Hayley

Has anybody else seen the trailer for The Book Thief yet? I think it looks really good, I can't wait to see it. I know there are plenty of fans of the book on here too Here's a link if you haven't seen it yet

I read 'The Long Earth' over the summer and I did like it, but I don't think I like it enough to read The Long War. For most of the novel I found it really interesting, really well-written, and not too hard-going either. It was nice to see the little bits of Pratchett wit in the dialogue too. I was a little confused by the amount of detail some characters got at the start, only to be suddenly discarded later. I also was a little disappointed with the ending. (I can't remember how you do spoilers so I can't really say more on that now...) When I first finished I had every intention of buying 'The Long War', because even though I didn't enjoy everything about the first book, I did still like it. But I had the edition which included the first chapter of The Long War, and it really put me off. It seemed to just completely veer away from the story of the first book, to the point where the style didn't even feel the same. And from what Goodwich wrote, it looks like that's the same in the rest of the novel. I really wanted them to be good, but I'm also really glad I didn't buy them both now!

This thread is making me want ice cream when I've only just had breakfast We went to Cornwall over the summer and I loved all the ice cream there, it's amazing. I think my favourite was probably blackcurrant and clotted cream. Unfortunately we can't get that here, but at least we can get Kelly's Cornish clotted cream ice cream, and that's delicious too I love rum and raison, it reminds me of my Grandad because it used to be his favourite I once had mint ice cream with honey comb at Hatton country farm when I was little, that was delicious but I've never seen it since!

Hi Paulina I've never heard of 'The Magus' before but I just looked at a description and it sounds really good! Looking forward to seeing what you think of it.

I've read Stardust, Good Omens and American Gods and they were all really good. He seems like a really nice person too, has anybody read any of his blogs? Although I really enjoyed American Gods, there was definitely something about it that made me not really love the book. I think it was the fact that there's a couple of random chapters in there that didn't ever get explained. I know this would have been intentional, but I find that kind of thing a bit frustrating in books.

I don't think I'll ever recover from reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas! And I second Ravens comment that you should definitely read the Discworld novels. I started by reading 'The Wee Free Men' and have been addicted ever since! What do you think of 'The Mortal Instruments' series? My sister was thinking of buying them last week

I just saw it Kylie and it does look amazing. GTA has never been one of favourites, I think the story lines get a bit boring half way through. But maybe the ability to change between players in this one will help to keep the story more interesting, and the map looks huge! I'm a bit addicted to playing Trine 2 with my boyfriend at the moment. It's the most beautiful game I've ever seen, the painted backgrounds are incredible. It is actually a little bit glitchy in online co-op, but it's still worth it! And even better, it was in the summer sale on Steam, so it was only £5.59 for the complete story version!

I know this is an old post but I only just read it and it really made me laugh! I think Lara Croft should have a giant slipper for the next game, you should make that suggestion . When I was little I had the first Harry Potter game on pc, and there were giant spider enemies in that, they were really scary! I remember that you had to cast a certain spell on them and they would turn upside down with their legs curled up. Pretty freaky for a kids game in my opinion! I remember reading somewhere that everyone is born with a fear of spiders, just as a natural instinct that developed from the knowledge that some spiders are poisonous, I guess that made them a popular way to frighten people! I'm not too bad with them, but I think that's mostly because I know we don't really have spiders in the UK that can hurt you, if I lived somewhere that did have poisonous spiders, I'd probably feel differently! When I was little my dad would pick up a spider from the house and convince me to let it walk on my hands (while he was watching it didn't run up my arm or anything ), so he'd kind of make me think of it like a pet, and then we'd find a place for it to live in the garden. I think that probably made me much less scared of them too. Saying that, even though I don't mind the big slower ones, I hate the ones that jump and the spindly ones that disappear too easily, I'd never pick one of those up! Good Luck finding baby Shelob

Poppy, reading your post just transported me back to GCSE maths! (Scary place! ) I agree with your answer too. Ben, if 68 and 70 are the results you got then very well done! That's excellent news! Sleeping might still be a good idea though, just think what you could do if you weren't sleep deprived!

Haha! Definitely! I think he looks cuter fluffy generally, but he'll be cooler for the summer now at least (if summer ever decides to get here properly!) Thank you I'm not so sure about being wise... but he is only about one and a half, so maybe his wisdom will improve with age . Cookie is such a cute name for a dog! Oscar's actually half Westie too, you can kind of see in the second picture he has white stripes going through his fur. You can't usually see them so much when he has long hair, it's made him look a bit like a zebra... crossed with Yoda... I still think he's cute though

I thought I'd share some pictures of my dog (Oscar) as I mentioned his new haircut earlier! (I hope this works, it's been so long since I uploaded a photo here, I've kind of forgotten how to do it!) Oscar by HayleyFly, on Flickr Yoda Oscar by HayleyFly, on Flickr This (if it works) is before and after! He looks a bit grumpy and dishevelled in the second one because he just woke up

