Reviews- Fiction/Non Fiction!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru

This was one of those books that I KEPT seeing in charity shops which, rather from making me think it was a sign I should read it, made me think- if everyone has given this away to charity then it must be bad. In the end I saw it for sale in the ex-library book section for 30p so gave it a go. I really enjoyed "Remains of the Day" by Ishiguro but for some reason I was expecting to not like this book. It turns out I was wrong-it was a book that I read in one sitting and was not what I was expecting at all. It managed to put across the same feelings about the passing of time and fragility of life that the reader gets from "Remains of the Day" but in the context of a Nineteen Eighty Four style world vision. Yup.

The Girls by Lori Lansens
This was another book I thought would be rubbish (I obviously judge a book by it's cover...) but it was better than I expected. A story told by fictional conjoined twins about their lives. I wouldn't say rush out and get this but if you see it (like the previous book) for sale for 30p it's an interesting story and a quick read.

They F*** You Up by Oliver James
This psychology book discusses the nature vs nurture debate with a focus on the power our parents have on who we turn out to be. It was interesting but will make you think twice about having kids...(unless you already have kids in which case maybe avoid reading this because it will overwhelm you with the responsibility you have over the effect you have on who your child becomes- yep it's all your fault if they turn out rubbish)

Self Made Man by Nora Vincent
I thought at first this book would be more of a stupid make over book for how to disguise yourself as a man (not that I was planning to do that, I was just interested), turns out it is a psychological exploration into how we are treated based on our gender. The woman who wrote it disguises herself as a man for a year and this is the documentation of what she did in that time- from join a bowling team, visit strip clubs, dating to joining a monastery. I was really impressed by the experiment and I'd like to read a book by a man pretending to be a woman for a year (if such a book exists) The author has a more recent book about being sectioned into a mental home which I plan to read next (because being a man made her go mental I guess)


Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
I read this because I wanted to have read the book before the film. And as with most books made into films the book was much better. The main thing that put me off the film was the fact the presenter of the show sounded like he was saying "Who wants to be a Milliner" and I kept imagining the prize as a fancy job making hats. Which is stupid. Anyway, the film was ok but the book was better. Read the book.