poppyshake

That is impressive ... it really draws you in though doesn't it

A fish finger and ketchup sandwich

Favourite live band/artist? Muse .. absolutely stunningly brilliant .. also Radiohead Band/artist you've seen live the most times? Nelly Furtado .. I've seen her about six times Band/artist you've not yet seen live but would love to? Paolo Nutini Band/artist you never had the chance to see? Jeff Buckley and Kate Bush (she only ever did one tour!) Worst live band/artist? I can't think of anybody, they've all been good

Tom Hanks in 'Philadelphia' and Anthony Hopkins in 'Shadowlands'. I usually have a sniffle at 'Little Women' too and 'Finding Neverland'. Oh and 'Love Story'.

I've got a lovely edition that Peter Weevers illustrates

But Mr Knightley was called George wasn't he? ... his brother was John

It's probably my favourite book from my reading list last year .. infact I cheated and didn't read it but listened to the unabridged version of it from Audible (all 32 hours of it) ... absolutely fantastic! I'm making up for it now and actually reading 'the Ladies of Grace Adieu' .. a short story collection by Susanna Clarke and featuring some of the same characters from 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell'. The book I'm avoiding is 'Best Served Cold' by Joe Abercrombie. I loved Joe's 'First Law' trilogy and so did my OH, as soon as we saw Joe had a new book out we bought it .. even though it was in hardback and a great big tome. My OH read it and thought it not up to par with the others and Amazon reviewers think the same by and large, so the enthusiasm to start it has been severely dented.

Glad you had a good time, I've been reading the Strictly threads over on DS and it seems that everyone has been enjoying the tour. Weird thinking about Mark, Austin, Kelly, Natalie and Ricky dancing their signature dances but with with new partners ... how did you think the new partnerships worked? It seems like Mark and Austin will win most shows although I think Ali has won one now.

oh, I feel pressure now .. hope you like it Stephanie

When Mrs Field died, her grieving widow looked around him and discovered that the world seemed quite as full of pretty, young women as it had been in his youth. The Ladies of Grace Adieu (and other stories) - Susanna Clarke

It is really good ... I'm going to get series two asap

December - Elizabeth H. Winthrop Waterstone's Synopsis: Eleven-year-old Isabelle hasn't spoken in nine months, and as December begins the situation is getting desperate. Her mother has stopped work to devote herself to her daughter's care. Four psychiatrists have already given up on her, and her school will not take her back in the New Year. Her parents are frantically trying to understand what has happened so they can help their child, but they cannot escape the thought of darker possibilities. What if Isabelle is damaged beyond their reach? Will she never speak again? Is it their fault? As they spiral around Isabelle's impenetrable silence, she herself emerges as a bright young girl in need of help yet too terrified to ask for it. By the talented young author of FIREWORKS, this is a compelling, ultimately uplifting novel about a family in crisis, showing the delicate web that connects a husband and wife, parents and children, and how easily it can tear. Review: I found this book very easy to read, the story is set alternatively in New York and New England and centres around Isabelle who stopped speaking nine months ago. Her parents are understandably bewildered and anxious to do anything that will break Isabelle's self imposed silence. It's quite a slow paced book .. nothing much happens and there isn't a lot of humour in it (not surprising given the book's theme) but it is well written and thought provoking. I did care enough about the outcome to keep reading but I didn't care that much about the characters .. the mother irritated me as did Isabelle at times (but I did like the dad and the dog! ) All in all an easy read, good for when you don't want to read anything too challenging (but it's not fluff either) and great for reading when it's cold as there are some fantastic descriptions of snowy days in New England. 7/10

'Outnumbered' Series One ... I've only just discovered it

I saw an old episode of QI today and learnt that you shouldn't discard mussels if you tap them and they don't open .. it's a complete fallacy and infact the reverse is true if anything. The thing is I've seen two cookery shows this week that told you to discard them if they stay closed so Stephen Fry will just have to ring up James Martin et al and tell them to stop repeating this nonsense. I have never eaten mussels so the chances of me using the info is probably nil but I like the fact that I have one more thing to shout at the TV. It's just occurred to me that maybe it's also a fallacy that every fact you hear on QI is true but that can't be right .. Stephen would never lie.

Oh god, I do that with books and DVD's .. not so much with CD's though .. I can deal with messing up their chronological order and my baked bean tins are randomly filed too so I'm only borderline.

I love Will Self but found the only book that I've read of his extremely difficult and though I did persevere with it until the end ('The Book of Dave') .. I didn't enjoy it .. I lent it to someone else to see whether it was just me ... they couldn't get through it. Going on this book, his books are for those that like a bit of a challenge when reading, unfortunately it was too much of a challenge for me. Perhaps his other books are easier to read ... but it's the usual thing, you get put off an author if you dislike the first book you read of theirs.

Marian Keyes's books are funny .. especially the ones about the Walsh clan ... in particular 'Rachels Holiday' but also 'Anybody Out There', 'Watermelon' and 'Angels'.

Another vote for Neil Gaiman ... his writing is brilliant, also Joe Abercrombie's 'First Law trilogy' ... absolutely excellent (though they are a bit gory and graphic in places). Jonathan Stroud's 'Bartimaeous' trilogy was outstanding .. technically they are childrens books but none the worse for that and the children that the story centres around become adults by books two and three. Eoin Colfer's 'Artemis Fowl' books are great too ... combination of real world and fairy world but bought bang up to date. I agree though that Tolkien is pretty unique and nothing else really comes close.

Hi WrongIslander .. Good luck with your 2010 reading. I've read 'The Kite Runner' and it was fantastic ... I keep meaning to read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' but haven't got around to it yet.

It was a bit too Richard and Judy for me .. I was baffled by the guests, especially Laila and Gok .. Laila hardly had anything to say!! I did like the author interviews but would have liked the panel to have discussed 'The Little Stranger' for longer, they said it was the book they were going to review and then left it until the last five mins of the programme. I'm not a big Chris Evans fan so thought his interview went on for too long but I guess when it's someone I like then that'll be a good thing (didn't they say it would be Alan Davies next week?).

Thanks Louise .. I might pick up 'Winter Ghosts' from the library when they get it in then and not invest in a copy. I love Marian too, no other author can make me laugh as much and I love her in person too .. she's always great fun.

It's a programme about books isn't it? .. count me in!! One of the books I'm about to read is Sarah Waters 'Little Stranger' so I'll be interested to hear about that. I loved 'The Big Read' and though that was about classics .... a programme about newer books should still be really interesting. Fingers crossed that it won't be too 'Alan Titchmarsh/Richard and Judy'.

I usually have at least two (fiction and non generally) but sometimes my OH and me (should that be I?) read books to each other ... short stories usually, though we did read the last two Harry Potters to each other .. and it was awful with the last one because I was so tempted to just read it when he was at work. I listen to a lot of audiobooks too so I usually have at least one of those on the go.

Hi Caption I loved 'The Hobbit' .. I did find 'Lord of the Rings' a challenge but I persevered and it was worthwhile .. it's a lot different from the film. Best of luck with your reading in 2010.