The commentaries are hysterical!

I really like this little book - it's one to read over when I feel like I need cheering up. The stories feel like classic fairy tales from the point of view of the magical community and are simple and readable, but the commentaries are the most fun bit - I laughed out loud. Dumbledore is such a hoot!

Threatens to be good, but instead remains very disturbing.

At the start of New Moon, fearing for Bella's safety, the Cullen family flee the town.
This is a brilliant start to the book, since Edward is such an unlikeable character it's good to be rid of him.
But we're not, as the book follows Bella spiralling into a horrible depression, not wanting to see or speak to anyone. She resorts to putting herself into life-threatening situations to hear Edward's voice.
And this is where the book begins to disturb me, very, very much. Because to Bella Swan, Edward is the only thing in life and without her she doesn't want to live.
She's only a teenager, and she has a lot of life ahead of her, but she already wants to end life because she has lost her first boyfriend. And this is what worries me, because many teenage girls worship these books, and New Moon sends out the message that it's perfectly fine to be obsessed with someone to the point that you would kill yourself if they left.

But New Moon as a better side. Bella starts to hang out with Jacob Black, her old childhood friend, and what confuses me is that this couple are perfect together. I'm not part of the Team Edward/Jacob thing, but Stephenie Meyer writes things like 'being with Jacob is as easy as breathing' and the two of them actually talk about things unlike the normal couple who spend all the time arguing.
There is a side-plot including Jacob Black and his friends, and this shows occasional moments of brilliance.

But instead of sustaining this, the book goes back to mopy Bella territory, and eventually the book carries on the Romeo and Juliet theme by almost apeing the ending, but Stephenie Meyer seems to bottle it, giving the book a 'happy' ending instead.

Once again, the book nearly has an exciting, action-filled scene, but once again it is just missed.
I give this three stars for the Jacob Black subplot, as without this part, the book would just be a horrible, disgusting mess.

Spoiler Free Review

I always find it hard to write a review about a book that's a sequel, because presuming the readers have read the other books in the series, then there's not much to tell without giving the plot to the new story away. So I'm not going to say anything as to what the story's about. Basically if you enjoyed Twilight and New Moon chances are your going to love this as well. Personally for me it's my second favourite in the saga so far (Twilight being first) but with one more book to go (Breaking Dawn) that could all change. Team Edward fans prepare to see a whole new side to Jacob at the end of this book. I hated Jacob in New Moon and at the start of Eclipse, but by the end I did start to see a new side to him. I'm still definitely team Edward but I do have a new found empathy for Jacob. All in all I would definitely recommend this to all who enjoyed Twilight and New Moon.

all adults read this review!

I was recommended this book by my 13yr old step daughter. I absorb books -I read ALOT!!!! Mainly fantasy fiction which tends to be alot more detailed/complicated than this book.

I urge everyone to take this book as what it is...a teenage vampire romance! With that in mind you will find this book remarkably well written, thought provoking and addictive, i have now read the first two books in 48 hours. The second book made me sob for 6/7 pages when Edward leaves Bella....and also incited tears near the end!

The cynics who have given this book bad reveiws - seemingly alot of men and older women - seem to be reveiwing this book as a demanding adult book that isnt up to the mark; I feel sorry for people who cannot read every new book with an open mind - I am always on the look out for an author with fresh persective and a talent for inciting emotions from the reader.

I cannot wait for Stephenie Meyer to have a bash at an adult book! I am already a fan now!!!
Thankyou for a great escape! x

What a waste..

I wish I didn't read this book. I thought twilight was great in a thrashy, teenage girl way and the other two were so so. This is just horrendous. I sort of enjoyed the first part about the wedding but it's all downhill from there.. As soon as the word"little nudger" appears. eurgh! I'm going to pretend the series ended with twilight, with the addition of Edward changing Bella at the end. The other two books are worth a look as they have their moments but stay away from this!

best cook book ever

I am a seasoned cook and own several cookbooks and have cooked for my family for 25yrs. I have cooked most of the receipies in this book now
and they are solid tasty meals. It is a keeper! and i already have bought several copies for my family.

Simple but elegantly written

Obama completely embraces the importance of effective communication as reflected on this book. I like the part where he realized how important is saying the right words and get the people's undivided attention to what he is saying.

Heartwarming.

I really enjoyed reading this book, not everyone want's to know about the whole caree of such a talented woman but to understand the person behind the funny stuff. It's heartwarming to read the letters and to understand Dawn's feeling for those who have shaped her life and hepped her to become the person she is today. i really enjoyed watching her on the telly and now i feel i understand her more as a person having read this book.

christmas countdown

I am a huge fan of Nigella and treated myself to this book as an early christmas present. This year it was my turn to cook for the in-laws and family and I wanted everything to be perfect hence my purchase.

I began my food shopping a month in advance so I knew I had all the correct ingredients for Nigellas super moist turkey(trust me it really worked), sprouts with pancetta, parsnips with maple syrup, perfect roast potatoes, bread sauce & chocolate chestnut pots for dessert(we all hate christmas pudding).

I followed her christmas eve & christmas day plan down to the dot, even stopping for a glass of champagne & put my feet up when she says too before the rush starts & I have to say everything was PERFECT, Personnally the sprouts were my favourtite, my nephews adored the parsnips, my parents loved the bread sauce, my partner loves semolina so the roast potates were fabulous & crunchy, and as for the in-laws there were no complaints just praise...for me & the amazing turkey.

