31 March 2016

Review #384: Nerve by Jeanne Ryan



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.”

----Rainer Maria Rilke



Jeanne Ryan, an American author, has penned a thrilling debut YA book, Nerve which spins the story of a young teenage girl who is selected to play a set of dares, that will be broadcasted live online in front of the whole nation, along with a hot guy, but soon the game makers throw more daring and life-threatening challenges in front of the players. This is that girl's story of how without losing her Nerve she fights against the odds.



30 March 2016

Review #383: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it's not because they enjoy solitude. It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”

----Jodi Picoult




Paula Hawkins, the British international best-selling author, has penned a mind-blowing unputdownable debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, which has shook up the whole world with its intensity of thrill, mystery and unpredictable and shocking turn of events. The climax simply nails the whole story. The story revolves around a mid-aged, divorced, loner, alcoholic, jobless woman who is a regular commuter on the morning train and just like every other day she overlooks her window and enjoys the normal human life on the other side of the tracks. Until one day, she sees something that changes her life forever.

29 March 2016

Review #382: Flawed (Flawed #1) by Cecelia Ahern



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.”

----William Blake



Cecelia Ahern, the international best-selling author, pens her new YA book, Flawed which marks as the first book in the new YA dystopian series by the same name. Now the regular Ahern fans might have mixed feelings about this book, where the regular YA dystopian lovers might just love this book. The book unfolds the story of a high school teenager who is perfect in every possible way, but soon her perfection is challenged between right logic and wrong rules and little did miss perfect knew that her dreams would get shattered with her gesture of humanity.


28 March 2016

Review #381: The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”


----Arthur Conan Doyle




Jennifer Kincheloe, an award-wining American author, has penned a terrific and heart-wrenching tale, The Secret Life of Anna Blanc that unfolds the story of Anna Blanc, a socialite-turned-secret-cop, who investigates a series of murders of some prostitutes that has been hidden up under the piles by the police department. Anna grabs the opportunity to solve the case and identify the killer, before words get out to her dominating father that she has been running here and there in the city as a cop.

27 March 2016

Review #380: The Years of Loving You by Ella Harper



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The future for me is already a thing of the past - You were my first love and you will be my last”

----Bob Dylan



Ella Harper, an award winning author, has penned a tear-jerking romance, The Years of Loving You that narrates the story of a woman, who when diagnosed with the early onset of Alzheimer's, starts to put her feelings forward and realizes that she has never let go of her first love, who evolved in her life as her best friend and with whom she feels at ease while sharing difficult situations of her marital life. This is her story as well as that man's story whose heart was broken many years ago and it still remains broken.


Review #379: Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls.”

----Anaïs Nin



Idra Novey, an American author, pens her debut entertaining literary fiction, Ways to Disappear which is part mystery and part family drama where the main story is centered upon a famous Brazilian author who goes missing under strange circumstances, and due to her disappearance, her American translator travels to Rio to find her author and in that process she gets to meet the family and gets to know the author who was hiding a lot about herself.


24 March 2016

Review #378: The Living by Anjali Joseph



My rating: 3 of 5 stars



“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

----Dr. Seuss



Anjali Joseph, an award-winning Indian author, pens her new novel, The Living, that unfolds the story of two characters' daily lives, their past mistakes, their shortcomings and their daily mundane routine, set in two different continents of the world. The story is unique yet it could have been much more better with lots of character and plot development.






22 March 2016

Review #377: The Letter Writer by Dan Fesperman



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Nothing awakens the conscience like a lot of money.”

----P. Sainath



Dan Fesperman, an award-wining American author, pens his new historical crime fiction, The Letter Writer that narrates the story of a newly appointed detective in NYPD who gets tangled up in a murder investigation and that is when he meets a mysterious, strange and highly knowledgeable man. Set in the post World War II New York, the author composes an intriguing as well as thrilling tale of lies, money scam, murder, scandal and corruption laced with an unusual friendship.




