slywaka1

My boyfriend would usually rather watch telly, and does get a bit crabby if I ignore him too much or read late at night when he's trying to sleep, but he's really enjoyed a few books I've told him to read when I've finished them. I re-read Goodnight Mr Tom last year and persuaded him to read it and he loved it (he's African and doesn't seem to have read any of the same books as me as a child). Also Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, and at the moment I've given him The Shadow of the Wind, and Twilight (Stephanie Meyer), but I don't think he's got very far with either of those. Anna

What a good idea! Very original! Anna

I hate the Oasis, Cactus Kid ones. They really make my skin crawl. Anna

I used to quite like Rex but seeing the way he has been with Nicole, and Rachel before, my opinion of him has gone completely down. I do think, though, that Nicole is being pretty immature (I know she is only 19 though, but I know people younger and more mature than she is), and they kind of suit each other. Anna

Hello!! Anna

Dinner party was a big success, and we even talked about the book we'd chosen (The Book Thief)! Admittedly not very much, but some! Everything tasted lovely, although I was cooking from 8.30am till 7pm, with about a 10 minute break at 4pm. I'm really tired today, so tonight I'm going to have takeaway, maybe curry...... I am NOT cooking tonight!!! Anna

I'm having a dinner party/book club meeting tomorrow night with 7 friends, so am cooking the menu below. Only found out today that 2 of the blokes coming are vegetarian, so have had to hurriedly come up with veggie alternatives. Will have to go shopping AGAIN tonight to get the bits for their meals. And they're not even my friends, they're friends of a friend. I really hope it will be ok, it's quite a big project to do in a day.......... Canap

On the Tube to and from work, an hour each way. Sometimes at lunch time at work, but sometimes I spend that on here...... Anna

I just finished this on Friday night and on teh whole I eally enjoyed it. I found that it was quite slow, in a good way- I didn't find myself racing through it and therefore missing bits. The only thing that slightly annoyed me was the frequency of occasions when objects were doing the actions. (There's a term for that but I can't think of it.) I've not got the book with me but from memory the first time I noticed was page 49 (I think) when 'a dressing gown stood' meaning (As I took it) in Liesl's eyes her foster mother's most noticable point was that she wore a large dressing gown, which overtook this first impression of her. The first time I noticed this I found it quite endearing and child-like, but I started to notice it every few pages, even when it was seen from Death's, rather than Liesl's, point of view, and in the end I just found it quite unnecessary, like it was a deliberate attempt by the author to write in this way. Which is fine, it was just a bit much, I thought. Also, what does 'the cupboards were the shape of guilt' mean??? Anna