The Wedding Dress By Rachel Hauck

Book Description from Booksneeze.com

Four brides. One dress.

A tale of faith, redemption, and timeless love.

Charlotte owns a chic Birmingham bridal boutique. Dressing brides for their big day is her gift—and her passion. But with her own wedding day approaching, why can’t she find the perfect dress—or feel certain she should marry Tim?

Then Charlotte purchases a vintage dress in a battered trunk at an estate sale. It looks brand-new, shimmering with pearls and satin, hand-stitched and timeless in its design. But where did it come from? Who wore it? Who welded the lock shut and tucked the dog tags in that little sachet? Who left it in the basement for a ten-year-old girl? And what about the mysterious man in the purple vest who insists the dress had been “redeemed”?

Charlotte’s search for the gown’s history—and its new bride—begins as a distraction from her sputtering love life. But it takes on a life of its own as she comes to know the women who have worn the dress. Emily from 1912. Mary Grace from 1939. Hillary from 1968. Each with her own story of promise, pain, and destiny. And each with something unique to share. For woven within the threads of the beautiful hundred-year-old gown is the truth about Charlotte’s heritage, the power of courage and faith, and the beauty of finding true love.

My Comments:

I have read the author, Rachel Hauck, work before and like her writing style very much. 

After finishing The Wedding Dress I felt that she had exceeded what she had done so far in the previous work. 

I like the way the author stacked the odds against Charlotte and Tim's relationship.

In the beginning when I was reading the story of Charlotte and Tim, I did not give much chance between the two of them. 

After all, it was a whirlwind romance in which after the proposal, Tim seemed to have cool down a lot on the idea of getting married. Charlotte was also hounded by Tim brother's wife, Kathrine, who is a know-it-all type and over bearing. Then, in came the ex-girlfriend. Well, lets just say it's juicy enough to  keep the pages turning.

I love the way how she switch the story from Charlotte who is the latest recipient of "The Dress" and Emily who was the first owner of "The Dress". The switches were adequately spaced out. I did not loose track of what I was reading and of who is who in the story. 

Only one down side which I can comment about this book is that I felt that the other two recipients of "The Dress", Hillary and Mary Grace,  should have been given more space too. 

I like the way the book is written. Although there were many mention of Lord God, but it was inserted with such grace that it become part of the natural flow of the story without making the book  too preachy. I like the mysterious man in purple that kept making appearance in the story.

This is not just another romance fiction. It give a mysterious feel and there is an unexpected twist in the end of the story.

And to the author, Rachel Hauck, if you are reading this review, I what I would like to say is keep up the good work and I am looking forward to reading more books of yours.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book from the publisher through the BookSneezeThe 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.”

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Synopsis from www.goodreads.com

One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds. Like her House Rules and several other previous Jodi Picoult novels, Sing You Home grapples with hot button issues. The novel also includes a CD of songs, each matched with a chapter in the book. Perfect for book clubs


My Comments

This is the most frustrating book by Ms Jodi that I have ever read. It simply draws out all sorts of emotions from me.

Most of all is my hatred against Max(the ex-husband), Pastor Clive and Wade Preston. Would you not feel anger against Max who walked out on Zoe and preach to her of her sin for being involved in a lesbian relationship while he, himself did the same thing though it's the opposite sex.

Then Pastor Clive and Wade, talked about God and twisted God words as a way to get what they wanted. Fame, glory and in Wade's case $$$. Pity those poor blind sheep that follow them and listen to their twisted words. I really can't stand their double standard and their holier than thou attitude. Thank goodness, these are just fictional characters.

I think Ms Jodi is very brave to write about this. There might be such people in real life. They preach one thing and does another thing or does not practice what they preached. Maybe they thinks that those things is not applicable to them.

Another kudos to Ms Jodi is her bravery in highlighting the plight that are encountered by gay couples. Hope she won't get much bashing from it.

Yes, I love her writing. Her writing is has become more daring from her previous books. I can say that some may not like this book as it brings out anger in them and Ms Jodi had portray some characters to the extreme end where some people like me would happily give them a piece of my mind if they are real people.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5.

Metal Tigers By Peck Soo Hong

Synopsis

Peck Soo Hong had written an absorbing tale of friendship. Set in the 60's, Metal Tigers will transport you to the era gone by.

