Book Beginnings: Jaspar's War by Cym Lowell

Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.

"POCK!" The distinctive sound of a plastic bat driving a Wiffle ball into the outfield triggered shrieks from children as they ran and played. My ten-year-old daughter Chrissy dropped the bat and raced toward first base, actually a luminous orange Frisbee.


Title: Jaspar's War
Author: Cym Lowell
ISBN: 9780991491308
Publisher: Rosemary Beach Press/2014
Pages: 339

Jaspar Moran's husband's plane crashes and soon after her two kids are kidnapped. All this is tied to the economic plan of the country. Jaspar is desperate to find her children and she meets a native, Nulandi,  who is assigned to help her along with his dog, Alice. He teaches her how to protect herself and also to kill if necessary. 

Jaspar's War is a thriller where a mom does everything to get back her kidnapped children. The pace is good and the secondary characters are interesting. Yet I had problem reading reading this. Too much violence and needless killing of innocent people. And animals. That got to me. I read crime fiction most of the time. I love thrillers. This too is one which one has to read from start to finish. But I did not love the novel. 

Booking through Format

All other things being equal, what is your favorite format for reading? Hardcover? Paperback? New book? Old book? Leather-bound first edition? E-book?

All other things being equal, I go for paperbacks. Those are easy to carry and lighter in weight. When I read a hardcover, my arms ache by the sheer weight of it. I know Hardcovers preserve well. However, paperbacks give us a certain flexibility.
I can read paperbacks any place, that is, even in bed.

Frankly, now my library is mix of both. I have old leather bound hardcovers which are priceless. I have inherited these books from my maternal grandfather. Even though yellowing, those smell great too. I buy hardcovers of those books, which I want to keep forever. 

I go for paperback editions simply because they cost less, as of now. As we book lovers know, we have to go for the practical aspects too.

I do read E-books too but prefer print books. Anytime!

Tuesday Intro/Teaser Tuesday: How to Lose a Bride in One Night by Sophie Jordan

Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a book they are reading or thinking about reading soon.

It wasn’t every day a woman lost her virginity.

This was the only justification Annalise could give herself for the way her hands trembled. Ordinary wedding day nerves and nothing more.

Any bride would suffer it. 

Especially a bride like her. Plain. Crippled. Muddied lineage.

A little over a year ago she could barely afford a new pair of winter boots. By all accounts, a day such as this should never have occurred. And yet here she stood in a lavish gown of gold charmeuse trimmed in the finest Brussels lace, her hair swept up in emerald-studded combs. She had certainly never allowed herself the dream of a happily ever after such as this. Not before her father had found her, claimed her, and insisted she deserved only the finest things in life—namely her own knight in shining armor.

Title: How to Lose a Bride in One Night

Author: Sophie Jordan

ISBN: 978-0062033017
Publisher: Avon/2013
Pages: 384

Annalise is thrown overboard from a ship by her newly wedded husband. He is only interested in her vast dowry. She tries valiantly to save herself but loses conscious soon after. Owen Crawford, the reclusive Earl of McDowell, finds on the beach. He takes her to a Gypsy caravan and she gets better with their efforts. Soon after, he takes her to his home and promises to provide for her till she finds her family.

Meanwhile, she has feigned amnesia and does not wish to go to her family. But, once when she is out with the Earl to buy some clothes for her, her husband sees her and tries to kill her again. Owen saves her again. And when he finds out the truth, he is angry at Annalise. 

Annalise is not a frail and weak female despite having a crippled foot most of her life. The gypsies set her foot right. She has definite plans of finding work for herself and not be dependent on anyone. Owen is one of those brooding males but he cares for Annalise's well being. He is attracted to her but knows he cannot give in to that as long as she is in his care. He, in a way, restores Annalise's faith in humanity. 

Monday: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. It has finally found a permanent  home at Mailbox Monday with the following new administrators:

Leslie of Under My Apple Tree
Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit
Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach

I did not receive anything (THREE WEEKS IN A ROW!!) in my mailbox this past week. But I have downloaded a few free e books to read on my tab. Mystery/Suspense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hosted by Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books. We discuss the books that we've read and what we're planning to read for the week.

 I finished reading the following (ONLY ONE):

97. How to Lose a Bride in One Night by Sophie Jordan (Historical Romance)

I am in the midst of reading:

Jaspar's War by Cym Lowell
The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner
Murder Over the Border by Richard Steinitz
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose, Varigo: Vol. 1 by S.H. Villa

I posted reviews of the following:

Into the Abyss by James Snyder

Shoveling Snow by Brett Sills

Ill-Gotten Gains by Ilsa Evans

Sunday Salon/The Sunday Post: Not much read in this past week

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.

The early week was hot but it rained heavily on Thursday which made the temperature bearable. I was not well for a few days and was mostly sleeping. Not much reading done. I finished only one novel and am in the midst of two more. My reading muse has gone to take rest. Hope it will be better next week.

