it's worth reminding people about. Thanks to the internet, the general public have access to rare books and manuscripts through a project called, Turning the Pages. Diamond Sutra which is the world's oldest dated, printed book (a Chinese Buddhist scroll printed in 868) is just one of the remarkable treasures to be viewed. Leonardo's Notebook is another one. In October 2004, an early Jane Austen manuscript was added to the virtual library.

It's as easy as clicking the mouse to virtually 'turn' the pages. This is an incredible scheme and a perfect way to make these literary treasures available to everyone.