My New Book Blog

After much 'umming' and 'aaaghing' I've decided to set up a separate blog containing all of my book reviews and other bookish type stuff. I just wasn't happy with mixing things on this blog and think it's much cleaner to separate my two obsessions instead so they can both get the love that they deserve.

My new blog is My Little Book Space. If you are interested at all in following my book reviews or just interested in reading and books in general, please pop on over to my new blog and join me. I'd love to continue our friendship!

I will soon be moving my book reviews from this blog over to the new one and am still ironing out some small teething problems with my layout but am hoping to have My Little Book Space up and running smoothly in no time!

Hope to see you there!

Michelle xx

Book Review - The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman

The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Summary - "Alex Delaware's relationship with his longterm partner, Robin Castagna, is on the rocks. Still reeling from the aftershocks of the murder of one of his young clients, Alex is floored when Robin announces that she is heading off on a three month music tour in the aid of famine and child welfare.
But soon he has other things to think about. In the post, he receives a three-ring binder with gold letters on it - THE MURDER BOOK. The album is full of macabre pictures of murders taken at the scene of the crime, with brief descriptions of how, and why, the victims died. But only one picture is marked 'Not Solved' - the horrifically mutilated body of a young woman. What is the connection between this photograph and his friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis's past, and could the gruesome collection be the work of a police insider? If so, why has it been sent to Alex - and by whom?
I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in this book. It seemed to have such good potential but it just took so long to develop the story and some of the trails that were followed and assumptions made were just a little too far reached to me. I found myself thinking so many times "As if you'd just come to that conclusion so easily?" and this kind of annoyed me a bit. I like crime stories where the ending obviously isn't too easy to guess but I really don't like it when ridiculous conclusions are drawn to try and make the author seem super intelligent for coming up with the story because it's obvious that any normal person wouldn't even dream of making the same corrolation that they did and it just seems way too 'far out'.
The lead character, Alex Delaware, seems to have lacked any 'oomph' in this book and was kind of depressed during most of the story. His friend, Milo Sturgis seems to be a bit of a confusing character. He somehow comes across as a bit of a soft pushover in one way but then can be a hard police officer in another.
The story did finally pick up in the last 80 pages or so and the pace that it sets from that point was what I would have loved to be the pace for the whole book. I finally got interested towards the end once the truth started being uncovered and all the twists started coming together but the whole experience of reading this book felt a bit like a horse taking off real slow so that it doesn't get too tired and then finally making a sprint when it finally sees the finish line. Because of this slow pace I really struggled to get into this book for the most part and almost had to bribe myself just to keep picking it up to continue reading. I prefer stories that grab you from the start and keep up a good pace so that you feel a full-on need to keep reading.
If you're a Jonathan Kellerman fan and have gotten into his previous Alex Delaware books you may enjoy this a bit better than me. Overall, if you look beyond the slow starting pace it did have the foundations of a good crime story.


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Book Review - Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ok, now I don't know if Charlaine Harris was just running out of ideas but this stage or whether I have just read too many of these books in quick succession but I must truthfully say that I didn't enjoy this one as much as any of the others.

This book is number 10 in the Sookie Stackhouse series and the summary is as follows:

"Sookie Stackhouse is dealing with a whole host of family problems, ranging from her own kin (a non-human fairy and a telepathic second cousin) demanding a place in her life, to her lover Eric's vampire sire, an ancient being who arrives with Eric's 'brother' in tow at a most inopportune moment. 

All as Sookie's trying to track down a distant relation of her ailing neighbour (and ex), vampire Bill Compton.

In addition to the family issues complicating her life, the Shreveport werewolf pack has asked Sookie for a special favour, and since Sookie is an obliging young woman, she agrees. But this favour for the wolves has dire results for Sookie, who is still trying to recover from the trauma of her abduction during the fairy war."

For some reason the story just seemed to chop and change way too much and didn't really follow just one or two plot lines which is the norm.

I just didn't feel like anything solid had developed by the time I reached the end of this book and yet again too many things are left hanging and I know it's obviously to keep more sequels happening and people buying future instalments but some closure and plot development at this stage would still be nice.

