Top Ten Picks - Favorite Love Stories Of All Time

This week over at Random Ramblings its the turn of the Top ten Romantic stories. Alas this means that Chris will not be submitting anything this week which is no bad thing as I can think of plenty. Romantic books are something which I do enjoy a lot but don't read too many of them, perhaps because I hate anything cheesy so its hard to find romantic books which do not fall into this category. If anyone has any recommendations for me then please leave them in the comments sections and I will be sure to add them to my wish list. Also do read the other entry's in this as there have been some really good suggestions.


1.Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

OK when I quizzed Chris about romantic stories this is the only one he could come up with as he did love the film with Leonardo Dicapio as did I. I did study this in school and while I enjoyed it the story did come very much alive for me in that film. I've seen it a few times now and every-time I watch it I still practically beg Romeo not to drink the poison.


2.Water for Elephants

Not my favourite book in the world but I did like the couple in it. What I liked was that after the drama and tragedy is all over, they manage to live a perfectly nice life and grow old together. I think that's beautiful.







3.The Time Travelors Wife

I only finished reading this yesterday but I knew it was going to be on the list pretty much from page 50. They spend most of the book living quite a normal life just like everyone else which is intercepted constantly by Henry's time travelling. One of the most connected couples I've ever read about.





4.Pride & Prejudice

Well OK this will pretty much on everyone's else's list so I wont say any more apart from, well how could I resist this ultimate I hate you, no I love you couple.




5.The Notebook

I've only ever seen the film and because I have yet to find a blogger who recommends the book over the film, that's how its staying. But the film I loved and thought the two actors playing the lead roles were brilliant.






6.Lady into Fox

OK this isn't a romantic book as its about a lady who turns into a fox while walking with her husband one day. But the reason I put this on the list is because the husband seems determined throughout to keep going with his marriage despite what has happened. He looks after her, feeds her and even continues to share the marital bed. Then when his wife decides she wants to live outside as a fox, her husband still insists on sleeping outside near her den (if its warm enough) and even gets a little jealous when she has cubs with a male fox. Now if that isn't taking your 'for better or worse' vows seriously then I don't know what is!


7.When Harry met Sally

For me the ultimate friends becoming lovers story complete with a new years declaration of love.




8.Sleepless in Seattle

Well Meg Ryan you made it on the list twice, playing the American sweetheart did your career wonders.









9.Pretty woman

Completely implausible, a complete fairytale but I love it. Plus when I was in LA I went into the hotel in the film at the end of Rodeo and used their toilet, this didn't enhance my love of the film its just something I thought I'd share.






10.Lost in translation

It would have been a little gross if the two characters in this film had gotten together but its made all the more powerful because they don't. I remember a TV programme over here got someone who could lip read to try to work out what Bill Murray whispered in Scarlet Johansen ear at the end but unfortunately they could only get half of it.

If your popping over on the blog hop then welcome :)

A Short Gentleman by Jon Canter

The latest NTTVBG pick to be discussed on Sunday was A Short Gentleman by Jon Canter. This is a very different read to the other books for this club so far as its a more light hearted funny book.

The narrator of this book is a Robert Purcell, a barrister who is the quintessential English Gentleman. Born into a rich household, Robert had a privileged childhood during which he dreamed of one day emulating his father by becoming a judge, gaining a respectable wife and having two children; a boy and a girl. Quite early on in the narration we learn that Robert has committed a crime for which he has been sent to prison and thus his career and personal life has taken a nose dive. We do not learn what this crime is until the end of the book and it was great fun reading about Robert's life going according to plan before completely unravelling.

Robert is not a nice character, he's condescending, pompous, arrogant and a terrible snob. These are aspects of his personality of which he is very proud. So why did I like this book? Well because these attributes meant that the narrator was never 'self pitying' and also because it gave the narration its wit and humour.

'I've inherited my politics from my father. I believe in a free market but I also believe it's the primary duty of a political party to look after the poor. The poor must be fed and clothed and housed, though preferably not next door.'

He seems to be a man who reminisces constantly about a bizarre bygone era. An era which, in reality, probably didn't exist except in the minds of people suffering from a hopeless rose-tinted nostalgia for 'Englishness'.

He came from a time when such questions went unasked. A man could have a mistress and a wife, without the wife asking questions. A man could visit a prostitute once a week, without the wife accusing him of having 'intimacy issues',........A man could have a close male friend, without that friend insisting they walk down the aisle of the Church of St Elton the John.

