Women Behaving Badly by Alana Munro.

This is an armchair psychology book about the dynamics of friendships shared between women. It explains how women relate to other women and the problems that can occur. Because some women can behave badly to other women and Alana reveals all.

I am pleased that Alana was brave enough to tackle this socially difficult subject. The stereotype of women is one of care, gentleness and motherly love. However women can become very jealous, intense, bitchy, competitive and play power games. Alana reveals the harsh truths about woman to woman (non-lesbian) relationships.

This book was aimed at women but as a married man for the past 22 years, I related to the analysis and tales that Alana gives the reader. I can see a lot of what Alana highlights in a lot of my wife's female friends. Women talk among themselves in a very different way to how men talk to each other.

Alana has a lenghty introduction to the conflicts between women and she waffles on quite a lot. Her book lacks editing and she takes many, many pages to say just a little. It is easy to understand but she does labour her points. When I finished reading this book it all made sense to me and I found it quite funny but childish how many adult women deal with their peers.

I found this book an okay read that explains why women so often fall out with each other. It will also help newly married men understand how women think so that they can have an easier time at home with their new wife. Alana puts a lot of padding into her book and she rants like a drunken friend, so I will vote it a middling score of 3 stars.

Women Behaving Badly is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2013.

Fifty Sheds Damper by C.T. Grey.

This is a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey and was written in 2013. It is a small novelty book intended for times when you wish to give a small present or stocking filler. It is full of innuendo and reads like a script for a stand up comedian. This is a small coffee table book with pictures on every other page. The volume of text is very low and is really a short story that takes around 40 minutes to read. It is all dressed up to look like a full length novel rather than the short story in a picture book it really is.

The humour is there and it is an amusing parody. This is not a brilliant read, it does not really entertain but simply amuses the reader. It is like watching a second rate comedian, you sit through it hoping it will improve. Sadly Fifty Sheds Damper does not get any better from the start. It is just a collection of brief, funny little jokes. To give you a taste, I will quote the best two jokes in the whole book. The writing does not get any better than this.

Our first session wasn't a great success. I asked her to come as Miss Whiplash so she turned up with a neck brace and a solicitor.

'I've been a very naughty girl,' she said, licking her lips. 'I need to be punished.' So I bought her the Daniel O'Donnell Christmas album.

Fifty Sheds Damper is a poor read and is just a novelty gift. Expect to see it on offer very cheaply in Pound shops. It is a simple rip off, trading on the success of Fifty Shades of Grey and I can only vote it 2 stars. I suggest you give this little book the Miss and give someone a better small gift like a pair of socks.

Tears from Kabul by Michael P. Buckley.

This novel is set in Kabul and features a murderous US Army soldier who will kill anyone in his path. His mission is to save some Afghan women who want an education and murder members of the Taliban along the way. This story is one of combat and there are numerous deaths along the way.
Tears from Kabul is written in the style of a shoot-them-up video game. It is all dramatic action with bullets and explosions going off left, right and centre. The story line is very weak, characterization is poor and the dialogue is snappy child's talk. The language used is very limited and will appeal to people with a reading age of 5.
I did not enjoy reading Tears from Kabul and thought it was nothing more than a violent children's story. Michael does not have the skills of a storyteller and his novel has the journalistic skills of a football match reporter for The Sun newspaper. This tabloid style of writing makes this a POOR read that I can only vote 2 stars.
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Michael decided to publish his novel in 3 volumes, which you can read seperately or you can buy the boxed set. I downloaded book 1 of Tears for Kabul which has 4 chapters. I think he took this format so that he could give away the first 4 chapters as a free download in the hope that readers will purchase the rest of his story. Judging by book 1, I will not be wasting my money on books 2 and 3. I suggest you give ALL 3 books in the series the MISS. There are loads of good books out there with interesting and thought provoking stories about Afghanistan but this is NOT one of them.
Tears from Kabul is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2013.

The Ultimate Pug Guide: by Dexter Armstrong.

This brief guide, of only 268 locations on a Kindle, is a good introduction to anyone thinking of buying a Pug. The title is misleading as this brief guide is NOT ULTIMATE but a good start for people wanting to know more.

Dexter has written a lovely guide that is very easy to read and understand. The editing is spot on and although it packs a lot of information, you do not feel overwhelmed by the content. This guide gives you ALL you need to know before you buy a Pug. It is an honest guide, making you aware of the good and bad points of owning a Pug. The frustrations are dealt with and you are not mislead by a Pug's stubbornness.

