Reflections 2017

October 2017

I am writing this reflections even in October of 2017 but I know I wont post this till December 2017 but feeling very demotivated I am not sure if I am in the right frame of mind to reflect on 2017 as I might just rate it super low...

It's a very challenging year...even from the start and at this point, I don't know if it can get even lower but you know what, I have been in worse situation and I know I will get up for I refuse to get knock down but being down, sometimes you are just so tired that you want to be down...it's not comfortable being down but it's such a struggle to get up.

December 2017

I decided the leave the above which was reflected in October and when I was extremely challenged from many facade.  From work to family to studies, things seems to be not moving in the right direction and I was dead bone tired.  I think I didn't read any book for that month.  As the local here says, 'no heart to read or do anything.  Basically just surviving each moment and going through the momentum'.

I also started studying again in May this year so that's something that has been keeping me busy and focus for the year.  It would be another two years before I complete the programme so that does time me away from my leisure reading as well.

Anyway, back to reading, this year is at one of it's lowest ever. if memory serves me right.  This year I have read about 36 books (If my calculation wasn't wrong) only which a super low for me which still works out to about 3 books a month which is acceptable I guess.  When I am down to one book per month, I guess that's when I should be panicking.

Best book for the year? No time to give it much thought but Blood Harvest and Beautiful Lies were good.

Rush Home Road was an unexpected good read.  So is Before I Fall and I got my hands on The Girl on The Train which I wanted to for quite a long time.

I discovered Lisa Gardner as a potential author to add on to my list of authors to look out for.

Where my blog/post management is concerned, I tried hard and I managed to squeeze in 50 posts in 2017 as well making it the same number of post for year 2016.  I have published more than 500 posts since I started this blog years ago and pretty glad it's still going strong (hopefully!)

In all things and in every circumstances, give thanks so I am thankful for 2017.  For all that is good and bad, thank you.

Thank you 2017 and good bye as well.

Image from web

Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman

Synopsis :

Rachel and Alice are an extremely rare kind of identical twins-so identical that even their aunt and uncle, whom they've lived with since their parents passed away, can't tell them apart. But the sisters are connected in a way that goes well beyond their surfaces: when one experiences pain, the other exhibits the exact same signs of distress.

So when one twin mysteriously disappears, the other immediately knows something is wrong-especially when she starts experiencing serious physical traumas, despite the fact that nobody has touched her. 

As the search commences to find her sister, the twin left behind must rely on their intense bond to uncover the truth. 

But is there anyone around her she can trust, when everyone could be a suspect? And ultimately, can she even trust herself?

This is what I say :

My introduction to Jessica Warman was Between, bought and read last year.  Beautiful Lies was bought as a result of both of us liking Between.  But I didn't read it last year, I kept it on my shelf for more than a year and it was only during the Christmas holidays that I decided to read as part of my marathon and it kept me occupied and entertained for two days.

Can I say Beautiful Lies is even nicer than Between?  While Between was heartwarming, Beautiful Lies was that plus more as in more thrilling and more passionate (in a good way!)

You can sense the anguish of twin who was left behind, having totally 'lost' her sister for the first time in her life.  Lost her as in not able to feel the connection that can always be felt between Rachel and Alice.

The author just did such a good job in keeping the suspense throughout the book without giving away the plot that at the end when the truth was revealed, it was rather epic and mind blowing.

While this is a YA genre, it doesn't really matter. I love it just the same.  

I think this book is a keeper. It earned a place back in my self together with Between.  

In the meantime, let me go and check if there's other titles by this author.

Welcome to My World by Miranda Dickinson

Synopsis :

Welcome to Harriet Langton's world. All her life she's dreamt of travelling the globe - fate always got in the way. Working as a travel agent, the closest Harri comes to her dream destination of Venice is booking the trip for someone else. But everything changes when travel fanatic Alex drops in. 

With her boyfriend Rob tied up with work, Harri is persuaded to help Alex in his quest for love. But in her attempts to help, Harri soon discovers that she's alienating those around her. 

Desperate to leave her life behind, will her dreams finally come true? Or will Harri's leap of faith be her biggest mistake yet?


This is what I say :

To me this is a good holiday read especially if you want to hide from the world when the world is busy with unreal celebrations which you don't feel like being part of.

This is a good read especially when you're on a reading marathon with time in your hand and you can read and stop anytime you fancy and pick it up again when chores are done and you're ready to go into another world.

