CornflowerBlue

I love James Corden but I wasn't really swayed by this week's. It just didn't keep my attention. I might try watching it again later in the week.

It was amazing! She was so articulate and interesting, left wing, educated, eloquent. I really enjoyed her talk, even though my ex flatmate was there and, as usual, asked stupid questions then answered them and interrupted her She talked in detail about her reasons for writing and the writing process, and was helpful without being directive. I found myself fangirling a bit, but managed to restrain myself!

I can't recommend it enough!

I read fairly quickly. Given the chance, I could finish a decent novel a day and still find time to cook, eat, shower and check my emails etc. I have a two hour commute twice a week, and regularly finish a teen book each way.

aw thank you! Everywhere else on the web I am a different name, but I picked it when I was 13 and decided it was time for something more grown up. I grew up with a dishwasher and attribute to that my pathological hatred of washing up.

1. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman 2. The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker 3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman 4. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 5. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides It hurt me not to put Angela Carter in there.

Poppy, I too am a mess-maker. I dream of owning a dishwasher, and would include in my list of criteria for a potential boyfriend 'is not a picky eater, and likes washing up'.

I think this is why I'm rubbish at batch cooking. There's something from yesterday in the fridge, but I'm busy getting excited about making something new . I think it helps that there's only me to mind if a food doesn't turn out as I'd like.

I don't read many, but I do love them on occasion. I was avidly following the Buffy Series 8 ones 'til I got behind and can't seem to catch up I have read and loved Craig Thompson's Blankets, and a few fairly random ones, a couple of Sandman and so on. At the weekend I bought this, even though I really couldn't afford it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mouse-Guard-Autumn-David-Petersen/dp/1845766601 I have to confess that I bought it because I have a secret love for stories involving mice: some of my first books were the Brambly Hedge books, and I progressed to The Deptford Mice and then the Redwall books. It is lovely, I read it on the train journey home and the guy next to me couldn't stop himself reading over my shoulder. I'll be buying the next one, Winter 1152, next time I'm in Leeds City Centre. This is the series website: http://www.mouseguard.net/

For the rest of your life, what would they be? I'd have: avocadoes mangoes garlicky roast chicken sashimi (I know that's a combination of foods really) and dark chocolate.

The best cake I have ever tasted is Nigel Slater's chocolate beetroot cake. If I could only show my cooking with one recipe, it would be that. It's a pain in the bum, you have to boil the beetroots, skin them then blend them, melt the chocolate without stirring, then add the espresso stirring once, then add the butter, then whisk the egg whites... but the finished cake is rich, moussey and very dark. Anyone got a perfect recipe to share?

I'm an indulgent one . Given the option, I'll have the radio on, a cup of rose tea or a glass of wine, the kitchen to myself. I love to cook, and eat. I'll generally cook without a recipe unless it's something new, and my student budget has made me a pro at making a meal from odds and sods. You?

The Sky is Everywhere Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Dial; 1 edition (March 9, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 0803734956 Have you ever loved a book from the first chapter? Been tugged in, heart-first, feet flapping last, straight inside a book? I fell in love with this book so much I'm considering buying the UK paperback release (mine's a proof copy), because it's so beautiful and will hold up better to the inevitable heartfelt re-readings. What this book really needs, though, is waterproofing. I don't cry at books, as a rule. I don't cry over plots, or characters, no matter how much I love them. There are moment that have made me teary - the Weasley twins' sacrifice, the ghostly return of Piccadilly in The Deptford Mice Trilogy, Mole smelling his own, forgotten little home, but nothing has made me cry. At least, nothing until The Sky is Everywhere. I had to leave my garden and hide indoors, for fear that my neighbours would notice I was sobbing into a paperback. Nelson effortlessly sculpts the absent character of Bailey, weaving her into every line so that each reminder of her death comes as a shock, so though she it yanking out a little of your stuffing. The reader knows that Bailey is dead from the first page, we never meet her, so how is it that she can hold my heart (and my tear ducts) under such control? For all it is a terribly sad book, this is also a wonderfully happy, and beautiful, book. There is a funny, silly, heartfelt mysticism in Lenny's life, which is populated with wonderful characters. Nelson's skill is in creating characters who are full and whole, never a caricature, nor a sketch. Each one smiles on the page, and you come to care deeply for the twists and turns of their lives. Nelson's skilled, brilliant characters make the leaping, joyful romantic collisions a thing of wonder; aforementioned peeking neighbours must also have wondered why I was smiling, possibly even laughing, at my book. The contrast between the elated, unexpected highs of first love and the sudden, crushing reminders of grief make this an incredible book, and a real treasure. I think this book deserves to become a classic; I'll be watching Nelson's progress with interest (and tissues).

