The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughin and Nicola Kraus

I was hoping for a bit of light reading when I pick up this book. Unfortunately it's not.It's a rather thought provoking sort of book.

"Nanny" is a student struggling to graduate from NYU. She advertised her service as a nanny in order to support herself and to afford the tiny studio apartment which she shares with another.

She literally bumped into A Mrs X's little boy or rather the boy bumped into her. They chatted and that was how she become the nanny to Mrs X's little "monster".

As the story goes, Nanny and the oby grew fond of each other. However, the longer Nanny was with the Xes, the more she was drawn into their webs of lies and deceits.


It was a tense 9 months where Nanny tried to help the boy, to maintain her own integrity and also avoid to be drawn into the domestic squabbles of the Xes.

Sometimes it's really scary on how a book can mirror life so vividly. Time and time again, Nanny was used mercilessly by Mrs X. At first,  Nanny would just tried to accommodate her ridiculous requests and made sacrifices. However, Mrs X seems to have taken Nanny for granted.

The despicable Mrs X also likes to dangle a carrot in front of the horses nose.

I love the part near the ending where Nanny realised what a conniving lying ahem ahem Mrs X was. All the frustration and anger described in that part was what I felt after the evil scheme was revealed.

I guess all these things made this novel such a great success. It got innocence, greed, envy and totally wicked.


I like this book. Reading this makes me want to watch the movie.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

Alice and Mattia are both "prime numbers" destine to be alone in their life. When they were just kids, something happen and it changed their life forever.

When they met each other in their teens, they knew that they are kindred spirit. It was so natural for them to tell each other the deep hidden secret of their soul which they never told anyone before.

As they grew older, their fate tied them together and yet it forced them apart.

It was very interesting to see how the story developed. Wondering if the two of them will ever get through the barrier and become a couple.

In this story, it's not the ending that counts, its the journey itself. I love the way the author unfolds each chapters of Alice and Mattia's life. The flash back were not too frequent that I would loose track of the story. It's a book well written

Then only downside is I don't really understand the symbolic meaning of the ending of this book.

The Boy In The Dress By David Walliams

Thanks nylusmilk for passing this book for me to read.

It's about a boy, Dennis, who lives with his father and elder brother. Their mother left them. Both the father and brother were not good at hugging and stuffs that involves showing emotions. 

More often, Dennis, who misses his mom does things on his own.That is until he met Lisa, the notorious and most envied girl in the school. His life suddenly changed.

Nope, this is not a teenage love story. It have a hilarious and yet innocent feel to it. Some parts, I feel sad for Dennis and at others I can't help laughing at the predicaments that he got himself into.

At a glance, this seems to be a light weight sort of book. A book that you read just to pass time. Like a comic. However, I feel there is a deeper meaning/issue that the author was trying to project into this book. For example how we tend to hide our feelings and build a wall around us in order not to get hurt and that wall in turn become our jail instead of protecting us.

Yes, this is a good read

Death On The Nile by Agatha Christie

 

Guess ones could never go wrong with an Agatha Christie book. Death In Nile is no difference.

Linnet Doyle was a woman who have everything. She is beautiful, rich and married a handsome fella after a whirl wind romance. Unfortunately, on top of this..she also have plenty of enemies. 

She was on honeymoon cruise at the Nile when she was found death. Shot in the head. Who is the murderer and what is the motive? 

Fortunately, Hercule Poirot was also on board  to lend a hand or rather a head. Pardon the pun. 

I love this novel. What is not to like? Suspense , mystery, romance and everything under the stars being lump together.

Thank you very much to nylusmilk for passing this book to me.

Help Alyssa by Buying Book Titled "Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure" by B.K. Bostick

Recently I have been introduce to a kind hearted author by Cleffairy.He is none other than B.K. Bostick.

He is the author of "Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure" which is going to be launch soon

Here is the synopsis of the book taken from www.goodreads.com

When his grandfather dies, Huber Hill is devastated---until he opens Grandpa Nick's mysterious box. An old gold coin and directions to a hidden Spanish treasure send him and his friends off on an mind-blowing adventure, but he's not the only one on the hunt. Filled with dangerous animals and cryptic puzzles, this book will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

This is not a paid review nor have I received any ARC of this book. But I heard from Cleffairy, this book is great.

Anyway, reason that I write this post is because I have recently became a fan of B.K. Bostick in his fan page in FB.

Being the busybody that I am, of course I read some of the statues he posted in FB and last Friday he posted something about his incredible neighbour, Alyssa.

Alyssa was diagnosed with a Meningioma Brain Tumor on 5th December 2010 and the only way to get it out is by brain surgery.

B.K.Bostick had pledged to donate 100% of the proceeds from the sales of his new book ,"Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure", from 1st to 16th October 2011, to Alyssa and her family. So, mark down these dates in your calender now! Help Alyssa and at the same time, you get to enjoy reading a great book.

And if can, do help to spread the words through your Facebook, Twitter and/or blogs about this fundraising.

My Prison, My Home by Haleh Esfandiari

This is a true story of Haleh Esfandiari. She is an Iranian American academia.

Each year, she travels back to Iran a few times  in order to visit the 90 over years old mother.

During her one of her visit back to Iran in 2006, she was robbed while on  her way to the airport. Among the things that they took from her was her passport.

And hence this begins her ordeal in Iran while leads to her detention in one of Iran most fear prison, Evin.

To me the first 160 pages of this book is rather dry. Not my cup of tea coz there were lengthy description of the political situation in Iran and the political relationship between Iran and  America. Am not really into politic and stuffs like that.

I think those who love politic would like this book and have better understanding about it.

The second half of the book was interesting when she described the juicy detail of her imprisonment and her jailer.

Now how shall I rate this book? Can't rate based enjoyment as this is a personal experience and not fiction. Well, I'll just leave the rating blank.

Water's Edge By Robert Whitlow

Tom Crane had a bright future. A great job. Any minute now he is going to be made partner of a high profile firm. A beautiful girlfriend.

Amidst all this, there is just one small matter of winding up his deceased father's law firm. His father was killed in a boating accident. He needs to go back to his hometown Bethel, to close down the practice before he can get on with his perfect life.

Then out of the blue, disaster struck. He was fired from his work and his girlfriend broke up with him through letter. At that time he felt real lost and was contemplating of taking his own life. He have nothing else to live for.

However, God works in a mysterious way. When Tom was in his lowest, Elias was there to advise him. Elias was a religious man.


Tom took one day at a time. While cleaning his father's stuff he found that there was a large amount of money in an account.

This roused his curiosity and he starts to dig deeper. It was like opening a can of worms. I won't spoilt your enjoyment of this book putting a spoiler here. It's better for you to read it for yourself.

At the beginning, I can't help to compared this book with John Grisham's "The Firm" or "The Partner". I guess most people would do this too as John Grisham had set a precedence to it.

However, I discovered that there is something special about this book. That is a hint of religion in it. Actually, it blends well with the plot and is a very good combination.

There are many books that are fill with suspense and actions in the market. And so far, this is the only book that I come across that also promote the believe in God without sounding overly pious.

In my opinion this is a great book for those who love to read suspense and thriller but does not like to be bombarded with those foul words nor ungodly messages. Great for teenagers and adults.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”