everything distils into reading

Booking Through Writing or Riveting?

2012-01-26T13:50:00.001+05:30

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.

Teaser Tuesdays: The Litigators by John Grisham

2012-01-24T14:49:00.000+05:30

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

~~~Page 330, The Litigators by John Grisham

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

2012-01-23T14:34:00.001+05:30

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 Snapshot: January 21, 2012

2012-01-21T05:05:00.001+05:30

My youngest Auntie!

Lush Flora at her place!

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

Booking Through Skipping

2012-01-19T22:37:00.001+05:30

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 Snapshot: January 14, 2012

2012-01-14T10:19:00.000+05:30

all alone!

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

Booking Through Interview II

2012-01-12T18:36:00.001+05:30

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.

Teaser Tuesday: Ryan's Return by Barbara Freethy

2012-01-10T10:47:00.001+05:30

"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

2012-01-10T09:31:00.001+05:30

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

Mondays: Mailbox/What am I reading?/Musing

2012-01-09T00:44:00.005+05:30

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:

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley:

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.

Voices of the Dead by Peter Leonard:

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 Snapshot: January 6, 2012

2012-01-07T09:44:00.001+05:30

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!

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

Booking Through Interview I

2012-01-05T17:55:00.004+05:30

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?

Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

2012-01-03T15:52:00.001+05:30

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!

Mondays: Mailbox/What am I reading?/Musing

2012-01-02T13:06:00.000+05:30

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!

Saturday Snapshot: December 31, 2011

2011-12-31T10:30:00.002+05:30

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

2011-12-29T16:43:00.002+05:30

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**

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

2011-12-27T18:23:00.001+05:30

"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

2011-12-26T15:08:00.001+05:30

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

2011-12-24T05:55:00.002+05:30

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

2011-12-23T09:05:00.000+05:30

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

2011-12-22T14:27:00.001+05:30

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.

Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings

2011-12-20T00:48:00.001+05:30

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 Hope Santa Brings

I want ALL the crime fiction written till date! Now ten is not enough but let's curtail the list:

1) Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

2) White Dog by Peter Temple

3) The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland

4) The Drop by Howard Linskey

5) Lying Dead by Aline Templeton

6) The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd

7) Watch the World Burn by Leah Giarratano

8) Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

9) The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri

10) Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

2011-12-19T05:33:00.003+05:30

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 November 2011.

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

What’s one book you always recommend to just about anyone?

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Sunday Salon: No secret gifts, nothing.....

2011-12-18T10:58:00.002+05:30

This year due to too many things in my platter, I forgot all about Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. I did not know about the sign ups until that closed. So this year I am left with no Secret Santa gifts. Oh I will send to Veens, no matter what but I get nothing! It isn't what one gets, it is about that feeling of closeness with someone you have not met in real life. So this year I am gonna miss that.

However, I will definitely buy books for myself. We all need to pamper ourselves and I will do that! I was out of Delhi for more than a week, to attend a marriage. My reading has taken a backseat, although I am in the midst of too many novels!

Today I plan to read and also write a poem or two!

everything distils into reading

Booking Through Writing or Riveting?

Teaser Tuesdays: The Litigators by John Grisham

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Saturday Snapshot: January 21, 2012

Booking Through Skipping

Saturday Snapshot: January 14, 2012

Booking Through Interview II

Teaser Tuesday: Ryan's Return by Barbara Freethy

Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

Mondays: Mailbox/What am I reading?/Musing

Saturday Snapshot: January 6, 2012

Booking Through Interview I

Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

Mondays: Mailbox/What am I reading?/Musing

Saturday Snapshot: December 31, 2011

Booking Through Best of 2011

Top Ten Books I Read in 2011

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

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Saturday Snapshot: December 24

Friday Find: The Bitch by Les Edgerton

Booking Through Gifts

Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings

Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading?/Musings

Sunday Salon: No secret gifts, nothing.....