Natascha Kampusch made headline news around the world when in 2006 she escaped from the man who had abducted her from a street in Vienna, 3096 days earlier. Natascha, who was only ten years old at the time, was held captive in a basement cellar by loner Wolfgang Priklopil.

Here in this tiny five square meter dungeon she was to experience the extremes of mental torment while at the mercy of her abductor. Although she lost her childhood, she didn’t lose hope that one day she would finally escape.

Dying to be Healthy, by Sia Barbi

The Barbi Twins were catapulted to fame in the late 1980s. Born in 1963, identical twins Sia and Shane Barbi were unique for their Barbie doll like proportions of over-sized breasts, impossibly tiny waists and long, blond hair.

Although they'd been modeling since they were seven years old, it wasn't until 1989 that they became worldwide phenomenons when a cover story by the LA Times appeared on a billboard on Sunset Boulevard.

Before too long, they were starring on the cover of Playboy Magazine with the 1991 September issue breaking record by selling out in two weeks. Even Prince William was said to be a fan.

Ruby, by Virginia Andrews

Like millions of readers worldwide, I became a V.C. Andrews fan after devouring the entire series of the Dollanger family which began with the renowned Flowers in the Attic. Enjoying her writing style led me to reading my way through another of her family sagas featuring the Casteels. 

This was during the 1980s. It was fifteen years later before I picked up another V.C. Andrews book. I came across Ruby by chance while browsing my local bargain books on sale.  While I found it rather sad that such a popular author should be delegated to the cut price book section, it did at least persuade me to buy it.

Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads

Anyone browsing through the dieting section in a bookstore could be forgiven for wondering how on earth to choose between them?

With the shelves groaning under the sheer volume of diet books, it takes something pretty special to make a book stand out enough to be picked up. In the case of this book, Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads, the title is clever, catchy and intriguing. It certainly warrants further investigation.

Learning To Be Me is a truly inspirational autobiography of a woman called Jocelyn Golden who suffered from the most severe form of Bulimia Nervosa for 23 years. It's a detailed and open account of Jocelyn’s battle with this terrible eating disorder which began when she was only thirteen years old. It's inspirational because the details of her suffering make it hard to see how anyone so completely in the grip of bulimia could ever recover. But recover she does. And it is this aspect along with her vivid and honest descriptions of the terrible depths she sinks to that must surely give hope to anyone suffering from such an illness who believes they have little chance of recovery. Read on for the complete review.

Learning to be me by Jocelyn Golden