rk Rowling Harry potter and the deathly hallows

so sad the end of an era. But very glad I queued up at midnight for it.
cheesy end but still made me cry

10/10

JK Rowling Harry Potter and the Half blood prince

Had to re read it in preparation for.....

8/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling

I won't say much, but I did have to stay up til 1.30 am last night reading and I thought the overall ending to the book and the series was pretty neat.
Can't wait to discuss it....

8/10

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Bought this on the way home from Switzerland as I had run out of reading! It's the same author as 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time'. This book is about a family with grown up children and the various crisis which hit when the daughter gets married, including the father having a breakdown. I didn't enjoy this anywhere near as much as the last book - which I thought was really interesting from the narrator's point of view. This one was ok on giving the father's view of the world, but I thought it was all a bit superficial.

6.5/10

What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt

It takes a bit of getting in to, but well worth it. A truly beautiful book and a real tear jerker. As a parent, you wonder how long you could think positively about a son like Mark. Thanks Sarah for recommending it.
9/10

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathon Saffron Froer

Wow. What can I say, katy said this was brilliant and it is. So sad though - whereas I think Katy cried on her way to walk, I cried on the train home from geneva.
I thought the different voices and styles worked much much better than in Everything is Illuminated. I wasn't convinced as I was reading it about the resolution of the story - but as soon as I had read it I felt very convinced by it.
Amazing - and a definite recommendation if anyone hasn't read it yet.

9/10

The Spell - Alan Hollingshurst

A short book by Alan Hollingshurst who wrote Line of Beauty. It was a good read, and really interesting characters, but I didn't feel it spoke about the world in the same amazing way that line of beauty did. It was certainly evocative, but perhaps it wasn't really trying to say much provocative. Good read though! And I'll probably read others by him

8/10

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This month's Book Club book. A marvellous book about life in Afganistan during the troubles of the last 40 years. I know very little about the history of the country and now feel I need to find out a lot more. What makes it really tragic is that I suspect much of the book could be true.
9/10

Sleep Pale Sister by Joanne Harris

Surprisingly a real page turner. Her first book - written before Chocolat etc. and initially didn't sell well, but much more gripping than her current stuff. Very good picture of the seedy or frustrating side of victorian life and relationships, and a good example of victorian gothic horror or mysticism as well. Well worth a read.

Thanks mum.

8/10