Saturday Snapshot: June 30, 2012

The trees are trying to embrace each other while the tea garden looks on

Workers waiting for the bus to take them to the tea factory

Taken during vacations in Munnar, South India (19-25 March 2012). 

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

All He Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard

Title: All He Saw Was The Girl
Author: Peter Leonard
ISBN: 9780571255740
Publisher: Faber and Faber/2011
Pages: 304 

After reading Voices Of The Dead by Peter Leonard, I decided that I was going to pick all his books. So when I was offered to review All He Saw Was the Girl, I was thrilled. I was notdisappointed at all!

I had a roller coaster ride throughout the novel. It has the ingredients of an action movie. Drug Mafia, kidnapping, car chasing, and a love story. And all that happens in Italy, that too due to a misunderstanding! One American exchange student is kidnapped by mistake and ransom is paid for him. He feels bad about that and decides to get back the money. Without any help from anyone, he takes on the kidnappers and gets involved with the drug mafia, all by himself. 

The story jumps from one character to other but it is seamless and certain situations are so hilarious that I chuckled loudly while reading!! Here the black and white smudges into grey. No one is perfect and also no one is totally black, other than the mafia, of course! Seemingly distant situations are related in a such a way that one feels tickled by it.

What appealed to me most was the sarcastic way of thinking by the various characters. That alone makes the novel very delightful!! I am going to read all of Peter Leonard's novels!!

Booking Through Teacher

Margaret of BooksPlease asks:

Who taught you to read?

My mom taught to read the alphabets, dad used to get me kiddie story books. My brothers read them aloud for me. And when I started to all on my own, I do not really remember. The above too, I have told by my dad. I do recall my dad telling us stories from the Hindu Scriptures. Till date, I can recall each and everything he narrated to us. I did read the scriptures at a later date.

From The Review pile (8) / Throwback Thursday

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday. The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review. (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

Today I showcase The Noah's Ark Quest by Boyd Morrison (UK), which I received from Hachette India. This novel is titled The Ark for US editions.

When brilliant archaeologist Dilara Kenner is contacted by Sam Watson, an old family friend who says that he has crucial information about her missing father, Dilara abandons her Peruvian dig and rushes to Los Angeles to meet him. But at the airport, Sam speaks instead of Noah's Ark—the artifact her father had long been searching for—and the possible death of billions. Before Sam can explain, he collapses. With his dying breath, he urges Dilara to find Tyler Locke—a man she's never heard of.

Two days later Dilara manages to track down former combat engineer Tyler Locke on an oil rig off Newfoundland. Her helicopter transport goes down well short of the oil rig's landing pad and Dilara and those aboard nearly drown. After Tyler accomplishes a daring rescue, Dilara convinces him that the crash was no accident. Tyler agrees to help her unearth the mystery behind Noah's Ark and, more importantly, her father's disappearance.

Their investigation soon reveals that a group of religious fanatics has recovered a weapon from the Ark that will let them recreate effects of the biblical flood and recreate humanity according to their leader's twisted vision. Now Tyler and Dilara have just seven days to find the Ark and the secret hidden inside before it's used to wipe out civilization again.

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher:  Sphere/2010
• ISBN-10:  0751544159
• ISBN-13:   978-0751544152

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Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

I have Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts in my bookshelf, for the last 6 years or so. I pick it up and put it back again because of the sheer volume. I do plan to read it some time soon.

Synopsis:

Crime and punishment, passion and loyalty, betrayal and redemption are only a few of the ingredients in Shantaram, a massive, over-the-top, mostly autobiographical novel. 

Shantaram is the name given to Mr. Lindsay, or Linbaba, the larger-than-life hero. It means "man of God's peace," which is what the Indian people know of Lin. What they do not know is that prior to his arrival in Bombay he escaped from an Australian prison where he had begun serving a 19-year sentence. He served two years and leaped over the wall. He was imprisoned for a string of armed robberies peformed to support his heroin addiction, which started when his marriage fell apart and he lost custody of his daughter. All of that is enough for several lifetimes, but for Greg Roberts, that's only the beginning.