I did come across a favourite quote from this book where Sookie says at one stage "It's not that I approve of murder, but some people just beg to be killed, don't they?" This line really made me giggle because who hasn't thought this at one time or another when someone has annoyed you all the way to the bone?

Of course I'm still going to read the next instalment because that's the sucker that I am and I just hope that it does get a bit better.....

Has anyone else read this series? If so, what did you think?

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Book Review - 'Dixie City Jam' by James Lee Burke

Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'When a Nazi submarine is discovered lying in sixty feet of water off the Louisiana coast, some troubled ghosts are ready to be released. A local businessman is offering Detective Dave Robicheaux big money to bring the wreck to the surface, but he his not the only one after the submarine and its cargo. A new spirit of hatred is abroad, and its embodiment is stalking Robicheaux's wife...'


I've always been a huge fan of James Lee Burke. I just love the feeling I get of being swept away down south into the world of Louisiana and New Orleans and the vivid picture he paints of the places and people in his books. Burke's writing is always so descriptive, down to the leaves on a tree and this always adds such a great extra element to his stories and enhances your whole reading experience.

I always get mixed feelings when reading one of Burke's books, and this one was no exception. I gravitate from being disgusted at certain events, to being fascinated by others and that is another reason why I love this author.

The way he makes you feel as if you can visualise and even smell the evilness of the main character, Will Buchalter really gets you interested in the story and makes you want nothing more than to see this guy get put in his place.

Dave Robicheaux is again playing the typical cop trying to do things the correct way but who doesn't mind going against the grain whenever it will work out in the good guys favour, or if it means protecting his family.

I've always been a huge fan of Clete Purcell too. I think this character is hilarious and I just love his complete disregard for any laws. Sometimes he can go overboard but that's half the fun of waiting to see what he will do next.

I definitely recommend this book to any Burke fan. Once I was halfway through I just couldn't put it down!

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Book Review - 'The Potato Factory' by Bryce Courtenay

Well I literally felt like I was reading this book forever even though it really only took me about three weeks. I'm still not used to having such broken up time to read in between bub's sleeps and before I go to bed at night and taking longer than a week to read one book just seems like a lifetime to me.

The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis: The Potato Factory is the story of Ikey Solomon, the true character on whom Charles Dickens patterned his notorious villain Fagin. Though Fagin, it transpires, is in fiction a pale imitation of the Ikey Solomon of fact. Ikey, 'The Prince of Fences', is a nocturnal creature, brilliant, ruthless, unctuous and quick-witted. Hannah, his brothel mistress wife, is rapacious, sharp-tongued, amoral and filled with a burning hate for her husband and a fierce love for her children. Mary Abacus, Ikey's sometime mistress, born in St Giles, London's vilest rookery, survives a young life of distress and misadventure but is gifted with a knowledge of numbers and possessed of a spirit that somehow never loses the power to love and the determination that she will someday succeed. All three are transported as criminals to Van Dieman's Land where the two strong and determined women raise separate families, each with the surname Solomon, the one legitimate, the other not. The destinies of both family groups are irrevocably locked into Ikey's greed, Hannah's hate and Mary's soaring ambition - a potent combination that, when love is added, becomes a vengeful and explosive mixture as each woman sets out to destroy the other. The Potato Factory is the first book in a trilogy that spans the short and brilliant history of Australia and tells of our painful journey into freedom. No nation ever made a less propitious beginning, nor choose a more alien landscape on which to start its human journey. Yet few people have stumbled to nationhood as free, nor welcomed through its gates a greater mix of colour, creed and race. Bryce Courtenay digs beneath the myths in a cutting and powerful narrative that gets closer to the bone and sinew of truth than perhaps any other fictional account of our history. He tells us who we are and where we came from in a richly peopled and compelling story that touches the heart.

My Review: I really did enjoy this book for the most part. During some of it I felt like it did drag on a little but I guess all that detail added to the realness of the story and the building of the characters.

I could not believe how much character development there was in this book. It virtually ran over a period of almost 20 years and it was kind of exciting to see where the main characters ended up after all that time. You almost felt like you were part of the lives of Ikey and Mary by the end after experiencing every aspect of their trials and tribulations over the years and how their personalities changed.

