Five Minutes Peace

BOOK REVIEW: Operation Sunshine by Jenny Colgan

When I reviewed Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend I said it was my first Jenny Colgan but that it wouldn't be my last... True to my word, I just finished Operation Sunshine.

Evie is desperate for a good holiday. She's tired, overworked - as administrator at a Harley Street cosmetic surgery - and haunted by the ghosts of disastrous holidays past. When her employers invite her to attend a conference in the the south of France, Evie thinks that her dream might've come true.

The conference turns out to be exciting in ways Evie never imagined. She becomes embroiled in an investigation after discovering that her employers are involved in something more morally-questionable than lunchtime Botox.

BOOK REVIEW: Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend by Jenny Colgan

I first heard about this book at least year's Edinburgh Book Festival. Jenny Colgan talked about the difficulty of making the main character sympathetic and read a pant-wettingly funny extract that made me want to sit down immediately with the rest of the book.

It is some indication of the size of my 'to be read' pile that I only just managed to do so, but it was well worth waiting for.

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend follows the fortunes of 'It girl' Sophie Chesterton when her fortunes, well, disappear.

My holiday reading list - what's yours?

Yes, it's that time of year again. I'm going away for a week and so have the joy and stress of compiling a selection of books to take with me. This year we're actually probably going to be away for less than a week, but I'm taking seven books anyway. A book a day is beyond hopeful with a 5-year-old and a 6-month-old, but I'm taking them anyway. Just in case.

As usual, I have to take a selection of non-fiction, fiction (both adult and young adult), books that I've been looking forward to reading and books I've been saving for holiday. Oh and one book that I don't really want to read, but know I should (guess which one?).

Encouraging children to read in the summer

Just read a great piece in US magazine, Family Fun, about motivating kids to read during the school summer holidays.

They suggested an "outdoor read-in", i.e. reading favourite books while sitting on a blanket in the garden or the park. I have never thought of doing this (despite loving to read in the garden or park myself), but I can totally imagine that Harry would love it. I'm planning a daily trip to the park this summer so I'll add this to the agenda.

Pick the perfect holiday read and win a holiday

What constitutes the perfect holiday read?

Penguin Books and Teletext Holidays are compiling a list of the hottest beach reads of all time. They've chosen 25 books you can vote on, but you can also nominate your own. And there are free books and a five star holiday prize up for grabs for anyone who casts their vote. Voting ends on 31 July and a list of the 20 best beach reads of all time will be published online at teletextholidays.co.uk and penguin.co.uk in August.

I've been trying to think of my own favourite holiday read (I don't really "do" beaches), but unsurprisingly I haven't been able to pick just one. Marian Keyes' Anybody Out There immediately sprang to mind since I read it from start to finish during a long flight to Canada. I also thought of Frank Skinner's autobiography since I read it (in Italy) and loved it and then David read it and loved it too, which gave us something to talk about!