Starter for Ten by David Nicholls

(473 pages)



Amazon.co.uk Review
Is David Nicholls' Starter for Ten a throwback? Many readers look back with nostalgia to a recent golden age of comic writing, when David Lodge, Malcolm Bradbury and Tom Sharpe were producing some achingly funny work, with brilliantly realised characters. But Nicholls' sharp-as-nails novel has all the comic acumen of his great predecessors (along with their frequently-utilised university campus milieu) and, like Lodge and co., Nicholls writes real characters, not just boobies suitable only for pratfalls and sexual embarrassment. So even though the situations may often be ridiculous, we're still engaged by the protagonists.
Here, they are university student Brian Jackson and aspiring actress Alice Harbinson. Brian has arrived at his place of learning with a stronger desire than the acquisition of knowledge: he's going to be a star of TV's hottest quiz. But his progress on "The Challenge" is somewhat stymied by his growing desire for the beguiling Alice, struggling to make her mark as an actress. And as obstacles impede their affair, Brian becomes more and more convinced that only overwhelming success on the quiz show will win her.
What makes this novel such a delight, apart from the strongly drawn characters (both major and minor) is the coruscating dialogue: Nicholls writes comic dialogue like a dream, and his targets are many and varied: the idiocies of love and sex, the ludicrous pursuit of meaningless TV celebrity, fat cat businessmen lining their pockets--you name it, and it's probably here; Starter for Ten is a panoply of modern Britain with all its glories and excesses writ large. Nicholls wrote the third series of the hit TV series Cold Feet, which is as good a demonstration of his credentials as one could wish for. But Starter for Ten is his best work; there are no false notes struck by miscast actors, just prose that has a comic energy not often encountered these days.

Whilst this was great fun, I feel that I would have enjoyed it more if I had been 10 years older. You see I went to uni, when University Challenge was on the way out (mind you it;s back in again now). For me the thing that stood out was the odd selection of characters, some of whom did seem rather familiar. One that was worth the read, but not one I would read again in a hurry.

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

(448 pages)



How far would you go to protect the ones you love? Worldwide publication of Jodi Picoult's brand new hardback will be a major event. When Daniel Stone was a child, he was the only white boy in a native Eskimo village where his mother taught, and he was teased mercilessly because he was different. He fought back, the baddest of the bad kids: stealing, drinking, robbing and cheating his way out of the Alaskan bush - where he honed his artistic talent, fell in love with a girl and got her pregnant. To become part of a family, he reinvented himself - jettisoning all that anger to become a docile, devoted husband and father. Fifteen years later, when we meet Daniel again, he is a comic book artist. His wife teaches Dante's Inferno at a local college; his daughter, Trixie, is the light of his life - and a girl who only knows her father as the even-tempered, mild-mannered man he has been her whole life. Until, that is, she is date raped...and Daniel finds himself struggling, again, with a powerlessness and a rage that may not just swallow him whole, but destroy his family and his future.

As usual, Jodi Picoult has managed to tell a story with all the weight and emotion it deserve, without glamourising or over-sentimentalising a difficult and very emotive issue. She has made the characters like real people with a whole range of problems and flaws, not just caricatures of the perfect family. The journey Trixie goes through is heart wrenching and extremely believable, and the few incidents at the school make you realise just how horrible being a teenager can be. Daniel manages to contain himself extremely well but inevitably he, like everyone has a breaking point. But is he capable of the worst?? I didn;t think so and the last 100 pages flew by in a flurry as i was dying to get to the end to find out who was.
I would heartily recommend this to everyone especially those who enjoy Picoult's style. Yet again she managed to hit the nail right on the head!

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde

(128 pages)



Have you ever wondered just what was going on when that odd little man with the long name stepped up and volunteered to spin straw into gold for the miller’s daughter? If you stop and think about it, there are some very peculiar and rather hard-to-explain components to the story. Vivian Vande Velde has wondered too, and she’s come up with these six alternative versions of the old legend. A bevy of miller’s daughters confront their perilous situation in very different ways — sometimes comic, sometimes scary. Most of the time, it’s the daughter who gets off safely, but sometimes, amazingly, Rumpelstiltskin himself wins the day. And in one tale, it is the king who cleverly escapes a quite unexpected fate.

This was really great fun, which made me realise how ridiculous some fairytales are and how much more intrigung they could be with a slightly different viewpoint. All six of the reworkings were really sharply witty, and the different takes on the strange fairytale mad this book nigh on impossible to put down. Highlyrecommended!!

Koyasan by Darren Shan

(112 pages)



Prepare to be spooked in this spine-tingling new story from the master of horror, Darren Shan! "The boys and girls in the graveyard were shouting, but Koyasan no longer heard them. The world had become a wide, grey void. She could hear deep rasping sounds, the breath of creatures which had been human once, but weren't any more..." All of the children like to play in the graveyard, except Koyasan, who is too afraid to cross the bridge to play. But when her sister's soul is stolen, she must find the courage to enter a realm of evil, where she knows the spirits are waiting...

