In Death Series by J.D. Robb

Crime and punishment is Lieutenant Eve Dallas's business. Murder her speciality...Named by the social worker who found her when she was a mere child roaming that city's streets, Eve Dallas is a New York police detective who lives for her job. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows her survival depends on her instincts.

The perfect holiday read, all six of them. It's not the whole series, there are loads more books ... those are just the first six and more specifically, the ones I managed to get thru while at our holiday house over Christmas.

1. Naked in Death
2. Glory in Death
3. Immortal in Death
4. Rapture in Death
5. Ceremony in Death
6. Vengeance in Death

It took me a little while to get into the first one, purely because they are set in 2058. I thought this was an extra little detail that was really unnecessary and just served to make the writer's life harder. But I got into it and was certainly quite enjoying some of the ideas she had for the future :) And as Peeb's boyf Button said, she's cornering 3 genres at least.

1) She's got the Sci-Fi angle covered by writing 50 years in the future
2) There's the obvious Crime and Mystery angle since her lead character is a homicide detective and well, she solves murders.
3) There's an interesting bodice-ripper angle to it after Eve get's involved with Roarke in the first book ... there are some fairly lengthy and detailed scenes that would be out of place ordinarily.

So yes, as I said, an ideal book for lazing on the beach ... nothing too deep and meaningful and certainly no twists you didn't see coming :)

Oh, and by the way in case you're wondering, J.D. Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts

Memory in Death (the 22nd book in the series) was reviewed on 28 August 2007 by akika. Read her review here.

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Eternal by Craig Russell

'We are eternal'. 'The Buddhists believe that each life, each consciousness, is like a single candle flame, but that there is a continuity between each flame. Imagine lighting one candle with the flame of another, then using that flame to light the next, and that to light the next, and on and on forever. A thousand flames, all passed from one to another across the generations. Each is a different light, each burns in a totally different way. But it is, nevertheless, the same flame'. 'Now, I'm afraid, it is time for me to extinguish your flame. But don't worry... the pain I give you will mean you will burn brightest at the end.' An environmental campaigner and former left-wing radical is murdered, his body scalped. When a second scalped murder victim, a geneticist researching the possibility of inherited memory, is found, the media latch on to a new serial killer. Jan Fabel and his murder team have nothing to go on other than a single red hair left as a signature at each scene, each hair cut from the same head, at least twenty years previously.;Connections begin to appear: a long disbanded terrorist group and its infamous leader; a mummified body over 1500 years old; and a killer who believes he has been reincarnated to exact a terrible revenge on those who betrayed him in a previous life.

This was the second of Craig Russell's books I've read and although the storyline is generally good, I just don't find them an easy read. This one was particularly slow and I'm not sure if it's because it's Germany-based as opposed to the usual British or American based novels we all generally read. Either way this one had a fantastic surprise ending that at the very least kept me gripped for the last few pages.

Craig Russell also takes care to make his characters 3 dimensional, they all have little sub-plots going, if not things in their life at least things in their psyche that affect who they are and the decisions they make thruout the story. Not a bad read, I'd read another of his books, but it's not earth shatteringly go-out-and-tell-all-your-friends brilliant either.

Buy this book online at Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

This book was originally reviewed on 23 August 2007 by Jarred. Read both reviews here.

The Knife Man by Wendy Moore

This book was originally reviewed on 12 September 2007 by akika. Read both reviews here.

Spud - The Madness Continues ... by John van de Ruit

But Spud is returning to a boarding school where he is no longer the youngest or the smallest. His dormitory mates, known as the Crazy Eight, have an unusual new member and his house has a new clutch of first years (the Normal Seven). If Spud thinks his second year will be a breeze, however, he is seriously mistaken. He is soon beset with women trouble, coerced into misguided late night adventures, and finds his dreams of a famous career on the stage in tatters after landing the part of the Dove of Peace in a disastrous house play production of Noah’s Ark. Hilarious, bitter-sweet, tragic and real, join Spud as he takes another tentative step forward while all around him the madness continues...

Oops, I am about a week late in getting this review up. Guess that's a fairly good reflection of the impact this book had on my life.

This was a decidedly average read in my opinion, but as I said before when I read the first one it's probably better if you're a boy and went to boarding school. But I do enjoy knowing it's a South African book and it does reference a few things I remember from my youth.

