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.