Booking through series

If you read series, do you ever find a series “jumping the shark?” How do you feel about that?
And, do you keep reading anyway?

I am not much of a series reader. I prefer stand alone novels. I did read the Harry Potter series and also read the first two novels of the Millennium trilogy. Looking forward to read the third one too.

I have read all the Tintin albums in the proper order. And none was disappointing.  I simply stop reading any novel, which doesn't hold my interest, be it of a series or otherwise!

A-Z Wednesday: In Harm's Way by Irene Hannon

Title: In Harm's Way
Author: Irene Hannon
ISBN: 978-0800733124
Publisher: Revell/2010
Pages: 326

When Rachel Sutton comes in contact with a Raggedy Ann doll, she has an unexplained feeling of terror. When it happens more than once, she thinks there is something, which needs to be found out. She goes to the FBI office, fully well-knowing no one is going to believe her story. Nick Bradley, a special agent of the FBI, is skeptical as expected.

But somehow the Raggedy Ann doll is connected with a kidnapped child, even though no one can understand how. Rebecca and her husband colin have given up hope of finding their child. The Raggedy Doll in a way helps the strange connection between Rachel and Rebecca, and also leads to the kidnapper. But by this time, Rachel's life is in danger, and Nick has to save her and also find the abducted toddler.

The horror of having a child kidnapped is well brought out. Rachel's relationship to the child can feel a force/pull which leads to the kidnapper. We also winess a romance between Nick and Rachel and a bonding between Rachel and Rebecca. As a child was involved, I couldn't put down the book until I finished it. However, the subject might not gel with readers who have young children. 

Teaser Tuesday: powders of stones

As I am not reading much, or even wanting to pick a book, today I tease you with one of my recent poems. This is a Haibun where there is a sprinkling of prose with haiku!:

powders of stones

Layer by layer, he chiselled the surface, hardened over time. Now time had no meaning, but for his work. Destruction, construction, it was not for him to decide. On his feet lay the debris, powdered monument, was it? Nothing made sense any more, only the task, burdened with overcast ripples of thumbed ocean.

only a chipped thought
flies away to the cerulian sky
sacred invasion

His skin had that sheen, although weathered. He was the monument, and its love, which none remembered. If memories had a tapestry, he would win hands down. But memories, for him,  were traps of fire, a quagmire, with no immediate escape.

swat flying creatures
they can't take you far away
you will die anyway

I close the chapter, with a snap, find my fingers breaking the spine. Horrified I observe the pages falling apart, just like the miniscule powders of stones, flying around him. Not bothered, he hammers the ground now. When the earth shakes, he laughs out loud, a sound I had forgotten. I like the crying earth, the bursting sky, awaiting for water to engulf me.

oceans are so hungry-
always swallow those stones
whole city underneath

Network problems

Right now I have connectivity problems. Will get back to all of you as soon as possible.

Sunday Salon: Back to reading!

As usual I woke up around 5 AM, and believe it or not finished a novel after more than three weeks of slump. Angel Mine by Sherryl Woods is a romance. Although it is no great shakes but I did like the quaint story line. It is really about a little girl and her reluctant dad. And there are some very lovable characters. I received the novel from Stacy  of Stacy's Books. I will post my thoughts soon.

Right now I am feeling very happy about being back on reading. I have already checked out a few crime fictions and will start one today, in the evening. I am kind of busy with evaluation work too. Examinations are going on and the terminal results have to declared on the 30th. After that Autumn break from 1-17 October. I look forward to that with lot of outing. reading, poetry and simply having fun! I will buy some books too. It is never enough, is it?

Book Blogger Hop/Follow me/Friday Find

Follow Friday, hosted by ParaJunkee and Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and follow/hop to some new blogs.

Jennifer asks us this week “When you write reviews, do you write them as you are reading or wait until you have read the entire book?

I write the review after I finish the book. I don't even take notes. I don't want to give away too much to the next reader. My point is, how can anyone write a review without finishing the book?

ParaJunkee asks: What is your high fashion book? --- translation --- best book cover ever?

