Redwall series will always be in my heart. Anything by Mercedes Lackey I've liked so far. The Dark Tower series was good and anything by Tamora Pierce is good too.

Ooooh the Redwall series, I have all of those from years ago. In fact I bought Taggerung recently to give me something a bit lighter to read in-between some heavier stuff. (Physics and Philosophy by Werner Heisenberg, anyone?)

Anything by Pratchett, I have all the discworld ones, read Wintersmith last month, still very good!

Waily! Waily! Waily! and Crivens too!

Best book I have read in the last year? Probably the short book God's Debris by Scott Adams (Dibert guy).

Worst book I have read this year? Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (I read all four because of the hype surrounding the film, Da Vinci Code was at least an entertaining read, Angels and Demons... ok... the other 2, pants.)

Harry Potter books are good, although I read 1-5 in German so I probably lost a lot of the small details, but I read no. 6 in English over the summer, shock ending, but not entirely unexpected. Looking forward to the last book.

Favourite book of all time? That's difficult, I love the Discworld books but couldn't really pick one out. I think just because it kindled my love for fantasy books I would have to go with, The Hobbit.

I found the Da Vinci Code so poisonously bad I couldn't finish it.

In fact I hurled it across an airport when I read that iambic pentameter was symbolic of the union of male and female*... (never mind that it is generally agreed to be the metre which the English language fits to most easily.. no no... clearly every poet who used it was trying to make a point about intertwining gender). Utter balls, the whole thing... crap charactisation, insipid dialogue, dreadful prose, and only a moderately exciting (if hackneyed) plot line to keep you interested... which, once upon a time would have been enough to get me through.. but now.. isn't...

* I got a fair way through it before this point

P.S I used to love the Redwall books when I was younger. Gave them away though, several years back.

It was just the constant plot development that kept me reading. I got Da Vinci Code for free from my mum read it over 2 days and went out and bought the other 3 the next day (plus Holy Blood Holy Grail, a very dry book - read 50 pages that was enough) as a special deal at the bookshop (I'm impulsive like that and have a thing about getting whole sets of books). I also don't like unread books if I paid for them, but I did struggle to finish Digital Fortress and Deception Point they really were quite awful. A bit like watching TV when there is nothing good on... it was something to do that didn't require much thinking.

I agree with you about Da Vinci Code's faults, and the more I thought about it after reading it, the less I liked it. However it was entertaining at the time.

I have though about another book I enjoyed this year. Straken, by Terry Brooks. The last book of the High Druid of Shannara series, which I had been waiting for for ages. Another shock ending! Damn these merciless authors!

I haven't read the Da Vinci Code but I have read Angels and Demons and I thought that was good. I need to finish my Redwall series and get Rikkity Tam and another but I can't remember what it's called.