PURPLE QUEEN FAIRY READS

I felt it was just yesterday that I did my good bye 2013 and hello 2014 post but in actual fact it's 365 days ago.  Where did those days go? So, how was my year like?  You know what, it was a great year.  It was a year of change as I survived my first year in a new position in a new organisation with new portfolio and new set of accountability.  It wasn't really a change I want to make if I am perfectly honest but it is a change that's absolutely necessary to move on. The family went on an unexpected holiday to an unexpected country and it was a wonderful experience for each and everyone of us.  It certainly brought us closer as a family unit and I thank God each and every single day for His blessings in our lives. This post also marks a total of 70 posts did this year in Purple Queen Fairy's world which is exactly the same number of post as last year so I am pretty pleased about the consistency I have towards this blog.  It was...

The lights are all out, the hubby's sleeping off his dinner :) and the princess is busy with her presents and here I am, taking this opportunity to wish each and everyone a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. Indeed, it was joyous for us as we celebrated Christ's birthday with family and friends.  The celebration started early this week and will probably go on till this weekend and on to the end of the year as we welcome in the new year. We were at a book fair this evening in one of the malls in the city and the only excitement for me is this Christmas tree made from stacked up books.  Needless to say, I didn't do any shopping at all which is a good thing as I bought quite a lot of books at another book fair in the city which ended last weekend. Anyway, it's time for a read before bed, so once again, thank you for being here and here's wishing you great cheers for the Christmas! I quite like this song this year so here's to you. God bless :) ...

Synopsis : A beautiful woman walking into Myron Bolitar's office asking for help should have been a dream come true.  Only this woman, Suzze T, is in tears - and eight months pregnant... Suze's rock-star husband has disappeared, and she fears the rumors questioning her baby's paternity have driven him away.  For Myron, questions of fatherhood couldn't hit closer to home.  His own father is clinging precariously to life, and the brother who abandoned the family years ago has resurfaced - with danger following close behind.  Myron is soon forced to confront deep secrets in Suzze's past, his family's mortality - and his own.... Since I enjoyed reading my first book by Harlan Coben a few months back, I was quite excited to try out Live Wire recently.  I can't remember exactly where or when did I get this copy from but it has been with me since last year so it could have been part of my windfall or perhaps I bought it from one of the book sales I went...

Synopsis : In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply in love.  Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for each other seems to defy the realities of life in the small town of Oriental, North Caroline.But as the summer of their senior year came to a close, unforeseen events would tear the young couple apart, setting them on radically divergent paths. Now, twenty-five years later, Amanda and Dawson are summoned back to Oriental for a funeral. Neither has lived the life they imagined...and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever changed their loves. Forced to confront painful memories, the two former lovers soon realize that everything they thought they knew - about themselves and the dreams they held dear - was not as it seemed.  And in teh course of a single, searing weekend, they will ask of the living, and the dead : Can love truly rewrite the past? Having enjoyed reading The Rescu...

Year 2014 has been a pretty busy year for the family and the decision was made last December that we would be going on a long vacation this December.  Well, it's December already and plans were made throughout the year for this fantastic holiday that we are embarking. Any plannings that I made would not be complete without planning on what to bring along to read and that planning and decision alone is a major project itself and took me quite a while to consider.  However, after much considerations which includes lots of elimination, the final two books are hereby shortlisted. First is an autobiography on Aung San Suu Kyi, Perfect Hostage .  This would be a good book to read in the long flight to and from and I am confident that the life of Aung San Suu Kyi would be captivating enough but yet at the same time, i can stop anytime and pick it up again without having to be concerned about storyline and plots and so on. Next is Heaven Is For Real which was made into a...

Synopsis : Aimee Leduc, the half-French, half-American detective in Paris, is approached by a rabbi to decipher a fifty-year-old encrypted photograph and deliver it to an old woman in the Marais, the old Jewish quarter.  When she does so, she finds a corpse on whose forehead, a swastika has been carved.   With the help of her partner, a small people with extraordinary computer skills, she sets out to solve this horrendous crime and finds herself in the middle of a dangerous game of current politics and old war crimes. Again, like this title that I last read, Murder in the Marais was also recommended to me.  I wasn't really that keen to start on it.  The cover of a rather large, gloomy and morbid building didn't encourage me at all.  The only reason I read it was because I appreciate the recommendation. Reading Murder in the Marais was both enjoyable and a dread.  I enjoyed the plot that weaves in survivors of the second world war.  T...

Synopsis : If only Alice could get rid of her new stepfather, then everything would be as sweet as it had been before Simon Jester wormed his way into her mother's heart.  No one wants to believe that the pieces of Simon's tragic past don't seem to fit - or that he is trying to poison Alice and her older brother. The ranting of an eleven-year-old girl don't amount to much in East Texas - until the one night her mother comes in to kiss she good night and instead whispers a single word ' RUN '. When I bought this book from a vicious reader, she told me that this is an extremely good read.  I took her word for it and it is true that it's an extremely good read. I read in within one days as I could not put it down.  Thank goodness that I had a sore throat that day and reading this did keep my mind off my sickness and made the day more pleasant. Alternating between creepy and disjointed but yet captivating at the same time, I have conflicting feelings ...

Synopsis : Stephanie Plum, Trenton, New Jersey's favourite pistol-packing, condom-carrying bounty hunter, is back - and on the trail of a revenge-seeking waitress who's skipped bail. With the help of 73 year old Granma Mazur, ex-hooker Lula, a transvestite musician named Sally Sweet, and the all-too-sexy Joe Morelli, Stephanie might just catch her woman.  Then again, with more mishaps than there are exits on the JerseyTurnpike - including murders, firebombs and Stephanie's arch-rival bounty hunter chasing after the same fugitive - Stephanie better watch her back big -time if she wants to live to crack this case. Four To Score is simply the fourth book about the life of Stephanie Plum , bounty hunter extraordinaire (not) that is just very addictive.  It has been a while since I have my last fix so I thought it's time again to have my fix.   I actually thought I read Four To Score already but it seems like I missed this one and I was quite surprised to fin...

Hills Shopping Mall, a mall downtown which is rather quiet will be bustling with people these two months.  That is because Hills Mall is the annual new home of the largest second hand book sales in Kuching since last year.  Choosing to call their books Second Time Around, the books are all pre-read books brought in from the States and Northern American and they can be either from personal collections or libraries. t was last Saturday, around 11 am that the princess and I made our way to Hills Shopping Mall.  There wasn't much of a crowd yet when we got there but I managed to meet some friends and we bumped into my dad there too! The princess made bee-line for the young adults section but the choice wasn't much.  Perhaps they have not unpacked much of their books yet.  I was asked to keep an eye on the Divergent Series which the princess is starting to read but I wasn't successful in my search for this series. Personally, I was looking for A Pris...

Synopsis : Ashley Freeman, a beautiful, bright art student, had what she thought was just a fling with Michael O'Connell, a blue-collar bad boy.  But now, no amount of pleading or reasoning can discourage his phone calls, ardent e-mails, and constant, watchful gaze. For Michael's brash, handsome features conceal a black and empty soul.  Control is his religion and rage is his language.  In desperation, Ashley turns to her divorced parents and her mother's new partner - three people locked in a cold triangle of resentment.  But their fierce devotion to Ashley is the common bond that will draw them together to face down a predator.  For Ashley's family, her ordeal is a test of primal love that will drive them to the extreme edge - and beyond in a battle of wills that escalates into a life-or-death war to protect their own. I bought this book for the purpose of my flea market sales recently.  It was one of thirty books that was recommended.  I d...

Synopsis : Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather have decided to create the best catering company in Dublin.  They have talent, premises - even a few contacts.  But not everyone is as pleased by the idea of 'Scarlet Feather' as they are.  Tom's parents wanted him to follow in the family business, and Cathy's mother-in-law believes Cathy should be at home.   Yet neither Cathy's marriage, nor Tom's relationship with his girlfriend, are everything they appear to be, and Cathy and Tom are struggling to maintain their emotional ties amongst the catering triumphs and disasters of Scarlet Feather. Right after the delightful Evening Class and the challenging Tara Road , I am finally reading the final book by Maeve Binchy that I have with me, Scarlet Feather .  This particular title is slightly different from the first two titles and while it was an enjoyable read, there was something missing but I can't really put my finger on the missing ingredients for  now...

Synopsis : Twenty years ago, Jane Hudson fled the Heart Lake School for Girls in the Adirondacks after a terrible tragedy.  The week before her graduation, in that sheltered wonderland, three lives were taken, all victims of suicide.  Only Jane was left to carry the burden of a mystery that has stayed hidden in the depths of Heart Lake for more than two decades. Now Jane has returned to the school as a Latin teacher, recently separated and hoping to make a fresh start with her young daughter.  But ominous messages from the past dredge up forgotten memories.  And young, troubled girls are beginning to die again - as piece by piece the shattering truth slowly floats to the surface... At first I thought this would be a rather 'dark' book but surprisingly it wasn't really so.  It was rather sombre as my initial impression was that the story will focus on teen suicide but as it happens, it turned out to be something rather different. The Lake of Dead Langua...

Synopsis: Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them —Set— has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe - a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. I decided to read the Kane Chronicles after reading The Percy Jackson Series .  Like the Perc...

October's coming to an end and in about two months we will be welcoming a new year.  However, before that there's still plenty for for me to do both at work, at home and also my book sales.  For this month, I will again be taking part in the flea market running from 31st October to 2nd November at the same mall like in previous months. For this month, it's slightly different as it will be over three days and it might be the last sales I would be taking part in before calling it a year (I signed up for the flea market for the month of December but I'm not sure if I can make it or not due to a trip that I might need to take but that's a deciding for another day). For October, I will bring to the sales the following titles : Scarlett Feather by one of my newly favourite author, Maeve Binchy.  The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks which is a wonderful read and Venus Envy , chic lite by Louise Bagshawe which is not too bad. Department 19 ...

Synopsis : At twenty-seven, Alex Wilde feels like her life is going nowhere. She’s stuck in a dead-end job and her relationship history is a tale of woe. What’s more, she’s put on a few pounds lately...Sharing a house with three gorgeous girls doesn’t help. Her sister Gail got more than her fair share of the good genes, Keisha is an ice-cool man-magnet and Bronwen is so hip it hurts.  With competition like this, is it any wonder Alex feels so inadequate? Alex has two choices: she can retreat to the safety of her duvet and stuff herself with chocolate or she can smarten up her act and face the world head on. Never one to choose the easy option, Alex realises she needs to up her game if she wants to stay in it.. I was advised not to read this book - that it would be a waste of my time.  I can't say the advice is valid but I also can't say that it's not wrong too.  I have read a few books by this author previously. Some I quite like , some I don't .  V...

Synopsis : When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks to save lives. But there is one leap of faith Taylor can't bring himself to make: he can't fall in love. For all his adult years, Taylor has sought out women who need to be rescued, women he leaves as soon as their crisis is over and the relationship starts to become truly intimate.  When a raging storm hits his small Southern town, single mother Denise Holton’s car skids off the road. The young mom is with her four-year-old son Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities and for whom she has sacrificed everything. Taylor McAden finds her unconscious and bleeding, but does not find Kyle. When Denise wakes, the chilling truth becomes clear to both of them: Kyle is gone. During the search for Kyle, the connection between Taylor and Denise takes root. Taylor doesn't know that this rescue will be different from all the ot...

Synopsis : On a summer afternoon in 1998, six-year-old Iris Neff walked away from a barbecue in her small suburban town...and vanished. Missing persons investigator Brenna Spector has a rare neuro-logical disorder that enables her to recall every detail of every day of her life.  A blessing and a curse, it began in childhood, when her older sister stepped into a strange car never to be seen again, and it's proven invaluable in her work. But i hasn't helped her solve the mystery that haunts her above all others - and it didn't lead her to little Iris.  When a local woman, Carol Wentz, disappears eleven years later, Brena uncovers bizarre connections between the missing woman, the long-gone little girl and herself. I love the cover of this book - red font text and a little girl in red dress against dark grey and black background - very mysterious and intriguing. Book cover aside, it was an extremely enjoyable book even though it's a book on missing child, a th...

Synopsis: Set in Singapore in the early 1950s, The Bondmaid captures the special ethos of a wealthy and powerful Chinese household in that bygone era. A little girl, Han, is sold as a bondmaid into the House of  Wu, where she grows up with the young heir.  But the idyll of childhood attachment quickly turns into a nightmare of a thwarted sexual passion, as Han, beautiful, proud and uncompromisingly loyal, struggles against the forces of tradition and tyranny in a household where patriarchs and matriarchs wield inexorable power, lustful male relatives watch young bondmaids to claim their rightful share of pleasure, and gods and goddesses smile to see the human drama unfold.  The Bondmaid chronicles the power of one woman's love - right to its terrifying climax. After reading The Bondmaid , I can't believe that the story is set in early 50s and some more in Singapore..  For what the story represents and from the way it weaves, it could and should have set in...

Synopsis : Ria and Marilyn have never met - they live thousands of miles apart, separated by the Atlantic Ocean : one in a big, warm, Victorian house in Tara Road, Dublin, the other in a modern, open-plan house in New England. Two more unlikely friends would be hard to find : Ria's life revolves around her family and friends, while Marilyn's reserve is born of grief.  But when each needs a place to escape to, a house exchange seems an ideal solution. Along with the borrowed houses come neighbours and friends, gossip and speculation as Ria and Marilyn swap lives for the summer. I enjoyed reading Evening Class tremendously that when 'class was over', I was quite happy to start Tara Road .  One interesting titbits I discover about reading Maeve Binchy is that some of her characters made appearances in her other titles.  This is especially so when she based her book at the same location. While the characters might not make much impact in the storyline, their appe...

Synopsis : A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.  Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family. Even though I am not a fan of Asian authors, I quite like such self autobiography books by Asian authors.  I have enjoyed a few of such titles with the most memorable one being Wild Swan by Jung Chang, read many years ago. Chinese Cinderella is more of a simplified version of her childhood by Ade...

The month of September is coming to an end (well, it will be in a weeks' time) and before we say good bye to September and hello to October, and without being a narcissistic about it,  there's just time to announce my book sales. I did say at the end my my post here that I would share when my next sales would be.  Well, I am happy to announce that it would take place this coming Saturday and Sunday, 27th and 28th September in Green Heights Mall. I am rather excited as I have not been participating in such sales for a couple of months and have quite a collection to put out to the public.  So, would you be interested in a preview?    Here's a peek on what I am thinking of bringing to the sales :  Perfect Strangers by Robyn Sisman which I reviewed here .  And She Was by Alison Gaylin which I don't think I have done the review yet.  The Kite Runnier by Khaled Hosseini which is a best seller and a well known title and Vanishing ...

Synopsis : On the morning after Sigmund Freud arrives in New York on his first and only visit to the United States, a stunning debutante is found bound and strangled in her penthouse apartment, high above Broadway.  The following night, another beautiful heiress, Nora Acton, is discovered tied to a chandelier in her parents' home, viciously wounded and unable to speak or to recall her ordeal. Soon Freud and his American disciple, Stratham Younger, are enlisted to help Miss Acton recover her memory, and to piece together the killer's identity.  It is a riddle that will test their skills to the limit, and lead them on a thrilling journey - into the darkest places of the city and of the human mind. I think I read this book before.  I just can't really remember but there were sense of deja vu throughout reading this that the chance of me reading this before is real high.  I just can't remember I guess with the many titles that I read over the years.  That is...