He arrives in Bombay with little money, an assumed name, false papers, an untellable past, and no plans for the future. Fortunately, he meets Prabaker right away, a sweet, smiling man who is a street guide. He takes to Lin immediately, eventually introducing him to his home village, where they end up living for six months. When they return to Bombay, they take up residence in a sprawling illegal slum of 25,000 people and Linbaba becomes the resident "doctor." With a prison knowledge of first aid and whatever medicines he can cadge from doing trades with the local Mafia, he sets up a practice and is regarded as heaven-sent by these poor people who have nothing but illness, rat bites, dysentery, and anemia. He also meets Karla, an enigmatic Swiss-American woman, with whom he falls in love. Theirs is a complicated relationship, and Karla’s connections are murky from the outset.

• Paperback:  944 pages
• Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin/2003
• ISBN-10:  192076920
• ISBN-13:  9781920769208

Murder In The Ashram by Kathleen McCaul

"But for now it would wait till tomorrow's funeral. We'd bury Stephen in peace, without a father, the way he was born."
~~~~Page 185

Title: Murder in the Ashram
Author: Kathleen McCaul
ISBN: 9780749953638
Publisher: Piatkus/2011
Pages: 320

Stephen Newby's body is found in River Yamuna. His best friend and flatmate, Ruby Jones cannot understand the reasons. She goes sleuthing on her own to find out. As the title suggest, it is supposed to be murder mystery, which should keep the reader in tenterhooks. But no such thing happens. Ruby Jones, who aspires to be an international news journalist, is not interesting enough. Her musings do not do anything for the suspense element which should have been there. 

As ashrams go, this shows the dark side of a well known one. Stephen and Ruby were regulars there, both in love with a wannabe Guru, Rani.  Stephen was in search for his unknown father. The reader can make out, who is his father right from the beginning. 

I live in Delhi, and the geographical descriptions left much to be desired. There are major discrepancies. Wazirabad bridge is no where near Dakshinpuri. Mckaul did not do much research in that arena. This fact alone made me want to shout!!

One can read it as a travelogue if one is so interested, but I say don't waste your time. I am not going to pick any other book by this author. EVER. Unless you pay me million dollars!

Mondays: Mailbox/What Am I Reading?/Musing

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Marie at Burton Book Reviewis hosting MM for June starting today. 

I received two print books and two e-books, thanks to the authors/publicists:


Broken Spirit by Charles L. Fields: Charles Stone, Boston lawyer and sculptor, travels to Hawaii for a much needed vacation after performing two life threatening assignments for Franklin life Insurance Company. What is thought as paradise becomes a tropical hell and once again Franklin life has to call on this experienced investigative attorney for help. Stone is woven through a tapestry of racial discontent to confronting a radical movement trying to secede as the 50th state. He finds the cultural melting pot boiling over, threatening tourism and other island businesses and encounters violence and tragedy.


Tainted Dish by Charles L. Fields: Charles Stone, Boston investigative lawyer and sculptor, takes on the case of a personal friend and recent widow. She’s battling an unscrupulous business partner and is desperately trying to save the company, Unitreq from financial collapse. Stone becomes involved in military industrial espionage, several murders and a bounty hunt that takes him and his sidekick Army Special Forces Sergeant, Bo Jackson, on a chase through the Maritime Provinces of Canada, as well as Ireland and Europe. Stone receives much needed assistance from his law partners and Franklin Life Insurance Company’s security team, a little known Department of Defense agency known as DARPA, WikieLeaks.org and Interpol. The use of combined forces helps bring an end to several diabolical plots. 

Following are the digital copies:

Murder In Silence by Gary Kassay: When two police officers are found with their throats ripped open with surgical precision, there are no witnesses to the crime and no connections between the dead officers. Left with two clues that make no sense, Inspector Duke Becker is about to face a diabolical killer whose rampage has just begun. The tenacious Becker, head of the NYPD's Special Investigations Unit's Homicide Division, is proud of his impeccable record for solving unusual or high profile murders. But the bulldog detective may be facing the most challenging case of his career as he desperately searches to either find some connection between the two murdered cops or deal with the less than desirable alternative-that someone is randomly killing cops for no reason whatsoever. With only bizarre clues to follow, Becker and his squad immerse themselves in a deadly race to stop a killer before another police officer's throat is brutally slashed and the city of New York is thrown into turmoil.

