Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: The Best Of Me by Nicholas Sparks

"You might not understand but I gave you the best of me, and after you left nothing was ever the same.. I know you're afraid, and I'm afraid too."

Author: The Best of Me
Author: Nicholas Sparks
ISBN: 9780751542974
Publisher: Sphere/2011
Pages: 292

The Notebook was the first book I read by Nicholas Sparks and The Best of Me is the second one. I have not read anything in between except for watching Message in a Bottle, which too was by chance. I received The Notebook as a gift and Hachette India sent me The Best Of Me. 

It is about two teenagers who are from opposite sides of the tracks, love each other fiercely yet are forced apart. They come together again after 25 years to their hometown to attend the funeral of a person they both loved, but at different points of their lives. Amanda is married with three children and Dawson Cole has remained the way he was, single and very much alone. There is no place for anyone in his life. 

There are three stories running in this novel, which are all nicely tied up in the end. Tuck and Clara, who we know only via Dawson and Amanda's thoughts, Bonner family, who survives despite odds and Dawson Cole, who can't escape his family. And Amanda, who is torn up to make choices. 

One can't help liking Dawson better than Amanda, and although I guessed the ending, I didn't want it to go that way. There are moments which touched me and I was blown over by Dawson's selfless love for Amanda. I am not a fan of mushy romances but I think I will pick up more of Sparks' novels.

Top Ten Books On My TBR List For Winter

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

This Week's Pick: Top Ten Books On My TBR List For Winter

I read pretty much anything. So I don't make a reading list. Maybe I should. So let me think:

1) The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff
2) The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff
3) A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock
4) Carrie by Stephen King
5) Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend
6) Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
7) Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
8) Storm Prey by John Sandford
9) Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
10) Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books after a tour, she is hosting it  on her Mailbox Monday blog for the month of November 2011.

My friend gifted me the following three books:



The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff
The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff
A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock

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). I downloaded the following 8 free e-books:

Twas The Night 
Surrender the Wind 
A Regency Holiday
Open Season (Joe Gunther Mysteries)
Mad Money (Madeline Carter)
Entangled
Mary's Son: A Tale of Christmas
The God's Wife 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. I managed to read a few  e-books via my kindle on PC on my laptop! I finished the following:

the best of me by Nicholas Sparks

Will you be buying books for the holidays, this year? If so, for whom, and why?

No, I am buying books for anyone. Not even for myself...In fact I am giving away some of what I own!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Saturday Snapshot: November 26

Staff Meeting after school hours in the Library
Click on the photo for a bigger image. Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With books.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday

Follow Friday, is hosted byParaJunkee,  Book Blogger Hop, is hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and Follow Friday 40 and over is hosted by Java.

Parajunkee asks  "It’s Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. so we want to know what you are Thankful for – blogging related of course! Who has helped you out along the way? What books are you thankful for reading?"

One can't name just one blogger, book or an author. I am thankful to all of you, and all those books I read and going to read...

Do feel free to explore my blog. You will definitely find something that interests you as I read wide range of genres, except maybe for a few. I also write poetry. You can read that on my other blog, rooted. Now go, explore both of my blogs! And follow them, if you like!! I follow blogs I like via Google Reader...

Enjoy!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter


"You have a twin sister. Her name is Monica. Go to Benjamin Books. Look at the poster in the window."


Title: My Sister’s Voice
Author: Mary Carter

ISBN-13: 978-0758229205
PublisherKensington/2010

Pages: 352

Book Blurb:


At twenty-eight, Lacey Gears is exactly where she wants to be. An up-and-coming, proudly Deaf artist in Philadelphia, she's in a relationship with a wonderful man and rarely thinks about her difficult childhood in a home for disabled orphans. That is, until Lacey receives a letter that begins, "You have a sister. A twin to be exact. . ."

Learning that her identical, hearing twin, Monica, experienced the normal childhood she was denied resurrects all of Lacey's grief, and she angrily sets out to find Monica and her biological parents. But the truth about Monica's life, their brief shared past, and the reason for the twins' separation is far from simple. And for every one of Lacey's questions that's answered, others are raised, more baffling and profound.

My Views:

Watch out for it!

Top Ten Authors I'd Love To Have At My Thanksgiving Feast

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

This Week's Pick: Top Ten Authors I'd Love To Have At My Thanksgiving Feast

Now let me think, in no particular order, including a few poets:

1) Geoffrey Chaucer
2) William Shakespeare
3) Charlotte Bronte
4) John Keats
5) Robert Burns
6) Agatha Christie
7) J K Rowling
8) Alistair MacLean
9) George Bernard Shaw
10 Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books after a tour, she is hosting it  on her Mailbox Monday blog for the month of November 2011. I 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). I downloaded the following 15 free e-books

Gingerbread Cookbook (Gooseberry Patch Classics)
Cool Shade 
The Usurper (thriller, political intrigue)
Medical Error 
One Imperfect Christmas 
A Simple Amish Christmas
The Noon God
Capitol Reflections
Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection: The Complete Story Collection
Daughter of Joy (Brides of Culdee Creek, Book 1) 
Easy Vegetarian Recipes
The Everything Potluck Cookbook (Everything Series)
Home For Christmas
In the Garden of Temptation (The Garden Series Book 1)
A Lesson in Passion (Lesson Series)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. I managed to read a few  e-books via my kindle on PC on my laptop! I finished the following:

A Fair of the Heart (Welcome To Redemption) 
WILD JUSTICE (Beaumont Brides)
Not What She Seems

How do you decide to read a book by an author you haven’t read before? What sort of recommendations count most highly in making that decision?

