Featured Author - Danielle Steel

Which among you ladies (and men) have not heard of Danielle Steel? She’s one of the best known author in the world for the past 30 or more years and has more than 70 bestsellers under her belt. Even if you have not read any of her titles, a few of her books have been adapted into television series and you might have seen it one time or another. I started reading Danielle Steel in my late teens and until now I still do enjoy her books once in a while. Not too often but once in a while. I’ll explain why.

I have always preferred her over other authors who churned out romances like a factory. Danielle is so talented to spin such a tale that you felt you are on a journey with the character, across time and space. To me it’s always an experience to read her tales based on historical theme. My all time favourites are Zoya, the tale of a Russian princess and The Ring about a ring that belongs to a Jewish family during the holocaust. Crossings, Jewels all set around WW2, Message from Nam, set during the Vietnam war are fondly remembered. However, I didn’t like it so much when it comes to tales based on modern world. For some reason, I just don’t dig them. I still remember book such as 5 Days in Paris and also The Klone & I which I didn’t like at all. But I do like The Ghost. I remember bringing it with me to my honeymoon! I still have it and might re-read it again one of these days.

I stopped reading Danielle Steel about 8 years ago. There are just so many new authors to discover and I do need a break from her. While I love her writing, there’s a certain formula to her style. The heroine is always beautiful and desirable and also rich or they will be rich then along the story became poor and then rich again or they started off poor and then become mega rich and successful. I’ll stop right here but I’m sure you do get the picture. There’s an element of ‘woman power’. Then, the men...they would always be either real rich or stinky poor but will always the handsome and dashing and the perfect gentleman and extremely honourable and such and we all know that such men only exist among the pages of her tales. Slightly like what M&B has to offer but Danielle offers nothing sleezy and she describes a roll-in-bed like the perfect lady that she is. Also, her heroine’s characters are better developed and more refined. Danielle does bring to life what she spins.

After the break of so many years, I bought 2 of her books recent from here. I thought I might rediscover Danielle once again and see if what she has to offer once again, appeal to me. I bought Echoes and Irresistible Forces. I’ll share my thoughts on Echoes at the next post so do stay tuned!

A mother of 9 kids, Danielle lost one of her son, Nick who committed suicide and died when he was 19. Danielle wrote a memoir about him in His Bright Light. For more information on this talented author, you may visit her at http://www.randomhouse.com/features/steel/. She blogs too at http://daniellesteel.net/blog/.

Tales of Beedle The Bard by J.K. Rowling

Tales of Beedle The Bard is important in the final book of the Harry Potter series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. With the movie adaptation of the Deathly Hollows releasing in soon, interest in Tales of Beedle The Bard would escalate. TBTB is important in HPDH as Hermione Granger was presented a copy under the last will of Professor Albus Dumbledore. A story in TBTB was instrumental in Harry’s quest in finding the Deathly Hollows.

Tales of Beedle The Bard is a collection of 5 short tales, each with its own magical character and uniqueness. In the world of Harry Potter, they are popular bedtime stories for young wizards and witches. It is the equivalent of stories of such as Sleeping Beauty, Ugly Duckling, etc. to the non magical students.

Fans of Harry Potter would have surely gotten a copy when it was release in year 2008. Non fans will not bother at all. The stories are very un-Harry Potter like and not necessary the ‘living happily after type of stories’ as favoured by us all. The uniqueness in the book would be a short note or observation made by Professor Dumboledore at the end of each stories. There’s also footnotes and such and generally, quite delightful.

I will certainly hold on to my copy but it’s no bedtime stories that I would like to tell my young ones!

Holiday Read

I'm going on a holiday :) and these are what I'm bringing with me :)

The Wives of Bath and Pastures Nouveaux, both by Wendy Holden.  Don't they look cheerful :)  I loved the cover colours...pastel green and prawny pink.  Just the right colour for a relaxing holiday.

I'll let you know what I think of them when I'm back.

False Impression by Jeffery Archer

You can see how torn and tattered the book is. That’s how it looked when I bought it in a 2nd hand shop a few years back. Cost me only RM8 (about US$2.30). I know I can get better looking 2nd hand book for this price or cheaper but it’s the story inside that matters and not so much the cover. Since then, I have read False Impression twice.

Set against the NY Sept 11 backdrop, we have heroine Anna Petrescu who survived the attack just as he was being sacked by her boss, Bryce Fenston, a banker with questionable banking ethics. The author gave us a quick insight to those in North Tower during the attack and Anna’s one of those who made her way down just in time before the tower collapsed. The attack is not significant at all to the story but probably just the author’s way of immortalising the incident for future readers/generations

A self portrait with a bandaged ear by grandmaster Van Gough is the main character in this story. Through a set of incidents, he travelled pretty much around the world as the story brought us to these places by those who meant him well and those who wishes to possess him. Of course, however, tacky it would be, there would be the expected romance which otherwise, we might say it’s a horrible book! In this we have senior FBI agent , Jack Delaney, to thank for.

This reminds me of Sydney Sheldon‘s book like Master of the Game, etc, it’s a engrossing read - fast moving and full of suspense, hint of romance, bit of humour,etc. Jeffery Archer is a great storyteller and managed to spin a tale that keeps you wanting to turn to the next page and the next and the next..... and before you know it, you have been on an incredible ride with him. However, do be mindful that’s one of those that I considered a ‘fun brainless read’ so don’t expect any Nobel Prize material. Just enjoy the ride and be entertained. :)

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

Synopsis:


Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married. But for four women in particular, the big news about the charismatic politician is especially momentous. Lola has every reason to be interested in who Paddy’s marrying – she’s his girlfriend but she definitely isn’t the bride-to-be. Grace, the journalist wants the inside story on the engagement. Grace’s sister, Marnie, might have the answer but like Grace, she has issues with the past. And Alicia, the soon-to-be Mrs de Courcy thinks she knows the real Paddy de Courcy but does she? Four very different women. One awfully charming man. And the dark secret that binds them all …

I have wanted to talk about this book for ages and I just can’t wait anymore. First, Marian Keyes is one of my most favourite authors of chick lite. I discovered her years ago with ‘Last Chance Saloon’. Marian is a fantastic author. She deals with common but important life issues women faced. For example in Rachel’s Holiday, it was alcoholism, mid-life crisis in Angels and Anybody Out There? deals with coping after death of spouse. But the way she writes them, you can feel the connection with the characters. You laugh with them and at them but you also ache and cry with them as you felt their pain and sorrow. I cried a lot when I was reading Anybody Out There? Will share that with you one of these days. :)

With This Charming Man, things seem to be a bit different. The message is much more serious and sombre and you felt a sense of seriousness throughout the book. The main issue highlighted here is domestic abuse and how each of those women being abused deals with it differently. Some went into denial, some blames themselves, some turns to alcoholic but some champion the issue... It is also about how it can happen to anyone whether you are a housewife or a career woman in the corporate or political world. For that reason alone, I find it a very different read altogether compared with the other titles. The seriousness of the message came through. Even Marian’s style of writing is slightly different here. 

But you know what, with more than 670+ pages, you should just read it. Published by Penguin, I bought mine in trade paperback from the Penguin warehouse sales last year. According to reliable source, this title is no longer available in my country for reasons that I am not very sure of. Anyway, I am happy to add this to my collection of Marian’s titles that I have in my library.

31 Dream Street by Lisa Jewell

Would you like to have this for your home address?

Synopsis :

Leah and Toby have lived across the street from one another for years without meeting...and in that time Leah has been itching to peek behind the front door of Toby’s eccentric house, always packed to the rafters with weird and wonderful tenants. When fate finally lets her in, Leah find that Toby needs her as much as she is surprised to realise that she might need him. Sometimes life needs a helping hand – with a sprinkle of romance and their own special magic, Toby and Leah’s dreams show the glimmer of a chance of coming true.

With that, we are invited into the home and lives of Toby and his assorted tenants. We have wild girl Ruby, mysterious Joanne who has much to hide, dreamer boy Connor who has a dream and a plan and his mother, Melissa who is full of guilt. Not forgetting, Leah, the girl from across the street who is basically sweet and charming . We get to know their stories, why they are where they are now and eventually when they ended up in. Toby is generally a nice guy and I’m glad that there are people like him around in this world. He really deserves what he got at the end. Leah is a wonderful person and I’m so glad she didn’t sell herself short.

With its dreamy pastel coloured cover, 31 Dream Street is a feel good book full of humour yet retains its humanity. I don’t want to share too much but I generally glad I picked up this one from a warehouse sales. The review from Cosmopolitan says that this is ‘A great one to read on a Sunday morning while you’re curled up in your duvet’. I quite agree. Go and get your copy today!

Lisa Jewell lives with her husband and daughter in the UK and has a few titles under her name. As her website says ‘After fifteen years of distractions and diversion, Lisa rediscovered her first love and her only talent – writing. The rest is history.’

Maximum Ride – Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

My first introduction to a kid named Max with special abilities like having wings and being able to fly went back to the days of When The Wind Blows, first published in 1998 and subsequently Lake House, published in 2003. Along the years, I knew that James Patterson started a series with these characters under Young Adults Category. However, I never came across any of the books under this series until now....

When I pick this particular one up, I knew what I was getting myself into – a fast thrilling ride but what I didn’t expect was the difference between this series and the early days of When The Wind Blows. I guess I should have expected it seeing that they were written for different category of readers. James Patterson also claimed that the Max and her gang in these series are not the same Max that I mentioned from the above 2 books and follows a different but similar storyline. Hmm.... I hope you got that and how do I not think of them as the same Max. I think that’s rather difficult for someone who had read When The Wind Blows and Lake House not to identify this Max with the other Max.

Anyway, back to the differences, other than a different Max altogether, what’s the other differences, you ask? Well, for once, the writing is different. This is less descriptive, short sentences with matter-of-fact statements. Lots of cynical remarks, very technologically updated with references to blogs, emails, etc. I am sure it’s very appealing to targeted Young Adults. Very little on romance, just a hint of it here and there. Certainly very different from the Twilight Series.

Maximum Ride – Saving the World is actually the 3rd book into the series. The 1st two are The Angel Experiment and School’s Out Forever. The subsequent titles are The Final Warning, Max and Fang.

You can read this book just as it is without the earlier titles but it would be quite difficult to fully appreciate the storyline and who these group of ‘birdkids’are. The writing is fast paced and the chapters ere short and just over 2 -3 pages per chapter. However, I find the characters quite one dimensional. There’s no in-depth development there and I can’t understand how they can joke at times when their lives ere in danger. I find it pretty lame but perhaps that’s how young readers like it to be....

I finish reading it in just 2 days. It was published by Little Brown in hardcover and would have cost me RM48.50 (US14 or £8) but since I pick this up from the local library, no damage there.