The language used in this book is unbelievably descriptive and it made you almost feel as if you could smell and taste what was being described in the story. I kind of felt dirty sometimes after reading sections of this book because the language really made me feel like I could totally imagine the slum conditions they were living in. It truly amazes and disgusts me that this was how people were treated and managed to lived back then. The dirtiness and diseases that were commonplace really makes you appreciate how times have changed in our society.

I've never actually read any other books that tell the story of how Australia was settled and how the convicts were brought here and subsequently treated once they arrived. Reading about this was very thought provoking and made me realise just how lucky we are that we don't have to fight for our lives in our country like that anymore. The differences between classes and how men treated women was horrendous and it makes you really sad to think that human beings were once so savage and had such little regard for their fellow man.

One dislike I did have regarding this book was some of the language used when the characters were speaking. Most of it was abbreviated into trying to replicate the real old cockney English and sometimes that made it a bit difficult when there were long conversations going on and you had to follow the broken words. But that is obviously not something that would bother everyone.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading a fictional account of how our society started as it was apparently based loosely on real people and events.

Overall I would give this book 4 stars our of 5 as it definitely held my interest right to the end and I always felt disappointed whenever I had to put it down and knew I wasn't going to get to read it again for a while.
Has anyone else read this book? If so, what were your thoughts?


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Book Review - Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The blurb:
'Folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps-and nothing about weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works-and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it.

But there's a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings-older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves-is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle.'


This latest instalment in the life of Sookie Stackhouse certainly had a lot more events happen in such a small timeframe than some of the other books in the series. This kind of made me feel a bit rushed thoughout the whole book, kind of like the author was trying to cram every idea she had into this book rather than wait until she wrote another one.

It did have some positives though, such as the further developments with Eric (what every reader really wants!) and the whole storyline of the were-animals coming out into the open like the vampires. Unfortunately, I thought this 'coming-out' was going to be a main part of the story but it kind of got lost among the rest of the happenings.

Sookie and Jason's fairy heritage is expended on a lot more in this book, something which I think is starting to steer away from the original genre of these books and something that I'm not too sure how I feel about as yet. I was attracted to this series because of the whole vampire/supernatural theme, as I'm sure were most people, but the fairy aspect isn't really something that appeals to me. But hey, that's just me, others may find it an interesting plot development.

One thing I did find with this book is the fact that people keep dying left, right and centre around Sookie, largely because of her, and she just keeps going on with her business seemingly unaffected by it all. I know she is most likely being portrayed like this to make her the tough herione that everyone can admire for soldiering on, but it seems a bit much now to keep her being so indifferent to all the awful events that keep happening around her.

Overall, it's another fun, quick read that doesn't require a lot of thinking. As most stories in this genre are so serious and dark it's nice to read something a little more lighthearted.


This is the first book I've completed in my Summer Reading Challenge so far. I think I may have been a bit adventurous with how many books I want to get through over the next couple of months but at least I've got my first one out of the way!

The next one I am tackling is The Potato Factory by Bryce Courtenay. I know nothing about this book so hopefully I won't be disappointed.

Book Review & Giveaway - 'Animal People' by Charlotte Wood

This review is courtesy of Product Talk by Nuffnang.

I was fortunate enough to be selected as part of the review team for the new Charlotte Wood novel 'Animal People'. Being an avid reader at every opportunity I can get this was one review team that I was very excited to be on.

'The hilarious, tender and heartbreaking story of a watershed day in the life of Stephen - aimless, unhappy and unfulfilled, this stiflingly hot December day is the day he has decided to dump his girlfriend. A sharply observed, 24-hour urban love story.' (Taken from the Allen & Unwin website)

This story is not one to read if you are after a happy, lighthearted book to pass the time. It is more a book you would read to really make you really think about everyday life and there are many elements that can easily be related to by most of society. I'm sure there have been times in everyone's life where they have been unhappy with their job, unhappy in a relationship without really knowing why, bitter with family and friends who clearly have a better and/or easier life.

There were times in this book where I felt very sorry for Stephen due to his obvious fear of relating to people and of course his obvious dislike for animals. Some parts of this story made me feel a little depressed with how life actually is for some people who have no direction, and are just plain old unhappy with every aspect of their daily life.

