fayezie

Your favourite read of the year? Steig Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest Your favourite author of the year? Steig Larsson Your most read author of the year? Jodi Picoult Your favourite book cover of the year? Trisha Ashley - Twelve Days of Christmas The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, then the one you read the least of)? Val McDermid - The Grave Tattoo The book that most disappointed you? Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones The funniest book you read this year? Walter Moers - The 13.5 Lives of Captain Bluebear Your favourite literary character this year? Holly Brown from Trisha Ashley's Twelve Days of Christmas Your favourite children's book this year? N/A Your favourite non-fiction book this year? N/A Your favourite biography this year? N/A Your favourite collection of short stories this year? Does Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol count?! Your favourite poetry collection this year? N/A Your favourite illustrated book of the year? N/A

I finished the first book in this series last month. I quite enjoyed it, and will definitely be looking at getting the second one at some point.

I cried after the first couple of pages of Cecila Ahern's PS I Love You; and cried so much over Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper I had to stop reading for 5 minutes or so to compose myself!!

For me it depends on the book and how much I've got carried away with it. On average, I probably read a book a week. However, I had a slow start to the year and so far this year I've read 38.

I have 146, and I'm sure that will continue to grow!!

I read Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold recently after I heard a lot of hype about it, but thought it was a let down to be honest.

Review: Title: Silent Scream Author: Lynda La Plante Sypnosis (from back of book): British film star Amanda Delany has the world at her feet. Never one for the quiet life, she has had a string of affairs with the hottest actors around. The tabloids can't get enough of the talented and outrageous your actress and she, in turn, can't get enough of the spotlight. Then, late home one evening from a night shoot, Amanda puts the key in her front door for the last time. The next morning, the press gather once again in the pretty Belgravia mews where she lives, this time to report on a brutal murder. Amanda's body has been found inside, stabbed many times, only her beautiful face left unharmed. DI Anna Travis is desperate for a break after a long hard-fought case. But a call comes through, summoning her to the scene of the Delany murder. Anna is shocked by what she finds, and even more so when she discovers the truth behind the public image of this glamorous and successful acress. Amanda's parents are remarkably cold in the wake of their daughter's death, her film agent evasive, and her former lovers are quick to distance themselves. For all her fame and fortune, Anna realizes, Amanda Delany was lonely, damaged and afraid. But who would want to take her life? Who would have felt threatened enough by her to exact this kind of appalling revenge? Anna and the team grapple to track down Amanda's killer, headed by the ever demanding DCI James Langton. But Anna has a challenge of her own to overcome too. Promotion to Chief Inspector is within her grasp. But when the time comes for her to stand before the board, she faces an adversary from the least likely quarter... My Comments: This is fifth book in the series starring Anna Travis and James Langton, and I have read and enjoyed all of them. This book was no exception. It had me gripped from the word go and surprised at what Anna and the team discovered whilst trying to find out who the killer was. Whilst I enjoy this series and the characters, sometimes I find Anna annoying as she doesn't listen to advice she is given by her superiors, not to work alone, and learn to work as a team. She is sometimes very childish There were a lot of twists in this book, some of which I didn't guess and some I did. I would recommend this book, but think (to get to know the characters especially because there are references to the previous books) to read the first book in the series first. Rating: 5/5 Next book: Brooke Morgan - Tainted

Review: Title: Too Close To Home Author: Linwood Barclay Sypnosis (from back of book): What's more frightening than you next-door neighbours being murdered? Finding out the killers went to the wrong house... For the Cutter family, the idea that they may have been the intended target seems crazy - but each of them has a secret they'd rather keep buried. What was on that old computer teenager Derek had salvaged? And where is it now? What hold does a local professor and bestselling author have on Ellen Cutter? And what does Jim Cutter know about his neighbour that even her husband didn't? But the final secret - the secret that could save or destory them - is in the one place no one would ever think of looking... My Comments: I really enjoyed this book. I got through this really quickly. The chapters were exciting and felt that I couldn't put this down wanting to know what the secrets were and what was going to happen next. I really felt for the father, Jim Cutter, and his son Derek. However I couldn't warm to Ellen . I prefered this book to No Time For Goodbye as I didn't feel let down by the ending. A very gripping book. Rating: 5/5 Next book: Lynda La Plante - Silent Scream

I know what you mean. I wasn't sure what to think of this and if I'm honest I think I preferred Her Fearful Symmetry.