It's an easy read and if you enjoyed the first then this is probably right up your alley :)

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The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

When Daniel Stone was a child, he was the only white boy in a native Eskimo village where his mother taught, and he was teased mercilessly because he was different. He fought back, the baddest of the bad kids: stealing, drinking, robbing and cheating his way out of the Alaskan bush - where he honed his artistic talent, fell in love with a girl and got her pregnant. To become part of a family, he reinvented himself - jettisoning all that anger to become a docile, devoted husband and father. Fifteen years later, when we meet Daniel again, he is a comic book artist. His wife teaches Dante's Inferno at a local college; his daughter, Trixie, is the light of his life - and a girl who only knows her father as the even-tempered, mild-mannered man he has been her whole life. Until, that is, she is date raped and Daniel finds himself struggling, again, with a powerlessness and a rage that may not just swallow him whole, but destroy his family and his future.

I adore Jodi Picoult, she is one of my all-time favourite authors. Each new book of hers that I read becomes my favourite, and The Tenth Circle is no exception. It is a masterpiece in characterisation and slowly building tension to what is a very realistic yet shocking conclusion. Picoult's strength lies in her ability to get inside the minds of her characters, whether it be a 40 year old single father or a 5 year old girl. She writes from each character's perspective in turn, giving the reader a thorough understanding of the complexities of human relationships. Her courage in tackling really difficult and controversial issues, where there is rarely a clear line between black and white, makes for compelling reading. In this book she tackles the issue of date rape and isolation - both teenage and adult - and forces you to consider the situation from every angle. I found it to be gripping to the point where I was trying to read it while cooking supper and walking to the station,... it's that good!

Buy this book at Amazon UK, Loot or Kalahari

Daddy's Girls by Tasmina Perry

The Balcon sisters are London's paparazzi darlings. Serena, the country's most beautiful actress, Venetia the glamorous designer, Camilla the rising political star and Cate the feisty magazine editor. They have wealth, privilege and sizzling sex lives. But money doesn't buy you love. When their aristocratic and tyrannical father Oswald Balcon is found dead, the finger of suspicion points towards his glamorous daughters and their dazzling lives. Suddenly we find that beneath the ritzy façade of the Balcon family lies a web of deceit and betrayal that hides a thirty-year-old secret that threatens to destroy them all. From the sun drenched beaches of Mustique to Manhattan's elite society circuit. From the exclusive fashion houses of Milan to the star-studded streets of Cannes, the Balcon Sisters play out their lives in a whirl of glitz and the ultra chic. But as tragedy and danger stalks each one of them, the scene is set for a stunning climax.

Move over Jackie Collins, there's a new girl in town! Tasmina Perry's debut novel is what the British like to call a 'bonkbuster', the modern-day alternative to the genre formerly known as 'bodice-rippers.' Basically, you take the pages of Heat magazine, pick out a couple of beautiful A-list celebrities, give them pseudonyms, write an imaginary tale of how fabulous their lives are and throw in bit of mystery and a lot of sex. There you have the bonkbuster. A perfect, escapist beach read, which I have to read in the comfort of my lounge considering there are no beaches for miles. Good fun if you're a tabloid junkie and thrive on soap operas!

Buy this book from Amazon UK, Loot or Kalahari

How To Kill Your Husband by Kathy Lette

All women want to kill their husbands some of the time "Where there's a will, I intend to be in it," wives half-joke to each other. Marriage, it would appear, is a fun-packed frivolous hobby, only occasionally resulting in death. But when Jazz Jardine is arrested for her husband's murder, the joke falls flat. Life should begin at 40 - not with life imprisonment for killing your spouse. Jazz, stay-at-home mum and domestic goddess; Hannah, childless career woman; and Cassie, demented working mother of two are three ordinary women. Their record collections are classical, not criminal. Cassie and Hannah set out immediately to prove their best friend's innocence, uncovering betrayal, adultery, plot twists, thinner thighs and toy boys aplenty en route but will their friendship survive these ever darker revelations? Sexy, funny and wise, Kathy Lette's irresistible new novel is about women not Having It All But Doing It All. It's about how today's mother is often a married lone parent. It's about the fact that no woman has ever shot her husband while he was vacuuming.;This is Kathy Lette at her brilliant best, casting her trade mark caustic eye on what goes on in the bedrooms and kitchens of ordinary married couples. A novel which will strike a cord with married women everywhere and ensure that, from now on, they all read the small print on their marriage licenses.

