John Rhys

Advantages: funny, witty, 80's nostagia
Disadvantages: none really

...On Sunday /John Llewlyn Rhys prize and was shortlisted for the Guardian First book Award. His second, Number9dream, as shortlisted for the Booker Prize as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and in 2003 he was chosen as one of Granta's Best Of Young British Novelists. His thrid novel Cloud Atlas, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial prize, the South Bank Show Literature Prize and the Best Literary Fiction and the Richard & Judy Best read Of The Year categories in the British Book Awards. It was shortlisted for a further six awards including the Man Booker Prize and the Commomwealth Writer's Prize. Born in 1969, David Mitchell grew up in Worcestershire. After graduating from Kent University, he spent serveral years teaching in Japan, and now lives in Ireland with his wife and two children. Overall. It's not the kind of book I would... Read review

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Advantages: Easy to read, suitable for all.
Disadvantages: Over ambitious with an ending which lets it down...

...First Book). It also won two EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Awards) for Best Book/Novel and Best Female Media Newcomer, and was short listed for the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Author's Club First Novel Award. Zadie Smith is currently a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University. White Teeth has been translated into over twenty languages and was adapted for Channel 4 television for broadcast in autumn 2002. All of this suggests that the novel must really be something special...... The Characters ********************************************************************* The main characters are two close families the Joneses and the Iqbals an unlikely pairing brought together by the fathers, Samad Iqbal and Archie Jones who met when they fought (or should I say helped out... Read review

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Advantages: great characters
Disadvantages: remember te early chapters the will make more sence in the end!

...for the characterisation) Awards . 2000 EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel White Teeth 2000 EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Female Media Newcomer White Teeth 2000 Guardian First Book Award White Teeth 2000 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) White Teeth 2000 Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (shortlist) White Teeth 2000 Whitbread First Novel Award White Teeth 2001 Authors' Club First Novel Award (shortlist) White Teeth 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best First Book) White Teeth 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction (shortlist) White Teeth 2001 WH Smith Award for Best New Talent White Teeth This was Zadie Smith's first novel but if you liked this she has more out now. As I don't know any one else who read it id love t o hear your... Read review

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Advantages: Wry, amusing, evocative and accessible.
Disadvantages: A little slow, perhaps, and quite disjointed.

...Even though I grew up thirty years or so after Griff Rhys Jones (I'm not even twenty!), this autobiography still appealed to me. It may be slightly slow-moving and patchy, but this does not detract from how readable and enjoyable it is. In an original twist, Rhys Jones throws out his memories as he stumbles across them, as he visits the places he loved as a child, and this haphazard approach really works. Though it means that the details can skip around, it reflects how nostalgia can be aroused and how memories can be triggered by the oddest things. The childhood he describes is vividly brought to life, yet the games and attitudes of Rhys Jones and his friends could easily belong to any child, sending the reader back into their own memories too. These factors combine to create a charming, thought-provoking, amusing and reflective journey... Read review

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Advantages: Strong characters. Very thought-provoking.
Disadvantages: Reading Jean Eyre is a big help in understanding the book

.... . . is what this book is all about. In Jane Eyre, Rochester's mad wife is locked in an attic. We learn that Rochester has made his fortune from the slave trade. Charlotte Bronte tells us little more about either topic, but Jean Rhys takes her ideas and crafts a beautifully descriptive and challenging novel out of them. Jean Rhys herself was on the fringe of society when she wrote this book. An alcoholic, she had not written anything since the thirties, and Wide Sargasso Sea was written in 1964. It was a stunning comeback. This book is truly prophetic - dealing with racism, treatment of the mentally infirm and sexism. As someone outside the mainstream, Rhys would have appreciated the predicament of Mrs. Rochester. I read Jane Eyre without really considering her character or where she had come from - she was hardly integral... Read review

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Advantages: Insight into the world of commercial and national radio!
Disadvantages: Dr Fox is an idiot!

...off kilter and even surreal. It's a good way to spend the first three hours of the day. And, I have to say, although there is no meaty past depression or drink and drugs problems or child abuse. There are some really interesting things in this book. He does take time to talk through his rise to Radio 1's glory spot, and all the harsh realities that come from working in the cutthroat business of radio. In his honest and candid manner, he does tell all about who he has met over the years and which of these were nice and which were not so nice. He gives a rather surprising insight into Dr Fox for instance. It is basically what it says on the front. Chris Moyles talking about himself, like he does on the show. This time though, there is no Carrie, Dave, Rachel, Dom, Aled, Rhys or Ben to help him. It's all him and that's why it works... Read review

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