Dead End Deal by Allen Wyler: World renowned neurosurgeon Jon Ritter is on the verge of a medical breakthrough that will change the world. His groundbreaking surgical treatment, using transplanted non-human stem cells, is set to eradicate the scourge of Alzheimer’s disease and give hope to millions. But when the procedure is slated for testing, it all comes to an abrupt and terrifying halt. Ritter’s colleague is gunned down and Ritter himself is threatened by a radical anti-abortion group that not only claims responsibility, but promises more of the same. Faced with a dangerous reality but determined to succeed, Ritter turns to his long-time colleague, corporate biotech CEO Richard Stillman, for help. Together, they conspire to conduct a clandestine clinical trial in Seoul, Korea. But the danger is more determined, and more lethal, than Ritter could have imagined. After successful surgical trials, Ritter and his allies are thrown into a horrifying nightmare scenario: The trial patients have been murdered and Ritter is the number one suspect. Aided by his beautiful lab assistant, Yeonhee, Ritter flees the country, now the target of an international manhunt involving Interpol, the FBI, zealous fanatics and a coldly efficient assassin.
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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book 

I finished reading:

The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock
Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
The Accused by John Grisham

I am in the midst of reading:

Arctic Fire by Paul Byers
The Virgin Journals by Travis Laurence Naught (poetry)

I posted review of:

Real Courage by Michael Meyerhofer (poetry)

I have scheduled reviews of:

1) The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock
2) All He Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard
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Do you set goals for yourself, while reading? For example, “I want to get this book finished this weekend“, or “I will read __ pages today“, etc. Why, or why not?

Sometimes I do set goals and finish it well in time.   But when I a was undergoing a reading block, the goals were unrealistic. All I wished for was to, read. Just read.

The Sunday Post/Sunday Salon: The week that was

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

My vacations are almost over. One more week and then back to routine. I have mixed feelings. I suppose that happens to all of us. It was not a bad week. I read three books, on my fourth. I don't know if I will finish it today or not. Life gets in the way, you know!!

I have a bit of good news to share. My eldest niece is going to be engaged on the 3rd July, 2012. Wedding date has not been fixed. My brother and SIL will do a PUJA tomorrow. It is the first wedding in the next generation, so we all are very happy! Next few days are going to be hectic. Well, let us see if I get to read much or not. 

These are what I posted on my blog last week:

Mondays: Mailbox/What Am I reading?/Musings
Real Courage by Michael Meyerhofer
Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List
Booking through Quotable
From The Review Pile (7) / Throwback Thursday
Friday: TGIF/Friday Find/Follow Friday/Finished Friday
Saturday Snapshot: June 23, 2012

Here I am sharing a photo of my niece, Kayrvi Tripathy, who is getting married

Saturday Snapshot: June 23, 2012

My mom with her grand daughters and her daughter in law

My nieces with their mom, my SIL. She is holding the picture of MY
paternal grandmother

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

Friday: TGIF/Friday Find/Follow Friday/Finished Friday

Feature & Follow is a weekly tradition hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Rules of the game: Follow our lovely hosts, Follow their feature, and Follow other bloggers.

Q. If you could unread a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

There are many books I want to be unread, for various reasons. But the one that stands out is, The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. I want to relive the sheer pleasure of reading it for the first time
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TGIF is a Friday Feature hosted by Ginger at GReads! The point of TGIF is to re-cap on this week’s posts and answer the question of the week!

Authors Are Our Celebrities: Have you ever contacted with an author you admired? How did that experience go?  If not, which author would you love to have a chat with?

Due to book blogging I have in touch with authors of my favourite genre, which includes poets. I have had quite good responses from most. I don't really wish to chat with any one! Would rather read their books in that time!

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

‘O' Artful Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor:

IT'S THE HOLIDAY SEASON and as winter falls starkly over Boston, Sweeney's worried about her career and grappling with some personal demons. When her best friend shows her photographs of an atypical gravestone in a seemingly idyllic Vermont town that was once a famous arts colony, she's interested enough to look into the history of the bizarre monumental sculpture — and the life and untimely demise of the young artist's model buried beneath it. But her inquiries are followed by a suspicious death, and as Sweeney becomes more and more obsessed with the anomalous stone, she is drawn to Vermont and into a hundred-year-old murder mystery and the lives of a family and their neighbors in the colony. Before long, she has another murder on her hands and she's in a race to find out the truth about the gravestone.

