The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

 

Synopsis :

This is what I say :

Postscript by Cecelia Ahern

 

Synopsis :

It's been seven years since Holly Kennedy's husband died – six since she read his final letter, urging Holly to find the courage to forge a new life.

She’s proud of all the ways in which she has grown and evolved. But when a group inspired by Gerry's letters, calling themselves the PS, I Love You Club, approaches Holly asking for help, she finds herself drawn back into a world that she worked so hard to leave behind.

Reluctantly, Holly begins a relationship with the club, even as their friendship threatens to destroy the peace she believes she has achieved. As each of these people calls upon Holly to help them leave something meaningful behind for their loved ones, Holly will embark on a remarkable journey – one that will challenge her to ask whether embracing the future means betraying the past, and what it means to love someone forever…

Saying what I think :

Cecelia Ahern brings us back to the life of Holly Kennedy from the famed titled P.S. I love you which was made into a box office movie of the same title.  Watching the movie will make you cry buckets and reading P.S I Love You will do the same.  

Postscript however is more mild in comparison.  Postscripts tells the story of Holly seven years after the death of her Gerry.  She is now in a new relationship with someone named Gabriel.  However, the legacy of Gerry lives on and she met some terminal sick patients who wanted to do what Gerry did for her.  As Holly helped and advised these patients on their 'quest', it is also a journey of discovery for herself and at the end of everything, Gerry still had the last word.

I enjoyed reading Postscript.  It will never be as good as P.S. but it shouldn't compete with P.S. It is a good follow up read for P.S.

p.s. I just realised that while I have read P.S. I Love You, I have never review it.  I think I will revisit this title next.

Travel Reading Suggestion

 

Image from web. Credit to owner

It's coming to the end of the year (almost). I will be having a few up coming travels before the year ends.  One trip is for work, one trip is to run an errand, one trip is to attend a concert, another trip is to attend a wedding and one special trip is for my year end holiday with a special person.

Again, just like before, I am excited to see what reading material I would bring along with me. Each trip carries a different mood and as such I do find it fun to pair my reading with the journey ahead. 

Here are the titles that have made it onto my shortlist:

1. The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo - I have a pdf copy which is convenient when travel as I can just read it from my tablet.  In May this year, I read The Fox Wife by the same author after seeing the title in a bookstore and I enjoyed The Fox Wife tremendously.  I think I will like The Night Tiger as well.

2. Postscript by Cecelia Ahern - I always loved titles by Cecelia Ahern and am super excited to come across Postscript which is the sequel to P.S. I Love You.  The only concern is that it might be embarrassing if I start tearing when reading Postscript in public so it's a title that needs to be read in private.

3. How To Be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson - a book on how to do nothing at various time of the day.  It would be quite an interesting to learn how not to do anything.

4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - This title needs no introduction. I have a have a few titles by Paulo Coelho in my shelf. It's time I visit them one by one.

That's about it. I will be right back shortly.

Break

 

Looks like I will be taking a break again.  

See you in a short while. 

Hour Game by David Baldacci

 

Synopsis :

A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the most infamous murderers of all time. No one knows this criminal's motives...or who will die next.

Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man's innocence in a burglary involving an aristocratic family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.

This is what I say :

This was a rather good read.  I didn't have high hopes for it but was surprised.  Hour Game was exciting and kept me trying to guess who the killer might be.  

The chapters are all very short chapters and the progress was very fast paced which makes me as the reader much captivated to keep on going. I read this in less than a week which is a record nowadays.  I read this as both as a paperback version as well as electronic version when I brough it with me during a recent trip (I decided to bring the e-book to save on having to carry another item).  But when I am back home, I read the book version.

I recommend this title to those who enjoys a good thriller. 

The Absence of Guilt by Mark Gimenez

 

Synopsis :

An ISIS attack on America is narrowly averted when the FBI uncovers a plot to detonate a weapon of mass destruction in Cowboys Stadium during the Super Bowl. 

A federal grand jury indicts twenty-four co-conspirators, including the most dangerous man in Dallas, Omar al Mustafa. He is a notorious and charismatic Muslim cleric known for his incendiary anti-American diatribes on YouTube and Fox News. His mosque is a veritable breeding ground for Islamic jihadists. His arrest is greeted with cheers around the world and relief at home. The plot was thwarted, the terrorists are in jail, and the Super Bowl is safe. The president goes on national television and "We won!" 

There is only one there is no evidence against Mustafa. That problem falls to the presiding judge, newly appointed U.S. District Judge A. Scott Fenney. If Mustafa is innocent, Scott must set the most dangerous man in Dallas free. But does the absence of guilt mean Mustafa is innocent? And if he is innocent, who is guilty? 

The Super Bowl is just three weeks away. And the game clock is ticking.

This is what I say :

It's been a while since I pick up a title by Mark Gimenez. When I realised that there's one title that I have not read and that's The Absence of Guilt, I put aside what I have been reading to focus on this title and it was a pretty good decision.

It's good to follow A Scott Fenney's life after Accused. His story actually started in The Colors of Law which was very good.

The Absence of Guilt was rather good and thrilling.  There are some parts that's rather technical and preachy so I kinda 'quick read' those section and overall I really enjoy it.

It also gives a unexpected closure on the last part of the book which is quite an 'easter egg' and that was good too.  

This Was A Man (Book #7 and final title of The Clifton Chronicles) by Jeffrey Archer

 

Synopsis :

'This Was a Man' opens with a shot being fired, but who pulled the trigger, and who lives and who dies?

In Whitehall, Giles Barrington discovers the truth about his wife Karin from the Cabinet Secretary. Is she a spy or a pawn in a larger game?
Harry Clifton sets out to write his magnus opus, while his wife Emma completes her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a job.

Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman Bank after Hakim Bishara resigns for personal reasons. Sebastian and his wife Samantha's talented daughter, Jessica, is expelled from the Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue.

Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors when the Duchess of Hertford dies, and she sees another opportunity to clear her debts and finally trump the Cliftons and the Barringtons.

In a devastating twist, tragedy engulfs the Clifton family when one of them receives a shocking diagnosis that will throw all their lives into turmoil.

This is what I say :

This Was a Man is the 7th title in The Clifton Chronicles and also the final book.

I can say, I am truly glad it's the finale as the story has dragged on for quite a bit and it's time to end it.

I wasn't able to get hold of a physical book so I have to read this as a e-book which is rather disappointing as it would be nice to have the whole set but it's quite alright also.

Surprising, one of my favorite character is Lady Virginia who is as scheming as ever and although she met her match and got what she deserved towards the end, one can't help but applaud her for her perseverance.

The Chronicle started with Harry and Emma and it ended with Harry and Emma as well.  This couple really supported each other through thick and thin and both are equally great in what they do. 

The ending to their story was also was a twist that is extremely unexpected for an ending to a chronicles.  However, once you get over it, it was rather touching and a worthy ending to some great characters in a rather great chronicle.