Loved this book, absolutely loved it. The number of times (many, many!) I found myself reading out loud (over the phone even) paragraphs and sentences from this book to my boyf ... it was a truly hysterical read. Definitely good for light entertainment if you're between deep and dark reads and one I could definitely recommend as a holiday read or just to lift your mood. Although, I must say it does leave those of us (me) who are more than a little cautious about spending the rest of our lives with one person a little skittish ... based on the disarray marriage aflicts on these women's lives. But still, a fabulously entertaining book!

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Chart Throb by Ben Elton

This book was originally reviewed on 10 April 2007 by phillygirl. Read both reviews here.

Flyleaf by Finuala Dowling

Lying quietly in Marina’s spare room, you can hear the sea, tell the tide. When I first stretched my toes down into Marina’s sheets, they encountered sand. Someone else had slept there before me, come straight to bed after a day on the beach. I curled up like a mollusc, like a purple-lipped dog whelk, and let the bleakness of my life wash over me. What would become of me?

A wonderful book. The images are evocative of life in Cape Town, certainly for anyone who's ever lived here. The story is lyrical and well-written. Violet, the main character, is a teacher that is paid by the hour. She's just separated from her husband, who got another woman pregnant, and this is her story. The book is littered with half-formed characters that you'd love to learn more about. If only Violet would just ask the right questions, then maybe you'd know. But she doesn't, and the characters remain enigmatic, as the rare glimpses and snippets of their lives that Violet sees are all that you are given. Written with the pacing of life in Cape Town [by which I mean it is slow], the writing clearly communicates the feeling of drifting on the ocean that has recently enveloped Violet's life. More enjoyably, Violet is an English teacher and the book is littered with observations, witticisms and simple lessons on the English language and how it's used.

Buy this book online at Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

A Lion in the Bedroom by Pat Cavendish O'Neill

Here Pat tells the story of her charmed life among the glittering names of the twentieth century – Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Gianni Agnelli, Princess Grace and the Hollywood crowd – and the day everything changed for her, when she was presented with a tiny lion cub and she entered a world more magical and inspiring than anything she had known before.

Pat Cavendish O'Neill was born into a world of enormous riches, eccentricity and intrigue. She tells the story of her glitzy expatriate life in Kenya, where scandal and affairs were commonplace among the wealthy aristocratic foreigners...

And of how it all changed for her when she was presented with a tiny lion cub. This was her beloved Tana.

This book has taken me absolute ages to read, and not by any means because it was a dull story (it's just pretty lengthy at 600 pages)! I chose it as an out-of-the-ordinary read for myself but after my recent trip to Kenya (and a visit to Joy Adamson of Born Free fame's house), I thought it would be worth it ... and I was right.

It is a well-written easy to read book and a fascinating life story. Pat Cavendish O'Neill has certainly lived to experience a many-varied lifestyle. From being a decadent heiress (although a naive one), with enough money to travel around the world many times over (which she did) and have family homes in so many countries to being a dedicated "mother" to more lost animals than one could count.

Her story takes you back to a time I can hardly imagine, with experiences I could barely relate to with the common-place-ness of the Royal guests and the long list of famous friends. But in the end, nothing can prepare you for the depth of emotion she manages to convey when she tells the stories of her beloved Tana and the incredibly bond they have.

I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good biography, because this woman has truly lived!

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Under The Duvet by Marian Keyes

A real treat - the incredibly funny jottings of a hugely bestselling and much-loved author Her books are read and adored by millions around the world - now read the collected journalism of the woman who writes them: the woman under the duvet. Marian loves shoes and her LTFs (Long Term Friends), hates estate agents and lost luggage, and she once had a Christmas office party that involved roasting two sheep on a spit, the Moroccan way. She's just like you and me...

I love Marian Keyes. Reading her books is like splashing through puddles in wellington boots on a rainy day, or stretching out on a deck chair in the sun with a cocktail - utterly satisfying. You feel like you're doing exactly what you're meant to be doing in that moment.

Under the Duvet, so named because the author likes to write in bed, is a little different to the other Keyes books I have read before, in that it is a selection of magazine articles, columns and personal essays rather than a work of fiction. Marian reveals the woman behind the label of World Renowned Chick Lit Author; her trials and tribulations, her views on life and family, her inimitable Irishness and her obssession with shoes. She writes with a healthy dose of good humour, even when discussing her descent into alcoholism and her subsequent struggle to recover.