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Finished Friday is weekly meme created by Jennifer of Books That Spark where you share your reading accomplishments for the week, month, or just whenever you want to take part!

I have read 2 books since the last week and on my 3rd. Here is the list of books I read:

1) Cuts Like A Knife by M.K. Gilroy
2) The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock
3) Arctic Fire by Paul Byers (currently reading)

From The Review Pile (7) / Throwback Thursday

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday. The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review. (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

Today I am showcasing Artic Fire by Paul Byers. I received it from author. I couldn't get around it due to a massive reading block. 

Wealthy entrepreneur Nigel Cain has devised an efficient new way to bring the earth’s most precious resource to the masses – clean water – by transporting massive man-made icebergs from the frigid arctic and delivering them literally to the doorsteps of millions.

Gabriel Pike works at a small engineering firm that has been awarded the task of giving the final safety approval to pilot the first gigantic block of ice into New York harbor.

A consummate showman, Cain has built a fabulous 5-Star hotel and casino high atop the iceberg so his celebrity guests and media elite can cover this spectacle from beginning to end. Pike is whisked away from his work-a-day world and dropped into the lap of luxury where he’s expected to simply rubber-stamp his inspection.

A brutal winter storms ravages the iceberg and exposes structural inconsistencies and hidden agendas that fill Pike with serious doubts about the true intentions of the project. But a grisly double homicide on the ice puts the inspections on the back burner and sends Pike’s life spiraling out of control when he’s accused of being the jealous murderer in a lover’s triangle.

But Pike soon discovers that there is far more at stake than just his life. He uncovers a conspiracy more heinous than anything he could have imagined – a plot that will level a city, change the political face of America, and whose shock waves will be felt around the world. Fate rests in his hands – if he can survive long enough to take action...

• Paperback: 412 pages
• Publisher: Fortress Publications/2011)
• ISBN-10: 0615504078
• ISBN-13: 978-0615504070

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Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

It’s the nature of book blogging to focus mainly on new releases, but there are thousands of great books out there that haven’t seen the “New Releases” shelf in years. We hope to be able to bring attention to some older titles that may not be at the top of the current bestseller list, but still deserve a spot in your To-Be-Read pile.

Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes (Synopsis):

Capturing all the rueful irony and racial ambivalence of small-town Mississippi in the late 1950s, Melinda Haynes' celebrated novel is a wholly unforgettable exploration of family, identity, and redemption.

Mother of Pearl revolves around twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade, a black man who grew up an orphan, and Valuable Korner, the fifteen-year-old white daughter of the town whore and an unknown father. Both are passionately determined to discover the precious things neither experienced as children: human connection, enduring commitment, and, above all, unconditional love. 

A startlingly accomplished mixture of beauty, mystery, and tragedy, Mother of Pearl marks the debut of an extraordinary literary talent. 

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press/2000
• ISBN-10: 0671774670
• ISBN-13: 978-0671774677

Booking through Quotable

Do you have a favorite quote from a book?

Yes, I have one. It is on the header of this blog. I will quote that here for all of you:

"I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us." Franz Kafka

Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List

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 On My Summer TBR List

Most in my list are Crime Fiction. No surprise there..

1) Broken Spirit by Charles L. Field
2) Tainted Dish by Charles L. Field
3) The Sadness of Samurai by Victor Del Arbol
4) The Devil All the time by Donald Ray Pollock
5) The Roman Prophecy by Jon Trace
6) The Islands by Carlos Gamerro
7) The Noah's Ark by Boyd Morrison
8) Moving Can Be Mystery by Susan Santangelo
9) Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
10) Hurrah's Nest (poetry) by Arisa White

Real Courage by Michael Meyerhofer

"They say Man's first tool was a hammer, 
which makes sense since I can't 
imagine apes working a protractor, 
much like a sextant under the wet stars."

