Campari for Breakfast by Sara Crowe

Campari for Breakfast
by Sara Crowe

Sara Crowe is an award-winning British actress, starring in films such as 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', and the West End productions of 'Private Lives' and 'Calendar Girls'. This is her first novel, and what a cheeky little bundle of fun it is! It is a comedic and romantic farce, but with little serious bits in the middle. I did truly laugh out loud in most of her chapters. It took me about a chapter to realise that the horrendous spelling and grammatical mistakes were in fact intentional and just added to the hilarity of the book.

Sue Bowl is 17. She decides to go and stay with her Aunt Coral at her aunt's gigantic 16-room manor house, 'Green Place'. Her reasons are two-fold - to write her novel, and to get away from her father and his new girlfriend, Ivana from Denmark. Sue's mother, Buddleia, committed suicide in their local library a year previously (leaving no note) after finding out about her husband's affair, so Sue can never forgive her father nor face Ivana. Now I know that doesn't sound very hilarious so far, but please bear with it.

Once she enters Green Place, she and her aunt decide to run a writer's group, and it's from here that the fun starts. We are introduced to some colourful characters, including the Admiral who rents out a wing in the house, Delia who rents out another wing in the house, Delia's daughter Loudolle, Joe and Icarus from the local café 'Toastie' where Sue gets a part-time job, and many more besides.

It is during her stay with her Aunt that Sue discovers more than just her love of writing. The mystery of her mother's suicide note, the true story behind her parent's marriage, the revelation of the truth behind a family member, and how love can be right under your nose and you still can't see it.

If you're looking for a chuckle, look no further than this book.

Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth

Animals

by Emma Jane Unsworth

I loved loved loved this! I defy anyone who, after reading this in a day (because you will), does not a) crack open a bottle of wine; b) put on trance music and have a good bop around the house. The whole book is full of drunken naughtiness - the only way the 2 main characters can get through the day is to down a least 2 bottles of wine - and the rest. Drugs, litres and litres of alcohol, relationships, friendships, family, work, clubs, bars more bars - it's a never ending rollercoaster of booze-fuelled fun!

Laura and Tyler are best friends living together in a flat paid for by Tyler's father. When they're not working in their respective low-paid jobs (Tyler is a waitress in a coffee shop, Laura is a call-centre operative) they're out getting high and drunk. But Laura is engaged to be married to classical pianist Jim (who is constantly touring the world with his concerts) and both she and Tyler know that at some point Laura will be moving out, and moving on. Tyler is not keen on Jim, they've never seen eye to eye, so when Jim stops drinking and is constantly phoning Laura to see where she is and how drunk she is, she tries her best to dissuade Laura from marrying him. Will she succeed, and what effect will it have on their friendship and their future?

Caitlin Moran has a quote on the front cover - "I wish I had written this book...Withnail with girls." A great summation of a great book.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl
by Rainbow Rowell

I've read Rainbow's other young adult novel Eleanor & Park, and even though it contains tricky topics and bad language, I rather liked it, as did many others (Goodreads Best Young Adult Fiction of the Year, Amazon's one of the ten best books of 2013). I was therefore looking forward to reading this next Young Adult offering. Hmmm. It was very long. When I finally finished it I was relieved. It was all too...well....American. Loads of speech - 'fast' speech, like they do - I didn't really care for the main character Cather, she's rather wet and wimpy - never goes out, stays in to write her fanfiction every evening, scared of meeting people. Then even though she loves writing she decides she can't and won't write a story for one of her final English papers. Just annoying really. I quite liked Reagan, her college roommate, all feisty and confident and costant rolling of eyes at Cather. Well actually, there was much rolling of eyes by most of the characters in the book - that was quite annoying too. Then there's the snippets of the fanfaction blog and the book the fanfiction is based on (basically Harry Potter with name changes) between each chapter. We know you can tell you a story Rainbow, there's no need to throw in bits of other stories too to muddle us with.

