NORTHANGER ABBEY By Val McDermid

Hey folks! Now I know what you're thinking - 'Didn't Jane Austen write Northanger Abbey?' And you are right. Miss Austen did in fact write the original novel named Northanger Abbey. McDermid wrote this as part of 'The Austen Project' which, although researching it a little, I seem unable to really pinpoint what this project is. As with most books, I found this while doing some shelving at work and decided to see whether or not this fancy orange book was deserving of its title.

If I'm honest, I had no trouble reading the book and I finished it relatively easily yet, things didn't quite seem to fit together as they should. The blurb on the back of the book is very misleading. I genuinely thought I was in for a good vampire novel with some dark romances and a bit of drama on the side. That was the impression I got from the blurb and to be honest, I couldn't have been further from the truth. It was only when I found the actual blurb tucked away on the inside cover that I actually got the hang of what was happening.

Basically, Cat lives in a small isolated village in Dorset. She has been home schooled, thinks little about the future and longs to see something outside of the Piddle Valley. (Yes, she lives in the Piddle Valley, lol). When she gets invited to spend a month at the Edinburgh Fringe with their neighbours, she thinks this is the break from reality and her chance to see the real world she has been waiting for.

Cat seemed a little too naive, even for someone who has lived a sheltered life, and I just found her character to be a little too unbelievable for my liking. Her relationships with other characters seemed predictable and almost as if the writer had to force them fit how she wanted them to.

The other odd thing was that Northanger Abbey itself only appears in the books once you get about two thirds of the way through and even then there is nothing special about it, it is merely a location for the story to take place. There's nothing particularly special about it at all.

Of course there is a very clichéd happy ending and everyone gets what he or she wants apart from the father who is portrayed as the villain.

I'm not really going to recommend it. Its not a book you're going to find me raving about, but hey, if you find yourself with nothing else to read on a rainy day, its not going to be the worst thing you could pick up.

THE EDIBLE WOMAN By Margaret Atwood

I was unsure which book I should choose for a famous author's first book and it took me a while to sus out who I wanted to read, but finally I decided... or rather I was looking through the college library and just happened to come across Margaret Atwood's first novel, so I decided why the heck not and gave it ago. If you've been following my blog for a while, you will have seen that about a year ago I did a series of blog posts analysing The Handmaid's Tale, but is probably one of Atwood's most notable novels. As much as I 'enjoyed' reading The Handmaid's Tale, (I'm not sure enjoyed is the right word to use), I found it quite thick to plough through and it took a certain mindset. Going from my previous experience, I set myself plenty of time to read this book. As it was, I finished it in about a week.

The Edible Women is a story of Marian, and the strange effect her recent engagement has on her. When the last of her boyfriend Peter's friends get married, he finds himself lonely and depressed, finally coming round to the idea that he should propose to Marian and get married himself. Of course Marian says yes and everything looks peachy. However shortly after getting engaged Marian finds that she starts struggling to eat certain foods and eventually goes completely nil by mouth. Meanwhile she starts an affair with Duncan although she has no idea why or what grounds the affair is based on. The only thing she really knows is that Duncan is using her and she begins to wonder if she is using him in return, though what she is using him for remains a mystery.

While all this is going on Ainsley, Marian's flat mate, decides that men are over rated and purposefully gets herself pregnant to prove that a mother can raise a child better on her own that with a father figure beside her. Everything was going to plan until, at a pre-natal class, Ainsley is told that boys born without a father figure will almost certainly grow up to be homosexual, and with this Ainsley's whole objective changes. Now she must find a husband.

This is a very bizarre book. I found it much easier to read than the previous Atwood I had read, but I also found that what I was reading wasn't actually very much. Nothing really happens in the book, although lots does, if you get what I mean. A lot of the feminist attitudes that Atwood is famous for can be seen very clearly even in the first of her novels, but still the actually events in the book are a little underwhelming.

I would have liked to have a little more explanation and reasoning to what happened to Marian. The main points in the book seemed to take place with little or no though to cause and effect leaving you unable to concentrate on the rest of the book because you're still trying to work out what happened in the last part you just read.