Peck Soo Hong pulls you into the heart of the story with her memorable characters and breathtaking drama. A deeply touching book that will make you think about your true friends.

(Source from the back flap of the book)

My Comments :

I agree fully with the description above. It is truly a deeply touching book

Do you remember your first love? Love during school days? Well, this is a story from school days to adult life. The wonders and the pain.

Guess, am moved by this book as it brought back a lot of old school days memories. I can still remember "dating" is prohibited and frown on. However, many "couples" still did that in school. Some couples got called up for "counselling" and even parents were notified.

"Dating" then was frown upon as the reason being it affect their studies and yet some couples did well in their studies. The same goes here in this book.

Aahhh...the joy of young love. Innocent, uncomplicated and untainted by anything else. But this is also a book about friendship and sacrifices.

Kudos to the author who managed to bring the characters to life. The scene and feeling were so real.

The author managed to bring me to tears with this book. Or was it because of all the cough syrup that I have been taking for the cough. No matter what, I love this book.

I love the ending and the song "Tell Laura I Love Her". 

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Someone recommended this series to me a long time ago. Only recently did I purchase this as the price was right.

The story is about 12 years old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire and a boy genius devising a plan to increase his family fortune after the disappearance of his father. His mother was not in her right mind after his father disappeared.

Left alone, Artemis Fowl had become a master criminal.

Now he had devised a plan to capture the Leprechaun Gold. He doesn't know how much trouble he is in when he kidnapped a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. The whole force were out to take back what was theirs.

Hence in came the better of the magic and human wits.

Despite this book being targeted at young adults, I find myself enjoyed this book immensely.

The story is fast paced and exciting. Descriptions were vivid and colorful.

It's fun to learn that it's not your normal story. The fairyland here is similar to our world with laws and orders.

Yup, am giving this book a thumbs up.

By the way, there is a special code at the bottom of each page of the book if you care to try and decipher it but if you can't just login to www.goodreads.com and read the translation there.

With a Delicate Air By Pearl S Buck

This is another great find from Subang Jaya Book Exchange Programme thanks to nylusmilk.

There are a total of 14 stories in this book which covers stories from the West and of the East as Pearl S Buck's trademark

In the story of "A Certain Star" a father found time and started to understand his own family.

While in "The Beauty" a wife went in search for her husband who strayed and met with the woman that had entertained her husband. The become friends.

Personally, I love "The Gift of Laughter" the most where a mother found herself face to face with the woman which her son loved.

It's also amusing to read "The engagement" which is about the couple faced with doubts whether they should get married or not.

My only regret is that I was unable to enjoy the last story, "Francesca" to the fullest last two pages were torn from the book.

Overall, this book is something different from the modern novels nowadays. I love it.

Asimov's Mysteries by Isaac Asimov

First of all, a big thank you to Nylusmilk for helping me to get this book from Subang Jaya Book Exchange Programme. Do check out their Facebook for the dates of the next book exchange.

People say "don't judge a book by it's cover". I'll say the same for this book. The cover maybe old and worn out but in it there are 13 terrific stories which captures ones imagination. Included was foreword and sometimes afterwords in nearly each story.

It's hard to write sci-fi let alone sci-fi with mysteries. It sure takes a lot of imagination and a lot of up todate science knowledge. But not matter how up todate ones is, there is always a danger on future event or discovery may mess up the plot of the story.

This is seen in the story of  "The Dying Night" where in the Afterword Isaac Asimov commented that the story was published in 1956 where Mercury was thought to keep one side always to the sun. The plot of the story was built on that. But later in 1965, Astronomers discovered that Mercury have a rotation period of about 54 days. Hence all side would be exposed to the sun at one time or another. Well, that does spoil the plot a bit but it does not affect the enjoyment of the story.

I particularly like "I'm in Marsport without Hilda" where Max had to solve settle a "problem" fast and get to the place of his female "friend" for a little good time. Another good one was "Obituary" where a domineering husband who wanted to be famous somehow got the chance to read his own Obituary".

Yes, this book is for keeps.

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.

The Illustrated Wee Free Men : A Story of Discworld - Terry Prachett

I have come across this book many times before at BookXcess but was not interested. It's due to the name Terry Prachett. Many have praised his works but for me, I don't really fancy his books.

The reason was, I had bought one of his book "Jingo" a few years ago from Pay Less Books Warehouse sale. Till today, I have yet to read it. Have tried reading that a couple of times but kept getting stuck at the first few pages. That's why I sort of gave up on Terry Prachett books.

