Monday, January 30, 2012

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Alyce  is hosting it on her at home with books

I received four novels, thanks to the authors/publicists.



Arctic Fire by Paul Byers:

A brutal storm damages a man-made iceberg destined for New York and the Chief Engineer, Gabriel Pike has serious doubts about the true intentions of the project. A grisly double homicide puts the inspection on hold as he’s accused of being the murderer in a lover’s triangle. But Pike soon discovers that there is far more at stake than just his own life.

ugly to start with by John Michael Cummings:
 Jason Stevens is growing up in picturesque, historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970s. Back when the roads are smaller, the cars slower, the people more colorful, and Washington, D.C. is way across the mountains—a winding sixty-five miles away.

Jason dreams of going to art school in the city, but he must first survive his teenage years. He witnesses a street artist from Italy charm his mother from the backseat of the family car. He stands up to an abusive husband—and then feels sorry for the jerk. He puts up with his father’s hard-skulled backwoods ways, his grandfather’s showy younger wife, and the fist-throwing schoolmates and eccentric mountain characters that make up Harpers Ferry—all topped off by a basement art project with a girl from the poor side of town.

Ugly to Start With punctuates the exuberant highs, bewildering midpoints, and painful lows of growing up, and affirms that adolescent dreams and desires are often fulfilled in surprising ways.


Songs for the New Depression:
Gabriel Travers knows he's dying; he just can't prove it. Despite his doctor's proclamations to the contrary and rumors of a promising new HIV drug cocktail, all it takes is one glance into the mirror to tell Gabe everything he needs to know. His ass, once the talk of West Hollywood, now looks suspiciously like a Shar-Pei, prompting even more talk around town.

The only happiness he could remember was in high school, where he'd met Keith, his first love. Only Keith had recognized the goodness within, and knew of the brutal attack Gabe had faced, the effects of which still rule his life today.

Now almost 40, and with the clock ticking, Gabe begins to finally peel back the layers and tackle his demons - with a little help from the music of the Divine Miss M and his mom's new wife, a country music-loving priest.

Gods and Fathers by James LePore

Matt DeMarco is an accomplished Manhattan attorney with more than his share of emotional baggage. His marriage ended disastrously, his ex-wife has pulled their son away from him, and her remarriage to a hugely successful Arab businessman has created complications for Matt on multiple levels. However, his life shifts from troubled to imperiled when two cops – men he's known for a long time – come into his home and arrest his son as the prime suspect in the murder of the boy's girlfriend.

Suddenly, the enmity between Matt and his only child is no longer relevant. Matt must do everything he can to clear his son, who he fully believes is innocent. Doing so will require him to quit his job and make enemies of former friends – and it will throw him up against forces he barely knew existed and can only begin to comprehend how to battle.


It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey

I read a few e-novels
I am in the midst of reading:
Many books!

How far along are you in your current read before you start thinking about what you’ll read next?

I don't plan my next read at all...!!


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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Saturday Snapshot: January 28, 2012


I am with my second cousins' children. I cherish this photo becos, the boy you see here, has down's syndrome, and I don't know what he saw in me or felt about me, he simply came and hugged me. According to my cousin, he seldom does that to anyone except for his immediate family. I had only seen him once before, when he was a wee little baby, and wasn't as yet diagnosed. That girl is his younger sister. 

Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With books

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Booking Through Writing or Riveting?

btt button

What’s more important: Good writing? Or a good story?

I think we have answered this before. Although I want both in novel and good writing minus a good story might interest me for a while but it doesn't for the whole novel. Without a good story, writing falls flat.  

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays: The Litigators by John Grisham

