Mailbox Monday (6 July)

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia @ The Printed Page

For this week I received a bunch of books :) It was so exciting to find my mailbox stuffed with wonderful books!!

I'm posting this a day early because tomorrow "Monday" I will be busy doing my last minute things before leaving for our trip to Malaysia :)


1. Follow Me by Joanna Scott (Won @ The Novel Bookworm )

On a summer day in 1946 Sally Werner, the precocious young daughter of hardscrabble Pennsylvania farmers, secretly accepts her cousin's invitation to ride his new motorcycle. Like so much of what follows in Sally's life, it's an impulsive decision with dramatic and far-reaching consequences. Soon she abandons her home to begin a daring journey of self-creation, the truth of which she entrusts only with her granddaughter and namesake, six decades later. But when young Sally's father--a man she has never known--enters her life and offers another story altogether, she must uncover the truth of her grandmother's secret history.

Boldly rendered and beautifully told, in FOLLOW ME Joanna Scott has crafted a paean to the American tradition of re-invention and a sweeping saga of timeless and tender storytelling.

2. Swordplay edited by Denise Little (Won @ Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' GIVEAWAYS! )

Seventeen rapier-sharp stories of swordplay, magic, and adventure...

From a samurai’s sword to an assassin’s blade, from Custer’s cavalry sword to D’Artagnan’s deadly weapon, from the sword of Damocles to the legendary Excalibur, these all-new spellbinding tales get straight to the point. Whether it’s a sword bespelled to crave blood, cold steel that magicks its wielder into a video game, or a dwarf-crafted blade meant to slay a dragon, these weapons each come sheathed in their own fascinating story that cuts right to the heart of fantasy adventure.

3. Ages Of Wonder edited by Julie E. Czerneda & Rob St. Martin (Won @ Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' GIVEAWAYS! )

nineteen stories of myth and magic through the centuries

Here are nineteen original stories of myth, magic, and the creatures of fantasy, as seen through different historical eras— from the Age of Antiquity to the Age of Sails, the Colonial Age, the Age of Pioneers, the Pre-Modern Age, and the Age to come...

4. Other Earths edited by Nick Gevers & Jay Lake (Won @ Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' GIVEAWAYS! )

one world among many... eleven stories about them all

What if Lincoln never became president, and the Civil War never took place? What if Columbus never discovered America, and the Inca developed a massive, technologicallyadvanced empire? What if magic was real and a half-faerie queen ruled England? What if an author discovered a book written by an alternate version of himself?

These are just some of the possible pathways that readers can take to explore the Other Earths that may be waiting just one page away.


5. Terribly Twisted Tales edited by Jean Rabe & Martin H. Greenberg (Won @ Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' GIVEAWAYS! )


eighteen stories that offer a new twist on old fairy tales

From Hansel and Gretel and Goldilocks, to Snow White, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and more, here are eighteen stories that take familiar fairy tales and twist them around to give them an entirely new slant. Any fan of far-out fantasy is sure to be delighted

6. Running Blind "A Jack Reacher Novel" by Lee Child (Won @ Life In The Thumb )



Across the country women are being murdered by a killer who leaves no evidence, no fatal wounds, no signs of struggle, and no clues to a motive. They are, truly, perfect crimes. In fact, the only thing that links the victims is the man they all knew: Jack Reacher.

7. Tripwire "A Jack Reacher Novel" by Lee Child (Won @ Life In The Thumb )


Reacher's anonymity in Florida is shattered by an investigator who's come looking for him. But hours after his arrival, the stranger is murdered. Retracing the PI's trail back to New York, Reacher's compelled to find out who was looking for him and why. He never expected the reasons to be so personal-and twisted.

8. No Second Chance by Harlan Coben (Won @ Life In The Thumb )


When the first bullet hit my chest, I thought of my daughter...

Dr. Marc Seidman has been shot twice, his wife has been murdered, and his six-month-old daughter has been kidnapped. When he gets the ransom note-he knows he has only one chance to get this right. But there is nowhere he can turn and no one he can trust.

Going on a Vacation !!

I've been quite busy for the past 2 weeks so I've sadly neglected my blog, that is because I'm preparing for my vacation trip.. Going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ;)




I will be leaving Monday 6th of July but hopefully I will be checking on my blog every now and then since I will be taking my Netbook with me :)

Take care everyone and Happy 4th Of July everyone ;)

I will be posting my travel related posts on my travelogue ;)

Mailbox Monday (29 June)

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia @ The Printed Page

This is what I received this week..

Sunnyside Blues by Mary Carter .. I won this from A Novel Menagerie

Twenty-five-year-old Andes Lane has spent nine years moving restlessly from place to place as she searches for somewhere that feels right. In the little blue houseboat bobbing on a Seattle lake, she thinks she's found it. But Andes has barely had a chance to settle in before her new life is upended by her landlord, Jay, and his ten-year-old son, Chase. Smart, secretive, and precocious, Chase touches a chord with Andes even as he plays on her last nerve. When Jay needs someone to take care of Chase temporarily, Andes agrees to accompany the boy to Sunnyside, Queens, on a quest she's sure will prove fruitless. But in this new, strange, unexpectedly welcoming city, Andes will confront the secrets she tried to leave behind and the lies that have kept her running. And against all odds, she'll discover a place, a man, and a newfound peace of mind that feel very much like home.

Booking Through Thursday - Hot

Now that summer is here (in the northern hemisphere, anyway), what is the most “Summery” book

you can think of? The one that captures the essence of summer for you?

(I’m not asking for you to list your ideal “beach reading,” you understand, but the book that you can read at any time of year but that evokes “summer.”)

Well I don't have certain books that I read depending on weather and season.. I just read what I feel like reading so it depends on the mood and the last book I read..

Sometimes after I read a thriller or a complicated murder/mystery I want something light and funny to defuse my thoughts and unwind.. sometimes if I'm reading a series I would like to continue and read the next book in the series.. so it all depends on my mood.. :)

But the book that I read while I was on my summer vacation 2 years ago was Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.. that was because it was released at that time and I was waiting for the book :D so this would be the book that comes to mind :)

So do you have certain summer reads?? Check out what other people have to say about it..

Friday Finds (June 26)

What great books did you hear about / discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

Ok for this week .. these are my finds that I found interesting :)


1. Fever by Christine Feehan
Found @ Alaine's Reading Blog

In Wild Rain and the novella "The Awakening," Christine Feehan created an exotic, sensual race-the Leopard People. Fever brings the two stories together for the first time in one volume, a one-way ticket to a dizzying new world of desire.

In "The Awakening," a beautiful naturalist's dream comes true-to live among the feral jungle creatures. But an untamed, irresistible beast of another sort inspires her to explore her own wild side.

Wild Rain's Rachel Lospostros has escaped from a faceless assassin and found sanctuary thousands of miles from home, under the towering jungle canopy. In this world teeming with unusual creatures she encounters Rio, a native of the forest imbued with a fierce prowess, and possessed of secrets of his own. When Rio unleashes the secret animal instincts that course through his blood, Rachel must decide if he is something to be feared-or desired.

2. Sunnyside Blues by Mary Carter
Found @ A Novel Menagerie (And won it in her giveaway :) )

Twenty-five-year-old Andes Lane has spent nine years moving restlessly from place to place as she searches for somewhere that feels right. In the little blue houseboat bobbing on a Seattle lake, she thinks she's found it. But Andes has barely had a chance to settle in before her new life is upended by her landlord, Jay, and his ten-year-old son, Chase. Smart, secretive, and precocious, Chase touches a chord with Andes even as he plays on her last nerve. When Jay needs someone to take care of Chase temporarily, Andes agrees to accompany the boy to Sunnyside, Queens, on a quest she's sure will prove fruitless. But in this new, strange, unexpectedly welcoming city, Andes will confront the secrets she tried to leave behind and the lies that have kept her running. And against all odds, she'll discover a place, a man, and a newfound peace of mind that feel very much like home.


3. The Crime Writer by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz

A crime writer finds himself entangled in his own gruesome mystery in this fast-paced psychological thriller

Drew Danner, a crime novelist with a house off L.A.’s storied Mulholland Drive, awakens in a hospital bed with a scar on his head and no memory of being found convulsing over his ex- fiancée’s body the previous night. He was discovered holding a knife, her blood beneath his nails. He himself doesn’t know whether he’s guilty or innocent. To reconstruct the story, the writer must now become the protagonist, searching the corridors of his life and the city he loves.

Soon Drew closes in on clues he may or may not have left for himself, and as another young woman is similarly murdered he has to ask difficult questions not of others but of himself. Beautifully crafted and heartbreakingly told, The Crime Writer confronts our inherent fear of what we might truly be capable of—good or evil. Like nothing he’s written before, The Crime Writer takes Hurwitz in an exciting new direction and is sure to reach a whole new audience.

Mailbox Monday (22 June)

This is the first time I participate in this fun weekly post since at last I got something in the mail :) The Printed Page
Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia @

This is the only book I got this week but hopeful I'll get more in the upcoming weeks :)

The Divine Appointment by Jerome Teel
( Won this from Tami @ Tree Swing Reading , she has great giveaways by the way ;))

A liberal Supreme Court justice has died and the president, a right wing pro-life politician, nominates Dunbar Shelton to replace her in an explosive pro-life vs. pro-choice conflict.

In Tennessee, lawyers Eli Faulkner and Jill Baker represent a physician in the murder case of a young lawyer. Jill flies to Washington to get a part of the story from investigative journalist Holland Fletcher.

Together, the players in this drama will uncover answers that may cost them their lives. Is it worth it to risk everything when you're fighting for what you believe in?

Weekly Geeks : Reading Challenges

This week's Weekly Geeks topic was suggested by Sheri of A Novel Menagerie. She writes:

"Reading Challenges: a help or a hurt? Do you find that the reading challenges keep you organized and goal-oriented? Or, do you find that as you near the end of a challenge that you've failed because you fell short of your original goals? As a result of some reading challenges, I've picked up books that I would have otherwise never heard of or picked up; that, frankly, I have loved. Have you experienced the same with challenges? If so, which ones? Do you have favorite reading challenges?"

As we pass the halfway point of 2009, how are you doing with your reading challenges? Did you participate in any challenges this year? Be sure to come back to this post and leave a link to your Weekly Geeks post. Don't forget to visit your fellow Weekly Geeks throughout the week and see how they're doing with their reading challenges.

Well last year was the first time I participate in a challenge, it was the 50 book challenge.. because I wanted to push myself to read that many books since I have never done that much in a year.. it was usually around 10 books a year :)

So by the end of 2008 I've read 55 books ;) I thought that was so cool so I joined so many challenges this year to try and push myself to read different things.. and it worked :) I've already reached 40 books since January till now so I feel I'm accomplishing things here ;)

I've finished some of those challenges and have some I still need to finish.. I will sign in to a new one today too :) The Sookie Stackhouse Challenge, well it won't be much of a challenge since I will only need to read one book in 1 whole year but it will be fun to see what others have to say about the books since I'm a fan and read the first 8 books already :D

The one challenge that I did not complete in time was the Book Award Challenge since I'm not really fond of award books although I have read 7 out of 9 and enjoyed 4 of them :) I might consider participating next year if there is such a challenge :)