Boy in the Tower - Polly Ho-Yen

I rated this book 10/10...

Ade loves living at the top of a tower block. From his window, he feels like he can see the whole world stretching out beneath him. His mum doesn’t really like looking outside – but it’s going outside that she hates. She’s happier sleeping all day inside their tower, where it’s safe.

But one day, other tower blocks on the estate start falling down around them and strange, menacing plants begin to appear. Now their tower isn’t safe anymore. Ade and his mum are trapped and there’s no way out . . .

A strange, scary thriller for kids that grown ups will love too.

I've been raving about this book since I finished it a couple of weeks back. It's a thrilling, scary kids book with a sci-fi edge to it; but is more about the personal experiences of Ade. Ade finds his life is shaken up by the strange occurrences that are happening in his town. Buildings are falling down and killing the people inside them, and nobody really knows why. 

But things get much worse for Ade, when he realises that his mum is going through some tough personal issues of her own and can't bring herself to even look out of their tower block window, let alone leave and escape the city through the front door. And still the buildings around them fall, and it will be their turn soon!

It's this exploration of his mum's difficulties that make 'Boy in the Tower' work on multiple levels. I know that many adults have read and enjoyed this book alongside their children, because they draw a completely different message from the text than the kids do.

'Boy in the Tower' is a fast and gripping read about a brave young boy facing some massive challenges. I'd recommend it both for (brave) 9-12 year olds and parents alike. And that ending! My heart was in my throat!

Available at Waterstones

The best reads for Father's Day

It's Father's Day in just under a fortnight (I'm sure you haven't forgotten!) - so here are some of my favourite books that I think will make the perfect read!

GHOSTMAN: Roger Hobbs

I make things disappear. It’s what I do. This time I’m tidying up the loose ends after a casino heist gone bad. The loose ends being a million cash.But I only have 48 hours, and there’s a guy out there who wants my head in a bag.
He’ll have to find me first.

They don’t call me the Ghostman for nothing...

A fast and furious debut novel that centres on an anti-hero whose name we never learn. With two plot lines intertwined, Ghostman is full of action and suspense, and is being adapted for the silver screen. 

Get this for your dad if he likes full on thrillers, bank jobs and underworld crime. 

HOSTAGE: Robert Crais

Jeff Talley, the police chief in a small Southern California town, still has nightmares about the young hostage who died when he made the wrong call in his previous job as a negotiator for an LAPD SWAT team. Now, three smalltime punks go on the run after a grocery store robbery and killing in Talley's town. 

Soon his deputies have surrounded the house where the inept robbers have taken Walter Smith and his two children hostage, and Talley's back in his worst dream again: until the county sheriff's full-fledged SWAT team arrives and takes over, he has to negotiate for their lives.

Another full on thriller with anti-heroes at the core. Three petty criminals accidentally hold two children hostage, and it is up to Jeff Talley to negotiate with them despite it being the very thing he wanted to escape from in his previous position.

Robert Crais creates brilliant characters and sets them on a downwards spiral - the reader can't help but suffer a little Stockholm Syndrome while reading. With hidden secrets and plenty of twists; Hostage is a fabulous read and I think you should all go out and get it!!!

THE PSYCHOPATH TEST: Jon Ronson

They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed one on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, who are manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the New York Times bestselling exploration of their world and the madness industry.

If your dad prefers his books "factual" and a little bit unusual, you can't go far wrong with Jon Ronson. An all time favourite of mine and the other booksellers is 'The Psychopath Test'. 

Often witty, very colourful and always shocking - Jon Ronson goes on a hunt to find out what a 'psychopath' is and why they have been labelled as such. This book is a real eye opener and plenty of fun to read. 

My favourite anecdote is about a patient that lied about being criminally insane and it was determined that because he lied about being criminally insane, he must be criminally insane... No, I can't do this book justice. Just read it!

FIRE IN THE EAST: Harry Sidebottom

AD 255—the Roman imperium is stretched to the breaking point, its authority and might challenged throughout the territories and along every border. One man is sent to marshal the defenses of a lonely city and to shore up the crumbling walls of a once indomitable symbol of Roman power, a man whose very name means war: a man called Ballista. So unfolds an epic drama — a story of empire, heroes, treachery, courage, and most of all, of brutal, bloody warfare. 

