Confessions of A Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Synopsis from www.goodreads.com

After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her level of Austen mania has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperons, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience.

This looking-glass Austen world is not without its charms, however. There are journeys to Bath and London, balls in the Assembly Rooms, and the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who may not be a familiar species of philanderer after all. But when Courtney’s borrowed brain serves up memories that are not her own, the ultimate identity crisis ensues. Will she ever get her real life back, and does she even want to?

My Comment:

When I buy this book I was  expecting it to be adventurous. Why not? After all the main character time travelled and have the chance the experience life in that era. There should be some fun in it. Instead I find that there is too much whining in here for my liking. Not much of romance as in normal Jane Austen novels. 


Some things does not makes sense to me. Courtney is said to be an addict of Jane Austen's novels and whenever she is unhappy, she will bury herself in the novel. If this is so, wouldn't her character be more tune down when she suddenly found herself back in time instead of hype up on what they don;t have there like makeup and a daily bath? A true Jane Austen addict would know what to expect in that era. Wouldn't she be enjoying the scene there or in the very least exploring instead of lamenting about her old  life which in the first place nothing to shout about?


This book have potential if only more mystery and a bit more suspense were added into it. Good job in portraying the hygiene during  that era. Just imagine it..not taking bath daily. Yuck. 


This is only my personal opinion. Others have read it and liked it. Have a try. Maybe you will like it.

Amazing Grace by Tara FT Sering

Grace is desperate to be married and she was delighted when Mike asked her to marry him though the impression that I have of her is that she wants to marry for the sake of getting marry.

Mike is moving to overseas to work. The long distance relationship did not go well. Grace was going to surprise Mike with a visit but she had a nasty shock when she saw Miken had taken up again with his old flame.

She was determine to get him back. She dragged her chums to chase Mike over 3 countries in order to have him back.

I find that the plot of this book is very simple and predictable. The characters are pretty much shallow. There is nothing amazing about Grace


This is only my opinion. Others may find that they will like this book. Have a try and see.

Undercover Tai Tai by Maya O Calica

First thing to remember when reading this book is to throw logic to the wind and you will enjoy it more.

The story is about Amanda who is having a dead end sort of live in Singapore. Her job sucks and even her housemates can't recall her name.

Agent Brian is an officer who bakes when he is depressed and he was depressed coz his girlfriend left him for another guy.

His Boss came to him and gave him 48 hours to find a partner in order to solve the mystery of the missing rich widow, Jasmine, who is the widow of a rich man, Tony.

He some how managed to rope in Amanda , a civilian, who was his sparring partner in a self defence class to be the undercover agent. And a series of funny incidents happen

As I have said earlier, this novel is not that logical. However, it have moments of fun.

It's not logic that Singapore Police would use dubious method to force a civilian to help them especially in undercover job.

If I a rich and would wanna flee, I would have had the brain to create a new identity and squirrel all my asset to the new identity instead of waiting for the Police to freeze my asset.

If I am dead and my death is know to everyone, the Bankers surely would have frozen my asset long time ago.

Anyway....as I have said there were some fun scene too. Love the way the author wrote about the blossoming romance of Brian and Amanda

You can try reading this as you might enjoy it thought I didn't

Final Notes From a Great Island By Neil Humphrey

For the past few days I have been reading this book.


It is about Neil Humphrey who have been in Singapore for about a decade and now he decided to move on to the land Down Under. Before he go, he decided to have one last "tour" of Singapore. To go to the places which he had been to.

I find that this book is a bit bland at certain parts. Nothing much that holds my interest. Jokes seems to fell flat. For example the part where he was threaten by a vicious dog. A Police man who is smaller size than him stands between him and the dog. Then the bus came and he ran to the bus with the dog close to his heels. All this while he was shouting for the police to shoot the  dog before it bites him. Maybe that part was intended to be funny but I find it's nothing to laugh about

Guess this book just doesn't suit me. Maybe others will think differently for each will have their favourite type of book to read.