There are so many book covers I have loved over the years. How can I name a favourite?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday Find:
All the Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
A beautiful June day in the Yorkshire Dales, and a group of children are spending the last of their half-term freedom swimming in the river near Hindswell Woods. But the idyll is shattered by their discovery of a mans body, hanging from a tree. DI Annie Cabott soon discovers he is Mark Hardcastle, the well-liked and successful set designer for the Eastvale Theatres current production of Othello. Everything points to suicide, and Annie is mystified. Why would such a man want to take his own life? Then Annies investigation leads to another shattering discovery, and DCI Alan Banks is called back from the idyllic weekend he had planned with his new girlfriend. Banks soon finds himself plunged into a shadow-world where nothing is what it seems, where secrets and deceit are the norm, and where murder is seen as the solution to a problem. The deeper he digs the more he discovers that the monster he has awakened will extend its deadly reach to his friends and family. Nobody is safe.

Booking through current reads

What are you reading right now? What made you choose it? Are you enjoying it? Would you recommend it? 

I am in some kind of reading slump. No novel is holding my interest.  I started a lot of novels but discarded one by one, going to the next. Those include crime fiction, historical novels, romances, contemporary fiction and poetry.  I also tried reading short stories but I seem to be having some kind of reading block. I don't know what to do about it. 

I am reading newspaper articles and the likes but no work of fiction interests me. I am watching movies on TV, listening to music and I am also writing poetry. 

What do I do the get back to my reading? I have tried everything, including visiting bookstores. 

A-Z Wednesday: the clouds roll away by Sibella Giorello

Title: the clouds roll away
Author: Sibella Giorello
ISBN: 9781595545343
Publisher: Thomas Nelson/2010
Pages: 321

This is my second book by Giorello. I loved the rivers run dry. Sibella Giorello's writing is very different. Full of symbolism and wonderful imagery. That too in a suspense novel makes her writing very interesting to me. Taking a random example:

'His tuxedo shined at the seams, his red bow tie sitting cockeyed. And his hair was sparse white Caeser ring, almost as white as his tennis shoes."

The book is filled with unusual metaphors. For someone who wrotes poetry, reading these are sheer pleasure.

Our forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon, has just returned to Richmond, Virginia and her welcome is less than luke warm. Her first assignment after her return, is to investigate a cross burning at RPMs house, who is a celebrity of some sort in the music world. Investigations leads to dark secrets which deals with racism. Somehow the KKK seems to be still alive and Raleigh can't find who might be involved. More she gets into it, more confusing it gets for her. There are some who don't want her to help RPM, who they think is an outsider. When many bodies are found, all those being murders, no breakthrough comes to her. She goes back and forth, with virtually no support from her superior. When it does, what with her forensic investigations and her faith, the ending is a surprise..

Raleigh is a believable character and so is her mother, who seems to have flipped her mind but is endearing. There is a romantic element but yet does not stiffle the book in any way. The plot does not seem fictional. It feels as if it can happen at any time at any place. In a way, we are still having hate crimes, against religion, against people of different colours. Has anything changed?

Teaser Tuesday: Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

“Whores and witches,” he taunts again, yelling with such bile that his spit sprays me. “I will burn the one of you and hang the other.”

~Page 4, ARC, Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt

I think this book will help me get over my reading slump. 

Mondays: Mailbox/Whereabouts/Musings

I received the following book, thanks to the author:

The Elephant Tree by R D Ronald
Mark Fallon is an overworked detective investigating a spate of attacks at a string of high profile city centre nightclubs. Scott is a dejected 24 year old struggling to make ends meet working for his brother and supplementing his income with a small-scale drug dealing operation. Angela is an attractive 23 year old, raised by her father, a career criminal and small time drug dealer who supplies Scott with cannabis. This is a chilling tale spanning a few months in the lives of Scott and Angela, where realizations about the present combine with shocking revelations from the past leading to an apocalyptic climax where they no longer know whom they can trust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finished: 
None

