Sarahrob

3 for 2 in Waterstones on Philippa Gregory. Hurrah! Read A Respectable Trade and Fallen Skies. Of the two I preferred Fallen Skies, dark as it was.

Finished Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I enjoyed it, but I just expected something more of it. I can't put my finger on the source of dissatisfaction...

Fantastic!

Oh yes, loads when I was a kid - Mallory Towers, St Clare's, the Shoes books, Mrs Pepperpot, Sweet Valley High, Trebizon, Famous Five, errr... Can't think of any more...

I tend to get sucked into these series before I realise what's happening! I read all the Stephanie Plum books, and the Sue Grafton Kinsey Milhone ones, the Jasper Fforde Thursday Next books, and I quite like Diane Mott Davidson. What else... Harry Potter, Karin Slaughter... I quite like those Lisa Gardner Rainie Connor books. I can't remember any more but I'm quite sure I will do!

I loved Trebizon but hardly anyone has heard of them. My booky memory is from when I was about six. I'd been really ill when we were away on holiday, so my mum bought me The Borrowers to cheer me up. Sadly I was so ill I just couldn't be bothered reading. When I got better I tried to read it, but it just reminded me of being sick. I've never managed to read it.

I like the sound of the Simon Brett one - I quite like an old fashioned murder mystery.

Blimey - wish someone had bought it for me! I'm too impatient to wait for it to come out in paperback though. Actually, I'm too impatient to wait until crimbo to give anyone the chance of buying it for me!

Oh I love the Wind in the Willows. Hope you can settle into it!

The Boleyn Inheritance was fabbo - possibly my favourite of the Tudor novels (mostly because I knew next to nothing about Anne of Cleves or Katherine Howard). Midway through Wicked at the moment and it's a corker!

Oh I loved that one - hope you like it!

I have that on my TBR pile but have never got round to reading it as I thought it would be very heavy going. Nice to know it's not - I may actually read it!

I'm mid-way through the Boleyn Inheritance, but as soon as I finish that I'm going to read Wicked. It's such a gorgeous-looking book with the green-tipped pages... I'm really looking forward to reading it!

I seem to be working my way through all her books - mad to think I'd not heard of her until I joined here!

I've got the gorgeous hardback waiting for me to read it, and I'm quite excited about it. As soon as I've finished my current book I'll get onto it.

I've read the River King and Practical Magic. Of the two I preferred Practical Magic - I found it quite hard to get through the River King and was so disappointed that so little happened.

Hmmm... don't know what I've read. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory: 9/10 Unhallowed Ground by Gillian White: 4/10 - a shame as I thought the book sounded promising, but it was one giant cliché.

Favourite would be the breakfast you get in a cheap hotel in France - a selection of sliced meat and cheese with crusty rolls and hot coffee. Mmmmmm... I don't normally eat breakfast unless I'm hung over, at which point I will eat absolutely anything including the jar of pickles that always seems to be lurking at the back of the fridge despite my being absolutely certain I have never bought them.

Oh yes, give The Eyre Affair a go. It appeals on so many levels!

I don't know - one week on and I can't remember what on earth I've read... I am currently reading Strictly Business by the unlikely-named Francesca Clementis. I'm probably not going to trawl through it as I'm really not enjoying it. Every character is completely odious and I'd like to give them all a hearty slap. Of course my impatience has nothing to do with the fact that Wicked and The Boleyn Inheritance are in a bag inder my bed. Nooo, nothing at all...

I loved these books when I was a kid - Anne and Katy (from What Katy did) were my absolute favourite girls and I was positive that, had we ever met, we would be best friends.

I'm not sure I'd go over the

Love the normal books, but didn't really get on with Visions of Sugar Plums.

OK. Sticky toffee pudding is a heavy spongy cake made with dates, smothered in a hot toffee sauce. Gorgeous, but very rich. Cream soda is a soft drink that tastes really creamy. Very sweet and sickly. Clotted cream is the thickest cream imaginable, and only ever seems to be served with fruit scones. Potted shrimp are cooked shrimp in a little pot or ramekin, topped with a very thick layer (normally around a centimeter - very thick!) of butter. Sounds repulsive, but is gorgeous on hot toast. Scouse is a thick stew made with cheap beef or lamb, potatoes and veggies, cooked for hours until everything falls apart. Curly wurlies are toffee bars covered in chocolate. Oatcakes are thin pancake-type wraps made with oats. Disgusting cold, they are nice only when heated and served with a nice topping (my favourite being cheese and bacon). Can't help with the Maltese dishes I'm afraid!

Ooh yes, hot buttered crumpets where the butter runs off them onto your hand.