PURPLE QUEEN FAIRY READS

Synopsis : Wolf Hadda’s life has been a fairytale. From humble origins as a Cumbrian woodcutter’s son, he has risen to become a hugely successful entrepreneur, happily married to the girl of his dreams. A knock on the door one morning ends it all. Universally reviled, thrown into prison while protesting his innocence, abandoned by friends and family, Wolf retreats into silence. Seven years later, prison psychiatrist Alva Ozigbo makes a breakthrough. Wolf begins to talk and under her guidance is paroled, returning to his rundown family home in rural Cumbria. But there is a mysterious period in Wolf’s youth when he disappeared from home and was known to his employers as the Woodcutter. And now the Woodcutter is back, looking for the truth—and revenge. Can Alva intervene before his pursuit of vengeance takes him to a place from which he can never come back? A stand-alone novel from the always masterful Reginald Hill, The Woodcutter is a treat that both lovers of the Dalziel and Pa...

Medad Birungi faced pain few imagine yet speaks of forgiveness all can experience. 'My story changed beyond all recognition.  Everything that was made ugly by pain and anger was turned to beauty by one simple revolutionary thing - forgiveness '. Medad Birungi was once a boy who begged to die by the side of the road, a teenager angry enough to kill, a man broken and searching, yet today he is a testimony of God's transforming power.  In his life story, Tombstones and Banana Trees : A True Story of Revolutionary Forgiveness , Birungi charts his outrageous journey through suffering abuse, despair and revenge to unexpected forgiveness and healing. Birungi grew up with a violent father in the war-torn country of Uganda in the 1960s.  His childhood was scarred by extreme proverty, cruel suffering and unbearable sorrow that few of us can even imagine.  yet from that trauma came the lesson that we can all appreciate: the impoverishment of life without Christ, the redem...

advertisement in local newspaper 2nd Time Around Used Books, a company that sells second hand books inported from the USA, is currently having a 'mega sales' in Kuching.  Called 'Book Fair Version 2.0', this is the second year they are organising such sales on a big scale. Starting from  23 July to 7 August , readers in Kuching will have a choice of thousands of titles for children, youth, novels, self help books, etc.  The books are expected to be priced around RM9.90 or slightly more or maybe even less. The organiser is also giving away vouchers for purchases above a certain amount and organising lucky draws and children's contest during this time. Be sure to check them out in Crown Square (or sometimes known as Crown Tower in Jalan Pending) from 10 am - 9 pm for these 2 weeks. I haven't had a chance to go to the sales yet but I bought these last year.  I will go and check them out maybe later today.  See you there.

Synopsis : SHE HAS A LICENSE TO KILL. AND CARPOOL. Seeing Lucy Hamilton, you would think she is just like any other suburban stay-at-home San Francisco mom. She takes her three-year-old son Theo to the beach, playground, and the zoo. She makes organic applesauce, folds laundry, and plays on the floor with Matchbox cars until her knees ache. What no one knows about Lucy, not even her adoring husband Will, is that for nine years she was known as Sally Sin, a spy for the USAWMD (United States Agency for Weapons of Mass Destruction). And that’s just the way Lucy wants to keep it – a secret. Ian Blackford, a notorious illegal arms dealer and Lucy’s long-forgotten nemesis, returns to the USAWMD’s radar, and they are forced to call Lucy back to action to lure Blackford out into the open. As she races to unravel the mystery that surrounds Blackford’s return (and get dinner on the table), she realizes that the answers she needs lie in a past that she’s tried very hard to forget. In a race...

Synopsis : Casey and Death are on the run…again. This time, Casey needs to make her disappearance permanent. After obtaining new identification and throwing herself off the grid, she travels to Florida to begin a new life as Daisy Gray, fitness instructor for a moneyed, enclosed community. But even while keeping her head down, it doesn't take long for Casey to find herself in the middle of trouble. One of the residents is attacked, and Casey is the one to find her, bleeding on the tile floor of the locker room. Despite heroic attempts to save her, she dies, and the community is thrown into turmoil. The cops are at a loss, unable to find anyone who might want the woman dead. Casey, despite Death's encouragement to "get the hell out of Dodge, or, Florida," feels partially responsible, and won't let the murderer get away with it. Besides, where else is she going to go? Is she going to abandon this life so soon, and try to forge another? This book started off ra...