I am in the midst of reading:
To many books

I posted reviews of:
None

I plan to read:
Whatever interests me

As you can see here, I am going through a reading slump!
~~~~~~~~~

What makes you love / hate a character in a book?


It depends. If I connect with it, I love it. Sometimes a negative character may also be lovable. Hating is a strong word. But I do hate manipulative characters. Both in a novel and real life!

Sunday Salon: Do Twitter and Facebook work?

My mom is back and boy, was I glad to see here! However, we are back on our argumentive footing. It started as soon I picked her from the airport. She started it by asking me if I had remembered to water her plants. I had a good mind to get down down from the car! Why do mothers drive us nuts? For all her faults, she brought a lot of stuff for me, mostly clothes. A few she bought and others are gifts from my uncles and aunts. 

For some reason, I can't figure out what, I am unable to pick up a novel. There are too many I have started but don't have the inclination to finish any. It is not that I am not reading. I am reading Mathematical and Scientific stuff but fiction, none.

I am on a poetry writing roll. That is a good thing. I am writing poetry on whatever comes into my mind. I seldom have such phases. Many a times, words dry up and I am left with a blank mind.

I did all the treasures for BBAW. And entered a few giveaways. I did find three good bloggers too! I am happy for that.

Next week, I am going to be very busy with examination and evaluation work. And I will read more scientific stuff. Maybe I ought to about that here. I am not sure.

I have a question for you all.I do have a twitter account along with a facebook one. How do I use those to optimize my blogs? Any suggestions? I am not sure how to go about it. I welcome your inputs.

Also do suggest some good crime fiction titles.

Book Blogger Hop/Follow me/Book Beginnings on Friday/Find

Follow Friday, hosted by ParaJunkee and Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and follow/hop to some new blogs.
Jennifer asks us this week to take time this week to honor our favorite book bloggers and why we love them!
All those blogs I visit regularly, are my favourite blogs and they know it. I really don't have to name any of them here.

ParaJunkee ask: Name your favorite YA, or do you stick to the adult reads?

I might read an occasional YA but my choice is always adult reads.

Book Beginnings On Friday
The Elephant Tree by R D Ronald
Mark Fallon is an overworked detective investigating a spate of attacks at a string of high profile city centre nightclubs. Scott is a dejected 24 year old struggling to make ends meet working for his brother and supplementing his income with a small-scale drug dealing operation. Angela is an attractive 23 year old, raised by her father, a career criminal and small time drug dealer who supplies Scott with cannabis. This is a chilling tale spanning a few months in the lives of Scott and Angela, where realizations about the present combine with shocking revelations from the past leading to an apocalyptic climax where they no longer know whom they can trust.

BBAW: Future Treasures

I don't set any blogging goals. I do it on my own pace and own time. I don't even go for template changes. As I join minimal challenges, I don't have to rush through anything. 

Yes, sometimes I read more. At times, I read nothing. Like this month. Only one book till date! Too bad, is it not? 

I did all the daily topics for BBAW, but in my way stilted way! And I visited most of those on my google. No other! I already have wonderful network of great book bloggers. A few I had discovered before the BBAW! 

I look forward to read a lot for  the Dewey's 24 hour Read-a-Thon, and RIP V challenge! And maybe buy some great books. What else?

What about you?

Booking through Day and Night

Do you divide your books into day and night reads? How do you decide?

When I was in high school or college I used to divide my books for the day and night. The books I wanted to show off, I carried with me and those I didn't wish to be seen reading, I kept at home and read in the nights. 

Now I can read anything, any time. Even poetry. Frankly, what has the hour of the day got to do with reading habits?

BBAW:: Forgotten Treasure

Some novels do get ignored at the expense of the others. And there are some authors which are completely forgotten. Despite being good story tellers. Maybe the hype of certain books for a long time pushes the better books or better writers into oblivion.

Talking about the past, P G Wodehouse needs to be read by the present readers, who are hooked on YA genre. Once they begin his books, they will want more and more. And mind you he wrote more than 90 books. I am not saying that one go back to the classics but there are so many authors to explore and not only the new ones.

