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"...and That's When It Fell Off in My Hand." (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson)

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by: Louise Rennison

2005-01
Georgia Nicoleson is a distraught teenager, crushed by her love loss. Although, her friends are supporting and it's not long before she meets a new sex god. Georgia argues a lot with her best friend Jas, but she needs her friends to escape the madness of her house. Her family are interfering and an embarrassment to her.

The main character is Georgia Nicoleson. I sympathise for her, because she has quite a troubled life. She finds her family highly embarrassing and she doesn't like her friends to see them at all. She has a cat called Angus, whom is quite like a human to them, and the way that his actions are described is quite human like. Georgia's best friend, Jas, is mentioned frequently throughout and her character is ambitious ... Read More:

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The Resurrectionist

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by: James Bradley

June 19, 2008
This book has stayed with me and I personally found that the second half worked after the first part (for those who haven't read the book, there is change of location and mood). However, it left me with a sense of disappointment. The book rushes along and I was left feeling that more attention and character development for fewer characters would have made for a more rounder novel. However, it is definitely worth reading and indeed was haunting at times.

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Wife in the North

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by: Judith O'Reilly

July 03, 2008
I haven't even finished the book and feel compelled to write a review, partly to defend Judith against the nasty ones here complaining about her running out of petrol. I have had a few of those for my own books, one even complaining that I have a husband called Rupert! This is a really great read. There is so much to relate to, to laugh at and to sympathise with. Judith writes brilliantly, her style is totally addictive and she has a really poignant way of expressing things, especially her feelings for her children. I hope this book does really well, it deserves to. So what if she doesn't know where the nearest garage is?

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Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers

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by: Derek W Haylock

November 15, 2005
This is the book to buy on teaching this subject. It is clearly written, beautifully laid out and provides self assessment exercises to work through in order to clarify what has just been read. There are more provided on the cd rom at the back of the book too. If you are teaching this subject for the first time, moving up or down years or simply want to refresh your knowledge and rekindle your enthusiasm then this is the book for you.

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A Quiet Belief in Angels

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by: R.J. Ellory

January 02, 2008
I had seen A Quiet Belief In Angels at the top of the book chart for a while and decided it was time for me to see what all the fuss was about.

Rarely does a book live up to the hype that has surrounded it but R.J Ellory delivers such a haunting, emotional story that even 5 stars doesn't do it justice.

It starts during the late 1930's in the deep south of America and continues for three more decades. The story is based on a young boy, Joseph Vaughan, and a series of murders that desolates a town in Georgia. The raw emotion, fear and tension of the residents of Augusta Falls is almost life like and you have genuine sympathy for the nightmare that they are going through.

Its extremely well written and you will more than ... Read More:

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Friends Like These

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by: Danny Wallace

July 03, 2008
Danny Wallace, writer and TV presenter, is heading towards his 30th birthday and having an identity crisis. His friends all seem to be moving on and as he looks around his grown up house at his grown up display cushions, he starts to panic. One day he opens an old box of paraphernalia from his childhood and finds an address book. Realising he's lost touch with all his old childhood friends; he sets about tracking them down...

Friends Like These is a warm, funny, honest, heartwarming book about rekindling lost friendships and making the transition from being a twenty-something to a thirty-something. As someone who is only a year off doing just that, I could really relate to Danny's feelings. We all wonder what old friends are doing, and we now have the ... Read More:

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Grow Your Own Veg (Rhs)

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by: Carol Klein, Royal Horticultural Society

January 02, 2007
I am not a gardener, I have never watched gardeners world and have only a small back yard. i somehow came across this book while browsing amazon and thought it would be a nice stocking filler for my husband. anyhow, it is so easy to follow and inspiring that we now have green beans, leeks, onions and shallots growing in our little garden. The difference in taste from supermarket veg is unbelievable. This is a great book that takes you from buying seeds to taking vegetables out of the ground, if i can do it, anyone can! Next season we are moving on to courgettes, potatoes, broccoli........

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The Memory Garden

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by: Rachel Hore

August 06, 2007
A charming, enjoyable book with a thoughtful slant on morals and kindness. The slips between two time periods were handled proficiently and without jarring. For me it was a relaxing, happy read with much to feel at home with. I live near the area and the descriptions of the lanes, villages and people were all well drawn. Not a book to discuss at length but one to pass on to a friend with the knowledge that you are giving them a treat.

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The Selfish Gene

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by: Richard Dawkins

March 16, 2006
Dawkins writes that "the argument of this book is that we, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes" (p.xxi) and that "We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" (p.xxi). Yet, according to him, this book "is not science fiction; it is science" (p.xxi)!

Dawkins contrives to overlook the twin discoveries that:
1. the observable traits of organisms are mostly conditioned by the interactions of many genes;
2. most genes have multiple effects on many of these traits.

Dawkins transfers characteristics with which he is familiar from human behaviour on the macro-level to the inanimate components, "genes", of which we are physically constructed. He then proceeds to argue ... Read More:

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The Pirate's Daughter

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by: Margaret Cezair-Thompson

June 12, 2008
I was really looking forward to Richard and Judys summer reads but this book really dissapointed me. It missed a good storyline and often I thought it included to much uneccessary detail. I found it quite boring and often thought of just giving up on it. Would not reccomend.