Teaser Tuesday (6)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by should be reading ..Anyone can play along!!!!!! Just do the following :

• Grab your current read
• Open a random page
• Share two (2)  "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!!! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the books for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants  can add the book to their TBR  Lists if they like your teaser !!

Shades of love: An Anthology of short stories

They say he walks the wild in the high winters, over the thick sheet of snow, They say he might never die but he walks along with generous strangers, lending his hand at will.. They say they have seen and trod beside him but none can remember his face... They often say that he lives by the holy lake high up in the dusty plains but none can recall his voice..None can...(p-120)

Book Review :The Grace Murphy series Volcanoes by Nicole Hamlett: Blog Tour

Title:Volcanoes
Author:Nicole Hamlett
Price: Rs 235.12
Pages:268
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating:3.5 out of 5
Source: Review copy @ RABT
Buy Volacanoes from amazon.com
Buy A Grace Murphy series from Barnesandnoble


Summary
When we last saw our heroine, she'd watched her faithful pet rip off her new best friend's head to save her son's life and Atlantis was rising from the depths. Now, Grace Murphy is back in the third installment of the Huntress series, but this time she's facing an all-out war. It's critical that Nyx (and Atlantis) stay buried, but her psychotic brats will do most anything to get her back.

With Hypnos invading her dreams, Dylan caught up in the throes of his "change" and juggling her relationships with Drew and Heph, to say Grace's hands are full would be an understatement

Review
This book is the first in the Urban Fantasy genre for me, and I am only glad I gave it a try..Volcanoes is the third book in the series of Gracy Murphy series, since I was told that it was a stand alone book, I gave it a shot..Truly this one could be enjoyed without reading the earlier books in the series..Grace recalls her odyssey in the last series thus giving the reader an idea of the story so far time and again..We are introduced to Grace who is trying to control her mind and focus to build a wall to avoid the sea gushing in..She does it very easily, there appears Nyx with sparkling glow that taunts her..Okay, so its Nyx, Atlantis she has fight from rising form the ocean.. When we think that is all for Grace to fight on, she is hit by parenting issue with her kid , even her relations...As a final touch there is Hypnos, a nemesis that stalks her in her sleep..Now she has no time to rest, as expected she has to save the people she loves with all this going on..

I liked the equation that Grace shares with her mother, its a deep and a warm bond..Every one has their part demarked even Scooter her adorable dog...The plot is engaging and moved at a reasonable pace , but what put me off was Grace's somber way of dealing things, she gets too irritating at time dealing with her household issues, I know this for sure because I am currently reading the second book in the series where Grace is more in control of herself.. Hamlett has been successful in building an aura for fantasy with care..I also enjoyed the sense of humor that Grace carries around all through, her self contemplation is also engaging...Its a tale of a woman on whose shoulder tonnes of troubles rests along with her everyday troubles, she tries her best to deal because that is the only option left to her...Do give it a try for the sake of Grace..

 About the author

Nicole Hamlett is a single mother from Colorado Springs, living in Los Angeles, California. When she’s not writing books she enjoys reading, cooking and video games and can often be caught enjoying indie alternative music

Website

Excerpt

Fingers of dread curled around my stomach. The last time it had been this eerily silent, I'd nearly died.

Quietly, I pushed back from the desk and crept to the window to peek outside.  The rabbits that lived in the bushes outside my window were sprawled out like drunken sorority sisters sleeping off a weekend bender.  I closed my eyes and whispered, "Shit."

This would have been a good time to have the ability to teleport, to have super speed or reflexes or even – hell – the ability to materialize my weapons.  I may have not been able to do much with the weapons, but just having the comfortable grip of the kukri in my hand would have made me feel better.  I took a deep breath, put on my brave face and headed toward the front door.

"Dylan!"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"I want you to head to the basement.  Call – I don't know who. Call someone in Olympus and tell them that Hypnos is here.  Stay in the basement. Do not come out under any circumstances. Do you understand?"

He bumped into me as he came rushing out into the hallway. His eyes were wide with fear. "What are you going to do?"

I gave him a quick hug and replied, "I don't know yet.  Keep him away from the house as long as I can. Start the call now. Okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," he replied quietly.

Disclosure:

I Received a review copy in exchange of  an honest opinion...I am no way affiliated to any third party in any way  

Shorty story: U.F.O in Kushiro by Haruki Murakami

I received a copy of this from a friend who is a great fan of Murakami's works..With Murakami, either you love his work or you don't...
The story derives its thread from the Kobe earthquake in 1995..The country is hit by an earthquake  devastating lives, disrupting normality...Away from Kobe in a calm household of Komura, his wife is stuck to the television for five days straight watching the live telecasts of debris and ruins of the natural calamity..Komura is unsure if his voice reaches her, she seems to be frozen in that position, nor she eats...On the sixth she leavs him for good with a note ..She states that Komura might have been a handsome and a good husband but living with him is equivalent to live with "a chunk of air"....He is taken aback, he never expected such a thing in his wilder dreams,he was quite a charmer while his wife was plain..But her absence shatters him, he decides to take a break from his work.. Komura's friend suggests him to take a trip to Hokkaido to his sister Keiko so that he could deliver a small parcel in person..He takes up the journey as he doesn't know what else to do... At the airport of Hokkaido Keiko receives him along with her friend Shimao.. From there on its a story of self realization of that "chunk of air" in Komura..

Like all Murakami's works there are flakes of hypothetical, impalpable elements that has to be studied beyond the superficial converstaion and plot of U.FO in Kushiro...The conversations between Komura ,Keiko and Shimao carries the essence of the whole story...It is here he is told
"You need to lighten up and learn to enjoy life a little more. I mean, think about it: tomorrow there could be an earthquake; you could be kidnapped by aliens; you could be eaten by a bear. Nobody knows what's going to happen."
Murakami's work never appealed to me highly, though I liked them I have been a fan of his works..I tried reading Killing the mocking bird  few years back and gave it a try later because few of my friends were raving about it...But for me it never was a personal favorite..This short story is like a prologue to another work of Murakami called After the quake..If you love this one you would definitely go for it..

Book 4 on short story reading challenge

Sunday Post: Reading an intergral part of me

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer..It's a chance to share the news...A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received  and share news about what it is coming up on the blog  for the week ahead...

Is reading important?? in short what's the whole fuss about reading!!!
For me my kinship with books goes back to the young me ,to whom my dad had to narrate bed time stories no matter who tired he was,later he read them to me from illustrated books, slowly inculcating  the habit...I loved the fairy tale where everyone lived happily ever after...The heroes who would always conquer the bad..It was only later that I realized everything don't come in white and black , there are shades of grey too..Being that said for me, I am never alone with books...It is a sort of  window that opens me to various countries, multifarious cultures,varied people and their lives  above all their thoughts, that in turn me a  better way of looking at things..I am sure movies, internet also gives you that angle through characters but for me I always came back to my first love that is books... Personally I have felt that reading a book needs a lot more focus and concentration ,while reading on internet is easy with more more information, going by key words not only narrow down the search but also the source of reading....I am more distracted with the possibility to browse other things and the occasional pop ups..I do agree that advent of internet has improved the horizon of reading but there are certain books that dates back to century back that it only available in hard copy..Nothing really matches the age of fragrance of books...People read for many reasons, some read to show off to their colleagues and friends, some do it stand out in a crowd while others do it for the sheer pleasure of reading, though all are valid reasons, only a deep love for reading can stand the test of time... I will not go into good and bad reading, this time but I would emphasis on the importance to choose books wisely...Some might point out that reading literature and classic is a waste of time and energy for a person who is not in the same arena of profession, but I feel that reading can never be categorized.. Classics has a way of slowly enveloping you in the warm comfort and change the reader for good..I also believe that thoughts and the way of life through Biography can influence a reader that no other means can do...Haven't you felt that reading always gives an edge during a conversation providing one with loops to carry forward a conversation with confidence???To close my thoughts I would add that our brain is designed to think, its better to provide it food for sensible thinking ,else it would choose its course, making it a typical of a devils workshop....So why not read!!!!



I had a good week with consistent blogging and reading..

Review
Mistress by Anita Nair 
Blood of flowers by Anita
Tamarind city by Bishwanath Ghosh
Bankster by Ravi Subramanian


Blog tour
All I want for Christmas by Lisa Mondello 
Reconstructing Jackson by Holly Bush

Weekly meme
Monday mailbox
Tuesday teasday



Random Musings
Top 50 reads


There were no shopping hauls as I have made up by mind not to buy any new books until I am done with my blog posts on the existing stack..Do have a great week ahead...Happy reading...