~~Page 7, The Trouble with Hammers

Real Courage is a chapbook and the poetry in there is very very different, with many layers. At one place, it might seem very simple and next line completely surprises us. 

Ode To Dogs (Page 22)

I am tired of hearing about dogs
used as metaphors for the uncivilized.
Imagine a world in which humans

possessed at least twenty times
as many olfactory receptors, 
able to distinguish the tang of cancer

rising musk-like from the bedsheets
next to a smoldering ash tray,
able to detect that one drop of blood

in every five quarts of water,
to know what you did last night
no matter how many times 

you soap-scrubbed the evidence.
It does not take savagery
but more love than we can muster

to lick the hand you've sniffed,
to love despite the perfume of sins
we wear each day like a halo.

This well depicts who is uncivilized. 

About Michael Meyerhofer: Michael Meyerhofer's third book, Damnatio Memoriae, won the Brick Road Poetry Book Contest. His previous books are Leaving Iowa (winner of the Liam Rector First Book Award) and Blue Collar Eulogies (Steel Toe Books, finalist for the Grub Street Book Prize). 

He has also published five chapbooks: Pure Elysium (winner of the Palettes and Quills Chapbook Contest), The Clay-Shaper's Husband(winner of the Codhill Press Chapbook Award), Real Courage (winner of the Terminus Magazine and Jeanne Duval Editions Poetry Chapbook Prize), The Right Madness of Beggars (winner of the Uccelli Press 3rd Annual Chapbook Competition), and Cardboard Urn (winner of the Copperdome Chapbook Contest). 

Mondays: Mailbox/What Am I reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Marie atBurton Book Reviewis hosting MM for June starting today. 

I received one print book and two e-books, thanks to the authors/publicists:

The Last Refuse by Ben Coes
Plot Synopsis:

With time running out to stop the nuclear destruction of Tel Aviv, Dewey Andreas must defeat his most fearsome opponent yet.

Off a quiet street in Brooklyn, New York, Israeli Special Forces commander Kohl Meir is captured by operatives of the Iranian secret service, who smuggle Meir back to Iran, where he is imprisoned, tortured, and prepared for a show trial.

What they don’t know is that Meir was in New York to recruit Dewey Andreas for a secret operation. Meir had been tipped off that Iran had finally succeeded in building their first nuclear weapon, one they were planning to use to attack Israel. His source was a high-level Iranian government official and his proof was a photo of the bomb itself.

I received digital copies of

1) Frank's Wild Years by Nick Triplow: 

Frank’s Wild Years - betrayal and last chances at the frayed and fading edges of the south London underworld. IN THE TWILIGHT days between Christmas and New Year, Frank Neaves is about to drink away his last tenner in a Deptford boozer. A former friend and associate of long-dead local villain Dave Price, Frank’s scotch-soaked meditation is interrupted when Carl, Price’s son and the pub’s landlord, disappears leaving an oblique one line note for barmaid, Adeline. Carl has set his heart on bringing his young daughter home for New Year’s Eve. An undertaking that puts him on a collision course with his ex-wife’s new man, a Hull-based hard case called O’Keefe. Desperate to avoid a violent confrontation that Carl can’t win, Adeline persuades Frank to join her. They take a slow train for Humberside. And with the year grinding towards its close, Frank’s former life comes back to haunt him in a way he could never have imagined...

2) Murder On Fifth Avenue by Victoria Thompson:

Sarah Brandt’s family is one of the oldest in New York City, and her father, Felix Decker, takes his position in society very seriously. He still refuses to resign himself to his daughter being involved with an Irish Catholic police detective. But when a member of his private club—the very exclusive Knickerbocker—is murdered, Decker forms an uneasy alliance with Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy to solve the crime as discreetly as possible.

Malloy soon discovers that despite his social standing, the deceased—Chilton Devries—was no gentleman. In fact, he’s left behind his own unofficial club of sorts, populated by everyone who despised him. As he and Sarah sort through the suspects, it becomes clear to her that her father is evaluating more than the detective’s investigative abilities, and that, on a personal level, there is much more at stake for Malloy than discovering who revoked Devries’ membership—permanently.

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

I finished reading:

1) Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend
2) Bleed For me by Michael Robotham
3) Cuts Like A Knife by M.K. Gilroy (currently reading)

I am in the midst of reading

1) Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
2) The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock
3) The Virgin Journals by Travis Laurence Naught (poetry)

I posted review of:

Inspector Singh Investigates: A Curious Indian Cadaver by Shamini Flint


Do you think the book cover is “dead”? Do you care whether the “covers” on digital books exist or not?

