Thursday 26 July 2012

Dishy Dolls Bookclub Round 3

Took place between September 2011 and  January 2012
Find out more about Dishy Dolls here

Book 1: One Day by David Nicholls (Read my review here )


Book 2: Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (Read my review here )


Book 3: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Read my review here)


Book 4: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Read my Review here)


Book 5: Shatter by Michael Robotham



Overall Favourite: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Least Favourite: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood


Tuesday 24 July 2012

Review: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne


The Secret was chosen for our Book Club, and although it is not something I would have chosen myself, I was quite looking forward to having a read of it. The idea of The Secret is that there is a way to get everything you could ever want, whether it's love, money, success or good health, and the secret has been passed down from person to person. Many people are using the Secret or so we are told, and the book is filled with testimonials and quotes from people who have studied/used the secret, to find happiness.

I won't go into detail, as you really need to read the book yourself in order to find out what the secret is, but I would definitely recommend it for a very quick read.


Score: 3/5

Thursday 19 July 2012

Review: The Princess Bride by William Goldman



The Princess Bride, I've seen the film a couple of times and after picking a book which is a little hard going at times for the last book club (Alone in Berlin), I decided to pick something more light hearted this time. 

The book was more like the film than I would have thought, right down to the little interruptions from the boy, who turns out to be William Goldman himself.

The edition I have features an introduction by William Golding, explaining how he came to do the abridgement of the novel by Morgenstern. As a young boy, he contracted a serious case of pneumonia, which confined him to bed for weeks, during this time, his father pulled out his copy of The Princess Bride and read to him. To this day, William is convinced that this helped him to pull through. After buying the book for his son's birthday, he is a little disgusted that the boy could not make it past the first chapter, he loved so much himself that he wanted his son to adore it too. However it wasn't until he picked up the book himself as an adult that he realised that he had never read it himself, he had only had it read to him by his father. And at this point he also realised that his dad had skipped past a lot of the book, which was filled with histories and 56 pages describing people packing and unpacking suitcases. This is when he decided to do an abridgement of it himself and bring it back to the story that his dad read to him.

I really think this adds to the story, knowing the back story of the author's love of the book made it more personal somehow. When he interupted (as he does quite a lot), it was informative and entertaining, it adds humour to a book which has more than enough already, all in all making it a very enjoyable read which I will be more than happy to pick up again. 


Score: 5/5

Monday 16 July 2012

Dishy Dolls Bookclub Round 2

(Took place between Jan and May 2011)
Find out more about Dishy Dolls here

Book 1: The Princess Bride by William Golding  (Read my review here)


Book 2: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold


Book 3: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert


Book 4: Get off the Unicorn by Anne McCaffrey


Book 5: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Read my review here )

Overall Favourite: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Least Favourite: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Saturday 14 July 2012

Dishy Dolls Bookclub Round 1

(Took place between July and December 2010)
(Find out more about Dishy Dolls here )

Book 1: Persuasion by Jane Austen    


Book 2: Heartshaped Box by Joe Hill


Book 3: Picture Perfect by Jodie Picoult


Book 4: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby


Book 5: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens


Overall Favourite: Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

Least Favourite: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby