Janet

I do - in fact, I thought I'd mentioned them in here, but I must have meant to and then got sidetracked! I'd never heard of Janet and John, although maybe I'd have liked them more as we shared a name!

I remember a creature called Raggety who was a 'baddie' but he wasn't an elf - I think he was made out of twigs, if my memory serves me correctly. He was quite scary!

Oooh yes, I remember reading Across the Barricades too. Possibly in my last year of primary school!

I've just finished The Secret River by Kate Grenville. I have been researching my family tree, and have got back to the early 1800s on many branches of my family (and as far back as a 1775 birthdate on one relative!), so when I spotted this book in Tesco, it seemed like fate, as the story is set around that time, and although I haven

The

LOL excellent. I also love Quentin Blake's illustrations.

For CSE (you're right!) we did Animal Farm, The Day of the Triffids and a book of poems called Every Man Must Shout. We did something else too, but I'm blowed if I can remember what it was! For GCSE last year, we did Othello and Of Mice and Men, oh, and poems from other cultures. For AS Level this year we're doing Richard III, Wise Children by Angela Carter, A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde and for poetry, The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy.

Gosh, your list has had 1000s of views. Hardly anyone looks at mine - you must read more interesting books than me (and more of them!).

I'd like to know what you think of State of the Union when you finish it - it's the only one of his I've read. ETA: Whoops - I see I already said that. I'm not nagging - honest!

Hmmm - we're reading 'The Christmas Mystery' by him for my next real-life Bookworms meet - I hope it's better than this one! I loved Notes From A Small Island! For me: 1. Catcher In The Rye (and I read it as an adult, not at school!) - J D Sallinger 2. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith - zzzzzzzzzz 3. Too Good To Be True - Sheila O'Flanagan (It was! ) I can't think of any more at the moment!

I love it - it's seldom out of my CD player either!

We didn't have flash cards (I'm too old!). We didn't do Janet and John either - I vaguely rememer Dick and Jane. I couldn't read before I started school, but soon made up for that. My nickname, given to me by my dad, was Basil Bookworm - I always had my nose in a book!

Whoops! Just out of interest, what was it? The last two CDs I bought were 'The Best of Elo' and Ta-dah! by the Scissor Sisters.

Butternut Squash Soup 1 x Butternut squash 1 x Onion 1 x Chicken stock cube Water A little butter/oil for frying Method Chop the onion and fry in a little butter or oil until slightly browned. Peel the butternut squash and deseed. Chop into small pieces. Add both to a saucepan, and add a stock cube and water up to the level of the top of the squash/onion mixture. (Or use fresh stock). Season with a little salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to the boil, and then cover and simmer for about 20/25 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, and then blend with a hand blender or liquidise. This is a yummy warming soup, with very few calories or fat. You can pep it up with a teaspoon of curry powder - add this when frying the onions.

This book won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and it also won the Booker prize in 1971. Normally I’d steer well clear of prize winners such as this, but this book is our November bookworms read - we’re discussing it tonight! On the front cover, it reads “IN A FREE STATE. A NOVEL with two supporting narratives”. There is also an epilogue and a prologue, which are taken from Naipaul’s own travel journals. The themes in this book are exile, freedom and prejudice. The paperback is 246 pages long and is published by Picador. The ISBN number is 0330487051. Whilst it wasn’t the most exciting book I’ve ever read, I did quite enjoy it. It’s not something I’d have picked up if it wasn’t a Bookworms choice. 4½/10 (Read October 2006)

Let me see. Erm, when my children were babies I read all the Simon Brett books about 'Mrs Pargeter' - a blue rinse detective! Not exactly rocket science - more like Mills and Boon for the detective novel fan, but they kept my brain ticking over! Since then, the only series I think I've read are the Shopaholic ones. Although I've stopped reading so much chick-lit, I'm also looking forward to Shopaholic and Baby! Oh, and I've read all the Wycliffe novels - I guess they count too, although they do stand alone - they're all about the same detective!

The

I read this book last year... and I absolutely loathed it! In fact, here is my review from Amazon... Of course, to use a terrible clich

This was one of my favourite childhood books - and I loved the pretty cover of it too! This was the cover mine had!

I really like the sound of this. I can imagine this being made into a 'made for TV movie' one day.

I loved this book. It's my favourite read so far this year. We discussed it in my real-life bookworms group last month, and it sparked the most discussion so far. I'd also urge anyone to pick it up. I was a bit worried about the Afgan setting, but I needn't have worried at all - it's very clear. I think I gave it 9½ out of 10, but on balance, I think it's definitely a 10 for me!

Not at all. Assuming Russian is your first language, you 'speak' English very well.

I said this on 31st January - kinda ironic isn't it! 4 months I managed, crikey! Awww. Just watch what you say on 31 January next year!

They are?! That's excellent news (providing they don't ruin it!) - it's one of my favourite books so far this year.

I have read one of his - I read OF MICE AND MEN last year and quite enjoyed it. Which others of his would be good also, or are they all fairly similar? I read Of Mice and Men this year for GCSE English - it was a clever story. I've not read anything else by him either, but I will try to.