Picture taken at home

Picture taken at the hospital

What was the most unusual (for you) book you ever read? Either because the book itself was completely from out in left field somewhere, or was a genre you never read, or was the only book available on a long flight… whatever? What (not counting school textbooks, though literature read for classes counts) was furthest outside your usual comfort zone/familiar territory?

And, did you like it? Did it stretch your boundaries? Did you shut it with a shudder the instant you were done? Did it make you think? Have nightmares? Kick off a new obsession?

I read a lot of fiction books, and occasionally memoirs but I rarely read inspirational books. Although I find most of them useful and informative, sometimes I think the contents are a little too dry for my reading pleasure.

However, I find Brendon Burchard's Life's Golden Ticket (you may read my review here) unusual because although it is more of a motivational novel, it does not read like one because the author has skilfully attribute all the necessary points by a way of storytelling, and this is what made the book so interesting and a joy to read.

And then of course, with the attractive cover, there is no way I could turn this book down.

Proximidade! Award

To translate the gift from Portuguese to English, it means: "This blog invests and believes, the proximity" [meaning, that blogging makes us 'close' -being close through proxy].

They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and to do friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize, and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut, or that they propagate?

Then let’s try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.

I Love Your Blog Award

Alice, thank you so much for passing these two awards to me! I love your blog too because you always have so many things to share with your friends and readers. Also, thank you for your friendship! Here is a friendship quote for you:

"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."
- Anais Nin

Because awards are meant to share, I would like to pass these awards to the following friends:

• Alice (back to you, my friend!)
• Julia
• Kathy
• Wendy
• Debi
• Nymeth
• Iliana
• Jen
• Rhinoa
• Darla
• Trish (Trish's Reading Nook)
• Trish (Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'?)
• J. Kaye
• Shana
• Kim
• Stephanie (Stephanie's Written Word)
• Stephanie (Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic)
• Gautami
• Ruth
• Valentina

I am very happy to know you ladies; and as always, thank you for taking the time to read my blog! :-)

Edited to Add (25 Sep):
I just noticed Iliana presented the above award to me too when I visited her blog earlier. Thank you so much, Iliana! :-D

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser sentences for today:

"I don't sense any undead," she told Sebastian as she stepped on something horribly squishy. A rank odor squelched afresh into the air, and with her next step she felt something hard and cylindrical roll beneath her boot.

When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason (Pg 15)

Let's talk books this week.

1. Name a few of your favorite books.
I have too many favourite books on my list, but I shall name a few which have made it as my top reads this year:

• The Treatment by Mo Hayder
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson
• Blind Submission by Debra Ginsberg
• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2. Is there an author that you don't like, yet so many people seem to love?
Paulo Coelho. I wanted to like his books, but for some reason I just could not get into his stories.

3. Name a book to film adaptation that you really like. Name one you think was done poorly.
Whenever someone asks me if I would prefer to read a book or watch a movie first, I would always say, "Read the book first!". Naturally, one reason is that: a book offers more details than the movie, and so far I have not came across any book to film adaption that I really like. However, I really enjoyed watching Lord of the Rings, but it would be unfair of me to name this since I have yet to read the books.

As for a film adaptation which was done poorly, The Da Vinci Code sprang to my mind not because it was badly shot or anything, but it is just that some of the scenes were just not clear and was confusing. And this further conclude why I prefer reading a book than watching the film adaptation.

4. Where do you buy your books?
I love buying my books from brick and mortar bookstores, but occasionally I do buy them online too.

5. What genre do you read the most?
I always read a mixture of genres, but lately I have been reading a lot of paranormal and crime thrillers.

6. What genre do you dislike?
I do not have anything against any particular genre. I could only say I am not much of a sci-fi fan.

7. Is there a book that has changed your life?
Not really, but they did change my views on some issues in life.

8. Have you ever met an author? What author would you like to meet?
I wish I have! Some of the authors I would love to meet are: Neil Gaiman, Mo Hayder, Nora Roberts, Anne Stuart, Tana French and J K Rowling etc.

Here are some of the books which I bought lately:

• The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
• Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink
• The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles
• Out by Natsuo Kirino
• Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The authors of the first three books are new to me; I am quite intrigued by their blurbs (and not to mention they have wonderful covers!) so I just have to pick them up.

Natsuo Kirino is not a new name to me, but I have read so many good reviews about her book, Out that I have to add it to my pile. I also added her other book, Grotesque to the pile because it seems like another winner to me.

I did not expect to find Neil Gaiman's latest release, The Graveyard Book under the new releases section, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to grab hold of a copy. It is a UK version so the cover differs from the US but honestly, I do not really care as long as I am able to get hold of his books quickly.

Autumn is starting (here in the US, anyway), and kids are heading back to school–does the changing season change your reading habits? Less time? More? Are you just in the mood for different kinds of books than you were over the summer?

You know, I wish we have four seasons here! Living in a tropical country meaning we have summer all year round (although we expect the monsoon season towards the end of the year), and it gets kind of boring having the same season all the time. Nevertheless, the weather (since the changing season does not apply to me here) has no effect on my reading habits. Even though if I live in a country with changing season, I guess I will still answer the same - I will read as much as I can; the choice of books will depend on my moods and that is about it.

Have you visited Amy's blog? Do check out her blog if you haven't because she has lots of exciting news to share, especially on the Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) Awards. (You may wish to click here for the BBAW Awards 2008 Presentation Schedule.)

And guess who won under the best carnival/event/meme category? It is none other than Amy, the hostess herself for her Book Blogger Appreciation Week! I think it is very well deserved since she has done a great job in putting this event altogether.

Amy also talked about blogging and offered some of her tips. I think her questions are very interesting, and here is what she asked:

What is one thing you wish you knew about blogging when you started or what advice would you give a newbie blogger? What is your best blogging tip?

You know, when I first started blogging, I knew nothing about blogging and have no idea what is html codes or how to play around with my blog except simple posting and attaching pictures! Not giving up and trying to learn more about blogging, I began to explore on my own and fiddling with the html codes (and I always make sure to have a backup copy!) until I understand the concepts behind them. I then added several links and from there, I slowly build up my blog till what you have seen today. Besides self exploring, I also googled some sites that offered advice and tips on blogging, and I find them very useful. Till present, I am still learning and am not shy to ask advice from fellow blogger friends if I need some answers concerning blogging.

As for blogging tip, I think the first thing you should do before starting up a blog is to ask yourself what would you blog about? Is it about your daily life? Or will it be something more classified, e.g. blog about books? Once you have decided which direction you want to go, work on the theme and think of a suitable header for your blog. Once everything is up and running, visit other blogs and leave some comments. You may think you are writing for yourself, but other readers do visit and read your blog too. And I think it is always good to hear some feedbacks from fellow bloggers, even though if it is just a simple hello. Friendship starts from there, and I am sure most of us love receiving comments anyway (at least I do!). :-)

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser sentences for today:

Eight red eyes glowed in the darkness, and they appeared to be talking excitedly among themselves; probably planning where and when to stalk the victims for their evening feed. She hated to interrupt their dinner plans, but... she lunged from the covering of a pine tree, the needles brushing over her cheek, her stake raised.

The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason (Pg 29)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about the treatment of books!

Do you treat books carefully, or do you just treat them as any other object? Do you have certain things you refuse to do with books (write in them, etc)? If so, what are they?

I love my books. So yes, I treat all of them very carefully, even though if they do not belong to me. I do not bend the book when I am reading, and neither do I dog-ear the page. I always make sure to have a bookmark in hand, or a small loose sheet of paper (another alternative: post-it notes) to mark the page.

However, I did scribble in my school textbooks in pencil during my school days. I wrote notes and highlighted the passages for easy references because I hate to refer to loose sheets and then worrying about losing them.

I suppose all booklovers are the same and treat their books with care, don't you think?

1. I enjoy doing a lot of things, but spending time with my family and reading remains the top on my list.

2. When will I deliver is something I wonder about often lately.

3. In your heart, you knew you could do anything if you have great faith in yourself.

4. Take a packet of instant noodles, add a little spice into the boiling water and you end up with a bowl of steaming hot noodles soup.

5. Life has gifted me with a loving husband, an adorable daughter and a baby soon on the way.

6. Taking a break to do something you enjoy is an instant vacation.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to spending time with my family, tomorrow my plans include visiting my dad and reading some books and Sunday, I want to do laundry and household chores!

In this week's WG, Dewey asked us to pair up with another Weekly Geek participant and interview each other about a book we read recently. I was paired with My Friend Amy.

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Here are some questions I asked Amy on Up Pops The Devil by Angela Benson.

1) What made you read this book? Have you read anything by this author?
I was offered this book for review by a blog tour group I belong to. I've never read anything by this author, but I've seen her book The Amen Sisters around in the stores. I have to admit the cover and the title were very attractive...I'm easily swayed. ;)

2) I learnt from the blurb that this novel is leaning more towards Christian fiction, do you think non-Christians readers will enjoy this story too? Will you recommend this novel to them? Why?
I have to admit, I was really surprised this book wasn't under the Avon Inspire imprint, which is the inspirational or Christian imprint of Harper Collins Avon. I read a great deal of Christian fiction and it really varies, from books that may only mention God once to books that are a bit more, uh, direct. This book talks about God a lot. My guess is that someone with different beliefs would still enjoy this very human story and struggle for redemption. As far as recommending it, it would depend on the person. Some people enjoy reading Christian fiction because it tends to be free of foul language and explicit sexual scenes even if they believe differently. Others can't stomach any of it. So I would need to know their feelings on that first.

3) What do you think of Preacher, who is the protagonist of this story? Is there any characters you like or hate? Why?
Preacher is extremely likeable as he wants to change his life around and atone for his past mistakes. Sadly, the women in this story get on my nerves. They each have their own agendas.

4) Why do you think the women in Preacher's life are making things difficult for him?
I think they each have different goals and expectations. They want him to be the person he used to be before prison, but he's changed and they have to come to terms with that, and it's difficult for them.

5) What is most inspiring about this book?
That love and forgiveness are the keys to beating the devils in our lives. ;)

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And here are some questions Amy asked me on In The Woods by Tana French.

1) Why did you decide to read this book?
I picked up this book while browsing at the bookstore one day. I was hooked by the intriguing blurb, and then of course I am a huge fan of crime thrillers. I did not read this book immediately; I tend to stack them in my TBR pile until the mood strikes do I pick up the books to read. It was after reading a review by a fellow book blogger that I decided to read this book, because she made it sounds so good!

2) Were there any elements about this book that surprised you?
Yes! There are a lot of twists and turns in this book. The psychological element is the one that get to me. You can just feel all the emotions in this story. It makes me ponder about things like: sometimes a person who appears to be strong (both physically or mentally) does not necessary means so, and vice versa.

3) Were you able to empathize with the characters?
Yes, I do. The author has done a great job in weaving this story with very good descriptions. I felt the most with the protagonist amongst all in this story.

4) Was this a compulsive page turner or a leisurely read at will sort of book?
Definitely a compulsive page turner to me. I could not put the book down; I wish I had read it earlier.

5) How did this book compare to other books in the same genre?
Each crime thriller author has his/her own writing style and therefore, each book is unique to me. What I find this story refreshing is reading the issue and the dilemma the protagonist has to deal with, given his profession being a detective and also one of the victims of a disappearance case during his childhood days. I had wondered how the author would pull this off towards the end, and I think she had done it nicely.

6) Will you read more books by this author?
Yes! In fact, I am currently reading her next instalment – The Likeness. It is much better than In the Woods in my opinion.

7) I have this book in my TBR pile...should I bump it up?
I would highly recommend this book! This is one of my favourite reads this year. I am hoping to read your review on it soon.

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I would like to thank Amy for these great questions! Please click here to read more interviews by fellow Weekly Geeks participants.

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser sentences for today:

"You thought I was a vampire."
Victoria forbore to point out that it was an honest mistake; with his gleaming black hair and sharp-planed face, he looked dangerous and untrustworthy.

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason (Pg 21)

Today's MUSING MONDAYS post is about changes to the bookselling industry in the last century.

Do you like the changes that have come to bookselling in the last several decades? Do you shop online? Do you prefer big chain stores, or do you prefer small, independent shops? Why?

When I was a student, I used to shop at smaller, independent bookstores because it is convenient and is within our neighbourhood. Those big chain stores are mostly situated in the town areas, and at that time, I would rather borrow books from the public libraries or buy my favourite books from these smaller stores.

And then of course, there are also small used bookstores around so we have a choice to buy or rent the books if we want. At the used (rental) bookstores, we will pay the full price of a latest release (cheaper if it is an older release) and if we decide not to keep it, we can always return to the stores within a month (or two months depending on how many books you rent) and they will refund part of the money to us. In this case, we paid only a few dollars as the renting fees. I find this works best for me if I am not sure if the books I want to read are keepers.

I love browsing and shopping at bookstores, no matter if they are big chain stores or small, independent stores but I do shop online too, because it is convenient and/or I find the books I want are not available or hard to find in bookstores. I was quite happy to find some out of print books on ebay lately because I know I would never find them in bookstores. Thus, I do not really have any preference when it comes to book shopping, as long as I get what I want.

