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Finished "Live Wire" which I enjoyed. Didn't realise it was part of a series, which explains perhaps why I took a while to get into it at the start. Had a slight problem with the ending (which I won't ruin here) as I felt it was a little hard to swallow. Still, that's a minor gripe. I'll still give it 4 out of 5.

Finished "Nothing to lose" which I enjoyed. With everything else going on, I have really needed to escape into an easy, light read, and Lee Child's book certainly deliver on that score. Still, after 3 on the bounce, I felt in need of a slight change, so I picked up "Live Wire" by Harlen Coben, which has forlornly sat on my TBR for about a year now. Actually, I'm about 80% through it now, and after a slow start, I've got into it

Just read about this on the news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22015175 Very, very sad.

8 out of 10 Half-way there, but beware the bite of Shelob Yes! Get in!

Welcome!

I think I picked up my first John Connolly under the same misapprehension, but as you say, they are both great writers so it was a win.

I've haven't been a regular purchaser of magazines for some years now. Back in the day, it was pretty much the only way of keeping up to date with the latest news if you had an interest that was not completely mainstream. So, I used to get at various stages of my life, 2000ad (a UK sci-fi comic), The Eagle (The late 80's relaunch, I'm not THAT old!), Kerrang (Heavy Metal mag) and various astronomy mags. I think the internet has probably taken a lot of the market away from these niche magazine markets. Having said that, if it was a subject of interest to me, I'd still be pleased to receive a gift subscription. I think they make good presents. The main downside of mags is the number of adverts you can get in them. I realsie that this is how they make their money, but some appear to consist of 75% advertisments these days.

Probably just as well, There are some parts that might be a bit uncomfortable if you're on a plane! Then again, maybe that's just me - I'm terrified of flying!

Finished "Bad Luck and Trouble last night. I enjoyed this one a lot more than the previous. Maybe because it was a much more straightforward story. There are bad guys up to no good. Reacher sorts them out. What's not to like?! In this particular book, one member of Reacher's old unit has been found dead, and others are missing. He put's together the rest he can find, and goes to work finding out who killed his friend, and why. As I say, a straightforward storyline, with some nice touches. It's always satisfying (to me anyway) when bad guys get their comeuppence, and this boo has some fairly inventive ways of despatching them! 4 out of 5. As it was on my Kindle ready to go, it made sense to carry on with the Lee Child - so "Nothing to lose" is my next book.

I got a marathon reading session in on Saturday, courtesy of my son's chess commitments, so was able to finish "The Hard Way" and start the next one "Bad Luck & Trouble". As I expected, a bit disappointing. Lee Child writes well enough for the thriller genre, but when he tries to put in a bit of mystery, it fails (in my opinion anyway) as it's always blindingly obvious who the real bad guy is etc. Oh well, it certainly passed what would have otherwise been a boring wait around. Plus, you don't want to be reading deep, thoughtful novels when you have to stop every fifteen minutes to chase after two kids between chess games! I'll give it 3 out of 5. Starting the next Reacher book, seemed like the obvious thing to do.

I find it's a bit random with reading in public. Where I live (Birmingham), you don't see a lot of people reading on buses or trains - although there are a lot of people playing with their phones. Some could be reading, I suppose. But last time I was in London, there were plenty of people reading on the tube. But I do notice that I only ever see books advertised with billboards at train stations. Assuming the marketing people have done their homework, that must mean they know that train passengers read more than other public transport.

Thanks for all the answers everyone. As several of you have said, I was more coming from the point of wanting a content rating on the back rather than actually restricting books from a certain age.

Now, it isn't something I would naturally be in favour of, but I hit upon a bit of a problem last week in a bookshop. I was just browsing really, not really intending to buy anything, but I was mooching around the graphic novels section as it was my son's 11th birthday coming up, so I was prepared to buy him something if something leapt out at me. On a table I found a book - one of those type where you decide how the story progresses. You read page 1, then it's " To go left, go to page 14, to go right go to page 53" (and what are those types of book called by the way?). The story, and everything on the table was about Zombies. Great, I thought - every 11 year old loves Zombies, and the adventure type story-line will probably grab him, where an ordinary novel wouldn't. But then I began to get worried, Some of the books on the table where obviously adult. I flicked through the book, trying to find any obvious swearing or other inappropriate content, but short of reading the whole thing, there was no way of knowing. If the book had had some sort of guide to the age suitability, similar to dvd's or computer games, I would have known. As it was, I didn't buy it, as I wasn't sure. As I say, I'm not advocating age restrictions on books, it's just that now he's 11, this is the first time this issue has come up for me. I'm sure there must be other parents out there that have had similar problems? Would age guidance on books bother you?

