City Lives- Patricia Scanlan

I absolutely adore Irish chic-lit, it has to be my favourite type of chic lit. It sounds a silly thing to say but it is so magical and innocent. Life always seems far better in Ireland. This book did not fail to disappoint me. Great location, sassy men and a good mix of drama, led to me not being able to put this book down. The book was a little formulaic and predicable i.e disgruntled wife stands up to husband, pregnancy after loosing a child etc bu i don't care i enjoyed it.

Monster

This book is all about the Josef Fritzal, his early life and his later imprisonment of his daughter in the cellar and her treatment at the hands of her father. I found this book really well written and interesting. It does not sensationalize him or his crimes, it explores possible causes in a balanced way. One question that the book leaves you with is why the so many child abuse/imprisonment cases in Austria?

Ross Kemp Gangs

I really did not know what to expect when I picked this book, but I was really pleasantly surprised. I thought that Ross Kemp presented a balanced view of the gangs, speaking to both gang members and police. He also didn't sugar coat there brutal crimes or try to make martyrs of the gang members. This book really made me think outside of the box and see the bigger picture about gangs, such as poverty, abuse, government parties etc. I did not know much about Ross Kemp, apart from him being in Eastenders but after reading the book he seems a real sweetie pie.

James Patterson The Jester

I was reluctant to read this book, as I am more used to the Alex Cross and Woman's Murder Club books. I had mixed feelings as i did not want patterson to ruin the crusades for me. But I am really glad I did, it was a riveting fast paced action thriller. I am 100% certain that it was not historically accurate and I am sure Patterson used every cliche in the historical fiction/ romance/thriller genre, but I don't care I enjoyed reading it. I loved that it was full of what i would class as filth and dirty jokes, guess I am a dirty girl at heart.

Katie Fforde -Paradise Fields

I love Katie Fforde books,to me they are like you favourite warm comfy sweater. Warm and reassuring. Paradise fields, was enjoyable but not one of Ffordes best. I found the lead character Nel, very self deprecating which became annoying after a while. But I did find the supporting characters better written, especially the 'sensible' boyfriend Simon. I found the fight for the fields a written very disjointedly and uninspiring at times. If this was a school report I would grade this as C+, needs to try harder.

Derek Acorah- Haunted Britain

I feel a bit of a fraud to say that I enjoyed this entertaining book, even though it was amateurish and poorly written. The whole book was a collection of 100 most haunted places in Britain, but instead of developing n interesting story behind each place Derek just made fleeting remarked bold statements. There was substance to his points. There was also no 'evidence' about each place, he appeared to pluck these stories from thin air. There was a few things I noticed about the ghost of theses haunted places is they tended to be a black/grey/white nun, black /grey/white lady or a black/grey/white monk. Also there was no ghosts from the 20th century! I think because it was so bad, that is why I loved it.

Gail Porter Laid Bare

I was not expecting much from this autobiography as I've read so much crap recently from this over saturated market. But was pleasantly surprised at how good this book was. It was an easy honest read, which portrayed Gail as a like able lady with demons to fight. It was really painful to read about her attempted suicide and battles with depression.

The Other Boleyn Girl- Phillipa Gregory

This book does what it says on the tin. Tells the story of Anne's sister, Mary. Who was used and abused by Henry VIII and was usurped from the kings side by her notorious sister. If there was a line you could measure humanity on Mary and Anne would be on the opposite end. Vastly different and brilliantly developed as characters by Gregory. I was secretly pleased when Anne's head was chopped off, as Gregory wasn't sympathetic towards Anne, she was portrayed as a power mad vixen . This has been the best book I have read in a long time. I've never read any historical fiction, and loved how modern the themes of the book are, it really reminded me of our culture of celebrity relationships! It was brimming with sex and scandal... I loved every word of it, there was not a single, boring page and I never wanted it to end! Can't wait too read more about the Tudor's.

Harold Shipman Prescriptin for Murder- Brian Whittle and Jean Richie

This book is basically the story of Harold Shipman, his early life, career (doctor and mass murderer) and the 'aftermath' of his crimes.I found it a very interesting book and very informative, well written but lacking an emotive element to the writing. It is missing the sensationalistic element that a lot of true life murder books have. But on the other hand i don't know an injection, to quote a politician can be 'sexed up'. Also the victims characters was not developed, which is a shame because you don't get the same bond you get with other victims of murder, the victims, with out being crude and disrespectful, are almost throwaway characters in this book.It has left me with one big question, which if anyone knows the answer to please let me know!First of all i was not very moved, as I feel you should really be moved by a book about mass murder i have a few theories why; a) I am secretly Psychopathic/suffering from a personality disorder b) It's a sign of the times I have become desensitized to murder and crime and only react to sensationalism c) That there is a set formula for writing true crime books and if the author deviates from this it throws me! d) Lack of emotion+ murder = no impact on reader? e) the nature of the crimes i.e. the convectional 'lack' of violence, it almost makes the crime feel unreal, a society dictates to us that crimes especially murder are physically painful.

Answers on a postcard...............................or in our technical age answers in the comment box