Booking Through Thursday

This week's question is a tough one for me as I have a few favourite female lead characters in mind. Most of the times, the 'heroine' strikes me as a strong, confident woman who's not afraid of showing her true self and one who's not afraid to speak up and fend for herself. Such heroine can often be found in genres like paranormal, romance suspense or thrillers. Some of my favourites are Anita Blake in Laurell K Hamilton's series and Rachel Morgan in Kim Harrison's series (just to name a few).

However, such heroines can also be found in our everyday life and they might not have the ability to handle weapons or kick some butts. Anna Fitzgerald in My Sister's Keeper (written by Jodi Picoult) is the first to pop into my mind. You see, thirteen-year-old Anna has to make a hard decision whether or not to continue to undergo surgeries and transfusions to her older sister who has leukemia as she thinks she is entitled to her own rights. I really sympathize her situation, and I have to marvel at her braveness given her age. Needless to say, this book is a keeper.

And then, there's Tamila Soroush in Veil of Roses (written by Laura Fitzgerald) which I'm currently reading. Being an Iranian woman, Tamila's movement is often restricted. So one day, her parents give her a ticket to America, hoping she will find a husband there and not to return to Iran if she's successful. Although I have yet to finish the book, I already admire her determination and courage of finding her happiness and freedom. It is scary to be in a foreign country where she know nothing of their culture, but she is fortunate that her older sister is living there although she insists in taking things into her own hands. I hope she will find her happiness...we shall see.

I am sure there are a few other heroines who had left a deep impression but my mind is blank at the moment, so I think these answers will have to do.

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Read)
• Damnation Street by Andrew Klavan (Read)
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Read)
• The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek (Read)
• The Wrong Man by John Katzerbach (Read)
• Secret Story by Ramsey Campbell

Alternates:

• The Girls by Lori Lansens
• Sayonara Bar by Susan Barker
• Saving Caravaggio by Neil Griffiths
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• Hit Parade by Lawrence Block

Out of the six, I only managed to read five. Although I didn't complete the challenge as a whole, still I felt I had accomplished on a personal level. It is the best I could do, and I really enjoyed the experience. This challenge has helped me to explore new authors and it is through this that I have found some authors that will make it to my to-buy list, one of them is Khaled Hosseini. And that reminds me I have to wait for The Kite Runner DVD to release some time later since I don't have the time to catch it in the cinema.

And finally, I'd like to thank Pour of Tor from Sycorax Pine for hosting this challenge.

First of all, I'd like to thank Alice for passing these two awards to me. Alice is one of my good blogger friends around bloggieland, and she never fails to read and post comments on my blog (which I really, really appreciate them!). Thank you, Alice, for thinking of me and not to mention, your friendship! *Cheers!*

Friendship needs Trust, Kindness, Honesty & Caring (as shown above) to grow; and there goes without saying that friends are important to me. Because of this, I'd like to present this 'A Perfect Blend of Friendship Award' to all my blogger friends since I think everyone deserves this award. Thank you, my friends!

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek – and almost always achieve – a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world

Can you believe that I don't own any single clog although I know they are comfortable? I prefer sandals. And I'm still trying to figure out some of the words that are lost in the symbols, and I have no idea what I'll be seeking and/or achieving in my life... but I like the idea of living in Europe, since this is one of the places I'd love to visit one day!

Edited to Add (8.54PM):

Singapore Wins the Bid to Host 2010 Youth Olympics!!! Hooray!!! :D

Booking Through Thursday

All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?

As a booklover, I love books in all formats. So I'd choose to have both formats in my library, if that is possible! Although paperbacks are much easier to read and carry as compared to hardcovers, but I find the latter that will last longer and is better as a collector's item (or even limited edition). Thus, given my above reasons, I find it impossible to choose just one so I'd go with both! :P

Lily and Marcus meet for the first time after she tripped while stepping out from a taxi and Marcus helps her up. They later meet at the gallery opening, and Lily slowly warms up to Marcus' flirts because he seems friendly and he's handsome. He later asks her to live with him as a roommate, and Lily sees no harm in it so she said yes. She later learnt that Marcus is an architect and the loft they are sharing is designed by him. Before she moves in, Marcus shares the place with Aidan who works as a film animator and he gives Lily the impression he is quiet and distant.

