 | The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 3 Aug. Although dry and long-winded in places, this kept me gripped and turning the pages until the end. Worth the effort (but it was an effort at times).
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 | Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan
Buy new: £4.74 / Used from: £0.75 4 Aug. I'd heard a lot about this book, but it wasn't a great hit with me. Perhaps I had different expectations, but I wanted more from this book than I got. Disappointed.
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 | The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
Buy new: £3.99 / Used from: £0.99 7 Aug. Loved The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin's Lover, and this ranks up there with them. Gregory brings the Tudor period and characters to life in a wonderful way.
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 | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Definitions) by John Boyne
Buy new: £4.79 / Used from: £2.04 8 Aug. This book will haunt me for a long time. I read it in one sitting and had to take time when I was done to seriously think about it. Both wonderfully simple and horribly complex.
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 | The Girls by Lori Lansens
Buy new: £0.75 / Used from: £0.01 14 Aug. With moments of truly beautiful prose, this is a simple story of sisters, who happen to also be conjoined twins. Never tripping into bad taste, this is a heart-warming read.
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 | What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
Buy new: £4.34 / Used from: £1.98 17 Aug. Haunting and poignant debut novel that deserves its place on the Man Booker Prize longlist.
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 | The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
Buy new: £5.22 / Used from: £0.01 21 Aug. Average read, not sure why it was raved about so much. Very long-winded and had to force myself not to skip large chunks of it.
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 | The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Buy new: £4.83 / Used from: £0.01 25 Aug. Loved this unusual twist on a classic love story. I'm not usually one for time-travel fiction, but this was something different. A special book.
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 | The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson
Buy new: £4.99 / Used from: £0.01 2 Sept. Thoroughly enjoyed this book, loved the storyteller's voice and the questions raised by his tale. Depressing in parts, but definitely worth reading.
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 | The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Buy used from: £5.93 5 Sept. What a wonderfully original book, narrated by death and telling a charming and tragic tale. I cannot praise this book highly enough!
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 | Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Buy new: £0.01 / Used from: £0.01 14 Sept. A very complex book that required some serious thought whilst reading, but was totally worth the effort. Interlocking stories, all as well-written as each other.
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 | The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Buy new: £4.95 / Used from: £0.01 16 Sept. A pleasant read that evoked the stunning winter setting and its dangers very well.
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 | Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk
Buy new: £10.49 / Used from: £0.01 17 Sept. Found this book well-written but thoroughly depressing. It paints a very negative picture of womanhood and motherhood that I strongly disagree with.
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 | This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes
Buy new: £4.74 / Used from: £0.01 19 Sept. This book did not save my life, it wasted my time. Too silly for words, a two-dimensional character searches for meaning in a story with no depth, just hidden shallows.
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 | Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
Buy new: £2.97 / Used from: £0.01 4 Oct. Now I've read the book I can't wait to see the film. The book reminded me of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, deluded narrator saying things that they don't realise they're saying. Brilliant.
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 | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (International Writers) by Patrick Suskind
Buy new: £3.07 / Used from: £0.01 5 Oct. A horribly wonderful book filled with sensual delights and hideous imagery that really captures the imagination.
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 | The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood
Buy new: £2.20 / Used from: £0.01 9 Oct. Very easy to read and quite heart-warming. A nice uplifting book after some heaver reads.
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