Most of you reading this like blogs... well, this is like taking a brilliant blogger's top 30 posts and compiling them into a book. Light, easy and highly enjoyable reading.

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Related Website: BOOK SA

BOOK SA is an online SA Lit Daily, dedicated to covering matters literary - in English and beyond - in Southern Africa. BOOK SA reports on local fiction, non-fiction, poetry, biography, book reviews and happenings and more.

Definitely handy if you enjoy the occasional Book launch or reading since they have an up-to-date Events calendar.

Soul Of The Fire by Terry Goodkind

In this, the fifth volume in the Sword of Truth series, the Chimes are loose in the world and intent on destroying all its magic. This spurs our heroes, Richard Rahl and his wife Kahlan Amnell, to embark on a quest into the middle of a civil war that will further splinter an embattled land.

I deliberately used the shortest synopsis I could find, as this is a book in a series, and any more info would give the game away to someone reading one of the earlier books.

Let me start by saying I'm not big on fantasy. In fact, before the Sword of Truth series, I was unable to finish a fantasy novel, and that is not for lack of trying. Spurred on by several good friends who wholeheartedly embrace the genre, I tried again and again to find the soul of a fantasy novel, only to give up half way each time. I got to page 100 on the Grandfather of them all, The Lord Of The Rings, and it was like hitting a brick wall - I just could not turn that page and continue. Enter Terry Goodkind.

While Terry Goodkind's books are classed by his public as fantasy, he does not consider himself a classical fantasy author. As he said in an interview: "I believe that fantasy for fantasy's sake is not valid. Fantasy is only valid if it's used to illustrate importance to human beings." And I believe this is why I have finally found a fantasy series I enjoy. It has real people dealing with real things, in a world that has the same real problems as we do today. It has romance, mystery and political intrigue. The big difference is that some of these people have magic.

Goodkind is a brilliant author. His characters and involved plots leap off the page at you; his writing is so lifelike you feel you are journeying with your heroes. There are not many books that have captivated me like these ones. Having said that, his characters are only human (well, most of them), and as with any humans, you feel frustrated and annoyed by their human failings at times. This, however, is his drawcard - you can identify with them.

Goodkind is really uncategorisable in terms of the type of books he writes. One thing is certain though - his books are a breath of fresh air which transcend all genres, and I can't wait to start the next one.

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring....

In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.

For the first time in a long time, a children's story that allows itself to be frightening. There are a lot of parallels to Pan's Labyrinth, though neither suffer from the similarities. Also, Coraline's real life is nice and normal and not half so scary as the beldam's world. A wonderfully funny and frightening escapade that anyone who liked to explore as a child will appreciate and enjoy.

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Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Match wits with the razor-sharp mind and keenly honed instincts of literature's most famous detective. Every one of the immortal Sherlock Holmes novels appears in this single volume, unabridged, embellished with the beautiful original illustrations, and reasonably priced. The classic works include:
A Study in Scarlet: the very first Holmes adventure--and the start of a beautiful friendship between the detective and Dr. Watson.
The Sign of Four: Holmes is called upon to solve the case of a missing treasure in India.
The Hound of the Baskervilles: Holmes and Watson find themselves involved in an age-old curse.
The Valley of Fear: A cipher message. A grisly murder. A dark and powerful tale.with a battle between Holmes and his infamous nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

I was rather surprised to discover that the complete illustrated novels amounted only to four. Perhaps the other novels were not illustrated? Or, from the very small amount of research I've done, it seems that all the others were short stories, as opposed to novel-length books. Anyway, on to the books - in case you can't read it off the picture, the four novels are: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. The first two novels were not very good, in my opinion. The first one suffered from being, not only the first Sherlock Holmes story, but from [apparently] being the first in the murder mystery genre. Either way I did not enjoy them. They seemed somewhat far-fetched and contrived - after all, what on earth is the whole mormon sub-plot necessary for? He did a similar thing in The Valley of Fear, but that was far more interesting and seemed less out-of-step with the novel. The Sign of Four had a similar problem to the first one - there was no possible way for you to work out anything. The first time that you were introduced to half the clues, was when Holmes was explaining to you what had happened. The last two novels in the set were far more enjoyable, for the simple reason that you were shown all these enigmatic tidbits and could actually figure one or two things out. Of course, they might've been a lot more enjoyable if I actually liked any of the characters...

