Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

This is the first of 3 Jodi Picoult books I am going to review. Although I had heard of her work, I had never read any of them so I allowed myself a pick of 3 to give myself a broad view of her style.

Perfect Match follows the story of an assistant district attorney, Nina Frost who prosecutes the sot of crimes that tear families apart on a daily basis. This is all well until Nina discovers her own child, only 5 years of age, has been sexually abused.

Suddenly her life, career and home life are thrown into disarray, suspicion and devastation as she tries to hold her broken family together and find justice for Nathaniel her son.

Despite her professional training Nina's taste for vengeance is gripping and she is about to embark on a journey that most parents would argue was legally wrong but morally right.

It is a thought-provoking read, which is constantly moving and developing into different angles and when you think everything is starting to come together another development happens to throw the case into chaos again.

Being the first of Picoult's books that I had read I was keen to pick up the next.

7/1 0

A Fair Cop by Michael Bunting

How PC 451 Became Prisoner DK8639



Michael Bunting has taken his scribbles accounting his horrific experience from police officer to prisoner and turned them into a fantastic, honest and graphic read.



Michael had been a regular PC, after following his dream and joining the force following in his father's footsteps. After a routine patrol call however, his life was turned upside-down and he found himself not only in court on charges others found ridiculous, but subsequently sentenced to a terrifying prison term.



Once in prison he found himself spat at, beaten in front of guards, attacked in the showers, had buckets of urine thrown over him, had his food tampered with and came frighteningly close to suicide.



Michael doesn't preach, doesn't exaggerate or use over fussy turns of phrase. His book is an honest and open account written in a style we can all relate to, making it all the more horrifying. My heart didn't stop pounding from the judges decision till his accounts of the day of release.



Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.....a must read for everyone! Our eye's need to be opened to the corruption going on in the prison system!



10/10

City of Thieves By David Benioff

Sorry for the long absence, but it has not been wasted! I have got a number of new reviews to post for all the books I have been reading over the past few months.....well the ones worth reviewing anyway!!!

So here goes.....

City of Thieves by David Benioff

David Benioff has written a couple of books in his literary career, neither of which I have read. In fact until I bought this book I had not heard of him. I have heard of films he has screen written, like Kite Runner and X-Men etc. I was in Tescos and I spotted a paper cover on this book that claimed to give the buyer 2 free books if they did not enjoy the book. Intrigued I took up the challenge. Obviously there was an end date to this offer which well exceeded the time it would take to read the book, so I thought, "Hey, read it and then trade in in for a couple of new ones..." Whether or not I did this will come later!

The book is set in one of the coldest winters in history in a war torn city under German siege. The main characters, shy Lev and charismatic, risk-taker Kolya are thrown together in a mission to find a dozen eggs in a week in order to be forgiven for their crimes.

The back cover didn't fill me with too much enthusiasm...mmmm a story about an egg hunt they say? But my curiosity took the better of me and I began reading.

387 glorious, heart-pounding, riveting pages later I dropped the book into the hand of my husband and said READ!! It was brilliant.

Without giving the plot away too much and thus ruining the read for others, I can tell you among the content the young men encounter cannibalism, brothels, murder, desperate hunger, capture, Nazis and bonds so strong they will change their lives. I have not read a book so fast in a long time.

Usually my husband and I differ greatly on books and when I thrust a book into his hand insisting he read it he rarely gets to page 50 before giving up and returning to his own favoured genres. City of Thieves proved a rare exception to this rule. I have since passed it on to another 4 family members and friends and have not heard a bad review yet. Needless to say the book is still in my possession, and I intend to carry on circulating it!!

I never did want the free ones in exchange!!

Fashion Babylon by Imogen Edward-Jones & Anonymous

If you love fashion, love the catwalk and the labels and the gossip then this is the book for you. In the same series as Hotel Babylon, this book uses a fictional designer to deliver true tales from behind the scenes of the crazy fashion world.

How do those models stay that thin, who is taking what, why do the seasons change, who decides what??? The list is endless. You feel, by reading this book, that you are eavesdropping on a delicious conversation about all the famous household names. We all aspire to look good, but at what cost will the industry go to keep our interest?

