weekend in paris - robyn sisman

light read, fun chick lit.... molly perceives herself as a goody goody, boring thing.. but after being taken for a ride at her new job, which she is overqualified for, resigns impromptu, forgoing the working trip to paris she was booked for.... facing a boring weekend at home, she hops over to paris via d eurostar before her guts abandon her... only to end up in a sad little hotel all alone, in a single room, and gets settled in for the night.

surprise surprise.... a banging on the door leads her to a friendly aussie girl, who takes her out to town. molly parties, meets up a french guy, even gets to see her ex-employer humiliated... and at the end of it, develops some self confidence and a new outlook of herself, and life... at the end of the weekend. altogether a fun, entertaining book, where you know there are no sad endings.

cold flat junction - martha grimes

Was expecting something more after reading the lamorna wink, unfortunately, the first 40 pages or so almost made me want to put down the book. Luckily I didn’t, as it speeds up and draws you in slowly towards the middle onwards.

A philosophical twelve year old, left alone to tend to the family business one summer, finds herself embroiled in solving a current day murder, and unlike the local police, she solves a 40 yr old murder concerning the supposed accidental drowning of another twelve yr old girl, and manages to intertwine the two, and draw the necessary links.

The way the story is told goes into the details of emma’s life, her make do fantasies, her breakfast-lunch-dinner routine, friendships with the sheriff, waitress, poachers… all the local characters in the small town where she is. A small town, slow paced setting, with the family connections, murder mystery thrown in.

hope's highway - dorothy garlock

Road 66- highway to California, back in the 1920’s… attracted loads of attention. Everybody wanted to find gold, money, fame. Others just wanted another chance, a better life.
3 different families undertake on this journey, with trucks, caravans… camping along the way. Pretty, serious, neglected Margie, going to Hollywood to find fame, which offered her a way out of nowhere, meets brady, the tall dark handsome chap… who’s just witnessed his brother blowing his brains out after killing his wife and her lover. Sparks fly…despite both having sworn off each other for the sake of their own lives and goals.

There's rusty, the blind kid, who sings beautifully, the sister and brother, mona and jody, having to tolerate their father marrying a ‘loose’ charactered woman after their mom passes away, margies horrible father who does nothing to acknowledge her, only put her down.

Interesting story about how they mix and match up to each other on the trip, and of course, romance as well.

the rainmaker - john grisham

Grisham sticks to his lawyer good guy vs. bad guy, as usual, in this book which is about Rudy Baylor, a final year law student, who finds himself unwittingly jobless after graduation, his first job terminated at the very last moment by a big company that is downsizing.

At this point in time, there is an absolute glut of new lawyers on the street… and rudy is broke, after spending years of putting himself through law school, through waiting and bartending and loans.

Desperate, circumstances force him to work for his bartenders mafia like partner, as no other company will take him. He is resigned to literally, ‘ambulance chasing’, and going after clients, in the hope of a few dollars here and there. Yet, he sticks to two cases he has been attached to since the days of law school when they were assigned to do community projects for free.

One involves a desperately ill, terminal young man with leukaemia, denied the proper bone marrow transplant by his shoddy insurance company, on various grounds, who eventually succumbs to his disease. Rudy fights for his injustice, fighting a famous big lawyer firm in the case, that his clients life could have been saved, but was not, by the insurance company. This minute by minute account of the research, court proceedings and verdict, is totally gripping.

A side story is rudy’s love life. A typical john grisham book, enjoyable every single moment. My second time reading it actually.

the lamorna wink - martha grimes

Nice to come across this type of murder mystery spersed with a dose of good ole real life and humour… kind of like Agatha chrstie meets P.G. Wodehouse?

A great read, revolving mostly around the character of Melrose plant, a noble masquerading as a commoner, and the mystery surrounding the deaths in the family whose house he is currently renting by the seaside. The kids were found drowned 4 years ago, with no signs of a struggle. Melrose finds himself drawn to the local villagefolk, and in the process, into the current day mysteries surrounding a murder and a disappearance.

