A quiet and understated tale, touching and tragic, and full of wisdom about life and death. I’d recommend this as a gentle read.

After listening to a few light reads in the sunshine I was in the mood to read a book and I wanted something I could really get my teeth into. An article in the Guardian which seemed to suggest that the book was partly autobiographical piqued my interest.

Big Brother is brilliant, perhaps not as disturbing as Kevin, but still a confrontational and compelling read. I loved the reflections on food, society and family. Like in Kevin, there are intelligent and ascerbic characters, conflict, there’s horror and a great twist at the end. I’d highly recommend it.

This is another ‘beach’ book that I listened to mostly while lying in the sunshine. I think Emily Barr is quite a good writer. I certainly identified with the voice of her late-thirties heroine. The part of the story set in Malaysia was captivating and perfect for the weather I was experiencing at the time. The chapters when the group are stranded are the best; tense and spell-binding at times. There is an interwoven mystery which kept me guessing too. The only thing that let this book down slightly was the rather far-fetched conclusion. But this book is sharper than most chick lit; I enjoyed it.

Another book I listened to mostly while sunbathing. Someone on Amazon described it as ‘chick-lit written by a man’ and I can see what they mean. It’s funny in places, as well as a bit gooey, perceptive and contemporary; a good mix. The cognitive disorder aspect was fascinating. The book makes a decent light read.

I wanted a light listen while sunbathing in the garden so thought I’d give this a try. I didn’t expect it to be but it was compulsive and sometimes very dark listening. It’s about a woman who was a bully at school who comes back into contact with the girl she bullied in their 30’s. The story of the past is told interspersed with the present. As the story unfolds, the main character develops into a better person as she comes to terms with the past and tries to repent for it in the present. Sadly I did guess the mysterious reason why the main character’s family felt so indebted, but it’s still a good listen. There is quite a lot of self-harm mentioned in the book. I’m not sure how I felt about it.

It brought back memories of bullying behaviour at primary school. Certainly there were times when I was picked on, but I remember making fun of someone’s weight with another girl and I also remember a girl called Vicky who was picked on by lots of people and I never did anything about it. She could have been the bullied girl in this book and that makes me feel very uncomfortable.

I read this a few years ago but, since it was this month’s reading group book, I read it again. Of course, having read it before, it didn’t have as much shock impact as it did the first time but I was still struck by how beautifully written it is. The scene near the end where Kathy and Tommy speak to Madame had my heart thumping loudly. The sheer pathos of the ending brought tears to my eyes. This is a suspenseful story of supressed emotions and the meaning of friendship. I highly recommend it.

This book just like The Wrong Boy, except that this boy is a little older. A harmless, quick read which probably appeals most to those who went to university at the same time i.e. in the 80’s. Nowhere near as good as One Day though.

This is brilliantly perceptive. John Lanchester is a man who is clearly in touch with the real London. The end was a slight anti-climax but for such real, well-researched characters I have to forgive him.

I enjoyed some articles in this immensely. Others I found quite dreary. Generally, the ones where she’s talking about anything (even loosely) political or individual celebrities are brillant and fascinating respectively. The Celebrity Watch and facetious rant ones I find dull.

There’s no doubt that Moran is a fantastic writer but I’d say that this is a book to dip into from time to time rather than immerse yourself in.

I had meant to read this for some time as several people I know recommended it. I was happy when it was chosen as this month’s reading group book. But, disappointingly, it’s a thumbs down from me.

I found roughly the first third quite boring. There are many characters introduced and they all seem very two-dimensional and indistinguishable from one another. The style of the novel reminds me of Dan Brown, but without being quite as sensational and with far less description. I found the solution to the central mystery quite ridiculous. Another aspect I didn’t enjoy was the product placement sprinkled all over the place.

The only part of this book I really enjoyed was the confrontation between the hero and the villain. That was pretty exciting and would be a fantastic on screen. I haven’t seen either of the films that have been made of the book but I’m sure they could be very good indeed; there’s a reasonably engaging plot once it picks up. However, it falls short as a book because there’s nothing there to make the reader sympathise with any of the characters because he/she just doesn’t get to know them. There’s more written about what people eat than about what they are really like.

I don’t know how much of this is down to translation but the style of the writing is very dull and wooden. The book tells you a lot about what happened and what people said but not how they said it or what they felt. Perhaps it’s because SL was a journalist so was used to writing in that style? Whatever the reason, this book just didn’t make its mark on me.