Can't believe it's the end of the month already - I bet everyone's been sitting waiting for this thread, raring to go with this month's lists!

Anyway, here's mine:

And I'm still reading Dog Days, Glenn Miller Nights (Laurie Graham), though I'll probably finish it by tomorrow.

 Not Dead Enough by Peter James.....Very Good

Stand Off by Sandra Brown....Very Good

Death Message by Mark Billingham....OK

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer....Unfinished

Run For Home by Sheila Quigley....OK

Twilight by Peter James...Very Good

A Much Married Man by Nicholas Coleridge.....nearly finished....

and for book group....The Curse of Tutton Comman by Geoff Tristram...load of rubbish.....

A question of love : Isobel wolff loved this

salem falls : jodi picoult, all picoults are great enjoyed this more than the pact

marshmellows fro breakfast dorothy coombson, half way through still undecided

A very poor month with returning to work.

The Other Hand by Chris Cleave
Found this book both moving and shocking. Really makes you think about what you would be willing to do for another human being.

The Secret Friend by Chris Mooney
Easy read, full of pace and action. Really enjoying this series, looking forward to more.

Sail by James Patterson
An OK thriller, didn't really care about the characters or what happened to them.

Under The Paw by Tom Cox
Very disappointing. Thought this was poorly written and focused too much on the writer rather than the cats.

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer
Really enjoyed this book. Started out as quite a light and frivolous read but quickly became very informative about the German occupation of Guernsey (something I knew nothing about). The only disappointing thing was that the references to books were very sparse.

Note to self: must do better next month!

The Silent Boy - Torey Hayden -This was book of the month for me, I have enjoyed all of her books. 10/10

Gangs - Ross Kemp - Interesting read, quick shocking in places 8/10

The Rose Of Sebastopol - Katherine McMahon - Really enjoyed this one too 9/10

London: The Biography - Peter Ackroyd - Am reading this along side my other books as its a huge read. Really interesting so far.

Housewife On Top - Alison Penton Harper

Bloodstream - Tess Gerritsen

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

Indelible - Karin Slaughter

Smile & Other Stories - Deborah Moggach

Never Say Die - Tess Gerritsen

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (ML)

In The Red - Alexis Hall (ML)

Murder Most Fab by Julian Clary  I thought this was going to be a camp detective story but it wasn't quite like that. A very funny book.  I don't know if JC was setting out to shock but it was very detailed regarding homosexual practices - not for the faint-hearted!  I also loved that at the end of the book there is an interview with JC about his writing and what he likes to read.  9/10

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy  I'd had this on my TBR for sometime and the recent BBC adaptation spurred me to read it.  Apparently the book was condemned when first published because of its criticism of the hypocrisy in religion and society of the time.  The story sometimes seems a little far-fetched but maybe that's because the events described would/could not happen in our present times.  Enjoyable if pessimistic. Glad I read it. 7/10

The Skeleton in the Closet by MC Beaton  A stand-alone mystery by the author of the Agatha Raisin and Hamish McBeth series.  The writing style is similar to those series but the characters were perhaps a bit more engaging in this book.  A light-hearted amusing story. Just what I needed to follow up Tess. 8/10

The Various Flavours of Coffee by Anthony Capella  Wow!  This is the third book of his I have read and his books have improved with each one.  Set in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era travelling from London to Africa to South America and back again, with plenty of interesting information about society, business and politics of the age.  Tales of love from the male point of view.  Beautifully descriptive but not tedious and, as any AC fans will expect, a little naughtiness too.   Loved it, my book of the month - thank you to the Book Fairy who lent it to me.   10/10

Here are my September reads:

Change of Heart ~ Jodi Picoult..9/10
Sashenka ~ Simon Montefiore...10/10
Paul O'Grady: The Biography ~ Neil Simpson..9/10
The Second Husband ~ Louise Candlish..8/10
Gone to Ground ~ John Harvey...8/10
An Angel Held My hand ~ Jacky Newcomb..8/10
The Sugar Queen ~ Sarah Addison Allen..10/10
Portrait of an Unknown Woman ~ Vanora Bennett..8/10
Tribute ~ Nora Roberts..9/10

Pontoon ~Garrison Keillor....Current Read

A really great month for me with some exceptional books ....My favourites were Sashenka and The Sugar Queen...

 I onlymanaged 3 this month, thanks to Sophie's World which took me 4 weeks to read!!  And I only give a 3/10!

Also read Lollipop Shoes by joanne Harris, which I give an 8/10, very much enjoyed it

and The Book of Lost Things by john Connolly which is a 9/10, loved it!!

Nat

Quite a good month for me this month:

Goodnight Beautiful - Dorothy Koomson

Pretend You Don't See Her - Mary Higgins Clark

Little Face - Sophie Hannah

Last Man Down: The Fireman's Story - Richard Picciotto

Hurting Distance - Sophie Hannah

Brand New Friend - Mike Gayle

A Hollywood Ending - Robin Sysman

The Point of Rescue - Sophie Hannah

The Accidental Time Traveller - Sharon Griffiths

Double Cross - James Patterson

Deadly Decisions - Kathy Reichs

The Fantastic Book of Everybody's Secrets - Sophie Hannah

By the Time You Read This - Lola Jaye

I particularly enjoyed the three Sophie Hannah novels and Goodnight Beautiful.

A really slow month for me, just not been in the mood for reading.

