Sarahrob

Boris! Love it!

Cool.

I'll give most things a go, but I am a bit squeamish about things with eyes. I couldn't peel a prawn if the head is left on, or eat a fish with the head still attached. Other than that I am fine!

I used to go all the time, but once I went to uni I stopped going. Sadly now I don't get there before it closes. I could go on Saturday morning, but that is when I do my shopping, go to the dry cleaners, do my housework, sort my manicure out, go to the post office, sort out my banking and bills, do any gardening chores and once every month go to the hairdressers. Understandably, the library never gets a look-in!

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich: 8/10

The only one on your list which I've read is The Eyre Affair, which I thought was completely fabulous.

Love it when that happens!

Life Swap by Jane Green: 5/10 No Greater Love by Danielle Steel: 4/10 (and it only gets that for making me laugh!)

Garry, if only I'd known - where were you ten years ago?

I read that last night too! Jasper Fforde's characters always have comedy names: Thursday Next, Jack Schitt, Landen Park-Laine etc.

When I first left Uni I worked for a bank (I didn't last long!). We used to have mystery shoppers who would visit at random, so you had a set of rules you had to follow. One rule was that you had to call people by name: "Thanks Mrs Smith" etc. All was well untill Mr Ng came in. How are you meant to say that? :shock:

I have no clue... :oops: I thought it was good that I recognised it as rioja! What can I say: I normally drink alcopops (told you I was classy ) The one bottle I have left from last time is Ramon Bilbao Tinto Rioja Reserva 1994. I have no more info than that (but I'll know what it tastes like on saturday - hurrah! )

I'm right in that middle part and it is dragging. I'm not giving up though, I'll struggle bravely on!

I adore the Eyre Affair - it's a book I can keep going back to. There is another in the series where Thursday works with Miss Havisham, and that is also fantastic. A friend bought me The Big Over Easy - it was an entertaining read, but the concept wasn't as new to me as that of the Eyre Affair, so I enjoyed it less.

I have a lot of Spanish friends who bring me lots of food and wine when they come to visit. I end up living on manchego, turron and rioja for a week after they go (no hardship!)

I'm not really a wine expert, classy lady that I am , but last night I had some pinot noir from Sainsbury and it was gorgous! It was really fruity and smoky, and was really cheap (I don't think I would have paid more than about

I love to see interviews with Will Self. In person I think he is charming, witty and enormously original. I tried to read Grey Area and hated it from the start. It just seemed so pretentious and self-important that I didn't even get through the first story. I was so disappointed that the man I so admired could have written such a book! :grr: One of my friends has offered to lend me Cock and Bull, but I've not yet taken him up on the offer. What if I hated that as much as Grey Area? At the moment I've still got a smidgen of a soft spot left for the guy - if I forced myself to read another book like Grey Area I could see myself growing to hate him! Anyone got any views on Cock and Bull?

I'm about half-way through this now. There are a couple of plot twist that I can already see building, but I am really enjoying it.

Spellbound by Jane Green. OK, but I wanted to shake some life into the main character, and I could see the ending coming a mile off. 7/10.

Mmmmmm... love those bananas with chocolate ice-cream sauce and squirty cream. It must be squirty cream though (preferably the kind which bears no relation to real cream and is stuffed full of sweeteners). So trashy but soooooo gorgeous! :eat: Those peaches sound really nice as well - I love the combination of peach and blueberry but had never thought of cooking them like that.

I was walking past Iceland the other day and they have some truly scrumptious-looking veg kebabs advertised. It was corn on the cob cut into sections that looked around 1" thick, with onion, peppers and cherry tomatoes. If you know any veg your friend particularly likes I can't see why you couldn't substitute that instead. We normally cook jacket potatoes wrapped in tinfoil (though ours isn't really a barbie, more a fire pit with a bit of grill shoved on top!). Maybe roast some sweet potatoes - they are lovely with black pepper and make a gorgeous potato salad. One of the nicest meals I've had recently was a salad (sorry!), but it was a warm salad with goat's cheese and avocado and was absolutely delicious. If you want something which can be cooked how about those huge flat mushrooms, topped with cheese and onion? You could either cook them in the oven or cook them on a bit of tinfoil over the BBQ - either way, they won't touch the meat. For something you make the day before which you just need to serve, how about stuffed peppers? I'm sure your friend will be touched by the trouble you are going to.

I'm doing exactly the same thing! Hopefully this weekend I will be able to find a good block of time to spend on it.

Years ago I worked for a bank and used to do all his banking. Not much of a claim to fame, but it is my own!

Oh I love the Twits. When I first read it my dad had a beard and it started to freak me out a bit! I think my favourite would be Revolting Rhymes, especially the retelling or Red Riding Hood!