Also, being an animal person myself, I didn't particularly like some of the references to animals that were highlighted in the story but seeing some of the feelings that Stephen had for others who were animal people made me realise how the other half of society must think of us who treat our pets like they are part of our family.

I mainly read this book at night before bed and found it a very quick and easy read. The wonderful descriptive language used by Charlotte Wood makes you feel as if you can almost smell, taste and feel what is going on in the story. This added an extra element to the book which made you feel as if you were a participant following Stephen on his journey that day. The way the story is a complete day in the life of Stephen was very well written and in the end it really makes you think about how the smallest and most normal daily events end up shaping us as human beings.

I was fortunate enough to be given an extra copy of 'Animal People' to giveaway to one lucky reader. This will be my first ever giveaway so I am very excited!

To be in the running you just have to be a follower or subscriber of this blog, leave a comment below letting me know how you subscribe as well as answering the question "Are you an Animal Person or not and why?" Also, make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you. It's that simple!   

This giveaway will be open until Saturday 7th January 2012 and is open to anyone! I will draw the winner using random.org and contact the winner via email.

Good Luck!

Book Review - 'Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing' by Gabrielle Lord

Normally I'm a big fan of Gabrielle Lord books because it's nice to read about familiar places and things being that she is an Aussie but this book just didn't seem to do it for me.

Here's the general overview:
'Gemma Lincoln, the private eye whose tangled past was the subject of Feeding the Demons has never been busier. She's investigating the disappearance of millionaire Benjamin Glass; she's trying to discover who killed her old friend Shelly, a sex therapist, and she's also closing in on a killer who targets sex workers.
She's traded her old .38 for the new Glock. But a flash new weapon is no defence against the oldest betrayal of all. Is Gemma's beloved Steve two-timing her? And if he is, what can she do about it? And why is some unknown person determined to destry Gemma's business?
As the separate investigations hot up, the deadly connections between them all start to emerge. In a desperate race against time to save Steve's life and her own, Gemma must face the worst that the underworld can throw at her. But her latest error of judgement may prove fatal to them both'

When I read that I got excited thinking that this was going to be an action packed story. Well, I'm sorry to say, but it wasn't.

I feel the whole book was a little disjointed with stuff happening all over the place without really bringing anything together. There were a lot of connections going on but to me they just didn't seem to work all the time.

I can see that the author is trying to make Gemma out to be an independent and strong female who knows what she wants and goes and gets it but to me she just seemed a bit annoying due to the rash decisions she was always making at the drop of a hat and quite a lot of the time I was reading along and thinking 'as if'.

Her whole over-reaction with Steve was just plain annoying as well. She knew all too well the job he was doing yet always seemed to have a problem with every aspect of it. To me this was very frustrating.

Anyway, overall I thought this story really just lacked 'oomph' and it was a bit of a struggle for me to actually finish reading it. The pace finally started picking up towards the last 30 pages or so but until then it was a fairly weak plot.

Considering how much I have enjoyed all the other Gabrielle Lord books I have read I must say this one was kind of disppointing.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Has anyone else ever read this book and have an opinion on it? What about any other Gabrielle Lord books?

Book Review - 'Good Intentions' by Joy Fielding

'It was simple enough once you broke it down. Her husband had left her for another woman. A married woman. That woman's husband had called her on the phone and asked if he might come over, there were some things he thought she should know....'

Well, what can I say other than I feel like I have lost quite a few hours in my life that would have been much more productive if they weren't spent reading this book.
To me it was just Boring (yep, that's right, with a capital 'B') and it wasn't until the final 20 or so pages that anything seemed to finally happened. Even then what did happen was extremely predictable and totally uninspiring.
This story is about the lives of two women. One a social worker who's husband has just left her for another woman, the other a sucessful divorce lawyer who's marriage isn't all that it appears to be. It had the potential to be a really captivating read but I just didn't feel like the characters were developed enough and sometimes their actions (or lack of) frustrated me so much that I wanted to literally throw the book across the room.
It's a shame because I am normally a fan of Joy Fielding and have read a few of her other books so was extremely disappointed in the result of this one. I felt like a was reading the diary entries of two boring and lonely women who really just needed a kick up the 'you know what' to get with the program and change their awful lives and it unfortunately took the entire book for this to happen.
Oh well, you can't always read something that will blow your mind I guess.

