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!

Books Read till date in 2011

December......(4) 66

4) To Desire A scoundrel by Tracy Summer
3) A Scandalous Past by Ava Stone
2) True North by Mary Force
1) Ryan's Return by Barbara Freethy

November....12 (62)

12) The Best Of Me By Nicholas Sparks
11) A Fair of the Heart By Stacey Joy Netzel
10) Wild Justice by Liz Fielding
9) Not What She Seems Victorine E. Liske
8) All's Fair in Love and Seduction by Beverly Kendall
7) A Fair to Remember by Stacey Joy Netzel
5) The Fairy Tale Bride by Kelly McClymer
4) Shades of Honor (Grayson Brothers)
3) I'll Be There by Deborah Grace Staley
2) Heart of a Knight by Barbara Samuel

1) Simmer All Night by by Geralyn Dawson

October.....13 (50)


13) Here to Stay by Debra Webb
12) Twice a Rake by Catherine Gayle
11) A Scandalous Past by Ava Stone
10) When Night Falls by Margaret Daley
9) Without A Word by C. Kevin Provance
8) My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter
8) A Hint of Rapture by Miriam Minger
7) Just The Way You are By Barbara Freethy
6) Lady Deception by Rizzo Rosko
5) A Husband for Margaret by Ruth Ann Nordin
4) Maddy's Oasis Lizzy Ford
3) A Bride for Tom by Ruth Ann Nordin
2) Sold to the Highest Bidder by Donna Alward
1) Highland Blessings by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

September....3 (37)

 3) Lonely Millionaire by Carol Grace
2) The Inconvenient Duchess by Christine Merrill 
1) The Frenchwoman by Barbara Paul

August...2 (34)

2) Close Your Eyes by Amanda Eyre Ward

1) The Abduction by John Grisham

July.....0...(32)

June----4 (32)


4) The Bride's Baby by Liz Fielding
3) Silent Partner by Jennifer Chase

2)  The Nesting Dolls by Gail Bowen 
1)  Other Eyes by Barbara D'Amato

May---12..(28)

12) Borderlands by Brian McGilloway (CF)

11) Caribou Island by David Vann

10) The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly(CF)
9) The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger*
8) Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson*
7) Room by Emma Donoghue**
6) His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls
5) The Italian's Inexperienced Mistress by Lynne Graham
4) Married by Mistake Abby Gains
3) Speed Dating by Nancy Warren
2) Homespun Bride by Jillian Hart
1) The Wicked House of Rohan by Anne Stuart

April (10)....16

10) Wrecker by Summer Wood**
9) The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
8) Baby Bonanza by Maureen Child (e-book)
5) A Very Special Delivery by Linda Goodnight (e-book)
6) Blue by Lou Aronica (e-book)*
5) Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren (e-book)
4) The Brides' Baby by Liz Fielding (e-book)
3) Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson (e-book)
2) Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly (e-book)
 1) Slow Ride: A Rough Riders story by Lorelei James (e-book)

March (2)...6

2) Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek
1) Out At Night by Susan Arnout Smith

January (4)

4) Blood Over Badge by Wayne Farquhar ((Crime Fiction, Suspense/Thriller)

3) Dead Head by Rosemary Harris (Cozy Mystery)

2) Silent Kill by David Fingerman (Crime Fiction, Suspense/Thriller)

1) Blood of My Brother by John LePore (Crime Fiction, Suspense/Thriller)

Saturday Snapshot: December 31, 2011

My cousin Rachita, is 20+ years younger than me. We met after 17 years and we find that we are so much similar, in almost everything.

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

Booking Through Best of 2011

What were your favorite books of 2011?

Here is my top 5:

1) The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger*

2) Blue by Lou Aronica (e-book)*

3) Wrecker by Summer Wood**

4) Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson** 
5) Room by Emma Donoghue**

Top Ten Books I Read in 2011

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 read in 2011

I had a massive reading slump. (I still have it.) My reading came down to 63 books from 96 read in 2010. And that was a down slide from 150+ books read in 2009.  In 2011 I haven't really picked up any memorable books. I read a lot of trashy, light stuff to get me to reading but with no avail. I might as well pick the Top Ten (No, these are definitely NOT trashy reads):

1) Blood of My Brother by John LePore

2) Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek

3) Blue by Lou Aronica (e-book)*

4) Wrecker by Summer Wood**

5) The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger*
6) Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson**
7) Room by Emma Donoghue**

8) Borderlands by Brian McGilloway (CF)

9) Caribou Island by David Vann

10) The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly(CF)

** ones are VERY good!

Teaser Tuesday: All Her Father's Guns by James Warner

"Well," I said, "sometimes you just have to trust your gut."

"There's nothing in your gut but e. Coli, Cal. I'd say the last thing that company needs right now is a charismatic leader."

~Page 45,  All Her Father's Guns by James Warner

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books. Jenny Q  is hosting it  on her Let them Read Books blog for the month of December 2011.

I received only one book after so long, thanks to the author:

Tho' It Were Ten Thousand Miles by by William.H.A. Williams:
Seamus O'Rouke's obsession with a girl he discovers on You Tube turns into love when Fiona MacKenzie turns up on his Midwestern campus. While the sixty-five-year-old Irishman's pursuit of this twenty-year-old folk singer is against all reason, rhyme does play its role. Seamus is adept at wielding poetry, as well as music, art, gourmet meals and fi ne wine, in his campaign for the heart of his green-eyed auburn-haired beauty.

Fiona is haunted by the earlier death of her Scottish father and by the resulting loneliness, which she tries to hide beneath her usually self-confident exterior. She tries to keep from being overwhelmed by Seamus' larger-than-life personality. Gradually, however, her skeptical common sense gives way before the onslaught of this unreconstructed Irish Romantic.

I also downloaded free kindle editions from Amazon. You can check those out for NOOK too. Have fun looking out for interesting titles at Pixel of Ink. (I have subscribed it on my Google Reader). 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. I am STILL in the midst of reading:

The Boat by Nam Le

The Litigators by John Grisham

Finished reading: 

To Desire A scoundrel by Tracy Summer

Did you get any books for Christmas? If so, what were they?

If you didn’t, what books are you most looking forward to reading (and/or buying) in the new year?

I did not get a SINGLE book for Christmas. I plan to buy a few Jo Nesbo novels in the new year. And few other new crime fiction writers....

Saturday Snapshot: December 24

My cousin's wedding, which I attended on 4 December, 2011. The second pic is from the reception held on 7th December, 2011. My grandma passed away after the wedding. Glad she could meet her newest grand daughter in law!

Anand and his beautiful bride, Soumya

youngest cousin Rachita, Anand, Soumya, moi and Jhili, our sister in law

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

Friday Find: The Bitch by Les Edgerton

The Bitch by Les Edgerton

The Bitch explores the dark choices that Jake, as a two-time offender faces to save both his life and his soul--life imprisonment if caught for the third time under the federal ha-bitch-ual criminal law--known to outlaws as "The Bitch." Choices that may cost him everything and everyone he loves. What are the limits of loyalty? What is the spiritual process by which a savvy hair designer deteriorates into a mass murderer? A work in the cold existentialist tradition of Sartre and Camus, and the transgressive fiction of Celine, The Bitch struggles for answers and, on finding them, a way out.

Booking Through Gifts

Any books you’re hoping to get for the holidays this year?
How about giving? Are you giving any good ones?

I will not be getting ANY books as gifts unless I have a fairy God mother, which I don't have. No one is keen to buy books for me. I wish there was someone out there who did that and gifted me ALL the Jo Nesbo novels, published till date.

I have bought a lot of books for my nephews, nieces and friends.