One thing I did find very effective (Once I worked out what Atwood had done) was the way the parts 1 and 3 were in the first person, while part 2 was in the third. This was effective in showing how the events of the novel had almost separated her from herself and she didn't really feel part of anything. You really understand, that in the middle section of the book, Marian feels as if she is an observer to her own life rather than the person living it. At the end of the book, the narrative returns to first person and you get the impression that she has found who she is again and has found peace in her life. She can direct and live her own life.

Although I'm not to sure about this one, I did 'enjoy' reading the Handmaid's Tale and I think that I will in fact read 'Oryx and Crake' which is sat on my desk at home. as you would expect, there are plenty of pointers that this is a debut novel, written by an author who, now, has honed her gift to near perfection.

As always, just because I didn't particularly get this book, doesn't mean you wont. Give it a shot, see what you think. If we all enjoyed reading the same books then life would be very boring indeed.

AN ACT OF LOVE By Alan Gibbons

I know, I know.... technically it isn't based on a true STORY, but the story does follow a real life series of events that did really take place in the UK.

This is the heart breaking story of two little boys who come from very different families. One is a white British family, the other is a committed Muslim family. The relationship that these two boys have a children is amazing and a true weapon against a world full of racism and discrimination. However as the two boys grow up and the so called 'war against terror' begins, each boy gets caught up in their own countries battles and are eventually separated. One becomes a British front-line soldier, the other becomes a extreme Islamist soldier, and a beautiful friendship is torn apart.

This is an incredible, thought provoking and poignant story which really does highlight the way that prejudice can split families and communities, and also how easy it is for one person, or group of people to drum up enough support to start a war.

The main puzzlement that the book presents is that it is an older children's book. Personally, I found this emotionally difficult to read as an adult, so I'm not sure how a child would do with it. Never the less it is a really good book and one that I would recommend to more mature younger readers, as it is a brilliant vehicle for telling young people about recent history which they were too young to remember happening. This war was a big event in modern British history which we need to learn from, and I believe that this is a book which we can use to help us do that.

Give it a place on your reading list and share it. Everyone.

ITCH By Simon Mayo

This has been on my reading list ever since it came out just under three years ago. It wasn't something I found myself dying to read, it was more of a book which I figured looked like something interesting have a go at if I found myself with nothing else to read, however I am very glad that I picked it up at work and gave it a read.

Itchingham Lofte is a young boy in high school who has a hobby just like most other kids in school do; he collects things. However, unlike the other kids, Itch doesn't collect trading cards, footballs or bottle tops.... he collects elements. It isn't until he manages to get hold of some of the higher elements on the table that he begins to see just how dangerous some of them can be. Undeterred, this fourteen year old boy continues to travel round fairs and contact dealers, faking his age to by out of date medical equipment. He just never imagined he might find something that no one else had.

I really did enjoy this book. I expected to enjoy it and I did and I think the best thing about this book is that it can be enjoyed by people of all ages no matter how old you are, even though it's supposed to be a kids book. I should imagine that this idea has been used before, but not in this sort of way.

I found the book easy to read and the story line easy enough to follow. It was refreshing to read a book that simply satisfied your need for a good book that excited you and you enjoyed, without having to put a marathon amount of effort into reading it.

This is a definite read for all readers, young and old, boys and girls, and I look forward to reading more of Mayo's novels.

TAMPA By Alissa Nutting

Before I begin... let me warn you that the content of this book is extremely graphic and inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18 (and probably some people over it!) This is an adult novel and should be read by an adult and mature audience, and not for the squeamish and faint hearted... ...

Now that I've got the warning bit out of the way, let me introduce my sixth book for the POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge. I have chosen this one to be read for the category of 'A book set in high school'.

Celeste is a 26 year old high school teacher who feels a desire to be a little more intimate with her 8th grade students than should probably be permitted. This is the story of how she seduces Jack Patrick, a 14 year old boy, into becoming the embodiment of her fantasy. Obviously, as soon as his voice breaks and he begins to grow body hair, the whole illusion will be broken and he will be no good to Celeste's needs. However after about a year of this horrid affair, things stop going to plan and disaster strikes for Celeste, Jack and everyone else they know.