Buy this book online at Amazon or Amazon UK

Related Website: BookCrossing

BookCrossing, where 589,463 people in over 130 countries come to share their passion for books with the world.

At BookCrossing, you can register any book you have on the site, and then set the book free to travel the world and find new readers.

Leave it on a park bench, at a coffee shop, at a hotel on vacation. Share it with a friend or tuck it onto a bookshelf at the gym -- anywhere it might find a new reader! What happens next is up to fate, and we never know where our books might travel next. Track the book's journey around the world as it is passed on from person to person.

Join hundreds of thousands of active BookCrossers daily in our many forums to discuss your favorite authors, characters and books in every genre throughout history right up through current releases.

Join BookCrossing Help make the whole world a library and share the joy of literacy. Reading becomes an adventure when you BookCross!

Related Website: The Lazy Library

Ever read a book that was a few hundred pages longer than it needed to be? Yeah, so have we. Fortunately, there are authors out there that would rather have a concise and effective book than a lengthy and diluted tome, and that's where the Lazy Library comes in.

The Lazy Library, where you can find books on any topic without having to worry about high page counts. If it's over 200 pages, you won't even see it. Read all about anything, in less time, for (usually) less money.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

One of the most ingenious (or infuriating, depending on your point of view) of Christie's novels. Narrated by a Doctor Sheppard, who takes the place of Hastings (now living in Argentina with his wife) in assisting Poirot. A wealthy widow in the village of King's Abbott, Mrs. Ferrars, is found dead, and Dr. Sheppard suspects suicide until Roger Ackroyd, a widower who was expected to marry her, is also killed. Poirot is Sheppard's new neighbor, and is relieved to escape the boredom of the vegetable marrows he has been growing by investigating the case. Most of the suspects were Ackroyd's house guests, including Ackroyd's niece, Flora; Major Blunt, a big-game hunter romantically interested in Flora; Geoffrey Raymond, Ackroyd's secretary; Ursula Bourne, a parlormaid; and Ralph Paton, an adopted son with gambling debts. Poirot is also assisted by Sheppard's sister Caroline, a middle-aged village spinster who anticipates Miss Marple's character. Both a play (1928) and a film (1931) were made of the story, both called "Alibi". There is apparently a more recent film version from 2000.

If you only read one book by Agatha Christie, make it this one. Published in 1926, this story of Poirot is one of the best written. All the clues are there, if only you could see them the way that Poirot sees them. The book is seen through the eyes of Dr. Sheppard - Captain Hastings being in the Argentine. We start, unsurprisingly with a death. An apparent suicide, if you believe Dr. Sheppard's nosy sister, Caroline. She believes that Mrs. Ferrars [and there's a nod to Jane Austen even] killed herself because she was overcome with remorse as she murdered her husband. It's not the death of Mrs. Ferrars that pulls Poirot into the mix - it's the death of Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy inhabitant of the small town. What's the significance of the chair? What is Miss Russell [the housekeeper - very lucky to have an alibi, according to Caroline] up to? And most importantly - if all the evidence points to Ralph Paton, surely he's guilty? And if he's not guilty, where on earth is he? Fantastic, unexpected and obvious all at once.

A number of criticisms have been levelled at this book, relating to internal consistencies and the fact that some people just couldn't handle having the rug pulled out from under them. No book will be completely consistent in every way, but the minor inconsistencies in this book, can be easily explained away. Utterly fantastic, read it, read it, read it.

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

Brother Grimm by Craig Russell

A girl's body lies, posed, on the pale sand of a Hamburg beach, a message concealed in her hand. 'I have been underground, and now it is time for me to return home...' Jan Fabel, of the Hamburg murder squad, struggles to interpret the twisted imagery of a dark and brutal mind. Four days later, a man and a woman are found deep in woodland, their throats slashed deep and wide, the names 'Hansel' and 'Gretel', in the same, tiny, obsessively neat writing, rolled tight and pressed into their hands. It becomes clear that each new crime is a grisly reference to folk stories collected almost two hundred years ago by the "Brothers Grimm".

Although this took me quite a while to read, what with my recent busy social schedule, I did enjoy it. When it got to the conclusion at the end it was tough to put down.