Ballista is a barbarian, adopted by the Romans as commander of an under resourced group of soldiers - and sent to defend the city of Arete from Persian attack. Sidebottom's novel is well researched and develops really well; the characters really grow as the novel moves on.

'Fire in the East' is full of blood, battle and betrayal and will be perfect for any fans of Roman fiction.

FAHRENHEIT 451: Ray Bradbury

The classic dystopian novel of a post-literate future, Fahrenheit 451 stands alongside Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World as a prophetic account of Western civilization’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity.

Imagine a world in which firefighters don't put fires out - they start them. Fahrenheit 451 is a classic dystopia which centres around the idea of society being controlled via destroying books, 451f being the temperature at which paper burns. A scary premise.

Bradbury also explores the idea of television taking over our social lives and reading becoming a dying pass time in the most literal of senses. This book is for a dad that loves to read; who likes books that evoke many deep questions. It's quick and bleak but beautifully written, and is one of those books that should be read by all.


So there you have it - my favourite books for Father's Day! I hope that there is at least one here that might suit, but if not, why not suggest some more brilliant reads in the comments section. I'd love to know your recommendations...

My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante

I rated this book 10/10...

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship.

A stark, honest exploration of friendship in 50's Naples

Elena Greco is endlessly fascinated by her friend Lila, the daughter of a shoemaker and a flame that everybody else in their rundown area of Naples also seems drawn to. 'My Brilliant Friend' explores the lives of these two girls growing up in the midst of violence, where women are valued mostly for their housework and child-bearing capabilities above all else; where families and gangs have a 'get them before they get us' mentality. The violence and squabbling is relentless throughout, and is practised by pretty much everybody living in the neighbourhood. Men beat their wives, girls throw rocks at boys, brothers punch sisters - life is a constant battle to settle scores or show who is boss.

As Elena and Lila grow up, their paths take different routes. Elena manages to secure her place in school and continues to study, whereas Lila (who excels the other students in every way) has to leave school in order to help her family at home. Still Elena's life is entwined with Lila's and they remain inseparable. The twist at the very end was brilliant and I will definitely be picking up book 2 to read on holiday in Italy.

Ferrante's style is very honest. There are no frivolities and she doesn't waste time on lengthy prose or description. Despite 'My Brilliant Friend' being almost exclusively character-driven rather than plot-driven, there never seems to be a lull in the flow of the book. Ferrante throws numerous characters together but it never seems to be too much. It's a real pleasure to read and the perfect work of summertime escapism.

'My Brilliant Friend' is the first of the Neapolitan series by the elusive Elena Ferrante, who can only be speculated over as she remains a mystery to the media and readers alike. She doesn't partake in face to face interviews, instead writing to few journalists via letters. Some have suggested that Ferrante could be a male writer, but her letters have once or twice eluded to her being a mother. Whatever the mystery, the first book in this saga is a wonderful read and I would recommend it as one to add to your TBR list this summer.

The fourth and final book in the Neapolitan series will be out in September 2015.

(Reading copy kindly given to me in exchange for honest feedback by Turnaround Publishing)

Sacred Country - Rose Tremain

I rated this book 8/10...

"I have a secret to tell you, dear, and this is it: I am not Mary. That is a mistake. I am not a girl. I'm a boy." Mary's fight to become Martin, her claustrophobic small town, and her troubled family make up the core of this remarkable and intimate, emotional yet unsentimental novel. 

'Sacred Country' is a wonderful read about gender identification in the 50s-70s, and sexuality. It doesn't go as deeply into the emotions that Martin feels as I would like, but there is definitely a real sense of anguish and despair throughout the novel, as his family (particularly his father) reject his transition from Mary to Martin.

The characters are all very well written, mostly hopeless and self absorbed in their small country farm village. Despite this, you do feel for them and want life to improve for them. There is the odd unexpected event here and there - one of which I didn't feel was believable for the character, but I won't spoil the story.

I was absorbed by this book and ploughed my way through it. Not ordinarily an author I would pick up but I was hooked by the blurb and I'm glad I did. Well worth reading, and would be perfect for those that like a bit more depth to their summer paperbacks.