21 March 2016

Review #376: Green Island: A novel by Shawna Yang Ryan



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The people have realized that Martial Law is not law. A regime not established by law is devoid of the attribute to dispense law. A regime which puts in a bunker the highest law in the land does not have the moral authority to say that nobody is above the law.”

----Zulfikar Ali Bhutto



Shawna Yang Ryan, an award winning American author, pens her new book, Green Island: A novel , that unfolds the story of a Taiwanese family living in Taipei when the Martial Law was incorporated and changed the future of this family. Told from the perspective from the unnamed narrator who happens to be the youngest daughter in this family, she traverses two decades under this law as well as facing the aftermath of this law by playing so many roles in her life. This is not only her story, it is the story of the people who faced the darkness of this Martial Law.

20 March 2016

Review #375: If I Stay (If I Stay, #1) by Gayle Forman



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“And that's just it, isn't it? That's how we manage to survive the loss. Because love, it never dies, it never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it.”

----Gayle Forman


Gayle Forman, an award-winning best-selling author, has penned an incredible tale of young love as well as family love in her book, If I Stay, which is the first book in the If I Stay series. This series opens with Mia's heart-breaking story of loss and her passion for music with a ground-breaking decision on whether to fight for love when you have lost the most precious possession of your life- family. Now a major motion picture with the same name, directed by R. J. Cutler, starring, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley and many more.


Review #374: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What if an author does not give an ending to her mind-twisting and really excellent story? Does the book become bad and meaningless? C'mon y'all, we are smart and clever enough to think the possible ending as the author is trying to leave it her readers' best-possible imagination, the climax maybe bad or good, it all depends on how a reader precept it, and that's where the beauty and skillfulness of an author's work lies and that's when we, the readers, can gladly say that it is a fantastic piece of work by the author! I think if I had more than 5 stars I would give that to such an author.

Welcome to Gillian Flynn's world of horror/psychological thrilling short story called, The Grownup.

“She defines and eliminates problems. She’s practical in an evil way.”

----Gillian Flynn


Review #373: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Well, finally, once you become an orphan, you're an orphan till the day you die. I keep having the same dream. I'm seven years old and an orphan again. All alone, with no adults around to take care of me. It's evening, and the light is fading, and night is pressing in. It's always the same. In the dream I always go back to being seven years old.”

----Haruki Murakami



Christina Baker Kline, an English best-selling author, has penned a tear-jerking as well as thoroughly enlightening tale about an unusual friendship between a 91-year-old woman and a 17-year-old high school teenage girl, in her award-winning book, Orphan Train . This book narrates not only the unusual friendship bonded over a shared experience of orphan-hood but also unfolds the unexplored parts in the American history.


19 March 2016

Review #372: The Crooked Heart of Mercy by Billie Livingston



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”

----John Green




Billie Livingston, a Canadian author, pens an emotional and stirring family drama in her new book, The Crooked Heart of Mercy that unfolds the story of a couple coping with a sad tragedy and how it tears them apart and how their families try to contribute towards their hearts' reunion, whereas on the other hand, this couple separately tries to help their family from their troubles in their own way. The story is all about forgiveness, grief, and love.




18 March 2016

Review #371: This is Not a Love Story by Keren David



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

----Anaïs Nin



Keren David, a British writer, has penned an uplifting tale about three teenagers set in Amsterdam in her book, This is Not a Love Story. This book explores the relationship of two individuals who move to Amsterdam and meet with another boy who changes their life completely. This book is going to remind you of The Fault in Our Stars a lot, as it is written is similar prose and offers lot of TFIOS kinda moments that are really enthralling to read about.




17 March 2016

Review #370: #PleaseRetweet by Emily Benet



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Tweeting is talking into the abyss, filling a void in your life by avoiding real human contact.”


----Jarod Kintz



Emily Benet, an English writer, has penned a heart-warming tale about twitter and it's minions in her book,#PleaseRetweet, that narrates the story of a woman who manages the C-listed celebs' twitter accounts and that's her full-time job. This story revolves around her life how twitter and celebs' lives dominate hers thereby forcing her to alienate her close friends, herself and her family.



