PURPLE QUEEN FAIRY READS

Year 2011 has been a busy and an interesting year. I did a total of about 118 posts for this year.  Very little for some but quite a lot for me.  Quite a fair bit (about half?) of them were committed posts with deadlines for publications as these are new releases that publishers depend on for online publicity. It would also be interesting to note that half of the books I read this year were e-books.  I still very much prefer a printed version but I guess this shows that I am also open to other forms of publications.  I also met a lot of interesting people through my blogging this year and even got to attend a seminar .  I look forward to learning from them as most of them are extremely experienced in this field which I am still very much a novice. I enjoye the networking opportunities and events that I cover for this blogs and the plans to expand this is very much a reality through this new site  and a revival of this old site .  While some...

Taken from the book jacket : Cat O’Nine Tales is the 5th collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller. These yearns are ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and deliciously unexpected conclusions and with the added bonus of illustrations by the internationally acclaimed artist, Ronald Searle. I love the rich red cover of this book.  Very striking and attractive. A very much added appeal.  I wonder if the colour contributes to the sales volume of this book.  I wonder if any surveys were carried out on the appeal of covers vs sales of books.  Sorry, I digress. Anyway, there are a total of 12 stories in Cat O'Nine Tales.  Hm....shouldn't the title be Cat O'Twelve Tales then?  Perhaps it refers to nine lives a cat is supposed to have and I guess if you have been convicted of a crime and been behind bars, it meant that you have used up one life of the nine that you have. Is it? I don't know. Just th...

If you could wish for one gift this Christmas what would it be? That’s the question asked at the back cover of the book where the synopsis normally is and with that you have to take a leap of faith and leap into the book to find out more. Having had good experience reading Cecelia’s novels here and here , I jumped right in. The story of Lou Suffern is told to a boy by a police officer when the boy was caught throwing a frozen turkey into the home of his dad and his new family. While waiting for his mum to pick him up from the police station, Officer O’Reilly told him this story....everyday Lou Suffern battles with the clock. He always has two places to be at the same time and always has two things to do at once. One day on this way into work, Lou meets Gabe, a homeless man sitting outside the office building. Intrigued by Gabe, Lou gets him a job in his company. But soon, Lou begins to regret helping Gabe for Gabe’s very presence unsettles Lou – everyone likes Gabe and the things...

Synopsis : When hotshot lawyer Elizabeth Brice turns up to collect her daughter Grace from football practice, the coach tells her she needn’t have bothered, as Grace’s uncle has already picked her up. The only problem is – Grace has no uncles. And so begins a furious race against time to save Grace from unknown kidnappers. Grace’s internet geek father John leads the search, forced to unite with his terrifying wife and even more terrifying father Ben, a battle-hardened Vietnam Veteran. Somehow they must find Grace before it is too late. But secrets from the past make the little girl’s survival more uncertain with every passing minute..... The Abduction is interesting and it’s not just about rescuing an abducted girl but more the unexpected circumstances surrounding her disappearance. The author is extremely talented in bringing the suspense forward and keeping it so real that you would just want to keep on reading. Just when you thought you know where the story is heading, anoth...

In case you are wondering why boys are being left out after reading this , well, wonder no more because the publisher is also publishing a version for the boys. Entitled Triple Dog Dare , this one year devotion book follows the same format and concept as Truth & Dare (for girls) but the style are written to appeal to boys age 9 to 12. Even the cover has a boy shooting a sling against a gigantic robot. Is it the modern day version of David vs. Goliath or just a depiction of a boy going against worldly things or temptations of the world like internet, mobile phones, books (pornography?) which the giant represents? Anyway, here is what the back cover of the book says, So you think devotions are nothign but boring 'quiet times' for wimpy kids and Good Two-shoes?  Think again.  Being a young man of God is all about action. Really. Remember how David knocked down Goliah, Daniel faced those lions, Paul survived a shipwreck and Jesus stood up for a woman about to be ki...

Love Finds a Way consists of 3 rather cheesy and short Christian romance novella. First, you have Blueberry Surprise which tells how love comes to Lorna, a young widow who’s not really ready to move on after her husband’s death a year ago. She’s still staying with her in-laws and working 2 jobs to keep herself occupied. Upon encouragement by her colleagues and in-laws, she went back to school and there she met Evan Bailey, her new coursemate who’s looking for a Christian wife in a Christian college. How stereotype is that? I mean there’s no harm in wanting to be equally yoke but to purposefully look for a wife like that, sorry, I just can’t accept it. The second story, called Grandma’s Doll is about Sheila who travels to her grandma’s hometown to choose something from the attic as a keepsake. She particularly wants her Grandma’s doll that she played with when she was young. However, grandma might have already sold the doll off to an antique dealer whom on the other hand had sol...

Dare to Put Your Faith into Action! Truth & Dare is a devotional book targeted at girls from age 9 to 12. It is very thick as it caters for 365 days. The usefulness of this book is that it doesn’t start of any particular day or month of the year. Instead it started with a ‘weekend’ and users can start using it any weekend they choose to whether it’s in December, January, February or any time of the year. Truth Every devotions start with a verse that would be relating to the topic of the day. For example, on the topic of ‘ Who’s living your life? ’ the bible verse is Galatians 2 : 20 which says ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.’ That would be followed by a couple paragraph of explanation on this title and the related verse. Dare Then comes the dare, which for this topic is – Give Jesus control of your li...

Synopsis : What makes a good husband material? Someone who’s kind? Someone who’s brilliant in bed and puts the rubbish out afterwards? After 16 years of marriage to the charming but unfaithful Giles, Amanda’s sure of one thing : she isn’t going to make the same mistake twice. So when she, literally, bumps into charismatic property developer Angus Day in his cobait blue sports car there’s no way she’s going to fall for that charm baloney again - even if he does offer to pay for her damage. This time she’s going to choose someone suitable. Like the delightful Luke Knight, a caring, sharing new man who helps old ladies across the street – rather than throwing them into it. Amanda is smitten and despite the misgivings of her daughter Clio, she wants him to be her very own knight in shining amour. Amanda is in her 40s and she is looking into dating again after her divorce. Her 16 year old daughter encourages her to and even put a singles advert for her in the paper. She finds hersel...

Synopsis : She stared into the speckled mirror, wondering how she had come to this. How could she, Holly Love, apple of her parents' eye, competent manipulator of invoices in Gorgon Office Supplies, have ended up alone and starving in a dead man's flat? How indeed? Most reluctant heroines would throw in the towel at this point. But Holly Love is made of sterner stuff. She's sworn to track down the cheating swine who ripped her life apart, and make him pay. But as she tries to keep her head in the face of a bizarre mystery, a gloomy old house, a hearse driving Elvis impersonator and a gang of vengeful thugs not to mention a garrulous and possibly possessed parrot Holly is forced to come to terms with a great truth. However bad things seem, they can always get worse. This is a rather refreshing book. First, it was set in the Blue Mountain in Australia and not in any towns or cities in the United States that you would come to expect. For the fact that I have been to Blue...

Have you read Hope Underground ?  Are you inspire by the stories of the miners?  Here's an interview with Pastor Carlos Parra Diaz that was sent to me by B&B Media Group.  May you be further inspired. Q : In Hope Underground, you mention several instances that suggest God’s intervention. Did you personally experience God’s presence while there and, if so, how did it affect you? A : This recognition of divine intervention throughout the entire process of the rescue has been the consistent perspective of the miners, their families, the rescue personnel and millions around the world. For myself, I had always believed that God is real, a living God who chooses to be close to those who love Him. But during my weeks at Camp Hope, I experience for myself just how real God is and how deeply He loves the human beings He has created. And how directly involved He is in the daily lives of His children. Q : Through no fault of their own, all 33 miners were thrust into the wo...