Book Blogger Hop!

Crazy for Books is hosting Book Blogger Hop. It is open from July 9-12.
This week's question:
Tell us about some of your favorite authors and why they are your favorites!

Harlan Coben is my favorite author because he writes excellent mystery novels. He will just make me to think that I have untied the mysterious knot but in the next chapter I come to know that all my assumptions are wrong. Only in the end when he reveals the truth we can get the exact overall picture of the whole thing. His novels have unpredictable ending.

Friday 56

 

Rules:

• Grab the book nearest to you. Right now.
• Turn to page 56
• Find the fifth sentence
• Post that sentence (Plus one or two if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comment section of this blog.
• Post a link along with your post back to this blog, Starting Fresh and to Storytime with Tonya and Friends
• Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Here is mine form "Full House" by Janet Evanovich,

Billie stared at her. "Nick?" She hadn't thought of using Nick as a way out.

In the Beginning

First Line : "Don't do it hard, you'll break my arm Walren" Yed cried out.

‘In the Beginning’ is the first book of ‘The Great Destruction Series’. This book mainly revolves around Yeducavich and the Warnos(his race).

Yeducavich, a women protector, is tricked by his King for a night stand with Ezra for the sake of his race (King claims so). Then Yed finds out that Ezra is none other than his childhood friend. He gets the permission from the King to be her protector under one condition - ‘At no cost the involvement of the Kingdom should be revealed’.

Protector Yed goes to Ezra’s home and the romantic feeling starts to bloom between the two which is illegal for someone in this profession. Moreover they were in fear of war and the extinction of their race.

How will Ezra react to the truth? Can Yed come out of this predicament? Can Warnos withstand the war?

I was thrilled when I came to know that this novel belonged to the genres -‘Romance and Fantasy’ as both are my favorite . So I had a great expectation for this novel. When I started the novel, this was the first question that raised in my mind - ‘How can I enjoy the romance between some creatures with tail?’. But to my astonishment the romance between Ezra and Yed was exquisite. With time I was sucked in the story and it made me to turn the pages with thrill. And towards the end it had a sentimental touch which made me sad.

The plus about this novel is the very good story, interesting romance, thrill and a very strong ending. Also Melanie Ray made me to care for her characters and this is a good thing for the novel.

But I also admit that all my expectations were not gratified by this novel. Melanie failed to add the contents to make it a good fantasy (just the tail and the pheromones are not enough). The Warnos were using more mundane things like laptops, mobile phones and cars. When I read fantasies, I look for new experiences in everything I come across but I found it missing. And finally its cover, they could have designed it a little more attractive.

On the whole I enjoyed the novel. I will surely read it more than once. The ending is a brilliant cliffhanger and is making me curious to know what will happen next. I give four stars for this novel.

Blue Dahlia

First Line : Birthing a bastard wasn't in the plans.

‘Blue Dahlia’ by Nora Roberts is the first book of ‘In the Garden Trilogy’. This shows the love and power of a mother.

Recently widowed Stella moves to Memphis with her two children and a dog. She gets the job in the Harper Nursery. It is the Harper house where the three women Roz, Stella and Hayley, who are sailing on the same boat meets. Then Stella meets Logan, a landscaper. Initially they both hate each other but with time the hatred slowly turns into love. Stella feels hesitant to enter into a long term relationship with Logan fearing what will happen to her two sons. She is also consistently disturbed by a dream featuring Blue Dahlia. More than this, she is unaware of the huge problem the future has kept in store for her to deal.

Nora Roberts portrayed all the three female lead characters as mentally strong women. Stella is a well organized women, she perfectly plans each and everything. In contrary, Logan is a complete mess. But all the characters are altruistic type which is hard to believe and a bit artificial.

Nora Roberts trademark is her description, which is the strength of her book. The description is so lively and the dialogues of the kids and their little kid fights are realistic. What can I tell about the story? It’s nothing but another over familiar, slow paced love story. The climax comes to the rescue of the story which gave me a little thrill.

The cover of this books shows the Blue Dahlia. It reveals nothing about the story but this attractive bright coloured cover made me to choose this book. I give two and a half stars to this book.

Friday 56

Rules:

• Grab the book nearest to you. Right now.
• Turn to page 56
• Find the fifth sentence
• Post that sentence (Plus one or two if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comment section of this blog.
• Post a link along with your post back to this blog, Starting Fresh and to Storytime with Tonya and Friends
• Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Here is mine from 'Blue Dahlia' by Nora Roberts. Only today I started to read this book.

"She had to speak with Roz about the seasonal employees. Who, how many, individual and group responsibilities."

This is the blurb:

Three women meet at a crossroads in their lives, each searching for new ways to grow - and find in each other the courage to take chances and embrace the future.