Then what makes me change my mind and get this book? Well, it's due to the endless "kiasu-ness". You see, BookXcess were having World Book Day Promotion the other day. Each day they offer one book from Children Section, Fiction Section and Non-Fiction Section up for discount, 50% discount. Needless to say my "kiasu-ness" knows no bound.

 Well, am glad I bought this book. Coz the illustration are simply terrific.  There are several pages where we can unfold for a bigger view

 Each page are sure to have drawings of something.

 Some are beautiful

While some can be really scary like this one.

The story is about a Tiffany Aching who is a fledgling witch. Her little brother was stolen by an evil Fairy Queen and she have to get him back from her. In order to get her brother back, she will have to follow him to the other realm. There are a lot of new things, horrors and fighting.

At the beginning it's rather hard to understand the story as Tiffany's world is not the same as ours. In her world, they don't have school and they don't go to school for an education. They buy education using apples and carrots from something like a bazaar or circus where the educators have tents selling their knowledge.

Another thing which makes the story difficult to follow are the weird language by the Wee Free Men. For example, can you understand this "Crivens! Gang awa' oot o' here, ye daft wee hinny! 'Ware the green heid!". I can't so I have to guess as I read along.

Despite it all, I found myself enjoying this book a lot. It takes quite a bit of adjusting the mindset. It feel like going back into childhood and discovering fairytale or like reading The Magic Faraway Tree the first time. Releasing oneself from this world and going into another world.

Yes, I think I will look for more of these Wee Free Men books. Any recommendation?

And Thereby Hangs A Tale By Jeffrey Archer

It have been quite sometime that I have not read any Jeffrey Archer books. I have read most of his books except the Prison Diaries. False Impression was not that impressive to me but Path of Glory was not bad.

I was delighted to spot this compilation of short stories in BookXcess Facebook the other day and immediately e-mail them. Yay! they still have this book and they agreed to reserve a copy for me.

Anyway, back to the "tale". There are 15 short stories in this book and 10 of them were based on true incidents.

Among the stories I love most are "High Heels" in which a woman helped her husband to solve the question why designer shoes could not have gone up in flames

"Where There Is A Will" was also very impressive on the ingenuity of a woman


Needless to say, all those who have read Jeffrey Archer's book would know that the ending of his stories won't be straight forward. There is always a twist in the end.

Love this book

Buy Jupiter and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov

I am a fan of Isaac Asimov. It's hard to get any more of his books as most are out of print. That's why I was delighted to find this hardcover book during one of the Pay Less Book Warehouse Sale.

There are 24 short stories in this book. At the end of each story there is a short but sometimes long commentary from the author on how each of the story got written, what was the original title and some personal opinion on each story.

Some of the stories could be rather eerie too like the story of "Each An Explorer", about the possibility of plant/vegetation developed high intelligence till it can control human.

Love this book. This is definitely for keeps.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I have read The Time Traveller's Wife and found it a good read but somehow rather sad. Was doubtful whether to buy this book, Her Fearful Symmetry, by the same author or not. But then since it's only RM8 from The Big Bad Wolf Sale, I might as well take a chance.

The story is about Julia and Valentina Poole, a set of mirror image twins. They are 20 years old when they received a letter from their aunt Espleth's solicitor informing them that their estranged aunt had left them an apartment in London. The condition is that they are to stay in the apartment minimum one year before they are allowed to sell the apartment and that their parents are not allowed into the apartment at all. Curious?

They have no idea what they are getting into when they decided to go ahead and stay in the apartment. Living upstairs of them is Martin who have OCD. Living below them is Robert, their late aunt's lover. "Living" with them is their Aunt's ghost/spirit who is trapped in the apartment.


Frankly, this is my 2nd attempt to read this book. The first round, I kept getting stuck at page 1. The mood just wasn't there.

Finally decided to try again last evening. I find that I like this book more than The Time Traveller's Wife.  It's more straight forward and without much of the flash back/forward like in the former book.

The plot is very captivating. There is just so many questions to be answered.Yes, it is intriguing to know why their aunt and their mother do not speak to each other anymore. Love the way the story unfolds.

But one thing I don't understand is at page 127, why Martin took and smoked the cigarette which Julia had put onto her lip. I thought he had this fear about germs and bacteria??

