Thursday 27 September 2012


The Girl You Left Behind – Jojo Moyes
Publishing date:27th September 2012
Publisher: Penguin.

4 stars
This is a compelling novel, the tale of two women separated by a century but united in their resolution to fight for what they love and believe in.
It wasn’t what I expected, usually steering clear of war-time novels. However I am so glad I reviewed this. There is nothing better than being pulled into a story, an alternative reality, breathing alongside the characters, emotions rising and falling with the rise and fall of their fortunes. Jojo Moyes does this extremely well and I now want to read all her other books.
I enjoyed the contrasting tales, war torn France, modern day London. I was enthralled by the detective work which kept me guessing until the end. The characters were well drawn, the descriptions authentic, the language rich and neatly written. No superfluous gunk here. I really couldn’t put this book down. The message left in my mind was that across time and nationality, possessions are meaningless. Life is nothing without love and family.

Wednesday 19 September 2012


Twice Shy


3 stars Interesting concept. The zombie disguised amongst us at Senior High.
I liked the main character, I was rooting for her although I would have been happy if she had bitten some of her so called 'friends.'
The book kept me hooked, I felt it easy to read, it flowed well and I wanted to keep reading and found some parts of the book really funny, the droll humour and observations.
Spoiler. The only surprising thing for me was the ending, inevitable? The mother and daughter team worked so hard to keep her secret hidden and experiment on serums, that I felt the end was too sudden and undeserved. Readers will like the main character, so to throw her under the bus (metaphorically speaking) at the end is sad. However, any book that draws such a response from its readers has clearly done well. I say Bravo!


Paperback
Expected publication: October 26th 2012 by JournalStone
ISBN13
9781936564507

English

2 stars

Hope In Small Doses - Nikki Stern


Nikki Stern is a self confessed sceptic, she has been through a great deal and so I liked the sentiment behind the idea of the book. I looked forward to reading the book and looking forward to things, Stern says is the very essence of ‘hope.’
However the book itself I found depressing, oh the irony. Stern has done her research, is opinionated, there are great quotes, beautiful photographs and yet I kept reading because I hoped she might tell me the trick. How might I acquire hope in small doses? Training the mind, one's own temperament or do we make it up as we go along? There was never an answer, just lots of facts and digression. I think this was more an exercise and question in the author’s mind.


ebookFirst140 pages
Published May 31st 2012 by Humanist Press (first published 2012)
ISBN13
9780931779220

English