16 March 2016

Author Q&A Session #57: With Leza Lowitz



Good Afternoon my fellow bookworms,

Today in an all new author interview session, we have award-winning author, Leza Lowitz,  whose new YA novel-in-verse, Up From the Sea has released in the month of January and has already bagged a literary award. Leza is here to talk about her books, the Japan Tsunami, and her life beyond books and all. So stay tuned and keep reading!


Read the review of Up From the Sea

Review #369: The Girl in the Mirror by Constance McKee



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.”

----Emily Bronte



Constance McKee, an American forensic psychiatrist, pens her debut book, The Girl in the Mirror that unfolds the story of a woman psychiatrist who after the death of her beloved husband goes through near death experience (NDE) but soon her diagnosis maker her addicted to it and she gets a hang of it thereby finding a way to meet her husband again and again, before things get too risky and complicated for her.

15 March 2016

14 March 2016

Review #368: The Storm Sister (The Seven Sisters #2) by Lucinda Riley



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.”

----Chögyam Trungpa



Lucinda Riley, an Irish international bestselling author, pens her second book, The Storm Sister in her series called The Seven Sisters. This soul-touching and engrossing book narrates the story of the second eldest sister, Ally after Maia, who embarks upon a journey to find her original roots after her adoptive father's sudden death.




13 March 2016

Review #367: Your Voice is All I Hear by Leah Scheier



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Mental illness turns people inwards. That's what I reckon. It keeps up forever trapped by the pain of our own minds, in the same way that the pain of a broken leg or a cut thumb will grab your attention, holding it so tightly that your good leg or your good thumb seem to cease to exist.”

----Nathan Filer



Leah Scheier, an American author, has penned a heart-rending YA tale, Your Voice is All I Hear which unfolds the story of young high school teenager who meets and falls for a newcomer boy and gradually when this unpopular girl's love story takes up full course, that sweet, innocent boy's ghosts from the past surface up, thereby, making him miserable and depressed with fear, which finally leads to institutionalization. Whereas on the other hand, this girl won't give up on her boyfriend whom she loves more than everything in her universe.


11 March 2016

Review #366: I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

----Eleanor Roosevelt



Heather Demetrios, an American author, has penned a heart-wrenching tale about love, broken dreams in her YA novel, I'll Meet You There, that narrates the story of two teenagers- one with ambitions and goals to get out of a stuck-up small town and the other with lost dreams and a lost leg spending his uncertain days in that same stuck-up small town.





10 March 2016

Review #365: Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”


----Michael J. Fox



Sanjida Kay, a British author, pens her debut psychological thriller, Bone by Bone that unfolds the story of a recently divorced mother and her nine year old daughter, who recently moved to Bristol and started their life there. What they never expected that a childish innocent bullying would become something so life-threatening and the neighbors and rest of the townsfolk would turn against this mother-daughter duo.


9 March 2016

Review #364: Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

----Michael Caine



Leigh Bardugo, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, pens her new YA fantasy novel called, Six of Crows that marks the first book in the Six of Crows series. This book unfolds the story of a world where notorious criminals roam its streets taking care of dirty businesses. Among these blatant herd of criminals, there is a rising star, who wants to pull of an impossible mission along with five others that will change his life forever.

Review #363: Reading the Sweet Oak by Jan Stites



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever”

----Nicholas Sparks



Jan Stites, an American author, has penned an evocative and deeply moving tale of love in her new book, Reading the Sweet Oak that is centered around five women- Ruby, Tulsa, Pearl, BJ and Jen, who lives near the Sweet Oak River and this story tells how their lives changes along with the course of the river by indulging themselves in the world of romance novels while dealing with their love life, friendships, business, financial problems, social issues, family secrets and marital problems.

8 March 2016

Review #362: Old Money by Bobby Cole



My rating:
3 of 5 stars


“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”

----Mahatma Gandhi



Bobby Cole, an American crime-fiction writer, pens his new thriller, Old Money, which is the third book in the Jake Crosby mystery series. This book features Jake Crosby, a stock trader turned game warden in Mississippi, who is asked by the Judge to keep an eye on two con-artists, whose father have left a large sum of money hidden somewhere in his estate, who are now trying hard to find that hidden money.