Basically, it's about twins Cather and Wren (their mother wasn't expecting two, she just had one name ready, so she split it between them. Weird.) After giving them weird names because she couldn't be bothered to think of another one, she leaves them and her dad when the girls are 8, and never sees them again. The dad has a meltdown, recovers, but is prone to recurring meltdowns during high stress moments. The girls go off to college a few hours from home when they're 18, Cather not really wanting to but Wren not being able to wait. Even though they have been close all their life and write the fanfiction together, for some reason Wren decides not only does she not want to share a dorm with Cather, but she doesn't even want to be in the same dorm block. Another weird. Anyway, Cather lives her hermit life and befriends Reagan's boyfriend Levi. She also develops a writing partnership with Nick, a guy from her Fiction Writing course. We sense love is looming, it's just a waiting game to find out which one she goes for. Meanwhile, Wren is having the time of her life - parties, boys, drinking - until one night she goes a bit too far. Mother reappears on the scene for all of 5 mins - not sure why (and nor is Cather). Just to upset everyone really. And that's about it.

I guess it just wasn't for me and I was a bit disappointed, but I'm sure I'll be proved wrong.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins

Stephanie Perkins is quite big in America, so Usborne were excited at publishing this book over here in Britain, and have been giving it a big push. I know the title screams teen romance, and it's not the reading material I usually go for, but I wanted to see what the publisher was getting so excited about. I was pleasantly surprised. I read it in about a day, some parts I couldn't put down so found myself cooking tea with one hand and reading the book with the other (not advisable, quite dangerous, do not copy). It had your heart racing in some sections, others had you quietly screaming to yourself "Just tell him how you feel for heaven's sake!", then some parts I couldn't believe would actually happen in real life, but this is fiction isn't it?

Anna has been packed off to Paris by her famous author father, so she can study there for a year (almost like our final 6th form year over here) in an American school, before she chooses her University. She doesn't know anyone there, and she doesn't speak any French. She befriends the girl in the dorm room next to her, and then latches onto her group of friends, one of whom is the handsome - but short - Etienne St Clair. Anna left behind the beginning of a possible relationship with Toph and hopes to pick up where they left off when she returns home at Christmas, but finds herself drawn to Etienne, who unfortunately has a girlfriend. But relationships are tricky things, you can't help who you fall in love with, and this first term in Paris for Anna is a whirlwind of feelings - confusion, paranoia, love, hate, jealousy. Does Etienne feel the same way about Anna as she does about him? Will they admit their feelings to each other? Will Etienne leave his girlfriend?

A great teen romance which will make your heart melt. If you like this, also try Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie.

The Boy on the Porch by Sharon Creech

The Boy on the Porch
by Sharon Creech

Sharon Creech writes what I could only describe as 'magical' tales (she's written 16 in all). I just loved The Great Unexpected. The Boy on the Porch continues her beautiful heartwarming style, but this one was very simple and, well, short. I still absolutely loved it though, but was glad I only paid 99p for the e-book I read it so quickly!

Married couple Marta and John find a boy asleep on their porch. He has a note "Plees taik kair of Jacob. He is a god good boy. Wil be bak wen we can." Jacob does not speak, but he communicates by tapping and nodding and smiling. Marta and John dutifully take care of him over the next few weeks, wondering who left him there and when they will come back. They grow to love him, and the boy seems to flourish in their company. He reveals many talents - art, music, a love of the animals on their farm, but his biggest talent being spreading happiness and filling their house with joy and love. Then the day comes that Marta and John have grown to dread. A man appears saying he is the boy's father and wants him back. Will the couple be able to hand over Jacob, and how will they able to fill the huge void that will be left in their home without him.

A wonderful story of the innocence of a child, the love and happiness they can bring, and how having a child can be the most enriching experience in one's life. You will cry.

This House is Haunted by John Boyne

This House is Haunted
by John Boyne

I have read quite a few novels by John Boyne and he never fails to disappoint. He has written modern fairy tale (Noah Barleywater Runs Away, The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket), war stories (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, The Absolutist), short story collections, and many other titles, and now he has tackled the ghost story genre. Not only a ghost story, but set in the 19th Century, so competing with Charles Dickens. The author even brings in Mr Dickens to make a short cameo appearance, where he is reading one of his ghost stories on stage in front of an excitingly expectant audience.