I have to admit, I've developed a bit of a "thing" for Miranda Hart. No, I can't explain it either!

The problem with reading such absorbing, excellent books as Hyperion...... what to read next! Anything is going to be a bit of a disappointment, so, the way I figure it, I need to go comfortably low brow & entertainingly guilty pleasure.( That sentence makes no sense, but you know what I mean, hopefully!!) So the next Lee Child book it is! (The Hard Way)

Just finished Hyperion by Dan Simmonds. I sometimes struggle with Sci-Fi and fantasy. Some Sci-Fi concentrates too much on accurate science and the explanation of it, to the detriment of story for my liking. Nevertheless, two of my favourite books of all time are LOTR and The Many-colored land series. Now, I have to add Hyperion to that list. A fantastic story (or should that be 7 stories, that somehow manage to cross genres and cover every available emotion. I don't think I can say much more, I don't think I have the words to do it justice. I loved this book, and if you like good, exciting sci-fi, with a healthy dose of believable science, then read this book. As it is, I need to get the follow up PDQ! In case it's not obvious already - I'll give this book 5 out of 5

I've learnt two new words this week, from the book I'm currently reading (Hyperion - Dan Simmons). They are; Hegira - a flight to escape danger & Cislunar - occuring between the earth and the moon.

It's partly on your recommendation that I'm reading it now. I'm about halfway through now, and it's great!

Perhaps graphic novels might be a place to start? I guess it's almost a halfway house between films/ videogames and full text books. There are some excellent ones out there.

Reading is obviously going to be big one for most people on here I would imagine. It certainly is for me. Failing that, anything that can make the brain "switch off" from whatever is bothering me - not always an easy task. I've found going to a coffee shop and lingering over a cup with whatever free mazagines are lying around helps me. I found the other week that I had been sat, totally silent, absorbed by a woman's gossip mag for 20 minutes. When I "came round" (and it really did feel like that), I felt completely refreshed, as if i'd been alseep for an hour. ) At least till I realised I'd been reading Closer or whatever in a public place!! Another very good one I find is large menial tasks. Cleaning the bathroom is a great way of scrubing some stress and aggression out. Plus you get a sense of satisfaction at the end of it for a job well done. That's one you can do at work as well - filing fits the bill for me there. There are plenty of others - hobbies, meditation, exercise, listening to music. Hope that's been of help

Finished "The King of Torts". I enjoyed this one much more than The Summons. A great storyline about a young lawyer who becomes seduced by greed as he leaves Public Defence, sets up his own firm and sues large corporations in so-called class actions or mass-torts. I learned quite a lot about the American legal system. A minor charactor from The summons pops up in this too - Patton French. A charactor you love to hate as he is so over the top greedy - almost a caricature of a greedy lawyer. I give this 4 out of 5. Time for a complete change of genre - so I'm reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The footage that I saw was jaw-dropping. It really was like watching a hollywood disaster film. I have actual seen a meteor myself. Nothing like this one, although highly impressive. I was on holiday in The Black Forest, so very dark, clear skies, when a large green streak went from one side of the sky to another. I stood there for five minutes afterwards, waiting for the bang!

Just remembered that the band Anthrax, who were big Stephen King fans, had a song called "Among The Living" which is based on The Stand. On the same album there's also a song called "I am the law" which is based on the Judge Dredd comics

Finished "The Summons" by John Grisham. Not particularly impressed;I couldn't really get to like the main character who I thought he was a bit weak and indecisive. Also, it seemed to take a very long time for anything of real note to happen. All of the main action occurs in the last quarter of the book. The ending is very unusual though - it left me unsure as to whether I like it! I certainly wasn't expecting to be left up in the air like that. (I'll say no more, I don't want to spoil). All in all, I can only give it 3 out of 5. I have another Grisham, however - "The King of Torts". Hope this one is a little better.