If I am reading a good book, my friends and boyfriend know to just let get on with it. Any social interaction, parties and other tasks are put on hold until I FINISH THE BOOK. As I have finally finished with my heavy, boring law books I can finally catch up on some more interesting literature (topics such as cupcakes, shopping and murder). Here are 3 books I have read in the past week which you should know about.
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe - Jenny Colgan
This book is the epitome of feel good, happy reading. Who wouldn't want to read about Issy making the most of redundancy to fulfil her dream of starting a cupcake cafe? Sounds simple, but the plot is complicatedly funny as you sympathise with her sick grandfather and hate her evil on/off boyfriend.
I read Colgan's other book, The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris, whilst in Croatia and it was really original and witty - the perfect beach read. Except for the fact it made me crave chocolate all of the time. But seriously, these books are just feel good, not too addictive and they also have recipes for you to recreate what you are reading about. Definitely of my favourite new authors.
Shopaholic to the Stars - Sophie Kinsella
I have read every single book by Sophie Kinsella. That probably means I have too much time on my hands (which I currently do) but her books are without fail hilariously funny and really enjoyable to read.
If you haven't read the Shopaholic series, read it!! This book causes me to sporadically burst into giggles with my boyfriend (looking up from his current obsession - Pokemon) asking what happened. The way Sophie Kinsella writes is like you are right there with her characters, watching them blunder around in pretty much the same way I do. This book is a continuation of the series but you don't have to have read them all, it's quite easy to follow.
Professional shopper Becky Brandon, upon her move to LA decides to become a celebrity stylist. Only it's not as easy as that in LA, and this book follows her completely wacky methods of stalking celebrities (something me & Louisa know a little about...) whether that be by chasing blue caps in a marathon, trying to escape a film-set tour or sneak on to the red carpet. It's fun watching her life spiral out of control in the most obscure ways, but the ending did slightly irritate me yesterday because it ended in an 'Until Next Time..' way! If books are going to do this, they should really give a warning before you start reading it and get completely addicted.
Anyway, Shopaholic to the Stars is another winner of Kinsella's, and I really admire how she has managed to carry on the series for so long at such a high quality. My favourite series of chick lit ever, make sure you read it!
The Keeper - Luke Delaney
One evening, my nan gave me this book and said, 'this is ever such a good book, it's so addictive, you can have it because we have all finished it!' I turned to it during a particularly boring episode of The (fi)X Factor and could not put it down. I had finished it within 24 hours, but during that day I was literally sickened and terrified by what I was reading, but for some inexplicable reason couldn't stop turning the page to find out more. I suppose it is the equivalent of a horror movie (which I tend to avoid, because they are unwaveringly bad) - but this was amazing!
From the very first page, you are sucked into a hell hole of kidnap, rape and torture which is explained in sickening detail from the perspective of Tom Keller (murder and all-round psycho). The other half of the book is generally seen from DI Sean Corrigan's interesting perspective (and I believe it is the second in series about the detective, but I hadn't read the first), who is desperately trying to find the kidnapped women before they are slaughtered in the woods. It was very interesting to see the viewpoint of a detective, Corrigan's imagination being used to vividly recreate the murders he finds before him to try and establish the murderer's identity.
The story is frankly very disturbing, flickering between Keller's tormented mentally unstable mind and flashbacks, the kidnapped womens' terrified views and Corrigan's intriguing thinking pattern. Yet it is one of the most addictive books I have ever read, as you feel you are personally in a race against time to find out if Corrigan manages to save the women and find Keller. Unputdownable (that is definitely a word), but it will put you off answering the door to strangers for a good few days at least!