Mostly via book blogger's recommendations. Sometimes from some other review sites. I read a lot of poetry and crime fiction. Hence I am always on a look out for such books. Although I do pick up books on whim too...!!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Saturday Snapshot: November 19

Another one from THAT school outing!
Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With books

Friday, November 18, 2011

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday

Follow Friday, is hosted byParaJunkee,  Book Blogger Hop, is hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and Follow Friday 40 and over is hosted by Java.

Parajunkee asks  "Letter to Santa: Tell Santa what books you want for Christmas!"

Lots of Crime Fiction, which should include Jo Nesbo novels.


Do feel free to explore my blog. You will definitely find something that interests you as I read wide range of genres, except maybe for a few. I also write poetry. You can read that on my other blog, rooted. Now go, explore both of my blogs! And follow them, if you like!! I follow blogs I like via Google Reader...

Enjoy!!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Booking Through Category

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Of the books you own, what’s the biggest category/genre? Is this also the category that you actually read the most?

I own Crime Fiction the most, which covers everything under it. I also own a lot of classics along with poetry books. I read a mix of all of the above.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Top Ten Books That Have Been On My Shelf For The Longest But I've Never Read

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

This Week's Pick: Top Ten Books That Have Been On My Shelf For The Longest But I've Never Read

I have too many unread books. Here goes the top ten that have on my shelf for TOO long:

1) Shantaram by by Gregory David Roberts
2) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
3) Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
4) Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
5) The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
6) She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
7) The Known World by Edward P. Jones
8) The City of Fallen Angels by John Brendt
9) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
10) The King's General by Daphne du Maurier

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books after a tour, she is hosting it  on her Mailbox Monday blog for the month of November 2011. I 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). I downloaded the following 20 Free e-books

On Sparrow Hill
Christmas Redemption 
OCEAN OF FIRE 
A Fair of the Heart (Welcome To Redemption) 
WILD JUSTICE (Beaumont Brides)
His Not So Sensible Miss (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time - Book 3)
The Deputy 
Rescue Me (a quirky romance novel about secrets, forgiveness and falling in love) 
Best Friends 
Christmas in Time
Fire and Ice (Liam Campbell #1) 
The Fairy Tale Bride (Once Upon a Wedding)
They Almost Always Come Home 
Safe Harbor
Not What She Seems
Stone Flower Garden 
The Complete Handbook Of Novel Writing: Everything You Need to Know About Creating & Selling Your Work (Writers Digest) 
Getting the Words Right 
How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play
Story Structure Architect

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. I managed to read a few  e-books via my kindle on PC on my laptop! I finished the following:

1) All's Fair in Love and Seduction by Beverly Kendall
2) A Fair to Remember by Stacey Joy Netzel
3) The Fairy Tale Bride by Kelly McClymer
4) Shades of Honor (Grayson Brothers)

Currently reading:

A Fair of the Heart (Welcome To Redemption) 
WILD JUSTICE (Beaumont Brides)
His Not So Sensible Miss (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time - Book 3)
Not What She Seems

I posted review of:

I'll Be There by Deborah Grace Staley


Are you currently collecting any authors? Why? 
Do you have all of their books? If not, why not? 
Did you buy all the books in the collection at the same time, or did you buy a book here, a book there? Have you actually read all of the collection? If not, why not?


I am not collecting any authors right now but I used to. I have almost all the books by Agatha Christie, Erly Stanley Gardner, P G Wodehouse, Tin Tin Albums and Asterix comics. Used to own everything by Enid Blyton, Which I donated to my niece. there are many other authors too. I collected their books one by one. And yes, I have read everything above!!!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saturday Snapshot: November 12

Trying to dance
Who is guarding me?!
On a school outing with the girls on 29 October, 2011. Well, I had so much fun behaving like a teenager!!
**Taken at Craft Museum, Pragati Maidan, Delhi
Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With books

Friday, November 11, 2011

Book Blogger Hop/Follow Friday

Follow Friday, is hosted byParaJunkee,  Book Blogger Hop, is hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and Follow Friday 40 and over is hosted by Java.

Parajunkee asks  "In light of 11.11.11 and Veteran’s Day tell us about your favorite soldier and how he or she is saving the world. Fictional or real life."

Inman of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Do feel free to explore my blog. You will definitely find something that interests you as I read wide range of genres, except maybe for a few. I also write poetry. You can read that on my other blog, rooted. Now go, explore both of my blogs! And follow them, if you like!! I follow blogs I like via Google Reader...

Enjoy!!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Booking Through E-volution

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E-readers like the Kindle and iPad are sweeping the nation … do you have one? Do you like it? Do you find it changes your reading/buying habits? If you don’t have one, do you plan to?

