The Miniaturist

I read The Miniaturist in almost an afternoon, it is simply unputdownable. Considering it is over 400 pages long and a very in depth read, that is pretty good going by my book! (If you'll pardon the pun).

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini's debut novel is set in Kabul, Afghanistan and follows the life of Amir, a young boy from a wealthy Pashtun family. It searches his friendship with Hassan, their Hazara servant, and the challenges they face growing up in a war-torn society. The story allows the reader to compare life before and after the Taliban took over whilst exposing an Afghanistan I never knew existed, where kite flying was a favourite Afghan tradition and past-time. Amir goes on a journey to redemption throughout the Bildungsroman novel as a childhood event altered the boys' lives forever. Some events are shocking, others saddening, and there's even a tear-jerking moment in a well-crafted, thoughtful plot.

Pride and Prejudice

I wanted my first book review to be a novel I, and many others, have a high regard for. With the opening line, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife’ being one of the most famous in English literature, I present to you... Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I recently finished reading this classic and honestly did not want it to end. Sometimes I cannot see why some novels are classics (don't tell my English teacher) but with its wonderful balance of romance, wit, humour, drama and controversy, Pride and Prejudice truly fits the bill.