Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Author: John Boyne
Publisher: Random House, 2008
Pages: 216
Rating: 4/5

I first heard about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as a movie and thought it was one to watch. I later found out that it is based on a book and that got me even more interested. I normally prefer to read the book first so I held off from watching the movie until I read it. This book is also one of the books I chose for the War Through the Generations - WWII challenge.

Bruno is the nine year old son of a Commandant in Nazi Germany. Due to his father's job his family is moved from their home in Berlin to Auschwitz. Bruno does not understand why they have to move and he certainly doesn't like it. Their new home is not as nice as the one in Berlin and he misses his three best friends for life, besides there is nothing to do here and he has no friends to play with. From his bedroom window he can see lots of other kids at the other side of the fence, all wearing striped pyjamas, but he is not allowed to go over there and play with them. One day Bruno is out exploring when he finds Shmuel, a boy from the other side of the fence. Bruno and Shmuel become friends, and from this friendship Bruno starts to discover what is really going on around him.

This is easily the saddest book I have read this year and what made it worse was the innocence of the two boys who really didn't understand the meaning behind the concentration camp or why they were supposed to be enemies. Throughout the book you encounter little hints of what goes on at the other side and how the Jews were treated, which the nine year old Bruno does not seem to apprehend but you obviously do. However nothing prepared me for the ending. Since I know that this book is geared towards young adults, I think I was naive as to how bad it could get and I was really shocked. I never thought a book could do that to me! The only thing that bothered me about this book is that sometimes the writing was mediocre. This was mostly due to long sentences that had no punctuation and never seemed to end. However, since I was so wrapped up in the story I was able to overlook this and it didn't hinder me from enjoying the book any less.

I have now watched the movie right after reading the book. I must say that I was very pleased with how true to the original story they kept and it was just as good as the book, which is rarely something I would say for movies based on books. Of course there were some minor details in the book that were missing in the movie, that always annoys me a little because it's those details that make the story more real, but I'm glad that they didn't spoil it.

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2009
Pages: 248
Rating: 4/5

Another book I chose for the War Through the Generations - WWII challenge was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I found the title of this book to be quite interesting and I was curious as to what the Potato Peel Pie was and what it had to do with a literary society. Once I found out this was a book set in post WWII I definitely had to read it, especially since everyone I know raved about it.

It is 1946 and Juliet is searching for a topic for her next book. One day she receives an unexpected letter from Dawsey Adams, a resident of Guernsey who came across a book once owned by Juliet. Dawsey and Juliet start exchanging letters and soon Juliet becomes interested in Guernsey, the German Occupation and the society that Dawsey was a member of. It is not long before other members of the society start corresponding with Juliet, each telling her their experiences of the Occupation. Juliet falls in love with the members of this society and decides to visit Guernsey in an attempt to gather more material for her book. Here she meets some extraordinary people and learns about the hardships that the Occupation brought for the Islanders, and the courage they had to get through it.

I love reading historical fiction about WWII and I definitely recommend this one. It is written in the form of letters, mainly to and from Juliet, which is the main character. I thought this was a great way to portray the views of the different characters and it made their experiences seem more personal. I found myself attached to all the characters, especially Juliet where at times her wit really cracked me up. Although dealing with a topic like WWII and the suffering that the people went through in this time, it is told in a lighthearted and humane way so as to make the book very enjoyable to read. I really didn't want this book to end, but I was pleased with how it ended as I am a sucker for happy endings. Seriously though who doesn't love one? However I must mention that if you are looking for an in-depth book about the German Occupation in Guernsey, this is not it. You have to keep in mind that this is fiction which is pleasantly written and great for a light read, so you should not expect a lot of detail on the Occupation itself.

My favorite quote from this book was made by Isola in one of her letters to Juliet, when I read it I had to stop and laugh - "Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life." I think this holds true not just for men, but characters in books are generally much more interesting than anyone I know!

Title: Tell No One
Author: Harlan Coben
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co, 2002
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5

This book was suggested to me by someone on Shelfari while playing a recommendation game. As soon as I checked it out I immediately thought it would be an interesting story so I added it to my ever growing TBR (to be read) list, or as I saw someone call it once, Mount TBR. I had never heard of Harlan Coben prior to this so I looked around for reviews of his books and they all had good things to say about them.

