Online Shop
|
Girls' Night Out/Boys' Night inSnagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here! Rating:  - a great beach readHaving read the last collection of stories i was pleased to see this new collection out just in time for my hols... and i was not disappointed. however i enjoyed the womens stories more, my faves being Colette Caddles which was very satisfying, Emily Barr's which was gripping and unexpected with an excellent ending and isla dewars which was very readable. all in all a good collection of stories which gives you a taster of the authors work. Rating: - Mixed bag of fruit and nuts...A laudable cause, but a mixed reading experience. Broadly speaking, this collection is divided into two groups. There are those who are still writing the same old/same old London-based, office relationship, email romance, needs a boyfriend, lives with his mates and eats pizza and masturbates a lot stuff (Fiona Walker, Mike Gayle, Beaumont etc) - which is all right, but kind of dull. And then there are the writers who are doing somethng a bit different (kind of what youd want in a short story collection...) - like Mark Powell, Lloyd and Rees, Anna Davies, Colin Bateman and Emily Barr. All in all a good beach read - so 4 stars for you... Rating:  - ExcellentWell - I wasn't a fan of Girls Night In last year. I was disappointed by finding so many girly stories & the same old relationships cliches all packed into one book. But, wanting to do my bit for War Child, I bought this book anyway. To my surprise, this year's effort is MUCH BETTER! Surprising considering there are much fewer big names this time round, but many of the best stories were by authors I hadn't heard of. The balance of female and male stories was excellent for giving the book a real variety. And this time round, the subject matter is more varied - though the girls focus a lot on relationships, the blokes on...well - dogs! Quite a few, to my surprise, centred on dogs, and these were some of the best - such as Mark Barrowcliffe's funny and moving 'Unfairy tale'. My favourites were surprises too. I hadn't enjoyed EMily Barr's backpacking novel, but her short story was brilliant - gripping and with a scary ending. Barr is good at creating truly bitchy characters - I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of his author! I also like Santa Montifore's effort. And Chris Manby's was also great - intelligent, very sexy, and kind of sad at the end - very true to life. Meanwhile, Kathy Lette's essay on breasts had me in fits. There were a few disappointments - there always are! Emlyn Rees / Josie Lloyd's story was pretty dire but maybe I'll give another go & a few of the more 'relationships' stories are a bit dull. But there are only a few disappointments in an otherwise ace collection. JAne Green provides a touching forward - I wish she would contribute a story next year, along with (requests time!) my other favs which I keep hoping for - Robyn Sisman, Zoe Barnes, Deborah Wright, India Knight and PLEASE - Jane Green. Just reading her forward has made me impatient to read her forthcoming 'Babyville.' All in all a great collection for a good cause. Go back to: Girls' Night Out/Boys' Night in page 2 of 2
1 2 You might also be interested in the following great products:
|