There are some new ones too, that have been not been as popular as others. T. L. Hines is one such author. He writes noir fiction and those are really good. He too needs to be widely read. Do try him. You can check out my review of two of his books:
The Unseen by T. L. Hines*
Faces In The Fire by T. L. Hines**

BBAW: Unexpected treasure

This too I will do differently. I am not going to talk about any book or genre but about my love for the sciences. 

I am student of science. It is not surprising at all because all of us followed our dad. My brothers are techies, and therefore can be called geeks or nerds! . But I am not. I studied Pure Sciences. How did that come about? As I have mentioned before, my dad used to teach me Math and Physics. He had bought all three volumes of The Feynman Lectures on Physics for us. We used to leaf through those very often and a time came when I devoured all three volumes. Those were for undergraduate students but I, along with my youngest brother, finished those while still in school. I decided that I will pursue Physics and of course, my youngest brother had already decided to go in for Engineering, following our older two brothers.

However, I ended up studying Chemistry. Why I did that? On the day of admissions, I decided that if I did not want to end up hating Physics, I ought to go in for Chemistry. A stupid reason, some might say. But it is a true one. By the time I finished with my post graduate degree in Chemistry, I   wanted nothing to do with it. And I still love Physics, reading articles and any book that I can lay my hands on!

Weird reasoning at that time but rightly so!

BBAW: Self-Interviewing

Like the previous year, this year too, I am interviewing myself! Of course I have changed the questions so that the answers are different!
Why are you interviewing yourself?
What kind of question is that? Where is it written that we can't interview ourselves? Only we know ourselves the best and also can ask the best questions.
Have you ever thought reading is a chore?
Yes, of course. When I was in school and college. I used to hate studying! That is not reading though. I hold two post Graduate degrees, one in Chemistry and other in English. So you can imagine I had to do a fair amount of reading er..studying for those courses. English was cakewalk but Chemistry, not so!
What do you do for a living?
I teach. In school from Grade 6 to 11. Mathematics and English. I like to teach. However our schools are crowded. We have more than 55 students per class, sometimes 70! It is a challenge, as you can see. Checking, marking, grading become real tasks. Yet we manage. I will be completing 19 years of teaching on 7th October.
You have a poetry blog, rooted? When/how did you start writing poetry?
It was way back in 2005. A friend of mine, who I met via the net, asked me to write. I used to write cools mails to him and he being an editor thought I had potential! I wasn't even aware of his profession! I wrote short stories and slowly navigated towards poetry. And haven't stopped since! I wish to publish but there aren't many takers for poetry in India.
Would you like to share any quirky fact about yourself with us?
That is difficult. I am as straight as one can be! Well, I can't sit still at one place. I have get up after every  45 minutes. I am crazy about tea. I need it all the time. I go barefoot at home. I love sneakers and sport shoes of any kind. I don't really own high heels but shoes, I got plenty. I Iove getting wet in the rains! Purple and green are my favourite colours. Although I am mostly in Capris, I can carry Indian clothes just as well. However, I don't like revealing clothes at all. I gifted myself diamond studded platinum jewellery three years ago, two pairs of ear studs and a finger ring. I have very long raven black hair, which when open falls mid thigh! I need to be with intellectual people. Otherwise I go silent. I can be my own best company and I can also talk dime a dozen about things I don't know anything about. I have great insight and I have found that a disadvantage too. Men don't really like intellectual or intelligent females. That suits me fine. I will never settle for second best. Whew! I think I revealed a lot!
Would you like to be interviewed by anyone else?
Why not? I can answer most question unless one gets too personal! Any takers, folks?
It was good to meet myself, you know!

BBAW: First Treasure

I already had my poetry blog, rooted before I started my book blog, way back in 2006. I had met Angelique Manchanda-Peres of Lotus Reviews, via a comment. And she tagged me for a poetry meme related to books. She is the inspiration for my book blog. I have always been a reader, hence it wasn't very difficult to post about books. Although it is not easy to write reviews in the beginning.

