Dec
31
by Andy Riley
Adult Picture Book / Gift
First Published in 2003
Publisher: Plume, The Penguin Group
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
Little fluffy rabbits who just don’t want to live any more. This adult picture book, and its sequel, Return of the Bunny Suicides, contains endless ways for a bunny to kill itself. From smoking out of every hole in its body, to flushing itself down an aeroplane toilet, to kicking an alien in the balls, this ridiculously funny book is a fountain of knowledge on rabbit self-killing.
Read more... (237 words, 4 images, estimated 57 secs reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts Adult Picture Book Gift Humour Morbid
Dec
30
by Elisabeth Robinson
(5/5) 
Fiction
First Published in 2004
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
International Bestseller
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
This novel is told in the form of letters from Olivia Hunt to her sister with cancer, Michael her ex-boyfriend, her parents and her best friend. Along the way we find out about the progress or non-progress of Olivia’s feature film that she’s trying to get off the ground in Hollywood.
Through Olivia’s letters we track the progress of her year, and are privy to her thoughts, the varied way she communicates with people, her highs and lows and also just the plain usual things that happens day to day that find themselves into her letters. Simply yet powerfully told, this novel simultaneously funny and sad, tragic and heart warming. Read more... (435 words, 7 images, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, My Favourite Books contemporary fiction Fiction Gift USA
Dec
23
by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
(2/5)
Fiction / Chick Lit / Light Reading
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Atria Books
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
How would you get your revenge if your ex-boyfriend vanished on the night before your prom, then reappeared with a song detailing your first sexual experience (which by the way topped the Billboard charts), then proceeded to write chart-topping personal songs about you for the rest of his career?
Kate finally has the opportunity to confront Jake. But how is she going to confront the man who has messed up her life? The man who constantly chased by millions of adoring fans? She has a plan. But things don’t always go according to plan, do they?
Read more... (804 words, 8 images, estimated 3:13 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Light Reading Chick Lit contemporary fiction Light Reading Revenge USA
Dec
17
by Mohsin Hamid
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Penguin Books
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2007
International Bestseller
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
Seated at a cafe in Lahore, a mysterious stranger tells you his story. He invited you to join him, and though the evening, you come to know what led the stranger to approach you. Well educated, well traveled, he seems to know more about the ways of the West than you do. He embraced the Western ideal and a western woman, and was let down by both. However, you soon find out the real reason for this meeting…
My Book Review
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an extremely readable novel. It is also surprisingly gentle. The political and religious seem to take a backseat to the life story of the Pakistani protagonist, Changez. This book is really one long monologue with the reader only getting to see one side of a conversation, dominated by Changez, with an American, whom we suspect to be a very reluctant listener.
Read more... (410 words, 7 images, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews 9/11 contemporary fiction Fiction Pakistan USA
Dec
09
by Ariana Franklin
(4/5)
Fiction / Murder Mystery / Thriller
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Bantam Books
Set in: 1171, Cambridge, England
Winner of the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
Cambridge, England, 1171.
A gruesome murder has taken place. The victim is a child and other children have disappeared. King Henry wants the killer found, as it is the Jews, who supply the King with much of his revenue, who have been accused by enraged townspeople for the child murders.
Simon of Naples a well-known investigator has been recruited, along with a young woman and an Arab. The young woman, Adelia Aguilar, is one of the rare female doctors of the 12th Century. She specializes in the examination of dead bodies. As a mistress in the art of death, she must keep her skill a secret for fear of being charged as witch. Read more... (436 words, 7 images, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews 12th Century Fiction Murder Mystery Thriller
Dec
06
by Michael Cunningham
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 1998
Publisher; Fourth Estate, A Division of Harper Collins Publishers
Set in: London, New York City and Los Angeles (1920s/1940s/1990s)
Won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Won the 1999 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
Three women.
1920s London. Virginia Woolf attempts to begin her new novel, but she is struggling to settle her unruly mind.
1940s Los Angeles. In the stifling heat, Laura Brown, a young mother and wife aches to abandon her domestic life to escape to the solitude of reading Mrs Dalloway.
1990s New York. Clarissa Vaughan hosts a party for a dying friend.
Michael Cunningham uses the life and works of Virginia Woolf as inspiration for a moving reflection on love, failure, despair and artistic behaviour. Read more... (309 words, 7 images, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, My Favourite Books contemporary fiction Favourite Books Fiction Gift
Dec
04
by Anita Amirrezvani
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Set in: 17th Century Persia
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
In 17th Century Persia, a father dies suddenly, leaving a fourteen year old girl and her mother to fend for themselves. With no male protector and no dowry with which to marry, they have to make the long journey to Isfahan, to live with the girl’s uncle, a rug designer to the King.
The girls imagination and interest is aroused by the carpets and she hungrily learns the craft, becoming a talented rug maker. But as time goes by, her chances to marry diminish and she is given no choice but to marry a rich man in secret. Will she stay in this unhappy marriage, or does she have the strength and courage to weave a new life for herself? Read more... (349 words, 7 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews 17th Century Fiction Islam Persia Women
Dec
02
By Richard Bach
Photographs by Russell Munson
(5/5)
Fiction / Inspirational
First Published in 1970
Publisher: Harper Element
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
Seagulls fly to find to food. Seagulls eat. Seagulls survive. This is seagull law. But Jonathan Livingston Seagull has discovered the sheer joy and pleasure of flying and swooping and diving. Because of this, Jonathan is banished by the seagull elders. But Jonathan still continues to fly, expanding his horizons and searching for his higher purpose.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a fable about seizing life by the horns, and following your dreams, even if it means going against the norms of the flock.
