04/2010-A Few Books I Want to Read
Listed below are a few books I want to read. I see various titles when I'm out and think "I should read that" but never remember them all. The Amazon Wishlist comes in handy with that, but for now, I can chose from these:-
'The Secret Shopper's Revenge' by Kate Harrison
"Store manager Sandie has a lifelong love of the world of retail - the glitz, the glamour, the stockroom. Then she's fitted up by an ambitious assistant and secret shopping is the only way to keep her one passion alive.
Glamorous widow Grazia can't leave behind the high life, despite her chronically low bank balance. The more she's buying - and spying - the less time she has to mourn her husband or her fair-weather friends who've dumped her.
They're Charlie's Shopping Angels, controlled by a mysterious figure who sends them assignments. But when they're sent to stitch up a doomed shop owned by Will, the angels begin to feel divided loyalties..."
'The Rapture' by Liz Jensen
"In a merciless summer of biblical heat and destructive winds, Gabrielle Fox's main concern is a personal one: to rebuild her career as a psychologist after a shattering car accident. But when she is assigned Bethany Krall, one of the most dangerous teenagers in the country, she begins to fear she has made a terrible mistake. Raised on a diet of evangelistic hellfire, Bethany is violent, delusional, cruelly intuitive and insistent that she can foresee natural disasters - a claim which Gabrielle interprets as a symptom of doomsday delusion.
But when catastrophes begin to occur on the very dates Bethany has predicted, and a brilliant, gentle physicist enters the equation, the apocalyptic puzzle intensifies and the stakes multiply. Is the self-proclaimed Nostradamus of the psych ward the ultimate manipulator, or could she be the harbinger of imminent global cataclysm on a scale never seen before? And what can love mean in 'interesting times'? A haunting story of human passion and burning faith set against an adventure of tectonic proportions, The Rapture is an electrifying psychological thriller that explores the dark extremes of mankind's self-destruction in a world on the brink"
'The Undomestic Goddess' by Sophie Kinsella
"The story of a girl who needs to slow down. To find herself. To fall in love. And to discover what an iron is for...Samantha is a high-powered lawyer in London. She works all hours, has no home life, and cares only about getting a partnership. She thrives on the pressure and adrenalin. Until one day...she makes a mistake. A mistake so huge, it'll wreck her career. She walks right out of the office, gets on the first train she sees, and finds herself in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she is mistaken for the interviewee housekeeper and finds herself being offered the job.
They have no idea they've hired a Cambridge-educated lawyer with an IQ of 158 - Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. Disaster ensues. It's chaos as Samantha battles with the washing machine...the ironing board...and attempts to cook a cordon bleu dinner. But gradually, she falls in love with her new life in a wholly unexpected way. Will her employers ever discover the truth? Will Samantha's old life ever catch up with her? And if it does...will she want it back?"
'Still Summer' by Jacquelyn Mitchard
"Twenty years ago they were high school royalty, the girls everyone envied. But life for Tracy and Holly has subsided into suburban contentment, husbands, homes and families. So when Olivia, the group’s glamorous leader, returns to America as a rich widow, they decide to celebrate their reunion onboard a luxurious sailing boat in the Caribbean. Accompanied by Tracy’s unruly teenage daughter and an attentive and experienced crew, the three friends set sail for the holiday of a lifetime.
But what really awaits them in the sun-drenched Caribbean is more mysterious and terrifying than anything they could have imagine. As their dream trip turns into a desperate fight for survival, the women soon find themselves faced with dwindling supplies, modern-day piracy and, above all, the deep, lonely ocean.
To survive, they must rely on the bonds that have held them close all these years, friend to friend, mother to daughter - even as old secrets, old alliances and new treacheries push them beyond endurance… In her breathtaking new novel of suspense, Jacquelyn Mitchard explores the limits of friendship and the truths that bind us to each other forever."
'Shatter' by Michael Robotham
"A naked woman in red high-heeled shoes is perched on the edge of Clifton Suspension Bridge with her back pressed to the safety fence, weeping into a mobile phone. Clinical psychologist Joseph O’Loughlin is only feet away, desperately trying to talk her down. She whispers, ‘you don’t understand,’ and jumps.
Later, Joe has a visitor - the woman’s teenage daughter, a runaway from boarding school. She refuses to believe that her mother would have jumped off the bridge - not only would she not commit suicide, she is terrified of heights.
Joe wants to believe her, but what would drive a woman to such a desperate act? Whose voice? What evil?"
'Pretty Little Liars (1)' by Sara Shepard
'Flawless: Pretty Little Liars 2' by Sara Shepard
'Gritty, intimate and revealing' Heat 'Addictive . . . it's scandal central!' Company 'Gritty, intimate and revealing' Heat 'This is clique lit with a mystery twist; the author has spun a plethora of possibilities sure to make readers reach for the next instalment.' Publishers Weekly 'More glamour and intrigue than The O.C' Elle 'A compulsive tale of first love, must-have labels and life's lessons not yet learned . . .both sweet and sinister - completely compulsive' Louise Candlish"
'Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath' by Anne Stevenson
"A biography of the American poet Sylvia Plath which presents a different view of her life and death by shifting any blame away from Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, and suggesting the problems lay in her personality difficulties."