David Beck and his wife Elizabeth were visiting the family lake house when they were brutally attacked. Elizabeth was murdered that night and David was left for dead. Now eight years later, someone is playing a nasty joke on Dr Beck by sending him anonymous emails which lead him to believe that Elizabeth is still alive. But how could that be? When Elizabeth's body was found she was identified and her murderer had been caught and jailed. Dr Beck knows that it is impossible, but the hope that he will see Elizabeth once again sends him in pursuit of her. Unknowingly Dr Beck ends up being a suspect for several crimes and things are not looking good for him.

This book is truly brilliant, just a few pages in and I was hooked. It was impossible to put it down. The story is fast paced, and with Dr Beck running from the police it made for lots of action and suspense. There are also lots of twists throughout the plot which keeps you asking what is going to happen next. However the biggest twist was definitely the ending, I never saw it coming! Coben leads you to believe that everything has fallen into place and that the person behind it all has been identified, that is until you read the last lines and you find out that it is actually a different story entirely. This was a well thought out story and I liked Coben's style of writing, I just love it when a book sucks me right in and I can't stop reading. I nearly ruined the book for myself because for a reason unbeknownst to me I decided to skim over the last page when I was still early on in the book. It did reveal one thing but I didn't really get the ending then, so I'm happy that it didn't ruin the story. Just one piece of advice, try not to do that as much as you can.

I will definitely be reading more books by Harlan Coben, in fact I purchased The Woods along with this book because I read good reviews for it too. Oh and I also just learned that Tell No One was made into a movie so I will have to check it out as well. Even though I rarely ever like movies that are based on books, I still want to watch them to see what they managed to come up with!

Title: The Cry of the Halidon
Author: Robert Ludlum
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996
Pages: 528
Rating: 3/5

A friend lent me this book, and since I read The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and absolutely loved it, I was very eager to start The Cry of the Halidon. If left on my own I probably would not have picked up this book, but I never refuse a book, I read anything that I can get my hands on and I always make it a point to finish a book that I started.

Alexander McAuliff was chosen by Dunstone p.l.c. to head a survey team in the depths of the Jamaican jungle, otherwise known as the Cock Pit. Alex was offered a fortune to do this and he thought this would be a breakthrough in his career. However, upon leaving the meeting with Dunstone's Julian Warfield he is approached by British Intelligence where he is informed that all is not as it seems. Unknowingly Alex finds himself involved in a conspiracy dealing with Dunstone, British Intelligence and a force known as The Halidon in Jamaica. As the plot thickens Alex has to fight for his and the team's safety and it becomes a life or death situation, but even members of his own team are not what they seem. While the three entities battle it out, Alex is caught in the middle but all he wants to do is get out of Jamaica a free man.

When I read the book description the first time it sounded like this could be a gripping thriller. But although the plot is an intricate one, after all this is what Ludlum is famous for, it lacks any suspense. At times I didn't quite get it and while reading this book I was sometimes questioning the point of the story, but there were also parts that I really enjoyed. The way things happened most of the time seemed far fetched and lack credibility, I didn't think it was believable at all. When the end was approaching it sort of had me hooked for a little while, until the ending leaves you not knowing what really happened between the British Intelligence agent and the Halidonite. I am annoyed by books that leave me with questions as to what happened, why do some authors do that? It's like they skip the part that you have been waiting for and just tell you the result. But how did it happen? When I finish a book that ends this way, the first thing I think is "Huh?'"

All in all I have mixed feelings about this book, I didn't hate it but I didn't really like it either. I much preferred The Bourne Identity to this one and if you never read anything by Robert Ludlum before I wouldn't recommend that you start with this one. I wouldn't say not to read it either, but check out some of his other books before you get to this one.

Title: Dexter in the Dark
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co, 2007
Pages: 376
Rating: 4/5

Having read the first two books in the Dexter series, Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter, it was only natural to read the third one. Since I really liked the first two, I was very anxious to start this one, but I was also skeptical because I have heard of many people that were disappointed by it. Even though others might not have liked it, I decided to keep an open mind about it and I am so glad I did!