I've got to admit, I'm not entirely sure what made me pick this book up. I saw a review that one of my good friend did on this book, and still, despite knowing the basic content of the book, I still took it to the counter and borrowed it from the library. The whole point of this reading challenge is to read things that you haven't read before, or to pick up something you normally wouldn't read. I certainly hadn't read anything of this nature before, and I don't think I will be doing so in the future. I think I have to put this book in the same league as E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey, however I must say that technically, Tampa is much better written.

On the positive side, I thought it was an interesting look into false and failing relationships, and how they outside look of a couple can be incredibly deceptive. I felt sorry for Ford (Celeste's husband) and the awful way she treated him. I also found it interesting the way that Nutting presents this almost as an issue of mental health, rather than just a fantasy taken too far.

All in all, I don't know if I can honestly call this a good book, maybe I'll stick with 'alternative'. Tampa is an 'alternative' book, and I'll leave it to you to decide if you want to give this one a try.

THE METHOD By Juli Zeh

Okie dokie! Here we are with the fourth book I have read for the POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge. This time I've read a book to fill the category 'A book originally written in another language'. The Method was originally written in German and the translated into English by Sally-Ann Spencer.

Mia is a scientist in the world run by The Method. Everything about this world is completely health based. Everyone is required to submit various blood tests and urine samples to The Method in an attempt to create an completely illness free human race. Things begin to get a little heated when Mia stops submitting her data. She is now technically a criminal and could be facing a fate worse than death.

Ermm.... I'm not really sure where I should start with reviewing this book. It had the weirdest effect on me, no word of a lie. I found that while reading this, I wasn't particularly hooked, I wasn't gripped to the story line, I didn't even find the book overly special or interesting, but something kept the pages turning. I'm not entirely sure what it was. It could have been the fact that I wanted to make sure it ended right, or I had a slight hint of hope that it might get a little more gripping.

I really, really liked the idea and the structure of the world that Zeh created and I think there is a lot of potential for this to have been a really good book. I felt that the relationships between characters were very confused. As a reader, on many occasions, I wasn't sure whether the writer wanted me to like a character or not.

Over all I think it was an interesting book and a good idea that maybe could have been written down better. Whether or not the German manuscript read better or not, I don't know and unfortunately as I don't speak German, I will never know. I didn't not enjoy this book but I didn't particularly enjoy it either and unfortunately I don't think I'll be reading an of this author's other books in a hurry.

As usual I don't like telling people what they can an can't read. We all have different preferences and this blog is purely my personal opinion. If the synopsis sounds like something you would like to read, go for it. It's only a short book. What have you got to lose?

THE SHINING By Stephen King

Oooooh *shivers*, no guessing which category this book got read for. You got it! A book that scares you. Before I go any further, let me clarify the kind of fear that this book induced in me. It was the shiver-down-the-spine kind of fear rather than the pant-wetting-screaming-crying kind of fear, although I could see how The Shining would have that effect on people. I guess I've just read too many graphic, horror/murder novels to be frightened of blood and gore, but no matter how many books I read, I will always be an unwillingly willing victim to psychological terror.

This is the first Stephen King book I have ever read and I must say that I wasn't disappointed. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from the great S.K but I'm really pleased with what I did read and I do not regret it in anyway shape or form. I will certainly be reading more of his novels in the future.

We start off with Jack at an interview for the job of winter care-taker at The Overlook Hotel. Looking at this as a second chance to get his life back on track after a life time of alcohol abuse, a slowly dwindling writing career and a more than dwindling marriage. However his son Danny has an incredibly strong psychic 'gift' despite being only five years old. Alone and snowed into the hotel, things start coming to life in the hotel and its grounds and things start to reveal themselves for what they truly are. The question is, is the Overlook Hotel a door to a new life, or something else?

Hallorann was my favourite! Throwing that out there right now, I liked Danny and Wendy as well, but I always loved Dick Hallorann throughout the entire time! He's the kind of person who you'd want for a Grandad, or and Uncle. His heart throughout the entire thing is so unique and genuine it is just impossible not to love him.

I would definitely recommend this book. It's gripping, your hooked from the first page, the characters are believable and after reading this it is incredibly easy to see why Stephen King is the best selling author he has become. You aren't just buying/reading these books for the author's name, you're reading these because they are amazing!