This story follows 21-yr-old Eliza Caine, primary school teacher, living with her ill father in fog-ridden London. A trip to the theatre in wet cold conditions worsens his illness and he dies. Eliza dreams of starting a new life somewhere, hoping it may bring her happiness and love. She spots an advert for a governess in Norfolk, and she leaps at this opportunity. However, the job at the stately manor calls for more stamina, determination, strength and courage than she could have possibly had imagined. Five out of the six previous governesses have come to a grisly end in very suspicious circumstances, and Eliza battles to overcome attempts on her life from invisible forces within the house.

If you liked The Woman in Black, and The Turn of the Screw, then you will love this.

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran

How To Be a Woman
by Caitlin Moran

Caitlin Moran is a columnist for The Times. She is also Twitter user extraordinaire. You should follow her, she really is quite funny. Be warned - she is also rather rude. In a way being one of her many followers on Twitter prepared me for her crude language in this book. She seems to have been using bad words since childhood. To her, the 'f' word and the 'c' word are just that - words, to be used in place of other words that are also just words. But that's by the by.

This book is all her thoughts on the topic of being a woman - from pre-pubescent child in a poor family wearing mum's hand-me-down knickers, to overweight teenager, through drug-addled alcoholic late teen era, boyfriends, jobs, marriage, birth, miscarriage, abortion and plastic surgery. The main topic throughout is feminism, what it means to be a feminist, how to know if you are one and why we all should be. There is not one topic that we don't know her thoughts on. She lays it out for all to read, there is no holding her back. It's hard not to disagree with her. The only times I thought "Hmm, hang on a minute love" were a) when she threw in a very generalised statement "pornography is not bad, it's just sex"; and b) having unprotected sex and then being surprised she's pregnant. But I forgive her these moments of stupidity and thoughtlessness.

The chapters range from very humorous to downright tearfully sad. I defy anyone not to come away teary-eyed from the chapters on going through an awful labour before the birth of her first child, and her decision to have an abortion later in life. Though I did find the detail of the procedure very hard to read. I spent the whole time with my hand over my mouth trying not to be sick.

But that's Caitlin for you. She will tell you anything, she wants you to know everything about her and all of her thoughts. She is not embarrassed by or about anything. She is just having a good old girly talk with us all and sharing her life. You just want to go on Twitter and tell her how great she is.

'Moranthology' is definitely on my birthday list.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson

In my late 20s I read Kate's first book 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' which won the Whitbread Book of the Year 1995. I still have it and must re-read it, especially after finishing 'Life After Life' and then reading a review of 'Behind the Scenes....' to remind myself what happened. There are familiar themes - death, families, children. She especially seems to like the child death theme. Anyone who has read her later series of novels following  Private Detective Jackson Brodie will recognise this heartbreaking theme.

Which brings us back to 'Life After Life'. We follow the tragic life of Ursula and her family - tragic in that, from birth through to adulthood, we watch her follow different paths which ultimately always lead to her death. She is born in 1910 and lives and dies (through the aforementioned different paths) through the two World Wars, which affect her in different ways depending on which path she has taken in life. This is the Butterfly Effect in full motion. Some scenes are so tragically sad and heartbreaking you just want to moan out loud and shed many tears, and share with whoever may be in the room with you how awful such a scene was and poor poor Ursula. Then you think, but that's ok, because the next chapter she will not follow the same path and everything will be better and happy - but the future for Ursula is not often a happy one.

I read this book on my e-reader, and must admit that at times I was a bit confused with what year I was in and how old Ursula was, as the chapters continually jump back and forth in time. If I was reading a paperback, it would have been easier to flick back to the start of the chapter to remind myself of the year, but with an e-reader it's just a bit more fiddly and you don't bother. However, I found myself getting into the flow of the time changes and it wasn't a problem then.

Shortlisted for both the Women's Prize for Fiction 2013 and the Costa Novel Award 2013, this brilliant novel would be one of my contenders for Book of the Year 2013 (along with Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch).