Reading between Pages..

The Sooner the Better by Debbie Macomber

kavyen — Sat, 04 May 2013 01:22:00 +0000

“The Sooner The Better” starts when Lorraine Dancy finds an agonizing truth that everything she knew about her father was a lie. She was always made to believe that her father was dead, but evidence that she finds after her mother’s passing not only reveals that he is alive but that he lives in a small town on the south of the border. She heads out in search of him and in the process lands herself in big trouble. To save her from the police and a deadly thief, her father sends his friend Jack Keeler. Jack is experienced, strong and attractive and it is hard to ignore the blooming chemistry between them. Will they both find true love in one another?

I like romance novels that are not completely romantic; by that I mean the ones that do not make me feel all mushy and sentimental. The Sooner The Better was a novel that had the right proportion of different elements in it. There was adventure, some amount of suspense, betrayal, emotions of all cadres, lots of love and just the right amount of violence. The story line kept me interested till the end of the book. If I had to leave the book; I was eager to get back to it to know what was happening; and that is always a good sign.

The characters in the book had a lot of depth to them. The focus was not just on the lead characters but on most of the other characters too. Like Lorraine’s father, his second wife, her fiancée or his wife (well, you need to read the story to understand these relationship complications) – they all had relatively small appearances but left with an impact that only the lead protagonist can in most novels. I enjoyed the book for the different flavors of emotion. While I disliked a few people in the beginning; I ended the book feeling secure about the world we live in and the abundance of goodness that resides in people.

I enjoyed this book in every sense!! The Sooner The Better is a really good book by Debbie Macomber and was made better by the narrator. An interesting audio and a fulfilling story makes me want to give it a four smiley faces:

It’s Monday! What are you reading? 2013/04/29

kavyen — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:02:03 +0000

This is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila from Book Journey.

Books that I read but have not yet added my review ..

Catching up on my blogging this week; so one book it is

Dewey Read a Thon – Mini Puzzles

kavyen — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:30:15 +0000

Mini Challenge – Book Puzzle

I have chosen an eazy puzzle and I am excited to see what you are going to guess

I have been focussing on my reading since I started a little late. I did not focus on my challenges; now I have done some substantial catching up..

Mini Challenge – Book Sentence Challenge

When the wind blows, the Innocent man and the Pilots wife have the wedding. (Makes sense!! Sort off!!! )

Mini Challenge – Picture It

This is an esay one!!

Mini Challenge – Share a Quote

“And yet no one life is the same as any other life. It might be that we will never meet again, and I need you to know that I’ve loved you all my life. ”

From Brida by Paul Coelho

Mini Challenge – Turn the Page

“I would rather read than muddle the past and the present any day!”

Just started ‘Dorchester Terrace’ and found this challenge a little tough

Mini Challenge – Cover Me

Kudos for coming up with some innovative categories..

Best Title: Lets Explore Diabetes with Owls (LOL!!!)
Best Dressed: The Elite
Best Couple: Star Crossed
Most Delicious: Bake it like you mean it
Cutest Animal: The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs
Cutest Kid: The Real Mother
Best to Avoid: In Search of Goliathus Hercules
Best Tattoo: Walking Disaster
Best Cover: The Last Camellia

Dewey Read A Thon…

kavyen — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:07:04 +0000

Ok, so I am starting my day a little late.. but that is because today is a gorgeous day outside and we had so many spring events happening.

I participated in the Read-a-Thon two years back. I was forgetting my original love of book reading then and the read-a-thon reminded me to get back to books. I am all geared up for this day with a few audio and a few books in my list… Loving it so far!

Introductory!
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Virginia, USA

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Momzillas

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Cheese Cake Yes, snack!!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I am an avid reader, a mom and a full time software consultant.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? I did not do last year

Hour 5 to Hour 8:

Fixed myself a lunch (real quick one) and started reading Momzilla. Loved the book , once I got through that.. I spent sometime listening to an audio and napped off Yeah!!! Too bad.. I know.

Hour 8 to Hour 10:

Started reading Brida after a refreshing cup of hot steaming tea and some Yummy (hopefully healthy snack ) Ok, the picture does’nt do it enough justice really!

Mid Event Survey
We are mid way already??? Where did the time go…

1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired? I cheated and took a nap inbetween, so I feel perfectly fine

2) What have you finished reading? Brida by Paul Coelho and Momzillas by Jill Kargman

3) What is your favorite read so far? I think I liked Momzilla better

4) What about your favorite snacks? I had some craisins and I loved it.

5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love! I have been focussing on reading, going to be doing a lot of checking out blogs in the second half surely.

Hour 12
Time for an audio book while cooking some dinner and eating (hogging!) on some more snacks.. This is so darn good!!

Hour 14
Dinner is served and my audio book is taking longer than what I thought it would. Maybe I should go ahead and do some laundry. After the next 30 minutes, I will move back to my unfinished reading book :).

Did I say, I love this read a thon.

Hour 19
Wow, hour 19 and still going strong. I started a new book some 30 minutes back but I am really starting to slip. I am rummaging through my bookshelf to find something else that will keep me going .. seriously going

Ate a big and I mean a big piece of cheesecake.. some more tea… some chips and still snacking. Heck, I can always exerise tomorrow…. Cos it is not everyday we get a read-a-thon

Wrap Up

1.Which hour was most daunting for you? It was definitely hour 20. Definitely that!

2.Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? James Patterson never goes wrong.

3.Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, I think it is just super duper awesome just the way it is.

4.What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?E V E R Y T H I N G

5.How many books did you read? 3

6.What were the names of the books you read? Momzillas by Jill Kargman, Ghost shadow by Heather Graham and Brida by Paul Coelho.