Six months ago, I would have answered, give me print novels any day. However, I have been reading a lot of e-books on my laptop via Kindle on PC. I work on my computer and read in the midst. I am liking it too. I can't read serious books. Cozy Mysteries and Romance novels work just fine. But I need to hold the crime fiction novels in order to be able to read those. No, I am not planning on getting one in near future. 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: At the Craft Museum in Delhi

Posted for Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays: I'll Be There by Deborah Grace Staley

The man slung her over his shoulder and ran.
“Hey!” She kicked, squirmed, and pounded his back with each labored step he took.

“Be still or I’ll drop you on your head so you can break your neck,” he growled.

Title: I'll Be There

Author: Deborah Grace Staley
ISBN: 978-1611940473
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books/2011
Pages: 234

Jenny Thompson disappears in In Angel Ridge, Tennessee after a bombing. She is assumed to be dead by all. She is a newspaper editor and has gone into the bottom of some illegal activities. The bad men want her dead. She is in the hiding and while being hunted, she meets the reclusive mountain man, Cord Goins. He is her only hope. Cord has a past but he knows how to keep her safe. 

Just when we think, it is a normal romance, there is this twist, which turns the novel and keep us hooked. With that element of suspense and mystery, I'll be there is an interesting enough novel, which holds the reader's interest. 

Ten Books That I Read That Were Outside Of My Comfort Zone

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

This Week's Pick: Ten Books That I Read That Were Outside Of My Comfort Zone

As I read all kinds of novels, I don't think anything is out of my comfort Zone, maybe except for crime fiction with serial killers. Too much senseless killing totally puts me off.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books after a tour, she is hosting it  on her Mailbox Monday blog for the month of November. 

I received the following books from Hachette India:

1) The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly
Mickey Haller has fallen on tough times. He expands his business into foreclosure defense, only to see one of his clients accused of killing the banker she blames for trying to take away her home. 

Mickey puts his team into high gear to exonerate Lisa Trammel, even though the evidence and his own suspicions tell him his client is guilty. Soon after he learns that the victim had black market dealings of his own, Haller is assaulted, too--and he's certain he's on the right trail. 

Despite the danger and uncertainty, Haller mounts the best defense of his career in a trial where the last surprise comes after the verdict is in.

2) The Litigators by John Grisham
The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him. 

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. 

I 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). 

I downloaded the following 20 e-books from Amazon, for free! 

Marti Talbott's Highlander Series 1 (Anna, Rachel & Charlet)
Shades of Honor (Grayson Brothers) 
Double Exposure
Commune of Women
I'll Be There
Julius Katz Mysteries
All's Fair in Love & Seduction (The Elusive Lords, Book 2.5)
Simmer All Night (Bad Luck Abroad)
Neon Dragon (Michael Knight) 
Blood Island 
Stuff to Die For
Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington (Love Finds YouTM)
A Measure of Mercy (Home to Blessing Series #1) 
Songbird Under a German Moon 
I Dream of Genies
One September Morning
Chili Con Corpses (The Supper Club Mysteries) 
Heart of a Knight
Circle of Friends Cookbook - 25 Savory Pie Recipes
Erra (Gods and Thurs) 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. I managed to read a few  e-books via my kindle on PC on my laptop! I read the following:

Simmer All Night by by Geralyn Dawson
Heart of a Knight by Barbara Samuel
I'll Be There by Deborah Grace Staley

I am in the midst of reading:

Dodge the Bullet by Christy Hayes
Holding Out For a Hero by Stacey Joy Netzel
While we're Far Apart by Lynn Austin
Shades of Honor (Grayson Brothers) 


Other than for school, do you read books to learn how to do something? What was/were the topic(s)?

I read a lot of puzzle books. Also cookbooks. Then I like to read about hair care books although I don't follow any of those tips! I like books on furniture making.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

TSS: Reading Free Kindle books

October/November are festival months for us. We have many holidays for Dussehra and Diwali and then some. Reading takes a backseat as this is the time for parties and shopping, going out and the likes. I seem to be in a reading spree, after a MASSIVE slump. 

I am not reading my regular genres but seem to be reading all kinds of romance novels with mystery elements. I download free e-books from Amazon and read those on my Kindle for PC. (No, I don't own a Kindle Reader). It suits me fine as I read while working on my computer or in the midst of chatting. I am very happy to find Pixel Of Ink, which keeps me updated about free Kindle Books! I download around 20 novels per well, all free. Do check it out! 

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Saturday Snapshot: November 5

For all my talents, I can't really play any musical instruments. Here I am holding my nephews's guitar trying to be a ROCK CHICK!

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

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Booking Through Harder

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All other thing being equal, would you rather read a book that’s hard/challenging/rewarding or light/enjoyable/easy?

I prefer books which are harder to read. And I have a Kafka Quote as my Blog Header, which says it all:

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

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Top Ten Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About

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. 

Top Ten Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About

Here I go, in no particular order:

1) East of Eden by John Steinbeck
2) Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
3) Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
4) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
5) Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
6) Twins by Katherine Stone
7) I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
8) The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha
9) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith 
10)  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson