Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by Passages to the Past.

Here's what I received from a publisher last week:

1) Slow Dancing on Price's Pier by Lisa Dale

What books came into your house last week?

Here's my fourth post of the (Not So) Wordless Wednesday (iPhone Edition). . . I hope you enjoyed viewing them.

The latest angel poppet added to my collection. There is a switch at the bottom where you can turn on the light. So very cool!

My youngest daughter.

I love these Sanrio characters ever since I was a child. And no, I didn't play this because I knew I'd never be able to get them no matter how hard I try.

Doraemon at a game arcade.

Taken outside from a Japanese restaurant. Loved the setting and the atmosphere there.

Mermaid doll - A birthday gift to my eldest daughter from my 2nd brother-in-law.

Desserts we had the other day (I ordered the hazelnut avocado sundae which is on the far right.)

Japanese candy. Yummy!

Top Row (from L to R): Old Castle, Magic Garden and Foggy Forest.

Bottom Row (L to R): Dreamy Fairy, Fairy Tale and Iron Heart.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• 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 understanding of the law is this: if I came to the U.S. on a tourist visa for the sole purpose of getting married in order to stay, that would be illegal. But if I came for a visit and just happened to fall in love - well, then it would be okay. The immigration people would let me stay.

The problem is, I did both.

(Pg 136-7, Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald)

It's April, and C.B. James' TBR Dare Challenge ended last Friday. When I first participated in this challenge, I was thinking that maybe this would help me to leave a dent of my TBR pile, unfortunately it wasn't the case. For starters, my reading has been going on very slow since the beginning of the year; plus my regular readers will know that my commute time has also been cut short after the relocation of my office and this has somewhat affected my reading since I spent most of the time reading while travelling to and from work. And, lo and behold, another reason being that I've been eyeing at those lovely newly acquisitions and I simply couldn't say no to them after hearing them calling my name, ha (I know, it's entirely my fault and there's no excuse for this). Thus, that leaves me to only finishing two books for this challenge:

• Gone by Mo Hayder
• Spinning Tropics by Aska Mochizuki

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.


• Let the book fall open to a random page.


• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page. 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!

I don't think I've ever posted a free verse format in my Teaser Tuesdays post before. No, scratch that, I don't even think I've ever read a book that was written in a free verse format, but there is always a first, isn't it?

~*~*~*~*~*

I'd heard so many good things about Frank Delaney's Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show that when I was asked by a publicist if I was interested to read the sequel, The Matchmaker of Kenmare, I didn't hesitate. Unfortunately, after two weeks later of reading the book (and having only read one-quarter of it), I've to say I'm giving up this book for good. There is no doubt that Frank Delaney's prose is lyrical and beautiful, but I find the story is progressing slowly and though the plot seems interesting, it didn't manage to capture my attention into reading more.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by I'm Booking It.

Here's what I bought and received from The Book Depository last week:

1) Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

2) Orchards by Holly Thompson

What books came into your house last week?

So I mentioned before that I would not be participating in any more reading challenges, after all I haven't been reading many books for the challenges I had signed up, plus my reading progress has been slow lately. However, I have to make an exception for this particular challenge - Carl V's Once Upon a Time Challenge (OUAT) since I have not participated in this before, plus Carl is a great host and I always have fun with his R.I.P Challenge (which I'm always looking forward to it). And then of course there is always this opportunity to explore new authors and get to know new fellow bookbloggers.

• Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon
• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
• Sisters Red by Jackson Pierce
• When Rose Wakes by Christopher Golden

Note: There won't be a Teaser Tuesdays post today as I'm still reading The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney. Aside from my snail pace reading progress, I also find that the story is a bit slow in my opinion and that it doesn't engage me as much (although I have to say Frank's writing style is lyrical and beautiful!). This book is the sequel to Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show and since I haven't read that book yet, I wonder if this is part of the reason why it affects my experience of reading The Matchmaker of Kenmare. That said, I wouldn't want to call it a DNF at this stage so I shall read a few chapters and see how it goes.

Hope you all have a Happy Tuesday!

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by I'm Booking It.

Here's what I bought and received from The Book Depository last week:

1) Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

2) Live Wire by Lora Leigh

What books came into your house last week?

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• 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!

To tell the truth, I had intended to follow the Teaser Tuesdays rule to share two teaser sentences this week, after all I had broke the rule for the past two weeks in a row. However, when I flipped through Frank Delaney's The Matchmaker of Kenmare for a teaser, my eyes rested on these words - 'Referred Passion'. I thought it sounds interesting, but of course I knew it wouldn't do just to post two sentences, so there you go.

~*~*~*~*~*

"Do you know what I mean by 'Referred Passion'?" she said one day about a year into our relationship. And, as usual, not waiting for my hopeless stab at a reply, she went on. "Do you know what a referred pain is?"

Is it when I feel so stupid that I could kick myself?

"I'll explain it," she said. "Your shoulder is injured, but you feel it in your chest. Or you've hurt your spine, but your hip is carrying the ache. That's referred pain. Well, Referred Passion is when you're in love with one person, but you fiercely embrace another. That's us," she said. "That's me and you. Friendship is a choice," she said. "Love isn't."

(Pg 5, The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney)

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• 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!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'd know that Mo Hayder is one of my favourite authors. In fact, I'd be the first to buy her books once they hit the shelves, no matter if they are hardcover, tradesize or paperback. Yes, her books just have this kind of effect on me. Anyway, I should've read this book long time ago when it was released last year in February under the UK edition (US edition was released last month with a different cover) but I figured since it takes a while to see a new Mo Hayder book, I'd take my time to devour this little gem but alas, that little time has now turned into a year. With her next release, Hanging Hill, to be released in April (UK), I figured it is about time I read Gone and here it is.

Oh, if you haven't read her books yet, I think Hanging Hill would be a great one to start with since it is not part of her Jack Caffery series and is a stand-alone. As like last week, I decided to share not two sentences but the whole paragraph from a page. Happy Tuesday, and happy reading!

~*~*~*~*~*

No one spoke. She took a few steps forward. The torch beam danced in nothingness, picking up dripping walls and the odd hunched shapes of fallen earth like the humped back of an animal protruding out of the water. She stopped, turned sideways in the tunnel and put her head back as if she was trying to open her ears. Wellard left the boat and came slowly through the water, going carefully so his boots didn't make a noise. 'What is it?' he mouthed. 'Did you hear something?'

(Pg 119, Gone by Mo Hayder)