Top 50 reads..

I came across Top 50 favorite novels novels at Booker talk initially posted by Book riot on their site as popular votes from their readers ..I love list organizing and re organizing makes my day, but following it religiously is a long battle I fight..Anyways here is the list..

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (I haven't been much a fan of this one no matter how many times I read it, now I have given up on this)
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen  (ahem ahem)
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (This is undoubtedly my favorite)
4. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (love the first liked till go
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien (Couldn't read it fully somehow it never gripped my interest)
7. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell ("Frankly dear I don't give a damn" I don't think anyone could have better immortalized this quote)
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (read my review here)
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (should read it again)
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (loved this and his other love in times  of cholera was surprise to know that Fidel Castro edits his works)
12. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (TBR)
13. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (Dry and slow with loads of complexities)
14. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
15. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
16. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
17. The Stand by Stephen King
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
20. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
21. Persuasion by Jane Austen
22. The PIcture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
23. The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
24. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon (TBR)
25. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
26. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
27. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger(surprised to find this one)
28. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
29. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
30. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
31. 1984 by George Orwell
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
33. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
34. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
35. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
36. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
37. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams
38. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
39. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
40. Ulysses by James Joyce
41. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
42. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
43. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
44. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
45. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
46. Dune by Frank Herbert
47. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
48. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
49. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
50. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (TBR)

I am so elated to find that I have read many in the list, but I also confess that I haven't even known some...What do you feel about list???

Book review: Reconstructing Jackson by Holly Bush : Blog Tour

Tittle: Reconstructing Jackson
Author:Holly Bush
Price: Rs166.01
Pages: 191
Genre:Historic Romance
Rating:4.5 out of 5
Source: Review copy @ RABT

Buy Reconstructing Jackson from amazon.com


Summary:
1867 . . . Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family’s plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over.Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks and holds together her family’s meager property. A violent brother and a drunken father plot to marry her off, and gain a new horse in the bargain. But Belle’s got other plans, and risks her life to reach them...Reed is captivated by Belle from their first meeting, but wheelchair bound, is unable to protect her from violence. Bleak times will challenge Reed and Belle's courage and dreams as they forge a new beginning from the ashes of war and ignorance.

Review:
The novel opens with Reed Jackson's sour spirit and a contagious aura of despair..Slowly I realised that he has every reason to feel dejected, he has lost his leg in the civil war, considered as no good nothing by his father, worse he not only loses his family inheritance but also his bride-to be to his younger brother...Worn out and utterly disappointed he moves to Fenton, Missouri to gather up the pieces and start all over again in the wild part of the country ..But he is quite taken aback by the warmth of his cousin and his wife right from day one...He starts his life at his cousin's hotel The Ames hotel..His cousin Henry and his wife Mary Allen come across as a wonderful couple , understanding about Reed's mood, they take every care to keep up his spirit light...They are quite friendly with the negro staffs dine with them and share a wonderful relationship with them...War had a terrible effect on Reed , he loses his older brother, his leg and everything around that took his life from being normal...Thus he contemplates

"His thoughts of family were as muddy and murky as the bayou, filled with pride, resentment and the undeniable knowledge that he may have done the same things under the same circumstances. Maybe, just maybe, his mother’s encouragement to begin a new life elsewhere came from the heart. And maybe she was right. He had best try and forget the hurts and the wrongs of the past and make something of himself in a new land..."

Enter Belle hardworking, family bound, earnest and loving daughter and sister whose feelings are never taken into consideration by her family,she washes her father and brother’s clothes, cooks the meals, tends the garden and manages to keep their meager farm operating. But nothing was enough, she was treated like a dirt by her father and brother, her brother has plans to marry her off as a part of bargain, in exchange of money to buy a horse...Belle is on the edge of life ,until she meets Reed, she discovers a spark in him that some way ignites her path of darkness, in spite of his physical disadvantage she sees him as a complete man...
Slowly as the silent relation progress there is stark and clear change in the stone man Reed.. His layers of complexities unravel exposing his true self of a kind and a warm person..He is drawn to Belle but holds back because of his physical state..He is cripple and how can he think of saving the girl from her trouble, but he also knows that she is the sole hope for a life with love...How can Belle collapse the wall that Reed has built for himself and free herself from her brother's iron fist trying to cage her...
Starting as a melancholy man, Reed's personality was something I really liked among all...
The result of civil war with freedom to Negros taking roots is written well...Their lives their good, not so good, and bad relationship with their white masters and employees are portrayed well..Set in an age where things are moving towards a life of equality Bush has set the stage just fine for reflection...The soft charm of the countryside with heroism and villainy is the best part of the novel...Prejudice, hope, loss, anger, despair, anguish love are all mood of the book in different stage in different proportions...I would definitely love to read more of the author's work...