THE MAZE RUNNER By James Dashner

Here we go with my second book for the 2015 POPSUGAR reading challenge, this one is heading for the category: A book by an author you've never read before, and it's true! This is the first of Dashner's novels I have ever read, and I must say that after this I wouldn't mind reading a few more.

I've got to admit that I hadn't heard about this book until I say they poster at our local cinema for the new film that recently came out last year. Then browsing through the bookshop I stumbled across a copy, (or rather thousands of copies) and I very nearly didn't buy it. I love the hunger games and when I saw the plug at the bottom about how its 'a must for fans of THE HUNGER GAMES, I was worried that I would be disappointed that it would be a non-story. Compared to the Hunger Games so that it would sell more copies but I thought What the heck and took it to the counter and paid for it.

However I now stand here with my hands held high in surrender and apology to all you Maze Runner fans out there... you were right. This book is amazing and it has indeed left me with a book hangover to such an extent, that I don't know when I'll be able to start the sequel.

Just like it says in the blurb, we begin the story just as confused as Thomas and we stay as confused as he is until starts fighting back and asking questions. From the moment the box open, and Thomas is spewed into the Glade, to the moment he falls asleep at the end, you feel everything that he feels. Basically Thomas has somehow been made to live in a huge concrete square surrounded by walls that seem to be impossibly tall. There are four 'doors', on in each wall but all that seems beyond them is black. We soon learn that the Glade, as it's more commonly known, is the centre of a giant, seemingly unsolvable maze. He is trapped in there with 50 - 60 other teenage boys and there is only one rule: Solve the maze or die. The people before Thomas arrived have been trying to solve the maze for two whole years, so why should his arrival make any difference?

Firstly, I thought that this book was incredibly well written. The idea of creating lab rat style humans is almost unthinkable and I cannot begin to think where I would have started if I were the writer of this book, but Dashner has done an incredible job of making it realistic and believable. There was not a single moment when I stepped back and said 'Whoa! this ain't real'. The author here has managed to find the perfect balance between reality and fantasy, a sometimes very difficult thing to do. As a slight aside, I love the way that each boy is nicknamed after a famous scientist, that tickled me. I loved it.

As usual I talk a little bit about my favourite character so that what I'm going to do now. Newt. Favourite character has to be Newt. He's strong, he's a leader, he's hot and I just think that if I had to be stuck in a giant hostile maze with anyone, it would be Newt. I kinda liked Chuck as well in that annoying little brother sorta way but Newt definitely had to be the one for me.

Certainly one I would recommend to all people great and small who enjoy a good book, and most definitely a book for people who think that reading is ponsey and for girls, because this book could not be further from that assumption. Give it a read, see for yourself and see if you would be strong enough to solve the maze.

BEHEMOTH By Scott Westerfeld

Well, here we are. The sequel to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan which I reviewed two books ago. At the time I said I wouldn't mind reading the next one and so, guess what?! I ordered it from the library and gave it a read.

This time round, we join Alek and Deryn on the run in Istanbul. Deryn is given a top secret mission which doesn't exactly go to plan and Alek and his men attempt to escape the Leviathan now they are technically prisoners of war. This too doesn't go to plan and the team gets slip up rather spectacularly.

Alek finds himself alone and fully in charge of his men for the first time in his life, how will he cope, and how many seemingly bad choices will he make along the way?

I liked the way that this book was so completely different to it predecessor. You knew that it had a book before it and you knew it was part of a bigger picture. It followed the story very well and it wasn't just the same characters in an entirely different book. The linking between the two books is incredibly well done and I say 'Well done Mr Westerfeld!'

There were a couple of odd occasions where I felt a little bit disappointed. Not with the author for the way he'd written the book. But because I felt almost like I had entrusted my friends to him and when something bad happened to them, it was the authors fault. Something inside me really rang out if the author hadn't kept one of his characters safe. This is the first book to ever really make me have that reaction. It was bizarre and took me a while to work out how I felt, but I guess it just goes to show how well Westerfeld linked his characters with his audience.

I really enjoyed reading Behemoth and will no doubt carry on to read the third and final book Goliath in the not too distant future. I found the pace a little slow in places and sometimes it was a little hard to keep reading, yet at other parts of the book, I could hardly bring my self to put it down and go to sleep. I've not been left with too much of a Book Hangover, yet I feel satisfied that I've read a good book. Not as good as the first but never-the-less still a good  read :) What will Goliath bring I wonder?

