Illiterarty.com Book reviews and blogs by Bridget

The second-wave rite-of-passage story (ie late twenties as opposed to late teens) has been done a lot lately. But if you want a solid example of the genre, go with Another Broken Wizard. Dodds has done an outstanding job painting a poignant, utterly unselfconscious depiction of growing up.

If this was a car, it would be a grey 1933 Bentley convertible with an Amherst-Villiers supercharger (installed against the advice of MI5 mechanics), NO machine guns and NO freaking ejector seats (though there could well be a bottle of single malt in the glove box).

Letters in Cardboard Boxes is a very realistic, well developed character study, that deals with fairly full and complex family dynamic issues in a sensitive and undramatic way, and is really given extra dimension by virtue of it's web-based publication.

If this was... Wine, it would be that Cab Merlot I so freakin' elegantly analogise in paragraph three.

Steplings takes the reader an empathetic journey through the trials and pitfalls of teen years while exploring blended families and the odd relationships bred within them.

-If this was any more ready to be turned into a film, it would be about a pair of hard-punching renegade cops who break the law to get results.

You'll wish you could see Dial L for Latch-Key in a theatre near you immediately after reading this little gem, because then you'd be sitting in a theatre laughing with other people, as opposed to snickering quietly to yourself alone.

With almost text-book precision, Jonathan Tel captures the essence of the perfect short story in this loosely woven collection of heartbreaks, secrets, humanities and mundanities, backdropped by the mysterious Beijing.

A light-hearted romp through the big boys of serious topics - Whom God Would Destroy examines the subjects of religion, psychiatry, the mentally ill, and alien conspiracies in a sniggeringly hilarious meander through some cunning plot twists and a whole new understanding of the universe as it is.

If this was lunch, it would be a Wendy's hot dog with everything.

What if Joss Whedon wrote like an 8 yr old, Buffy was a petulant, crying moron and Angel was her self flagellating bitch? Stephanie Meyer would be $70 million poorer, that’s what.

Mildly disappointing, but only compared to the insanely high standards I have come to expect from Mr de Berniéres and his extreme awesomeness as an author.

If this was fused with a grim, dystopian sci-fi blockbuster in some of Godawful teleporter accident it would be the film 'Brazil'.

McLaughlin and Kraus are back - and in my opinion, even better than before. Dedication is the quintessential girl's fantasy, with an unexpected happily ever after - where the girl makes the rules.

Feeling like you just haven't had enough spy/CIA conspiracy in your life lately? Lacking in running, gun fights, car chases, and general confusion and accusations about the CIA? Might be time to read Panic...

If this was written before anyone had heard of the author, it would get a pretty patchy reception.

If this was food, it would be a giant tub of fresh popcorn, covered in hot, molten butter, with an old-school choc top for dessert.

In the starkness and wild of the Victorian coastal countryside, a seemingly straightforward murder is committed. Detective Joe Cashin, who is in recovery from a mentally and physically scarring encounter on the job, pushes through the veneer of simplicity, and is plunged into a dark, complex crime...