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Showing posts from October, 2010

31 Dream Street by Lisa Jewell

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Would you like to have this for your home address? Synopsis : Leah and Toby have lived across the street from one another for years without meeting...and in that time Leah has been itching to peek behind the front door of Toby’s eccentric house, always packed to the rafters with weird and wonderful tenants. When fate finally lets her in, Leah find that Toby needs her as much as she is surprised to realise that she might need him. Sometimes life needs a helping hand – with a sprinkle of romance and their own special magic, Toby and Leah’s dreams show the glimmer of a chance of coming true. With that, we are invited into the home and lives of Toby and his assorted tenants. We have wild girl Ruby, mysterious Joanne who has much to hide, dreamer boy Connor who has a dream and a plan and his mother, Melissa who is full of guilt. Not forgetting, Leah, the girl from across the street who is basically sweet and charming . We get to know their stories, why they are where they are now and

Maximum Ride – Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

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My first introduction to a kid named Max with special abilities like having wings and being able to fly went back to the days of When The Wind Blows , first published in 1998 and subsequently Lake House , published in 2003. Along the years, I knew that James Patterson started a series with these characters under Young Adults Category. However, I never came across any of the books under this series until now.... When I pick this particular one up, I knew what I was getting myself into – a fast thrilling ride but what I didn’t expect was the difference between this series and the early days of When The Wind Blows . I guess I should have expected it seeing that they were written for different category of readers. James Patterson also claimed that the Max and her gang in these series are not the same Max that I mentioned from the above 2 books and follows a different but similar storyline. Hmm.... I hope you got that and how do I not think of them as the same Max. I think that’s rather d

Overheard In A Dream by Torey Hayden

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I am so glad that I always seem to be ended up with good books from the library. This was no different. It was rather a wild card as I was not familiar with the author and never heard of the title. I just took a risk as I thought the synopsis was rather promising although rather heavy with child autism as the main subject but the front cover of the little boy peeping from behind the wall looks rather endearing. Torey Hayden is a child psychiatrist and a special education teacher turned full time writer. Most of her other books are actually non fictions based on the cases of children that she worked with over the years. Perhaps that’s why it shouldn’t surprise me that Overheard In A Dream is so mind-boggling! I actually found it hard to start this book and was thinking of returning it to the library to exchange it with another title. Am I glad I didn’t make that mistake. Once I actually got started, I realised that I can’t put it down! It was that good. Synopsis: Conor, aged nine

Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

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Synopsis : For Kate Klein, the unsolved murder of a fellow mother is the most interesting thing to happen since the neighbours cracked their septic tank. Up until then life in suburbia has been distinctly underwhelming. So, on days when her kids are in nursery school, Kate launches a murder investigation of her own. With the help of her best friend, Janie, and former flame, Evan, she is drawn deep into the dead woman’s double life. Suddenly suburbia is not so ordinary after all. I must admit that I was drawn to Goodnight Nobody first by the title and second by the author. The author also wrote In Her Shoes which was made into a movie which stars Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MaClaine which I enjoyed. Recognising Goodnight Nobody as a chic read, I want to give it a chance, hoping to discover on words, the magic she created with In Her Shoes . Unfortunately, this was not so. The book lacks creativity and humour. It lacks everything. The story was rather flat and Kat

A Place Of Hiding by Elizabeth George

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A Place Of Hiding is a thriller that I bought during a warehouse sales. The front cover of a misty graveyard  in this particular publication intrigued me. Here, see for yourself. Browsing through, I noticed that the author had penned quite a number of thriller. Ok, that gives me some form of assurance to check out this book and see if I have a new gem of an author on hand. (Note : warehouse sales are good for trying out new authors as you don’t burn your pocket much over it. That’s where I found authors such as Marian Keys and Mark Gimenez .) Here’s the synopsis : The sudden death of Guy Brouard, a generous patron and benefactor of Guernsey Island after his morning swim shocks the residents of the island. When a young American woman is charged with his murder, her brother seeks help from an old friend, Deborah St James. Deborah persuades her husband, Simon to accompany her to Guernsey to investigate. What they find on that beautiful island is a tangled web of deceit and betraya

A Leader’s Heart – 365 Day Devotional Journal

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Synopsis : Applauded as one of the world's most popular leadership experts, John Maxwell brings many of his winning concepts and scriptural meditations into a daily devotional/journal format, designed specifically for leaders. Each devotional is delivered with John’s trademark style of confidence and clarity, followed by space for writing personal reflection. Included are a host of relevant topics including success, stewardship, teamwork, and mentoring—all topics that ring true to every leader’s heart. This is a year-long devotional journal...one leadership lesson per day. 365 days....365 lessons. Each devotions has a leadership topic, bible verses, some pointers taken from John Maxwell’s previous publications and some sections at the bottom for you to pen down your thoughts and reflections. The topics covered are very extensive and are issues that will be faced by any leaders or issues that leaders need to know for problem solving and in dealing with others. The book is in

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

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Max Lucado brought the characters from Acts into the modern world using words that are very easy to understand. Who are the characters from the book of Acts? They are the simple fishermen, tax collectors and the general you and me in today’s world. What’s so great about them then? Nothing other than they choose to make a difference with the things they do and it’s not being nuclear scientists or anything impressive but simple acts of love and grace and compassion that make a difference in their lives and in the lives of others whom they encounter. It opens our eyes to see Jesus in every other person around us. I enjoyed this book so much and is so blessed by it. The teaching is very subdue but extremely impactful. It’s so easy to read and it won’t be long before you complete all 200+ pages of it. I really recommend this to you and you and you! Put it in your Christmas list, buy it for your church leaders or buy it for yourself for Christmas. It will be a worthwhile investment. Let

The Divide by Nicholas Evans

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Two words I would use to describe The Divide as I reach the last page would be happy and sad, all at the same time. I feel sad for the Coopers – Ben, Sarah, Josh and Abby. For what they went through and what could have been and for all that they lost. Happy for them too because they found some form of peace within themselves and with each other at the end. Before I go further, a quick recap - the story started with body of a young woman found embedded in the ice of a remote mountain creek. It wasn’t long before the authorities identify her – Abby Cooper, wanted for murder and acts of eco-terrorism and her picture is on every police computers all across America. The question is how did she die? What was she doing up on the mountain? What trail of events led her, a beloved child of a loving family to stray so tragically? This is one book that is full of ‘What ifs’ and ‘if only’ and such. What if the family didn’t holiday at The Divide that particular summer? What if Ben never met Ev

Forgiven (Firstborn Series) by Karen Kingsbury

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Forgiven is the second book in the Firstborn Series with Fame being the first. It continues from where Fame left off and the focus is once again on Dayne Matthews, the Hollywood superstars and Katy Hart, a director with the Christian Kids Theatre (CKT) in the small town of Bloomington. From the title, forgiveness is the theme for this second book. A lot of the characters in the story have to learn about forgiving and act of forgiveness. For the kids at the CKT, a devastating tragedy leads to a lot of unforgiveness and thoughts of revenge among the kids. They have to learn to trust God and forgive the one who ‘trespass against them’. For Dayne, he has to forgive his late adoptive parents whom he felt ‘choose God over him’ when they left him in boarding schools while growing up while they do their missionary work in the jungle and he himself needs forgiveness from God. By the way, Karen gives readers a brief insight on a new age cult that initially had a hold on Dayne. For th