Caroline
I always love an easy and quick psychology thriller and The Mother's Fault by Nicole Trope is one such read. It was surely a book that I just couldn't put down and I completed it in a couple of days.
The Mother's Fault is the story of Beverly, a single Mother who have a secret and constantly fears for her son eight year old Riley. Riley is a cute boy who loves climbing trees and sharing his feeling with him friend Benji. He knows his father is dead. But when he starts receiving gifts in the mailbox from a anonymous person, he thinks his father is live. When suddenly one evening, he go missing and Beverly fears that she will lose her son, if police turn up. She needs them to save her son but how much truth is she willing to tell the police?
Halfway through the book, I thought I had figured out the plot completely, when the author threw in this twist that I had not seen coming and left me thinking why did this not come to my mind. Like all thrillers, this book too had lovable characters as well as characters that you wished did not exist. I also like the way the author, let the characters tell their story through the chapters dedicated under their name.
This is my first book by the author and I'm hoping to read more books by her in future.
Overall, a good psychology thriller and I total recommend it.
A big Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Author Nicole Trope for this ARC.
I took a long time to finish this one coz i got caught up on some personal life issues and now I'm glad I finally finished it.
The book have a simple plot. As the name suggest, there is a murder club which meets every Thursday in a jigsaw room in a retirement home and the club consist of four 80th year old retired friends, who meet to discuss unsolved murder cases for fun till one (or for that matter two) really murders take place. The murder club is all set to solve the murder cases (even before the police) and catch the murderers, while they reveal other dark secrets buried in their lives.
The Thursday murder club is definitely a very slow paced book but the murders and mystery did keep me hooked till the very end. There is also a huge cast of characters but the author has connected each one so well, you won't be getting confused. The four main members of the club are also very likeable. However the story is mainly told to us by Joyce through her personal diary which she writes regularly.
The Thursday murder club is surely not your regular murder mystery kind of book, it was funny as well as intense at times. Do I recommend this book? 100% yes.
Just read this for fun because I have no children yet to read it to. But the message of the book is so clear, true and encouraging not only too small kids like Isabelle but even too many teenagers or adults who are introverts and take time to make friends or mingle with other people. I liked how something small like a button gave Isabelle the courage to make friends.
A good book to read to your child if they are beginning school. The illustration are also very good.
I always love a good thriller with lots of twist and turns and I must say that “The girl at my door” by author Rebecca Griffiths is one such page turning thriller.This is my first ever book that I have read by this author to be honest and a one, I'm glad I read.
Based on the real life notorious serial killer, John Reginald Christie of 10 Rillington place, under whose silent filthy prying eyes, two friends Queenie and Joy are struggling to make a bright future for themselves after the second world war in the year 1949. But when betrayal strikes their friendship, leaving their lives shattered and friendship broken. Will Queenie risking her bright future and turn to the only man who can help her with no clue of what lies behind the closed door of 10 Rillington place?
The book is a good blend of a real life crime story along with fictional characters. The characters are a mixture of strong and likeable to creepy and shadowy. The book also give us a glimpse of the world where homosexuality and abortions were considered a taboo. The author has used a very rhythmic tone in her writing which for me personally, made it all the more interesting as well as creepy at times. I also liked the fact that author retold the story of Christie, which i' m sure most of us were not all at aware off. The only thing that did not work for me was that the book was quite heavy on the descriptive part, but with a gripping plot like that, it was something that I was willing to overlook totally.
Will I recommend this book? Yes, if you are someone who likes a creepy thriller, then this is the book to watch out for.
A big thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for an ARC.
This book has been on my tbr for pretty some time now and I finally decided to read it.
Ask Again, yes! Is a slow paced family drama which revolves around two neighbours the Gleesons family and the Stanhope family, the strong bond of friend between their children and how the tragedy of one night changed their lives forever. The book touches upon many things like friends, love, mental health issue, the willingness to forgive and how family history can effect one's currently life.
Initially, I was only going to give this book a 3 star rating, but ended up giving it one extra only because I was able to finish it and did not bail out. Though well written, its slow pace made it very boring at times. The characters were likeable but I thought the author should have done more justice to the character of Brian Stanhope.
The book is divided into 4 parts, the first part was quite interesting, while the remaining three just felt flat for me. However, the author was able the create some sort of mysterious build up in the 3rd and 4th part, which urges the reader to hang on in the hope that, there would be some sort of twist or big reveal, only to be disappointed at the end. There are so many questions that went unanswered, which according to me, should have been played around with, to add some sort of twist to the story like “where was Brian Stanhope that night it all happened and why did he not stop her?”
Is it only me who want the know where Brian was? Or do others also feel the same?
Would I recommend this book? Yes only if you are looking for a slow burn, without any major twist or turns
Overall, nice story with a happy ending!
Do you believe in the existence of God and how often do you question his very existence?
What can I say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was gripped onto it from the very beginning. Though, when I start off, I found the book to be quite funny and was laughing, but as I progressed further into the chapters, it turned into this emotional rollercoaster, which got me pounding over a lot of things.
As for the plot, An Yacht named Galaxy owned by Jason Lambert has sunk. 10 stranger trying to survive are adrift on a raft, short on food, water and hope. When they spot a man floating in the water and pull him on board. This man claims he can save them but how? And who is he? Should they trust him? And how did the Yacht really sink? (Ok, I know I sound like the jacket of the book) but trust me, the more blind you go into this book, the more you are going to enjoy it.
The book is not a mystery or thriller, but it kept me guessing till the very end. I also liked the way the author has classified the book into Sea, Land and News, where most of the story is told to us by Benji, one of the survivors on the raft. Apart from this, the book also focuses on hope, faith, love, death and spirituality which I guess is very much a part of every Mitch Albom books. The book also got me reflecting on minor things like the mere existence of fresh drinking water, which, when we have in abundance we tend to waste but when in shortage, a mere thought can get us craving or for that matter, the thought of death, which we try are best not to acknowledge and always brush aside.
Overall this book was an easy and quick one to read. If you are in a mood for some thought provoking and some soul searching or even if you are not and just looking for your next read, I highly recommend this one because like me you too will enjoy reading it.
A big Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing this ARC.
It's been a while since I finished reading this book and I'm still wrapping my head around it. My Dark Vanessa is an extraordinary and beautifully written debut by kate Elizabeth Russell. The character of Vanessa is very relatable as the story of Vanessa wye can be any teenage girls story, who like Vanessa may have strongly believed its was true love and as a adult is still failing to acknowledge that she was once a victim of sexual abuse. I loved the way the author touches on the subject of sexual abuse and how a sexual assault as a teenager can change ones whole life forever.
The way the book alternate between past and present of Vanessa life makes it more interesting to read. The explicit sexual scenes can be a bit discomforting at times though.
The book also a draws in a lot of context from the book LOLITA but only told this time from the victims prospective.
My Dark Vanessa was not a easy read but a one I'm glad I read. I highly recommend reading this book. But be cautious, as this book triggers content warning of sexual abuse and sexual intimate scenes.
There are some stories that just don't require any kind of reviewing, they just speak for themselves and THE STATIONERY SHOP is one such book.
The book is so beautifully written, very word, very event. It's storyline is not something that I haven't heard of or read before, yet I found it difficult to put down. The characters of this book is something that you want to hold on too and not let go. They are lovable and amazing.
The story is about young love, hope, heartbreak, social status, grief, politics and of changing governments in a ever changing world. The tradition of the Persian culture as well as its cuisines is very well described by the author.
It's been a long time that I have felt so strongly about a book. Sure this book will be my best read of the year.
This close to okay is a love story of two strangers who meet on the Ohio river bridge in not so favourable circumstances and end up spending an entire weekend together.
As much as I loved this book, there were parts that fell flat for me as well. Let me begin with the positives first: I loved the story line. Loved the characters. I could relate to them every easily. Loved the conversation between Emmett and Tallie. Though, Tallie was in her 40's but behaved like a teenager, it was completely fine coz who wouldn't feel like a young teenager if you have a handsome guy in your home for a weekend minus his past who could cook you a good steak and thereafter clean the dishes for you.
Everything I never told you is my second read by author Celeste ng. At first I was very excited to read this book, but let me tell you as I moved forward in the book my excitement started to fade. Though a well written book, I just felt that there was a constant sadness that grip this book throughout, not even one happy moment , not even as the book moves in and out of flashbacks.
The characters were quite over the top. The character of Marilyn and James, Lydia's mother and father were too full of their own selves and their want to fulfill their own dreams, which their failed to achieve and now which they try to live through their middle daughter while sidelining or ignoring their other two children was just so annoying, that there were times when I myself want to scream at them to “STOP IT”. As for the character of Jack, I felt that the author herself did not know in which direction to go with him and finally ended up giving it a silly silly twist which to me quite did not fit in.
I would have really loved, if the author had come up with a really gripping mystery or thriller or something more on how Lydia dead.
All I can say now that “LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE” will still remain at number one position for me by this author.
“No need to stock up on boxes of tissue paper, be ready for a lesson on bee keeping, expect a small romantic story which was not so romantic after all and finally dome that investigators hat before you embark on this journey with nicholas Sparks”.
Unlike other books by Nicholas Sparks, the Return is quite different from what one would expect. While this book fails on a teary eyed love story front, the mystery part helps keep one hooked on. The characters of Trevor Benson and Callie though quite likeble, could be have been more evolved. On the other hand, the character of Natalie and her secret totally failed to shock me.
But on the positive side, the lesson on bees and bee keeping was interesting, the hint of mystery does make one want to finished this book. Other than that The Return is not Nicholas Sparks fine working, I bet I have read better one's in the past.
Bombay Balchao is a very well written book by Jane Borges. The book is a rollercoaster ride of emotions from laughter to heartbreak, from joys of marriage to the sadness of death, from old romances to new friendships, from cultures to cuisines it has it all.
Bombay balchao revolves around the coutinho's and the neighbourhood of bosco mansion and caval. The characters are well described too. The book also speaks of the history and the lifestyle of the goan Christian community settled in mumbai dated far back in time.
Being a Catholic living in mumbai and hearing similar stories from my parents, it was quite easy for me to relate to this book.
A highly recommended book if your a Christian Goan or mangoloran living in mumbai.
Rating: 3.5
“The end is not the end”
The first phone call from heaven is the first book I have read by author Mitch Albom. For me the book was more of a psycho mystery book. The book was very high on suspense and mystery which was enough to keep me hooked on till the very end. The book had to many characters to follow and keep tab on. Some parts of the book were also dragged.
The first phone call from heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax?
According to me, The first phone call from heaven can be summarised into 4 categories:
1: The receivers/believers: These are people who were getting the calls from a dead loved one claiming they are calling from heaven. Believers were the people who flocked to coldwater, Lake Michigan believing in god and miracles and hoping they would also receive a call for heaven someday and that heaven existed.
2: The Manipulator: Here we see people like Amy Penn, Jeff Jacoby the major of coldwater, the samsung phone company, the news agency and all those who used this miracle as a way to make some sort of profits be it a better job, money or for their selfish needs.
3: The Protesters: In this category we see people who opposed this whole event and called it a major conspiracy and who needed some sort of proof to believe it was real.
And then there was
4: Sully Hardings who goes all out to prove whether this was a hoax or was it really a miracle from heaven and also because he wanted to protect his seven year old son who waited for a call from his dead mother Giselle and who thought that all this is just unfair to his son.
The first phone call from heaven also gives the reader a quick history lesson on Alexandra Graham Bell and the invention of the Telephone and the first call ever made.
Overall a good read, not a great one though.
This is the first book I have read by Kate DiCamillo. Took to reading this one for my Nephew as it's an ongoing novel read at his school. Though the book is well written with each character played out well, I just feel that the book fell a bit heavy on emotion in the end for a children's book. I just feel that from a child point of veiw it's a bit hard to digest all that lose and grief.
On a lighter note the book also talks of a very loving bond between a father and son after the death of the boys (Rob's) mother, of a budding friendship and trust between to twelve year old children and the love to set an animal who is caged up.
The Tiger Rising is the story of twelve-year-old Rob Horton who is stunned to encounter a tiger—a real-life, very large tiger—pacing back and forth in a cage. What's more, on the same extraordinary day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a girl who shows her feelings as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, Rob and Sistine prove that some things—like memories, and heartaches, and tigers—can't be locked up forever.
All in all a good story.
I'm glad I read where the crawsdads sing which put me out of my reading slump as it kept me hooked on to every page.
Where the crawsdads sing is a very well written novel by Delia Owens about a girl name Kya living in the marsh and her love for nature but more over her story to survive & build a livelihood amids her struggle through loneliness, fear, rejection and heartbreak.
Being a murder mystery book, one completely forgets that a murder is being investigated in the initial chapter of the book. The book does slip in and out of time. But the story of the marsh girl keeps a reader hooked on to the book. The book also has some beautiful written poetry for the poetry lovers.
As for the mystery part, I think the writer could have done a more better job. But all in all where the crawdads sing is definitely a pages turn.
I highly recommend it to every book lover.
Ikigai is my very first self help book that I ever decided to read. Had come across an article published in a daily newspaper regarding this book and how a person should know one's ikigai, which inspired me to go ahead and read something out of my comfort zone. So I can say reading this book become my Ikigai Hahahaha.