This is Welcome to my World to me this holiday season.  It allows me to be in my own world and just chilling and enjoying the book over both coffee/tea and cakes and chocolates.

Where the book is concerned, sometimes I feel like cheering Harri on. Sometimes I feel like sitting her down for a talk but overall, she is quite likable and generally a good person who just want to please her friends and those she cares about but she can be so naive and she really needs to be exposed to the world.

Glad to read this as part of my marathon.

Merry Christmas 2017

Image credit to Lancer

My Best and Warmest Wishes 

to you and your family for this season.

Image from web

May you know the reason for this season.

Have a wonderful celebration

and 

stay safe

Lots of love from

purplequeenfairyreads.blogspot.com

Image from web

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

Synopsis :

Sing Them Home is a deeply moving portrait of three grown siblings who have lived in the shadow of unresolved grief since their mother’s mysterious disappearance when they were children. 

Everyone in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, knows the story of Hope Jones, the physician’s wife whose big dreams for their tiny town were lost along with her in the tornado of 1978. For Hope’s three young children, the stability of life with their distant, preoccupied father, and with Viney, their mother’s spitfire best friend, is no match for their mother’s absence. 

Larken, the eldest, is an art history professor who seeks in food an answer to a less tangible hunger; Gaelan, the only son, is a telegenic weatherman who devotes his life to predicting the unpredictable and whose profession, and all too much more, depend on his sculpted frame and ready smile; and Bonnie, the baby of the family is a self-proclaimed archivist who combs the roadsides for clues to her mother’s legacy, and permission to move on.

When, decades after their mother’s disappearance, they are summoned home after their father’s sudden death, they are forced to revisit the childhood tragedy at the center of their lives. With breathtaking lyricism, wisdom, and humor, Stephanie Kallos explores the consequences of protecting the ones we love.

Sing Them Home is a magnificent tapestry of lives connected and undone by tragedy, lives poised—unbeknownst to the characters themselves—for redemption. 


This is what I say :

I started Sing Them Home on Wednesday and by Sunday afternoon, I completed the novel.  As this is part of my marathon reading effort, I started on the next book although it's just for 1 page. hahah...

The synopsis is quite accurate.  It's a book on grief and of loss but it's also of healing of the soul.  It is not a sad book and the interesting bit comes from the perspective of the mother back when she's alive and when her children were still young.  This 'looking back' gave the book much depth that otherwise is a bit lacking if it's just on the children.

I was mistaken in thinking that the book is on a glimpse of life after dead...it wasn't but the way the narration goes, it's quite different (you have to read certain parts as how a person might narrate a play) and it's unique in that way.

This is a good start to my marathon. :)

Books Second Time Around - coming to an end

Books Second Time Around in Hills Mall is coming to an end.  Sunday, 17 December would be their grand finale here for the year.

I went there two night ago, for the second time just to see if there's still any books that catches my attention with the purpose of trying out my luck in locating titles from authors such as Mark Gimenez, Carlos Luiz Zafon and maybe Joseph Finder.

My first visit there was when they first started the fair in early November.

I was in luck (in a way) as I managed to locate a title by Joseph Finder that I have not read before.  My first introduction to Joseph Finder was in Buried Secrets August last year.  From there, I bought Paranoia from the same sale last year and it's only now that I bought the third of Joseph Finder's title, Company Man.  Can't wait to get started on it!

Bought two more Chicken Soup Titles to add to my collection but let's not talk about that *feeling guilty*.

So, if you are in my city, remember tomorrow's the last day to check out the sale.

Reading Marathon

Finally, all that I am supposed to do are done!! *happy dance*

In fact, as at yesterday, at five in the afternoon local time, it was a temporary jail break for me...at least until after the new year :) before the next challenge begins.

Technically I have one month to focus on my work, my reading, my house cleaning, my everything else before I have to delve into another world again...

This weekend and during the forthcoming holidays, I intend to do some marathon reading.  For some of you, that's normal but for me it's not but it's a luxury to be able to do so nowadays.

So which book gets the privilege?

Well, say hello to

Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos - a family saga with a bit of peek on life after death.,

I am thinking of attempting a couple more books.  However, am not too confident if I can do it.  What do you think?

If I can identify a couple more titles, I shall update them here.  So, do come back, ya :)

In the meantime, wish me luck! :)