My bookcrossing name is Geileis - having entered my unusual-in-Australia proper name and been rejected by bookcrossing, I decided on Geileis which is Gaelic for "swan" and was appropriate at the time of membership as I was in Inverell - gaelic for "meeting of the swans".

I really enjoy reading and have a growing collection of books spilling out of my bookcases and onto the floor. My permanent collection is permanent and is to give you an idea of my taste in books. These are the ones re-read or owned for life and will not be bookcrossed ever! I usually go through English 19th century classics especially since being given my grandparent's collection of classical literature - really love Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, Wilkie Collins ("The Moonstone"), George Elliot and Jane Austen. I really loathe Henry James and Virginia Woolf. For 'light' reading, love Cynthia Voigt, Paul Scott ("Jewel in the Crown" series), Catherine Cookson, K.M.Peyton (especially Flambards), Georgette Heyers, Agatha Christies and the Hornblower series.

Currently taking part in SIY26 Reading Challenge :

Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie (read)
Appointment with death by Agatha Christie (read)
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett (read)
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (reading)
Tooth and Nail by Ian Rankin (read)
Strip Jack by Ian Rankin (read)
20000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne (read)
Around the world in 80 days by Jules Verne (read)
Desolation Island by Patrick O'Brian (reading)


SIY 17:
Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian (read)
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian (reading)
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian (audiobook - listened/read)
Venetia by Georgette Heyer (audiobook - listened/read)
Percy Jackson and the lightning thief by Rick Riordan (read)
Romulus, my father by Raimond Gaita (read)
According to Queeney by Beryl Bainbridge (reading)
"Poirot Investigates" by Agatha Christie (reading)



SIY 14 (current October - December 2010)

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (reading)
The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies (reading)
The Spuddy by Lilian Beckwith
My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell (reading)
Cousin Phyllis by Elizabeth Gaskell
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (read)
The Halloween Party by Agatha Christies (read)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christies (read)

SIY 13 (failed abysmally - but went to France and Spain - Yippee!)

SIY 12 (April to June 2010)
2 Conrad books - Heart of Darkness, Under Western Eyes.(read)
2 Booker Prize or shortlisted - TBD, TBD.
1 Non-fiction - Trollope by Victoria Glendinning.
1 Other - The Way we live now by Anthony Trollope. (read)

SIY 11 (January to March 2010, Nu-Knees new host of SIY)

Finishing The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins. Done

1. Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad. (Part of my Conrad Challenge)Done

2. I aim to read Beryl Bainbridge's The Dressmaker (nominated for the Booker Prize in 1973). Done

3. Dicken's Christmas book:The Chimes, The Cricket on the Heath, The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man in the one Volume. Not read!

4. Agnes Keith's "Land below the wind" Done and wonderful read!

5. Oliver Sack's "A leg to stand on." (1984). Lost. Changed for The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch - not finished in time.

6. To be decided. Any suggestions? I would like to find a Booker Prize winner or nomination for this one. Thanks for "What's Bred in the Bones" last time!See: www.themanbookerprize.com/---/Whos_who_2009-0.pdf
It is easier to find books in the middle of the Booker Prize in the library- the current ones are in high demand- the earlier ones are hard to find!


SIY 10 (MrsGaskell retires as host of SIY. October to December 2009)
1. Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge.
2. Nightwatch by Sarah Waters.
3.Mort by Terry Pratchett.
4.My career goes bung by Miles Franklin
5.The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins
6. To be decided.

SIY Challenge 9:
6 Booker Prize or shortlisted books:
1. "The Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai(won 2006 Booker Prize)pp.324. (decided to withdraw this book)
2."A dark night's work and other stories" by Elizabeth Gaskell.
3. To be decided. (Ran out of time)

SIY Challenge 8:
1. "Heat and Dust" by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Winner of 1975 Booker Prize- won over the detested Gossip from the forest!)pp.181.
2. "In Custody" by Anita Desai (shortlisted for 1984 Booker Prize- Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner won that year!)pp.226.
3. "I'll go to bed at noon" by Gerard Woodward(shortlisted for 2004 Booker Prize)pp.437.
4. "The Riders" by Tim Winton (shortlisted for 1995 Booker Prize- Pat Barker's Ghost Road won that year!)pp.377.
5. "What's Bred in the Bones" by Robertson Davies (shortlisted 1986 Booker Prize - Ibis3's favourite)In the Cornish Trilogy: Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bones, The Lyre of Orpheus).
6. "Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood (Thanks Hinerangi! Shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize).

SIY Challenge No. 7
1.Gossip from the Forest by Thomas Keneally (shortlisted for Booker Prize 1975).
2. English Passengers by Matthew Kneale (shortlisted Booker Prize 2000).
3. A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (shortlisted for Booker Prize 1980).
4. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner (Won Booker Prize 1984).
5. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle(Won Booker Prize 1993).
6. The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin (shortlisted for 1999 Booker Prize).
7. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Won 1998 Booker Prize)
8. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (shortlisted for 2005 Booker Prize)

SIY Challenge No. 6 (2008)
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan.(Shortlisted 2001 Booker Prize)[pp.372]
2. The God of small things by Arundhati Roy.(1997 Booker Prizewinner)[pp.340]
3. The Shipping News by E.Annie Proulx.(1994 Pulitzer Prizewinner)[pp.337]
4. When we were orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro.(Shortlisted 2000 Booker Prize)[pp.368]
5. The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert.(Shortlisted 2001 Booker Prize)[pp.391]
6. The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker.(1995 Booker Prize for "The Ghost Road)[pp.592]
The Regeneration Trilogy is Regeneration, The Eye in the door, and The Ghost Road.