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES By Thomas Hardy - PHASE THE FOURTH

In phase the fourth of Tess, a lot happens. We get to meet Angel Clare's family in some depth, Tess finally agrees to marry Angel, the wedding takes place and Tess takes that one important step we've all been waiting for and equally dreading. She reveals the truth about her history to Angel... after he marries her!

I must say I was shocked we Angel revealed his own secret which can as its own surprise if I'm honest, although I did feel that I shouldn't have been surprised by Angel's affair. Maybe I'm to hard on the lad, maybe I'm just extremely cynical about him. I'm finding that the more I read the book, the more I am being forced to like Angel. I say forced, because nothing about me wants to like, him. right from the start he's seemed too good to be true and I have been determined to hate him through and through and so far, Hardy is doing a fantastic job of making sure that doesn't happen. Drat those amazing authors!

In this phase we really do seem to get a better understanding of how far Angel has strayed from his roots in the vicarage. When he returns home, he is treated differently to his brothers and his parents will not talk to him about the future wedding other than to talk him out of it. Their difference of opinions and morals have really begun to properly separate this family. I guess the final decision to go ahead with the wedding was the straw that broke the camels back for Clare's parents. I had a feeling that Tess's parents would not attend the wedding but I was expecting someone from the Clare family to attend. When this didn't happen, it really made me realise just how much damage Tess is doing without actually doing anything herself. Just by being her, she has managed to separate Angel from his family, despite her best efforts to convince him otherwise.

Towards the end of the phase, after the wedding, Hardy does use incredibly obvious foreshadowing, maybe too much, with the crowing of the afternoon cockerel. This in itself is a perfectly good device to foreshadow a rather nasty, up and coming event, however the reaction of everyone else in the scene, really shouts out to us that something will definitely happen. Hardy infers a lot throughout this phase but this moment has to be the absolute clearest, especially as it is followed up with the notification of the death and near-death of two of Angel and Tess's prior colleagues.

I think the best way to sum up Phase the Fourth, it to call it the Phase of Revelation. Hardy reveals a lot of important facts and information in this part of the book, and equally not just to the reader. Hardy makes the characters reveal things to each other. Strengthening some relationships and stretching others. Judging by the number of secrets and promises that have been made and broken in this phase, I think we can safely say that we are in for a bumpy ride with Phase the Fifth.

THE WHISPERING SKULL By Jonathan Stroud

GOOD PEOPLE OF EARTH! ITS FINALLY HERE!

I've finally managed to get my hands on a copy of The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud, the waiting list at the library was not far off enormous.

Now, if you've been following my blog, you will remember that a while back a read the predecessor to this wonderful novel, The Screaming Staircase. I remember ranting and raving about how amazing that book was and as I brought this one home just three days ago, I felt that Stroud had indeed, set himself an incredibly high standard.

But never fear because, the genius author of The Lockwood and Co. series has done himself proud and gone over and beyond the standard he set himself last time.

I think the best thing about this novel is that as well as being a separate novel that can be read independently of the first, it takes one element of the previous novel and expands in, explains it and takes it to a whole new level. That tiny little side mystery that you never really get to see much about? well this time Stroud's written an entire novel on it. The other thing I think is brilliant things is that it isn't just a copy of the first book with different side characters and storyline. He has taken the supernatural and dystopian element from his work, and very cleverly woven into it a clear crime/detective style sequence of events making this book open to an even wider audience than it was before!

All the way through, I was on the edge of my seat, I was shocked and horrified as I was the darker side of characters whom I thought were just kids bent double with bad-luck, and all in all I don't have a bad word to say about it.

But one thing I will say is this: Mr Stroud, you better get writing, because that cliff hanger you left and the end almost killed me!

EENY MEENY by M J Arlidge

OH MY DAYS!!!!! Read it! Read it! Read it! Read it!

And to think that I very, very nearly returned this book to the library without even starting it!!! I would be kicking myself now if I had done.

This is the story of DI Helen Grace as she tries to capture the serial killer who is taking pairs of people and locking them away with only one instruction. One person must shoot the other. One dies, the other goes free...

