Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2010

Featured Post

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El

Month in Review - March 2010

  I'm so elated that I had a better month in March, and that too, after a slow start! Woot! Woot! So much happened this month, both in school and reading-wise. It has been a better month for me than February ever was. I remember I was close to screaming at the end of Feb, LOL, but I feel peaceful now. Phew! Moreover, I had a good month in reading choices as well. Only one sub-4 star book. I like months like these! Here's my list from March: City of Glass by Cassandra Clare ( 3 cocktails ) Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff ( 5 cocktails ) White Oleander by Janet Fitch ( 5 cocktails : WOW! ) Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel ( 4 cocktails ) Liar by Justine Larbalestier ( 4 cocktails ) Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden ( 4 cocktails ) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling ( Reread - 4 cocktails ) The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella ( 4 cocktails ) The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien ( Reread - 5 cocktails ) Sh

Revisiting Hogwarts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

(If you have never read this book, please drop all your other books, head to the nearest library/bookstore, and grab the set. Please, please, please! I beg you! You are missing an amazing treat!) Ever had a book that you would go to when your brain's all fried and tensions are high? No matter what you set your mind to, you can't concentrate, and then you pick that one book. Much like having a glass of wine. Or going shopping. All those tensions just ooze out of your self. The Harry Potter series does that to me. Ever since I first read a Harry Potter book, I have always returned back to them once a year. Or at least to most of the books of the series, if not all. The first book of this series that I read is actually the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . That happened after I caught the first raving waves about this series in the newspaper. I ignored the series. The news persisted. Every day, I would hear some gossip or the other about this ser

Review: Liar by Justine Larbalestier (Audio book)

Title : Liar Author : Justine Larbalestier First Published : September 2009 Publisher : Brilliance Audio Source : Library 9 hours, 1 minute On the flap Micah will freely admit she's a compulsive liar, but that may be the one honest thing she'll ever tell you. Over the years she's fooled everyone: her classmates, her teachers, even her parents. And she's always managed to stay one step ahead of her lies. That is, until her boyfriend dies under brutal circumstances and her dishonesty begins to catch up with her. But is it possible to tell the truth when lying comes as easily as breathing? Taking listeners deep into the psyche of a young woman who will say just about anything to convince them ? and herself ? that she's finally come clean, Liar is a bone-chilling thriller that will have listeners seesawing between truths and lies right up to the end. Honestly. It is very rarely that I choose to read a book without knowing any

It's Monday! What are you reading? -- Mar 29, 2010

This is a weekly event initially hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog , now by Sheila @ One Persons Journey through a world of Books , to celebrate what you are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week. Books completed last week - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Re-read): It really is quite a delight to revisit Hogwarts. Though when I read it this time, I did notice a few things that bugged me, which I wasn't bothered about as a teen reader. I won't be reviewing this book, but I'll do a special feature on this series some time this week. - The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella (To be reviewed): I. Love. Sophie Kinsella! Books reviewed from the previous week - Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel I am currently reading I was supposed to be reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs, but unfortunately the return date came too soon, and I couldn't renew it since, err, I

The Sunday Salon -- Mar 28, 2010

I've been on a brief hiatus for the past 4 days! That's not good for me at all, but I had a couple of interviews to attend, which went pretty well, so I'm keeping my finger-crossed! I was also taking part in a Read-a-thon yesterday that was being organized in a Goodreads group. I didn't wow myself with my reading counts, but when I looked at my reading stats for the month, it looked good. I think I will touch 9 books this month, so it's been a good month, I would say! I still am behind on my reviews, so I will have them scheduled over the next few days. I have tons of blogs to check out today, so guess what I'll be doing today. :) I slept like a baby last night! After 3 days of minimal / disturbed sleep, that felt good. I might still not have woken up, if not for the fact that I have to chat with my mom. :) We have a bunch of very annoying neighbors! They party all night (that's ok with me), and then be a nuisance to the apartments nearby! Last nigh

Review: Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

Title :  Last Night in Montreal Author : Emily St. John Mandel First Published : June 2009 Publisher :Unbridled Books Source : Library 247 pages       I read this book for the Spotlight Series . Don't forget to check the tour stops for other books from Unbridled Books . On the flap Lilia Albert has been leaving people behind for her entire life. She spends her childhood and adolescence traveling constantly and changing identities. In adulthood, she finds it impossible to stop. Haunted by an inability to remember her early childhood, she moves restlessly from city to city, abandoning lovers along with way, possibly still followed by a private detective who has pursued her for years. Then her latest lover follows her from New York to Montreal, determined to learn her secrets and make sure she s safe. Intense! That's what I thought once I turned over the last page. I read this right after White Oleander , so my mind is now in a huge philosophical

It's Monday! What are you reading? -- Mar 22, 2010

This is a weekly event initially hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog , now by Sheila @ One Persons Journey through a world of Books , to celebrate what you are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week. Books completed last week - White Oleander by Janet Fitch - Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (To be reviewed) - Liar by Justine Larbalestier (To be reviewed) - Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden (To be reviewed) I am currently reading The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien : I hadn't been able to start this one yet, and as always, I am late to the LOTR Read-along party. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs : Finally, I started this one last night! Phew! That was a one-month delay for me! My reading plans for the next week For a change, I am not listing any of my next reads. I do have a good reading weekend coming up, hopefully. I'll just try to pick up what suits my interest, rather than plan

Mailbox Monday -- Mar 22, 2010

This meme is hosted by Marcia @ The Printed Page . It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Just one again this week. :) Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten (Won @ Kathy's Bermudaonion's Weblog ) See what others have bought over the last week!

The Sunday Salon -- Mar 21, 2010

This is about the first weekend in a long time that I slept in, and boy, it feels wonderful. I usually end up sleeping less on weekends than on weekdays, probably to grab as much weekend-time as possible. I finally upgraded my laptop operating system to Windows 7. I had been pushing this off since last year for non-existent reasons, but finally decided that it was one glaring line in my to-do list! My PC now feels so much smoother and faster! Phew!! I've just completed two very heavy books lately. Heavy in content, not in writing or in size. Heavy with feelings. White Oleander (Read my review here ), was pretty intense. There was so much happening, so many layers to that book, that it will not pass off as a light reading. At times, it was difficult to handle the strong emotions that rose up when I was reading it. It was so eloquent that it felt real. Last night in Montreal , was another heavy read. Again, heavy in content, not in words. This one as w

Review: White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Title : White Oleander Author : Janet Fitch First Published : May 1999 Publisher : Little, Brown and Company Source : Library 390 pages On the flap Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander , has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes. As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow, White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own per