Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
If you’re a sucker for historical novels and you love art and Renaissance Italy, then this book will be a real treat. At times I almost felt I inhabited the story, I was so wrapped up in the emotions and ambitions of all concerned. I felt close enough to experience the richness and colour of the fabrics as well as the danger and squalour of the streets first hand.
Moreta – Dragonlady of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Oh no – books with dragons on the cover send me running in the opposite direction. I did try hard with the unfamiliar names, places and weird events but it just didn’t do it for me. My friend would like to live in Pern (and possibly fancies herself as Moreta). She thinks cats, dogs and budgies are a very poor substitute for dragons, but I would rather get my reading kicks from a more recognisable setting.
Between Friends by Kathleen Rowntree
I suppose this book was quite pleasant and certainly easy to read, but I’m afraid it irritated me. If my husband had an affair with my best friend, I think I would have been plotting a nasty revenge, not working hard to keep both!
The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini
I just can’t get this book out of my head. The scenes, especially in Afghanistan, are so vivid and haunting. I’ve never read a book where, as a woman, I felt so much conflicting emotion for the male characters – and this is the first time I have read a description of a fight scene where I was willing one person to kill the other. I want to see the film, but I’m not sure I can face such an emotional journey a second time round.
God’s Spy by Juan Gomez-Jurado
OK so this is another offspring of 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Silence of the Lambs' but it's also the work of a prize-winning journalist, has a realistic and appealing heroine, is a genuine page-turner and has a truly magnificent surprise ending. Not convinced by the criminal profiling – that let the book down for me, but there’s no doubt it will make a great film.