Mr Satisfaction Guaranteed by Doris O'Connor

Amazing book!

I was desperate to read this after reading the sneak peak on Doris's blog. And it was great!

The part with the ice was brilliant, very sexy.

***SPOILER***

I never seen the ending coming, that they were married. I think the whole thing of acting out the first time they met on each anniversary is sweet, and kind of hot lol.

Definitely another fab read from Doris. Well done!

'Banned Books Week'

So I heard from a good BC friend (thanks Laura :D) that next week is banned books week. The American Library Association will celebrate “Banned Book Week,” a week dedicated to non-censorship and the anniversary of the freedom to read.

Check out The lists of 'banned' books over the last 10 years here:

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged#2011

What do you think?

I'm quite surprised that some of these books are there.
I mean To Kill a Mockingbird is a book everyone should read. I read it in school when I was about 12, and it has stuck with me ever since and is now one of my all time favourite books.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is on there too which is another great book.

And come on, twilight and Harry Potter! Why are these on the list?!

I have to say, some of them I haven't read so I can't comment. But this list has given me some incentive to read more of these 'banned' books and see for myself what's going on.

The Playdate by Louise Millar

I recently read The Playdate by Louise Millar.
I really enjoyed it and found it rather hard to put down. It's the first full book I've read on my new kindle.

This is The synopsis:
Single mother Callie has come to rely heavily on her best friend Suzy. But Callie suspects Suzy's life isn't as simple as it seems. It's time she pulled away - going back to work is just the first step towards rediscovering her old confidence. So why does she keep putting off telling Suzy about her new job? Suzy and Callie live close to each other on a typical cramped, anonymous London street. Neighbours seem to move in, and move on, before you have even learned their names. Callie's increased sense of alienation leads her to try to befriend a new resident on her street, Debs. But Debs is anxious, odd. You wouldn't trust her with your child - especially not if you knew anything about her past. A brilliant and chilling evocation of modern life, The Playdate is a real talking-point book for mothers everywhere.

I honestly thought I had it all worked out, and kept telling my other half I knew what was going to happen. I was wrong, I didn't see it coming!

***SPOILER***

I really thought Debs was going to kidnap Rae. It was the things she was saying like she knew how to stop kids like her from whining. She was a bit crazy though wasn't she bless her! The noises she kept hearing I thought were going to all be in her imagination. But no, it was Suzy!!! I mean, yeah her husband was having an affair with her best friend, but was there any need to kidnap Rae and try to hurt her? Wasn't the kid's fault was it?! I didn't see it coming that Callie was having an affair with Jez, or that Jez was Rae's father. The part where a man walks back into the room and take Callie upstairs, Callie said it wasn't wrong as he is her child's father, which made me think it was Tom. I never for one minute imagined it was Jez.

And Poor Callie, brainwashed by her best mate, trying to get back to work, and having all this stuff happen. Rae being knocked over, back in hospital, then the car crash! That kid has been through some ups and downs hasn't she.

I really really enjoyed this, and will definitely look out for more of Louise Millar's stuff!

I have my kindle!

I now have joined the rest of the world and have a kindle!
I have always been a 'real' book lover, but started to use the kindle app on my android phone, and fell in love :D
The only problem with the phone app, is it eats away at your battery, and I Was having to charge it mid day, and at night. So my lovely other half decided to buy me a kindle touch as an early Christmas present. It's charging now, but I can't wait to add all of my books to it and get reading!
I have a lovely pink case with a light on its way in the post too, and it stands up so I'll be able to read while I'm having lunch!

The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Well, the first 2 really as I gave up on the last one! I can't really get into it at all for some reason. I will carry on with it at some point.

I actually loved the first two books in this series. I found them very hard to put down. Which is why I'm really disspointed in the third one.

I remember crying at one part of the first book, I'll say no more.

I can't comment on how it will end either as I obviously haven't read the last book yet, so I will continue this when it's read. I don't know who I want Katniss to end up with, Peeta or Gale. Peeta on one hand is amazing and has saved her life, and really seems to love her. Gale though has been her only friend for a long time, and I think she holds real feelings for him. Oh, I can't decide!

Have you read this trilogy? What did you think?

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

This is the third Stephen King book I've read, the first of his 'horror' books.

I actually quite enjoyed it. The first night I sat down with it, I read 29%, then didn't pick it up for a few days. Then read to 74% yesterday, and finished it this morning.

For those of you who haven't read it, here's the synopsis:

On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror.
As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her -- protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods....

I loved the way Trisha kept Tom Gordon with her. I felt anyway, that you could really understand just how much she adores him. I thought the woods were pretty well described, and the parts in the marshy woodlands really had me feeling the eeriness of the place. I wasn't sure what I thought the 'thing' was going to be, but I don't think I imagined it the way it ended up being. All in all I thought this was a pretty good book, and a nice easy read for my first SK horror. I'll definitely be reading more of his stuff.

Movies of books...

Movies of books.

I've had a few conversations on this topic lately, especially on BabyCentre. Personally, I prefer the books, and usually I'm rather disappointed in the movie.

I've been trying to think of which books I've read and also seen the movie.

• Fried Green Tomatoes (loved this movie and loved the book, can't believe I'd seen the movie so many times before reading the book!)
• Hearts in Atlantis (was very disappointed in the movie after falling in love with the book)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (amazing book, and was adapted to the big screen brilliantly)
• Harry Potter 1 & 2 (I saw the movies before reading any of the books, and I have to say love both. although there are some parts of the books which aren't in the movies, which would have been good to have been included)
• The Green Mile (my all time favorite book, and an amazing movie too, always makes me cry)
• Twilight (now I loved, loved loved these books, and was utterly disappointed in the movie. In fact, I watched the first 2 movies, then haven't bothered with the others)
• The Road (I saw this movie before reading the book too, and remember being in total shock after watching it. Then I read it and was left in even more shock by the book)
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (this book was brilliant, very moving and very sad. I recently watched the movie, and was rather disappointed by the ending and how it was different)
• The Color Purple (Another movie I saw before reading the book, and loved both)
• The Witches (I saw this movie lots when I was younger, and read the book a few times too, so I#m not sure which one came first for me, but they're both good)
• Peter Pan (OK I didn't get on so well with this book for some reason, but the movie is a Disney classic, therefore it's brilliant)
• Alice in Wonderland (another great Disney movie, and a  book which I only read last year. Managed quite well with the book)

And to be honest, I'm realizing that I've pretty much seen either the movie or read the book, but not done both! And most of them that I have done both, I tend to have seen the movie first.

I have so many books on my to read list of which I've seen the movie:

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• The rest of the Harry Potter series
• The Virgin Suicides
• The Shawshank redemption
• The Narnia books
• The Cider House Rules
• Interview with a vampire
• Schindlers List
• Misery
• Philip Pullmans dark Materials series

I think I need to get reading some of these!

Do you prefer the book or the movie?