Becoming! Michelle Obama...The First Lady from her perspective

Title: Becoming!
Author: Michelle Obama
ISBN: 978-0-241-33414-0
Rating: 6/10
Genre: Autobiography, Life, Fact
Type: Hardcover

"More intriguing was my early discovery that there was such a thing as an African Amerian elite. Most of my new high school friends were plack, but that didn't necessarily translate, it turned out, to any sort of uniformity in our experience. A number of them had parents who were lawyers or doctors and seemed to know one another through an African American social club called Jack and Jill. They'd been on ski vacations and trips that required passport. They talked about things that were foreign to me, like summer internships and historically black colleges. One of my black classmates, a nerdy boy who was always kind to everyone, had parents who'd founded a big beauty-supply company and lived in one of the ritziest high-rises downtown.
This was my new world. It's not to say that everyone at the school was rich or overly sophisticated, because that wasn't the case. There were plenty of kids who came from neighbourhoods just like mine, who struggled with far more than I ever would. But my first months at Whitney Young gave me a glimpse of something that had previously been invisible - the apparatus of privilege and connection, what seemed like a network of half-hidden ladders and guide ropes that lay suspended overhead, ready to connect some but not all of us to the sky."

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit...Still fascinates me

Title: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Author: Judith Kerr
ISBN:
Rating: 8/10
Genre: History, War, WWII, Autobiographical
Type: Kindle

"They spelled out the name under the photograph.
Adolf Hitler.
'He wants everybody to vote for him in the elections and then he's going to stop the Jews,' said Elsbeth. 'Do you think he's going to stop Rachel Lowenstein?'
'Nobody can stop Rachel Lowenstein,' said Anna. 'She's form captain. Perhaps he'll stop me. I'm Jewish too.'
'You're not!'
'I am! My father was talking to us about it only last week. He said we were Jews and no matter what happened my brother and I must never forget it.'
'But you don't go to a special church on Saturdays like Rachel Lowenstein.'
'That's because we're not religious. We don't go to church at all.'
'I wish my father wasn't religious,' said Elsbeth. 'We have to go every Sunday and I get cramp in my seat.' She looked at Anna curiously. 'I thought Jews were supposed to have bent noses, but your nose is quite ordinary. Has your brother got a bent nose?'
'No,' said Anna. 'The only person in our house with a bent nose is Bertha the maid, and hers only got like that because she broke it falling off a tram.'

This is Going to Hurt...The true life of a junior doctor

Title: This is Going to Hurt
Author: Adam Kay
ISBN: 978-1-5098-5863-7
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Adult, Medical, Biography, Non-Fiction
Type: Paperback

"A few of my colleagues had kids by this point and lived their lives in constant childcare hell, adding 'guilt' to the psychology textbook of emotions that a career in medicine bequeaths you. I don't have kids, but I could understand what a gut-wrench it was for my colleagues to settle for a goodnight phone call with their children rather than tucking them in and reading them The Gruffalo. Or, more often than not, they'd miss the call altogether because labour ward was in meltdown. A friend who worked in general surgery once couldn't go along to his own son's emergency surgery because he was performing non-emergency surgery on someone else's son and no one could cover for him."

Frank Skinner...Completely changed my perspective

Title: Frank Skinner
Author: Frank Skinner
ISBN: 978-0-09-942687-5
Rating: 6/10
Genre: Autobiography, Non-fiction, True, Fact, Comedy, Humour
Type: Paperback

"Sunday. 13th May 2001. I arrive at the Hawthorne with Phil. He's producing and directing a documentary about Japanese and Korean football which is my next work-project after this book. Outside the ground, a middle-aged woman is selling Baggies Bonanza tickets. There's a draw at halftime and you can win a grand or so on a good week. She tries to sell me one. 'I don't need the money,' I explain. It's a slightly dodgy response, I know, but she takes it in the spirit it's intended and smiles. We get inside the ground and I bump into another mate, Lee, who's an Albion fanatic. His friend is explaining how his little boy came home in a Manchester United shirt and wanted to go and play football in it. In the end, Lee's mate had to pull the shirt off the kid, who then headed for the football in tears. Lee's mate said he felt like a heel. I told him he was a hero. He hesitated, then agreed...I won't bore you with a match report. We are two goals up with ten minutes to go. The crowd are loud and joyous. It's like old days when we were a top club. No one can stop us now. Final score: 2-2...'Congratulations,' she blurts out excitedly. I'm stunned. We've obviously won the BAFTA. 'What for?' I say, trying to remain calm. 'Two-nil,' she says. Women have no concept of the phrase 'Latest Score."

Stockton Library Fright Night and Bryony Pearce

For the second year in a row, I went to the Fright Night at Stockton Library. This year we were lucky again! We visit to celebrate everything spooky and we were visited by fantastic young adult author Bryony Pearce. Bryony had visited the school I work at earlier that day and I had the pleasure of meeting her. For a horror writer, she is a lovely lady! By her own admission, "After meeting me people are often surprised about how dark my work is, I am deceptively happy." The kids loved her! Her outfit, her boots, her amazing outlook on life. There was definitely a buzz around the school coming from the Year 7s and 8s after they had met her. I was then invited to the Fright Night at Stockton Library and was able to meet Bryony again and buy her books for myself.

In the Name of Love...Just retelling her story

Title: In the Name of Love
Author: Katie Price
ISBN: 978-1-846-05961-2
Rating: 4/10
Genre: Adolescent, Romance, Love, Holiday, Teenager
Type: Hardback

"Charlie didn't have a chance to pursue this conversation as the doorbell rang then. It was Aidan, who had called round in a taxi to collect her. Zoe answered the door while Charlie grabbed her bag - a red satin clutch to match her dress - and a black feather bolero. Charlie grimaced as she draped the feathers round her shoulders. It was barely above freezing outside and there was no way this flimsy bolero was going to keep her warm. She'd have to smuggle her black leather jacket out of the flat, away from Zoe, aka the Style Police. But just as she was walking out of the flat, Zoe caught her redhanded and confiscated the jacket."