PURPLE QUEEN FAIRY READS

Time passes real fast and before I can reach out for another book, it's the end of the year. Looking back, 2012 is pretty much a challenging year for me and much as I still enjoy reading, I certainly read much less this year and did less review compared to the previous years.    I also didn't commit much to scheduled reviews and such are more relax and selective in what I read. PurpleQueenFairyReads will end the year with 75 posts for 2012 which is 23 posts less than year 2011 but all things considered, I'm cool with it. What's happening next year? Better and bigger things prayfully. Thank you so much for dropping by and reading my my thoughts.  Here's wishing you a wonderful new year and abundant blessings be with you and your family for 2013. Happy New Year 2013! Being the fan of the winning coach of The Voice 2 & 3, here's a song to end one year and to start a new one :)  God bless.

Synopsis : In the expert hands of fourteen unsurpassed storytellers, being a takes on a whole new meaning.  Get ready for a lethal mix of meddling mothers-in-law, creepy neighbours, cheating husbands, fickle female friends, careers left behind, out-of-control kids, and much more in this thrilling collection  of never-before-published stories!  Go behind the lace curtains and PTA smiles to explore the often mind-numbing reality of being a housewife. Join Nevada Barr, Barbara Collins, Carole Nelson Douglas, Eileen Dreyer, Vicki Hendricks, Suzann Ledbetter, Elizabeth Massie, Christine Matthews, Denise Mina and many more on a riotous ride through the dark but often hilarious corners of the housewife psyche . It was an impulsive decision to borrow this book from the library and I can't say I regret it but at the same time I can't say I enjoyed it too. There are a total of thirteen short stories some of which are quite interesting but some are quite boring. However, I...

Image from the web H ere's wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas celebration. God bless and have a happy new year!

Synopsis : WHO IS KATE BLACKWELL? She is the symbol of success, the beautiful woman who parlayed her inheritance into an international conglomerate. Winner of a unique position among the wealthy and world-renowned. And she's a survivor, indomitable as her father, the man who returned from the edge of death to wrench a fortune in diamonds from the bleak South African earth. Now, celebrating her ninetieth birthday, Kate surveys the family she has manipulated, dominated, and loved: the fair and the grotesque, the mad and the mild, the good and the evil -- her winnings in life. Is she the...Master Of The Game? It's a great feeling to re-read Master of The Game for the n-th time.  Yes, that's right.....I just can't remember how many times I read it since the time I bought this book (3rd June 1990 - it's inscribed in the inside cover).  It's one of the books that I kept at parents' house during my college years and whenever I visited them during h...

Synopsis : When Ellie Black meets Dan Cooper, she feels as though she's found her best friend and soul mate. After an idyllic courtship, Dan proposes and Ellie happily accepts. She loves everything about Dan, even his family: his sister, Emma, has become her good friend, and his mother, Linda, might end up being the mother Ellie never had when she was growing up.  Ellie's own family was far from ideal--her alcoholic mother died when she was 13, and Ellie and her father withdrew from each other almost completely. She hopes Dan's family will become her own, that is, until she gets to know Linda and realizes how controlling and manipulative she can be. Ellie's resentment toward Linda grows after she gets pregnant and gives birth to Tom. When an accident puts Tom's life at risk, Ellie's bottled-up emotions spill over and threaten not just her relationship with her mother-in-law but her marriage itself.  Green, best-selling author of Jemima J (2...

Synopsis : So you want to know how to become famous? Step 1 : Get your photo taken for the New Yorker, along with your incredibly beautiful red-haired sisters. Step 2 : Watch as your face is plastered all over Time Square and New York goes crazy over you (why? Don't ask me.) Step 3 : Learn to fight off the paparazzi who are camped outside your school. Older brother, especially seemingly invisible ones are useful here. Step 4 : Pretend to be interested in leetchy old film stars at glitzy parties and don't let them realise you would rather be doing your homework. But take it from a tip from me, Amelia, so-called IT Girl, fame is NOT all it's cracked up to be. all those glamorous parties are really just full of neurotic women studiously avoiding the canapes.  Being followed by hoards of men with cameras can seriously threaten your social life. And no one listens when you tell them you never wanted all this in the first place. One bit of advice I would give you, ...

Synopsis : Stephanie Plum may not be the best bounty hunter in beautiful downtown Trenton, but she's pretty damn good at turning situations her way...and she always gets her man. Her cousin Vinnie (who's also her boss) has posted bail on Samuel Singh, who mysteriously disappears just as his work visa is running out.  and Stephanie is on the case to ensure the elusive Mr Singh doesn't make his disappearance more permanent.  But what she uncovers is far more sinister than anyone imagines and leads to a group of killers who give a whole new meaning to the word hunter.  In a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Vegas Strip, Stephanie Plum is on the chase of her life. The last time I read a Stephanie Plum book was in May.  To the Nines is the 9th book in the series.  It's quite considerate of the author to title the series this way. Easy for readers to keep track of them. However, I really do not know how does the title To The Ni...

Synopsis : Life has been good for Becky Bloomwood.  She's become the best personal shopper at Barneys, she and her successful entrepreneurial boyfriend, Luke are living happily in Manhattan's West Village, and her new next-door neighbour is a fashion designer! But with her best friend, Suze, engaged, how can Becky fail to notice that her own ring finger is bare?  Not that she's been thinking of marriage )or diamonds) or anything. Then Luke proposes!  Bridal registries dance in Becky's head. Problem is, two other people are planning her wedding : Becky's overjoyed mother has been waiting forever to host a backyard wedding, with the bride resplendent in Mum's frilly old gown.  While Luke's high-society mother is insisting on a glamorous, all-expenses-paid affair at the Plaza.  Both weddings for the same day. And Becky can't seem to turn down either one.  Can everyone's favourite shopaholic tie the knot before everything unrevels? Once in  a ...

Sometimes I felt the world out there misunderstood fictions.  Most people might think of fictions or novels as just 'story books' and reading 'story books' are just for fun and rather shallow and nothing educational, doesn't challenge oneself and certainly has totally no literacy value. The 'real' people should thus be reading serious, important factual stuff or self improvement books or the real artistic ones would immerse themselves in impressive literature.  To such people, I would suggest that perhaps you need to get down from your high horses and try fictions such as The Ice Cream Girls.  You might find yourself having a dent in your opinion.   In the bible there are many parables or stories which were used as a teaching tool to teach the people then.  Such, I do not see anything wrong if we are to modernize this concept and think of fictions and novels as parables of modern days.Yes, the The Ice Cream Girls is a story book because it is a stor...

 Popular Bookstore year end sales started on last Thursday, 15 November in Permata Carpark Kuching and will run for 10 days.  By coincidence, I went on the 1st day of the sales. The place was packed!  I had to line up for about 45 mins to pay for my purchases.  I guess it could be because it was a public holiday on that day and the city folks took opportunity to exercise their spending power,buying not just one or two books but by the basket full!  My cynical mind actually wonders how many would actually read the books they bought. Anyway, I managed to get some very good selections and will look forward to the many hours that I will spend with them. These are what I bought : 1. To the Nines by Janet Evanovich - the 9th book of the Stephanie Plum series. 2. Man and Boy by Tony Parsons - I have been wanting to try this author. 3. The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Carlos is a Spanish writer.  His work is being translated to ...

I noticed that there's a change in my reading habits these few months.  I seems to be reading less nowadays.  While I can managed about 10 books in a month (at one time, many, many moons ago), I am struggling to complete even 1 book nowadays. On reflection, I hope it's a good thing as I am now utilizing my time on other interests and other aspects of my life.  I hope it's not because I get so tired easily nowadays. I am currently reading The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson.  I started this quite a while back but it's such a 'dark' story that it's taking me a long time to complete as I just couldn't continue reading at times. I am also re-enjoying Becky's company in Shopaholic Ties the Knot at the same time .  What a contrast! With a few holidays coming up (yipee!) , I really hope I can catch up again on this habit.

