Vicky

I have to say I'm not a fan of travelling underground and 'Metro 2033' is an adventure in itself that hopefully we'd never have to cope with on the London tube if the apocalypse ever was to happen here.

I felt that Dmitri Glukhovsky's book was full of imagination and vision - he gives Artyom his main character full reign in this post apocalyptic fantasy of saving his Metro station where he lives. But can he save humanity itself from the dangers that he himself has to go through from the very unwordly creatures?

Hearing Barbara Flynn reading Jennifer Worth's words brought back a picture of when I saw after the interview I did with her. She was sitting in the bay window in her back room with the sun light streaming on her while she signed her first book 'Call the Midwife' - Barbara whilst not sounding like Jennifer certainly evoked what she was - a caring no nonsense person who wrote with a great deal of common sense.

I have to say that Naomi Novik can do no wrong by me - her Temeraire series is fabulous. Each book takes in a different country with all it's politics, culture and colour as well, all overlaid the Napleonic Wars and the British seafaring traditions with added extras.

Here we are not only given the above but a seriously strong typhon, a sea serpent that was hell bent on trying to kill them for food as well as Chinese British relationships that were less to be desired!

Naomi Novik just keeps on getting better with each book she writes in the historical fantasy with dragons. I guess you could say that in modern warfare as opposed to the Napoleonic Wars, helicopters and fighter planes would be doing the work of the dragons, with Temeraire being the lead dragon character.

This time Naomi Novik has taken us to Europe, especially Turkey where they take the dragon eggs and fly home via Prussia - but it is a hard journey with several crew losses.

I took Temeraire to hospital when I had to go in for some surgery - afterwards this book took me on a journey like no other fantasy book I have read. It is full of well researched historical information being set during the Napoleonic Wars, but you are not overwhelmed in anyway whatsoever. ..read more

I have to say - I am a huge fan of both author Francesca Simon and actress Miranda Richardson, who's renditions of these Early Reader books makes them such fun to read and to listen to. They feel so alive and raring to go - and in this story - a female sheep who's searching the farm looking for her lamb.

A simple story well told made even more fantastic by Miranda Richardson - one that I feel will entertain both child and parent.

Having watched Ina Garten on her Barefoot Contessa shows on the Food Network channel, and very much enjoyed her laid back approach to cooking, it was with great pleasure that I opened this book, to be greeted with the simple sumptuousness of the food photography that really entices me to want to try each and every recipe.