I don't normally use quotations in my reviews (I consider it far too much effort) but I have here to give you an idea of the humour and narration throughout the book, some of which made me laugh out loud. By the end of the book I don't think I really cared what crime Robert had committed because that wasn't the reason I was turning the pages, in the end I was drawn in by the story which had become quite developed and I ended up warming to Robert if only because the other characters were so much worse but just as hilarious.

Verdict 4/5

Posted by Jess

Challenges and Awards

I have finally decided to join the 1030s mini challenge being hosted over at Things mean a lot and it’s not just because of the rather attractive button this challenge has. No it’s because my next book is ‘Tender is the night’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald which was published in 1934, I have never read Scott Fitzgerald before so hopefully this book will be a good introduction.

We have been given a couple of awards over the past few days. Firstly the One lovely blog award from the also lovely Cat from Cat-bookmagic.



We also have been given the Oh My Blog! Award from Petty at Pen and Paper.


The procedure, as The Little Flower explains being,

"1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER!
2. Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award:
(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
(c) Write a "Soundtrack of your childhood" post.
(d) Make your next blog a 'vlog'/video blog. Basically, you're talking to the camera about whatever.
(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.
3. Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers. Don't forget to tell them."

I’m gonna go with ‘Soundtrack of your childhood on this one.

But before I can do this I need to talk about Australian Soaps (yes there is a connection) I don’t know if it is actually the law in Australia but it certainly seems to be. Basically if you were an up and coming actor/actress/singer during the 80s/90s in Australia then you would have been MADE to appear in a soap over there at some point during your early career. The most popular soaps to appear in for these young entertainers would have been Neighbours and Home & Away, but if you weren’t quite beautiful enough for those then there was always prisoner Cell Block H.
I’m rambling; anyway the height of popularity in the UK for Australian soaps was during the 80s when I was only about 10. EVERYONE in school watched them and we would all swap posters everyday of the soap stars. Well during all this many of these stars made a break for Hollywood (the most well known being Guy Peace, Russell Crowe and Naomi Watts – in fact for all you true blood fans that’s where Jason Stackhouse started)
But for the rest of them that weren’t Hollywood worthy they would wash up on the UK shores and then start to bleed our ears with their awful 80’s pop music and thus the connection. Yes when I think of music during my childhood I cannot help but think of Kylie and Jason, the most successful of these. Do I listen to them now? No, in fact I cringe, Kylie may be a bit of a sex kitten now but then she was very uncool with a terrible 80s perm. Do I watch these soaps now? No, not for years.



Ok so I would like to pass these awards to the following bloggers who I have recently discovered.

Book Bookie
BookMarc Blogpants
Caribousmom
Learning to Read
the ladybug Reads
This Bookish Life

Night Owl

Yesterday was a bank holiday here in England which meant I had the day off work. Normally this is great, however I am in the middle of working a long set of night shifts so was stuck in a difficult situation. Do I try to stay awake and enjoy the day then sleep normally at night time knowing I have to go to work the next night? Or do I stay awake all night at home and sleep all the next day as I normally do and be ready to return to work the next night?

In the end I decided it would be a brilliant opportunity to do some serious reading of a book I am struggling to make headway with. I would be alone all night without any interruptions or distractions – perfect!

I have been reading the ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ since the beginning of March this year and had only managed to reach page 135. I am enjoying the book and certainly learning a lot from it however it is not a ‘page turner’ in the traditional respect and is very scientific and often difficult to follow.
The HMS Beagle sailed across the world on a five year survey mission in 1831. Among the crew was a young English geologist named Charles Darwin. The journey took place at the very beginning of his long, illustrious career in science. It is really interesting to read of his experiences on the voyage not just of wildlife and fossils but of encounters with local people and tribesmen and women of whom he often described as ‘savages’ or ‘barbarians’.

I found I could only read the book in segments of 20 pages or so at a time then I would take a break of perhaps 15 minutes then attack the book again. In this manner I was able to stay up all night and read 101 pages. I had begun to struggle by 4am but I set myself a target and with the assistance of generous helpings of strong coffee I was able to do it. 101 pages may not seem like such an achievement but for a non-scientist I don’t think this is bad going. I am feeling quite smug right now!

I intend to post a full review of the book when I finish it then move onto Mr Darwin’s more famous effort ‘On The Origin of Species’ this probably won’t happen until 2020 so don’t hold your breath!

By Chris

The Secret Life of Bees

This is a read the book watch the movie post. I recorded the film a couple of months ago but didn't want to watch it until I had read the book. I also have The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Revolutionary Road and The Reader recorded but I just need to also read the books first.