But after Lily knows the room she has took over is previously occupied by Marcus' ex-lover, Sinead, she feels curious and puzzled about her moving out because she appears to be leaving in a haste as some of her clothes are still hanging in the wardrobe. When she confronts Marcus, he tells her that she is no longer with them and Lily took it that she is dead. But Lily isn't satisfied with the answer, and later when she thinks she is seeing Sinead's spectral appearance everywhere, the more she wants to find out the truth until one day, she spots the real Sinead and she begs her to tell her everything. And so Sinead shares her whole story through the second half of the book.

At first, I was intrigued with the story premise. I think Maggie O'Farrell had came up with a great plot and had done a good job in building up the suspense from the beginning. I could feel Lily's emotions and understand how and why she is feeling them, but there are also times that I think she is too trusting and naive because whenever she asks Marcus about Sinead, he would simply tell her it is too hard for him to explain things considering he is still hurt or he would just brush it aside. But nothing shocked me more than reading Lily agrees to move in with Marcus after their first meeting. I know we are not living in an age old generation anymore but still I think Lily should be more cautious before she decides to move in with anyone.

Randomness

Week of February 16: Days of the Week

My favorite day is Sunday because I get to wind down.
Tell me all about your favorite days ....

1. What's your favorite day of the week? This is easy. My answer will be 'Friday' and I don't think there's a need to elaborate, do I? ;)

2. What's your least favorite? Monday, of course. Because that's when you need to clear your work which accumulates over the weekend.

3. Do you have a particular day & time that you look forward to? Like Friday nights or Saturdays? Why? I always look forward to weekend, because that's when the time I'll unwind and spend more time with my family and doing all the fun things outdoors (i.e. bookshopping, window shopping, visiting places). But I still think Friday nights is the best because there are 2 off days I'm always looking forward to next. :D

• Julia from Julia's Books Corner
• Darla from Nichtszusagen
• Wendy from Musings of a Bookish Kitty
• Jaimie from Bell Literary Reflections
• Kim from Bold.Blue.Adventure
• Michelle from 1MoreChapter
• Iliana from Bookgirl's Nightstand
• Rhinoa from Rhinoa's Ramblings
• Nymeth from Things Mean A Lot
• Kristy from Just Another Blogger

( Picture downloaded from Wikipedia)

Well, who can say No to a Choco Poppet and a Colour Me Happy Poppet? I know I can't! ;P

Up on a staircase of books...dreaming their own little stories.

I wish I can hear what they are whispering about! And I can imagine how happy the Classic Red Poppet and the Valentine Poppet must be to befriend two new friends, at least their life won't be so lonely anymore. :D

Look there! It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman!
(Note: Sorry that my silly imagination took over everything, hehe.)

ISBN-13: 9780446618342
Publisher: Warner
Pub. Date: August 2007
336pp


This is the fourth book written by romance suspense writer, Marliss Melton. I first came across her book Time to Run two years ago and had enjoyed reading it, not realizing that this book is part of a series. I used to have this tendency of reading books out of order but this doesn't really bothers me provided their stories are not connected. However if I realize that the book is somehow connected and has sparked my interest, I will go out the way of buying the rest.

Next to Die is a thrilling romance suspense that has got me hooked from the first page till the end. Navy SEAL hero Joe Montgomery has been carrying this guilt ever since his mission failed and had lost his men in Afghanistan. Being the only survivor, he feels he is responsible in a way for the death of his squad even though in reality it isn't entirely his fault. After this incident and back at home, he becomes a changed person, indulging in drinks and feeling sorry for himself.