A slight spoiler here...I think in the end, everyone got what they just deserved.  I am equally delighted that the ending was not sloppily done. It's has the grace.

Lottery by Patricia Wood

Perry L.Crandall, (the L stands for 'Lucky') have an IQ of 76, but he is not stupid. He is just a bit slow. He lives with his Gram who taught him everything he needs to survive.

She taught him it's important to have list so that he won't forget. They list down who they can trust. This is very important. She taught him it is okay to be slow but "don't be smart". She taught him to buy lottery every week. They would bought 5 tickets weekly.

One day, his Gram just would not wake up from her sleep. She had taught him what to do in this situation. To call 911 and to call his Boss, Gary, to let him know that he won't be able to go to work that day.

He is orphaned at the age of 31. His friends, Gary and Keith, were there for him when he broke down and cried.

Then he went and win twelve Million dollar from his weekly lottery ticket. Suddenly, he found himself with very concerned family members which comes out of the worm holes to help "protect" his interest.

Perry is something like Forest Gump.His wish is simple. And when he won the Lottery, he just followed his list. The list where his Gram and him listed in the event that they win the Lottery.

Amidst all these, his "family" tried all sort of tricks to get their grubby hands on the money. Would he survive their onslaught?

I nearly missed this book if Winnie from Bookxcess did not point this out to me. The cover of the book was not that attractive. Looks like some sort of cheap novel. But after reading this book, I totally revised my opinion. I think it's fantastic. It is a MUST READ.

To me, it's like a motivational book. To know what is our personal goal and target instead of comparing it with others. Take one step at a time for each person will have their own pace. Be thankful for the thing you having now. Always know what is your needs and no need to covet what you do not need.

This book will makes you think a lot without being preachy. 

I love Page 52 . It's about Perry feeling extremely down. Everything in his life have gone terribly wrong. And he missed his Gram terribly. I was sad to read this. Patricia Wood really wrote well in this part.

What I don't like about this book is the usual complaint...the fonts is too tiny and as mentioned earlier the cover of the book. Frankly, if Winnie had not mentioned it's a good read, I would not have bought this book as the tiny font scares me off. I hope authors/publishers would consider this point when they decide to get the book printed. Make the books easier on the readers eyes. You win, I win.

A Different Sky by Meira Chand

Fuih...finally finish reading this terrific book. Started reading this yesterday. Just can't stop.

Story about the life of 3 people in Singapore between 1927 to the year Singapore obtain its Independence.

Raj, Mei Lan and Howard met once in a trolley when they were young. They were trap in the the trolley because there was a riot. Each have different view about the riot.

Raj was a young Indian from India who came to Singapore to seek his fortune. He wants to work to become a successful businessman. He has a kind heart.

Mei Lan was born in a rich and famous Chinese family which have very constricting views about how females should conduct themselves. Mei Lan felt that she is suffocating from that. She have dreams and ambition. She works on that. From young she was taught that Singapore is just a place to stay while China is their home. Thus when Japanese launched war at China, her family worked to help China. But then Japanese came to Singapore also. Everyone suffered greatly


Howard was an Eurasian boy born here who unfortunately have darker skin than his fellow Europeans. During that time, it was frowns on if Europeans marries local woman. He was never really accepted by the locals and was look down on by the Europeans. He does not really agree with the Communist view but was forced to work with them for survival.

Somehow fate have brought Raj, Mei Lan and Howard together again and again in an unexpected ways throughout this book.

They had to go through World War II. Suffered before, during and after the Japanese Occupation. Each have their own story to tell and experience.

It is really amazing how Meira Chand spin the tales of these 3 people lives. They are bound together by fate and yet they are separate.

Meira managed to capture the view point of each characters aptly.Everything was so vividly described.

Another wonderful book bought from The Big Bad Wolf Sale. RM8. Jangan Jealous.

Peony In Love by Lisa See

Set in the seventeen century China, Peony is a young girl of 16 years age from the Chen family. She is betrothed to the second son of the Wu family.

Being the only daughter of the first wife and all the rests of the concubine bears only girls, Peony, is much loved by her parents.

During that era, unmarried girls are secluded at home and are trained to be good wife to their future husband. The same happen to Peony. She was taught to sew, play musical instrument and most important of all to read.

At that time the work of Tang Xianzi "The Peony Pavilion" is one of the most popular work and have been made into opera.

