Pick Your a Thon Mini-Challenge #4

I just completed reading and reviewing The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters. And wrote reviews for Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer and Blue Heaven by C J Box. And I am starting a new book now in the last five minutes of 2011.

Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge Complete

I completed the Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge. I read sixteen mysteries in the last quarter of the year.
1.Dead simple by Peter James
2.The Mysterious affair at styles by Agatha Christie
3.The man in lower ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart
4.The Amethyst box by Anna Katherine Green
5.The case of the lamp that went out by Augusta Groner
6.Live wire by Harlan Coben
7.From out the vasty deep by Marie Belloc Lowndes
8.Blue Heaven by C J Box
9.Roses are Red by James Patterson
10.Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer
11.The Black Eagle Mystery by Geraldine Bonner
12.The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart
13.The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters
14.Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh
15. Blood Work by Michael Connelly
16. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

Color Coded Challenge - Wrap up

I completed the Color coded challenge hosted by Bev @ MyReadersBlock
1. "Blue"- Blue Heaven by C J Box
2. "Red" - Roses are Red by James Patterson
3. "Yellow"- Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer
4. "Green" -Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
5. "Brown"- Molly Brown's Freshman Year by Nell Speed
6. "Black"- The Black Eagle Mystery by Geraldine Bonner
7. "White"-The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart
8. Any other color- The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters
9. Color implied- Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh

Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer

Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer is a mystery featuring French detective Gaston Max. Henry Leroux, a novelist, is writing into the middle of the night. It is the second time somebody is disturbing by ringing his bell. His wife is away in Paris and his man is playing truant. A strange dying woman is at his doorstep. He goes to call his neighbour Dr.Cumberly to see to the woman. Before they arrive "Straight at the bare throat leapt the yellow hands; a gurgling cry rose—fell—and died away." There is a paper with the name Mr.King in her hand. Who is Mr. King? Who killed the woman? Why is Gaston Max a French detective investigating this case in London?

Then I had a brainstorm, isn't there a writer called Gaston Leroux? Here we have a writer called Henry Leroux and detective called Gaston Max. Is there any connection? Is it just coincidental or intentional? So I did some research (read googled). I learnt that Sax Rohmer and Gaston Leroux were contemporaries. Also that Sax Rohmer mainly wrote about Master Criminals and supernatural horror. I was put off by it and decided to abandon the book. I was still looking for a book with Yellow in the title. I kind of decided to read Yellow Cap or Yellow Fairy. Finally decided to give it a try and I liked it.

Rest of the story is about Chinamen and opium dens. I didn't expect to be so involved in the book. I even had a nightmare about a locked room and a golden dragon. A good thriller. Now I will have to read the next book in the series, Golden Scorpion.

Blue Heaven by C J Box

This is the second C J Box book I am reading. I read Three weeks to say goodbye last year and I liked it.

Twelve year old Annie, and ten year old William are angry with their mother and go for fishing without her permission. In the woods they see an execution. The killers identify the kids and are watching their home. They have nowhere to go. How long will they survive in the woods? Where will they go? Will anybody help them?

Jess Rawlins a lonely failing rancher, looks like a tough guy. Will the kids find refuge in his ranch? Will they trust him? If they do, can Rawlins fight against a group of organised ex-cops who have cunningly take on the system. A roller coaster ride with bad cops and some good guys. A great thriller. Only after finishing it I knew that it was an Edgar award winning book. Worthy winner. Loved it!

The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters

I think this is the third Ellis Peters book I read. I read Monk's Hood, I know because I reviewed it in my early blogging days. I am not sure if I read The Leper of St.Giles. I could have read the book or got it from library and returned it before completing as the book was due.

This is the thirteenth chronicle of Brother Cadfael, the herbologist Monk detective. But he doesn't do much detection here. The story takes place in 1142 in Shrewsbury, England. Young widow Judith Perle has given the use of a house to the abbey in return for one White Rose as rent from the garden to be remitted on a particular day every year. Such is the beauty and grace of Judith that there are suitors abound. But it is not just her beauty and grace alone that make suitors flock it is her wealth too. Judith is the proprietor of a flourishing clothier business which she runs successfully with the help of her cousin. Few days before the rent is to be remitted Brother Eluric is found dead and part of the Rose bush hacked. Who did it and why? Judith goes missing. What happened to her? Was she killed? Or an unscrupulous suitor hold her hostage to make her marry him?

There is only one solution to the puzzle and why does it take so long for Brother Cadfael to find it? I wish there were some twists and turns and a real surprise in the end.

Pick Your a Thon Mini-Challenge #1

Goals, Goals, Goals

What book(s) are you starting with?
Ellis Peters' The Rose Rent

I hope to read / review:
I hope to both read and review.

Books I hope to read / review or at least will try to get to:
I have finished two books this week- The Blue Heaven and The Yellow Claw-that I would like to review and also the book I am reading now. I would be reviewing at least three books before the new year and I never got around reviewing some of the best books I read this year. So maybe five books to review and maybe three to finish reading

Pick Your A Thon

I saw this at Neer @ hot cup of pleasure. I have some reviews to finish and some books to read for a challenge and some to return in library. So I am signing up for Pick your A Thon event hosted by The Book Monsters. I would be both reviewing and reading. The event runs from 28th December to 3rd January. If you are interested you can sign up here

Theme Thursdays

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event
hosted @ Reading Between the Pages
This weeks theme is Old.

This snippet is from The Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer.

A hand, of old ivory hue, a long, yellow, clawish hand, with part of a sinewy forearm, crept in from the black lobby through the study doorway and touched the electric switch!

WWW: Wednesdays

I am playing WWW: Wednesdays hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you just recently finish reading?
*What do you think you'll read next?

What are you currently reading?
I just started The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters. It is Brother Cadfael's thirteenth chronicle. I read Ellis Peters Monk's-Hood which features herbologist detective Brother Cadfael before and I liked it. This story takes place in 1142.

What did you just recently finish reading?
I finished Blue Heaven by C. J. Box and the Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer. Blue Heaven is a thriller. Twelve year old Annie, and ten year old William watch an execution in the woods. The killers identify the kids and are watching their home. They have nowhere to go. How long will they survive in the woods? Where will they go? Will anybody help them? A roller coaster ride with bad cops and some good guys. A great thriller.

Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer is a mystery featuring French detective Gaston Max. A strange woman is killed in the apartment of writer Henry Leroux in London. There is a paper with the name Mr.King in her hand. Who is Mr. King? Who killed the woman? Why is Gaston Max a French detective investigating this case in London? Of Chinamen and opium dens. Didn't expect to be so caught up with the book. I even had a nightmare about a locked room and a golden dragon. A good thriller. Now I will have to read the next book in the series, Golden Scorpion.

What do you think you'll read next?
I am still planning to read Violets are Blue by James Patterson which is a sequel to Roses are Red. I am also planning to read Vault by Ruth Rendell. Vault is the latest book by Ruth Rendell featuring Inspector Wexford.

Molly Brown's Freshman Year by Nell Speed

I was planning to read Tom Brown's School days ended up reading Molly Brown's first year at Wellington college. I couldn't go beyond the first few pages of Tom Brown's school days. While Molly Brown's college days is a easy breezy read. I hope to get acquainted with Tom Brown someday, but not today. For today I am happy to know what Molly did in college a hundred years ago.

Molly Brown from Kentucky is our model heroine. She is kind hearted. She wants to make her family proud. She works very hard at studies. She is very popular with everybody. She hosts parties. She blacks boots, tutors her friends and makes sugar bursts to make money to keep her through college. Along with her friends she forms a group to be kind to girls in college who have no friend.

This book deals with her first year in college. An enjoyable easy read. I will probably read her other years in college too.

WWW: Wednesdays

I am playing WWW: Wednesdays hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you just recently finish reading?
*What do you think you'll read next?

What are you currently reading?
I am still reading Blue Heaven by C. J. Box. Haven't made much progress. I am also reading Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer.

What did you just recently finish reading?
I finished Roses are Red by James Patterson and Molly Brown's Freshman Year by Nell Speed.


What do you think you'll read next?
I am planning to read Violets are Blue by James Patterson which is a sequel to Roses are Red. I am also planning to read Vault by Ruth Rendell. Vault is the latest book by Ruth Rendell featuring Inspector Wexford.

Theme Thursdays

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event
hosted @ Reading Between the Pages
This weeks theme is Food.

The following snippet is from Molly Brown's Freshman Year by Nell Speed.

"You’ll probably have beefsteak and mushrooms and grape fruit and ice cream and all the delicacies of the season."

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about books and reading. This week’s question is

Character or Plot?What’s more important to you? Real, three-dimensional, fleshed-out fascinating characters? Or an amazing, page-turning plot?(Yes, I know, they are both important. But if you had to pick one as being more important than the other?
Undoubtedly the Plot. As a rule a great plot with weak characters is more than okay with me. But if the characters are really powerful that keeps the story fascinating and enthralling I could go easy on the plot. Ruth Rendell (not that her plots are weak) writes such fascinating stories with powerful characters. Her characters are so obsessed that I just keep turning pages and plot hardly matters.

