Daughters Of Isis by Joyce Tyldesley

I have been fascinated by all things ancient Egypt for as long as I remember. I loved reading about eras of the pharaohs, the gods of the Egyptians and River God by Wilbur Smith is one of my favourite books of all time but that’s for another day.


Thus, it’s quite automatic that when I came across Daughters of Isis – Women of Ancient Egypt in the store about 6 years ago, I bought it without a second thought although it's non-fiction. As you can see from it photo, I only got it for $15 (Ringgit). I started reading it soon after but sorry to say, up to today, I am only half way through the book. It’s not that the book is not interesting. It is. It’s fascinating to read about lives of these women in ancient Egypt and their views on status of women back then, to social etiquette to grooming and even on their take on religious life and death. Women played an important role in the structure of society even at that time.

Daughters of Isis was first published in 1994. My copy under Penguin Publication was the 2nd edition. The synopsis of the book says that Egypt was undoubtedly the best place to have been born a woman in the whole of the Ancient World. The Egyptian woman were independent in many ways and very influential especially those fortunate enough to be members of the royal harem as well as those who rose to rule Egypt as ‘female kings’.

Joyce Tyldesley is an authority in ancient Egypt. She is a British archaeologist and Egyptologist, academic, freelance writer and broadcaster and had written many books on ancient Egypt. I actually have another of her book with the title ‘Ramesses : Egypt’s Greatest Pharaoh’. I think the book is still somewhere in my house. Let me ‘dig it out’ *:)* (haha…bad pun)

Accused by Mark Gimenez (out April 2010)

I wrote to Mark Gimenez and he made my day with his reply :)

Sorry, it's not very clear. I'm still not good with all the cutting, pasting etc.

I cant wait for his new book - Accused. Like he said, the sequel to Colours of Law and he is bringing back my favourite Texan lawyer, Scott Fenney :) I must do a post on Colours of Law soon.

Anyway, after couple of google, I managed to get the synopsis for accused :

'Scott, it's Rebecca. I need you.' After years of silence, Texan lawyer Scott Fenney receives a devastating phone call from his ex-wife. She has been accused of murdering her boyfriend, Trey ? the man she left Scott for ? and is being held in a police cell. Now she is begging Scott to defend her. Scott is used to high-stakes cases, but this one is bigger than anything he has handled before. If Rebecca is found guilty, under Texan law she will be sentenced to death. He will have her blood on his hands. As he prepares to take the stand in the most dramatic courtroom appearance of his life, Scott is forced to question everything he believes to get to the truth ? to save the life of the ex-wife he still loves...

It's due to be out on 1st April 2010. The publisher is still Sphere andthe ISBN is 9781847442758.

The Perk by Mark Gimenez

This is the second book by Mark Gimenez that I am reading but it’s the 3rd book written by him. The first was called The Colours of Law and it was Mark Gimenez first book as well. It was fast paced, the interactions between the characters were alive and vibrant and it does remind me of what I used to read in a John Grisham book. And Mark Gimenez is being identified by The Times as ‘The Next Grisham’.

The Perk like Colours of Law, is more than just law book. It’s more a book exploring human relations and emotions and losing a loved one to death…losing a mother, losing a wife, losing a daughter and even a father’s lost of a son to hate. All these are set against a background of a seemingly perfect small town but we know there's no such thing as a perfect small town.

I will admit here that a few tears were shed in reading this story. As a mother, my heart ached for Luke and Maggie Hardin who lost their mum to cancer. As a wife, I ached for Beck Hardin as he misses his wife and for Aubrey as he tried to deal with the need to know what happened to his 16 year old daughter, who killed her and why was she dumped in the ditch.

JB (Beck’s father) is also an interest character, a winery who hates wine but loves the wine business. He brought much humour to the story and a much needed stability not just for Beck but for Luke and Maggie too.

The practice of law in the forefront of the story is well thought out and well written as well and wasn’t overly dry. Just when I thought that I've got the ending in a wrap, the author throws in a curve ball but nevertheless, I am happy with the ending.

Overall, I would recommend this book to those who like law drama with a human touch.

Firstborn Series by Karen Kingsbury

WV came down from KK for a training and brought with her....

The Firstborn series by Karen Kingsbury!!! Unfortunately, it's one book short :( but thanks, WV for carrying them all the way from the ship to the plane and into my car!

Redemption series

Note : Firstborn is the sequel to the Redemption series which has 5 books. Firstborn is followed by the Sunrise series which I have 2 copies only. It's a set of 5.

It was such a enriching experience to read Redemption...from the 1st book, Redemption to the final book of Reunion. These are books that touches the soul.