Kreader

I don't have a problem with sex and minor swear words in YA books for the over 16s. It is possible for this to be represented responsibly. Before that age I think parents should be aware of what their children are reading by reading the books before the teens if possible. If not then they should be talking to the young people about what they have been reading and encourage then to go for books that aren't geared toward explicit casual sexual relations. I'm all for having some fantasy books but reality in all its forms need to be represented as well. I must say that the first book I read as a teen that had bullying issues was Stephen King's "Carrie", I was 14 when I read it.

Take-away Barbequed ribs, chicken and chips.

I see no one had mentioned the Percy Jackson books, Alex Cross books and Jasper Fjord has some good books too. Kelly Armstrong has an Awakening series.

Hi Julie, most of the books that my nephews have read don't have pre-marital sex in it. I know because I've read them. I agree that the books do seem to have adolescent protagonists. There have been a few that irked me because of the blurbs. They described the protagonists as young boys, said boys were 16-18, old enough to leave home, marry and have a child. Young boys to me is boys under the age of 12. If you get to the age of 21 then you're a young man.

I'm fortunate that our local library does have a separate teen area. There are a lot of books out there aimed at girls though since I'm close to my nephews I've always looked out for those geared towards boys. I've read a lot of my nephews' books

I'm okay with YA being darker. Infact I think its an improvement to be able to have some books like this, the more variety the better it is to find something that many will like. I suppose its because I grew up knowing that serious issues are part of many people's lives regardless of their ages or where they may live. I also know from history that what many regard as an ideal childhood today didn't exist in the past. I'd have had fun reading Roald Dahl's work as he wrote it or with Fantastic Mr Fox as a martyr etc . Its all about balance, sometimes I want to read about a light subject then I'll pick such a book other times when I want something darker I'll choose a book to fit .

I recall seeing some girls in school reading Sweet Valley High books when I was an adolescent. They never appealed to me so I didn't go near them. I did read some Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries since my mother had read them when she was young. I also read children's books and adult novels when I was 12 and over. There is more variety of YA books these days. I'll happily read some YA. I'm fine with YA dealing with realistic issues or fantasy ones.

Peanuts

Hmmm, My luxuries would be; a knife (I like crafts, it would come in handy for DIY and carving) a mobile phone with good reception a friend (even if its a person to argue with. You know those kind of arguments that begin, "if you were the last person left in the world with me I wouldn't ...........")

Fresh fruit muesli.

Someone recently drew my attention to an article saying that there has been an increase in the numbers of false widows spotted in the south east England. I hadn't heard of them before. Apparently they're poisonous. I tend to just let spiders be since I'll mostly come across them outdoors. I'll give them a day or two grace if found in my home then I turf them out. I don't want to play hosts to any future mini spiders if they're leaving an egg sack this time of the year. If they want to live in the coves just outside my windows then that's fine. They can catch anything that attempts to fly in through the windows. I did have a nervous moment when I was at a bus stop. I'd put my book I was going to read down on the bustop bench for a second. I picked up the book and began to open it only to discover the largest daddy long legs I've ever seen on the book and it began putting its legs on my chest. Its leg span was the size of my hand, each leg long as one of my fingers and fine like thread. I calmly dropped the book which took the spider down with it. The long legged one, scampered away with me watching it in disbelief.

Curried venison with steamed butternut squash and paratha roti

Mine are arranged by genre. I've got two study shelves, one fiction (sci-fi/fantasy), one creative and the last is a fact shelf.

I've been watching Betrayal Knows my Name this week and enjoying it.

I didn't finish those two books either. I think the best ones for me was the first two books.

I like hot and spicey stuff, curries, chilli and grilled jerk meat.

I've read this quite a while ago. I enjoyed it. I've currently got Wise Man's Fear the sequel to read.

Creme caramel. We made it in a school cookery class. It turned out perfectly but just before we were going to taste it a girl started hiding to avoid eating it. She'd had it before and it was not to her taste. I found out that she was right. I can't stand all those caremel/toffee/fudge desserts which rules out most icecreams as well. Strangely enough I do like brown stewed chicken/meat. The chicken is browned using a little freshly burnt sugar. I like savoury stuff better than sweet stuff. Oh and I have seen others at holiday camp eat a cheese and peanutbutter sandwich. I've tried it and it was kind of ok. I wasn't as adventurous to have a sandwich with the cheese, peanutbutter, pepperoni, jam and hot peppersauce that some ate. I have even peanut stewed chicken, you can add peanut butter rather than getting nuts and having to grind it yourself. Obviously you'll not have a nut allergy. I did go off peanut butter for over decade and began eating it again when I was 21. I won't eat popcorn, I know how to pop it perfectly but I stopped eating it when I was a child and won't touch it now. I won't eat marshmallows either so I won't be roasting them over a camp fire and I won't be eating desserts with them.

I never used to like sweet potatoes until someone I know baked them the same way you'd bake a regular jacket potato. like Pontalba described. You eat it the same way as a jacket potato too. I love it like that. I have also seen it used in a salad with peas, carrots and mayonnaise.

Tonight it was the wasp that strolled, yes strolled onto my keyboard then walked off. I don't know why it didn't fly away. I'm in bed by the way. What happens if I fall asleep and roll over onto a wandering wasp? That'll hurt that's what.

I've seen a bit of Kare Kano, it reminds me of Special A with all that rivalry. Special A is family viewing. There is slapstick comedy violence with characters slapping each other. I've also seen some Spice and Wolf.

Venison stew and butternut squash cake for dessert.

Charity shops, Amazon and bookswapping. I also use the local libraries a lot.

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It does say blurb which is a sort of summary.