We found so much to enjoy in the August 11 edition of New Idea that we would be hard-pressed to choose a favourite article from the enlightening and intellectually stimulating pieces the magazine contained.

Inside Thorpey's Secret World? No, because while the piece was a rollicking insight into Ian Thorpe's post-swimming adventures, there was a disappointing lack of rainbow action, or even a reference to his spectacularly named line of fragrances Ian Thorpe For Men.

The 283-page souvenir tribute to the late Princess Diana? We liked the trip down memory lane, especially the photo of the People's Princess shaking hands with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman captioned "Nicole Kidman was a good friend" (she was? How did this beautiful relationship ever pass us by? Was there a Good Weekend The 2 Of Us we missed?) but the delightful mix of snaps just can't compete with the results from the New Idea Book Club survey.

It would seem New Idea and Harlequin recently quizzed the good readers of the mag about all things book related, and the results are quite brilliant/insightful.

WHAT TYPES OF BOOKS DO YOU MOST LIKE TO READ?

Crime - 10%
Thriller - 19%
Romance - 18%
Biography - 17%
Non-fiction - 12%
Self-help - 9%
Literary - 6%

Literary comes last, we note. As it should. Also, what sort of stuff belongs in the low-rating "literary" genre?

WHICH MALE CHARACTER WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO DATE?

Mr Darcy - 34%
Rhett Butler - 20%
James Bond - 18%
Inspector Morse - 10%

There must have been some kind of funny business with the voting forms, as we are completely befuddled as to why sexy investigative crumpet Inspector Morse didn't top that list. Which company was responsible for the counting of votes - Legion Interactive?

WHICH NAME IS BEST FOR A ROMANTIC LEADING MAN?

Robert - 42%
Alfredo - 18%
Wayne - 13%
Fabio - 13%
Bruce - 9%
Duke - 4%

No offence to the Alfredos, Waynes and Bruces of the world, but we find it somewhat puzzling that those monikers made the list of the top six leading man names.

Nonetheless, we believe the results of this survey to be an illuminating and revealing glance into the reading habits of New Idea readers, and we give it two hearty thumbs up.

*Erotically charged post title shamelessly pilfered from this incredibly exciting sounding romance novel.

Well, we might be overstating things a little. Melbourne band The Basics may not be resorting to posting nakie YouTube clips of themselves in order to increase ticket sales during their overseas jaunt, but they are indeed uploading short clips now that they've begun a touring Japan.

We particularly enjoyed this one (via Syms Covington, who also rather liked it)

Topless Wally De Backer (aka Gotye)? The Triple J lady listeners will go mad for it.

Also, The Basics' track "Lookin' Over My Shoulder" has suddenly and unexpectedly become one of the most played songs on our iPod in recent weeks. Do go and request it on your favourite wireless station, eh?

In the meantime, here's the clip.

RUN, LADS, RUN!