It's well written and you're provided with plenty of characters to speculate on "whodunnit" but in the end I must admit that I was none the wiser. My only issue with this book was that it was written like it had been translated (like The Beast), and with all the police titles in German, it means the reading flows slightly less as you pass over these words that you understand their meaning but are not articulated in your head (does that make sense?).

Aside from all that, I am curious to read his first book (the story is reference occasionally as background for the characters) and will definitely be borrowing the next one (Eternal) from book club :)

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

The Knife Man by Wendy Moore

This title is the winner of the Medical Journalists' Open Book Award 2005. Revered and feared in equal measure, John Hunter was the most famous surgeon of eighteenth-century London. Rich or poor, aristocrat or human freak, suffering Georgians knew that Hunter's skills might well save their lives but if he failed, their corpses could end up on his dissecting table, their bones and organs destined for display in his remarkable, macabre museum. Maverick medical pioneer, adored teacher, brilliant naturalist, Hunter was a key figure of the Enlightenment who transformed surgery, advanced biological understanding and even anticipated the evolutionary theories of Darwin. He provided inspiration both for Dr Jekyll and Dr Dolittle. But the extremes to which he went to pursue his scientific mission raised question marks then as now. John Hunter's extraordinary world comes to life in this remarkable, award-winning biography written by a wonderful new talent.

A fascinating biography of one of the fathers of modern surgery. This is not for the squeamish or those who cannot bear to admit or face the realities of what brought us to our vaunted state of enlightenment. It's a progressive world that we live in and sometimes scientists and researchers step outside the boundaries of what is strictly legal in order to make fascinating new discoveries and push the boundaries of both what we know and what we're capable of. The ethics are a little dodgy, in some cases more than others, but read the book and decide for yourself. Personally I'm grateful for the advances in modern medicine, and that I wasn't in need of medical attention in the mid-eighteenth century.

phillygirl reviewed this book on 3 December 2007:
This was a very interesting read and I can only agree with akika when she says she's grateful for all the advances of modern medicine but even more grateful that she wasn't one of the folks around in the mid-eighteenth century who needed medical assistance. I think for me what was so fascinating, since we're all so used to how medicine works these days and that all new medical advances should go thru a number of tests and trials before being let loose on the general public, is how differently things worked back in the day. The number of "surgeons" of the day who were obstinately opposed to testing new theories, or even to thinking for themselves is frightening.

I for one am heading onto Google right now to see where Hunter's preparations from his museum can be found (if any have survived to this day & age).

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Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

What connects a movie star, an archaeologist, a French maid, a prime minister, a wealthy dowager, and an Italian count? Crime, of course—and the master crime-solver, Hercule Poirot.

I've always enjoyed Christie's writing, for the very reason that most people seem to hate it - it's so very intricate and detailed. Yes it's horrendously outdated - this set of eleven short stories was published in 1924. But it's still a collection of fascinating and intricate mysteries. And with only a few short pages for each story, you've got to be on the ball to work out whodunnit before Poirot tells you. Of course, sometimes it's easy to know who it was, just not why or how.

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot

The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader

Totally absorbing...as gripping a tale of hatred and revenge as you will read... It is superb. This is the story of Nicholas Linnear, half-Caucasian, half-Oriental, a man caught between East and West, between the sexual passions of a woman he can't forget and the one he can't control and between a past he can't escape and a destiny he can't avoid. A sprawling erotic thriller that swings from postwar Japan to present-day New York in a relentless saga of violence and terror elaborately designed for the most savage vengeance of all...

A curious book, detailing a large portion of the life of Nicholas Linnear and why he is the way he is. Why the mix of three different cultures has such an influence on him - his American father, (mostly) Chinese mother and the Japanese land they live in.

Who is the Ninja, why is he in America killing people. More importantly, what connects all those people? It's utterly riveting, though suffers from occasionally lengthy bits of description that, while lovely in and of themselves, do tend to detract from the otherwise enthralling narrative. Of course, that may well be the entire point of them...

Buy this book online Amazon, Amazon UK or Loot

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to plaints about "The Boss from Hell." Narrated in Andrea's smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda's children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day--and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.

I picked up this book more out of curiosity than anything else since I enjoyed the film but found that it was lacking in some places and I was wondering what the book would be like. I'll tell you one thing it is completely different from the film! From the beginning to the end this book is just so much better, the characters are more real, the boss more of a bitch, the tasks more insane and the storyline is completely different. It even ends differently! Not as neatly and perfectly as the film I might add, but a lot more like real life and a lot more interestingly.