This book is so, incredibly gripping and twisting in so many brilliant ways. It keeps you hanging on right until the very last page, the very last word even. You think your just getting the hang of the story when it takes another brilliant turn in a completely unthinkable direction! I've read crime novels with a similar final target to this before, but never have I read one so unique and different!

Each and every single one of these characters is so deep and well written that they become almost real to the reader. My personal favourite (Other than Helen) being Charlie. But even the other, more minor characters such as Bridges and Sanderson, had enough material written into them that they had real emotion and story, that you can't help but remember them in the way that you remember an old friend from school. Not always at the front of your memory and mind, but still always, definitely there somewhere.

Mark was an incredible piece of work in my opinion. So very often, the cops are always the people who have over come everything and become what they are today, but I think Arlidge's take was very interesting. It's really rare to read about a cop who is still going through his life changing events while at what appears to be the top of his game.

Wow this is an easy book to write about!

This does does contain adult, mature and graphic content and is very likely to leave you thinking what you would do in that situation, who you would be with etc... This is a very gripping book, that moves at such a pace it is unbelievable.

I would definitely recommend this book at all maturer readers, but make sure you keep arms and legs inside the car at all times as you're in for a bumpy ride!

SKY RUN By Alex Shearer

After reading The Cloud Hunters by the same author, I assumed that this was the sequel. However I was wrong. Sky Run is a completely separate novel which is merely based in the same world as the other. When I found this out, I was a little dubious about reading it and I was afraid that I wasn't going to enjoy it was much as the first book I had read, set in this wonderful world. I was worried that I was going to miss the characters I had come to know and love in The Cloud Hunters and still have to battle through the same world without them.

However I have really enjoyed this book. I cannot say that I enjoyed it more or less than the last one as they were totally different story lines and ideas. However I did really like the homage to the other book, when Alain talks about meeting the other Cloud Hunter boat which was carrying the boy without the scars and he talks briefly about his feelings concerning the event.

Although the two books can be read totally independent of each other, I would recommend reading the two together as they really do enlighten you about the world and the situations that the characters are living in. Each book gives you extra background information about the other book which, although you wouldn't miss it as such, you certainly would benefit from reading.

I must say that for some reason I found this story less repetitive than Shearer's other sky themed novel. I found it easier to read without becoming confused or lost in the same words over and over again.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has read The Cloud Hunters and equally I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't. I have reviewed The Cloud Hunters  previously. Click here to see what I had to say about it.

THE CLOUD HUNTERS By Alex Shearer

I picked this book up for no other reason than I was browsing through the library looking for something to read, and this particular caught my eye and looked interesting. Once again, I have not been disappointed.

I think that the ideas and the storyline behind this book is really original and new. I, myself , haven't come across anything like this before. I like the idea of taking something really well known, Like sailing on a ship to find out who you are and what your destiny is, and putting it into a completely different scenario. Personally I find the idea of living on a small island as part of a bigger community quite appealing. Being able to have independence and isolation when you need it while at the same time, not being too far away from the life and business of everyday life.

There is only one criticism I have for the book and this is I found some of the names a little repetitive. I feel that there may have been possible alternatives to 'sky-fish', 'sky-whale', 'sky-seal', 'sky-walrus' etc... It just felt a little too repetitive for my liking and I sometimes lost my train of thought and definition between the items talked about.

Other than that though, I though that The Cloud Hunters was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

THE 100 By Kass Morgan

I first came across this book after watching the first few episodes of the new series on TV. While browsing in the local book shop, I noticed that the original book was on offer and decided to give it ago and I am more than pleased to say that I have not been disappointed in any way at all. In fact I've read the entire thing in less than 24 hours. I think I've only ever managed that with one other book before (The Fault In our Stars by John Green). The 100 is totally gripping and makes it impossible for the reader to put it down. The only regret I have is that the book finished. I just want to pick it up and start reading it again.

Now I don't want to make this a comparison between the TV series and the book, however if you have seen the TV version and are debating whether or not to read the book, go for it! Do it! The TV adaptation is so far different to the book. So many characters have been added and taken out to make it more appealing to a television audience. In fact the only characters which are consistent between the two are Clarke, Bellamy and his sister, and Wells and his father.

I like the book more because it gives insight into the everyday live of the people on the ship, parallel to the people who have been sent to earth. You also get to see the same event from two different perspectives, such as the passing of the comet.

