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 Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

No. of pages: 518
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals - steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Review: This has been my favourite book for about 4 years now, it has a perfect blend of science, romance and drama. I love the way it flicks around in time, you get a real sense of how it must be so disorientating for Henry to randomly be shoved into a place in time and not know why he's there. I love the interaction with an older Henry and a young Clare, throughout the whole book you see so many different facets of their relationship and how it evolves over the years that Clare is growing up. I adore the writing of this book and find it hard to believe it's a debut novel! There's lots of humourous little comments, and she describes things so fantastically. I just love this book so much, and can only hope the film version will be as good when it's released this year!

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

No. of pages: 230
Rating: 10/10

Synopsis: Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud. What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

Review: I've read this book several times after first picking it up at the library when I was 15. I like it as much now as I did then, and I still find it as moving. You go through the book following Melinda as she starts a new year at school, something traumatic has happened to her but that's not even referred to until half way through the book, and not revealed until the end. All you really know is that all of the students in her school think she's really weird, and some of them seem to hate her. It's really a book about being an outcase teenager, how hard it is, especially when you're trying to cope with so much. It's very easy to read, and written in a casual style. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading Young Adult books, and I'd also recommend the film as that's equally as good.

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.

Keeping The Dead by Tess Gerritsen

No. of pages: 349
Rating: 8/10
Series: Rizzoli/Isles (Book 7)

Synopsis: When medical examiner Isles studies an X-ray scan of Madame X, which everyone assumes is a newly discovered Egyptian mummy, at Boston's Crispin Museum, she realizes the mummy isn't a priceless artifact but a recent murder victim, gruesomely preserved. Rizzoli focuses the police investigation on Dr. Josephine Pulcillo, a young archeologist recently hired by the museum who may have something to hide. More victims soon turn up, including a tsantsa (shrunken head) in a hidden museum chamber and a corpse resembling a well-preserved bog body in Pulcillo's car. After Pulcillo disappears, Rizzoli and Isles must scramble to find her before she becomes another trophy in the killer's growing collection.

Review: The next book in the Rizzoli/Isles series, and it was pretty good. Tess obviously did a lot of research into Egyptology and mummy type preservation and it shows fantastically in the story. My two little disappointments with the book were that I guessed a few of the big plot lines way in advance of the ending, but also that there wasn't as much gripping action in this one compared to previous books in this series. All in all, I thought the book was good, I'll definately be buying it when it comes out in paperback for my collection, but it didn't get the 5/5 that a Tess Gerritsen book usually gets.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

No. of pages: 346
Rating: 8/10

Synopsis: With only months left to live, 16-year-old Tessa makes a list of things she must experience: sex, petty crime, fame, drugs and true love. Downham's wrenching work features a girl desperate for a few thrilling moments before leukemia takes her away. Although Tessa remains ardently committed to her list, both she and the reader find comfort in the quiet resonance of the natural world. Although Tessa begins to see herself within the natural continuum, she still feels furious with her lot.

Review: I expected this book to be very sad from start to finish, full of Tessa dying slowly, and whilst in a way that was true, it was also about living. The writing brings through the emotion of every situation, and you can feel the pain of her family, especially that of her dad as he tries to protect her. Her list of things to complete before she dies changes frequently, but each thing is deeply important to her. Even though I knew what was coming at the end, it was still sad and deeply moving and I have to admit, I did shed a tear or two.