I loved this a lot! It was easy to read and the characters were very realistic. I found it very scary in parts, but really enjoyed the happy ending. I would recommend this to kids of all ages (adults included!)

Original Sin by Brandt Dodson

(274 pages)



Colton Parker was just fired from the FBI, has a teenage daughter who blames him for her mother’s death, and now that he’s hung out his shingle as a P.I., his first paying client—Angie Howe—has enough money for only one day’s worth of investigating. But Angie looks like she could use a friend, so Colton has his first case.
When the mystery is finally resolved, Colton is resigned to improve his parenting skills with his daughter—and while the pair still struggle with each other, hope finally gets a chance to grow.
First in the Colton Parker, P.I. series, from Brandt Dodson—a compelling new author with a family history in law enforcement spanning several generations.

Colton Parker used to have everything; a wife, daughter and job with the FBI. Now things are different. His wife has died, is daughter is living with her grandparents, and he has been fired from the FBI. In an attempt at a fresh start, he has set up a private detective agency, and his first case poses lots of questions. His client is the girlfriend of a man being charged with the murder of a well respected high school guidance counsellor, who also happens to be the victim’s nephew. But a paperclip and a missing computer are pointing at some kind of a link to an internet pornography ring.

This is a classic detective story, with a religious twist. You see Colton’s wife had found Christ not long before her death, but Colton is a non-believer. Instead of the typical Christian detective who uses the idea of the greater good as an excuse for bad and/or illegal behaviour, Colton simply crosses the line, with no holds barred. It is after this that the consequences become clear, and the Christian perspective can come into play. Colton feels no love for God, and is instead angry and depressed by the fact that he feels deserted by having his wife taken from him and being unable to connect with his daughter. A Pastor tries to show him the ‘light’ so to speak, but unfortunately the great possibility of an exploration of faith is lost amidst the somewhat clichéd “death is a part of life” speech.
Overall the story was very enjoyable, with a lifelike and likeable lead character with a great dry sense of humour, but in my opinion the portrayal of the Pastor came across as too preachy and clichéd, but as a mystery and detective story it was excellent with an intriguing trail of crumbs to follow.

The Spell by Alan Hollinghurst

(272 pages)



Alan Hollinghurst's new novel is a comedy of sexual manners that follows the interlocking affairs of four men: Robin Woodfield, an architect in his late forties, who is trying to build an idyllic life in Dorset with his younger lover, Justin, a would-be actor increasingly disenchanted with the countryside; Robin's 22-year-old son Danny, a volatile beauty who lives for clubbing and casual sex; and the shy Alex, whose life is transformed by house music and a tab of ecstasy. As each in turn falls under the spell of romance or drugs, country living or rough trade, a richly ironic picture emerges of the clashing imperatives of modern gay life, the hunger for contact and the fear of commitment, the need for permanence and the continual disruptions of sex. At once lyrical and farcical, sceptical and romantic, "The Spell" confirms Alan Hollinghurst as one of Britain's most important novelists.

This book was given to me to encourage me to read books that I would not normally look at, and I am pleased to say I am glad that I read it! It was very well written with lots of interesting and engaging characters. I was particularly fond of the ridiculouosly camp Justin and loved how the story grew, although the emphasis was on the character development which was wonderful.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

(272 pages)



Leo Gursky is a man who fell in love at the age of ten and has been in love ever since. These days he is just about surviving life in America, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbour know he's still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago in the Polish village where he was born Leo fell in love with a young girl called Alma and wrote a book in honour of his love. These days he assumes that the book, and his dreams, are irretrievably lost, until one day they return to him in the form of a brown envelope.
Meanwhile, a young girl, hoping to find a cure for her mother's loneliness, stumbles across a book that changed her mother's life and she goes in search of the author. Soon these and other worlds collide in The History of Love, a captivating story of the power of love, of loneliness and of survival.

This was an unusual and touching book, which once I got into i really enjoyed. Leo was a fantastic character, and I also loved Bruno... but who was he??? !!! It is the type of book that you want to read over and over just to see if you missed something the first time :)

Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Chorderlos de Laclos

(400 pages)



The complex moral ambiguities of seduction and revenge make this text one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature. The subject of major film and stage adaptations, the novel's prime movers, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil, form an unholy alliance and turn seduction into a game - a game which they must win. This translation gives Laclos a modern voice, and readers will be able a judge whether the novel is as "diabolical" and "infamous" as its critics have claimed, or whether it has much to tell us about the kind of world we ourselves live in. David Coward's introduction explodes myths about Laclos's own life and puts the book in its literary and cultural context.