I am a real book junkie! I don't prefer to read digital books. I agree that one does not forget the author, title or cover of a print book. For digital ones, one does not remember.

Sunday Salon/Post: Plans and a birthday

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

This wasn't like last week but it wasn't bad. I read three novels and on my fourth which I plan to finish today. Let us see...

Life is kinda hectic, what with guests and all. It is hot too, the temperature hovering between 42 degree celsius to 45 degree celsius (107-114 F). Impossible to go out in the day time. Thank God I have summer vacations. Sometimes I feel too hot to read or do much else. There is some problem with our AC. It is behaving erratically. The repair guy is too long to get here!

What do I plan to do in the coming week? To read more, to write more. To catch up with all my pending work before school reopens in two weeks time. 

These are what I posted on my blog last week:

1)Monday: Mailbox/What Am I Reading?/Musing
2)Top Ten Books I'd Recommend As Good Beach Reads
3)Review: Inspector Singh Investigates: A Curious Indian Cadaver by Shamini Flint
4) From The Review Pile (6) / Throwback Thursday
5) Booking Through Do-Over 
6) Friday: TGIF/Friday Find/Follow Friday/Finished Friday
7) Saturday Snapshot: June 17, 2012

Today it is my younger brother's birthday. So we will celebrate it by going out for dinner. He invited us first thing in the morning. 

Have a Wonderful Birthday, Brother. May you be always blessed!!

My brother, Moi and SIL, ain't she pretty?

Saturday Snapshot: June 17, 2012

My Cousin! Hope he does NOT kill me!

Same one, now aptly dressed!

Isn't it good to have extended family? He is 10 years younger but looks 5 years older!!! And I gotta hide before he finds out I posted his pictures here!

Taken during vacations in Orissa (03-10 Dec 2011). 

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

Friday: TGIF/Friday Find/Follow Friday/Finished Friday

Feature & Follow is a weekly tradition hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Rules of the game: Follow our lovely hosts, Follow their feature, and Follow other bloggers.

Q. Happy Father's Day!! Who is your favorite dad character in a book and why?

Silas Marner, adoptive father to Eppie, Silas Marner by George Eliot. She comes into his life by chance when she is two years old.  He loves her as his own. 

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TGIF is a Friday Feature hosted by Ginger at GReads! The point of TGIF is to re-cap on this week’s posts and answer the question of the week!

Most Valuable Book:

From your personal collection of books, which ones hold the most value to you? Is it signed by the author? Or maybe it's your favorite story of all time? Share it with us.

I cannot name just one. All my poetry books are valuable for me. Those range from Chaucer to contemporary. Then some classics, like Jane Eyre, Rebecca and To Kill a Mockingbird. I will add my collection of P G Wodehouse, Tintin and Asterix too. What else? Oh yes, the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I have lot more.....

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FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

‘Oh my God, what’s happening to me? After all this time, please, not again!’

 Jeanne Le Page, gripped by fear and panic, struggles to breathe as the ferry arrives in Guernsey – the island she had fled fifteen years before, traumatised by a family tragedy.

Now she has to return after another death. Her beloved grandmother has bequeathed Jeanne her old cottage. She intends to stay just long enough to sell her inheritance. Deeply unhappy after the recent end of a relationship, she has no desire to pick up her old life in her birthplace.

Jeanne is shocked to find that the cottage holds a secret going back to the German Occupation. She becomes drawn into learning more, delaying her planned departure. At the same time, while unveiling the truth of what happened to her family, she puts herself in mortal danger.

She has to relive the tragedy as the ghosts continue to haunt her. But over time the island works its magic, encouraging her to live and love again .

Found on Promoting Crime Fiction by Lizzie Hayes

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Finished Friday is weekly meme created by Jennifer of Books That Spark where you share your reading accomplishments for the week, month, or just whenever you want to take part!

I have read 14 books since the beginning of June and on my 15th. Here is the list of books I read:

1) All  I Saw Was The Girl by Peter Leonard

2) Sweet Release by Pamela Clare

3) Unbreak my Heart by Helen Scott Taylor

4) The Duchess of Love by Sally MacKenzie

5) Real Courage (poetry Chapbook) by Michael Meyerhofer

6) Inspector Singh Investigates: A Curious Indian Cadaver by Shamini Flint

7) Murder In The Ashram by Kathleen McCaul

8) Cut Short by Leigh Russell

9) Sons And Princes by James LePore
10) Heart Of Mine by Michelle Beattie

11) Nothing Stays In Vegas by Elena Aitken
12) Calico Joe by John Grisham
13) Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend
14) Bleed For me by Michael Robotham
15) Cuts Like A Knife by M.K. Gilroy (currently reading)