Guantanamo Boy Publisher: Puffin (5 Feb 2009) Language English ISBN-10: 0141326077 http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/28/guantanamo-boy I am not usually very interested in realistic tales of hardship. Reading through someone's struggle doesn't fascinate me, my misery memoirs reading started and ended with Dave Pelzer's 'A Boy Called It' trilogy. I wasn't looking forward to reading this, but it's on the Lancashire Children's Book Award shortlist, so I read it for uni. It scattered my expectations. Even now I keep being surprised at how it completely took me by surprise. Perera does a rare thing with this beautiful book, which I feel deserves a subtler, gentler cover. Khalid, the protagonist, is drawn with love. He is a thoughtful, impulsive, likeable teenage boy; he cares about his dad, occasionally messes up at school, cheerfully admits to himself that he's rubbish at football. He struggles to unite his family's traditions with his settled, Western life, but no more than any teenager strains against the confines of their parents' expectations. Khalid's experience of interrogation, isolation, and the withholding of basic human rights isn't immediately distressing. Perera has written with great skill and care here, making the book appropriate for younger readers, but not flinching from what Guantanamo is, and does. There were moments when I caught my breath: t Although it's undoubtedly going to teach most readers a lot about the horror of secret prisons and obtaining evidence by torture, Guantanamo Boy doesn't feel preachy. There's a wonderful lightness of touch, and a real generosity that makes Khalid a genuinely likeable young man. It was hard to move away from this book, and hard to accept that it is a work of fiction. Khalid's anger, his despair, his madness, are all perfectly written, and the sense of time wasted, of youth blown away, is achingly sad. Best of all are Khalid's clumsily eloquent words at the end, trying to describe two years of teenage life lost. A brilliant, difficult, thoughtful and incredibly skilled story. Five stars for me, I really loved this book.

Only Anne Fine! I'm really excited, she doesn't do talks much any more, and apparently she's a superb and very articulate speaker. I'm a bit disappointed, she's doing a book club on Bill's New Frock and The Tulip Touch but I'm going to have to miss that bit for a meeting about another module. Still, Anne Fine

I think the whole thing's really sad. I read a few years ago that there's a known tendency to sexual attraction for family members who are reunited after years apart. There were some interviews that were just hreatbreaking, including a woman who tracked down her son, only to have to walk away because of it. I have a feeling it's called genetic sexual attraction.

I loved this episode! I thought the monster was rubbish too, but the rest of it was wonderful. Vincent was fantastic, and yes, I cried when he saw the gallery. I think for me a lot of the problem is the lack of scare; it's like they're afraid to have you hiding behind the sofa like they used to.

It's not Borders. Books etc was bought by Borders in around 2004 - they were just closing the ones they didn't like when I started working for Borders. They were a nice little company by the look of it, and very bitter about the way they'd been treated by this big US juggernaut. When Borders went under, it looks like Books etc just about survived. Their offers and prices are good, I've signed up, but the one time I had cash and a list of books I needed to buy, the site was down.

I used to work for Borders and was gutted when it went under. I have quite a few friends who still worked there when it went and it was awful, the focus had moved away from books by then and they were just shipping cheap tat. There's a gorgeous children's bookshop in Huddersfield. My dream is to run one in Leeds, with pregnancy, baby and picture books on the ground floor, then 6-12 on the first along with more grown up picture books, then 9-15 and young adult and graphic novels and a little smoothie bar on the top floor Waterstones are supposed to be training new children's book experts, which is good because at the moment ours are as useful as a chocolate teapot I generally like Waterstones, but their customer service has been rubbish for a while. Apparently they realised when Borders went that they needed committed booksellers rather than just sales assistants, I know quite a few Borders booksellers who went to 'stones. The head of the MA Publishing at my uni used to be the Waterstones children's buyer, and she predicted that they're going to massively expand their children's and teen sections to try and get a grip on the market.

Oh BookJumper, I have an awful tatty, frayed, battered dogeared copy of Good Omens but I just can;t bear to replace it. It's bee passed around so many of my friends, and read repeatedly by my sister in the bath, and always found its way back to me.

I haven't read any others yet - one of the downsides of reading for my MA is I start a great series and never get to read the next ones, but I'll definitely be choosing some more of his books.

I'm trying to quiet my insistent sweet tooth with a tiny bowl of dates and dried apricots.

Madcow, you have to learn to sip constantly! I try and drink 2l a day, I get headachey easily if I don't.

we had 'I'm looking for a book. It's green' more than once.

Imogen Heap 'Hide and Seek'. After I left my last boyfriend, his best friend was lovely, supportive and friendly. He said this had been his wallowing song during his awful awful breakup, and it became mine. The line 'Oily marks appear on walls/Where pleasure moments hung before' gets me every time.