Of course, Melrose alone is not the hero. We follow his friends macalvie, and richard jury, of the police, as together they find out how the current murders are related to the drowning of the kids 4 years ago, horrifically. It draws you into the village folks daily lives and happenings while solving the murders.

the street lawyer - john grisham

32 year old successful lawyer, high up in the ranks, finds himself investigating the hostage situation he finds himself in at work one day, and in the process, uncovers an important file which proves his firm was engaging in fraudulent activity. As a result, he leaves the firm and joins a street lawyer group… a bunch of decent lawyers trying to help the poor, the homeless, the addicts… things every first year lawyer dreams about till the offer of money, money money, corrupts most of them and they work in a paperland of documents for big firms.
Following up on a particular family he met at a soup shelter, he finds they too, were a victim of fraud of his former firm… which engages his gears in action… and sees him the target of the police, his former colleagues.. till he gets to court and gets a decent judge to see things his way. Happy ending too.

a very gothic christmas - christina feehan & melanie george

I’m not one for short stories, but since I was bored, and hey, it was x’mas a month ago… what the hey. There are 2 stories in this book. The first was rather believable, about a young lady cum nanny, bringing her 2 charges, 13 year old twins, back to the island where they grew up as kids to meet their father, who has not seen them in years, after a horrific incident leaving him disfigured and the twins mother dead. Yes, romance is in the air… with some Christmas season cheer and magic in the air…. You guess who ends up with who. Predictable, but with interesting smaller complots thrown in.
The second, shorter story, is way too much of a cliché… beautiful girl finds herself in a haunted Scottish castle, and finds herself face to face with its handsome lord of 500 years ago… through some time travel. Facing battles and challenges… true love prevails. Yikes.

the inheritance of loss - kiran desai

I thought this would be an interesting, exciting book, all about life in Calcutta, India, and on and on, in the usual genre of entertaining Indian-english books. Boy was I in for a surprise! A totally serious, and at times, rather depressing ( check out the name! ) book, ehm, it Did win the booker prize! Well its about an orphaned girl, growing up with home tutoring, in a godforsaken part of India, close to the Nepalese border, with her retired judge grandfather, and his cook for company.
More than that, it touches on times of strife and war, as the Nepalese gurkhas, more of outlaws, take over and impose curfews and laws. Not just the tale of India – Nepal, or the 16 year old girls tale, it is also about the cooks sons story, as, uneducated, he steps off to America, only to become a menial worker, turning from job to job, as an illegal, his struggle for survival there, and his journey back to India.

one for my baby - tony parsons

Interesting enough synopsis on the cover of this book… which is why i picked it up. Well, good enough a read. Its about a white guy, alfie, just a normal English language teacher, who goes out to the east, to hong kong, just before its surrendered to the Chinese, as he is sick and fed up of life as it is back in London, teaching students who don’t appreciate it or him.
Life in hong kong is rather lonely, but different, till he meets the woman of his dreams, whom he marries, only to have her die on him a year later in a horrific diving accident. Her love for diving makes alfie learn how to swim properly and dive with her, and its on one of those diving trips they make, that is fated.
After being treated for decompression sickness, and then, leaving hong kong, as it has nothing to offer him anymore, alfie moves back in with his parents. He eventually starts teaching English as a second language at an international school. He ends up having a series of affairs with a range of students, much to the disapproval of the school. He only stops when he finds his last girlfriend pregnant, and going for an abortion.
Evil as he may seem now, he actually does try to be a better person, making friends with expats, immigrants, among them an older man from hongkong, who has a Chinese restaurant that he runs with his family. This older man, george, attempts to teach him a thing or two about life, through tai chi.
We see alfie learning many things in life, making mistakes as he goes along, as most of us do. His parents get divorced meanwhile, his grandmother dies…. The one student that he does not want to teach in the end becomes his next betrothed… and life goes back to normal, as he learns to accept change and live with it.
An engrossing book, as it is the story of life that could happen to any of us.

can you keep a secret? - sophie kinsella

Having read this before, it was a totally enjoyable 2nd read. About emma, nervous on a flight, spills all, and I mean ALL, her secrets, including how she lied to her boyfriend about her clothes size, that she loves jazz when she hates it, how she gets back at her colleagues, how she faked her CV, how she hates her perfect cousin who sucks up to her parents, about her g string and her g spot (!) to a complete stranger sitting next to her on the flight, only to go to work the next day, and find that the said stranger is actually the top most boss, just come in from America to the uk, to check on the local scene of things… imagine her mortification!
Well, they end up going out with each other, only emma gets humiliated on national tv, as jack harper, her boss, doing a tv interview about himself and perhaps the launch of a new womans product, accidentally ( seemingly ) divulges all of emma’s secrets, all while talking about the target aim of his new womans product. In truth, he is in love with her and just couldn’t help talking all about her!
Emma, feeling totally used, has to face life as usual after that… no small thing! Refusing to talk to jack, she is eventually forced to, and turns out the day is saved in the end, after all…. :) a happy ending after all.