Coming back to Angelique, her blog, Lotus Reads, is one of the best. She mostly writes about Asian Literature and her choice of books are wonderful. Many might not pick what she reads but hers is a truly eclectic blog. She does not do any memes or networking. Yet she has a good amount of blog followers and networking. I always read her posts via Google Reader, even though I may not comment. In fact, she is invariably my first stop whenever she posts!
This is exactly what I mean when I say that really good blogs don't need publicity. They find their own niche under their own steam and have like-minded people visiting them. Despite a low profile, she is very much there!

Mondays: Mailbox/Whereabouts/Musings

Started by Marcia, this September, Monday Mailbox is hosted by Kathy of BermudaOnion.


I received the following five books in the past two weeks: (Click on the image for larger picture):


1) The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan from the author
In the picturesque North Wales market town of Llanelen, Meg Wynne Thompson, a bride goes missing on her wedding day. Most assume she might have run away. The last person to have seen her is the manicurist Penny Brannigan, who in an ex-patriate Canadian.
2) Purple Jesus by Ron Cooper from the publisher
When Purvis Driggers, a South Carolina Low Country loser with little sense and less hope, seeks out the fortune of a murdered old man and comes up empty-handed, he latches onto the only escape he can find: Martha, the beautiful woman being baptized across the lake. But Martha is not who Purvis thinks she is—she’s every bit as trapped as he is, every bit as desperate, and far more dangerously capable of finding a way out of here.

Ron Cooper’s Purple Jesus is a mystery, a love story, a religious allegory, and, most importantly, a dark and comic descent into the lives of these remarkable and unforgettable characters.
3) The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell from the author

This is a tale of romantic obsession, longing, and a woman's irreconcilable desires as she is forced to choose between the child she has always yearned for and the artistic career she cannot live without. Inspired by the author's family history, the novel is sensual and heart-stopping in its bittersweet beauty.
4) Four Past Midnight by Stephen King won it from Teresa Preston of  Shelf Love
Jet passengers are stuck in a time-slip, a psychopath accuses a writer of plagiarism, a man with an overdue book encounters a demonic librarian and a boy's camera snaps photos of a huge and nasty dog in these four horror novellas. 
5) The Fun of Dying by Roberta Grimes from the publicist
The Fun of Dying is a complete account of how dying feels and what comes next. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finished:
Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt
I am in the midst of: 
And This Too Shall Pass by E. Lynn Harris
I posted reviews of: 
Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews
The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Where do you buy / get most of your books?


I am getting a lot of review copies nowadays. My buying has kind of lessened. But I do buy used books from the Sunday Pavement Book Bazaar in Old Delhi, Then if I really covet anew book, I buy it from the biggest chains of bookstores in Delhi.

Sunday Salon: Where I talk about my mom, reading & BBAW

This Sunday, I will break one of my own rules. I seldom talk about my personal life. However, here I will talk about my mom, who is a very young 74! A few of you might be aware that I and my mom live together, very near to my youngest brother's place. We had to make this move in April 2008, as my mom wished to live near him. I wasn't very keen but I complied. And now I am happy for it, although it took me a while to settle down.

My mom has gone to visit our native place in Orissa to see my 94-year-old grandmother. Initially I wasn't very keen about her going. Anyway, I am all alone here and believe me, I miss her! I knew I would but didn't know how much! And I know she won't miss me as she would be with her mom and her siblings.

My mom and I always shared a moment or two over a morning cup of tea. Last two days I have really felt bad, drinking it alone. I wasn't able to read anything either. It is lunch time now and I am yet to make something for myself. I realize now that she keeps me going.....nagging and all. She is very feisty and has a mind of her own. And I am very independent minded. So you can imagine the fireworks. One might have thought I would like this alone time. And yet I am missing her, writing about her. I miss her quoting the newspaper. I miss her watching the TV!

My mom is not much into long books. She likes to read newspaper articles and short stories. And poetry too. She can actually quote from Shakespeare! She still has a collection of his works from her college days.....leather bound and musty! (I couldn't find those to post a picture!). It is gonna be hard until she gets back on 17th September! I am counting the days!

