Roland Butter

Great to see that Catherine O'Flynn won Best First Novel for What Was Lost. And great too for her publisher, Tindal Street Press, a small independent giving a chance to an unknown author - I'm all in favour of that! In the unlikely event that any of you are a bit stuck for something to read, you could do worse than give it a try -I'd recommend it highly. And it won't costa fortune ..... I'll get me coat .....

Historical detective fiction doesn't do a great deal for me, Louise, but I thought Winter in Madrid was a cracker. On that basis, and if you say they're worth reading - well, who knows?

Welcome to the Forum. I have a daughter who'll be 18 in February. Tell me - how (short of hiding a tenner in the pages) do I get her to read a book?

Welcome, bagel queen. There are lots of nice people here, and I'm sure you'll enjoy your visits to the Forum.

Well, you'll have to go some to beat 156 in a year - that's three books a week on average!! I've always said teachers get far too much holiday

Boiled bacon, boiled potatoes, greens, mashed swede. V. nice, too, and still leaves room for chocolate .....

Welcome, and a Happy New Year as well.

The Welsh Girl is a book I've been meaning to read for some time.

Hungry then, were you, Louise?

Put me down for one, Judy . We got a bottle of sloe gin this Christmas, and it's rather nice, if a little potent, I have to say! (and you have no idea how many times I've had to type this before I got it right ).

As I have the attention span of a retarded gnat, I can't remember half the books I've read this year (I've heard it said that some people keep lists of the books they read, but I find that hard to believe ). But you'd have to go some to beat the most recent book I've read - Winter in Madrid by C J Sansom. Finished it on Christmas Eve, and it's really made an impression on me.

Something that isn't turkey, I hope.

That sounds exactly like my household, Judy! I brought three jars of pickled herrings back from Stockholm, and I'm going to take great delight in eating them in front of the children ... very, very slowly Although, to be fair, my son's in his last year at university in Leeds, and since he's been there he's discovered the delights of haddock (albeit covered in batter, but it's a start ...)

I'm a pretty leisurely reader generally - it's rare for me to finish a decent-sized book in under a week, unless I'm on holiday. For example, I've been on Winter in Madrid for six days now, and I'm a little over halfway through it. I remember "speed reading" as well - another management fad aimed at squeezing even more out of the poor old workers! I once refused to go on a "speed reading" course, on the grounds that the quicker I read, the more work I'd have to do!

About 50/50 for me. I love history, politics and current affairs, plus anything to do with London. And sports books too, provided they're intelligent and well written.

Couldn't manage more than one at a time - I'd get very confused!

Welcome, Kate. I'm sure you'll find plenty of inspiration here - I certainly have!

I always ask my son to get me an intelligent sports book - i.e not the (badly) ghost-written "autobiography" of some 20 year old who's never actually done anything. That way, a) it gets him into a bookshop and I usually end up with a nice surprise. Last year he got me Unforgivable Blackness, a biography of the boxer Jack Johnson - not something I'd have bought for myself, but a fascinating insight into a man who challenged the colour bar in the US a hundred years ago. I'm secretly hoping that this year he'll get me Provided You Don't Kiss Me, a Midlands journalist's account of his time working with Brian Clough (one of my all-time heroes!). But that kind of defeats the object of the exercise, so I'll be happy with whatever he finds - he has a knack of uncovering good ones.

Good title, eh? It was the first of the Agatha Raisin series. Someone whose opinion I respect suggested these books and told me I wouldn't stop laughing.

I've just finished Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death. I'd be interested to know what you think, Louise.

Tell you what - at those prices, it's no wonder you only sold two cases the other day

Look after your comics Dan - they have got to be worth a fortune!

I've heard good things about The Oyster House Siege, Princess, so I'll add it to my list. Thanks for the review.

Sorry to disappoint you, Deirdre, but apart from that the only other Dutch I know is "van Basten"

Hoi en welkom, Deirdre!