the vulture fund - steohen frey

Sort of a john grisham wannabe, but as grisham can make most of us non lawyers understand whats going on despite the jargon, this book, more about finance and banking and cheating going on at the top level, left me reading slowly in a few places at the beginning, as I was trying to piece it together and understand it.
Well after that, it was exciting enough a read, as a young partner in a wall street firm finds himself initially part of a high risk investment fund, then finds himself part of a big deceipt and his life in danger.
With help from a few different sources, namely, the beautiful young girl just out of her mba, his best friend from his own growing up days in the orphanage who is now part of the secret service, and most of all, the businesswoman he works with whom he finds is part of the betrayal, the fraud is uncovered, and the day is saved. Enjoyable.

the namesake - jhumpa lahiri

About a boy called gogol. What a name, yeah. His dad, born and brought up in Calcutta, chooses it as a pet name, based on his favourite Russian author. Also, that he was once near death… and when he was saved he was with a copy of nikolai gogol’s book. Significant for him in many ways, and as such, when he and his new bride, fresh out of India, are all alone in America, with no elders to help in the naming, gogol comes up.
The kid will always hate the name, and even changes it, growing up in America. He only comes to appreciate it much later, after his father dies.
Its not just about a name, its about his life, growing up in America, the frequent trips back to visit nameless cousins and relatives in Calcutta… being an American of Indian descent. Not so much a typical Indian book, it is written from all aspects, from gogol’s dad’s viewpoint, ashoke, a brilliant professor, his wife, moushoomi, their daughter, sonali, and their relationships, and gogol’s coming to terms with life.

what memories remain - cait london

an amazing book. exciting, romantic... what else can i say. little molly claire is a 6 yr old with a secret... a secret so big & bad that even she can't remember it. she's now a stunning hot shot realtor working in her little village/town, despite nasty comments being passed around her background... her mother used to stay on the edge of town and take in male 'clients'. despite her success she is plagued by nightmares that date back to her six year old trauma... and she believes the answer is linked to her best friends brother.... the two of them, orphaned when their parents went down in a boating accident, have had to fend for themselves... well as secrets are unravelled, and relationships fostered.. totally enjoyable read. shall look out for more of her books.

the jester - james patterson & andrew cross

Unique combination by both authors… james patterson keeps writing different sorts of books! But has his own classic trade mark… entertaining and makes u want to read more!
Set in medieval England, its essentially a love story set in the holy crusade time with wars going on… a fiery headed innkeeper leaves his precious wife behind to take up arms and join the holy crusade…. To march till the holy land… and protect Christendom. Returning much later than anticipated… he finds his village in shambles…. And his wife believed dead.
Unable to accept this, he sets out to find her, and in the process, ends up in the middle of a war again, this time on local land. In order to protect himself and find his wife, he takes on various means of employment, namely, being a court jester… funny as it may sound, this gets him in all the places he needs to be.
Finding his wife ( after having lost all hope ) only to have her die on him, life takes its own funny courses… he ends up leading a war, falling in love again, and marrying into royalty.
Definitely a book to read… love, war, humour, history, is all mingled in one read.

bergdorf blondes - plum sykes

Entertaining chick lit set in uk, it tells the tale of couple of fun girls… including a brunette having fun and games in love and at work… i.e. not only blondes have fun.
Having just read 2 more chick lit books after this… coming back to write about this one… I am confused… oops! But, it was a fun read! ;)

chapatti or chips? - nisha minhas

Lovely, sexy, Naina, born & brought up in the UK, has known all her life that she is to have an arranged marriage. Despite hanging out with her girlfriends, working, pubbing, clubbing, she knows her inevitable fate is waiting. What she doesn’t count on is falling for a white guy who happens to be her best buddy despite all his sinning, womanizing bad ways. Straightforward as the theme of this book may be, its amusing to read about Naina, Dave and all their adventures, or rather misadventures, that lead to her wedding day with the perfect Indian groom.

shopaholic takes manhattan - sophie kinsella

Hmmm… couldn’t remember which ‘shopaholic’ books I’ve read and which I haven’t! gee… becky is up to her usual spending and shopping habits, getting into debt, and discovered notoriously by the press, all while on holiday in new york, causing boyfriend luke a lot of stress… she comes back to London in disgrace… minus luke… till she accidentally learns some facts which set luke up in business again. she leaves her old life behind… and goes to new york on her own, taking up an amazing job with barney’s there, where she becomes the perfect personal shoppers guide! What an amazing job for becky. With a happy ending too, of course, its chick lit! :)

a wedding in december - anita shreve

Describing a gathering cum reunion among 7 former schoolmates who have mostly not seen one another for 27 years, it brings them together at a wedding taking place between 2 of them, all the more unique as it is a second marriage for both of them, and the bride has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Set in a beautiful mountain inn renovated by 1 of the 7, a petite, widowed lady, it describes the strings binding them together, and how 7 would have been 8 had it not been for the tragic ( ? preventable ) death of 1 of them 27 years ago. It reexplores hurts, pains, and more importantly, love, and its possibilities in these brief 7 days that they find themselves together.
A different type of read altogether, it describes how life might turn out for most of us.