7 March 2016

Review #361: The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Be so good they can't ignore you.”

----Steve Martin




Kathy Parks, an American author, pens her debut novel, The Lifeboat Clique that narrates the story of a high school girl who is an outcast among her friends circle, thus listing her among the unpopular kids in her high school, but when she sneaks into a party into a beach house party with the cool kids, little did she knew that her her status of being unpopular i soon going to be challenged by those uppity popular kids.




6 March 2016

Review #360: The Darkening Dream by Andy Gavin



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Don't underestimate the allure of darkness, even the purest hearts are drawn to it."

----Klaus, The Vampire Diaries TV series



Andy Gavin, an American best-selling author, has penned an intimidating tale about vampires in his book, The Darkening Dream that unfolds the story of a soon-to-be-eighteen-years-old-teenage girl, who lives with her parents in Salem, which has recently been invaded by dark mysterious forces in the wake of finding Gabriel's trumpet that will mark the end of the world. This young girl along with her friends must traverse the dark path to stop the world from getting destroyed because this girl is gifted as she can premonite death.


4 March 2016

Review #359: Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom (Dandy Gilver, #10) by Catriona McPherson



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“It is the brain, the little gray cells on which one must rely. One must seek the truth within--not without."

----Agatha Christie



Catriona McPherson, an English crime writer, has penned a spell binding and extremely thrilling crime fiction novel, Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom which is the tenth book in the Dandy Gilver mystery series. Dandy Gilver and her sidekick, Alec Osborne's journey continues and this time they travel to Glasgow to solve yet another unraveling mystery where a rich man's daughter, who is a dancer, is subjected to constant life-threatening menace.



3 March 2016

Review #358: Spoils of Victory (Mason Collins, #2) by John A. Connell



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man.”

----Thomas Paine



John A. Connell, an American author, pens his new crime fiction, Spoils of Victory which is the second book in the Mason Collins mystery series. This book features CID criminal investigator Mason Collins in post WWII Germany, where he is investigating the local German gangs, there upon stumbling upon an old friend from his days in the military that opens the door to an unknown world of extortion and other crimes that ties the higher designation officials in the U.S Military.


2 March 2016

Review #357: Sweet Liar (Candy #2) by Debra Doxer



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”

----Joe Klaas




Debra Doxer, an American author, has penned a compelling YA tale, Sweet Liar which happens to be the second book in the Candy series. This book unveils all the secrets around Candy. She learns about her father's nature of work, and all the secrets behind Jonah's past. But will the truth set Candy free? The first book unfolds Candy's love story with Jonah and we get to see how Candy gets messed up in her father's world. This book continues Candy's story of next phase, where growing up is the only option and to let go of her badass attitude.


Review #356: Like Candy (Candy #1) by Debra Doxer



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell.”

----Walter Scott




Debra Doxer, an American author, has penned a compelling YA tale, Like Candy which is about a high school teenage badass girl who stood up for everything and never tolerated injustice, in short, her peers feared her. Being a daughter of a spy, makes her even more rough and this is her story about she gets tangled up in her father's mysteries along with her own.




1 March 2016

Review #355: The Crimson Amulet (The Templar Trilogy Book # 2) by Adriana Girolami



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged”

----Heinrich Heine



Adriana Girolami, an American author, pens her next book in The Templar Trilogy called, The Crimson Amulet that continues the tale of Polyxena, Duchess of Lorengard-Lorraine, who is now married to the Duke of Saxe-Hanover, Arsenio, who one fine day is abducted by a stranger named Lord Zanar from their palace. The first book in the series, Revenge of the Knights Templar unfolded the love story between Polyxena and Duke Arsenio's royal knight, Duccio, which is an extremely delectable tale that made me fall for both the characters. And this time in this new book, one of my favorite character, Polyxena is back, as in the previous book, we found out that Duccio met with his tragic fate.