Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I always thought that Crime and Punishment was a book people only talked about having read because they wanted to brag about having read it. I was pleasantly surprised, then, to have loved it. It's a cracking read, set in a fascinating time in Russian history, and has some amazingly thought-provoking characters and plot twists. I totally recommend reading this book next time you're on holiday and have the time to really get into it.

Great holiday read rating: 9/10

Overall rating: 9/10

A rant about inappropriate covers and blurbs (and The Other Hand by Chris Cleave)

Many books have totally inappropriate covers. It must be of great frustration to authors - especially women authors - that a book may end up with a cover that attracts the wrong kind of reader. I think women authors get the raw end of this more often than men, as I've noticed that so many books by women end up with shoes, cocktails or lipstick on a pink-themed cover regardless of how relevant they are to the book's content.

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A pet peeve of mine is also blurbs that give away too much plot. Reading on the back cover of the book that it's about a character coping with the loss of their job is one thing if it happens in the first chapter, but deeply irritating if the job isn't lost until half way through the book. Sometimes I wonder if whoever drafts the blurbs on the back of books even understand what it's like to enjoy reading and plot development.

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The great thing about The Other Hand is that a decision was made at some point by the publishers to have an oranage cover and a minimalist blurb. That allowed me to pick it up with nothing but a strong recommendation from a friend, and enjoy it without even knowing the plot beforehand. To give you the same chance I had to enjoy it I won't say any more except that after reading it I gave it to both my Mum and Mother In Law for Christmas last year.

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Publishers having nous rating: 10/10

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Unhappiness at hearing Nicole Kidman wants to be in the movie rating: 9/10

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

This book is the best that I have read in a long time. The plot pulled me in right away (it's about a young boy who accidentally kills his best friend's mother) and the chatty narrative kept me riveted to the end. Like many other fabulous books I don't want to say too much, but that I look forward to other people reading it also so I can talk about it - the themes of fate and destiny kept me thinking about the book long after I had finished. The only flaw I found was it had a little too much foreshadowing which took away the element of surprise in places.

Overall rank: 9/10

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

This wasn't a book that I ever intended to read until I saw it sitting on the bestsellers table at Borders and decided to flip through. It pulled me in right away so I not only bought it but ripped through it in less than 24 hours. The Colour Purple is set in Georgia in the inter-war period and narrated by Celie, a woman that is physically and emotionally abused by both her father and husband. In spite of the gritty subject matter though the book feels surprisingly light and remarkably uplifting in parts.

I don't want to give away to much of the plot so won't say more, but would like to add that The Color Purple was a fabulous read and the best book that I have read in a long time.

Overall rating: 9/10