Being such a massive fan of "Dangerous Liasons" and the modern "Cruel Intentions", I felt that I ought to read the book they were based on. Unfortunately I found it very hard going and extremely difficult to get into. Because I knew the basic outline of the story, I was able to persevere, and did eventually quite enjoy it, and I am glad that I read it, but it isn't a book that I would want to read again.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

(436 pages)



Two years ago, Eva Khatchadourian's son, Kevin, murdered seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular algebra teacher. Because he was only fifteen at the time of the killings, he received a lenient sentence and is now in a prison for young offenders in upstate New York. Telling the story of Kevin's upbringing, Eva addresses herself to her estranged husband through a series of letters. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about both motherhood in general and Kevin in particular. How much is her fault? Lionel Shriver tells a compelling, absorbing, and resonant story while framing these horrifying tableaux of teenage carnage as metaphors for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.

i found this quite difficult to read, but once I had got into it I did find it quite gripping. I am very glad that I have read it.

The Feline Mystique by Clea Simon

(256 pages)



Part history of a species, part personal memoir, and featuring a healthy dose of wry humor, Clea Simon's The Feline Mystique shares the tale of her particular cat (Cyrus) set against a backdrop of interviews and statistics on cats throughout the world. Smoothly blending mythology with modern stories of dedicated feral cat rescuers, feline fanciers might bond with this book as tightly as they've bonded with their own wee beastie.
The focus is relentlessly female and a happy counterpoint to urban myths and ancient folk tales about lonely women and their up-to-no-good pets. Simon walks us through her initial bond with a young kitten, through the warm years of record-clawing, arm-kneading, keyboard-walking, veterinarian-terrorizing cat companionship, and leads us gently through the sadness of parting with a beloved animal. You won't find practical tips on health care or soapboxes about the problem of strays in the city--just page after page of individualized love and fascination. From Norse goddess Freya and her flying cats to references of a study done on the annual kill of an outdoors-living housecat to an interview with Barnum and Bailey's female tiger tamer, each detail helps construct a solid picture of the multifaceted relationship possible between a woman and her cat.

Whilst being the doting owner of a lovely moggie, I am admittedly more of a dog person. This book however has managed to turn me to why my little one acts the way she does and why I lover her as I do, and finally convinced me that i am not insane by thinking she is talking tome.... SHE IS!!!! A very hard book to describe, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

(256 pages)



Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone in feeling discontent. Harbouring an unnatural desire for solitude, and a perverse distaste for the pleasures of compulsory promiscuity, Bernard has an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress - Huxley's ingenious fantasy of the future sheds a blazing light on the present and is considered to be his most enduring masterpiece.

i had a really hard time with this book. I just managed to finish it, but I can't say I enjoyed it. I found it really disturbing and very scary that someone so long a go could've come up with ideas like Huxley did, that are now part of our reality. Very Scary!!
I am glad that I read it though.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

(292 pages)



(from Amazon)This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters, it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship? And we meet Morrie Schwartz--a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. Finally, we are privy to intimate moments of Morrie's final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully. Kudos to author and acclaimed sports columnist Mitch Albom for telling this universally touching story with such grace and humility.
I decided to read this when i got up this morning, and believie it or not had finished it just after lunchtime. I couldn't put it down. I was so moved and touched buy Morrie's determination and ability to see the bright side of things even in the most horrid of situations.
Mitch Albom has written a book that is so easy to read and also manages to grab you and touch you whilst chuckling along. I really felt that I had missed out on something by not having known Morrie whilst he was alive, but at least I now have a sense of what a marvellous man he must have been.

Daniel Isn't Talking by Marti Leimbach

(288 pages)



The new novel from Marti Leimbach, author of the internationally best-selling "Dying Young".
My husband saw me at a party and decided he wanted to marry me. Melanie Marsh is an American living in London married to Stephen, the perfect Englishman, who knew the minute he saw her that she was to be his future. But when their youngest child is diagnosed with autism their marriage starts to unravel at great speed. Stephen runs back into the arms of his previous girlfriend while Melanie does everything in her power to help her son and keep her family together. And then one day Melanie hears about a man named Andy O'Connor, who calls himself a "play therapist" and has a client list so long she can barely get him on the phone. Some say he's a maverick and a con artist of the first degree, but when he walks into the house and starts playing with her child, Melanie knows she's found the key to her son's success, and possibly to her own happiness. "Daniel Isn't Talking" is a passionate and darkly humorous novel that explores a mother's determination to help her child. A love story for grown ups, it somehow extends its wisdom far beyond the parameters of disability and into the substance of human nature itself. A tense, moving novel that will make you laugh at loud even as it breaks your heart.