For anyone that doesn't know yet, although I doubt anyone doesn't, Dexter is a serial killer with a difference. He is what you might consider a good serial killer because he only kills the bad guys. He claims that he doesn't have any feelings, but I like to believe otherwise, and his outlook on human beings is hilarious. This time around, Dexter is being plunged deep into the family life and soon he will be getting married to Rita. He is taking the role of a father to his fiancee's children, but as he discovered in the previous book Astor and Cody need a different kind of guidance and he is committed to being there for them. Amidst all this, Dexter is having a problem of his own, and this time the Dark Passenger is not helping him figuring things out.

I loved this book, and there are many reasons why. The fact that something mysterious is happening to Dexter was very suspenseful, it left me on the edge until the very end. While I was reading I had so many questions which I couldn't wait to find out the answer to. What is happening to Dexter? Why is he being followed? Will everything get back to normal? Since I read a few reviews of Dexter in the Dark, I was waiting for something different to happen but I never expected the ending. I can understand why some people might not like it, but I thought it was a good twist to add in Dexter's life. The prospect of Dexter getting married and becoming a family man was also interesting, how will he be able to manage his marriage and his hobby without raising any suspicions? As usual Dexter's comments on humans and how they deal with life are too funny, even though now he is starting to understand humans more as he goes through this ordeal. The only thing that bothered me about this book was the overuse of the word "sibilant", it seems that Jeff Lindsay likes this word so much he had to use it at least five times in one book. I'm not exactly sure why it bothered me so much, but for some reason it did, every time it came up I thought, "Sibilant, again."

I actually liked this book better than the second one, although it still doesn't beat the first one. I suspect that none of the next books will be better than the first one though, since it had that novelty aspect, something new and different. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the fourth book, I only read a couple of reviews on it but it sounds good. You can never get enough of Dexter!

Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Publisher: Vintage, 2007
Pages: 375
Rating: 2.5/5

Atonement is one of the books I chose for the War Through the Generations - WWII challenge. When I was looking at the books I wanted to read for this challenge, this was the first one that made it to the list because the description intrigued me and every review that I read said how brilliant this book is.

This is the story of Briony, whose imagination at fourteen years old changed the lives of her sister Cecilia and Robbie for ever. As she grows older Briony realizes the mistake that she has made, but it seems too late. She wants to make amends, but after all that they went through because of her will Cecilia and Robbie forgive her?

I had high hopes for this book but I have to say that I was disappointed. The story was slow and at times it just dragged on and on. The first thing that bothered me was the jumping back and forth in time. I found it confusing that sometimes I would be reading a part thinking the story continues, then I would realize that it is actually recounting the same scene I have just read but from the point of view of a different character. The long passages were very tedious, it goes into in-depth descriptions of objects which I found irrelevant and did nothing to enhance the story. Apart from feeling bad for Robbie and mad at Briony, I could not connect with the characters at all and this was a big downside because I like characters that come to life. The only part of the book that I can say I enjoyed reading is the second part, where Robbie is on his way back from the war. This was the only time I felt the story was suspenseful and it got me interested, however once I got through this part it went back to being slow and I struggled to finish it. The last part of the book just seemed like blurbing, I could not understand what message the author wanted to get across by this ending. By the end I realized that in fact there is not much to the story. I truly don't understand what is the hype about this book.

I was surprised with myself because I rarely ever feel this way about a book, and although I won't say that I hated it, I really didn't like this one. After reading this book I now want to watch the movie. I have not yet watched a movie which I liked better than the book, maybe this will be a first?

Title: Mansfield Park
Author: Jane Austen
Publisher: Signet Classics, 2008
Pages: 416
Rating: 4/5

After reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen earlier this year, which I really loved, I decided to pick up another Austen novel and chose Mansfield Park because I had read that it is different from her more popular books.