Synopsis : This stunning novel begins on a winter night in 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr David Henry to deliver his own twins.  his son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down's syndrome.  For motives he tells himself are good, he makes a split second decision that will haunt all their lives forever.  He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution.   Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is a brilliantly crafted story of parallel lives, familial secrets, and the redemptive power of love. I was on a lookout for this after reading Kim Edwards's The Lake of Dreams   last year. I found it at the Books 2nd Time Around sale this year.  I knew even before reading that I was going to like it.  I was right! :)  It is indeed a great book that I would be m...

Synopsis : The Beginning Of The End It's a fiercely hot summer, so hot that the north pole's heat record is broken by fifty degrees.  Massive ice melt stuns the world as open ocean appears at the pole for the first time in living memory.  Deep under the Atlantic Ocean, currents crucial to life react, dropping south - and suddenly, storms of unprecedented ferocity start exploding over the arctic as cold air returns, slamming into the heat with cataclysmic results.  The storm grow until they form a blizzard and gigantic blizzard unlike anything ever seen before.  A stunned humanity realizes that a second ice age is about to engulf the earth. Climatologist Jack Hall tried to warn people of the approaching peril - but it may already be too late for any hope of survival.  Now he must not only find a way to reverse the rampant ecological destruction that is transforming the world into a frigid wasteland, but also rescue his rebellious son, who is one of the m...

I bought this book because I read an e-book of Nicole Seitz many moons ago and liked it.  Trouble The Water is different from Inheritance of Beauty (the e-book) that I read.  However, it is written in pretty similar whimsical tone that's rather soothing and relaxes you when you read it. The story is about two sisters, Honor and Alice. Most of the story is written in a letter Honor wrote to Alice, six months prior to Alice finding Honor dying in the hospital.   From there you will discover the love they have for each other, the secrets they kept from one another and above all the hope they have for each others' life. Honor is one troubled girl and is dying and she has a deep secret that she wanted to share with her sister.  She seemed to feel that that incident many, many years ago shaped them into who they are now.  Alice love Honor and for once she stood up to the bullying by her husband who wasn't happy that she choose to be at her sister's bed...

Synopsis : Trisha McFarland has only veered off the trail to get away from the bickering of her brother and recently divorced mother.  She doesn't think there's any chance of losing her way. Except, in her panic to get back to the path, Trisha takes a turning that leads into the tangled undergrowth. deeper and deeper into the terrifying woods.  At first it's just the midges and mosquitoes, hanging around her ears like helicopters, trying to drink her blood and sip her sweat.  Then the hunger. For solace she turns her Walkman into broadcasts of her hero Tom Gordon. And when the reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her. As darkness begins to fall, Trisha begins to give up home of being found. Alive. And as she struggles for survival and a way out, she realizes that she's not alone. There's something else in the woods - watching. Waiting.... When I read such synopsis on a book by 'Master of All Masters of Horror' (in my op...

Synopsis : For Fox, Caleb, Gage and other residents of Hawkins Hollow, the number seven portends doom - ever since, as boys, they freed a demon trapped for centuries when their blood spilled upon the Pagan Stone.  Their innocent bonding ritual led to seven days of madness, every seven years.  But this year, they are better prepared, joined in their battle by three women who have come to the Hollow. Layla, Quinn and Cybil are somehow connected to the demon, just as the men are connected to the force that trapped it.   Since that fateful day at the Pagan Stone, town lawyer Fox has been able to see into others' minds, a talent he shares with Layla.  He must earn her trust because their link will help fight the darkness that threatens to engulf the town.  But Layla is having trouble coming to terms with her new found ability - and with this intimate connection to Fox.  She knows that once she opens her mind, she'll have no defense against the desi...

When I first saw Sushi for Beginners years ago in a warehouse sales, I thought it was a beginners guide to all things sushi.  Yes! I actually did.  That was before I knew of Marian Keyes and that was before I read my first Marian Keyes book, Last Chance Saloon . Sushi for Beginners is set in the world of magazine publication.  Lisa Edwards, the tough editor of Femme magazine and who's based in London suddenly found herself moving to Dublin after being assigned to start a new magazine in Ireland.  Shock and horror are too gentle to describe how she's feeling.  But being the tough cookie that she is, she vows to bring this new magazine to a great launch.  It does help that Jack Devine, the Managing Director has caught her attention.  The only thing to do is to make sure he falls for her instead of his exotic Asian girlfriend, Mai.  But then, someone from the past came looking for her in Dublin. Ashling Kennedy, the newly recruited deputy e...

  Synopsis : She's on the glinting edge of East-West confrontation, a beautiful and accomplished scholar who has suddenly become our newest ambassador to an Iron Curtain country, a woman who is about to dramatically change the course of world events - if she lives.  For Mary Ashley has been marked for death by the world's most proficient and mysterious assassin, and plunged into a nightmare of espionage, kidnapping and terror.  Here, only two people - both powerfully attractive and ultimately enigmatic men - can offer her help. And one of them wants to kill her. My attempt to re-read some of my old favourites has been rather slow.   I started with The Firm in April and it was about four months down the road before I attempt If Tomorrow Comes .  I brought Windmills of the God s with me during a recent overnight work trip and enjoyed it once again  Windmills of the Gods is really a classic Sidney Sheldon. Published in year 1987, the story is set a...

Synopsis : Los Angeles is full of performers. But for psychologist Alex Delaware, spotting what's real and what's not is a matter of life and death. Called in to evaluate an aspiring actress accused of staging her own abduction, Alex finds nother too unusual - until the girl is savagely murdered.  To complicate matters, Dylan Meserve, the victim's boyfriend and fellow accused, has disappeared. Is Dylan a calculating killer or another victim? Alex and homicide detective Milo Sturgis are on the hunt for suspects.  Meanwhile, the killer's trawling the seedy underbelly of Hollywood on a very different mission. I have never hear of Jonathan Kellerman prior to this book although his other titles seems to date from the 80s right up to year 2007.  Gone is published in year 2006 so it's fairly new.  If not mistaken, I bought this book from a warehouse sales couple of years back and it was only recently that I started with it. It's a fairly okey book. Wasn...

 Synopsis : In the town of Howkins Hollow, it's called The Seven. Every seven years, on the seventh day of the seventh month, strange things happen.  It began wihen three young boys - Caleb, Fox and Gage - went on a camping trip to the Pagan Stone.  Twenty-one years later, it will end in a showdown between evil and the boys who have became men - and the women who love them.  If I had known that this was part of a trilogy, I might not borrow it from the library.  Reason being I don't like to read trilogy or series when there are no certainty that I would be able to complete the series.  If not because I picked it up in a hurry and missed out totally on the inscription on the front page that this is Book 1 of 3 books, I would have missed out on a rather awesome series. Blood Brothers is the 1st book of the Sign of The Seven Trilog y by Nora Roberts.   The story started with an incident that happened in year 1652 in Howkins Hollow.  From t...

Synopsis : The phone call came on a hot July day—a day like any other for Marin County mom and freelance writer Tanya Harris. But this call—from Tanya’s agent—was anything but ordinary, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the chance to write a major Hollywood screenplay, a dream she had put aside long ago to devote her energies to her family. This time, Tanya knows she cannot refuse, even though she’s torn about leaving her husband and their daughters. From the moment she steps into her lush bungalow at the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, Tanya is thrust into an intoxicating new world where she feels reborn—energized by the creativity swirling around her—yet the pull of her family at home is strong. Suddenly she’s working alongside A-list actors and a Hollywood legend: Oscar-winning producer Douglas Wayne, a man who always gets what he wants–and who seems to have his sights set on her. Flying home between shoots, struggling to reconnect with a famil...

Synopsis : Newly qualified doctor Joanna Lyndhurst needs a break, so she escapes to a Caribbean island.   There she meets an enchanting and diverse bunch of characters, destined to become lasting friends. There's Lowell, an American lawyer, and Vincent, an art dealer from Amsterdam, who travel together but lead separate lives; feisty New York banking executive Merrily Morgenstern, who is tough, ambitious and looking for romance;  arts dealer Jessica, mourning a lost love and dreaming of her big break; and Cora Louise and Fontaine, mother and daughter from the steamy South, with their own murky secret. The holiday becomes an annual tradition as close friendships develop, yet the Caribbean sunshine hides a dark secret - someone is on the trail of a killer. This is my first time reading this author.  Have not heard about her at all prior to this even though she seems to have about nine book under her name. Anyway, Double Exposure wasn't such a bad read after al...

 I went to the Books 2nd Time Around when they were in town this year from 21 July to 12 August.  This is the 3rd year running that they are running such fair.  I wonder if it will last?  For this year, I actually noted the date wrongly and was surprised to find out that it has already started and felt a bit guilty that I didn't announce it here.  My bad! Anyway, I didn't have much time to really browse around when I was there but I did notice that the books were more new and clean compared to previous years.  Still, with my limited time there I managed to find these : 1. A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury - I love books by Karen Kingsbury.  This is part of her Woman of Faith category. 2. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards - I made a promise to self to look for this book after reading The Lake of Dreams a year ago.  I am so glad to find this. 3. The Skull Beneth The Skin by P.D. James - I got this for only RM1.00!! ...

Synopsis : After years of silence, Texan lawyer Scott Fenney receives a devastating phone call from his ex-wife.  She has been accused of murdering her boyfriend - the man she left Scott for - and is begging Scott to defend her.  If Rebecca is found guilty, she will be sentenced to life imprisonment.  Her future is in his hands. Scott is used to high-stakes cases, but this one is bigger than anything he has handled before.  As he prepares to take the stand in the most dramatic courtroom appearance of his life, Scott is forced to question everything he believes to get to the truth - to save the life of the ex-wife he still loves. It's nice to be re-acquinted again with Scott Fenney from The Colour of Law which I read many years ago.   It was the first book by Mark that I've read and since then I have enjoyed his other books such as The Perk and The Abduction .   I have not read The Common Lawyer yet. Can't seems to find it in the stores...

Synopsis: What would you do for love? Would you die? Would you kill? We have your wife. You can get her back for two million cash. Landscaper Mitchell Rafferty thinks it must be some kind of joke. He was in the middle of planting impatiens in the yard of one of his clients when his cell phone rang. Now he’s standing in a normal suburban neighbourhood on a bright summer day, having a phone conversation out of his darkest nightmare. Whoever is on the other end of the line is dead serious. He has Mitch’s wife and he’s named the price for her safe return. The caller doesn’t care that Mitch runs a small two-man landscaping operation and has no way of raising such a vast sum. He’s confident that Mitch will find a way. If he loves his wife enough. . . Mitch does love her enough. He loves her more than life itself. He’s got seventy-two hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But he’ll pay a lot more. He’ll pay anything. ‘ It’s been a while since I read ...

Synopsis : Tracy Whitney was young, beautiful, intelligent and about to marry into wealth and glamour.  She was on top of the world.  Until suddenly, betrayed by her own innocence, she was in prison, framed by a ruthless Mafia gang, abandoned by the man she loved. Beaten and broken, but kept going by her dazzling ingenuity, Tracy emerged from her savaged oreal determined to revenge herself on those who had destroyed her life and to fight back against a society that denied her success and happiness.  No one wold ever cheat her again. From New Orleans to London and on to Paris, Madrid and Amsterdam, with intelligence and beauty her only weapons, Tracy played for the highest stakes in a deadly game, matching her wits against the successful and the unsrupulous.  Only one man can challenge her.  he's handsome and persuasive and just as daring. And only one man can stop her. An evil genius who shadows her every move - a man whose only hope of salvation is Tr...

Synopsis : Witness as Shiloh’s new life in Virginia crumbles around her. The house she inherited from her mother is much more than a place to live—it represents Shiloh’s changed life and what little financial security she has. But her half sister is contesting their mother’s will and the IRS is threatening to take it for back taxes. She’s also discovering God’s ideal when it comes to love and romance.  When Mr. Right shows up will she recognize God’s hand or let circumstances and prejudices blind her heart to the love of her life? Like Sweet Potatoe Pie is the second book by Jennifer Rogers Spinola in the Southern Fried Sushi Series.   We first get to know Shiloh in the first book, Southern Fried Sushi . Nothing much has changed for Shiloh since then but in a way everything has changed for her.   While she is still stuck in the South and still yearns for everything Japan, she is living a very different life now as a believer of Christ.  She is...

I was reading the papers just now when I noticed the above article. BookFest in back in Malaysia again.  This time round it's from 18 - 26 August 2102 in KLCC.  The theme this year is 'Like Reading'.  Yes, I like reading, so I should go to BookFest? Yes and no.  I wasn't able to make it to BookFest in Malaysia l ast year but I managed to catch BookFest in Singapore end of last year.  Needless to say, it wasn't really what I thought it would be.  You can read about my account on BookFest@Singapore here . The event will be from 10 am - 10 pm and admission is with purchase of the BookFest catalogue at RM2.50 per entry or RM10 for multiple-entries over the nine days.  Catalogues are available at all Popular and Harries bookstore outlets nationwide and at the Bookfest entrance.  Entrance will be free for students who are 18 years old and below and for senior citizens aged 60 and above. For more information, go and visit bookfestmalaysia.com...

I didn’t realise that I have been away from this site for 2+ months.   It has been such busy but incredible 2+ months for me doing something else other than reading.   I have been reading, but in much more smaller doses and I think and feel that the ‘break’ did me good. But like I said, it’s been more than 2 months and I have been itching to get back here again on a regular basis and to pick up my love for sharing what I have reading again. Remember my bookshelf tour .   Well, while that shelf is looking all nice and dandy, I have not shared with you the other shelf as what was once a very nicely arranged shelf has been looking like an overcrowded low-cost flat for quite a while, with books on top of one another and spilling over.   One of the solution is to either get a new shelf but I know that even if I do, it won’t be long before it’s spilling over again as I seems to be buying books faster than I read!  The other solution is to ‘get rid’ ...

I will be right back real soon.

Synopsis : Mary Beth and her younger sister Leeann are trying to support themselves in their small Southern hometown. To make ends meet, alongside her job at the diner Mary Beth works by practicing her own unique talent : song reading. By making sense of the song lyrics people have stuck in their heads, Mary Beth can help them make sense of their lives. In no time, Mary Beth’s reading have the entire town singing her praises, including scientist Ben, who falls hard for Mary Beth and her unearthly intuition. When her gift leads to a secret truth about a prominent neighbour the pain of the past threatens to overwhelm the sisters’ future. And without Mary Beth’s music, the town’s silence is louder than ever. Could it be that the lyrics to all those foolish love songs really aren’t so foolish after all? I have mixed response reading this. It’s a rather bittersweet story about growing up and the joy and pain that come with it. Leeann is the narrator of the story and it’s through th...

Synopsis : At the age of 25, Hannah Crowe moves from Canada to London, intend to cure herself of a puritan upbringing and to find a husband. A few months later, she is married to Daniel and living in Camberwell, south London. Together they attempt to pursue their shared desire for a creatively rich, emotionally intense and sexually passionate domestic life, but it soon becomes apparent that this kind of relationship requires more from them than their individual ambitions will allow. Funny, spirited and heartbreaking, Hannah and Daniel are pulled between kindness and infidelity, freedom and and responsibility.  Their story is one of misplaced passion, of yearning and the refusal to compromise. This is not really of chic lite gene. It’s more intense. It’s also not really of romance gene either. It’s less romantic. I have mixed feelings reading this book. Part of me enjoyed it a bit. Part of me felt it’s a waste of time. Basically the takeaway lesson here is that one should ...