A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - my first Sherlock Holmes, I continue to wonder why I left it so long to read one. 

The Black Book of Secrets by FE Higgins - When Ludlow Fitch's parents cruelly betray him, he steals away on the back of a carriage and leaves behind the stinking City. He arrives in the dead of night at a remote village, where he crosses paths with the tall and limping figure of Joe Zabbidou - a pawnbroker with a difference. For Joe trades secrets, not goods, for cash. Ludlow is employed to record the villagers' fiendish confessions in "The Black Book of Secrets" - bodysnatching; thievery; and murder. The people of Pagus Parvus have much to hide. But is Ludlow Fitch ready to release his own skeletons? And will he ever learn to trust his mysterious master?  Kids book, loved it!  

The Hundredth Man by Jack Kerley - Fast moving murder thriller with a great twist.

Ice Cold in Alex by Christopher Landon -  They served it ice-cold in Alex - pale amber Rheingold beer in tall, dewy glasses. This is the image that haunts Captain George Anson. Stationed in the North African desert just before the fall of Tobruk, an ice-cold lager seems a million miles away. When Anson is detailed to escort two nursing sisters to Alexandria, it looks as though his wish is finally about to come true - a routine assignment, with a lager at the end of it as his reward. But what starts out as a routine journey soon becomes an epic. Forced to drive further and further south in order to escape the advancing German Army, Anson and his small party are soon on the edge of the Great Sand Sea....  Brilliant.  Just need to see the film now!

Blood Sinister by Celia Rees - teenage vampire ancestor tale - not bad.

Scared to Death by Alan Gibbons - Late one night after a strange tube journey to Whitechapel in East London, Paul makes a new friend, John Redman - Redman charms Paul at once, but also a girl called Jude they meet on a night about town. A few days later, Paul learns that Jude has mysteriously died, and Redman has disappeared. Shortly after that, one of Paul's teacher dies suddenly - frightened to death - near where Jude's body was found. A link for sure. And Paul feels implicated, because both victims were known to him. He senses Redman, who comes and goes as it suits him, is involved as well. His new friend is dangerous. But so, we learn, is Paul. In uncovering the truth about Redman he learns shocking facts about himself. There's an evil curse loose in his family and Paul is the latest inheritor. The spree of death - camouflagued as copycat Jack the Ripper-style murders - will continue until Paul confronts the demon in himself head on.  Part 1 of several books, I only picked it up for the JTR connection.  Not bad, but a bit long winded. 

Cut to the Quick by Kate Ross - Imperturbable sleuth Julian Kestrel, a stylish gentleman of Regency England, joins with his manservant Dipper to investigate the death of a young woman at a friend's estate. All to often 'Americanisms' can creep into a book, but not in this case.  For an American author, Kate Ross has done her homework with regard to the period.  Loved it, and will read the others in the Julian Kestrel series.

Now reading Wire in the Blood by Val McDirmid which has only started to get going after 180 pages!

Two Days in Biarritz - Michelle Jackson 7/10

Addition - Toni Jordan 8/10

The House of Gentle Men - Kathy Hepinstall 7/10

A Lifetime of Night-Time - James Whale 8/10

Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis 8/10

Couldn't finish -

The Adultery Diet - Eva Cassidy (totally unrealistic and silly)

Comford Food - Kate Jacobs (didn't like her last book and thought this one started off better but then I found it equally as dull)

Another busy reading month for me and it included some great books

Last Orders by Graham Swift - I'd seen the film of this years ago but the book was much better and managed to do the multiple narrator device well.  Very moving.  9/10

King Suckerman by George Pelecanos - the second in the Washington DC series, this time set in the 1970s.  Great sense of the era and a gripping plot 8/10

All Families are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland - loved this (possibly my second favourite Coupland book).  A weird collection of characters and circumstances but it is still they felt real 9/10

Choke by Chuck Palahuniuk - brilliant. Similar in a way to the Coupland book in that the plot is incredible but still you feel empathy for the characters. 9/10

Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay - the second Dexter book.  I actually preferred this to the first one.  7/10

City of God by E L Doctorow - ambitous idea which I don't think quite worked. Great in places but a struggle to read in others. 5/10

Drop City by T C Boyle -  great story about disillusionment with hippie ideals.  Loved this one too.  9/10

The Sea by John Banville - beautifully written although very little happens. 7/10

Naive Super by Erland Loe - a young man contemplates what to do with his life. Quirky but sweet.  Probably my favourite book this month. 10/10

The Gathering by Anne Enwright - wasn't keen on this at all and couldn't see why it deserved the Booker Prize.  5/10

Hallam Foe by Peter Jinks - bizarre story and rather different from the film version. Similar in style to Ian Banks who I like. 7/10

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - an enjoyable read although I felt some of the ideas weren't that original  7/10

The Outsider by Albert Camus - not sure why I've never read this before!   A deserved classic  10/10

The Third Man and The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene - a bit disappointed with this to be honest as I normally love Greene's books and the film is brilliant.  I think you can tell it wasn't intended to be a book.  6/10

Tweleve by Nick McDonnell - not as good as his first book. Well-written and had flashes of excellence in places.  Preferred parts about his family to the parts in Thailand.  7/10

This has been my best month this year even though I returned to work! Two outstanding reads have been Hari Murikami  (10/10)and the Kate Atkinson (10/10), I also really enjoyed 'A Scots Quair' (9/10) and Douglas Coupland's Eleanor Rigby (9/10).