Book Review - Death and the Penguin

This book I was forced into buying by a very good friend. the way it is written is beautiful, so simple, although its hard to tell whether thats because of the way it has been translated or thats the way Kurkov had written it in his native tongue.

I found it a hard book to put down and I was finished in three days which I think is pretty good going as I juggle Evie and the housework.

Synopsis

Viktor is an aspiring writer with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company. Although he would prefer to write short stories, he earns a living composing obituaries for a newspaper. He longs to see his work published, yet the subjects of his obituaries continue to cling to life. But when he opens the newspaper to see his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. He and Misha have been drawn into a trap from which there appears to be no escape.

Book Review Belle - Lesley Pearse

Its raining today and short of doing all the housework and getting back to my quilts Ive not got a great deal to blog about so I thought Id share this little gem with you

Im not usually the type of reader who enjoys a girly read so when I ordered this book online after reading another review i was very disappointed with the cover. i thought that I had wasted money on something I would get two chapters into and put down. I was wrong, I found it really hard to put this one down.

Fifteen year-old Belle has lived in a brothel in Seven Dials all her life, with no understanding of what happens in the rooms upstairs. But her innocence is shattered when she witnesses the murder of one of the girls and, subsequently snatched from the streets by the killer, she is sold into prostitution in Paris.



This was on the edge of your seat reading, its a fairly violent book with a lot of moments where you find it a little hard to read on but the way Lesley Pearse has written it is in a way to ensure the reader that the subject of all this horror can not be broken and stays very positive throughout. Its actually very inspiring.