Now comes the question as to did I really like this book & am I still as inspired as i was when I had read that article? The brutal answer is a BIG NO.
According to me the book speaks very very little about Ikigai. The author of the book only quotes and unquotes extract and references from other books, finding and researches. The author focuses more on Viktor Frankl's logotherapy and other such therapies. In my view the author has done very less research of his own while pening this book. As the name of the book (Ikigai: the secret to a long and happy life) suggest I failed to find the secret to a long and happy life with this book.
The authors failed to provide a proper insight into what exactly Ikigai is and how one can attain it. I quite doubt that the authors himself has found his own Ikigai.
Apart from the interviews and certain other practices which the people of Okinawa follow like: to eat only 80% till you are full, to eat small portions rather than larger ones, to engage oneself more in community activities, etc was of use to me. Beside this Ikigai was nowhere to be found.
This book will be last on my recommendation list.
“The face you give the world, tells the world how to treat you.”
Sharp Objects is my first read of the year 2020 and the first book I have read by author Gillian Flynn. First let me start with the star ratings I have given this book. All through this book I was stuck between a 1 or a 2 star rating but I kind of ended up giving it a 3 star rating only because of the climax. I must say the author really took me by surprise with such an unpredictable end.
On the other hand I thought the whole story was blown out of proportion and was all over the place or should i say was all over the town. Every character in the book has a very dark, shadowy, sad, depressing past which they carry with them throughout the whole story, be it Camilla Precker, her mother Adora or the thirteen year half sister who does not quite behave her age. According to me the author had roped in way too many characters, which have little or no contribution to the story except for the juicy gossips they provided around town.
Honestly,halfway through the book I found it difficult to put a finger on as to which direction the story was really headed. was it the story of the main protagonist Camilla Precker and the shadowy relationship with her mother and her half sister or story of the investigation into the case of the girls how had been murdered and how all this would end up being related to Camilla? Even when the story got interesting I found that the author had put pages after pages describing people or the town of wind gap due to which as a reader i was losing interest and was unable to keep focus . I felt the book was highly descriptive.
For me personally the book only got interesting in the last four five chapters. All I can say is that i had my fingers crossed hoping for a unpredictable end, which according to me the author lived up too.
Just finished the Guardian by Nicholas Sparks. The Guardian is a romantic thriller and according me the first book by Sparks in which one of the characters is a loving dog. The book is firstly about love. The love between Julie Barenson and Mike Harris and secondly about danger. The danger of Richard Franklin the Jealous stalker who Julie once dated and then there is the love of the singer the dog a great Dane who was a gift from Julie's husband Jim after his death, who later proved to be the real Guradian of Julie's life. The story is full of twist and turns with the revelation of the real identity of Richard Franklin. The Guardian is a love story turn nightmare spawned by a chilling deception and jealousy so poisonous that it has become a murderous desire.
The only problem I had was that it has a very predictable end. I was waiting for something different, but overall a interesting book which keeps its audience hooked till the very end.
Okay, so I finished reading this yet another remarkable book by Nicholas Sparks.
And what a thrilling journey it have been.
See me is a well thought, well written romantic thriller and if I m not wrong in saying it's one of Nicholas sparks longest novels I have read till date.The author have very well tried to keep the suspense to the very end, which keeps you hung on to it.
The first few chapter is filled with friendship, love and romance but midways through love and romance give way to suspense and mystery. No doubt that the book starts of slow on a note but I bet once mid ways through i could hardly put it down.
Set in Wilmington North Carolina, See me is a story of Colin Hancock who is giving his second chance his best shot. With a history of violence and bad decisions behind him and the threat of prison dogging his every step, he's determined to walk a straight line. While Maria Sanchez, is a hardworking Lawyer who has a traumatic history of her own, one that compelled her to return to her hometown and left her questioning so much of what she once believed.
A chance encounter on a rain-swept road will alter the course of both Colin and Maria's lives, challenging deeply held assumptions about each other and ultimately, themselves. As love unexpectedly takes hold between them, they dare to envision what a future together could possibly look like . . . until menacing reminders of events in Maria's past begin to surface.
SEE ME, just like I see you......
What an incredible historic love story of Lale and Gita.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a story of two ordinary people, living in an extraordinary time, deprived not only of their freedom but their dignity, their names, and their identities, and it is Lale's account of what they needed to do to survive.
A story that would bring tears to one's eye.
Hats off the Heather Morris for such a heart touching story.
A must read for every book lover.