I've read Rain (I didn't know it was a series!). That was quite a long time ago but I remember liking it

Sorry for the extremely late reply Devi! I'm studying English Literature - or was, I just finished a few weeks ago I am really bad at keeping my reading list up to date! Things got even more hectic after Christmas though, being my last year I had a lot of essays, exam planning and a dissertation to do (also my hard drive died and I had to completely re-do most of the dissertation - that wasn't fun!). I AM going to finish this though, eventually! Edgar Allan Poe - The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, William Wilson and The Man in the Crowd: I actually really liked these, although I will admit they are generally a little odd. In a way I think it's the fact that they are odd and that they challenge your expectations that makes them special . The Murder's in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter are probably the most generic of the four, but they're so clever and the endings are completely unexpected. William Wilson and The Man in the Crowd are the kind of stories you feel like you need to read twice. They don't feel difficult to read at all, and you think you're following the story, until the conclusion just completely throws you, and suddenly you feel like maybe you were reading it wrong the whole time, and it didn't at all mean what you thought it did. They're so unusual that it's quite hard to explain, I would definitely recommend reading all of them though, the writing is brilliant. Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone: I really enjoyed this book, although I do know quite a few people who really hated it, and I can't work out why! It's often said to be the first English detective novel, which to be honest made me think it was going to be very predictable and generic, but it isn't at all. Without giving away any spoilers, the plot is centred around the theft of an Indian diamond, which came to England as spoils of war. Various people are accused, with huge twists completely throwing your expectations, but ultimately it becomes a matter of proving ones innocence when all the evidence seems entirely conclusive. Behind the brilliantly written plot, there is also a much deeper message, which questions English imperialism and the fear of the foreign which was still present in Victorian England (the novel was published in 1868 - actually it was serialised in Dickens' journal 'All the Year Round', the two of them were very good friends, which I thought was interesting, and I'm going off topic...). The style of the narrative is also very cleverly done. One of the characters of the novel asks all the other characters (who were in the house on the evening of the theft) to write to him explaining what they saw, and it is through these letters (combined with a first person narrative) that the reader learns the whole story. This is made even better by the fact that the characters themselves are brilliant, very individual, quirky and unforgettable, so that you look forward to hearing the next persons voice. Again, I would definitely recommend it!

Pretty much all the Romantic poets wrote about nature and the landscape so a collection of Romantic poetry would probably be good. I know Penguin do a collection, and their books are usually very reasonably priced too. If you wanted just one poet then maybe a collection of John Clare's poetry? I don't know of any poem by him that isn't about nature and the landscape!

It is sitting next to my bed waiting to be read, once all my exams and dissertation are finished! I'm actually really excited to read it, (although I should finish reading 'The Interpretation of Murder' first). I hope it will be as good as The Shadow of the Wind! Also the hardback cover is really pretty

I love that The Very Hungry Caterpillar is on there, I read that book SO many times at primary school, it had my favourite illustrations! It's a good list, it has a lot of books I've either read or want to read, and I'll definitely have a look at the ones I haven't heard of so thanks Janet

I see what you mean, but I also remember being about 11 and being really annoyed that they wouldn't let me take books out from the adult section in the library (although I did just used to get my older sister to come with me and use her card). I think maybe just age guidance, for example a warning on the back to say it uses bad language or contains violence, would be good (I think this is what you meant anyway ian). But I don't think they should be restricted in any way either. If an 11 year old picked up a book of Shakespeare and was told they couldn't buy it because it had swearing in, I'd find it pretty ridiculous.

I escape to the bathroom when I'm stressed too, sometimes I actually do it unconsciously and wonder for a second what I went in there for I think it depends on what kind of stressed I am how I deal with it... If I'm trying to relax at night but feeling stressed I like having a hot shower. If it's the kind of stressed where I have loads of work and feel a bit like I don't know what to do, I like to make a mental (or physical) list off the individual things that need to be done (makes it seem like I'm making more progress somehow). Or if I haven't already done it, going through my calender and writing in all my deadlines to help put it in better perspective. Sometimes I get a sort of stressed where I feel really restless (usually when I've been concentrating on work for a long time) and (weirdly) I usually clean. Just things I don't have to actually think about, like washing up or wiping worktops or cleaning the shower. That way I don't feel guilty about stopping work, because I'm still doing useful things, but my brain gets a break! Hope you're feeling less stressed soon Athena

I loved the book so much more than the film! The book came across so much less cheesy and as far as I can remember they completely missed out the proper ending from the film! I think I'd agree with everyone on the later Harry Potter films though, after The Order of the Phoenix the books just didn't seem as good, but I did like the films.

I'm so incredibly sad that this is only on iPad and apparently not compatible with iPhone! Although, maybe it's for the best, since I am trying to save money at the moment... Hoping that in a few months they might create a version for iPhone, and hopefully I will be able to afford it!