As fate would have it, Peony loves The peony Pavilion and had tried to get her hands on as many version of it as possible. On the month of her 16th birthday which also coincide with the 7th month celebration of the Weaver Maid and Cowherd, her father commission an opera troupe to their luxurious home to entertains them and their guests.

Her mother was against it. For her mother thinks it is not appropriate for unmarried girls to be seen in public. However, her father assured her that all will be taken care of.

That night turns out to be the turning point of Peony cloistered and protected life. For that night she bump into a man which makes her thinks of the seven feelings that makes us human.

 Here starts her journey from this life and later one the journey to the realm beyond.

This is truly one of the most wonderful and beautifully written book that I have ever read. The description of the love and lost that Peony had was very heart wrenching. It is a adventure itself to see her trying to do the right thing and things kept turning out unexpectedly

There are so many layers of stories in this book. Nothing is what it seems.

I stared reading this book last night and it is a real page turner. This is definitely a MUST READ. This is indeed a sad day for me. Why? Because I fear the next book which I laid my hand onto may not be as good as this.

Flawless by Tilly Bagshawe

Diamond is a girl's best friend. Do you agreed? This book is all about diamond.

Scarlett(what a name!) is a stunning British girl with an artistic stripe. The jewellery she designed is simply gorgeous. And she uses certified diamonds only.

She is not just any beautiful girl. She have talent and the stubbornness of an ox. She champions the right of the poor diamond miners in Africa and Siberia. Her stubbornness had lead her into a dangerous path.

Brogan is the tycoon which she had offended. He owns a company which invested in diamond mining in Siberia. It's a very big business and he does not like bad publicity. He is determined to crush Scarlett.

At the same time, fate brings her face to face with Jake Meyer. A devilish handsome and charming diamond supplier whose supplies comes from dubious origin. Outwardly she hates him but somehow fate seems to conspired against her and forced the two of them together.

To add suspend to the story, in comes Jake's twin brother, Danny. He fell in love with Brogan's young wife. Wow..it's like adding fuel to a fire.

Anyone who loves Sidney Sheldon's book would certainly love this book. It have a good dose of  charm, suspense, mystery, drama and romance.

I have read two of Tilly Bagshawe's books. I love "Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of The Game"  but did not like "Do Not Disturb".

Pearl of China by Anchee Min

I nearly missed this book when I went to BookXcess to pick up my online order. Lucky that I saw this book displayed near the Customer Service Counter.

This round Anchee Min have really out done herself. The story is so vivid and believable that for a moment there, I thought it was a biography.

Have you heard of Pearl S. Buck, The author of The Good Earth? This is a fiction story about her.

It tells the story of two girls in the small town of Chin-Kiang, China. One was Pearl and the other was Willow, a Chinese girl. Pearl was the daughter of zealous Christian missionaries while Willow comes from a family who were very poor.

They fight and the become the best of friends through the thick and thin of the Chinese revolutions.

They shares their dreams and hope with each others. They supported each other when their marriage gone awry.

Pearl and her family was forced out of China when civil war erupts in China. Meantime, Willow got married to someone close to Mao.

Nevertheless, their friendship remains strong. Willow was dreadfully punished for her friendship with Pearl.

This is truly a tale of till death do you part.

Near the ending I was thinking why the heck Willow don't just denounce Pearl. Pearl is no longer in China and won't even be much affected by her action. She suffer so much for Pearl. It's just so sad.

This is truly a good read

Map of The Invisible World By Tash Aw

I have been waiting for this book to come to BookXcess since the first day it was released.

Can you imagine my delight when I spotted this book in BookXcess Facebook updates? I nearly missed it coz I was very busy earlier this month. When I spotted it, more than a week had passed.

Hoping against hope, I "FB-ed" them and sent them an e-mail to reserve a copy. Too bad the paperback copies have all been sold out. Left are the Hardcovers. Still, I managed to secured a Hardcover copy of this book thanks to their efficient Customer Service.

What is this book about? Hmm...it touches a bit of everything that happen in Indonesia around 1950-60s.

Story is about the life of two orphaned brothers, Johan(the elder) and Adam(the younger).

Both were in an orphanage after being left there by their mother. Johan was adopted by a rich Malaysia couple when he was around 10 years old. He was tricked into the car that carries him away from his 5 year old brother.

