To Kill A Mockingbird • Harper Lee

I have a profound ability. When a novel is recommended to me that is indisputably successful, I instinctively shrug it off. For no good reason. Meh, I'll read it later. Instead I'll dig out some unknown dystopian novel which i'm sure i'll enjoy so much more. And then when I get around to reading the successful novel in question, I realise holy cow - this book is really good...

The Green Mile • Stephen King

 Considering my last review was so positive, I decided it was time to restore my critical equilibrium - taking into an account I'm a fairly negative and cynical reader, I need to darken my image. Bring in The Green Mile!

Stephen King is an exceptional writer, and without a doubt my favourite contemporary horror author of all time. The Stand is a masterpiece. The Shining is the only book which pierced my imagination with such intensity I genuinely had hallucinations after reading. More on that later.

However, there seem to be a few novels by Stephen King which don't seem to reach the bar he had set for himself. The Green Mile, unfortunately, is one of them...

We Need To Talk About Kevin • BOOK REVIEW

If you were wondering what my blog title was inspired by - ta dah!

We Need To Talk About Kevin is a psychological thriller written by Lionel Shriver, published in 2003 and winner of the Orange Prize in 2005. In 2011 the novel was created into a major feature film, directed by Lynee Ramsay, and given (unfairly) a 7.5 on IMDb. The male protagonist Kevin was played by one of my personal favourite actors of all time, Ezra Miller, and Eva played by the incredible Tilda Swinton.

The basic premise is as follows:

 The novel documents the life of mother Eva Khatchadourian retrospectively examining the previous 15 years of her life; falling in love with her husband, the upbringing of her first-born Kevin, and the gruesome events that led to her son committing high school mass murder...