3) A horror and/or sci-fi and/or fantasy author

So if you have any experience in any of the above, please contact Amy ASAP at bookbloggerappreciationweekATgmailDOTcom

So here are the actual covers. Did you guess them correctly?

• Life's Golden Ticket by Brendon Burchard
• Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
• Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald
• Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson
• Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo
• InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

ISBN-13: 9780307388995
Publisher: Vintage Books
Published: 2006
441pp


First sentence: There were times when she wished he were dead.

First, she receives an envelope in the mail with no return address which contains some old photographs of a man, a woman and a little girl. Accompanied these photos is a note that asks this question: 'Are you my daughter?' When she confronted her parents, they assured her they are her parents although she got a feeling they have something to hide from her.

Things get more complicated when at this time, she is also attracted and intrigued by her new neighbour, Jake, who seems to have a few secrets of his own. Jake seems both eager and interested in helping her to solve her past, but Ridley has her own doubts. On top of this drama, she also has problems with a drug addicted brother, Ace, who is estranged from the family and her overly protective ex-boyfriend, Zachary.

Lisa Unger has weaved a taut and intriguing suspense in Beautiful Lies told from the protagonist, Ridley Jones' perspective as the readers follow her twisting journey in finding her secret past and her true identity. The author has also successfully built up the climax by building the suspense of the people surrounding Ridley. I liked the ending; it has led me to think about the choices sometimes we have to make in life.

Suggested by JM:

I was looking through books yesterday at the shops and saw all the Twilight books, which I know basically nothing about. What I do know is that I’m beginning to feel like I’m the *only* person who knows nothing about them.

Despite being almost broke and trying to save money, I almost bought the expensive book (Australian book prices are often completely nutty) just because I felt the need to be ‘up’ on what everyone else was reading.

Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?

Well, I would be lying if I say no. There are times I do feel a little pressured for wanting to read something everyone else are reading. I try not to succumb to the urge of buying it immediately and I guess it has to depend on the situations, for example, is the book a hardcover? As we all know, hardcovers are more expensive. Also, I will have to ask myself if the story is good enough for me to pick it up. What everyone thinks is a good read does not mean I will like it.

I suppose being a reviewer has to keep up on the current trends in one way or another; after all he/she cannot possibly only review the older releases. For me, I will try to read the books which are sent to me for review first; this is my way of saying thank you to the senders for forwarding the books to me, and I know they are eager to read the reviews as soon as possible.

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser sentences for today:

Somewhere outside or up above us a man I thought I loved, along with other men whom I couldn't identify, are trying to kill us, to protect an awful truth that I've discovered. I am hurt myself, in so much pain that I I might pass out if I didn't know it meant dying here in this condemned building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger (Pg 12)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about rereading books!

Do you ever reread books? Do you have any favorites that you like to reread over and over, maybe once a year? What are they? What do you think you get out of rereading a book? Why do you do it?

I rarely reread books; not because I do not want to, but because I have too many unread books waiting for me to read. To make matters worse (like any booklovers will do), I keep buying them so it is like the pile never goes down despite my efforts to keep up with my reading.

However, I do reread books once in a while. Usually they are the ones which left a deep impression on me and/or I love the stories so much that I want to relive that great reading pleasure again. Here are a few titles which I would like to reread over and over again:

• Tokyo (aka The Devil of Nanking) by Mo Hayder
• The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• In the Woods by Tana French
• Talyn by Holly Lisle
• Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene
• Sweet Dreams series by various authors

So are there any books you would like to reread?

This week, Dewey asked us to take a close-up photos of book covers and see if our readers can guess which books they are.

How to:
1. Take one or more (as many as you like!) close up photos of book covers.
* You could make this harder for your readers by posting covers specific to your country, posting older covers of classics, etc.
* You could make it easier for your readers by limiting your photos to books you’ve mentioned recently, so that your blog readers will already have seen the covers.
* You could also make it easier by posting some cover close-ups and a list of correct titles, asking your readers to match titles to books.
2. Decide on how you want to run your guessing game. Do you want to give prizes? Do you want to announce the correct answer as soon as someone guesses it? Do you want to post photos only of books you want to give away, and give the books to the correct guessers? Organize it any way you want!
3. Come back and sign Mr Linky, so other Weekly Geeks will be able to find your post.

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I chose six books I read and created a collage from them.

Can you guess what are these titles?
(If possible, list out the authors too if you like)