Having had a Pug for 20 months now, I can vouch for what Dexter has written. Pugs are lovely little dogs who give a tremendous amount of love and loyalty back. I enjoyed reading this brief guide and consider it to be a good read that I will vote 4 stars. There is one thing that Dexter does not mention though. Pugs love to sleep on top of your bed, next to you, cwtch in and snore the night away by your side.

Special Girl by K. B. Stevens.

Special Girl is a short story about an intellectually challenged young woman. K.B. Stevens is big on teasing that his short story MAY be an erotic turn on but it is no more than an essay on disability awareness. It rambles on about what is appropriate and the morality of forming a relationship with a woman who has an intellectual disability.

This short story lacks depth and is just idle scene setting. The dialogue is puerile and the humour is rather weak. It is not an entertaining read and when I finished it, I thought I had wasted my time. I did not enjoy reading Special Girl and it was simply a distraction. A good short story will pack a punch but Special Girl fails to deliver. I hoped it would get better but it was disappointing from start to finish. Therefore I will vote Special Girl the minimum score of 1 star as there are good short stories out there but this is NOT one of them.

Special Girl is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Belonging by Sameem Ali.

This book is a true story first person narrative about a British Asian girl. It is a survivor tale that opens a world that is unseen to most of the British public. Follow Sameem as she grows up and is treated so horribly by people she should have been able to trust. This is a gripping story that deals with difficult cultural issues faced by British children of Pakistani parents.

This book is easy to read and understand. Sameem talks the reader through British Asian family life in the same way as she had to learn about her new family when she left the Children's Home. Sameem is frequently beaten and treated like a slave. At the age of 13, she is taken to Pakistan, forced to marry a complete stranger and 2 months later falls pregnant. As if things can't get any worse, Sameem returns to Britain and her abuse and torments continue. More drama happens but right at the end of her story, there is a happy ending.

I am pleased that Sameem has written and published her story. She is not alone and her circumstances are not unique. It is good that her tale is now in the public domain as nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. Perpetrators of abuse are very good at hiding their actions from the public and know how to hit so it does not show.

I really enjoyed reading Belonging because it allowed me to enter a very private world. It was great to look at the world through the eyes of Sameem and learn about different cultural and family roles. I developed an empathy for Sameem right from the very start. She does not tell her story in a sweet, slushy way but in a frank, matter of fact manner. I felt that things could have been so very different if there had been a good follow up when Sameem left the Children's Home.

The editing of Belonging is very good and the story is told in a professional manner. You are not left with any gaps and everything makes sense. The timeline is strictly adhered to and the story does NOT have those annoying flashbacks found in so many books.

This book is so well written and is very easy to relate to. I am a 55 year old, white skinned English Atheist man, yet her writing is so good that I so easily dropped into the shoes of a brown skinned, British Asian/Pakistani Muslim girl. This shows the quality of her writing AND how this book should appeal to everyone. I read this book whilst on holiday and when I finished reading it I felt both refreshed and enlightened. For me there is only one vote I can give Belonging, the maximum score of 5 stars. Sameem has done well to survive her upbringing and when I read on page 280 that in May 2007 she was elected as a Labour Party councillor for Moss Side, Manchester, I thought "well done girl!".

Belonging was written in 2008 and has 281 pages.

Home by Manju Kapur.

Home is a 3 generation family drama set in Delhi involving a traditional cloth merchant. Follow the life of the Banwari Lal family as it changes with the times.

This novel starts off with the family tree and a brief synopsis of their family dynamics. This sets the reader off on the right foot and then, like a fly on the wall, you grow up with the family as you read through the chapters. This structure and writing style makes Home an easy read and you can imagine that you are growing up with them in Delhi.

Home is about family life with all it's ups and downs. It tells the story of fashion and the demands for clothing. Home tells a lot about the cultures living in North India, class, education and marriage. Because of it's strong local colour, the reader learns a lot about Indian life along the way. The story is told with a lot of love, in a mature, not a sugary sweet way. There is a lot of warmth in this book and you hope that everything turns out right for each and every member of the Banwari Lal family.

I got a lot of joy from reading this book. Manju's story telling is so good that you feel the story is actually unfolding around you rather than being a work of fiction. Her character development is top rate, you really get to know this family as though they were your own. The reading pleasure I got from Home was so high, that I vote it a HIT and the top score of 5 stars.

The flavour of this book also made me smile with it's use of witty dialogue. As an example the grandfather comments "Our customers are loyal to us, beta. If no one buys this ready-made, what will you do? Next year it will be a different fashion. Look at the sari - one size for everybody - no stitching, no tailoring, no fitting, no complaints, everything beautiful and simple."

Home was written in 2006 and has 337 pages.