WWW: Wednesdays

I am playing WWW: Wednesdays hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you just recently finish reading?
*What do you think you'll read next?

What are you currently reading?
I am reading a thriller, Blue Heaven by C. J. Box. Twelve year old Annie, and ten year old William watch an execution in the woods. The killers identify the kids and are watching their home. They have nowhere to go. How long will they survive in the woods? Where will they go? Will anybody help them? This is the second C. J. Box book I am reading. The first was Three weeks to say goodbye, which was in Harlan Coben Stlye and I enjoyed reading it.

What did you just recently finish reading?
I finished reading Roses are Red by James Patterson. There are a series of bank robberies where the bank employees or their family are killed execution style. FBI approaches Alex Cross to help them in their investigation. Will Alex Cross catch the Mastermind? Who is the Mastermind? The novel is 306 pages long with one hundred and twenty four chapters. Almost every other page is a chapter, wonder what purpose it serves. Alex Cross is supposed to be in difficult times with his ex-girlfriend, who was kidnapped by a serial killer in one of the earlier books is not able to reconcile with her life, and his little daughter has a tumour operation. It is all so matter of fact that it is hard to feel for the guy. There is a surprise in the end, still the story is disappointing.

I also finished reading Molly Brown's Freshman Year by Nell Speed. It is an ebook available free for Kindle. It is a feel good book. Molly Brown from Kentucky goes to study in Wellington College. Her family has to sell apple orchards to send her to college. Molly is very kind-hearted, noble etc and makes friends easily. So it is her first year at college, the various activities she gets involved in and parties she attends and hosts is the crux of the story. There is some mystery too. Everybody shuns one of the sophomores. What did she do and why everybody hates her? Who is the miscreant causing mischief in college in various events? A glimpse into college life of girls a good hundred years ago?

What do you think you'll read next?
I am planning to read Violets are Blue by James Patterson which is a sequel to Roses are Red and something with a colour yellow in the title. Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell is tempting.

What kind of Reader are You?

Found this fun quiz at Bev @ MyReadersBlock.

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about books and reading. This is the first time I am participating in this. This week’s question is

All things being equal, which would you prefer–a mystery? Or a love story?

I would always prefer a Mystery. I decided to devote my life to reading Mysteries. I read nothing except mysteries. If the book is not a mystery I wouldn't even dream of picking it up. Okay. Okay. I read classics too. Sometimes science fiction, bestsellers, booker prize stuff but hardly ever venture into love stories. I would even go one step further and say I hate love stories. By love stories I don't mean books by Jane Austen or books like Love in Time of Cholera(I haven't read it, but plan to read it soon). Give me a mystery any day, any time. A nice love story in a mystery is appealing but love story in itself without any mystery has no appeal to me.

Theme Thursdays

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event hosted @ Reading Between Pages. This is my first Theme Thursday.



This week's theme is HAPPY!

“I’ll bring back the three golden apples of the Hesperides, mother, and make the family rich and happy,” cried Molly, and from that moment the three golden apples became a secret symbol to her, although she had not decided in her mind exactly what they represented.

This sentence is from Molly Brown's Freshman Years by Nell Speed.

WWW: Wednesdays

I am playing WWW: Wednesdays hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you just recently finish reading?
*What do you think you'll read next?

What are you currently reading?
I am reading Roses are Red by James Patterson. It is an Alex Cross mystery/thriller. There are a series of bank robberies where people are killed execution style. There is a mastermind who is planning it all. Will Cross get him? Reading it for the Color-coded challenge.
I am also reading Molly Brown's Freshman Years by Nell Speed, an Ebook on my new kindle.
What did you just recently finish reading?
I finished reading One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. It was a quick read. Read it in hours. Had to. I borrowed it from my library and on the due date I was planning to renew online. Realised that it was reserved so either had to return it the same day or pay fine which isn't much but I hate paying fines. So finished it. It was funny. Reminded me of my favourite sleuth Kinsey Millhone. Only Stephanie Plum is a bumbling amateur who becomes a bounty hunter. Enjoyable read.

What do you think you'll read next?
I am planning to read Blue Heaven by C J Box, Violets are Blue by James Patterson and something with a colour yellow in the title. Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell and U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton are tempting me.

Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge 2011

I have completed the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge hosted by Bev at MyReadersBlock. I opted for the Golden Age Girls and read seven mystery books by women writers published before the 1960. I started the Challenge with a re-read of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, my all time favourite author. It was as good as reading for the first time. All the other authors I read were new to me. I read a book each by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Anna Katherine Green, Marie Belloc Lowndes, Geraldine Bonner, Augusta Groner and Ngaio Marsh. I read six ebooks available in the Public Domain for free from Gutenberg and borrowed Ngaio Marsh from library. I enjoyed reading all these authors and look forward to reading more books by these authors. I was not disappointed with any of the books. They were all fun.
The mysteries I read are
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie(1920)
The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart(1906)
The Amethyst Box by Anna Katherine Green(1905)
The Case of the Lamp that Went Out by Augusta Groner(1910)
From Out the Vasty Deep by Marie Belloc Lowndes(1921)
The Black Eagle Mystery by Geraldine Bonner(1915)
Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh(1943)

Roses are Red by James Patterson

This is the fourth Patterson book I have read. I read Along came a spider, Kiss the Girls a long time back. I don't remember anything about the books, but I don't think it was very bad. If it was I don't think I would have picked this up. I then read London Bridges and was disappointed.

I kind of liked Alex Cross from his earlier books I read, so wanted to give him another try. I picked mostly because I need to read a book with colour red in the title for Color-coded challenge hosted by Bev @ MyReadersblock. So this book seemed a good fit.

Now the story. There are a series of bank robberies and murders. In some cases the family of the bank employees are held hostage and killed mercilessly. In some cases the bank employees are killed. All this seems to be leading to something bigger. These robberies and murders seem to be masterminded by a psychopath. FBI approaches Alex Cross to help them in their investigation. Will Alex Cross catch the Mastermind? Who is the Mastermind?

The story has two narratives. One is the first person narrative by Alex Cross, the other is a third person narrative giving us the overview of the criminal activities of the mastermind.
Alex Cross is supposed to be in difficult times with his ex-girlfriend, who was kidnapped by a serial killer in one of the earlier books. She is not able to reconcile with her life. Alex's little daughter has a tumour operation. The first person narrative is so matter of fact that it is hard to feel for the guy. Alex goes on with his investigation when his daughter is in hospital. All this turmoil just makes him hesitate a bit before commencing on a love affair with a FBI agent. There are some twists and turns. There is a surprise in the end, still the story is disappointing.

The book has 305 pages and 124 chapters. What's with this one page one chapter business! Wonder what purpose it serves. Every third page is empty because chapters don't start on the left page. If the book was published without these empty pages and a few chapters clubbed together wonder how long it would be.

The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Margery Fleming approaches Lawyer John Knox to help find her missing politician father Allan Fleming. Fleming's butler Carter also goes missing. There are other mysterious happenings in the Fleming household. There is a break-in the night and Margery finds a piece of paper pinned to the pillow with the words eleven twenty-two written on it. On Knox's advice Margery moves to her aunts' place. Mysterious events follow Margery even there. So many things happen, that it is almost impossible for me to keep track of them. Some valuable pearls go missing, eleven twenty-two appears again, blood in the attic, Aunt Jane goes missing, something about calling Anderson's drug-store, and finally White Cat, the political club. Who stole the Pearls? What does eleven twenty-two mean? What happened to Aunt Jane? Finally what happened to Allan Fleming? These are just some of the questions that this mystery solves. There are many other questions too. Only I don't remember them.

Rinehart weaves an intriguing tale with so many threads. Interesting intriguing tale.

Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery

I was looking for a book with colour Green in the title for the Color coded challenge. Anne of Green Gables had been in my To be Read list for a long time. So decided to read it for this challenge.

Childless couple Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert decide to adopt a 12 or 13 year old boy who would help them in their farm. The orphanage sends eleven year old Anne instead. Matthew who is usually shy of women and mortally scared of girls takes an immediate liking to Anne. Marilla is not sure if she could bring up a girl especially one who talks so much. Kind-hearted Marilla decides to keep Anne.

Anne is very imaginative and talks all the time. She gets into all kinds of scrapes because of her imagination, temper and absent mindedness. She finds her "kindred spirit" and bosom friend in Diana Barry. The only sorrow of her life is her red hair and when Gilbert Blythe teases about her hair. She vows not to talk to him. Her rivalry with Gilbert makes her work hard to achieve good results in school.

This book deals with her school life and Teacher's license exam till she is sixteen.

Below are some quotes from the book that I liked.

"But I'd rather look ridiculous when everybody else does than plain and sensible all by myself," persisted Anne mournfully.

“I'm not a bit changed--not really. I'm only just pruned down and branched out. The real ME--back here--is just the same.”

“Oh, but there's such a difference between saying a thing yourself and hearing other people say it," wailed Anne. "You may know a thing is so, but you can't help hoping other people don't quite think it is."

"The things you wanted so much when you were a child don't seem half so wonderful to you when you get them."

A feel good book, I enjoyed reading it. I would like to read other books in the series.