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Advantages: Great introduction to Bennett.
Disadvantages: Quite pricey for a short book.

‘Telling Tales’ by Alan Bennett does exactly what it says on the cover… Alan Bennett, one of the country’s best loved wordsmiths, tells ten tales about his childhood in Leeds, a provincial city in the West Riding where life generally tended to avoid. In several of the tales Bennett details the causes of his frustration as a youth – he knew that his family was very ordinary (not working class, but certainly not middle class), yet at the same time ...
...that life for everyone else was much different to hers and that the cocktail party lifestyle she read about in Woman’s Own was the norm and attainable by a move to the hallowed ‘down South’. We learn much about Bennett’s ‘Mam and Dad’ (so good to see the word Mam, I feel I’m one of the few who still uses it). Their real names were Lil and Walt, but as in many households, the birth of the first child sees real names being wrapped in paper and only ... Read review

Advantages: Amazingly rich in detail, easily accessible
Disadvantages: Ever so slightly Henry dominated

...has to be one of the best biographies I've ever read on Henry VIII's wives. Antonia Fraser takes them out of their conventional stereotypes and re-creates them for a new generation of readers as individual women in their own right. The language is easily accessible to all who care to pick up the book and read it, and is rich is descriptions of the times in which these women lived. The book explores the women's personalities, as well as their relationship ... Read review

Advantages: Gives an insight into the real WW2
Disadvantages: Very emotional!

...had always been interested in the history of world war two in particular and was keen to get down and read this book. After reading this book not only once, but at least twenty times, I can truely recommend this book to anyone. It wrenches every last heart string in this epic true story of Anne Frank; a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl, living in an annex of an Amsterdam office building in 1942 through to 1944. This story is a publication of Anne Franks ...
...woman's experiences and suffering during the persecution of Jews. It is an in depth account of what life was really like for thousands of people in hiding, describing the fear of which they lived in and the immense pressures they were put under. Throughout the book it shows Anne Frank living a teenage life in extraordinary conditions. It shows a real insight into what suffering people really endured during these dark times. It is written as a diary, ... Read review

Advantages: Riveting story about a father's endurance
Disadvantages: Murderer still at large

...Worse was to follow, the woman had been murdered in front of her two year old child who was clinging to his mother's body when they were both found. The last Thursday in July is Andre Hanscombe's account of his life immediately before and following that dreadful event. It is a moving account of his endeavours to ensure that his son's life is not scarred forever because of what happened.It tells of his love for Rachel Nickell, the mother who was ...
...Andre tells of the trials and tribulations he has to endure at the hands of the National Press who invade his privacy and even put Alex's life at risk by taking photographs of him and printing them in the newspapers when the murderer is still at large in the community and he is the only witness. Because of the harrassment, Andre moves to France with Alex where they live in a farm in a tiny village where he is unknown, but even here the press harangue ... Read review

Advantages: Gripping, informative
Disadvantages: May be found quite hard going

Carla Van Raay's autobiography "Gods Callgirl" details the life of a naive, immature girl, then woman who is devoted to God but goes from obedient convent girl to sexual prostitute over the course of her life, but remains as naive as ever. This life story is divided into three parts and develops the tale of this Dutch girl's life over the course of the book. Part one examines the life of a child abused by her father, yet finding she felt abandoned ...
...God from a very young age. As a school girl she idolising the convent and her sole ambition in life is to serve God as a nun in one of Australia's many convents. As an early teenager feeling unloved at home by her family yet supporting her mother in everyday chores and childcare of her brothers and sister she found herself believing she was a product of the devil. A problem no confession could speak of, and no action could heal. Part two follows ... Read review