52 books in 52 weeks...

So, here are my reviews so far for my 52 books in 52 weeks. I'm going to copy Fiona at The Sewing Directory and compile one blog post for this over the year...I think..I'm not entirely sure how it will work when I have more books but for now, here we go.  I'm linking books to their Green Metropolis pages because I think it is a fab book website and I don't like Amazon ;)

4. Is It Just Me?  Miranda Hart. 

This was my other Christmas book and I couldn't wait to start reading it. Written by (in my opinion), the hilariously awkward comedian Miranda Hart, this book is a 'Miranual' for her 18yr old self to cope with life.  This had my laughing out loud from the bathroom, something Mr Nicsknots likes because he then knows I haven't fallen asleep reading in the bath and drowned  (he's fairly convinced I am going to drown in the bath).  If you like Miranda, you will like this book.


3.  A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, this book is aimed at children but deals with some very adult issues and I found it really interesting; telling a story based around Walter Tull, the first black officer in the British army.  I had to resist the urge to read this in one sitting but last night it was cold and I needed to warm up so I took to the bath for an hour and finished it!
I've never ready any booked by the author before but he is a great story teller and I will definitely be reading more of his books in the future. 

2.  Camp David by David Walliams.

This was a Christmas present and I couldn't make my mind up if I should read this or Miranda first but DH bought me this so I thought I ought to read it first ;)   This autobiography was interesting and funny but also moving, telling his life-story until 2003. He talked honestly about his depression and suicide attempts and struggles to become a successful comedian and ultimately, to make his father proud.

1. The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes.

After reading 'You before me' at the end of last year, I was very patient and waited for this to come into my library...in a money-saving move.  This book tells the story of Sophie Lefevre who, in 1916 is living in occupied France, trying to keep her family together during WW1. Her husband, a talented painter is away and a portrait of her is sometimes all she has to keep her going when their town is full of German soldiers fast forward to the present day and the painting now hangs on the wall of a London show home where Liv is suffering her own turmoil after being widowed. The story deals with the issues around stolen works of art in wartime as well as those of love, loss and  suffering.

I was absolutely captured by the first half of the story, I was there with Sophie while she was preparing a feast for the Germans in her hotel while the rest of the town were enjoying a secret feast of contra-band pork but I found the present-day story less convincing and at times I was annoyed with Liv but I had to keep reading to find out how it would end.  Overall a great book; interesting and engrossing and I particularly enjoyed reading about the war diaries.