Stella has a passion for planning that keeps her from taking too many risks. But when she opens her heart to a new love, she discovers that she will fight to the death to protect what's hers.

Fill in the Blank Friday

Fill in the Blank Friday is started by The Perpetual Page-Turner. It is nothing more than normal fill in the blank. We should complete the following sentence

I enjoy reading because _________________________

I enjoy reading because it takes me to some other world through my imagination which others cannot reach. The good book is like a best friend to me when I'm in solitude. Moreover it is the best and interesting way to spend my leisure time.

P.S. If you don't have a blog, please do it in the comment section.

Veronika Decides to Die

First line: On 11 November 1997, Veronika decided that the moment to kill herself had – at last - arrived

‘Veronika decides to die’ by Paulo Coelho tells about the 7 days of Veronika, which she lived in Villete while waiting for the hands of death to touch her.

Veronika, who appears to have perfect life decides to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills in excess. But her plan fails and when she wakes up, she finds herself in Villete, an asylum in Slovenia. Doctor tells her that she has only a week left to live her life because of the damage she had caused to her heart. During her stay in Villete she explores the different versions of Veronika who stayed within her without getting the opportunity to come out. Her stay also affects Mari and Eduard, making them to take the important decision of their life. Finally Veronika and Eduard falls in love with each other.

Paulo Coelho had tried to tell about the importance of living our life as we like and he had succeeded in it. He tells that most of the people live their life fearing what others will think? And how sometimes the love of one destroys the life of other?

From the first page to the last page Coelho had carried the story in an interesting way. This book changed my thoughts about mental asylum. Coelho’s explanation about mad people, scientific reasons behind it and the stories of Zedka, Mari and Eduard made me to thoroughly enjoy this book. Just after reading the first four pages I decided that I should somehow find and read all the books of Paulo Coelho. I give four and a half stars for this book.  

Pop Babylon

First line : 'Kylie Minogue is sitting on my face'

Imogen Edwards-Jones have come up with ‘Pop Babylon’ by the information obtained from some folks of Pop industry. This book tells about a year long work of ‘The One Management’, a music company in building a boy band.

Though it tells about the building of ‘Band of Five’, the interesting part of this book is not the story but the anecdotes and the gossips about the pop industry. It tells about the problems involved in forming the girl band, about the drugs and scandals in this industry and the reasons for the failure of most of the bands. The author had brought the evil face of the industry into lime light.

I have read some non fiction but this one is different from them. This book is completely filled with information like ‘How much they spent for Spice Girls album?’ , ‘What is the share of manager, distributors and blah blah’ and a lot like this. This book was not so catchy to me as I’m not interested to know about Pop industry. I recommend this book to the people who are interested to know about Pop world.

The Virgin Suicides

First line : ‘On the morning the last Lisbon girl took her turn at suicide – it was  Mary this time…….’

The Virgin Suicides is a non-fiction by Jeffery Eugenides. The story tells about the life of five Lisbon girls who end their lives by suicide. The story is narrated by the Lisbon’s neighbourhood boys who were in infatuation with the Lisbon girls.

Even though the climax was revealed in the first line, the author made me to read the full book at one go. The book was rich in its description. Jeffrey brought the transformation of Lisbon’s house after Cecilia’s death live before my eyes.

The book is the collection of the things which the nearby people know about Lisbon girls. This also contains the views of various experts about this suicide pact. This book made me to think deeply about the reason which forces the person to suicide. In the case of Lisbon girls I think they were trying to free themselves from this world to live a new life in some other world which they alone can see.

On the whole the book is dark. 

Two for the Dough

First Line : I knew Ranger was beside me because I could see his earring gleaming in the moonlight. 

‘Two for the Dough’ by Janet Evanovich is a detective novel. Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter. Vinnie employs Plum to find Kenny Mancuso who disappeared after getting the bail. Morelli(cop), cousin of Kenny is also looking for him while working in a case to find some missing guns and ammo from a military base. Plum and Morelli decides to work together. After sometime she gets another work from Spiro (Undertaker) to find his 24 missing caskets. Plum gets dead threats and some gifts from Kenny regularly. The rest of the story tells how Plum and Morelli resolve the mystery in this case.

The story had a slow start. First I thought that Kenny was hiding himself from someone who is a threat to him. I thought someone have stepped into the shoes of Kenny and playing the game but to my surprise he suddenly shows up to Plum. Then the author slowly enlightens us the attributes of Kenny and how dangerous he is. And then onwards the author made me to expect what Kenny will do next and who will become his next victim.

I should mention about Grandma Manzur character. This is the most interesting character in this novel. She also plays an important role in the story to find the culprit. On the whole the novel is interesting.