On My Nightstand

Here are a few more books I have recently read:

Rachel's Holiday - by Marian Keyes

Rachel is a mid twenties woman, living in New York and a drug addict, but she does not think she is a drug addict.

This is her humorous story about family doing an intervention, getting her into rehab and her journey of self discovery while there.

I really enjoyed this book - although the subject matter is rather heavy, Marian Keyes writes so well and with lots of humour to make this a good book.

My rating: 3 1/2 out of 5.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

This book has been around for a while, but I had never read it.
It is a short little book but really, really good!

This is a story about a boy and his family - his father is very high in the German military during the Second World War - and gets posted as the head prison guard at Auschwitz.
The little boy (9 years old in the book) tells the story from his perspective - and we see through the eyes of a boy who does not understand what is going on around him. We see what he sees - knowing what is really happening.

I would recommend this book to anyone - it was a very powerful read.

My rating: 4 1/2 out of 5.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

This was a book club pick, not a book I really wanted to read, but I did for book club.

The story is about a group of connected people - all told from different perspectives, but it starts out with a man slapping a child at a backyard barbecue that is not his.

It is a great concept - that brings up so many current issues in society today with respect to parenting, however I did not like the book.

This book is crass. The characters are not very nice / good people. I did not like how the author depicted men or their wives.

I did not like how he presented such a touchy yet important subject.

I would not recommend this book.

My rating: 1 out of 5.