Sphere

The Wild Hunt

Chadwick's first novel, and Book One in the Ravenstow Trilogy, 2008-12-03
Note: this edition is a newly rewritten version of this book, and my review is based upon the earlier version. I'd very much like to see how her current writing style might bring this story up to the five star quality of her later books.

Guyan, a Marcher Lord marries Judith of Ravenstow at the order of King William Rufus. They meet on their wedding day, and Guyan finds himself with a not fully matured 16 year old wife. Judith is skittish around her new husband as her now dead father was extremely abusive to both her and her mother. Not everyone is happy with the union, as some would prefer Judith married elsewhere and Guyan must guard his back against attempts on his life. As Guyan and Judith struggle with the treachery and intrigues of the courts of both William Rufus and his brother Henry, they manage to forge a strong and passionate marriage, and Judith grows into a strong willed woman and a force to be reckoned with.

I've read this book twice now, the first being about two years ago before I had read much of the author's later works. It was very interesting to revisit one of her earlier books and see the contrast between them and how the author has grown. While a very well told tale, I did not find the effortless sense of time travel she shows in her later works, as she seamlessly blends the sights, sounds smells and clothing of the medieval period into her stories.

The Mind Gym: Relationships

By Any Means: His Brand New Adventure from Wicklow to Wollongong

A classic travel book of the future, 2008-09-27
I enjoyed this book emmensly. I have read Long Way Round and Long Way Down and found that the 2nd book was much better but By Any Means is defintely the best yet in the series and Charley Boorman comes accross brilliantly. You can really hear his voice if you know him from the TV series. The maps and tables really helped me get a sense of the journey which was a completly bonkers concept but makes for an interesting read.

a good book to take on holiday!

Long Way Down

A story about human bravery and compassion, 2008-09-04
Long Way Down tells the tale of the second journey made by the two crazy guys. Their aim: to travel on motorcycles all the way from John O'Groats... but not to Land's End. Cape Town, no less! Along the way they arranged to make stop-offs with three different charities that they're involved with, in order to raise awareness and therefore hopefully more cash for these good causes. Because of this, the book was a real mixture of tension (bike problems, falling off, scary roads, border problems etc), fun (when everything is going right, and the guys are happy on the open road) and emotion (charity visits). It all made for an enjoyable and informative read. For a non-fiction title, there was a great deal of description of many of the places the guys visited, which gave a real sense of place, and the people in the places. The poorer parts of Africa, certainly seemed a million miles away from some of the adverts you see on the television, which give the impression all the people are unhappy. According to Ewan and Charley, although, yes their lives are far from ideal, they're happy. The poor souls living with landmines, HIV and poverty, despite their hardships, still have hope. And they have one another. It was touching to hear about how kind and welcoming the people are, despite the language barriers. The book really opened my eyes to some of these places, and I'm sure it had the same effect on many other people.

The charity work the guys did is great, and the way it's been written about increases the possibility of more people wanting to help. But rather than just sending money and forgetting about it, the pictures painted are more likely to have people wanting to visit, and see for themselves. And given that tourism is the biggest industry in most of these areas, despite their tiny visitor numbers, it can only be a good thing.

This is a book about a journey, but there are so many other things packed in there too, it's a really good read and I think it'll appeal to everyone, regardless of whether or not they're interested in biking or travel. It's also a story about human bravery and compassion. The only downside were the number of photographs - I'd have liked to have seen more.

The Brutal Art

Another Kellerman takes over, 2008-07-28
Faye and Jonathan Kellerman are both bestselling thriller writers, but it seems that their greatest contribution to the genre could well be their son, Jesse, whose latest psychological drama is as startlingly original as his first two. This author, already an award-winning playwright, has no need of blood, bullets, guts and gore to build tension; he knows exactly which buttons to push to keep readers anxiously engaged - even when the plot apparently involves nothing more sinister than a New York art gallery owner, Ethan Muller, who discovers a cache of brilliant but disturbing drawings by a mysterious artist who has since disappeared. Ethan puts the pictures on show, and they start to sell for large sums. But then it begins to emerge that the artist could have been involved in a series of brutal child murders 40 years before, and the drawings might even be evidence. Kellerman writes with grace and style, and shows very nimble creative footwork when long buried secrets about Ethan's own family begin inexorably to break into the fictions so carefully constructed by people who want the past to remain somewhere else.

