I bought this after reading the book review written by Rhinoa. I had a hard time finding it; in fact I had a hard time finding Ray Bradbury's books. But of course I didn't give up, until one day I found this at Borders. I like the cover art, because it is so bright and eye-catching, you wouldn't miss seeing it. On the cover, it stated this is the 50th Anniversary Edition. It was first published in 1953, marking this book a classic. I was awed, and the best thing is, there is even a new introduction and afterword that tells us how this story was first created and the author's thought on this story.

To begin with, Fahrenheit 451 is all about books. As a booklover, nothing makes me happier than having a book that talks about books. However, in this story, no one is allowed to possess any book in the house because they are considered as a forbidden item and are accused of a source of all discord and unhappiness.

The protagonist, Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books and he took pride in his job since it has passed down from generations. That is until one day, his next-door neighbour, a girl named Clarisse McClellan shares her thoughts with him about the beauty of books, and how much they will gain through reading and that the world will be different if they are more "open minded". Her remarks had set him thinking but it is Clarisse mysterious disappearance that has changed his mindset and his outlook of life.

There was one scene that I find it memorable, which is when a woman wouldn't want to leave her house when the firemen found out she had hidden some books, so she chose to perish in the fire together with her books. I just couldn't describe how I feel after reading this, except to say this paragraph alone has evoked such powerful emotion. I really admire Mr. Bradbury for his superb writing skills and his creative imagination. I find this book thought provoking and is really worth reading. It is no wonder this book is a classic and remains one of his bestselling books. Now I knew why I had difficulty finding it in the first place.

This is the fourth installment of the Ice Series by Anne Stuart. Unlike her previous installments (i.e. Black Ice, Cold As Ice and Ice Blue) that focus more on the heroes' perspectives, the protagonist in Ice Storm is a strong, enigmatic and icy cool heroine who heads The Committee where their roles are international secret agents.

Josef, or better known as Killian, had made a deal with the Committee that he would trade his inside information in exchange for his security. He knew this was an offer the Committee wouldn't turn down, and knowing he had found Isobel he wasn't about to let her go, for he had to settle a score with her for what she had done to him several years back. And it was later that they realized someone wanted them dead, and they had to find out who before it was all too late.

I always enjoyed reading Anne Stuart's book because she writes interesting characters, great dialogues and most of the times they are an intense read. Ice Storm is a page-turner in my opinion; and there wasn't a time you will find a scene boring as Josef and Isobel managed to keep your attention till the end of the book with their cat and mouse games as they raced against time and each other. Readers will also get to revisit Bastien and Peter's lives (the heroes from the previous installments Black Ice and Cold As Ice respectively) as they supported Isobel in tackling her current difficult task. This book is definitely a keeper for me, along with Anne Stuart's other Ice series.

ISBN-13: 9780446698320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 276pp
Pub. Date: August 2007


I have always enjoyed reading Nicholas Sparks' novels, starting with "The Notebook" and "A Walk to Remember", from then onwards I began to keep a look out for his books. Nicholas Sparks has a great writing style and another thing I like about his books is because they are usually thought-provoking.

This story is about John Tyree, based on a first person POV. John has a troubled teenage life; he lives with his father although both of them seldom talk to each other. So after he has left school, he decided to join the army as he thought this would do them good. But he didn't expect his life changes thereafter...

Just when he thought his life wouldn't get any better, fate allows him to befriend Savannah Lynn Curtis. She is a university student majors in special education; she is also a volunteer at the Habitat for Humanity. They are different as day and night, but yet they couldn't help falling in love with each other. Just when John decided to get settled down with Savannah and she promises to wait for him to finish his duty tour, the 9/11 incident broke them apart.

John feels trapped in a dilemma, but deep in his heart he knew he has to fulfil his duty. Savannah respects his decision. While she waits for him to come home, Tim, her long-time good friend lost his parents in an accident at this time. Savannah helps him in taking care of his autistic younger brother, Alan. Tim has liked Savannah for a long time, so it seems natural that both of them get closer under this circumstances.

When John finally comes home, he is both shocked and heartbroken to learn that Savannah has married to Tim. But he has expected this to come and he wishes her all the best, because he knows very well that Tim loves her too and maybe Savannah will be better off with Tim rather than him. When Savannah asks him to meet Tim one day, he is reluctant but he gave in towards the end. He then finds Tim in a hospital and understands he is diagnosed with melanoma (a kind of skin cancer).

Once again, John finds himself in another dilemma. Should he or shouldn't he let go of his one true love? This is definitely a tough decision; and I applaud Nicholas Sparks for writing such a wonderful love story... the ending definitely gave me teary eyes.

This is a fun read. Kavita Daswani has written this story with dry wit and humor that is so entertaining that I laughed out loud at some of the scenes. I have also learnt a lot about Indian culture through this book and will definitely look out for more books written by Indian authors.

Priya (the protagonist of this story) comes from a conversative Indian family, and her parents would like to see her getting married one day. So they were overjoyed when they found Sanjay being the man for their daughter. So Priya and Sanjay got married after they had just met for a week, and Priya moved into his family in America since Sanjay had been living there all his life. She is also advised to talk less and obey his family and everything will be great, but she is bored and not knowing what to do being in another country.

Finally, her mother-in-law allows her to look for a job but it has to be simple and doesn't bring "disrepute" to the family. Priya managed to find a receptionist position at the Hollywood Insider, where they cover stories on all the mega superstars. Then a strange twist of fate led her to become a journalist, but she had to keep it a secret from her in-laws because she knew they will never approve of her job. And she has difficulty sharing the news to Sanjay because being the only son in the family, she knew her husband will listen to his parents. Priya took pride in her job, but towards the end when the secrets were out and Sanjay thought she was insane of thinking they needed a counselling course, Priya decided she had to make a tough decision between her work and family.

This is not an original story, but it mentions issues that some women are dealing with today. Another plus side of this story is the characters are real to me, right down to their dialogues. Although I find the ending a little abrupt and cheesy, but I'm sure this is what some women might have hoped for in their real life.

The narrator, Jacqueline Pascarl's childhood was a sad one. She was sexually abused and this left her vulnerable after the incident. But her life changes when she met a foreign student thereafter. Bahrin managed to sweep her off her feet with his romantic gestures, and after their few dates he told her he actually comes from a royal family. Although Jacqueline wasn't sure how their relationship is going to take off after that, but Bahrin was so nice about everything so she said yes to him when he proposed. They then left Australia and moved into his family in Malaysia.

This book isn't easy to read, especially when I'm a mother myself and I can understand all the emotions Jacqueline has gone through. I felt sorry for her, but then I also have to admire her determination and courage of finding ways to locate her children. Jacqueline has written this book with details and emotions. This autobiography will stay in my mind for some time.