I thought I will post a picture of my mom for all of you (Click on it for a bigger image). Here you see my mom, I and my niece, Ananya, who is really my cousin's daughter: .

Coming back to reading, I am in the midst of Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt (pages 96). It s not a very easy book to read, hence I am taking breaks. However, I plan to finish this today. A great book for RIP V! My 4th novel...:D Apart from reading, I am on a poetry writing roll. Somehow the words are simply flowing and I gotta write. You can check it all out by visiting my poetry blog, rooted.

I did sign in for BBAW, but did not send any of my articles to be considered for any kind of nomination. Nor did I go around nominating anyone. I really think, I don't need to do that. There are SO MANY good blogs and why do I need to choose one? As I see it, most of the same blogs get nominated each year and win, if you can call it that. ( A few might deserve it, yet..). The very purpose of finding/exploring new blogs fails. 

Having said that, I will anyway try to find my kind of blogs, adding those my google reader. Interaction is important with like-minded people instead of bestowing fulsome praise to all and sundry. Maybe it is just my opinion but I am entitled to that. I will participate in the BBAW in my own way and pace. It is all about originality, isn't it, folks?

Have a great Sunday and do let me know what are your plans?

Weekly Geeks: Lasting Authors

Weekly Geeks:

What do you think it is that gives your favourite long-lasting author an edge? Is longevity all to do with quality? Quantity? Style perhaps? Or luck?

One of my favourite authors is Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870). Many of his character are memorable, or we can say iconic, even after almost 150 years. His prose is as good as the characters he created. He was so much into social reforms, he depicted the working class so well that even now his novels can be quoted on those, when the working class suffers. His plot are intricate and the personalities he created remain unforgotten. Despite the bleak settings, his novels are filled with humour and that also is a factor which has kept his readers hooked. Once a person reads a Dickens novel, he wants more.

Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, The Christmas Carol, Tale of Two Cities, Nicholas Nickleby, The Bleak House, Hard Times, Great Expectations, Pickwick Papers, Barnaby Rudge are some of his very well known novels. And most of these were written as weekly/monthly series. They remain to be as popular now as they were in those times. I plan to re-read all the above books soon. I might set it as a personal challenge.

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Me

Every Friday, join the Follow Friday, hosted by ParaJunkee and Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and follow/hop to some new blogs.

Jennifer asks us this week to post a link to a favorite post or book review that you have written in the past three months.

I loved Inside Out by Barry Eisler

In Inside Out, Ben Treven, first introduced in Fault Line, reappears. Treven has landed himself into a Manila Jail, after a Burgos Street bar brawl. The jail is so dark, crowded and unknown, that Ben finds himself in a soup with no rescue in sight. However, Colonel Scott Horton, chief of Ben's secret unit, tracks him down. He offers Ben freedom in exchange of something very big. Now Hort had tried to kill Ben and his brother, Alex in Fault Line. Ben does not whether he should trust Hort or not. In Ben Treven, Eisler has created another memorable character as John Rain. With complicated plots and sub plots, the novel is a great ride and we are with Ben all the way. The pace is very good and it is a start to finish novel. Barry Eisler does not disappoint us at any point.

ParaJunkee asks:

eBook or Print?

Print, any time. I like to touch, smell and feel the books! Maybe its just me. Maybe not!

BTW, I found quite a few good eclectic blogs via blog hopping/follow me. I have added those to my google reader. That's the way I follow blogs. Feel free to explore my blog.

Booking through disaster

You’ve just dropped your favorite, out-of-print book into a bathtub, ruining it completely … What do you do now?

It has happened with me. However, not in the bathtub. Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie got completely wet in the rains as I had left in the porch. By the time I remembered, it was too late. However, I dried it out in the sun for four days.....LOL! You can imagine how it looked like. Or looks like. I still have it!!

Now I am very careful. I don't read anywhere near the water. Or fire!

What do you think?