In my Skin - Kate Holden

I found this book incredible and could not put it down. It tells the story of middle-class Kate growing up in a supportive family in Melbourne. Then it tells of her slip in the St Kilda drug scene and eventual prostitution to support her habit.

Kate is, at times, embarrassingly honest about her situation and gave me an amazing insight into how quickly drugs are able to take over one person's world. What is also great about this book is that Kate shows drugs don't just effect one persons world, they affect your family, friends and colleagues.

Some of the living conditions and extreme lack of money told a take that I am sure is currently being lived by more than a few people. But I was more interested in how Kate eventually overcame addiction and restarted her life.

This is a great first book from Kate, and I look forward to her upcoming novel.

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

I found this Man Booker Prize Winner for 2002 to be well written, but, given the rave reviews I received from friends, I thought that it fell a bit short. I am open to the possibility that my expectations were just too high, but still I was disappointed.

Anyway, on to the story. I really enjoyed the first part of the book where India and the philosophy of religion are discussed. I found Pi's adherence to four religions enlightening and was interested by the science discussion and how Pi was lead to his career choice.

While I found the middle of the book imaginatively written, I did think that it dragged a little too long (Sorry to all you lovers of this book!). I was interested by the alpha male play-out but was totally lost by the digestive island!

The final part of the book, after Pi's rescue, contained an interesting twist and I was grateful for that. I believe that this was a great story, but not one I will be reading again. Having said that, I would recommend that everyone at least give it a go as so many other have loved it