About the author

Holly Bush was born in western Pennsylvania to two avid readers. There was not a room in her home that did not hold a full bookcase. She worked in the hospitality industry, owning a restaurant for twenty years and recently worked as the sales and marketing director in the hospitality/tourism industry and is credited with building traffic to capacity for a local farm tour, bringing guests from twenty-two states, booked two years out.  Holly has been a marketing consultant to start-up businesses and has done public speaking on the subject. 

Holly has been writing all of her life and is a voracious reader of a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction, particularly political and historical works. She has written four romance novels, all set in the U.S. West in the mid 1800’s. She frequently attends writing conferences, and has always been a member of a writer’s group.

Holly is a gardener, a news junkie, has been an active member of her local library board and loves to spend time near the ocean. She is the proud mother of two daughters and the wife of a man more than a few years her junior.

Website

Twitter - @HollyBushBooks

Facebook

Disclosure

I received a review copy in exchange of honest review from Reading addiction blog tours...

Book Review: The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian

Title: The Bankster
Author: Ravi Subramaniam
Publisher: Rupa Publication
Price: Rs 250
Pages:364
ISBN:8129120488
Genre:Thriller/ suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Review copy from bloggadda.com


Buy The Bankster from flipkart.com
Buy The bankster from amazon.com

Summary
Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murders threaten to destroy the reputation that the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) has built over the years. Who is behind these killings, and what is their motive?

When Karan Panjabi, press reporter and ex-banker, digs deeper, he realizes that he has stumbled upon a global conspiracy with far reaching ramifications a secret that could not only destroy the bank but also cast a shadow on the entire nation. With only thirty-six hours at his disposal, he must fight the clock and trust no one if he is to stay alive and uncover the truth.

Review
The dedication page of the book says "To all the banksters out there, playing a game with customer's trust"  ,I knew  there would something unique about the book and I was on a power packed thriller right from the beginning..The novel begins in Angola in the diamond mine alluring people into the trap of big money in less time swirling around but then suddenly the novel comes down to Kerala with an alleged reports of Ivory smuggling, then swiftly turns to Mumbai in a Bank office of GB2 with Vikram a ruthless, manipulative corporate slave who wants to be ahead of the crowd by taking any path, with no sense of honesty and integrity...Then there are murders in a row which is taken up by Karan Punjabi, an investigative reporter from Times of India he happens to be an ex-bank employee , but he soon realizes that the murders hold a key to deeper secrets interwoven across the globe with power packed mafia working under cover involving the big names in the world...

Subramaniam has played with a very unusual plot and he is quiet comfortable with it (with his banking background)..He has played well in creating a thrilling plot with suspense plus subplots running parallel  that holds key to the larger picture...While there are ruthless character like Vikram there are characters like Krishna Menon and Jayachandran who are down to earth  fighting for larger good...Subramaniam has created realtime characters like Zinaida, Tanuja, Indrani who give the story a touch of reality with various shades of human life...Though Vikram's entry solving the mystery in about 48 hrs was a bit too much for me, yet his sense and sensibility with a way of dealing things appealed to me...

The book swiftly transported across  the globe starting from Angola moving on to Kerala then to Mumbai  and places like middle east, US, Austria, Germany like a jet setter swishing away...Subramaniam has kept the subject upto date dealing with Nuclear power station and its effect on people, though not digging things in detail...My only let off was that the characters lacked depth, there were too many of them throughout that Subramaniam couldn't do much to develop and highlight them...

Through the novel Subramaniam has explored the darker side of the corporate banks, their working style that questions about the work ethics and principles..I haven't read Subramaniam's earlier work, and this one was a very refreshing read for me..Everyday Hinglish spread throughout the book was amusing at places...Interesting storyline with a good suspense,thriller makes it for a wonderful read...Read it for the feel of an Indian suspense thriller...

Book 27 for SAC

 

Disclosure
This review is a part of book review program at blogadda.com, Participate now to get free books..