Chrissy

Pasta with tomatoes, chillies and cheese.

No! Say you don't mean that! Surely they only wanted to share Harry's story with the world.

Why's my Hugh snogging a skinny bint?

I know you're right in many ways on this, I think I just don't want Harry's publishers to be economically driven ~ naive and sad I know.

^That was going to be my second guess!

I hope you are right Raven.

There's a part of me that hopes it doesn't, as it feels like a ploy to make existing fans of the Harry Potter series get the new covers, rather than to engage readers new to the series. Mmmm, it will be interesting to see.

The 39 Steps? (Kenneth Moore version)

That is so sweet. What a clever little ad.

Oh yes, definitely. Yes, yes!

To be honest, some of the fears listed are incredibly rational and reasonable fears to have e.g. Ballistophobia- Fear of missiles or bullets. I guess the phobic aspect is when it dictates how you live rather than is a general if you were to encounter them fear. I learned today that there are good people that will go above and beyond, and that mean spirited people just can't help being nasty. An elderly neighbour wasn't answering her door or 'phone. By the time the police and ambulance arrived there was 5 of us waiting to help out because we were so worried (milk on doorstep, curtains closed etc). The woman's neighbour, depite having heard all our attempts to access the flat etc. told us, just as the Police arrived to gain entry, that an ambulance had turned up in the night and taken her away. Apparently he doesn't like her, and saw no reason to tell us sooner!

Still none. Although the pile of 'This may work when my mojo returns' books is definietly getting taller. OH is out tonight, so I am going to really try hard to break this book reading famine of mine.

Why are you laughing? It's just cruel to mock us sufferers! *walks away feeling all misunderstood*

Carrying on from CaliLily's 'Anatidaephobia'....... Phobophobia (a fear of having a phobia) must surely rate as the most ironic of phobias!

I'm going to break my intellectual evening to go to bed and watch 'Hell's Kitchen USA' Gordon Ramsay ~ a man I love to hate.

Only Connect

Same here.

Who's That Girl? ~ Eurthythmics

I think that there is more range of reading material for teenagers, specifically targetted toward them than years past. There may always have been books, but not in the way there now are. You also didn't have the merchandising and film links etc that you have so much more now. I feel that publishers would not waste their money without 'proof' of the teen purchasing, although the age range of the Twilight readers to be found on here may suggest that it isn't teens so much. An enormous amount depends on what else is going on in the life of a teenager though. My son in his teens was very sociable and therefore out and about so much he would occasionally read a magazine or something if he couldn't sleep, but not much beyond that in those teens years. Me? I was half and half ~ I was enormously sociable, but needed alone time regularly. I also always wore jackets etc that could hold a book in it's pocket.

If you're referring to me JCW, I am not offended nor wound up! I thoroughly enjoyed my misspent school years, although as I said I read like a mad young thing throughout those years. Having said that, I think I was the only 'proper' reader in my rebellious little group. My son (now in his mid twenties) did read, but he stuck to manuals and catalogues and typically boyish reading material. His reading died off for a while around 14 -18, but picked up again, so I now have the joy of book chats with him.

Although I understand why you would think this I do disagree, because you only have to look at the forum members here to know that we all come from such a variety of backgrounds and educational experiences. I was a serial lesson avoider (I was placed on Report a number of times, and exclusion was debated), I would climb over the back gates and spend my days with mates smoking and chatting (and occasionally snogging ). I still read voraciously. Happy Days. The A grades kicked in when I took myself off to College and then University in my twenties.

I've met him IRL, and he is such a lovely lovely guy! Those eyes are as gorgeous as you would imangine too.

I love tablet! A Tablet Sundae Laura? That sounds VERY naughty! Tablet is a traditional Scottish sweet made from sugar, condensed milk and butter. It is a bit like a crumbly and grainy slab of fudge. It can have different flavours such as ginger or vanilla etc. It is very sweet and a bit too delicious. (this is a description cobbled from the internet!)

Monsoon Railway

'Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets' ~ lots of face pulling and overacting, but enjoyable all the same.