This isn't the first time that I've been drawn to a book about younger people being left to fend for themselves in an effort to survive. Similar themes can be seen in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and also in Gone by Michael Grant. We seem to be living in a world at the moment, where we are obsessed with the possibilities of what would happen if there were suddenly a lock of law and order, who would take charge, who would survive. It seems to be quite a grim obsession we have currently, but definitely one that seems to be selling books. (which is always a good thing)

There doesn't seem to be anything mega special that jumps out at me when I think about this book. No important message forced at me by the author, no life changing epiphany which means I'll never look at life the same again. But maybe that's what make this book so awesome. It's just a darn good book without all the paraphernalia that makes reading books nowadays such hard work. Sometimes less is more.

Read it! You know you want to.

THE HIT By Melvin Burgess

I must say, this has been a really enjoyable and interesting book to read. There are so many different themes and ideas packed into this book and yet it doesn't seem complicated or over crowded in anyway shape or form. I love it! Then again, I'm all for any book that has some sort of moral, especially one that makes you think about, and appreciate it more than you do already. There were a number of times while reading this book when I genuinely found myself thinking about what would be on my bucket list if I found myself under the influence of Death, or equally I might have found myself wondering whether or not I would have chosen to take it.

I think it was quite brave of the author to take on a topic like drugs and gang violence, because these are covered a lot in novels now-a-days and it can be difficult to write about it in a way that makes your story stand out from the others. But I'm am pleased to say that I think Burgess has done an incredible job and has definitely written a novel which tackles common but important themes while making it stand apart from everything else at the same time.

A brilliant book and one that I would definitely recommend, I'm looking forward to reading some of Burgess's other work.

THE RIDDLES OF EPSILON By Christine Morton-Shaw

I must say that this has been a most intriguing book, I know its another ghost story but hey I think it's a phase I'm going through. Despite it being another ghost story though, it couldn't have been more different to the one I read previously (The screaming staircase by Jonathon Stroud). Where as that focused on Humans vs Ghost and supernatural beings this is more about the supernatural battling itself and helping the humans to survive the fight. I say it's a ghost story but maybe ghost isn't quite the right word, the bright and dark beings aren't ghosts as such, they're more... well.... beings, supernatural beings!

One this I must say about this novel is that it is very complicated, probably the reason it has taken me so long to finish it, but maybe that's a good thing. It's good sometime to get into a book that tales a while, makes you think and the leaves you for hours... days even, afterwards going... 'So that's why!' or in my case 'I get it now!'

A couple of times I found myself a little confused by what was going on but I never lost interest in the book or the story in fact I only got more and more interested because I had complete faith in the author that she would deliver the answers sooner or later and she did.

I though the ending to the book was really interesting. Morton-Shaw could quite happily have ended to the novel a few chapter early had she not included one single statement from a character that leads into a whole new section of the story. It just goes to show how important small things can be. One sentence, which has the potential to change the entire story, or at least a decent chunk of it.

I really like the choice of words that the author uses for the more fantastical elements of the story such as Coscobora and Ouroboros. Although these do have real meanings linking in with the plot of the story, they are quite specialist words that the reader is unlikely to know at first glance. I thought this was brilliant because it left me in just about the same level of bewilderment and confusion as Jess was at the same point. I loved it!

Over all I think that this is a very clever book and very well put together. Although I felt that the black swans were maybe a little unoriginal in their colouring, the idea of swans in themselves representing the evil, I thought was very interesting indeed. Manifesting evil as something pure and beautiful isn't something you see every day and I am pleased that the writer made that choice. As I mentioned before, I am left with some questions that are unanswered however the more I sit and think, the more it fits together and falls into place. Its good to have found a modern book that makes you think and work so much. A brilliant read and one I would definitely recommend.

SELF'S THE MAN (Poem) By Philip Larkin

Just like Dockery and Son, as well as a number of Larkin's other poems, Self's the man is another poem about life choices and family.