Synopsis : A storm struck one the night Laura Shane was born, and there was a strangeness about the weather that people would remember for years.  But even more mysterious was the blond-haired stranger who appeared out of nowhere - the man who saved Laura from a fatal delivery.   Years later - another bold of lightning and the stranger returned, again to save Laura from tragedy.  Was he the guardian angel he seemed?  The devil in disguise? or the master of a haunting destiny beyond time and space?  How was your weekend?  Mine went too fast but it's all good as we get another day off tomorrow to celebration the country's birthday, so happy birthday Malaysia! I am proud to call you home. I read this over the weekend.  Like The Eye of Darkness , Lightning was one of Dean Koontz's earlier book and it was as good as Eye of Darkness like I know it would be.   I could not remember if I read this book previously when I was hooked on ...

Synopsis : Forgotten by the evolution of the centuries and indifferent to the advances of the twentieth century, Thul, a tiny fishing village not far from Bombay, continues to follow those rhythms of the seasons that have always been handed down.  Hari and Lila were born and raised in the village, but now their family is falling into despair: the father to alcohol while the mother is seriously ill. As for money, that there is not even enough to meet the most basic needs between. If there is a book about change, this book would be it.  I feel that 'change' is the central theme that the author is trying to share with readers.  The willingness to adapt to change can really lead to change in quality of lives and directions of lives. The focus of the book is a teenage boy by the name of Hari.  He and his sister, Lila had to take over in caring for their family when their mother fall sick and their father was too drunk to take care of the family.  Wi...

Synopsis : The long dark skein of the romany curse runs down to the fourth generation.   Edward - a brilliant academic, he inherits not only the dark romany looks of his prize fighting father, but he carries he curse of Midas.  Alex - the second son.  Unjustly imprisoned and desperate for revenge once released, he cannot break the ties of blood that bind him to his brother.  He will use the Midas Curse to build an empire on corruption.  Evelyn and Juliana - the fourth generation.  Heirs to a fortune, a legacy in the shadow of a romany curse. The Talisman is a vast, compelling sage that sweeps from the mines of South Africa, through the boardrooms and gambling clubs of modern day London to the international world of fashion - tracing the phenomenal rise to wealth and power of a family whose bloodline is cursed. I never intend to read this book.  I didn't think it would be nice.  The story is that one afternoon, I was stranded somewhe...

Synopsis : Suze Wilding and Lloyd Rockwell are perfect strangers.  She lives in London, he lives in New York.  They know nothing about each other - until one summer they exchange jobs and homes. Suze is impetuous, impatient and NEVER wants to get married.  Lloyd is complicated, cautious and contemplating marriage to the eminently suitable Betsy.  But when Suze discovers a plot at work to get rid of Lloyd, the two begin communicating long-distance and they wonder what might happen if they ever met face to face.... Perfect Strangers is the perfect book for a perfect Saturday afternoon with a cup of english tea and a couple of cookies to go with it.  It is also perfect if you paired it with a sparkling wine and some grapes or cheese to nibble on.  Whatever you have it with, it is just perfect for some alone time. Suze is just the guest that you would be worried about if you are the type who keeps your house picture perfect, like Betsy.  Howeve...

The saying that time flies can certainly be very true.  In this case, it certainly did as I just realized that I have been doing one review after another and it was in April (which felt like only yesterday) that I had my last post on a non-review post. May, June and July seems to just speed by and I am wondering if someone out there is speeding up time.  If there is, it would be good if they can slow down time a bit too don’t you think? I went on a short holiday to the capital city with the princess for some quality time.  It was a great trip.  I visited a couple of bookstores there one of which I will write about sometimes in the near future. On the reading front, things are looking good.  I have enjoyed my reading session and the books I decided on seemed to be the right one most of the time.  My favourite read these few months would be BeautifulLies and Prospect Street by Emilie Richards.  Beautifully written, well rese...