Melanie is an American living in London. She has everything… a house a handsome English husband and two beautiful children. But Daniel her youngest child isn’t like other children. He doesn’t talk and has a strange obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine. She finds out after visiting numerous specialists that Daniel is autistic. Stephen (her husband) thinks that this is as good as a death sentence and wants Daniel to be enrolled in a special school as soon as possible. Melanie on the other hand is determined for Daniel to be like any other child and seeks help from every corner. Amongst Melanie’s desperation the marriage falls apart, but she does find Andy, a play therapist who is supposed to be able to work wonders. And he does. Before long Daniel is playing and talking, and a new love is blossoming, but can Melanie find a new happiness?
This novel is absolutely wonderful. It pulls you through all the emotions imaginable and Melanie is so endearing and strong that you wished you knew her! There is nothing she wont do for Daniel, including pawning her engagement ring and selling half her furniture. Through all the sorrow and hardships, Melanie always manages to find hope, sometimes at the expense of her own happiness, but she is so believable. You feel what she feels, cry when she cries and ultimately, are ecstatic for her when she makes the right decisions for herself.
In Melanie, Marti Leimbach has created an unlikely hero, bringing to the fore the humanity of families with disabled children and the hope there is for them, warts and all. It was totally unputdownable.

Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin

(256 pages)



'And in Edinburgh of all places. I mean, you never think of that sort of thing happening in Edinburgh, do you...?' 'That sort of thing' is the brutal abduction and murder of two young girls. And now a third is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer. And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.

This was a decent good old fashioned murder mystery whodunnit type book. I was told to read this first as it is the beginning of the Rebus books, and am glad I did because I feel that I want to read more of the Rebus stories. BUT as a standalone, this is lacking something.... i didnt feel as involved in the crimes as I have with other writers, but i am assured that Rebus gets better with age, so lets just see.

The Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich

(272 pages)



The "Dog Lady" of radio station WZZZ, free-spirited Daisy Adams figures anything has to beat pushing tasty canine recipes over the airwaves. So when a slot for a roving traffic reporter opens, Daisy jumps at it-- despite the fact that she's already juggling about fifteen other jobs. The new one comes with a raise and more responsibility. It also comes with a hands-on boss, hunky operations manager Steve Crow. When Daisy turns into a media darling after inadvertently foiling a major criminal's getaway, Steve decides it's his duty to protect her, bringing him even farther into the tangled web of her maddeningly overextended life. But Daisy's got far too much going on to get involved in extracurricular activities-- like falling in love.

This was my first Evanovich, and I can understand why so many people love her so much. All the characters jumped right off the page. I meanthere is a gorgeous rich guy with a heart of gold, a sweet overworked young woman who puts everyone else first, a teenage boy who will eat anything, a psycho granny with a gun and of course the adorable Bob dog. The story was simple and easy to follow, with love, romance and intrigue and a few bad guys thrown in. The plot developed really nicely, although the ending of the 'baddie' storyline was a bit abrupt (but very entertaining!).I could relate to Daisy really well as her life was as hectic as mine! Janet Evanovich has created some adorable characters that kept me wanting more, and for a compact little book, this was a corker! I shall certainly be on the lookout for more of her books!

Secrets by Linore Rose Burkard

(20 A4 pages)



Christine's walk with her golden retriever starts out like any other walk on her private, wooded property. When she hears her dog whimper and runs to find him, she is stopped in her tracks by something she never expected. Soon she is wondering if her own life is in danger! And, even if she survives, will things ever be the same?

I was gripped right away. I absolutely had to know who the man was and how he knew so much. I certainly wasn’t expecting what came next. As the pages flew by I wanted more. The development of the story was wonderful, and the conclusion was very warming and satisfying. I am glad that I read this and it just proves that God works in mysterious ways.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry

(338 pages)



In Max Barry's twisted, hilarious and terrifying vision of the near future, the world is run by giant corporations and employees take the last names of the companies they work for. It's a globalised, ultra-capitalist free market paradise! Hack Nike is a lowly merchandising officer who's not very good at negotiating his salary. So when John Nike and John Nike, executives from the promised land of Marketing, offer him a contract, he signs without reading it. Unfortunately, Hack's new contract involves shooting teenagers to build up street cred for Nike's new line of USD2,500 trainers. Hack goes to the police - but they assume that he's asking for a subcontracting deal and lease the assassination to the more experienced NRA. Enter Jennifer Government, a tough-talking agent with a barcode tattoo under her eye and a personal problem with John Nike (the boss of the other John Nike). And a gun. Hack is about to find out what it really means to mess with market forces.

This was a really good read, great fun, a massive cast of fantastically different characters and an all powerful corporate consumerist lifestyle that is ridiculously beliveable... oh did i mention the good guy vs bad guys and conspiracies too??? really great fun.