Review: Title: Her Fearful Symmetry Author: Audrey Niffenegger Sypnosis (from back of book): Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers - normal, at least, for identical 'mirror' twins who no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn't know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin... but have no idea they've been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt's mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, abd even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins' other - and who can't even seem to quite leave her flat... My Comments: I don't really know where to start. It was an amazing book. I loved it but its so different to anything I have ever read (similar I suppose to The Time Traveller's Wife). Aunt Elspeth is a ghost and Valentina (one of the twins) can see her and they all (Robert - Elspeth's lover, Valentina and Julia) all communicate with her. But its not your usual ghost sci-fi story. There are many twists in the story (one of which I did guess) but this didn't spoil the book at all. The characters are easy to like and you can sympathise with each one of them. I would definitely recommend this book highly. Rating: 5/5 Next book: Linwood Barclay - Too Close to Home

Thanks everyone for your comments on my Pride and Prejudice book. I've put it somewhere safe, not in a towel though. May have to do that!!

Ok, I'm now reading Audrey Niffenegger - Her Fearful Symmetry which I'm really enjoying (although for some reason it is taking me a while to get through). As soon as I'm finished, I'll post the review!

Review: Title: To Love, Honour and Betray Author: Kathy Lette Sypnosis (from back of book): When Lucy finds out her football coach hubby's been playing away from home, she's devastated. But when she discovers just who he's been scoring with, she wants to kick a few balls of her own. So now that Lucy's learnt that her perfect marriage was like most of her orgasms (faked), the big question is are all men 'persons of dubious parentage', or will she find one exception to the rule? My Comments: I really didn't enjoy this book. I felt it lacked depth. I didn't warm to any of the characters. Whilst I hated the woman the husband is having an affair with I also didn't like Lucy. She came across very pathetic and desperate to win her husband back when it was clear it was never going to happen. The start of the story was a little unexpected as the husband had already left Lucy (although Lucy didn't know that he was cheating on her). I was expecting it to start with them together so you knew as a reader how their relationship had been. The author attempted too many jokes (at least three a page) and hardly any were funny. Towards the end of the book, Lucy began to have an interest in someone else . One moment she was nice to him, then she wasn't, all in half a page, which I found frustrating. However, despite all the bad things I said, I did manage to finish this. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as I didn't find it particularly easy to read. Rating: 2/5 (only because I finished it) Next book: TBC

Review: Title: The Difference A Day Makes Author: Carole Matthews Sypnosis (from back of book): William and Amy Ashurst are typical townies, but when Will collapses on his way to work he decides to move to the country. Three months later, Amy is standing outside Helmshill Grange, a sullen monstrosity of a house, deep in the Yorkshire moors. Within days, Will's traded in their brand-new Audi for a clapped-out Land Rover, and brought home chickens, goats, sheep, a serial-killer cat and a mad dog. Then tragedy strikes and Amy finds she's living a dream but it's not her own... My Comments: I really enjoyed this book. Again it was another easy to read, quick chapters that made you want to carry on reading. As you can tell from the sypnosis it's quite sad at the beginning, and you really feel for Amy and her children who, from the moment they get to their new home hate the countryside. I definately saw the ending coming, but that didn't mean that I enjoyed it any less. I would definately recommend this book. I will be looking out for more of Carole Matthew's books. Rating: 5/5 Next book: To Love, Honour and Betray - Kathy Lette