Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

No. of pages: 436
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: A woman wakes to find herself in a graveyard, hurt and bleeding, her memory wiped clean. She doesn't know what she's doing there - or even who she is. She is rescued by a police officer, himself a newcomer to Los Angeles. After days of waiting, she is taken by complete surprise when she is finally identified by Alex Rivers, Hollywood's biggest movie star - and her husband.

Cassie is dazzled and bewildered by the fairytale in which she suddenly finds herself. But everything is not quite right, and there is something dark and disturbing behind this glamorous facade. It is only as her memory gradually returns that her picture perfect life comes crumbling down, and Cassie is faced with choices she never dreamed she would have to make.

Review: When Cassie wakes up cold and alone in a graveyard, she realises that not only does she not know how she got there, but she doesn't even know her own name. Luckily as she stumbles out on to the street, she is found by Will Flying Horse, a LAPD officer, who takes her in until someone recognises her. Then her husband comes forward to claim her, and it's none other than Alex Rivers, the biggest actor in Hollywood. So as Cassie steps into a fairytale life, she can't imagine how she ever came to have a famous husband and a mansion for a home. But then bit by bit, Cassie starts to realise things aren't quite as they seem, and her fantasy life isn't quite the fairytale she thought...

The thing I always enjoy about Picoult's novels is that she loves to tackle hard subjects, but she makes them so human in that there's no black and white, but only people who struggle to make hard choices. I did enjoy the controversial topic in this book, and also thought the choices Cassie made echoed the choices that so many women make every day, and so that made it seem very realistic. I did find the story dragged a bit in the middle, when it was flashing back to when Cassie and Alex first got together, but once I got passed that bit, the rest of the book went at a decent pace. I loved the Native American aspect to the tale, and found it all very interesting learning about the tribal rituals and such. I have to admit Will was my favourite character, he just seemed such a nice and devoted guy and I'm so glad it all ended the way I was hoping all along. All in all, this is well worth a read, and I do recommend it.

The Devil's Diaries by Nicholas D. Satan

No. of pages: 159
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Narrating the Devil's random musings on key dates through history, "The Devil's Diaries" reveals Satan's part in such things as the Fall; musical moments at the crossroads; the invention of the tetrapak, making work for idle hands; small print; Faust; decorating hell circle by circle; the joy of getting all the best tunes; and, lawyers. The Dark One reveals his disquiet at the way some of this finest ideas have been hijacked and credited elsewhere; and confesses his frustration that much of his best work goes unappreciated. We also gain extraordinary insights into his private thoughts, and discover that even Satan gets depressed.

Review: A humorous diary style book from the Devil's perspective. Starting from the beginning of time and up to recent years, it covers things such as creating hell, the souls he collects, and starting a family.

First off I must say this is such a pretty book, the pages are gold edged, and they are made to look like old diary pages with pictures and such throughout. Although only a short book, it's very enjoyable, and a really easy read. The writing is witty and made me laugh quite a lot, but this is definitely a book for people with an open sense of humour and not for somebody who is particularly religious or easily offended. Recommended for people who are looking for something that's funny or a bit unusual.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

No. of pages: 338
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: "Dear John", the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever. When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. An angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do. Then, during a furlough, he meets Savannah, the girl of his dreams. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty. What neither realises is that 9/11 will change everything and now John must choose between love and country. Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover how love can transform us in ways we never could have imagined.

Review: John meets Savannah at the beach while on holiday leave from the army, and as they get to know each other, they fall deeply in love. Then John has to return to Germany where he's stationed, for the 18 months he still has left to serve. While apart both John and Savannah write letters to each other to pass the time while they're waiting. But then 9/11 happens, and John must make the toughest decision of all - does he re-up for another two years and risk losing Savannah, or does he abandon his country when he's most needed?

I wasn't sure whether to read this before watching the film, after all I really wanted to watch the film and wasn't so sure I wanted to read the book. But I fell in love with the story and immediately went and got a copy of the book and started it as soon as I could. There are three main characters in the book, John, Savannah and John's dad. I really felt I connected with all 3 characters in both the film and the book, they were all fantastically written and you really feel what they are feeling. I have to admit, I really adored John's dad, and some of the scenes with him made me cry, he is easily one of my favourite characters ever. The storyline in the book does differ a little in places from the film, the main change would be the ending, which was so sad in the book, and so I prefered the film ending, purely because it was the ending I was rooting for throughout. The writing in the book was beautiful though, as you'd expect from Sparks, who is known for his fantastic writing. You can just feel the love between John and Savannah spilling from the pages, and it's wonderfully uplifting to read. I could just rave forever about this book, it's definitely one that has touched me deeply, and that's something I never imagined I'd be taking away from this book. I'd recommend it to everyone, it's such a fantastic book, and the film is equally great.

Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup

No. of pages: 361
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: Former tiffinboy Ram Mohammad Thomas has just got twelve questions correct on a TV quiz-show to win a cool one billion rupees. But he is brutally slung in prison on suspicion of cheating. Because how can a kid from the slums know who Shakespeare was, unless he is pulling a fast one. In the order of the questions on the show, Ram tells us which amazing adventures in his street-kid life gave him the answers. From orphanages to brothels, gangsters to beggar-masters, and into the homes of Bollywood's rich and famous, Ram's story is brimming with the chaotic comedy, heart-stopping tragedy and tear-inducing joyousness of modern India.

Review: When Ram wins the top prize - a billion rupees - on a tv quiz show, he is immediately arrested for cheating, for how could a poor boy from the slums of India possibly know the answers?! Through each chapter of the novel, Ram recounts each story behind how he knew the answer to the questions he was asked, ultimately making him the luckiest person alive.

I've been interested in reading this ever since the hype around the movie started, so I finally got around to buying it last month and decided to read it as part of my 'around the world' challenge. I'm so incredibly glad I finally picked it up, it was absolutely nothing how I imagined it to be. I had actually heard a lot of bad things about the book, and also heard that the movie was a lot better, so I went into it kind of thinking that it would be just an okay read, but I ended up really enjoying it. The writing is so vivid, that you can actually imagine the scene that's being created, and that's not always easy to do, especially with a foreign culture that you don't really know a whole lot about. I really liked the way the book was set out, with each chapter telling the story of how he knew the answer to that particular quiz question, although I found the author sometimes forgot to place the memory in time, so it was a little confusing as to how old Ram was supposed to be, but I managed to piece most of it together in the end. I loved the character of Ram, I thought that considering the awful life he'd had, he was just so kind and generous, especially as people were always trying to hurt him or take advantage of him. Slumdog Millionaire (originally named Q&A) is an unflinching look at the underbelly of India, and I think it's fantastically written, especially when you consider this is a debut novel. Recommended to people interested in the Indian culture, or just looking for an unusual, interesting story to read.

Change Of Heart by Jodi Picoult

No. of pages: 461
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Shay Bourne becomes the first person in decades to be sentenced to death in New Hampshire, when he is found guilty of the cold-blooded killing of a policeman and his step-daughter. After eleven years on Death Row, the end is coming for Shay.

Until he sees a news piece about a young girl who urgently needs a heart transplant.

June's husband and daughter died at Shay Bourne's hands, and she thought her greatest desire was to see him killed. Then her remaining daughter is hospitalised, and she realises that there is something she wants even more: for Claire to live. Shay Bourne is offering June's daughter a miracle - a second chance. But at what cost?

Review: June Nealon has her fair share of tragedies, not only were her first daughter and husband murdered, now her second daughter is dying of heart disease, and it seems like there is no hope. But then she hears that the man who murdered her daughter and husband wants to give his heart to Claire when he's killed by the state, but can June bear her daughter to have the heart of the man who ruined her life?

I always enjoy reading Picoult books, she knows how to make you feel torn even though you're sure you know who's in the wrong. I did guess fairly early on what the big twist would be to this one, but it was still really enjoyable none the less. I enjoyed the big aspect of religion and the way it was portrayed by several different people, from athiests to priests, it was interesting not only to learn new things, but also to read the debate over religion. I enjoyed the death row aspect of the story too, it's not something you tend to read about in fiction books a lot, and it seemed well researched. I didn't particularly like June Nealon as a character, if anything I liked Shay the most, and felt he was really well written to make you feel torn about liking him. This was one of the more enjoyable and interesting books by Picoult, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of My Sister's Keeper.

A Winter Book by Tove Jansson

No. of pages: 205
Rating: 2/10

Synopsis: Following the widely acclaimed and bestselling The Summer Book, here is a Winter Book collection of some of Tove Jansson's best loved and most famous stories. Drawn from youth and older age, and spanning most of the twentieth century, this newly translated selection provides a thrilling showcase of the great Finnish writer's prose, scattered with insights and home truths. The Winter Book features 13 stories from Tove Jansson's first book for adults, The Sculptor's Daughter plus 7 of her most cherished later stories.

Review: A book of 20 short stories, written from the perspective of a young girl growing up in Finland.