Under Ground - S. L. Grey

I rated this book 5/10...

The Sanctum is a luxurious, self-sustaining survival condominium situated underground in rural Maine. It's a plush bolt-hole for the rich and paranoid - a place where they can wait out the apocalypse in style. When a devastating super-flu virus hits the States, several families race to reach it. All have their own motivations for entering The Sanctum. All are hiding secrets.

But when the door locks and someone dies, they realize the greatest threat to their survival may not be above ground - it may already be inside . . . 

The idea of this thriller sounded perfect for me - millionaire families buying into an underground complex to escape a deadly virus on the surface. They end up getting trapped inside, and then the chaos begins when the bodycount starts to rise...

I was initially disappointed with the authors’ writing style (a collaboration between Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg). The characters aren't great and I didn't feel much depth to them, despite knowing their backgrounds and why they were there. The setting isn't well described and the tension is on the whole, a bit of a wash out. There were only two characters I thought felt genuine - James and Reuben. It doesn't feel much like there is a killer on the loose, but Brett, a brutal 18 year old who bullies his way around the complex, gets away with a LOT and that also didn't seem genuine given the circumstances. The book isn't scary or thrilling and reads a lot like teen fiction rather than (as mentioned in the blurb) a Stephen King/Michael Crichton mash-up.

I stuck with 'Under Ground' however because the pages were turning quickly enough and I'm glad that I did. After 250 pages of stumbling along, the style and the substance ramps right up. The tension is full on throughout the last 40 pages and the build up is actually worth the effort. James really comes into his own as a character and the ending is satisfying enough to not feel like a cop out. THIS is where the 'thrill' comes into play. I couldn't take my eyes off it and ended up sat in a car park, racing through to finish before I felt I could drive home from work.

I think that if the whole book had been written with the same tension and skill as the final section, I would have been able to give it 8 stars, but as it stands I will give it 5.

'Under Ground' will be published in July.

(Proof copy kindly given to me by Pan Macmillan in exchange for honest feedback)

Review also posted on Urbanista UK

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

I rated this book 9/10...

A murder mystery, family saga, love story, and a tale of financial intrigue wrapped into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.Harriet Vanger, scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.

I waited so long to read this book and find out what the fuss is about and I was pleasantly surprised. Stieg Larsson has thrown together some fabulous characters at no cost to the winding plot. Let's face it, Salander is one of the most kick-ass female characters you'll find in a crime novel, she even rides a 125 Kawasaki. She refuses to be a victim, even when she is a victim.

I enjoyed the twists, and although it took a while to set the scene and the characters, it was worth sticking with through to the end. There were some very disturbing scenes to get through, so not one for the faint hearted, but they didn't seem to be put in place solely for the shock value. Unfortunately, Larsson didn't completely detach his writing from the popular 'woman as victim' theme - but that was my only gripe.

If you haven't already read this book (and I'm sure you have), it's worth putting on the TBR pile and getting stuck in.

A new book featuring Larsson's characters is due out in August 2015. That Which Does Not Kill has been written by David Lagercrantz as Larsson sadly died of a heart attack in 2004 aged 50.

Shop Girl - Mary Portas

I rated this book 8/10...

Young Mary Newton, born into a large Irish family in a small Watford semi, was always getting into trouble. When she wasn’t choking back fits of giggles at Holy Communion or eating Chappie dog food for a bet, she was accidentally setting fire to the local school. Mary was a trouble magnet. And, unlike her brothers, somehow she always got caught…

'Shop Girl' begins during Mary's early years; describing a life glued together by family and happy memories. As might be expected from the Queen of Shops, her memoir revolves around retail - the tastes, scents, sights and sounds of her father's warehouse as he sells tea door to door to other shop keepers.

Mary goes on to describe her brothers and sisters. They are very close and highly supportive of each other throughout childhood and during some really distressing events. Even when the family as she knows it unravels whilst she is struggling with her teen years, her brothers and sister remain a pillar of strength for Mary over the years.

Perhaps the most important person in Mary's life is her mother. She is the centre of the family's universe and is always there when the children need a helping hand or a positive word.

'Shop Girl' was particularly touching for me as it resembles my own childhood. If we brush aside the Catholic upbringing - I have 3 sisters and 1 brother, and my siblings remain supportive and close even now whilst in different parts of the country.

