Shelfie #3

This is not really a shelfie as I have not really had chance to read or buy new books lately. However, since I finished all my assignments (hooray!) I decided to treat myself...

I am a big Walking Dead fan and decided to buy the first 1,000 page installment of the comic books. I have spent the last couple of minutes flicking through and I am so excited to start reading this! Definitely going to take me a while to get through it though...

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage Books
Release Date: 2nd May 2002
Genre: Romance, Crime, Classics, Period Drama

Summary:
In the summer of 1935, Briony Tallis tells a lie. Little does she know that this little indulgence on her imagination will have a detrimental impact on the lives of the ones she loves.

I think that is all I can say without giving away too much...

Review:
When I started reading this book, I was expecting it to be extremely boring as I am not a fan of the "Downtown Abbey Manor House" genre. I was, however, pleasantly surprised and became extremely engrossed with the characters and the plot.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Title: My Sister's Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 6th April 2004
Genre: Fiction, Family, Romance

Summary:
Sara Fitzgerald would do almost anything for her daughter, Kate. However, when Kate is diagnosed with leukaemia; Sara's love for her daughter is truely put to test.

Anna, a by-product of Sara's mission to save Kate, was specifically designed and conceived to save Kate's life by providing a much needed bone marrow transplant. However, Sara's world is turned up-side down when Anna decides that, after many years, she does not want to help anymore and sues her own parents for the rights to her body.

The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear

Sorry for the lack of books reviews lately; I have been swamped (no exaggeration there!) with university work :-(

However, seeing as I haven't blogged in a couple of days, I thought I would do something a bit different and review a collection of poetry... This could either go very right, or very, very wrong.

Oh, and it is World Poetry Day today!!

Collection: Faber Children's Classics; The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear
Works Included: A Book of Nonsense (1846) Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets (1871) More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc. (1872) Laughable Lyrics, A Fourth Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, Music, etc. (1877) and Nonsense Songs and Stories (1895)
Author: Edward Lear
Editor: Holbrook Jackson

Review: 
Poetry is a something I am not entirely comfortable with. I mean, I struggle to appreciate it most of the time; let alone understand and enjoy it!

Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson

Title: Before I Go to Sleep
Author: S. J. Watson
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: 2nd January 2012
Genre: Thriller, Crime

Summary: 
Imagine waking up everyday and not knowing who or where you are. You do not recognise the people around you; even your own family! Just when they start to help you remember... it is time to go back to sleep!

This is the life of Christine.

Review:
There are some books which, after you've read them, leave you speechless. This, however, is not one; as, in my opinion, there is nothing remotely remarkable about this book. I mean, I can barely remember what happened in it... (kind of ironic, ey?).

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Cover for Picador film tie-in edition
(published 16th October 2012)

Title: The Silver Linings Playbook
Author: Matthew Quick
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Release Date: First published 2nd September 2008
Genre: Romance

Summary:
Pat is a man with a plan. Get fit. Read books. Get his wife back. Simples!

However, like most things in life, it is not that simple. Especially seeing as Pat has just got out of a psychiatric hospital and his wife, has now, become estranged.

When everything seems to be going on, something appears beyond the horizon...

Here comes Tiffany, his silver lining.

Review:
When writing my reviews for posts, I usually find it easy to class the different books into their relevant genres but when writing this, I really did struggle.

The Devil Wears Prada & Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger

Cover for Anchor file tie-in edition
(released 30th May 2006)

Title: The Devil Wears Prada
Author: Lauren Weisberger
Publisher: DoubleDay
Release Date: First published 15th April 2003
Genre: Romance, Young Adult, Fiction

Summary:
Fresh out of university; Andrea Sacks has high hopes for her future career in journalism. However, times are tough and jobs are scarce.

Although not her first choice; she lands a prestigious role at the famous Runway fashion magazine as the assistant to the demanding, successful and utterly devilish, Miranda Priestly.

One year she has to last. One year fetching coffee and running errands. One year of sheer hell.

It will be worth it.

Review:
When I read this book last summer, I was commuting daily to London on the train to do work experience at a publishing house. Whilst everyone around me was reading The Financial Times and profound works by Shakespeare; I was reading The Devil Wears Prada. This book is unashamedly a staple piece of the chick-lit (there is that word again!) genre. It is a guilty pleasure, that women everywhere should read. End of.