Books without k become boos!!

Is it even possible to wish someone 'Happy Halloween' when it's a season that is associated with fear and tricks and pranks?

Anyway,  Halloween  is a culture that is not celebrated in my part of the world but due to cultural exposure and commercialism, Halloween is being celebrated here in recent years and it's mostly associated with parties and dressing up in costumes, having fun and etc.  It certainly is not a family celebration and I quite doubt that those partying Halloween style even know what and why they are celebrating.  In my opinion, it's just very much a case of an excuse to have fun

Anyway, I would just associate this celebration of boos!! with some pretty creepy books. that I have in my collections and which I must just have a go at them once I am done with what's keeping me away from reading.

What are the titles? you might ask :)...well in the spirit of treat or trick, let me firstly present to you, my version of Trick or Treat.

First up, a trick in the form of  Investigating the Unexplained by Paul Roland.  This book have contents such as ancient mysteries, paranormal puzzles, extra-terrestarial enigmas and comes with some interesting photos too.   However, the whole thing can very well be a hoax and turns out to be a trick after all right?

Reader's Digest Great Ghost Stories have been sitting on my shelf for ages.  It is a collection of short stories from authors such as Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola and even Frederick Forsyth and Elizabeth Gaskell.

I have half the mind to read one story one Halloween but it would then take me more than twenty years to finish it!!!  How about one story a month for the next one year?  Should be quite a treat to read them don't you think?

So, which do you prefer?  Trick or Treat?

Mayada, Daughter of Iraq by Jean Sasson

Synopsis :

A member of one of the most distinguished and honored families in Iraq, Mayada grew up surrounded by wealth and royalty. 

But when Saddam Hussein’s regime took power, she was thrown into cell 52 in the infamous Baladiyat prison with seventeen other nameless, faceless women from all walks of life. 

To ease their suffering, these “shadow women” passed each day by sharing their life stories. Now, through Jean Sasson, Mayada is finally able to tell her story—and theirs—to the world.

This is what I say :

By the fact that I am having this post, you might probably would have guessed that I brought this title with me on a recent holiday.   

Mayada, Daughter of Iraq is a real story...pretty much an autobiography and I am always caution in reviewing such books.  I mean, who am I to review what a person has gone through and say that it's a good read or otherwise.

All I want to say about Mayada is that I am humbled by her.  It is heartbreaking and I was quite reluctant to continue at times but yet,I want to know what happened to her and the other women. 

I got to find out what happen to her but not so much the other women in the cell.  I think neither did she.

A New Word

Book Exchange (2 for 1 deal)

Recently, I took eight titles from my collection that I no longer read and have them exchanged for new titles.

The place where this took place is a coffee cafe in town that hosts a book corner.  Their offer is 'two for one' that is for patrons to bring and exchange two titles/books for one title/book from their collection.

Some might say 'hey, that's not fair, shouldn't it be a one for one' but to me it is quite okay.  I do not mind exchanging two titles that I no longer read anyway for a title that I would want to try reading.  Yes, I would end up with less books but when reading it concern, quantity is not the game plan here.  Moreover they are not selective of the titles and accepted all the titles that I brought whereas I have a choice of my preferred titles from their shelves.

So, from the eight books that I brought, I selected four of the above and the madamoiselle  was kind enough to let me take another title when she saw me still browsing through the shelves even after the exchange.

And with that I increased my TBR pile by another five titles. 

With author such as Maeve Binchy, Nicholas Sparks and Amy Tan, among others, I think it's a good deal and am extremely happy.

I have been so good in managing my inflow of new titles the whole year.  In fact, I am still managing that pretty well as I have not been doing any book shopping this year..or not that I can remember. :)

I can't wait to go through them but due to current commitment, these will have to wait till December.

Holiday Read

If you have been looking through my post of previous years, you will find a pattern of the importance I placed on what I termed 'Holiday Read', i.e. simply, novels that I would want to read while I was on holidays.

Sometimes having the right book or wrong book (for that matter) can make or break a holiday as it affects my mood. The right book will just compliment everything whereas a wrong one would just throw me off tangent.

Well, I have not been on much holidays the recent years except for a couple here and there and the recent one here but there's just one more coming right up and I am so excited as to what to bring along with me...I am excited about where I am going too for that matter!

It's a holiday with some friends (I haven't had holidays with friends for like many, many and plenty of many years) and we're going to the land of beautiful people and plastic surgery and no! we're not going for that but we would happy just to be admiring the many beautiful people from this country.

So, which books coming along to this amazing trip...

First contender is Dreamscapes by Tamara McKinlley just because the book is rather light and the cover's pretty too.

Next is Take a Look at Me Now by Miranda Dickinson as the story is about a holiday and it's a chic lite so why not since I am on a chic lite type of holiday.

Last but not least, Mayada by Jean Sasson decided to make itself known to me of it's intention to be part of the contenders.  Although will be heavy read in nature, it has much to offer as well.

So, which do you think should be my holiday read?