This is a wonderful memoir about an inspirational lady, with short chapters that are quick and easy to read. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next chapter and hope that she decides to write one.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan

I rated this book 10/10...

Taking its title from 17th-century haiku poet Basho's travel journal, The Narrow Road To The Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds. 

Richard Flanagan, weaving together the personal and professional life of Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans, brings us a dark and touching insight into the horrors of the Burma Death Railway.

Written in the style of a war hero reminiscing about his past, Dorrigo finds himself in the midst of the second world war, caught up in a forbidden affair with his uncle’s headstrong wife. He visits her rather than his own fiancee whenever he has leave, and begins to become absorbed in his love for Amy above most other things. The novel takes a dramatic turn when two years later Dorrigo is captured by the Japanese as a Prisoner of War working on the Burma Death Railway. He is expected to lead a large group of fellow prisoners as they work on building the railway to impossible deadlines and in impossible conditions. Dorrigo is forced to get ever more work out of his fellow captives, even as they are dying around him of exhaustion, starvation and cholera; and he finds himself setting up and running a makeshift hospital for the camp alongside his other duties to his men.

Flanagan writes with a beauty that brings the horrors of the POW camp and the characters that suffer there to life. There are many symbolic gestures laced throughout the narrative - handwritten letters, red camellias and pencil sketches that resonate long after the book has finished, and the link to poetry from the start brings endless depth to the prose. The grit and gore of the Prisoner of War camp is followed by severe emptiness as Flanagan explores the emotions of both the prisoners and the Japanese soldiers after the war is over. Here he expertly sets out the contrast between the two lives - when the men begin to realise that nothing they ever experience will be as intense or meaningful again.

Flanagan’s novel becomes all the more poignant when we find out that it was written in tribute to his father, an Australian prisoner of war who survived his experiences on the Burma Death Railway. His father sadly passed away on the day that Flanagan finished writing his book.

'The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ was well deserving of the Man Booker Prize last year and is now out in paperback, although there is something quite pleasing about the hardback edition.

Born to Run - Christopher McDougall

I rated this book 10/10

Born to Run is an epic adventure that begins with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets out to find Mexico's Tarahumara Indians, the world's greatest distance runners, who can go for hundreds of miles without rest while enjoying every minute of it.

Interesting, inspiring and page turning; I loved this book and couldn't put it down. McDougall is a real writer and has a way with words that (despite the multiple flashes back and forth in time) have you hooked. His character description is second to none and you can really feel the passion for running seep through his sentences.

I wanted to go out running every time I put the book down for the evening, and even invested in a pair of 'minimal' trainers based on some of the ideas McDougall outlines.

Filled with physiological musings and mixed up in a whirlwind of biographic storytelling, this book is perfect for anybody that's into running, or for anybody interested in travel writing.

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

I rated this book 4/10

A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories. 

I picked ’The Girl on the Train’ up because it is being raved about. The bestselling thriller at the moment, tagged as the next ‘Gone Girl’, and because it’s cheap for a hardback at £12.99. 

Written in first person, it is quick and interesting and very easy to become absorbed by from the first page. I empathised with Rachel at first – she’s an alcoholic who has gone a bit off the rails and she sees something happen whilst on her travels that worries her. She wants to help, she wants something to focus her attention on and to become a bit obsessed with.

Quickly I began to realise that I couldn’t get on with Rachel as a narrator. She’s unreliable (and this to me is a bit of a cop out, you can get away with anything in your plot if your protagonist is literally blind drunk), she gets herself into a mess and crawls back to bed apologising to her flatmate. Over and over and over again. Backwards and forwards, and bumping into the ex and his new wife again and again. It does get a little bit tedious at times, but the suspense is still there as Hawkins drops some unexpected twists into the plot that make up for the repetition.

Hawkins flicks easily between each woman’s viewpoint. Usually it’s a little jarring to have to get to know a new character, but she introduces them seamlessly and it doesn’t feel intrusive or disjointed. The three women connected by this thriller have been fired from their job or made redundant or have given up their career for the family; alcoholics and cheaters and other things that I cannot mention for fear of spoilers. A lot of people have these experiences, but Hawkins doesn’t give her protagonists any real personality or depth which makes them seem a bit flat. Not exactly a cast of strong ladies here, which I find disappointing for such a runaway bestseller. Usually there is at least one character that you can get along with in some way, but in ‘The Girl on the Train’ I didn’t find any.