I posted the following on my blog in the past one week:

• Into the Abyss by James Snyder
• Shoveling Snow by Brett Sills
• Crime Fiction Pick of the Month May 2014
• Booking through R-Rated
• Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This year
• Ill-Gotten Gains by Ilsa Evans
• Monday: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?

Friday 56: Into the Abyss by James Snyder

It was lunchtime and everyone was eating, everyone else in New York was eating, except her.

Posted for The Friday 56, which is hosted by Freda's Voice

Title: Into The Abyss
Author: James Snyder
ASIN: B00HPBCIR0
Publisher: Bandera Publishing Company/2014
Pages: 245 pages

Connelly Pierce is all alone after her parents die. She and her older brother Eric are put into separate foster families. She is unable to cope. She meets Eric at a San Francisco emergency room when she is nine. They get separated yet again. Five years later, Connelly runs away from the foster system to find her brother. 

But life is not hunky dory and there are tragic consequences of her decision. She is totally devastated and pulled into an abyss...

It is a heart wrenching novel. Connelly longs to be with her brother Erik and be a family again. For that she can go to any length. The author left the ending hanging. As it is a part of a trilogy, I expect the next one to resolve it. However, my heart broke for Connelly and Erik. The foster system did nothing for them except give them pain. Connelly has it worse by being raped by her foster father. 

Book Beginnings: Shoveling Snow by Brett Sills

Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.

"....And, oh yeah, your mother can be a real asshole," Ben's father said, like he forgot to put it on a grocery list. A simple aside. Just like that.

Title: Snoveling Snow
Author: Brett Sills
ASIN: B00JHLY7A2
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services/2014
Pages: 225

Each of the four main characters in this novel, is running away from his/her problems in one way or another. Each one of them of them needs to figure out how to cope with the devastating pitfalls of life, and face it as bravely as one can. 

Ben has grown up in a cold place and in his adult life he moves to a warmer place. However, as soon as he faces problems in his relationship, he runs away to a cold place to escape from it all. His landlady's daughter, Smoof is only 10 years old and is not an endearing child at that. She is bitter about life and always stays away from people by her attitudes and actions. One of her teachers, Rose wants to get close to the child but Smoof does not let her. Smoof's mother Maggie is so much wrapped in her grief that she forgets to take care of her daughter.

All these people are brought together and although Ben tries to stay away from Smoof, slowly he is drawn into her world. Interacting with her, he comes to terms with his own life and knows that he has to go back. But tragedy strikes and Smoof needs him in her own way.

Three adults. A child. An independent child. Brett Sills has written a beautiful novel about relationship, choices and consequences of those choices. The writing is uncomplicated and flows beautifully. It is not a fairy tale but a very real story of loss, fear, anger, forgiveness, acceptance, letting go and moving on.

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month May 2014

Crime Fiction Pick of the Month 2014

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. Bloggers link to a summary post for the month, and identify a crime fiction best read of the month. I know I am doing this late but better late than never!

I read 20 novels in May. Out of which, six are Crime Fiction. 

I read Literary Fiction, Historical Romances, Poetry etc.

The following six are Crime Fiction novels

The Qualities of Wood by Mary Vensel White 
Out Of Exile by Luke Preston
To Sleep...Perchance to Die by Donald R. Grippo 
Sufficient Ransom by Sylvia Sarno 
Unseen by John Michael Hileman 
The Truth Will Out by Jane Isaac 

I pick The Truth Will Out by Jane Isaac as the Crime Fiction Pick for May 2014

Set between the Midlands and the Scottish Highlands, The Truth Will Out is a wonderful psychological crime thriller. The combination of plot and characters are very good. A very engrossing police procedural, where blood, gore and violence is not so apparent. However, the drug thing cannot be ignored.

Click on the title for my review.....

Booking through R-Rated

How do you feel about explicit detail in your reading? Whether language, sex, violence, situations and so on … does it bother you? Faze you at all? Or do you just read everything without it bothering you?

I am not bothered about violence in moderation but I cannot read explicit details about the way serial killers go about a victim. I also cannot stand bad language. I do not think the four lettered words need to be used everywhere. Some writers do not know where to draw the line. 

I prefer not to read books with porn as their main agenda. I read a couple of erotica recently and I am not going to repeat that any time soon...

I prefer novels to nurture my mind, heart and soul. And explicit anything fails to do that.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. More HERE.

Here are my Top Ten Books I've Read So Far This Year

1. Clamor by Elyse Fenton (Poetry)**

2. The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson (Gothic Suspense)**

3. A Dark Redemption by Stav Sherez (Crime Fiction)**

4. The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison (Thriller)**

5. Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton (Crime Fiction)**

6. Velocity by Alan Jacobson (Crime Fiction)**

7. Hurrah's Nest by Arisa White (Poetry)**

8. Our Held Animal Breath by Kathryn Kirkpatrick (Poetry)**

9. Chilled to the Bone by Quentin Bates (Crime Fiction)** 

10. The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim (Literary Fiction)**

11. The Truth Will Out by Jane Isaac (Crime Fiction)**