Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Teaser Tuesday (Dec 31)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @Should Be Reading. Every week we participate in this meme by sharing two sentences from your currently reading pile. For more information regarding the meme, head over to MizB's blog.

My Teaser:

As I walked home I realized I’d learned two other things: that nothing in life comes easy; and that if you want something, you have to take it.”
Finding Family by Giacomo Giammatteo (p. 33)
Goodreads Amazon


Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Read In 2013


Weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. It's about making bookish lists and sharing them.

Top Ten Books I Read In 2013 (in no particular order)
My top ten books for the year are coincidentally written by the top 10 new-to-me authors.

1.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Goodreads | Amazon | My Review)
One of the best WWII books I have ever read. Unforgettable.
2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Goodreads | Amazon | My Review)
Sweet. Painful. Romantic.


Sunday, December 29, 2013

Stacking the Shelves (December 29)

Happy Sunday!
Hope all of you are having a great weekend. Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature by Tynga's Reviews where you get a chance to share the books you have bought or borrowed for reading.
Purchased e-book:
Closure by Larry Quartley [crime fiction]
For Zachary Taylor it’s about to get personal... 

CLOSURE sees a detective who can't let go of the past or the part he played in the murder of his old DCI. Investigating the brutal rape and murder of a young woman, whose death pulls the past into the here and now...

In 2003 Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Benner was gunned down when he and other officers were caught up in a shooting frenzy between rival drug gangs. Zachary Taylor was among the first to arrive at the bloodbath. He worked the case - desperate for a conviction - but in the end his chief suspect, James Black, and the faceless guilty walked away, sticking two fingers up at the justice system. For Taylor the case remained unsolved. 

Seven years later, Taylor is investigating the murder of Stella Kerr - whose boyfriend, Steve Lamb, charged with the heinous crime had gone on the run. Taylor quickly learns that in Lamb there is a connection to the past and James Black. He believes the same dark forces responsible for the slaying of his old DCI are behind the drug fuelled murder of Stella Kerr.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Book Blogger Hop: Dec 27th 2013 - 2nd Jan 2014

Book Blogger Hop
Welcome to the Blogger Hop hosted by Billy from Rambling of Coffee Addicted Writer. This weekly feature is a great way to connect with new people in the book blogging world. This week's Hop question was suggested by me.
This Week's Question:
What books are you looking forward to reading in 2014?

My Answer:
Happy New Year!!!
I just hope everyone has a great start for the year ahead. Beat wishes fellow bloggers.
I have decided to read a lots of books this year but following are on top of my TBR:

Recommended by friends/colleagues:
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Goodreads | Amazon)
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Goodreads | Amazon)
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Goodreads | Amazon)
Recommended by sister:
Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue Townsend (Goodreads | Amazon)
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend (Goodreads | Amazon)

Author Review Request:
Closure by Larry Quartley (Goodreads | Amazon)
Books I bought in the last 3 years:
There a lot of books in my cupboard that I bought in the last 3 years but never read them. This year I feel like finishing them off. But I don't want to disclose all of them at the moment. 

If you're a new visitor to my blog, feel free to connect with me!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Teaser Tuesday (Dec 24)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @Should Be Reading. Every week we participate in this meme by sharing two sentences from your currently reading pile. For more information regarding the meme, head over to MizB's blog.

My Teaser:

As we’re both aware, she’d stolen books previously, but in late October 1941, it became official. That night, Liesel Meminger truly became the book thief.”
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (p. 314)
Goodreads Amazon


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Teaser Tuesday (Dec 17)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @Should Be Reading. Every week we participate in this meme by sharing two sentences from your currently reading pile. For more information regarding the meme, head over to MizB's blog.

My Teaser:

Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (p. 229)
Goodreads Amazon

“Mister Johnny knows about me. Miss Celia knows Mister Johnny knows about me. But Mister Johnny doesn't know that Miss Celia knows he knows.”
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (p. 301)
Goodreads Amazon

Top Ten Tuesday - New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2013


Weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. It's about making bookish lists and sharing them.

New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2013 (in no particular order)

1. Markus Zusak The Book Thief (Goodreads | Amazon | My Review[historical fiction, young adult]
I can't explain in words how much I loved it. I'm sort of obsessed with WWII fiction, and it was the best book I've read so far. One thing that makes it extraordinary is that it's narrated by "Death".
2. John Green The Fault in Our Stars (Goodreads | Amazon | My Review) [young adult, romance]
John Green's Looking for Alaska has been on my wishlist for an eternity now. When I came across The Fault in Our Stars, I grabbed to read it (courtesy of my sister). As expected, it came out to be the most beautiful book I have ever read. And I became a big fan of John Green.


Thursday, December 12, 2013

My Favorite Quotes from "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

Warning: The following quotations may contain spoilers!
Goodreads Amazon | My Review (coming soon)
All up, she owned fourteen books, but she saw her story as being made up 
predominantly of ten of them. Of those ten, six were stolen, one showed up at the kitchen table, two were made for her by a hidden Jew, and one was delivered by a soft, yellow-dressed afternoon. (p. 30)

Don’t ask him for help, Mama pointed out. That Saukerl.” Papa was staring out the window, as was often his habit. “He left school in fourth grade.”
Without turning around, Papa answered calmly, but with venom, “Well, don’t ask her, either.” He dropped some ash outside. “She left school in third grade.” (p. 40)

On the whole, it was a street filled with relatively poor people, despite the apparent rise of Germany’s economy under Hitler. Poor sides of town still existed. (p. 47)


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Teaser Tuesday (Dec 10)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @Should Be Reading. Every week we participate in this meme by sharing two sentences from your currently reading pile. For more information regarding the meme, head over to MizB's blog. (Well, I'm breaking the rule today by sharing a one-liner too)

My Teaser:

Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.”
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (p. 91)
Goodreads Amazon
“I've been fired more times than I have fingers. I pray to God I can get my job back on Monday.”
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (p. 228)
Goodreads Amazon

Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Review:
The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi of the early 1960s, right at the brink of the civil rights movement.
Meet:
Eugenia, also known as Skeeter: young college graduate, an aspiring writer.
Aibileen: A black housemaid working for a white family.
Minny: Another housemaid who's been fired more times than she can count on fingers.
Skeeter doesn't share the same negative views about the blacks as do her two friends, Elizabeth and Hilly. Growing up she got incredibly close to her housemaid, Constantine, who mysteriously disappeared. Skeeter gets a job at a local journal, where she would be writing a housekeeping column. As Skeeter has no idea about house cleaning, she turns to Aibileen for help. The two get close. Aibileen gets cautious in the beginning, realizing that they might cross the invisible line drawn between the blacks and the whites. And then no sooner than that the two are working on a "secret project."

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Teaser Tuesday (Dec 3)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @Should Be Reading. Every week we participate in this meme by sharing two sentences from your currently reading pile. For more information regarding the meme, head over to MizB's blog

My Teaser:

Don’t ask him for help,” Mama pointed out. “That Saukerl.” Papa was staring out the window, as was often his habit. “He left school in fourth grade.” Without turning around, Papa answered calmly, but with venom, “Well, don’t ask her, either.” He dropped some ash outside. “She left school in third grade.”
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (p. 40)
Goodreads Amazon
“I head down the steps to see if my mail-order copy of Catcher in the Rye is in the box. I always order the banned books from a black market dealer in California, figuring if the State of Mississippi banned them, they must be good.”
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (p. 70)
Goodreads Amazon