Everyone knows the original stories of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf and The Three Little Pigs, written by Charles Perrault (Cinderella), Brothers Grimm (all the rest); but Roald Dahl has changed the stories and put in some gruesome humour - these rewrites are not suitable for grumpy old grown ups so be aware! My favourite story out of all of Dahl's altered fairy tales is definitely Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf & the three little pigs because they are linked together with Little Red Riding Hood who gives the wolf and the pigs' horrible endings! I would rate this book 9/ 10 because it could have had another one or two other famous ... Read More:
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I thought this was an excellent book - highly realistic but interesting characters and a superb gallows humour that pops up from time to time.
The author doesn't go for the gratuitous gore that some authors do - although the crimes in the story are quite horrendous the gory detail isn't overdone. The book doesn't need it, and it's good that the author is confident enough to realise that.
As with the first book, Cold Granite, a number of storyline threads run concurrently and you wonder which will merge before the end of the book and which will remain unrelated. It makes for an interesting conclusion, and there's even a twist in the tail for one of them.
This is the first thriller book I have read that gripped me at page one and held me until the end. The twist and turns were so cleverly written and being aware of different characters take on the events happening, made this a real page turner. Truely could not put it down, despite having a ridiculously busy lifestyle right now, this book went everywhere with me, just in case there was a chance to turn another page! If you are thinking of giving this a go, stop thinking!!!!
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A great read. This is the first James Patterson book I've read, and now I'll be looking to read his others. Especially those featuring Alex Cross.
I really enjoyed this book. It's thrilling and keeps you guessing all the way through.
I really liked the characters created by Patterson, they were all that a thriller/crime book should be.
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It has been a really long time now since I read the book but when I did read it is was brilliant. Not the best book ever but good enough that I have read it twice. Definately recommend to anyone who loves to read romantic comedies.
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Everyone who has read the Harry Potter series knows how fun, interesting and addictive it is to read, so the seventh book is essential for those who have dabbled in the others. Possibly the most engaging book of them all, this last edition takes a different style into what would be Harry's final year at Hogwarts. The sixth book was said to be dark but it is in the seventh that great change happens. The plot deepends enormously as do the characters, who have grown up so much since their first days. J.K. Rowling is a gift to children and adults alike. Conclusion: essential reading if you have read the others, although really that goes without saying!
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As an Australian fan of QI, but still catching up on the publications, I'm a recent reader of a few QI books. The QI Annual brought back meories of the annuals of my childhood, but without the daft makeup tips and silly advice on boys! The QI Annual doesn't aim to be a deadly serious tome full of staid facts and figures, the QI team have done a fabulous job in making the books informative yet fun. I've read the Annual several times, yet I always manage to find something interesting I didn't see earlier. Great for trivia buffs and myth exploders, or anyone who has a fascination for interesting tidbits. A great companion to the show, and a must for all QI Fans.
I already have the QI Annual 2009 on pre-order!
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This book is only receiving good reviews by people who think that they 'should' like it...because McEwan wrote it- rather like anything that is written by Rowling.
This is a terrible book. It is over-sentimental, and the characters are not at all like real people. Why pick 1962? Why pick two main characters that no-one can identify with?
Read just the first and last page, and you know the story, the rest is Balderdash and Piffle.
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It's finally happened. The zombie apocalypse has come and devastated civilisation...but in the end, civilisation rallied and won. Using tactics pioneered in South Africa and bankrolled by Cuba, the largest nation to remain infection-free, the world's armies successfully defeated the undead menace, but only at a staggering cost in lives and resources. Ten years after victory was declared, a journalist travels the world, listening to the stories of the survivors, from those who were there when the outbreak began to those who listened in the corridors of power as key decisions were taken to the stories of everyday men and women thrust into circumstances beyond their control. From Hawaii to China, even to the isolated crew of the International Space Station, ... Read More:
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Having enjoyed several of Josephine Cox's novels in the past, I was looking forward to a good read with Songbird. I was sadly disappointed though as I found that there seemed to be some sort of contest to see how many cliches could be fitted into each and every sentence. I found this very annoying, so much so that I was unable to finish the book, something I have not done since I was a child.
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