I thought I'd start a thread on reviews.
I'm always interested in reading books and seeing films and plays which come recommended as being one of those things you just HAVE to see/hear/read!

To start, I'm reading a book I thought I never would. My grandad, a very well respected and well thought of man recommended it to me when he found out I was studying communication.
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie.

I used to think it was hilarious to point out when a person was digging themselves a verbal hole by telling them to buy a copy and read it.
It is quite possibly the most eye opening book I've ever read which tells me better how to deal with the people around me. What's more is that I'm getting my own way more (which is a good thing).
We are never taught how to positively affec the people around us, simply by learning to talk it is assumed we know how to communicate effectively. When you read this book you suddenly realise how much more there is and how simple but effective.
Bite the bullet, skip the stereotype and give it whirl.

Hmm, I can see this won't be easy....
Let's try two books Ive recently read, by the same author.Robin McKinley.

Beauty, a sympathetic retelling of the story, Beauty and the Beast.
Hope is affectionately renamed Beauty by her family. After her Mother’s death and the collapse of her Father’s shipping business the family move inland to a small, isolated village, edged by a terrifying and magical forest where no one dare tread.
At the centre of the forest lives the Beast, a hideous being in an enchanted land.
Beauty is duty bound to take her Father’s place, when he is reprimanded for disrespecting the Beast’s hospitality while lost one winter.
Only Beauty can break the enchantment and restore the Beast to his former glory.

Spindle’s End – a detailed interpretation of Sleeping Beauty.
In a land where fairies are the norm and minor magics are part of the currency a vengeful being attacks the Queens newly born daughter at her naming ceremony. A visiting representative of a far flung village is confused to find herself protecting the infant princess and on her journey home before she is entirely aware of what has happened.
The young princess grows up as Rosie, unaware of her heritage but the curse edges closer as she approaches her twenty first birthday.
Only the strength of love, magic and strong bonds can rescue the princess from her fateful future.