It is a naughty, gripping, revealing no-holds-barred-sneaky-peek behind the scenes of a world most of us will never be lucky enough to grace!

I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read others by this author.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Catch 22 is a satirical novel set in world war 2. I didn't have a clue what to expect from it, other than it was most popular in the "best books" lists I browse on occasion. These usually tweak my curiosity and I bought the book with no preconceptions...well only that it was considered one of the greatest literary creations to come out of the 20th century. No pressure there then!

It mainly follows the plight of Yossarian a Bombardier, and many others from his squadron. Although on the whole I know little about the American involvement in Italy, the satire was not lost on me and even to someone who knows little about the army, the book entertained me page by page.

Catch 22 itself is a contradictory military rule where one cannot win. The desired outcome is unattainable. For example, Yossarian wishes to be grounded from his flight missions in the grounds that he is crazy. The Dr informs him that he could ground him due to him being crazy but the fact he has told the Dr he is crazy actually points to the fact that he is sane. To fly more missions would mean he was crazy but to ask to be grounded due to insanity means you are rational enough to know the danger you are in therefore you are sane! Due to this catch 22 no crazy man who asks to be grounded because of insanity can actually be grounded because by asking they are classed as sane!

Mind whirring brilliance!

Sense and Sensibility By Jane Austen

The story revolves around Elinor and Marianne, two daughters of Mr. Dashwood by his second wife. They have a younger sister, Margaret, and an older half-brother named John. When their father dies, the family estate passes to John, and the women are left in reduced circumstances. The novel follows the Dashwood sisters to their new home, a cottage on a distant relatives property, where they experience both romance and heartbreak. The contrast between the sisters' characters is eventually resolved as they each find love and lasting happiness. Through the events in the novel, Elinor and Marianne find a balance between sense (or pure logic) and sensibility (or pure emotion) in life and love. (Taken from Wikipedia.com...couldnt have said it better myself!!)

Sorry but this book was so awful in my opinion I couldn't bear to review it. All women seem to do in those days is sit brooding over which loser of a man is in love with them or become utterly devastated when something doesn't go right with said gentleman! They should have had a version of the Jeremy Kyle show in those days to go and spar it out! I couldn't take all the unnecessary drama!

In it's favour it was very beautifully written with wonderful use of English. Shame the content was like dull dishwater!

Sorry I think I have just massacred a classic! I feel strongly though, I have to warn people not to waste days of their precious lives reading this twaddle.

I should have had more "sense" not to read it! Never mind.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has become a classic much loved across the world, so I was curious to see what the fuss was all about. The themes that threw themselves at me were certainly morality based issues affecting many of us today, which is why i think the book has remained so popular.

As Scout and Jem grow up in their innocent child-world, life full of game and adventure with Dill, their father Articus Finch seems old and dull in comparison. The children spend their days tormenting the Radley house to catch a glimpsp of Boo Radley who no one has seen in years, and of whom rumours around the children are rife.

Articus, the moral hero of the book who's integrity and warmth are one of my favourite things about the novel, warns them off the Radley "adventure" they are on and the children slowly begin to open their eyes to the prejudice in their town.

Mirroring this prejudice, the children become increasingly aware of the case of Tom Robinson. Their father is representing him in a trail where he is accused of raping a local girl. The evidence is stacked in his favour, but the colour of his skin is not.

The children witness the atrocious behaviour of many of their so-called friends and neighbours and begin to see Articus in a different light.

Although the battle is lost before it is fought, Articus displays an unnerving defence for poor innocent Tom. The battle is subsequently lost, but the war is not. Though his rigorous and righteous battle for Tom, the community in which they had almost lost faith in seem to be moving some step forward thanks to this event.

It surfaces afterwards that Articus was not the only soldier fighting this war and others in the community have influenced the turn of events.

The readers eyes are opened to a corruption and evil present in all our societies. One would hope we all had a good sized share of Articus Finch's courage within us.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a thought provoking, impact-fulled read so relevant to our world today.
Sometimes a story though the eyes of a child makes more sense than any other.