Anyway back to The Secret Life of Bees which is a book that seems to be well loved and a firm favourite of readers in general, it isn't hard to see why. Set in South Carolina during the 1960s, The Secret Life of Bees is a gentle coming of age tale about Lily who may or may not have accidentally killed her mother when she was four. Lily lives with her rather bitter and abusive father, and is looked after by one of the black servants called Rosaleen who works on her daddy's land.

When the Civil rights act is put into effect, Rosaleen decides to register to vote and is accompanied by Lily who has just turned 14.
It is here that Rosaleen gets arrested and beaten forcing Lily to act. Now fugitives from the law Lily uses what information she has on her mother and they find their way to the home of three bee-keeping sisters August, June and May.

All the female characters in this book are very likeable and this is a very feminine book. Lily starts to come to terms with what has happened to her and tries to gain understanding of her mother and her place in the world all the while under the gentle guidance of the three sisters. There are also family dynamics in place as the women live, work and share their problems together. The author does a very good job of setting the time and place, most of the story is set during a very hot stifling summer and I could believe I was there and could hear the endless humming of the Bees.

This is a book dripped in sentimentality, despite the darker themes such as mental illness and racial tension the author does not let these issues get in the way of Lily's coming of age story. Unfortunately this also means that something like racial tension does not give the full impact or message it deserves and gives the book a slightly rose-tinted feel.

None of the characters are two dimensional and each have their own flaws (with the exception of August) Lily is 14 years old when this story takes place and sometimes she does act like a child, the servant Rosaleen is sometimes frustrating and the sister June at first comes across as cold and aloof. On the other side of the coin as Lily understands more about her mother, so her father becomes slightly more understanding from the bitter, angry man we seen in the beginning.

The Secret Life of Bees is not a complicated read but it has enough drama to keep a reader interested throughout, it is not a 'powerful' book but it is charming and full of enchanting characters but unfortunately I found it a little sickly sweet and in parts clichéd. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a slightly more uplifting read or to take on holiday.

Verdict 3/5


The film – well its exceptionally well cast. Dakota Fanning has that sad, skinny look which I imagined Lily to have and although Jennifer Hudson was a little young for Rosaleen, I think she got away it. Queen Latifah was kindly and wise enough to play August but I thought the stand out stars were Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo playing June and May.

Unfortunately the beginning of the film was far too rushed and Lily's reasons for running away were not fully explained although this could be because Paul Bettany played the father role in a far more sympathetic way than the book suggested. But other elements such as Rosaleen's friendship with May were just as strong as in the book, but this is more to do with the actresses work rather than the script.

Some of the more cheesy elements in the book translated to practically cringe-worthy moments on screen, August telling Lily to 'send the bees love' in order to prevent them stinging her in the book was yes, cheesy. But then having Dakota Fanning chanting 'I love you, I love you, I love you' to the bees on screen looked a little silly.

Other than that not a bad adaptation, the film moved at a very fast speed as it seemed to be desperate to fit all of the plot in. Perhaps some elements of the plot could have been sacrificed in order to keep more of the charm and spirit of the book.

Verdict 3/5

Posted by Jess

Special Edition Book Sets

I rarely keep any of my books, they either go to a charity shop or if I think they would be interested, my family or friends. Perhaps this is why I am attracted to 'special collections'. You know the ones, its when publishers release a limited edition set of Jane Austin books or cloth bound books of old classics for a limited time only. I rarely actually buy any of these sets because I find that with special edition copies comes a special edition price as well, but I do like looking at them so here are my latest 'wants'

Now I was in town a week ago and I saw Alice in Wonderland in HMV for £1.99, but in Waterstones they had this rather nice edition for £12.99.



Now I'm not an idiot, this is a book I've never read so I did get the £1.99 one but it didn't stop me thinking about it. The rest of this rather lovely collection can be see here.

Bloomsbury do a special collection of Margaret Atwood books that when lined up spell ATWOOD on the spines.



Little Brown publishing have released these books here which are special edition and the covers have been designed by various textile designers. These were released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics back in 2008.

oh then we have these as seen on various book blogs over the past year.



No these are not special edition, but they do all have matching covers...........therefore I want them............all.

There is a bit of a point to this post, I recently treated myself to these.



To celebrate being 75 years, penguin have released the 'books of the decades'. Basically 5 books from each decade from the 50s to the 80s which according to them 'helped shape modern Britian' So four decades, 20 books - I don't really see how that fits with the '75' years thing but there you go.

What I have brought are the books from the 70s decade, the books here appealed to me plus one of them is a collection of Daphne du Maurier's short stories which I can use for the du Maurier challenge.

So there you go, some books which I will be keeping.