I’ve heard different things from different readers about the big reveal. Some people (like myself) guessed whodunnit before they were told; and others were quite surprised and loved the ending. I found the ending a little bit of an anti-climax but not the biggest let down. It’s definitely worth sticking with until the very end.

I did mostly enjoy this novel and would recommend it to anybody that likes a psychological thriller. It might not have great characters, but the little twists in the plot are enough to keep you guessing throughout. Also, with it being quick and easy to get into it is the perfect book for your commute – I read this on the train to work. ‘The Girl on the Train’ will also make a good holiday read when it is released in paperback, though you’ll have to wait until next year for that!

The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton

I rated this book 7/10

On an autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman knocks at the door of a grand house in the wealthiest quarter of Amsterdam. She has come from the country to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt, but instead she is met by his sharp-tongued sister, Marin. Only later does Johannes appear and present her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways...

I felt like I really had to read this, and maybe that's where this book fell down for me straight away. It's not my usual style, but I'd heard enough about it to be coaxed into picking it up the other day and got stuck straight in.

It starts well enough; the pages turn and the plot unfolds quickly - I never really felt connected to the main protagonist, Nella in any way shape or form at the beginning, and to me the author struggles to have Nella's character develop in a rather rushed and strained manner. I didn't have any sympathy for her towards the end either, she just didn't seem to have much personality. The secondary characters are Jessie's real strength, feeling a little less forced and a lot more well rounded despite their shifty secret-keeping.

And the Miniaturist - this is the bit that gets me - so central to the theme of the book but could have been left out completely! In fact, if the Miniaturist and everything about it had been left out of this novel I think I would have been more absorbed by it; I think the plot would have been more credible and nothing much about it would have had to change. The Miniaturist had no real effect on any of the events as they unfolded and there was no real explanation for it either. This to me is a major fail.

If I ignore the 'Miniaturist' element (how could I!?!) then Jessie's book is very readable. It's dark and twisted and sheds light on the lives of women during the 1600s in Amsterdam. It's the perfect winter read - cold and heartless and heartbreaking. There isn't much hope or light between the pages, but if you like your books to be gritty, centred on strong women and steeped in history then this might be for you.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North

I rated this book 4/10

No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.

Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. ‘I nearly missed you, Doctor August,’ she says. ‘I need to send a message.’

At last! After five months I have finally finished this book! I've finished so many other books in between it in that time, but I had to keep putting Harry August down.

Don't get me wrong, the concept is fascinating - but I just found myself analysing all of the flaws in North's plan every time I settled down to read it.

Surely - if a group of people lived their lives over and over throughout the course of time, and changed their actions each time they lived, ALL events throughout history and the future would be changed each time they died and were re-born. And so these people could not put bets on race winners (for example) knowing the outcome in advance, because everything has a knock on effect and everything would be changed each time round. The politicians, presidents, political leaders would never be the same people; the wars would never have the same outcome.

And what if these people had children?

And why would these people not want to use their knowledge to gain some kind of power, considering they were essentially hundreds of years old and infinitely more wise?

I was trying to figure out how all of this could work; maybe I missed something. But it completely wrecked my head.

And so I am over the moon that I have finished it - some of it was alright and some of it a bit dull. Harry himself wasn't that interesting, his antagonist being a little more so. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this to anyone - but if somebody asked me about it I would probably tell them that it might be worth a read.

Catholic Guilt - Irvine Welsh

I rated this book 3/10

A short story, and the first one that I finished in audio book format. It's a typically shocking tale from Irvine Welsh, full of bad language and x-rated themes. I think that he build up was pretty good; nothing special, but the ending lacked any real power or twist (which I personally look for in a short story).

If, like me, you're into bizarre books that are very dark and vulgar then go for it, it's not Irvine Welsh's greatest piece, but it might be worth a read. If you're not fond of foul language, graphic sex and gore - then stay away!

