When I was a kid I wanted to be a dolphin trainer (this was right after I wanted to be a dog and before I learnt the word paleontologist). I had dreams of being best buds with a dolphin and teaching it cool tricks and generally hanging out in a pool. I wanted to go to Florida so badly and luckily my parents didn't...

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Hop on any public transport in London and unless you have headphones in permanently (guilty as charged) you will notice that it is 96% quiet. No chatter, no small talk and unless it’s the 3.15 bus, no laughter from the upper deck. Last week I decided to get the fast train home and as the train slowly began to pull out of the...

This novel lives up to its name in every possible way. I know it's only March but this is already a firm favourite of books being published this year. Leslie Parry brings to life the dark underworld of New York city, from boxing fights in the dockyards, the opium dens of the bored and addicted to the state asylums. Four main characters push...

I am guilty of buying fruit with the good intention of being a super human-being and eating lots of fruit every day. Most of the time this is a success but usually a lone satsuma or banana is left in the bowl, all lonely and wrinkly like a jilted Miss Havisham. Last week there were two bananas that neither myself or the drummer...

Today at 9:31 GMT (earlier if you’re further North than London) we will be able to see the eclipse. Or at least we should be able to see it if the clouds aren’t misbehaving. Using my profound Mystic Meg knowledge (and British cynicism towards weathermen) I’m going to harbour a guess that we won’t see a sausage and the hour the eclipse happens...

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I discovered Rainbow Rowell last year after picking up Fangirl. A novel that just yelled “I’m totally relatable!” I wonder why? Moving on... After devouring Fangirl in two days I promptly went on to binge on Eleanor & Park and most recently whistled through Landline at breakneck speed. Rainbow is a beautiful writer, delving into the domestic intricacies of everyday life and lifting...

It’s no secret that I think Harriet Manners, aka Geek Girl is the bees knees. The creation of the marvelous Holly Smale is back again for a fourth adventure in Geek Girl: All That Glitters. After four books you might start to think that the series was waning, but no, mon petit coeur, this series is going from strength to strength.  In book...

The old saying goes 'you don't miss something until it is gone'. In this book I really missed speech-marks. Call me lazy but I quite like to be able to identify who is talking by a slight flick of ink on a page. Speech-marks are important and whether you are trying to be literary or challenge your readers you should understand that readers have grown up...

Dare Me is disturbing. There's no two ways about it. The relationship between teenagers and morbid curiosity has always been a source of inspiration for authors since Romeo and Juliet first decided they couldn't live without each other. What makes Megan Abbott's book stand out from the market is the way in which it delves into the intense relationships and often incestous tendencies...

I picked The Folded Earth up a while ago and its beautiful front cover has been calling out to me ever since. I finally managed to read it last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the sort of book that relishes in the mundane daily activities of ordinary folk. Except the ordinary folk it focuses on are based in the Himalyan mountains...

If I had one word to describe You Deserve Nothing it would be juicy. Set in modern day Paris this novel is split into three inter-changing narratives that weave together to tell a scandalous story. Gilad, Will and Marie see each other every day at Paris' international school. Full of rich kids and towering town houses, it's all rather cute and of course...