Can you imagine the heart-break for Johan to see Adam chasing after the car with his little feet till Adam collapse on the dusty road?

Johan grew up in a privileged environment but he was rebellious and seems to have a dead wish. Later it was shown that he had something akin to "Survivor Guilt". He had promised that he won't leave his brother but he did.

Meantime, Adam was adopted by a Dutch man name Karl. Karl lives in tiny island of Indonesia and loves Indonesia very much. He consider himself an Indonesian though many disagree with him.

One day when Adam was near 16 years old, the Army came and took Karl away. Adam was at a lost. He dug into his father stuffs and found a picture of a woman and an address. That woman was Margaret Bates. Karl's ex-girlfriend.

Alone, Adam journeyed to Jakarta and found Margaret and seek her help in finding Karl. Margaret was shock but immediately took Adam under her protection. But something gone wrong in which Adam end up on the street.

After many things happen, they managed to be reunited again and with a new friend's help they managed to find Karl.

I am not familiar with the history of Indonesia nor it's politics situations back then. This book really opens my eyes. It highlight the internal battles around the Islands especially after the Transmigration Policy which seems to have failed and resulted in many broken families.

Then at the city center, the political party are at each other throat. Ones need to have $$ to get anything done there.

The ending was not quite what I had expected. Guess the are many "Invisible World" out there which we can't see with our naked eyes.

This is indeed a terrific book to read. I can see that a lot of research and efforts have been put into the creation of this book. Each words that I read in this book gives me a sense of euphoria that one can only enjoy after reading a good book.

I really look forward to Tash Aw book.

Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoesky

I have heard so much about this book. Fellows bookworms have been raving about this book for a long time but I only got to know about it in the recent years through the former Paylessbooks forum.

It seems to be a book for any serious reader. I have chance upon it a few times but hesitated to buy. Worried that I might not be able to understand the story nor appreciate it. But the one the last Big Bad Wolf Sale, this book calls to me again. RM8...worth the chance, right?

Started to read this book 3 days ago and finally finished the 551 pages of it, though at some parts I did speed reading.

The story is about an impoverished ex-student in St Peterburg, Rodian Romanovich Raskolnikov who comes up with a plan to murder the local pawnbroker woman. It was a perfect crime although he had some narrow escape.

His reason for the murder was for money and he reasoned that the death of the evil pawnbroker would benefit mankind more than if the pawnbroker had lived.

He got away with the crime but his conscience would not let him rest. He would fret about the crime and had times thought of confessing to it.


There are many interesting and thought provoking sub-plots to the main story, like stories of his family, friends and acquaintance. And how everything is entwine to one another.

What do I think of this book? It's a masterpiece. Dostoevsky managed to bring out the mental anguish face by Raskolnikov when he was contemplating the murder and after the murder. Very dangerous book also as the reasons for the murder which seems so wrong could be viewed in another point which makes the murder seems alright.

Definitely a book for a serious reader.

Born in Shame by Nora Robert

 

The final book in the trilogy. 

In Born of Ice, Maggie and Brie found secret love letters to their father by a woman named Amanda. The name which he calls out to just before he took his last breath on earth. From the letter, they got to know that Amanda was pregnant when she left their father.

They decided to hire a detective to find Amanda as they feel that she has the right to know that their father called out to her just before he died and they also wanted to know about their step sister/brother.

The book begins with Amanda in her death bed visited but the ghost of Thomas Concannon and the ghost of her husband, Colin Bodine urging her to tell their daughter, Shannon Bodine, the truth about her birth.

Amanda died after she told Shannon the truth. As she was burying her mother, the detective found her. She resented that but letter from Brianna somehow makes her changed her mind. 

She decided to pay a visit to Ireland to meet her sisters...with some reluctant and resentment. Sparks starts to fly when Shannon met Maggie as both are very temperamental but Brianna was there to calm the situation.

But when Murphy(Maggie & Brie's Best pal) saw Shannon, he was stunned. Immediately he knew that Shannon is his destiny. He pursue Shannon mercilessly. The two of them seems to have some unending love from the past though they have never met each other before in this lifetime.  Shannon kept having a recurring dream of Murphy but the scene was from a time far beyond and so does Murphy.

This book is far off the best of the 3 books. There is enough romance and mystery in it. Kept me wondering what is the story about Murphy and Shannon in their past life. 

It was a master stroke how Nora Roberts ties up all the loose ends.