Schooled In Murder by Mark Richard Zubro

Tom Mason is a teacher in Cleveland High School. He is also the Union Representative.

He hates faculty meeting. It's endless and boring. Nothing much get done there. Two groups the old school and the suck up kept at each other throat.

It was one such meeting..Tom got bored and sneak out to take a break. When he came back, the meeting room was empty. Meeting was adjourned.

He heads toward the stockroom and unwittingly bump into two teacher having their tryst there. Both are male teachers and one of them are married. Tom saw a leg sticking out from behind some boxes. When they look further, they found that Gracie(the teacher who storm out of the meeting) was dead with the black board eraser stuffed inside of her mouth.

The Police was called in. The school administrators were unhappy as it gives bad impression of the school. They come to Tom as he is the Union Representative there.

Everyone were interviewed by the Police. End of day, Tom was exhausted. But when he went into the car, he found a second corpse laying behind his car.

This plus the fact that he discovered the first body and that he had sneak out from the meeting earlier made him seems suspicious. He is one of the prime suspect. What worst is that he soon discovered that there are people who is trying to pin the murders onto him.

He had to discover who is the real murderer fast before the Police pin it on him. Together with his lover, Scott Carpenter, a former professional baseball player they tried to investigate.

I find that I don't like this book. Everything seems to be jumble up. Most of the male teachers seems to be homosexual while the female teachers are lesbian. Both groups also tend to be bi-sexual. There are no fidelity in marriage nor in couple/partners.

I am not anti homosexual or lesbian but there are just too much reference on this. Kinda hard for me to keep track of who is doing it with who and who is the partner of who.

The plot is simple. The reason for the murder seems to absurd especially since so many people are involved. The reason would be more logical if the murders were done on an impulse.

As usual, I might not like this book but other might find it interesting for each person passion for reading is not the same.

The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery

It was the early nineteen century. Aurelia was an orphan. She doesn't know who is her father. Her mother passed on while she and and her uncle were in a ship to Japan. Her uncle was a Missionary who was selected to go to Japan to spread the religion. Unfortunately he died in a fire the first day they arrived in Japan.

Alone with no place to stay, Aurelia hide in a Teahouse. She was adopted by the Teahouse family and was personal companion of the young Mistress of the house, Yukako.

Tea Ceremony was a big thing during that time. Only a Master can perform the Tea Ceremony.

The Shin family was once very rich and was looked up to by everyone. However, the family fell from grace due to the changes in the Imperial Japanese decree trying to abolish most of the ancient customs. No more Shogun. And Tea ceremony is looked on as ancient art. Out dated. No longer valued.

Nevertheless, Aurelia devoted herself to the Shin family despite the failing fortune. Mistress Yukako tried to help the family but was hinder by ancient practices.

Aurelia fell in love with the Tea Ceremony practise and also Mistress Yukako. She was there for Yukako through all the all the up and downs. Although Mistress Yukako treats her well, was just not meant to be. Aurelia will always be an outsider.

In the end, she went back to the land where she was born.


What I like about his book is that it's very rich with the ancient customs and each move are vividly portrayed.

The thing I don't like about this book is it is too long winded. Felt that it's dragging. Another negative point about this book is that the font is very tiny. Hard to read.

This would be a good book for those who loves to know more about ancient Japanese Tea Ceremony. I guess, this book is just not for me.

The Manny by Holly Peterson

Jamie Whitfield live in the Grid where the rich lives. She is a part time TV News Producer and the wife of Philip, a successful partner in law firm.

Philip is forever too busy to make time to have father and son quality time with their son Dylan. Jamie feels that Dylan needs some male company which she and the nanny could not provide.

This is where, Peter Bailey, comes in. Jamie hired him to be the "Manny"(the male version of nanny) for Dylan despite Philip's objection.

Hiring of Peter does not only improved Dylan's human to human interaction but also makes Jamie open her eyes to what is happening around her. Although she protest that she is not one of those " socialite" but sometimes peer pressure seems to be too much and she had to succumbed to the demand. What worse is that she seems to be attracted to Peter.

The good thing about this books it highlighted what most working couple are facing nowadays especially the endless chase for money. Money is never enough, or as according to Philip. The need to be accepted socially, as thought by Jamie. And how all these affect the lives of the children and also the relationship between married couple.

Also highlighted how extra-marital affairs tend to start. A friend who is not communicating with her husband and both blatantly having affairs. What can one do when one walk in on ones husband doing it with ones so call friend? What can a man do when a sexy married woman pull him into a closet and show him she is not wearing any panties underneath? What can one say when someone told you that they do it for the excitement that can't be found in their husband?


At work, there is also scene of betrayal where someone could purposely make false story just to pull a prank and revenge with no concern who die in the middle.

Then there is also the office politic angle at Philip's office which does not seems to sit well in this book.


Yes, this book tries to tackle many issues...a tad too many issues and not enough time/room to elaborate. Hence the characters and plot comes out as stiff and lacking of depth. There are so much potential in this novel but again and again a particular issue was not given the chance to develope properly before jump into another issue.

Sometimes, I think it is best not to bite more than what ones can chew.Yes, there is room for improvement for this book. If only the author can elaborate more on the characters and gives them more life.

Crazy In Love By Chris Manby

Birdie Sederburg is a celebrity heiress. Her parents died in an avalanche. Her only living relative was her grandfather Julius Sederburg who is too busy with his business empire to take care of her. Hence under the care of a series of nanny.

Julius was ruthless in business and let Birdie do as she likes as long as she don't disturb him. She grew up to be a rich, spoilt and over pampered young lady who care for herself only. Anything she wants, she must have.

One day, she got into her head that she is in love with a hot young actor, Dean Stevenson. Dean was horrified but at the pressure of his agent, Dean, "entertained" Birdie's attention to him.

But soon, Dean, found a new love. Birdie is willing to do anything to get him back, including getting herself kidnapped.

And this kidnapping episode really changed her life and she saw what an empty existence that she was having all this time. She also found her true calling and love.

I have read some of Chris Manby books and they are good. But I can't say the same for this. I had a hard time finishing this book.

First of all, the font was quite tiny making it hard to read. I wonder why she want to have this book printed in such a tiny font. To save paper and the environment so that it's coincide with a part of this book?

Secondly, the first half of the book of the book are dedicated to describing what a pampered and empty live that Birdie and her friends were having. Nothing better to do than updating their Facebook with every tiny things that they do and also creating false news for the Paparazzi to write.

The second half of the book was about how she want converted from her selfish ways to seeing the light of her empty existence and turn into a pro-environment supporter. Pretty much unbelievable.

For me it rate 1 star. Maybe I am getting to be too demanding in my reading?

The Root Of All Evil By Dewi Anggraeni

Komalasari had left Jakarta, Indonesia for 9 years and reside in Australia. She have a husband, Drew and two kids who loves her.

One day, she got to know that her father was seriously ill. She just had to go back and see her father.

When she arrived in Jakarta, she had a real cultural shock. So many things had changed.

The people in Australia are always straight forward. In Jakarta, everything is not as it seems to be. One word can have a thousand different meaning. Injustice seems to be a way of life. To them, it's fated.

She met her ex-boyfriend who had jilted her and now assumed that they can continue where they left it last time.

Then she also met a night club hostess who had to do what she is doing for the sake of her children. But when injustice done to her, everyone kept quiet.

I don't under stand the tile of this story. The Root of All Evil. At first I thought it had to do with some mambo jumbo. But then it seems to me this story is about cultural shock. Ones can have cultural shock when one returned to own country

To me this book worth 1 star. Too long winded and a lot of hesitation