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars.

Next up I will be tackling 'Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing' by Gabrielle Lord. I thought I'd stay with female writers for a little bit and see what happens.

Book Review - 'Long Lost' By David Morrell

The only reason I picked up 'Long Lost' to read was because I noticed that David Morrell was the one who created 'First Blood' which if anyone doesn't know is the first story in the Rambo series. Now, being blinded by the fact that I just luuuurve Rambo I thought that maybe another story by this author may be just as good. Well, it was and it wasn't......

The story this book is based around is your typical family member that goes missing story and suddenly out of the blue they turn up years later. But, to make matters more interesting there is a bit of stolen identity thrown into this book along with kidnapping, murder and family issues from the past.

One thing I liked about this book was that the chapters were all so short and sweet but still got the story across. If anyone is a James Patterson fan you will know what I mean as he writes in the same short chapter method. There's nothing worse with some stories where chapters just seem to go on forever and you get lost in too much detail and feel a tad bewildered once something else notable in the story finally happens. Well, there is none of this when reading this book. This means it was really easy to read a few chapters here and there before bed or with my breakfast in the morning and not get lost after putting the book down and picking it up again next time.

The main thing I didn't like about this book was the way some of the plot developed. It had that 'too convenient' feel to it sometimes where I felt like the author set the character up too well and realistically there is no way certain things would work out so perfectly in real life. But, I guess that's why you read a book, to escape real life.

Anyway, overall I give this book a 3.5 out of 5. It kept me reading due to the small easy chapters but really was nothing to rave about in the end.

Next, I am going to tackle a Joy Fielding book titled 'Good Intentions' so stay tuned for my review!

Book Review - 'Red Dog' by Louis de Bernieres

The book 'Red Dog' is a very lighthearted read that you can get through in pretty much one sitting.
It's an interesting account of life back when everyone was friendly and a local dog could be known by a whole town and cared for by anyone. It makes you kind of sad when you think about how strict we have all become nowadays in relation to our dogs and where they can walk, where they can be off leash, etc, etc, and made me feel a bit of a longing for a time like that portrayed in this book again.
It's nice to read how a dog can manage to become a companion that is worth giving up your time and money for an putting yourself out just to help him. Being a dog lover myself reading stories like this really get to me.
I am absolutely amazed at how many kilometres this dog must have travelled in his short life and still managed to stay relatively safe. It's almost mind boggling!
All in all it's a good little short read to pass some extra time and leave you with a feel-good feeling at the end as well as an appreciation for an animal that so many people take for granted.
Rated: 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Review - 'From Dead To Worse' by Charlaine Harris

Well, I must say that 'From Dead To Worse' was probably one of the most un-climactic books in the Sookie Stackhouse series so far for me.
It gives you a great build up on the back of the book by saying how Sookie will find herself facing danger, death and betrayal but after reading it I must admit that I'm left feeling a bit deflated.
The werewolf war, un-climactic; The vampire takeover, un-climactic; and most of all the ending, un-climactic!! I know the ending was probably done the way it was to leave the readers hanging for the next instalment, but I'm not sold.
For most of this book I was just frustrated in one way or another. The whole way she handled the episode with Quinn was just a little odd and the sagas going on between Sookie and Sam and Sookie and Eric are starting to lose their fun now.
I am kind of getting the feeling that the author is starting to run out of fresh ideas so is starting to grip at straws just to keep churning out more instalments. When author's start to obviously do this it really annoys me. I've read quite a few large series before that keep you hanging off the edge of your seat with every book but I definitely don't get that with this series anymore.
I'm just not feeling the excitement of sitting down and opening up the next book and think I will start on something else for a change before I do. Maybe a rest will be just what I need to get me interested in the next instalment. We'll see......
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

My next read will be 'Red Dog' as I am dying to see the movie but must read the book first before I do. I love light hearted stories like this one so am looking forward to it.