The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry

I rated this book 7/10

Spanning 1979-1987, The Fry Chronicles charts Stephen's arrival at Cambridge University up to his thirtieth birthday.

The first book I have finished reading in 2015!

I wasn't sure as to whether I liked Stephen Fry so much, and I must admit that I am still none the wiser. He certainly has a way with words, and his autobiography was interesting. I could almost hear him talking about some of the famous faces of comedy in that distinctive voice of his.

Having said that, I don't think we really got much emotion from him, nothing much of his personal life except his occasional bouts of self-depreciation, it's mostly a description of his and other people's successful careers. I understand that Fry suffers from cyclothymia and don't get much insight into this. Perhaps because I skipped his first memoir and have not read the next instalment yet, I am missing something?

It's definitely worth picking up, if for nothing else then for the winding and eloquent description, and the odd quote or idea that will be worth remembering. I enjoyed it overall.

The Girl with all the Gifts - M. R. Carey

I rated this book 10/10

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

'The Girl with all the Gifts' is a zombie novel with a big twist, and the stereotypes that are assumed from the phrase 'Zombie Novel' should be overlooked in this instance. It's not your usual 'shopping centre siege' type of horror, and it doesn't really try to be.

This is more haunting and emotional, as it centres around children in particular. Set 20 years after the end of the world, Melanie is the young girl at the heart of this book, and her character is a strong one. The relationship between her and her teacher is disconcerting and eerie - the whole story has a strange feel to it that grips the reader all the same.

I would love to see the screenplay of this in the future. I think that Carey will do a great job of bringing his characters to life.

The Bees - Laline Paull

I rated this book 9/10

The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.

Thrilling, suspenseful and spectacularly imaginative, The Bees gives us a dazzling young heroine and will change forever the way you look at the world outside your window.

Escape into a bizarre dystopian thriller based entirely on the life cycle of a bee. Flora is born a sanitation worker, the lowest on the hierarchy within the hive. This beautifully written novel follows her advance through the ranks. It's strange; unlike anything I've read before - such a simple idea so well executed.

I like the way that Paull captures the suffocating and claustrophobic feel of the hive, the bees living in such close proximity, as one body made from many. It has a hypnotic feel to it at times, and is easy to draw up the sights and smells that she describes throughout.

I'll admit that it was really weird at first, and I needed a few chapters to get used to the narrative, but soon enough I was absorbed and couldn't put it down. I think that this is set to be a big hit in paperback in the springtime.

Definitely worth a read.

Mystery in White - J. Jefferson Farjeon

I rated this book 5/10

On Christmas Eve, heavy snowfall brings a train to a halt near the village of Hemmersby. Several passengers take shelter in a deserted country house, where the fire has been lit and the table laid for tea – but no one is at home. 

Trapped together for Christmas, the passengers are seeking to unravel the secrets of the empty house when a murderer strikes in their midst. 

A very old fashioned mystery set in the 1930s that was fairly quick to read. A strange group of people find themselves stranded on a train in the snow on Christmas Eve. They decide to leave the train and soon find an abandoned house, in which the novel is set and a bizarre mystery unfolds.

At some parts near the end I did get a bit lost, as the book seemed to take a rather long time to set itself up and then crashed towards a conclusion at the end. Most of it didn't feel tied up either, but that said, it was a pleasant break from the norm and will appeal to fans of 'cosy' crime mysteries.

We should all be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

I rated this book 8/10

Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a best-selling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today – and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.

I am a feminist. I think that everybody who believes in equal rights and equal respect for women and people all over the world should not be ashamed to call themselves a feminist. Adiche certainly isn't ashamed to identify as feminist in this quick and easy short taken from a TED talk she presented. It was interesting to find out a little more about the inequalities present in her own country.

I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai

I rated this book 10/10

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world. 

I have rated this book with top marks, as it has taught me so much about Pakistan and the conflict that the country has faced and continues to do battle with. It also taught me a lot about the Muslim community in Pakistan, and squashed some of the myths that fly back and forth between the people that do not know any better.

Malala herself comes across as young, arrogant, strong willed and opinionated. Her morals and values are completely justified and positive, as she consistently articulates the importance of education for BOTH boys and girls clearly. She not only fights for the rights of women in her own country, but for the equality of people all over the world. A really fascinating young lady who has been greatly influenced by her father of whom she thinks very highly of.