7.Which book did you enjoy most? Momzillas

8.Which did you enjoy least?I cant decide, I liked Ghost Shadow and Brida equally

9.If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?I was not a cheer leader, but the current ones did great!

10.How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?I know I am signing up for Oct definitely!!

It’s Monday! What are you reading? 2013/04/22

kavyen — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 02:07:21 +0000

This is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila from Book Journey.

Books that I read last week.

I have a cartload of stuff planned for this week .. Earth Day events, baking and studying for an upcoming exam. So just one exciting book planned for the coming week.

You Dont Want to Know by Lisa Jackson

kavyen — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 04:33:30 +0000

‘You Dont Want to Know’ is about the pain of a mother who losses her son but believes that he is still alive. Ava Garrison’s son disappears one night and everyone believes that he was swallowed by the waves. Everyone, except Ava. She has a breakdown and is taken for special medical attention; after which she returns back to her home, Neptune’s Gate. She is the sole owner of the property that sits on an island; except for her paralyzed cousin Jewel-Anne. At first look it appears as if Ava has not recovered completely as one day she plunges in the icy cold water because she thinks she sees her son Noah.

Austin Dern, the newly appointed help realizes that something is strange about the people around her. With his help, Ava starts peeling layers of the mystery. They soon realize that not only is someone wanting to harm Ava mentally; but the truth maybe that Noah is still out there – ALIVE!

The story is very interesting and even painful. You could relate to Ava as a mother and the pain that she goes through rips your heart. Most of the characters appeared as suspects to me; specially her husband. The character development that the author adopted was good. Yes, the book did have too many characters than I would have liked, but they managed to keep the story going in a good pace. The one thing I did not like about the book was the length. I felt that the story could have been told effectively in a much more effective way if the author did not attempt to build the pages of the book. The descriptions were very lengthy and at one point I felt that even if I missed through a few chapters, I would have survived just fine and not missed the essence of the book.

‘You Dont Want to Know’ is a one of the good books by Lisa Jackson. A captivating read that you cannot put down and for that – four smiley faces:

It’s Monday! What are you reading? 2013/04/01

kavyen — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:50:09 +0000

This is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila from Book Journey.

Books that I read last week.

Books planned for the coming week.

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell

kavyen — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 02:20:08 +0000

“The Death of the Bees” caught my eye because it had a fascinating cover. I knew it was the author’s debut novel but nothing more than that. The story is about two sisters Marnie and Nellie. Marnie finds the dead body of her parents and convinces her sister to bury it in their garden so that they are not placed in foster care. When someone questions them about their parents, they simply tell them that they have gone on a long trip. No one doubts them as their parents are perceived as irresponsible adults in the society. The children are haunted by the past and have issues but their neighbor Lennie, steps in and takes care of them as his own. Over a period of time, he gets to know about their parents death but decides to act ignorant. The story takes a twist when their grand-father visits and wants to take care of them.

This book is a fascinating one. When I started reading it, I could not put it down and was eager to know what happened next. The writing is simple yet very effective. Messages are conveyed as they should be, but in a cleanest possible way. When a story involves children and sexual abuse, we have seen different authors use different techniques to describe it (some not very pleasant). Lisa O’Donnell has used an approach where most of her message is implicit not explicit.

The characters in ‘The Death of Bees’ were extremely well-developed; almost to the point that I felt like I knew these two little girls and everyone who crossed their lives. Even characters who had little presence like Marnie’s friends managed to make an impact. In my opinion all of them contributed largely to the effectiveness of the book. I say ‘effective’ and not ‘enjoyable’ because the book is powerful. The emotions of the characters are high but not dramatic. Marnie and Nellie in spite of all that they have been through continue to be children at heart, looking for someone to love them, living simple lives while continuously knowing that their little secret could be revealed anytime.

‘The Death of Bees’ is a must read and possibly one of the best books of 2013. An excellent plot with a simple story telling style gets this book a very well deserving five smiley faces:

Zoo by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

kavyen — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 01:45:00 +0000

It is no secret that I am a fan of James Patterson. I like the books because they are quick reads and manage to be fairly entertaining without taking too much of your time. ‘Zoo’ was obviously a book I did not want to miss; it has all the elements that you would expect from Patterson … simple writing, short chapters, no major character developments and a different storyline. Though I must agree that this one was slightly tough to read specially because I am an animal lover.

Jackson Oz, a young biologist and a school dropout is working on a theory that explains why animals are becoming increasingly violent towards human beings. He calls this HAC for Human Animal Conflict. Nobody takes him seriously; that is till he takes a trip to Africa to study strange lion behaviour. He meets his lady-love Chloe who is convinced that HAC is an actual phenomenon and they work towards explaining HAC to the world.

Patterson books have very less character development, but with ‘Zoo’ I felt like there was no character development at all. Half way through the book I still was not sure I understood Oz as much as I would have liked too. I felt like Chloe was an unwanted addition as she was just there.. Supposedly a highly qualified ecologist but she did nothing that proved her qualifications. The plot was disturbing. Going through the animal attacks was like sitting and watching a zombie attack movie in the middle of night – all alone. Scary as hell!!

The pace of the story between the different chapters moved from agonizingly slow to ‘too quick to explain’. There were numerous flaws in the storyline .. Like why would Oz who seriously believed in HAC have a Chimp as a pet? But in spite of the flaws the book had; I was convinced that HAC could be a occurance in the future.

For actually driving a point and for showcasing a rare plot; the farthest ‘Zoo’ can get would be three smiley faces:

It’s Monday! What are you reading? 2013/03/25

kavyen — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:45:37 +0000

This is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila from Book Journey.

Books that I read last week.

Books planned for the coming week.