Penny Price lives next door to Joe and is attracted to him, but Joe is too busy indulging in his own misery and remaining anonymous from the media after the horrible incident. Being a trained navy physical therapist, Penny not only helps Joe in the healing but getting out of his own demons as well. However, she has her own problem too as she believes the person who is responsible for her father's death five years ago is back into her and her younger sister, Ophelia's life. After reading a journey left by their father, they are convinced that it was their father's partner, Eric Tomlinson, who had murdered him. But their judgement are wrong as they will soon find out, and as Joe goes out to protecting Penny he then finds himself attracted to her along the way.

Aside from these tensions, there is also a subplot of Ophelia and another SEAL Vinny DeInnocentis whose car she has crashes into. Vinny is smitten by her at first sight, but on the other hand Ophelia isn't sure about him especially she finds out he is four years younger than her.

I enjoyed reading Next to Die as the characters are engaging and the story is intriguing. I also liked the part where there is another villian besides Eric Tomlinson whom the author wants us to believe him to be from the beginning. However, I find it amusing that Ophelia is having a fuss about the age difference between herself and Vinny initially; the way she reacts it is as if he is ten years older than she is. I have some friends whose husbands are several years younger than they are, so perhaps this explains why Ophelia's attitude seems a little exaggerating to me. But I will leave it to you to find out whether or not if she and Vinny's relationship works.

The Wife said she was sleeping.
The Cook was cooking breakfast.
The Gardener was picking vegetables.
The Maid was getting the mail.
The Butler was cleaning the closet.

Think you have solved them without any difficulty? Here are the answers:

1. It was the Maid. She said she was getting the mail. There is no mail on Sunday.
2. He shot his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
3. Frost forms on the inside of the window, not the outside. So, Mr. Fiend could not have wiped it off to discover Mr. Tidy's body.
4. Death.

• Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages)
• Open the book to page 123
• Find the fifth sentence
• Post the next three sentences
• Tag five people

I'm currently reading a romance suspense titled Next to Die by Marliss Melton. But the stated page is almost at the end of a chapter and consists only two short paragraphs, I decided to choose another book which I will be reading next - First Drop by Zoe Sharp. And here goes:

I know I should have stopped typing after the word 'scornful' but I added the next sentence for some dramatic affect. Now to tag five people... I will tag Debi, Nymeth, Iliana, Gautami and Jaimie. :D

1. Paranormal and romance suspense genres are definitely what I will write. Why them? You might ask. Because these two genres have always been my favourite reads. And I find you can just imagine and write about anything in a paranormal or a fantasy theme. As for romance suspense, you get to read the suspense with a little romance element, being a reader I definitely wouldn't have asked for more.


2. The protagonist is definitely a strong sexy heroine who's not afraid to speak up her mind and kick some butts.


3. Something must have happened that made her a strong and independent woman.


4. She will not be intimidated by any man, not even the man she admires.


5. Interesting dialogues and action packed scenes are a must.


6. Third person or first person POV is fine with me. But I will probably work better with a first person POV.


7. Death probably wouldn't affect her much, but lack of freedom will definitely cause her misery.


8. Something will happen in a mission that will change her mindset on some issue.


9. The cover art will be eye catching, but it wouldn't feature a couple wrapped in a passionate embrace.


10. I will send ARCs to all my book bloggers friends for reviews. A few close friends will be mentioned under the Acknowledgements section.

There you have it, folks! If only this dream will come true, haha! I have a fun time doing this meme because it not only allows me to let go of my imagination but also give me some ideas of what to write if I want to write a story next time...maybe for my Nanowrimo project if I decide to participate this year, ha!

I won't tag anyone but if you are keen to play, do feel free to do so but please leave me a comment so I can come visit.

新年快乐！(Translated: Happy New Year!)

A close up of the Valentine Gift Poppet. And I like the little box that goes with it too!