Some critics seem to think that Malala is all talk and no action. This is simply not true, and even if it was, I think it would be almost irrelevant. Somebody with this kind of passion needed to stand up and shout about what was happening, bring the issue onto the bookshelves of ordinary people all over the world - and Malala did it. Ironically, the fact that she was shot in the face by the Taliban only served to give her a higher platform to stand on and oppose them from.

Malala's charity funding helps small communities to build the foundations for schooling and education for uneducated children. She invests her own money into that as well as campaigning for others to do the same. Visit www.malala.org to learn more.

Malala deserved the Nobel peace prize. I know that everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I truly believe that this book should be read by all.

The Calling - James Frey

I rated this 4/10

Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created humanity and gave us rules to live by. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilizations to mine it for them. When they had what they needed, they left. But before they left, they told us someday they would come back, and when they did, a game would be played. A game that would determine our future.

I wasn't sure about this book. The short sentences and tendency to 'list' ("We came here, we have been here, and we are here now." "But we are not together. We are not friends. We do not call one another, and we do not text one another...") felt quite jarring to me. I also wasn't keen on the use of present tense to tell the tale (personal preference of course, it has the opposite effect of drawing me in and I find it distracting). I also felt that maybe James Frey had written this book solely with the big screen in mind. It reads like a film script, switches back and forth between players with more than a little similarity to Battle Royale and The Hunger Games.

Having said this, I found myself slowly being drawn into the book - more for the characters than the plot. They were good enough, all different in their own right, with Jago standing out the most for me as being well rounded and believable. Chiyoko was fascinating, but why would she clap her hands "yes" and not just nod her head?! Chris and Sarah however, were the usual 'too good to be true' protagonists that I felt were flat and uninteresting.

I wasn't madly taken by Endgame - a lot of incidents felt forced and I couldn't get around the fact that the Endgame was not made public knowledge, causing outright war between nations... I also couldn't get my head around Chiyoko using sex as a weapon (this is YA fiction, we shouldn't be glamorising that), and that An's disability is not portrayed in a good light at all; in fact, quite the opposite.

I read it quickly and it was quite addictive. I can see people who liked The Hunger Games perhaps enjoying this too, but I'm not sure I would be 100% happy recommending this to teenagers.

Chaos - John O'Brien

I rated this 1/10

This hard-hitting, action-packed series begins with Jack Walker being suddenly thrust into a world where the infrastructure which cherished Armani suits, night clubs, fast and expensive cars and watching the daily stock market are gone. Left in its place is the material world mankind built but a majority of the population has vanished; replaced by a new, savage, unrelenting, cunning, animalistic species which hunts and operates at night.

Read from my iPhone.

I was mostly attracted to the jacket of this book, it's high impact; really well presented and gave me the urge to buy. I had mega expectations because I love apocalyptic adventures!

The first thing that struck me upon reading, was the fact that the narrative was jarring - first person present tense "I do this, I say that" just doesn't lend itself to writing unless it is really special, and this just wasn't. There were so many uncomfortable elements to the writing style that I just couldn't finish it.

O'Brien had the tendency to over explain everything... (ie: "Windows staring emptily" instead of "Empty Windows") This made it difficult not to skip through prose at times, but I really didn't want to read a full page on a door being opened. Sometimes when the narrator is thinking to himself, O'Brien adds it in as part of his usual narrative, and other times he uses italics instead. Again, this jarred the text and made me aware of his writing style.

It seems to me an inconceivable coincidence that everyone except the protagonist's family and his son's girlfriend have vanished or turned into zombies. And even the zombies are extremely sparse. The characters are robotic and lacking in personality. The narrator's children are perfect and agree with everything he says...

"Don't you want me to come with you and cover you?" Robert asks.
"No, just stay here. You have my back," I answer.
"Okay, Dad."

On top of this, there is a lengthy cut away flashback to the main character flying a military aircraft and I have absolutely no idea what it was there to achieve!

I'm sorry to say that I only managed to read 20% of this book (or 50 pages), but I'm not one to put a book down easily and I do usually try to make it to 100 pages at least. I tried but just couldn't do it here. I loved the idea of the story, but I think it could have been executed better.