Come on, Wally, you can do it. Give 'em hell and please don't collapse.

~~~Page 330, The Litigators by John Grisham

Monday, January 23, 2012

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Alyce  is hosting it on her at home with books

I received a writing Journal from Stacy. I am gonna write poetry in that. Thanks Stacy!!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.

I read the following:

1) The Litigators by John Grisham
2) With This Kiss by Victoria Lynne


I am in the midst of reading:

Many books!

Why do you think that the Young Adult genre is so popular with even the adult readers? Do you read YA books, yourself?

I am not sure why YA is popular with adult readers. I don't really read YA stuff. Maybe something which is totally different might interest me. I don't like the fantasy stuff, or the teenage jargon. They do not stimulate me. Give me ADULT fiction any day!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Saturday Snapshot: January 21, 2012

My youngest Auntie!

Lush Flora at her place!
Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With books

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Booking Through Skipping


btt button


Do you skip ahead in a book? Do you feel badly about it when you do?

For some books, I have skipped chunks. Geographical descriptions and author's philosophical thoughts fall under those categories, which made me skip. And also when the author get repetitive.

I have not really felt bad skipping. Why should I? There is so much more to read. Why waste time on boring parts?

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Saturday Snapshot: January 14, 2012

all alone!
Click on it to see a bigger photo!
Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With books

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Booking Through Interview II




1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

Anytime if I on the reading mode...

2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)

No, as I am getting ready to go for work

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)

Oatmeal with nuts!

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?

It depends. Some days 10 hours, others none!

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?

I am reading less nowadays.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?

Yes.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

To read even faster.

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?

Yes, I do.

9. What KIND of book?

Fiction/Poetry depending on my mood

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?

I don't remember, maybe 6 years!

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)

A leather bound Romeo and Juliet, which belonged to my mom. She inherited from her dad! It is from 1916!

12. Do you read in bed?

Yes, but on a regular basis.

13. Do you write in your books?

No, I don't

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?

Read at your own pace. Don't fret. Enjoy the words, the writing...

15. What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask? (Actually, leave the answer to this one in the comments on this post, huh? So I can find them when I need inspiration!) 

I will let it pass for now.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Teaser Tuesday: Ryan's Return by Barbara Freethy

"Maybe I just want to know you again," Ryan said finally. "You're my father. I'm your son. It seems as if we should be closer than we are."

Title: Ryan's Return
Author: Barbara Freethy
ISBN: 978-0380785315
Publisher: Avon/2006
Pages: 374

It is return of the prodigal son to Serenity Spring. A famous photo-journalist now, Ryan Hunter is invited for the Centennial Celebration. He had left behind his father and a brother he had betrayed. Now when he returns, he finds his father still the same, his brother who detests him and a young boy who looks like him.

With no love lost between them, Ryan knows he has to somehow face his past if he wants to moves in present and future. His father,who never stopped loving him, that young daughter of Kara has so much faith on him. So he just can't leave it all behind.

The interaction between father and son, between the two brothers and that of the young girl with Ryan and also a love affair of Andrew, his brother. These all make the book very readable. It is in no way a heavy book, but it does make us sad at many levels. It has those comic moments, especially when the two brothers are locked up in jail. 

I found this novel utterly sweet and extremely readable. The romance element is sweet and doesn't take over the story. That is how it should be, in a novel that speaks of family relations.

You can download the kindle edition for FREE here!

Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, we get a theme to list our top tens. 

This Week's Pick: Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book


Here is my list and one has to start with the author and the one novel they wrote:

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind

Boris Pasternak, Dr. Zhivago

J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

 Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Ross Lockridge Jr., Raintree County,

John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces

Dow Mossman, The Stones of Summer

John Okada, No-No Boy

Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

Monday, January 9, 2012

Mondays: Mailbox/What am I reading?/Musing

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Alyce  is hosting it on her at home with books blog for the month of January 2012.

I received only two book, thanks to the publicists:

In 1765, France sent an expedition around the world, hoping to claim new imperial prizes. Among the 300-plus men aboard the two ships was one woman—disguised as the male assistant of her botanist lover. Jeanne Baret left no written record of her experiences, but at least eight other passengers did. Mining their diaries for a glimpse of what went through Baret’s mind during her two years at sea, Ridley has assembled a portrait of a woman whose fortitude was matched only by her curiosity.

Detroit, 1971. Harry Levin, scrap metal dealer and holocaust survivor, learns that his daughter has been killed in a car accident. Travelling to Washington DC, he's told by Detective Taggart that the German diplomat, who was drunk, has been released and afforded immunity; he will never face charges. So Harry is left with only one option - to discover the identity of this man, follow him back to Munich and hunt him down. Told with swagger, brutal humour and not a little violence, it follows a good man who is forced to return to the horrors of his past. 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.

I read the following:

1) Love Returned by Mildred Colvin
2) Return of the Runway Bride by Donna Fasano
3) The Passionate Italian by Diana Fraser
4) Of Novel Birth by Brenda Novak
5) Wild Angel by Miriam Minger

I am in the midst of reading:

Many books!

Are there any “raved reads” –books that everyone seems to be talking about– that you’re hoping to get read this year, yourself?

I pick what I want to read. If the "raved reads" are from the genre I like, I might pick those up. Or maybe not. It depends. I will never go for much hyped fantasy/paranormal fiction.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Saturday Snapshot: January 6, 2012

Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala
Taken by my sister in law in December 2011. See the modern with the traditional. An ATM!! They have a dress code. My brother refused to adhere to that and didn't go in. My sister in Law did go but came back after she saw the crowds. So none of them had a darshan!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Booking Through Interview I



If you could sit down and interview anyone, who would it be? And, what would you ask them?

This wasn't easy for me. I had very well known people in my mind. However, being a poet I chose Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), who was a well known poet in the Victorian Era. She married Robert Browning against her father's wishes. Robert Browning was six years her junior and was considered a gold digger by the Barrett family. Their marriage was very harmonious. Robert Browning is the better known poet of the two.

If I had been born in that era, I would have asked Elizabeth Browning the following questions:

1) Why was their father dead against marriage of any of his children? (He disinherited anyone who married)

2) What was the biggest influence for her poetry?

3) How did she get to learn so much despite her father not sending his daughters to school as he did with his sons?

4) What made her to make a stand against slavery, which was persistent in her time?

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, we get a theme to list our top tens. 

This Week's Pick: Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012


I am looking forward to read a lot of:

1) Crime Fiction
2) Poetry
3) Science related books
4) World History
5) DIY

I think that covers pretty much everything I wish to read in 2012!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Mondays: Mailbox/What am I reading?/Musing

First, I must wish all of you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012. May it be filled with everything that you have always wished for and more.

Personally, I wish to do more reading, write more and also achieve some milestones in my personal life. I seem to be in some kind of a plateau and I desire to climb the mountain. Hope 2012 fulfills my wishes.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Alyce  is hosting it on her at home with books blog for the month of January 2012.

I received only one book, thanks to the author:

All Her Father's Guns by James Warner: Cal Lyte, a gun-loving venture capitalist, is tired of paying alimony to his ex-wife Tabytha. Plotting to blackmail her and derail her campaign for Congress, he enlists the help of their daughter's boyfriend, British academic Reid Seyton, to unearth some Lyte family secrets. But the results turn out to be more than anyone bargained for, in an escalating cycle of revelations that will leave nobody's life the same.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.

I read three e-books:

1) Ryan's Return by Barbara Freethy
2) True North by Mary Force
3) A Scandalous Past by Ava Stone

And in the midst of reading:

1) All Her Father's Guns by James Warne

What is/are the first book(s) you’re reading for the new year?

1) All Her Father's Guns by James Warne
2) Wild Angel by Miriam Minger

Not bad, not bad!