Book of the Dead

Not Great At All, 2008-10-21
The last two or three Scarpetta novels have been nowhere near as good and this one's the worse by far. With around 50 pages to go I wanted to jack it in but persisted. Loads of confusing, loose ends and it seems rushed. I'm bloody annoyed as there was a "hanging" ending and I'm interested to know what happens next. However, if she hadn't written an ending like this I'd not be bothering anymore as they're not the great stories they used to be.

Things Ain't What They Used to be

Things ain't what they used to be, 2008-11-03
This book is very funny. Had me laughing out loud. Mr. G. has a great turn of phrase, and had a great memory. Makes you think Oh Yeah I remember that. Highly Recommended. Even the dedication is very amusing.
Well Done MR.G.

The Host

Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 2008-10-31
The book THE HOST is a lot like Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT saga in the fact that the whole point of the story is that love is the most important thing. What's different though is (obviously) the storyline. Yes, that is right - this story has nothing to do with vampires; instead, aliens have taken over our planet.

The time is somewhere in the future and our world is not as we know it. Instead of mass murders making headline news, there are articles on the best type of flowers to plant. The most disturbing article is that the bridge near Maple Avenue is due for a repainting. The world is full of peace and love. No one argues, no one fights, and there is not even a hint of violence in this bizarre world.

Obviously, these are not humans we are talking about.

The aliens that came to Earth would capture a human to use its body as a host. (Hence the title.) They stretch their tentacles around the nerves and "control panels" located in our heads; thus gaining complete control of the body. Unfortunately for the human, this process eliminates them. The aliens were able to gain control of almost every person this way. By continuing their host's former habits they were able to go virtually unnoticed. Luckily for humankind, there are always a few observant people that actually see things the way that they truly are

Our story is focused on Melanie and Wanda. Melanie is (or was) one of those few humans that was able to escape. Unfortunately, she was caught and because she might have information on other fugitives stuffed in her head, Wanda is put inside her. When a soul is put in a human, it has access to every memory their host might have had. Well, at least that is what is supposed to happen. Instead, Wanda reaches some "walls" within her mind. She later finds out that Melanie is still in there and kicking. She is even able to communicate with Wanda, using her (or their) thoughts.

This starts a whole new thread of events. The most important being Melanie convinces Wanda to go and look for Jared, her true love, and Jamie, her little brother. They are both labeled as "wild humans." After getting lost in the desert and nearly dying, Wanda is found by the humans and is taken to their hideout, a large cave, as a captive. She is surprised to see so many other humans still without a soul within them and even more surprised to see Jamie and Jared have made it here.

Unfortunately many, including Jared, hate Wanda for what she is and what her kind has done to their world.

At first I thought the story itself was rather lame. I mean aliens...? Come on, can't she do anything better than that? Not to mention it had an extremely slow beginning. Once they reached the caves, though, things really heated up and Ms. Myer's amazing writing skills started to really shine through. Personally, I think that if anybody else tried writing a book with this specific topic it would go down in flames, but Stephenie Meyer was able to finish it with grace and in a way that made me want her to write a sequel.

Reviewed by: Abby - The Class

You Can Be Thin: The Ultimate Programme to End Dieting... Forever

Mesmerizing, 2008-11-11
Marissa Peer's voice is simply mesmerizing, there's something about her voice that instantly relaxes me. I do not agree at all with one reviewer who thought Marissa's voice was annoying, I'm astounded anyone would think that. My husband loved her voice so much he was convinced this book would work simply based on the way she sounds! I found the audio book and hypnosis CD one of the best I've listened to in ages, I truly believe I can beat my constant fixation with food in particular sweets with the help of Marissa Peer. I liked the book so much I paid Marissa Peer a visit to see if she could help me conceive, as this is something I'd been having trouble with for quite some time, and two weeks later I tested positive! As far as I'm concerned this is an extremely good buy.

The Cupid Effect

reader, 2008-03-26
i have read dorothy koomson's other books and really enjoyed them. in particular my best friends girl. this one however was awful i found it really a pain to read and was so dissapointed