A story that will inspire you to follow your dreams, so that you can soar too. Read more... (350 words, 8 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, Inspirational / Spiritual Dreams Fiction Freedom Genius Gift inspirational stories Novella
Dec
02
by Jhumpa Lahiri
(4/5) 
Fiction / Short Stories
First Published in 1999
Publisher: Flamingo
Set in: Various countries: USA, India, London
Won The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2000
Won the Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award 2000
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Synopsis:
9 short stories that reveal the lives of Indians living at home, or abroad, but nevertheless isolated, steering their way through the murky path between tradition and the new world that has evolved around them. These stories which are eloquently and subtlety told by Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, will speak to anyone who has experienced the longings of exile, or the isolated confusion of an outsider.
Read more... (321 words, 7 images, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews contemporary fiction Fiction Immigrants India Love Story short stories
Nov
30
by Helen Fielding
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 1996
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Set in: London, present day
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Cover Synopsis:
Bridget Jones wants to have it all – and once she’s given up smoking and got down to 8st 7lbs, she will. Bridget Jones’s Diary is about a year in the life of a single girl on an optimistic but doomed quest for self-improvement. A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations? An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family? Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something? Bridget Jones is everyone’s favourite Londoner. This is your chance to reacquaint yourself with the funniest, most heart-warming young lady ever to grace the pages of a Picador book. Read more... (384 words, 8 images, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, Light Reading, My Favourite Books Chick Lit contemporary fiction feel good Fiction Gift Humour Light Reading Love Story
Nov
29
by Audrey Niffenegger
(2/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2009
Publisher: Random House
Set in: London, present day
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Cover Synopsis:
Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal at least for identical ‘mirror’ twins who have 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 Cemetary in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin… but have no idea they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twin’s mother – and who cant even seem to quite leave her flat… Read more... (735 words, 8 images, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews contemporary fiction Fiction Ghost London Twins
Nov
29
by Stephenie Meyer
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published from 2005-2008
Publisher: Little Brown and company
Set in: Forks, Washington, USA. Present day.
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book cover Synopsis:
When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.
What Bella doesn’t realize is the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back. . . .
Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight will have readers riveted right until the very last page is turned. Read more... (405 words, 7 images, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Teenage Fiction books for teens contemporary fiction Fiction Love Story Teenage Thriller USA Vampire
Nov
29
by Nakano Hitori
Translated by Bonnie Elliott.
(4/5)
Fiction / Biography (Train Man is supposedly based on true internet chat forum conversations)
First Published in 2004
Publisher: Del Ray Books (USA), Shinchosha (Japan)
Set in: present day Japan
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book cover synopsis:
“The story of the Train man who fell in love with the girl, Hermes.
The best selling internet-generation love story from Japan.’
Train Man is lifted directly from Japan’s 2-Channel chat forum, the world’s largest message board and the most popular website in Japan, handling a million posts every day.
On the web you can say what you feel and be who you want, no strings attached. But sometimes the web escapes into reality and the truth becomes more amazing than fiction.
Read more... (623 words, 7 images, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Biography Biography contemporary fiction Internet Japan Light Reading Love Story Teenage
Nov
29
by Harper Lee
(4/5)
Fiction
First Published in 1960
Publisher: J. B. Lippincott & Co.
Set in: Maycomb, Alabama, USA. 1930s
Won the Pulitzer Prize 1961
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book synopsis:
”Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this enchanting classic – a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.
Thorough the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties.
The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man’s struggle for justice.
But the weight of history will only tolerate so much…
Read more... (737 words, 7 images, estimated 2:57 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews 1930s Classic Novel Fiction Morality Racism USA
Nov
29
by Edward Gorey
Fiction, adult picture book
First Published in 1963
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Wikipedia Synopsis:
The Gashlycrumb Tinies: or, After the Outing is an abecedarian book written by Edward Gorey that was first published in 1963. Gorey tells the tale of 26 children (each representing a letter of the alphabet) and their untimely deaths in rhyming dactylic couplets, accompanied by the author’s distinctive black and white illustrations.
My Book Review of The Gashlycrumb Tinies:
The Gashlycrumb Tinies was given to me as a present from a friend. I loved its macabre nature but had to wonder what in MY nature had caused him to think of me when he saw this book.
Read more... (267 words, 2 images, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, Gifts, Graphic Novel Adult Picture Book Gift Humour Morbid
Nov
28
by Christina Schwarz
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2000
Publisher: Doubleday Publishing
Set in: Wisconsin, USA.
Part of Oprah’s Book Club
International Bestseller
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book cover Synopsis:
At the close of World War One, Amanda Starkey leaves the city and travels to her family farm in rural Wisconsin to recover from a traumatic love affair. Instead, she is caught up in a tragedy that will take her beloved sister’s life, and leave Amanda to raise her niece Ruth. What happened the terrible night when Mattie died? Why does Ruth say she can remember drowning? For years the consequences of the tragedy reverberate; the truth, when it is revealed, is both dramatic and extraordinarily moving. Read more... (412 words, 7 images, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, My Favourite Books Fiction USA
Nov
27
by Khaled Hosseini
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2003
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Set in: Afghanistan, USA
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book Cover Synopsis:
Over five years on the New York Times bestseller list, and published in 42 different languages.
Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, is a Hazara, a member of the ethnically shunned minority. Their intwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave behind the memory of Hassan behind him. Read more... (369 words, 7 images, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, My Favourite Books Afghanistan contemporary fiction Fiction Gift
Nov
27
by Khaled Hosseini
(5/5)
Fiction
First Published in 2007
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Set in: Afghanistan
Click to buy this book (free delivery)
Book cover synopsis:
After more than 189 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list for The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today. Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. Read more... (352 words, 7 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
Posted in Adult Fiction, Book Reviews, My Favourite Books Afghanistan Fiction