For anyone who has ever had a bitch as boss and thinks that theirs is the worst read this book and marvel over how truly impossible someone can be! This book is a fantastic escape and is fiction at his best. Weisberger writes very well and you really engage with all of her characters; personally I had the over whelming urge to reach into the book and rip out Miranda's throat. The characters are more fleshed out than the film and aren't completely glossy Hollywood as in the film.

Don't watch the film after reading the book though because you'll only be annoyed by the film.

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McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

Despite the many exotic places Pete McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother's homeland. In McCarthy's Bar, he journeys from Cork to Donegal. Travelling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, Never Pass a Bar That Has Your Name On It, he encounters McCarthy's Bar's up and down the land, meeting fascinating, friendly and funny people before pleading to be let out at four o'clock in the morning.

Through adventures with English crusties who have colonised a desolate mountain; roots-seeking, buffet-devouring Americans; priests for whom the word 'father' has a loaded meaning; enthusiastic Germans who 'here since many years holidays are making'; and his fellow barefoot pilgrims on an island called Purgatory, Pete pursues the secrets of Ireland's global popularity and his own confused Irish-Anglo identity.

This is quite literally one of my favourite books ever. I challenge anyone to read it and not have fits of giggles and feel the desire to go and visit Ireland. I guess that I am completely obsessed with Ireland and all things Irish but I seriously would recommend this book.

Whilst the book is not strictly fiction and is in fact a travel book the stories about the places that he goes to and the people that he meets make this book a rival to any fiction story. In fact if it was set anywhere else I'd refuse to believe that it was real and would be completely convinced that Pete had taken creative licence and embellished the people. However Ireland being Ireland these stories are all true and it is his delicious dry and naughty humour which make this book so amusing.

Throughout this book Pete asks the question of whether or not you can truly belong in a country that you've never lived in and whether just having family descent from an area can remain in your blood and make that country your true home. For me it can be an interesting question as I am first generation South African with no other family being born there but I believe myself to be a true South African. Many other people disagree with me and say that I am British however I refuse to believe this!

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The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The No.1 ladies' detective agency consists of one woman, the engaging and sassy Precious Ramotswe, who sets up shop in Gabarone, Botswana. This unlikely herione specialises in missing husbands, wayward daughters, con men and impostors.

A fun book - you'll find phillygirl did the review for the follow up a couple of weeks ago. This is not your usual detective agency, nor will you find the latest technology or jargon or anything else that we've come to expect from detective novels. What this is, is a lyrical wandering through the life of Mma Ramotswe - how she came to start the agency and so on... It's fun, entertaining reading. It's also very light and a welcome change of pace after my previous read. I very much enjoyed the style and the slow pace, as well as the fact that it's a collection of vignettes from her life that are strung together by their connection with her work.

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Cries Unheard by Gitta Sereny

Pieces together the damaged life of Mary Bell, who aged 11 was tried and convicted of manslaughter after the death of two young boys. Only as an adult has she been able to realize the moral enormity of her crimes...

This was truly disturbing. Not only the fact that she killed the two boys, which is integral to the book, but not what the book is about. The book is about what led up to her killing the boys [after all, what would drive a child to kill an unknown toddler?] and what happened to her afterwards. At what age do children become criminally responsible - which means they are tried in an adult court. In Scotland, it's as young as 8. How is a child that young supposed to understand why it's there and what's going on? If the child's only contact with a psychologist is a brief meeting where they decide whether or not the child can tell right from seriously wrong, how can they possibly make any judgements on the child? How can they convict one child as guilty and another as not-guilty simply because the one has a loving family and the other doesn't?

One would hope that since Mary Bell was convicted in 1968 that the system had radically changed with new, progressive knowledge. At the time this book was published [1999] it hadn't. After all - who cares about the people [adults and children] that aren't happy and whole. If they're damaged, just push them away and ignore them... Like I said, this is a very distubring book. I never realised that there are actually people who completely deny the existence of paedophilia. If you're squeamish, don't read it. It's not particularly gruesome or gory, but I couldn't put it down and every time I did [even when I finished it] I was miserable and depressed about the state of the world and wanted nothing more than to hide in the bed and cry.

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