Raven

Trailer for the Half Blood Prince I'd recommend downloading it rather than running it directly. Not my favourite book, but it looks good - I like the humour in it!

Both excellent books - Fever Pitch is a master class in obsession, High Fidelity in being completely self-absorbed! I've read a couple of Murakami's books this year (After Dark and Sputnik Sweetheart) and have really enjoyed them. I also have South of the Boarder and Norwegian Wood in my "to-read" pile.

I wouldn't have thought reading forum board posts would be particularly good for the ole self confidence. There are those who will obviously say kind things and pass honest praise, but I tend to find forum boards are more negative in tone than positive - doesn't it ever get demoralising?

George Takei?! Oh my! The list is up, some surprising names on there.

Fish fingers, chips and peas - I don't think I've had it since I was twelve!

There aren't any Foyle's War novels, that I am aware of, it was just a TV series.

I think that might be Ken Follett!

I have a copy of Pandora's Star on my "to-read" pile, and I've heard a lot of good things about Hamilton's books.

It looks like you can still get copies of it through Amazon.

Exile, from Wikipedia. It looks as though it isn't on the Big Finish web site anymore, so I'm guessing it has been discontinued.

It comes up every time a new Doctor is in the offing. There has been a female Doctor, in one of the Big Finish audio adventures, it was in a series where they had a host of famous people (David Warner, for example) playing the Doctor in one-off specials.

Well, he's been male so far, that's not to say "he" won't become a "she" down the road . . . I don't like the idea myself, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens one day.

'cause nothing says "sexy" like a man who will take off the top of your skull!

I'm currently quaffing a glass of Dancing Bull Zinfandel that is very nice! ETA: Have you seen/read Sideways?!

If you are interested in books set during WWII, the one I'm re-reading at the moment, Enigma, by Robert Harris, is well worth a read (though as Fatherland is listed as your favourite book, I'm guessing you may have come across it already!). On the non-fiction side, I can also recommend The Hardest Day, by Alfred Price. I read it earlier this year and it is an account of a single days action - from midnight to midnight - during the Battle of Britain. It's an interesting read! I vaguely remember the TV series!

He wasn't buried for centuries! Hiro buried him at the end of the last series in the present, not the past (granted, it can't have been nice though!). I'm sorry to see his character go, he was a refreshingly cheeky change from all the squared-jawed stoicism! I'm liking this series, but there are too many characters and they are trying to cram too much into every episode (sadly, at the expense of the level of character development they had in the first series).

Yes and Yes (I don't see either of then getting the role myself!).

That's pure media hype, nothing more. Tennant was interviewed on breakfast TV earlier in the week and one of the questions put to him, from a selection of e-mailed questions, was whether he could see the Doctor being played by a woman. He answered yes and the immediate follow up was how about Billie Piper? (or words to that effect). David answered with something along the lines of "I don't see why not" and that is where the story came from. I can't see it happening myself, the Doctor Who production schedule is very intense for nine months of the year and Piper has just had a little boy, I can't see her signing up for the role even if it where offered (which I strongly doubt!). There is a rumour it will be announced during Children in Need, but that may just be Wogan getting confused on his breakfast show as they are screening a trailer for the Christmas special during the evening, and it's title is called . I had concerns about Catherine Tate when she was first announced for The Runaway Bride, but I thought she did a really good job. I wasn't unhappy to see her back, as I think Tate and Tennant play off each other very well. Perhaps not . . . ODDS ON NEW DOCTOR FROM PADDY POWER (3rd Nov 2008) 2/1 David Morrisey 6/1 Paterson Joseph 8/1 James Nesbitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor 10/1 Russell Tovey, John Simm 12/1 Anthony Head 14/1 Robert Carlyle, David Walliams 16/1 Richard E Grant 18/1 Richard Coyle, Aidan Gillen, Alan Davies, Sean Pertwee 20/1 Jason Statham, Harry Lloyd, Nigel Harman, Marc Warren, Jack Davenport 25/1 Julian Walsh, Adrian Lester, Alexander Armstrong 33/1 Julian Rhind-Tutt, Rupert Penry-Jones, James McAvoy 40/1 Bill Nighy, Stephen Fry, Ben Wishaw 50/1 John Barrowman, Ben Miles, David Suchet, Hugh Laurie 66/1 Gary Oldman, Matt Smith, Paul Bettany, Joel Beckett, Christopher Eccleston 80/1 Alex Kingston, Dean Lennox Kelly, Christopher Villiers 100/1 Ricky Gervais 150/1 Hugh Grant, Russell Brand, Vinnie Jones 200/1 Robbie Williams Some of the names on that list are simply laughable –Russell Brand and Robbie Williams?! They are looking for a good actor, not a celebrity.

That's a bit of a surprise.

That wasn't high on my list of priorities, at least not in the way I believe you meant it!

Where does all that come from?

When I was a kid (seemingly a very long time ago now!) there was a shop we used to stop at when my family were driving back from Exmoor, that used to sell a wonderful lime flavoured ice cream - that was all kinds of ace! Walls Midnight Mint ice creams where the biz as well, although that is once again showing my age! These days I find myself limited to Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip and Cookie Dough!

I don't think a book has ever been more relevant to our time than Nineteen-Eighty-four is today. ID cards, national databases that will keep a record of every phone call and e-mail you send, a government imposing laws in the name of "national security"?! Nineteen Eighty-Four had all of this and more, sixty years ago! It is both terrifying and fascinating in equal measure. Take Newspeak, for example, the idea of reducing the vocabulary of the populace so they don't have the raw ability to articulate their unhappiness with their given lot - what a brilliant idea! Orwell's vision of the future may not be how things have played out, but it has numerous disconcerting parallels with the society we live in today and I would strongly encourage anyone who hasn't read this to give it a try, it is a fantastic, bleak, but ultimately rewarding and thought-provoking book – personally I'd give it 10 out of 10.

The first book in this series is another book on my "to read" pile, I should learn to read faster!

I don't know why, but this doesn't appeal to me at all. I've been reading his Discworld books since the late eighties (I was nearly there at the beginning, I came in just before Sorcery was published!), and I love them, but this just doesn't sound very interesting - I'm not sure why. I will read it at some point, when it comes out in paperback I suspect, but I'm just not that fussed . . .