Oh and the chestnut chocolate pots were divine(i cheated and put marshmellows on the top so they were a bit gooey).

A fantastic book with some amazing recipes.

Hilarious.

This is as funny as Monty Python. I've had it on my coffee table for the past week or so and everyone who visits picks it up and finds something to chuckle at. Somebody here has said it's not like the magazine, and I can heartily agree with that. We stopped subscribing to the magazine. This book is much more like the daft bits of the TV show all bound together, and then some. A brilliant accompaniment to one of the best shows on TV. Hilarious.

Interesting. Amusing. Ideal for dipping into.

This book is simply a collection of amusing quotations from the famous - and the not so famous. It doesn't really appear to have anything more to do with QI than having the series name on the cover. It's a great book for dipping into but hardly something you'll want to tirelessly read from cover to cover. Ideal as a bathroom reader or to amuse others with.

Not too bad, not too good

A rather surprising Booker winner in my opinion - the White Tiger isn't a bad book, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it especially good either. It is written in the form of a monologue on entrepreunership, ostensibly addressed to the Chinese president, by the 'White Tiger', a Bangalore wheeler-dealer.

The central character is Balram, a chauffeur who murders his boss and runs off with a bag of money in order to start a small business. I didn't find Balram a very likable character, which made his story harder to relate to, though I did think he was plausible. It's quite entertaining and well paced, and the descriptions of grime are horribly vivid.

Several reviews I've seen claim that the book shows a different side of India to any other contemporary novel, which I did find hard to agree with. It's certainly not the strongest recent Indian novel thatI've read either, so it does seem surprising that it is this one that has won the top prize.

Still, it is a good story and not a bad read, just not overly exciting or moving. Of the Booker shortlist, I would say this was my second favourite on the list. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading novels set in India.

Time-honoured favourite - but no 3D specs

My parents had one edition from the early 70's and naturally the layout differs greatly between that old tome and the new version. I've seen quite a few since but I'm not sure I like this up to date one. Yes, there are plenty of facts and figures but I feel they rather jump all across the page in no order so it can be annoying to keep track of what you've read. I feel Guinness are going more for the eye-catching graphics
than some imagined bore of the printed word in an ordinary font.

This is a small gripe, as is my complaint about no 3D specs being included, despite the promise. As this book is for a young relative, I'm knocking a star off on her behalf, although the book itself still reveals some amazing info that should fascinate her.

Interesting point - the 1972 version of the GBoR has a rather quirky and completely unprovable"Most Durable Haunting".

The Boosh

Bought this for a friend, and she adores it. Came fast and is a very beautifully printed book, as well as being pretty cool! from what I saw when leafing through it. Definitely a must for boosh fans.

I love you Julie but.........

The book is not well written, and probably written too early in her occupation as a magnifiencent national treasure.

The book has the feel of being a collection of tales that came to light around a dinner table and were roughly put together in a book and for tidiness's sake applied to one person's alleged experience.

Several incidents I distinctly remember finding in other collections that are generally considered to be part of show business folk lore.

For me a very difficult read, it was very crude and not in a chuckly way, more an"Of Dear" way.

I have no doubt that many of the amusing and/or traumatic incidents did happen to our Julie but the less convincing material diminished the 'fun' of the telling - for example the colourful 'vomit' interludes.

Be Julie next time please, a ghost writer would enable you to have your colourful, amusing story told in a way that kept your diginity intact and be an enthralling read.

You are better than this.... but I would still take a bullet for you.

Good, but could be better; much too much rhetoric

Barack Obama clearly has a lot to say about vision, but when it comes down to it, not enough reality to talk about. The first few chapters about this book are about visions, values, morals, goals, beliefs, ideals, principles and expectations, and then go on to talk more about visions, values, morals, goals, beliefs, ideals, principles and expectations but around a different theme. This type of talk no doubt works brilliantly as a passionate speech, but reading at this level of detail gets tedious pretty quickly. Fortunately, in between all that there are stories to tell that embellish points effectively and the last couple of chapters are much more personal and as a result more interesting, but compared to other political books I have read, this one sometimes took too long to make its points.

All in all, still worth reading, but be prepared to slog through some of this!

Fantastically Funny!

Another year and another Clarkson book, and you'll be pleased to to know, they continue to get better and better.
As always the book includes a collection of newspaper articles published over the past year or so, where Clarkson gives his view on the world and on life in general.
Many of his views you'll be able to relate to and will have a similar no nonsence opinionl, other ideas will have you rolling about in laughter, where ever you are reading it.
If you have to own one Clarkson book, make it this one.
Enjoy!

Aliens Love Underpants

I bought this book for my 3 year old, who loves his bed time stories, and we both think it is fab. He laughs away at the aliens playing in the underpants, and loves the part where we both say very animatedly......OOOOOHHHH UNDERPANTS. An excellent book which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to my friends........for their kids of course!!

For what it's worth...

I haven't read this book, but I simply had to mention that it was recently given an almost unheard of glowing review in Private Eye!

Make of that what you will.

Average story but very original format.

While I enjoyed this novel I felt that beyond its unique structure it was not as brilliant as previous reviewers. The narrator is the Grim Reaper(Death) and he tells us who dies and the endings before telling us the details of the story, a quirky aspect I enjoyed. It is very accesible with short snappy chapters, an interesting look at ordinary decent Germans during WW2 and for a book which addresses the holocaust is not overly sentimental like most novels dealing with the issue. I would recommend without question but don't expect to be reading your all time favorite.