Nearly everyone is aware of Harry Potter. This week marks the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter & Chamber of Secrets being published. This is my review on the second book in the Harry Potter series and hopefully will not encounter too many spoilers. It is a solid sequel to book number one and is a reread for me, over 10 years later. This book takes off from the first in the series as we follow Harry through his summer holidays and 2nd year at Hogwarts. It has quite a few familiar faces and a few new ones. This book is a children’s classic that is well-known throughout Europe, UK &…
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[REVIEW] Pigeon Blood-Red – Ed Duncan
This book attracted me to the synopsis. I like most crime books and haven’t read one in a while. As a short book of only 201 pages, I thought it would be quite quick to read, which it was. DISCLAIMER: This book was sent to me via the publisher and author. This doesn’t affect my full review below. This book focuses on criminals and the people around them, both good and bad. As I was reading this I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is an interesting book which is a fast-paced and good character and plot-lines. The characters, although not relatable due to being criminals, are interesting and make you want…
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[REVIEW] Animal Farm – George Orwell
“ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.” – George Orwell As I finish this book I am reminded why I wanted to read it. Not only is it a good commentary on modern sociology but a great book to read. This book follows the liberation & revolution of a farm in England that drives out all humans and establishes a hierarchy of animals in control of themselves. It is a quick read and rather interesting. This is a tale that shows the darker side of human nature through the eyes of animals copying them. This book is one of my favourite books of 2018. I…
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[REVIEW] Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
A classic children’s fairytale that spanned the ages. This is a book that when you approach it you have to bear in mind that it is aimed at children so the writing style is different to what you would expect in an adult book. It is an interesting tale of how Alice (a young girl) fell down a rabbit hole while chasing a white rabbit who was “late”. Alice goes on a journey to find the rabbit and meets some peculiar people and animals on the way. This book is enchanting to read and a quick read too. The repetition of the word curious throughout the book reminds us that…
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[REVIEW] Wicked – Gregory Maguire
All about Politics, Witches and Wizards. I want to say I am reviewing this book after not reading in ages! Now that I think of it, I really should do a re-read at the end of the year when I get some time out of my busy reading schedule. This book is my all-time favourite book and it’s pretty good if I may say so myself. On my first read, I dived right into and it took me about 3 days to finish it. I really loved it. It is basically the backstory of who the “Wicked Witch of the West” in “The Wizard of Oz” is; where she came from,…
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[REVIEW] Cold Feet: The Lost Years – Carmel Harrington
A trip down memory lane with the original cast! This book arrived nice & early with a press release explaining the publishing date, plus quite a bit of information on both the book and author. I then picked it up to read and here is my review… This book is centred around the lives of the original cast of Cold Feet. It is an easy read and is based on the time between the old first series 1-5 in the 90/00s and the beginning of series 6. The current series airing in 2017 on ITV (UK) is series 7. After reading a few paragraphs it is easy to slip back into…
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[REVIEW] Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen
One woman’s journey through Mental Health. Once I received this book I set about reading it. It only took me 2-3 days to finish this book because not only is it a short book but interesting. It is an autobiography; about the author, Susanna Kaysen’s few years spent within a mental institution (famous for housing Sylvia Plath) on a teenage girls wing. The reason I picked this book up was that I had already watched the film (with Angelina Jolie, Brit Murphy & Winona Ryder) which made me fascinated about how close to the book the film was. The film was brilliant, I wondered if the book was too? Yes,…
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[REVIEW] Vendetta – Jack McSparron
Mafia, Murder and drugs; all in one book? This book caught my eye when it came up on my bulk emails (linked to up and coming authors & review ebook copies) as an advertisement. So I grabbed it before it disappeared. This book is a quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It took me just under 24 hours to completely finish this as it was so entertaining. The man character is a kick-ass woman called Maggie Black, who is incredible. Her partner in this book and part-time lover is Leon. I feel both have an interesting backstory which propelled the story on well. The story takes place mainly in Venice,…