In this novel, the ten year old Fanny Price is taken from her poor parents' home to live at Mansfield Park and be brought up with her rich cousins. Here the difference in class becomes very apparent, her cousins feel superior to her so they ignore her most of the time, however her cousin Edmund is different and he becomes Fanny's only friend. While her uncle is away in Antigua, the Crawford's arrive in the neighborhood and as they become closer to the family the story unravels into a moral and social dilemma.

It started a little slow and halfway through the book I was still waiting for something to happen, it just seemed to dwell on the day-to-day lives of the Bertrams and the Crawfords, without giving much importance to Fanny. I found some of the characters in this book to be really hateful, I especially hated Mrs. Norris and how she treated Fanny, taking credit where it was not deserved and spoiling Fanny's cousins. At times I just wanted to talk some sense into their heads to stop being so selfish. The two characters that I liked from the very beginning were Fanny for how sensible she was and Edmund for how kind he was to his cousin when everyone else pretty much ignored her, and as the story developed I also started liking Sir Thomas Bertram more and more. The last two hundred pages is when the story started to get really interesting. I really wanted Henry Crawford to be successful in his quest, I believed that Fanny changed him. I certainly was not expecting the ending, it seemed that the character's lives were too dull for such things to happen to them so it came as a surprise to me, and although I was disappointed in some of them I was also very happy with how it ended. At the end of the the book I realized that the time spent getting to know the characters in the beginning was well worth it because it gives you a better understanding of their actions.

I love the detail that Jane Austen puts into her characters, it makes you feel like you know these people and you're part of the story. Although Mansfield Park is not as edgy as Pride and Prejudice, it's still a great classic and I would recommend it to any classics or Jane Austen fan.

[I decided that my reviews need to be a little more structured, so from here on I will start with why I picked this book, then include a short description of it, go on to what I liked and didn't like about the book, and finish with my final thoughts. As I get more acquainted with writing book reviews, I hope that my reviews will be getting better with each one!]

Title: The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
Publisher: Puffin Books, 2002
Pages: 341
Rating: 4/5

One of the most touching books, the diary of Anne Frank gives you a closer look of the suffering that the Jews went through during World War II. When Anne started writing in her diary she didn't think anyone would be interested in reading it years later, but wow that certainly was not the case as this books lives on for years after her death and will continue to do so.

As Anne and her family go into hiding in a secret annexe in a warehouse, their life changes tremendously and they all have to learn to live together in the confined spaces of the annexe. As a thirteen year old, when so many changes are taking place, this was not easy for Anne but she never lost hope and kept dreaming that one day she will be a journalist and a writer. Her diary was her friend, the only way she could express her feelings and frustrations during these hard times. As everyone knows Anne Frank died in a concentration camp after they were discovered, and even though you know how it ends her writing keeps you hoping that they make it through. She had visions of the kind of woman she wanted to grow up to be and it is so sad to know that all those hopes and dreams were lost, and for what? The afterword must have been the most powerful part of this book, when it finally dawns what an unfortunate fate this talented girl had.

Everyone should read this book at some point in their lives, even if you're not into WWII writings, everyone should know about the suffering that these crazy times brought for the people irrelevant of the race, religion or nationality.

Title: The Bourne Identity
Author: Robert Ludlum
Publisher: Granada Publishing Limited, 1980
Pages: 542
Rating: 4.5/5

I am usually not a big fan of thrillers and spy fiction but this book had me hooked from the start, it is action packed and full of suspense from beginning to end. Jason Bourne lost his memory and doesn't know who he is, he is being hunted and he has no idea why, he has skills that he doesn't know how he acquired. In order to survive Bourne must track down his history to find out who he is, but there are people out there who want him dead and are making this hard for him. This makes for a very intriguing but fast paced story. It is also very thought provoking and contains more twists than I have ever read in a single book.

When I first saw the movie based on this book I thought it was great, but the book is so much more in depth and although they have the same concept the two differ a lot, I much prefer the book to the movie. Having watched the movie again once I finished the book I found myself not liking the movie as much as I did the first time, I didn't like Jason's character and the plot as much as I did while reading the book. This was my first time reading Robert Ludlum and I was impressed with how much suspense he managed to put in this book, I truly loved it and will be looking for the other books in the Bourne trilogy as well as other books by Ludlum.