cradle and all - james patterson

More to his usual style, this book revolves around Anne, a former nun turned P.I. with a Masters in Psychology, sent by the Pope himself to investigate the cases of two modern day virgin pregnancies, one in America, one in Ireland.
Both innocent teenagers, we see Kathleen, a privileged, rich young socialite in the making finding herself pregnant, and Colleen, an impoverished, skinny, scared young girl picked on by thugs, even younger than Kathleen. The church has evidence that in this modern day era, a virginal birth will take place. When 2 and not 1 teenager finds herself pregnant despite being medically certified to be ‘intact’, Anne, along with a few smart priests, are sent out to do the necessary, as they are told 1 birth could be that of the saviour, and 1 the son of evil. Their presence at the births is necessary to stamp out evil.
Having met both mothers to be, Anne, the priest Justin & Father Rosetti have great difficulty convincing themselves that one of the 2 sweet teenagers would bring a great evil in the world, and that would have to be destroyed. Eventually, at the time of birth, Father Rosetti sacrifices himself along with the new evil one born, the only way he sees possible to save the world. The newborn had the face of evil with a thousand eyes looking back at him showing them true hell. On the other side of the Atlantic, however the other birth leads to…. A normal baby being born. Both girls were apparently molested and gang rape attempted, but ending with the perpetrators smearing their semen all over the girls which is how they got pregnant despite being virgins. As such, neither one was a holy baby.
Along the undercurrents of the story are Anne’s & the priest Justin’s deep love for each other with they had quashed dozens of years ago. Now, however, at age 30, still a virgin, in Rome, after the 2 highly anticipated births which did not grant them any saviour, Anne finds herself pregnant. She is the chosen one! She and Justin lead a happily married life and do not allow the birth of her special baby, Noelle ( a girl! ) to be public news, seeing the horrible effects of publicity that the 2 teenage moms suffered. Alls well that ends well, but the chilling words at the end of the novel shows that evil lives on…. “he watched her… with thousands of vengeful, bestial eyes”; yes, the baby that the Father had sacrificed along with himself, had actually survived… and was near the teenager, Noelle…

suzanne's diary for nicholas - james patterson

Wavering from his usual action-adventure-mystery game, this is a soppy romance. The diary in question lands in the hands of Kate, a lady who has been left by her lover; no explanation given. Suzanne is her now ex-lovers wife, writing about her past, daily adventures and life to her growing baby. Up till now, Kate had no idea that her lover was even married. Suzanne’s tragic story, as told by the diary, moves even Kate, and explains how and why her affair with her lover came to be. The ending is sad yet beautiful, as having started with Kate, we see Kate’s ruined life picking up the pieces.

the partner- john grisham

typical lawyer story... the lawyer cum thief who supposedly faked his own death and vanished with 90 million usd actually being innocent. when he is caught 4 years on ( yup he knew the day would come and so, each day was a difficult one ) the story actually starts there... with his reemergence into life in america after being tortured by the goons who caught him ( evoked similarities with the recent bond movie, casino royale... got confused, watching that and reading this at the same time! ) how he proves his innocence and catches the big guys behind the actual disaster is an interesting read.

children of the wheel- pamela scobie

after borrowing this book which seemed a different sort of read, only then i flipped it over and realised it was an oxford university press book... i.e. meant for schoolkids! haha.
well... interesting all the same. set in ancient times, it starts with a young green eyed girl, banished from her princess like existence to the netherworld, along with all the other scavenger children... how she ends up in a no mans land with all these other children, and how they survive on their own. having become their own colony, it shows how they survive and dream of things bigger and better and actually set out to make them, basic engineering skills which they figure out on their own. a painful confrontation at the end, with her father, and how they succeed at the end and lead their own lives.

public secrets - nora roberts

one of her older books, no longer on the shelves of the bookstores, this is an amazing read. it captures the essence of a rock group in california... without sounding cliched or boring.
the story actually starts with an abused 3 year old kid being rescued from her birth mother by her father, who just learns of her existence.... he goes on to become a rock star, and the story focuses then on emma, the little girl with a sweet temperament despite her abused background.
things go awry when she grows up, involving a botched kidnapping attempt of her younger baby half brother ( the dad is in a serious relationship ) which ends with his death... and its repercussions on all the main characters of this book.
she goes on to become a top photographer... and then gets into an abusive relationship with a hanger on type of guy... and shuns true love till the very end... after another brush with death.
with its commercial setting, this book still touches a chord with its focus on people and their lives, accomplishments and struggles. a great read.