This poem is very similar to Larkin's other poems in the fact that throughout the course of the poem, the persona's emotions and feelings change and eventually he has an epiphany at the end of the poem. He starts off with what seems almost like admiration for Arnold, the way he has made something of his life and how he has coped with marriage so well, however this soon changes, subtly in the third stanza where the persona almost sound sorry for Arnold, as if he got the short straw, the bad end of the stick. The final change in emotion at the end of the poem is really obvious, when he physically says: 'but wait, not do fast:'

The poem begins very suddenly, almost as if in answer to a question or a statement that had been said of him just before the poem started. You can just imagine someone turning round to the persona and telling him that he is really selfish and why couldn't he be more like Arnold (the other person in the poem), and then him turning round and almost shouting: 'Oh, no one can deny / That Arnold is less selfish than I', in response to the people.

The only thing that really changes in the first five stanzas is the tone of the persona's voice, as the more he describes Arnold's life, the more he feels sorry for him and the more he begins to think that he got a better deal than Arnold. However once we reach stanza six, things change quite dramatically and things really do begin to get interesting. The persona changes his mind about Arnold's decision to get married and begins to try and convince us that there is no real difference between the two men, and that Arnold is not 'less selfish than I', but in fact he is just as selfish, if not more so.

The argument that the persona bases this theory on, is that Arnold wanted to get married, he wasn't forced into it, he didn't sacrifice anything to get married. He wanted a wife and children and therefore marriage is the most selfish thing Arnold could have done because it is what HE WANTED TO DO. Arnold 'still did it for his own sake.'

The persona comes to the conclusion that there is no reason for him being called selfish, or more selfish than Arnold, because just as he avoided marriage for himself and his own reason, so did Arnold get married and start a family. 'So he and I are the same'.

Ultimately, I think that what Larkin is trying to say here, is that no matter how hard we try to be selfless, when it comes to life choices 99% of the time, we will be selfish and make a choice in terms of how we want our live to turn out. Even if you want to live it for someone else's benefit, its still what you want to do with it... it still selfish, and we can't help it.

DOCKERY AND SON (poem) by Philip Larkin

Dockery and Son, is one of Phillip Larkin's poems which focuses on the idea of having children and it also shares many of the themes that appear in Self's the Man. In this poem, Larkin's persona discusses whether or not children are a good thing or not and whether they are beneficial to a man's image.

Initially, the first stanza, Larkin leads you to believe that the poem is just about reminiscing about his (or his persona's) time at Oxford University and the friends he made while he was there. And throughout the first stanza, this is mainly what he his doing. He has returned to Oxford and is talking to the Dean, who mentions that the son of one of his old university friends is now studying at the university and this gets him thinking about the choices he made or didn't make throughout his life leading unto this point. There is little more to say about this stanza.

Stanza two is where things really start to get interesting. He catches his train, 'ignored' and then begins to think about what the dean had said about Dockery's son being at the university and he also begins to have thoughts about his own choice to not have children. "Did he get his son // at nineteen, twenty?" suggests to us that he is shocked that his friend had a child so young and it also gives us the idea that maybe the persona did know his friend as well as he thought he did. The notion that Dockery had his son so young tells us quite clearly that this is what he wanted from the start. You would have to be certain that you definitely wanted children to make the conscious choice to have kids so early on in life. At this point in the poem, it is clear that Larkin is beginning to emphasis the importance of life choice and how important it is to take them seriously.

I really like the way that he describes life choices 'like sand-clouds, thick and close'. It really does do justice to the way that these choices seem to be around us. Before you get to them, you can see really clearly what the choice is and when you're going to make it, and  sometimes you can even see if there's going to be a better way around it, like you can see a sand cloud from miles and miles away in the distance. However once you are inside a sand cloud, it is difficult to get any clarity of how to get out, how big the situation is or what that answer will be. It can be confusing and difficult to know what to do, also sand-clouds always seem off in the distance until you are inside one. Equally, life choice are always a lot closer than you think that are. This links into the epiphany that Larkin has towards the end of the poem. He seems to come to the realization that if you're not careful, life will just pass by you and 'whether or not we use it, it goes'. What Larkin is say here, is that even if we don't consciously make a life choice at all, time and life isn't going to wait around for us to catch up. Life keeps on going whether we like it or not, coming ultimately to 'the end of age' which we know is a euphemism for death.

I believe that very little of this poem is about Dockery and his son, but more about the epiphany that this man and his son unknowingly ignite within Larkin's poetic persona.