I really did not enjoy this in the slightest, in fact I really struggled to read it, because I found it so incredibly boring. Granted it has lovely descriptions of the Finnish coastline, but that's about the only positive thing I can say. I found it quite confusing that random characters would pop up, but there was never anything to tell you who they actually were or where they came from. I'm interested by reading one of the Moomin books by this author, but wont bother reading any of her other fictional books.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

No. of pages: 607
Rating: 9/10

Synopsis: Toru Okada's cat has disappeared and this has unsettled his wife, who is herself growing more distant every day. Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has started receiving. As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life - spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table - are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.

Review: When Toru and Kumiko's cat disappears it's the start of a very bizarre journey for Toru. The people he meets are varied and interesting, but can they help him find what he's looking for?

I loved this book, it was such a refreshing change from anything I've ever read before. Obviously the Japanese culture is quite different to ours here, and I loved the mysticism of the spirits and being able to move out of your body for a period of time. The characters were my favourite aspect of the story, they were so random and quite bizarre at times, but they were great fun to read about and get to know. In particular my favourites were Creta Kano, May Kasahara and Cinnamon Akasaka, although I really did feel like each character brought something important to the story. My only dislikes were that it was a tad too long, and it felt like I was reading it forever and seemingly never making progress, and also that some of the longer memory passages were a bit too long too, and I found myself losing concentration a bit. But other than that, it was a fantastic book, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to read something a bit different.

Light On Snow by Anita Shreve

No. of pages: 272
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: The events of a December afternoon, during which a father and his daughter find an abandoned infant in the snow, will forever alter the 12-year-old girls understanding of the world and the adults who inhabit it: a father who has taken great pains to remove himself from society in order to put an unthinkable tragedy behind him; a young woman who must live with the consequences of the terrible choices she has made; and a detective whose cleverness is exceeded only by his sense of justice. Written from the point of view of 30-year-old Nicky as she recalls the vivid images of that fateful December, her tale is one of love and courage, of tragedy and redemption, and of the ways in which the human heart always seeks to heal itself.

Review: When 12 year old Nicky and her her father find an abandoned newborn baby in the snowy forest one night while they're out walking, they don't realise it's the start of a life changing event...

I read this book about 3 years ago, and for some reason I didn't really think much of it. So when I decided to re-read it, it was pretty much just to confirm that it's not something I wanted to keep. But I was surprised to find I enjoyed it much more this time, and I read it in only two sittings. It's a sad story, full of longing and regrets, but I think the characters start to come to terms with their own stories near the end, and that was nice to see, although I would like to have seen just a little bit more of the story wrapped up.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

No. of pages: 197
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Charley Benetto is a broken man, his life destroyed by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits rock bottom after discovering he won't be invited to his only daughter's wedding. And he decides to take his own life. Charley takes a midnight ride to his small hometown: his final journey. But as he staggers into his old house, he makes an astonishing discovery. His mother - who died eight years earlier - is there, and welcomes Charley home as if nothing had ever happened. What follows is the one seemingly ordinary day so many of us yearn for: a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain the family serets and to seek forgiveness.

Review: When Charley Benetto finds out his daughter got married without inviting him, he decides his life is just not worth living anymore. With no wife, a daughter that doesn't want to know him and a life dependent on alcohol, Charley drives back to his childhood home to kill himself. But his mother who died 8 years previously is there, and what follows is a day Charley will never forget.

This book is very like Albom's two previous books, basically it's about death and redemption, but like the other two, it's very easy and enjoyable to read. It makes you think about things you'd go back and change if you had the chance to do it, and the things you'd say to people you've lost in your life. His books always leave me with something, and I think about them for days after I've finished reading them. I definitely would recommend reading one of his books, they're kind of touching and well worth the read.

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

No. of pages: 478
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: When a plot of land is being developed in Vermont against the will of a local Native American tribe, strange things begin to happen - and Ross Wakeman, a paranormal investigator, is asked to get involved. He's a desperate drifter who's taken up ghost hunting in an effort to cross paths again with his fiancee, who died in a car crash eight years ago, but he has yet to experience anything even remotely paranormal. Then Ross meets Lia . . . As a seventy-year-old murder case is reopened, a shocking secret about a crime of passion long past is revealed.

Review: Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors, but I find her books a little hit or miss sometimes. This book was definitely a hit, I thought it was a great book, and read it in 2 sittings because I just couldn't put it down. The story is about Ross, a ghost hunter looking for the spirit of his dead fiancee, he's basically given up on life, but then he stumbles into a situation that reminds him what living is all about. One thing I love about Picoult's books are how she takes numerous seperate stories and somehow threads them all together in the end, and she does that well in this book. A few things were a little predictable, but it doesn't take away from the story in any way.