You’re the only you God made. If you aren’t you, we don’t get you. The world misses out. That is one of the statement taken from Cure for the Common Life that impacted me. In this book, Max Lucado shares that we have a special uniqueness that God has made us for. ‘ It is a zone, a region, a life precinct in which you are made to dwell.’ God tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. According to Max, if we’re like 70% of working adults, we haven’t found our ‘sweet spot’ yet. We don’t find meaning in our work and we don’t believe our talents are used. What can we do? We’re suffering from the common life and we desperately need a cure. Written in the fashion of Max Lucado, this book is divided into three sections, Use your Uniqueness , To Make a Big Deal out of God and  Everyday of your life . While it’s quite easy to read with Max sharing using examples from both the bible and the world, it is quite difficult for me to really understand what...

image showing KLCC is taken from BookFest @ Malaysia 2011's web BookFest @ Malaysia 2011 is one of the biggest book expositions in Southeast Asia will be back for the 6th consecutive year in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), from 27 August to 4 September 2011. With a theme of 'One Book One World', it is organised as a platform to showcase millions of books by local and international authors as well as exhibiting an exemplary range of the latest stationery products. You can expect more than hundred of publishing houses, books and stationery distributors from different regions such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia to take part in the mega event. I have never been to a BookFest before.  I would love to though, now more than ever except that I'm not expected to travel there during this period.  Flights during this period would be pretty expensive due to school holidays.  I wonder if I can find a sponsor...

Synopsis : After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. According to Drew Campbell, the well-suited corporate representative who hires her, the gallery is a passion project for its anonymous, wealthy, and eccentric owner. Drew assures Alice that the owner will be hands off, allowing her to run the gallery on her own. Her friends think it sounds too good to be true, but Alice sees a perfect opportunity to make a name for herself beyond the shadow of her famous father, an award-winning and controversial film maker. Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never existed—and Drew Campbell’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the centre of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence. The phone number Drew gave her links back to a d...

I didn't receive my copy of Same Life, New Story from Booksneeze.com after a wait of nearly 6 months.  It might be lost in the mail. Such, I can only do a preview and not a review. Book Description Move from what is to what can be by changing how you think and talk to yourself. Using powerful character studies of ten women from Scripture, as well as modern-day stories from her work as a professional life coach, Bible teacher Jan Silvious helps women choose new stories instead of dumping, or wallowing in, their old lives. Naomi, Leah, Rahab, Deborah, Hannah, Anna, Jehosheba, Abigail, Naaman's servant girl, and Elizabeth round out the cast of characters who, with their own stories, help readers find new perspectives with amazing results. Chapters include: Realize it's time Don't be held hostage by the past Ask yourself good questions Change your "I can't" to "I can" Delete the drama of the day Forget the "What might have been...

It's going to be a real busy weekend.  Among other stuff, 3 books just arrived for review. :) 1. An Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of Mirror Ball by Matt Redman - I also know Matt as a worship leader, songwriter but not as an author.  This would be pretty interesting.  In this newest book of his, Matt reminds us that even when we fell insufficeint to reflect God's glory, God can show through us as light radiates through a prism.  Living in this truth will transform how we view our worlds, our relationships and our daily lives.  2. Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado - in this book, Max offers practical tools for exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, motivation to put your strengths to work and the perfect perscription for finding and living in your 'sweet spot' for the rest of your life. 3. An ARC of Tombstones and Banana Trees by Medad Birungi and Craig Borlase - the true story of Reverend Medad Birungi, a Bible teacher, lectuere, pastor and ...