Five Minutes Peace

BOOK REVIEW: Thin Is the New Happy by Valerie Frankel

I'd been looking forward to this book for so long. I love Valerie Frankel's novels (and her blog) and I do like a good weightloss/body image memoir, particularly when they're funny, and Thin is the New Happy didn't disappoint.

Frankel had been struggling with her weight and, more importantly, body image, since the age of 11 when her mother decided Valerie was overweight and something must be done. (She writes: “I could have food. Or I could have approval. I couldn’t have both.”) I'm constantly amazed at the terrible comments parents direct at their children in these kinds of books, but Valerie's mother's mother was even worse, so you can almost understand why she was so fat-phobic. This pattern also acted as a catalyst for Frankel to deal with her issues - she was determined not to pass them on to her own two daughters.

BOOK REVIEW: The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center

The Bright Side of Disaster is the story of Jenny who is engaged to be
married and pregnant with her first child. Her fiance, Dean, doesn't seem entirely present, but Jenny thinks it's just cold feet about the wedding and the baby... until Dean takes off (leaving a note) and Jenny goes into labour.

Once her baby daugher, Maxie, arrives, Jenny decides that everything is going to be about the baby. Maxie may not have a dad, but Jenny vows to make up for it by being the best mother ever. And yet... motherhood is so much harder than she expected.

Pretty covers from Penguin Classics

I spotted these gorgeous new Penguin Classics covers on US design blog, Design*Sponge.

Currently exclusive to Waterstone's, there are ten in the series, costing #12.99 each (why is my pound sign not working, does anyone know?).

Beautiful, aren't they?

Winnie the Pooh drawings sale

If the Disney version of Winnie the Pooh (and friends) makes you shudder with horror, this news may well warm your heart.

A collection of EH Shepard's original drawings for the Winnie the Pooh 's books has fetched £1.26m at auction in London.

The top lot, "He went on tracking, and Piglet... ran after him" (right), one of Shepherd's best-known drawings, went for £115,250, a record for the artist.

Another drawing, "Bump, bump, bump - going up the stairs", sold for £97,250, almost double its lower estimate.

[via the BBC]

Lauren Child is Artist for Peace

I adore Lauren Child. I love Charlie & Lola (doesn't everyone?), her picture books and her Clarice Bean books for older readers. So I was thrilled to read that she has been designated Unesco Artist for Peace.

Child is supporting Unesco's Programme for the Education of Children in Need and profits from Child's That Pesky Rat (one of our favourites) are supporting a Unesco education programme for children in Mexico and Mongolia.

[Photo taken at Green Drops and Moonsquirters, an exhibition of Child's work at Manchester Art Gallery earlier this year

BOOK REVIEW: Hermux Tantamoq series by Michael Hoeye

I was planning to simply review the latest book in this delightful series - Time to Smell the Roses - but then I realised that most of you will probably not have heard of the books at all, so instead, I thought I'd introduce them!

I discovered Hermux Tantamoq a few years ago when I worked at Waterstone's. I met the author, Michael Hoeye, at an event and I'd loved the first book, Time Stops for No Mouse, so much that I made an absolute arse of myself. (Okay, the free drink probably didn't help.)

The Hermux Tantamoq series began as emails Michael Hoeye sent to his wife while she was travelling and features the rodent residents of Pinchester. The hero is watchmaker and part-time detective, Hermux Tantamoq who an Amazon reviewer describes - quite brilliantly, in my opinion - as "Niles Crane as a mouse".

What would you like to read next year?

Here at Five Minutes Peace, we're planning on running a book club next year.

Nothing too tricky, just twelve books over twelve months that we can all read and then chat about in the comments.

So what do I need from you? Recommendations!

I've got a few books in mind, but if there's a book you love and would love more people to read, let me know. I'm happy to go for a good mix, so classics, children's books, fiction, non-fiction, anything goes.

What's your favourite comfort read?

You know when you just want to sit down with a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits and a really engrossing and entertaining book?

I'm in a bit of a reading slump at the moment. I've started a lot of books that were o-kay, but they just weren't grabbing me. So what do I do?

I pick up one of my tried and tested comfort reads, that's what I do. Top 5 over the cut.

40% off at Walker Books

The wonderful Walker Books is offering a 40% discount on everything until 22 December.

Simply use the code XMAS08 at the checkout.

Five Young Adult books you'll love

I started reading Young Adult fiction a few years ago, when I worked in the children's department of a bookshop. I was absolutely staggered by the quality and have not only continued to read teen books, but now also write them.

I'm not sure whether it's a simple case of arrested development or whether I'm still trying to work through the "issues" of those difficult teenage years, but I find young adult fiction much more satisfying than adult fiction. And yet some adults are apparently too embarrassed to read books meant for teenagers.

I wholeheartedly believe everyone should read young adult fiction (and not just my books - out next year!), so carry on over the cut for a list to get you started.