The only thing that annoyed me slightly in this book, was the character that kept using big words from the dictionary that I didn't have a clue what they meant, and I just thought it was unnecessary really, unless the aim was to have people reading the book alongside a dictionary. But other than that the book was well written, and very easy to read. I enjoyed the supernatural aspect with the ghosts, and I liked how the story flowed well, with regards to the relationships developing. This is definitely one of the better Picoult books, and may just be a close favourite to My Sister's Keeper for me now.

Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman

No. of pages: 283
Rating: 7/10

Synopsis: Jorie and Ethan Ford are a golden couple blessed with an 11-year-old son, Collie, living a decent, quiet life in small-town Massachusetts. Ethan is a pillar of the community--a handsome, good man, whose life revolves around his family, his work as a carpenter and his roles as volunteer fireman and Little League coach. Since he first walked into her home-town, her life and her bed 13 years before, Jorie has never lost the feeling that she is special, singled out by fate to live a charmed life with a man she still desires and a son she adores. And then, on a glorious Monday morning in June, Jorie's fate turns and her life as she knows it is changed. One wonders whether the hand of fate will offer her any kind of salvation and if she can come to terms with the unimaginable.

Kat Williams, Collie's next-door neighbour and best friend is mature beyond her years. In her short life, she has had to cope with the loss of her father, a distant mother and a sister who attracts, and dispenses with, boyfriends as flies to a light, but who has taken to self-mutilation to heal her numbness. Is Kat the only one who can instinctively feel when something, or someone, is wrong? Charlotte, Jorie's best friend since childhood, knows when something is amiss, but her own terrible losses and lack of self-worth cause her to mistrust her feelings and internalise blame.

Review: This is a book that has me torn, I almost gave up on it after a few chapters as the writing style was just so different for me, Hoffman writes so descriptively it's almost enchanting, yet 3 sentences on how beautiful a flower looks is just not for me, yet I decided to push on and I'm glad I did as the story drew me in, almost against my will. The story seemed so real, Jorie not some perfect heroine, but a woman torn about forgiving her husband for the terrible thing he did. The relationships are really put across well, even with such a range of people, issues and emotions. I was very surprised at the ending, I expected it to go in a completely different direction, but after reading it, it was the perfect ending, and you're left feeling glad it ends the way it does.

I gave it a 3.5 because I really disliked the writing style, and it's a shame, because the story is actually a very good one. If there's such a thing as being too descriptive, this is it. I just found it very unnecessary really, it was just too fussy and I felt like it slowed down an already pretty slow moving story. But the characters are really well developed, and like I said the story is a good one, so I would recommend this to people who don't mind lots of descriptive writing.

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

No. of pages: 221
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: The Notebook, a Southern-fried story of love-lost-and-found-again, revolves around a single time-honored romantic dilemma: will beautiful Allie Nelson stay with Mr. Respectability (to whom she happens to be engaged), or will she hook up with Noah, the romantic rascal she left so many years ago? Decades later, after Allie develops Alzheimer's, her beau uses "the notebook" to read her the story of the great love she can't remember.

Review: I wanted to read this, like many people, after I saw the rather popular film, and I doubted the book could live up to how lovely the film was. I was wrong! The book is beautiful, both the style in which it's written and the story itself. I was so glad to see that very little had been changed in transition from book to film, and that in itself is pretty rare! Both Allie and Noah are incredibly loveable characters, and I'm so glad that Allie makes the choice she does, although it is pretty predictable that she will. I will definitely be buying more books by this author in the future!

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

No. of pages: 208
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven weaves together three stories, all told about the same man: 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement Park. As the novel opens, readers are told that Eddie, unsuspecting, is only minutes away from death as he goes about his typical business at the park. Albom then traces Eddie's world through his tragic final moments, his funeral, and the ensuing days as friends clean out his apartment and adjust to life without him. In alternating sections, Albom flashes back to Eddie's birthdays, telling his life story as a kind of progress report over candles and cake each year. And in the third and last thread of the novel, Albom follows Eddie into heaven where the maintenance man sequentially encounters five pivotal figures from his life. Each person has been waiting for him in heaven, and, as Albom reveals, each life (and death) was woven into Eddie's own in ways he never suspected. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie understands the meaning of his own life even as his arrival brings closure to theirs.

Review: I thought this was a very curious view of heaven, you meet 5 people who explain to you the meaning of certain things that happen in your life. Eddie's journey after his death is very sad, he learns about things he never knew about in his human life, but were pivital in what happened. As well as following his journey through heaven to the 5 people, you're also told about Eddie's past birthdays and also told a little about various years of his life. I thought it was well written, I liked the way it was telling 3 threads of a story yet didn't feel like it was jumping. It was a very easy read and although not one of the best books I've ever read, it was certainly very enjoyable.