Friday 31 August 2012

Friday Memes

This week I am posting from Asta's Book by Barbara Vine
Friday Book Beginnings is a weekly meme where we share the opening line of our current read. Book Beginnings is hosted by the Rose City Reader.

My grandmother was a novelist without knowing it.
1
June 26th 1905
Idag til Formiddag da jeg gik i Byen var der en Kone, sommspurgte mig om der gik Isbjorne paa Garderne i Kobenhavn.

When I went out this morning a woman asked me if there were polars bears in the streets of Copenhagen.


Friday 56 hosted @ Freda's Voice is a weekly Meme where we share an interesting snippet from page 56 of our current book.

It sounds strange to me, nine pounds, two ounces, it doesn't mean anything much, but it must be all right because it's a lot more than when she was weighed at the chemists's a month ago.

Monday 27 August 2012

Crime Fiction Alphabet letter O

This is my post for Crime Fiction Alphabet letter O.

The Great Impersonation by E Philips Oppenheim published in 1920 deals with doubles, impersonation, espionage, spooky ghosts, a deranged woman, and a woman mad in love.
British citizen Everard Dominey chances upon German Leopold Von Ragastein in German East Africa. Dominey and Ragastein look alike. After a night of drinking and confessing about their respective exiles, Ragastein murders Dominey and takes his place in English Society spying for Germany. Will he make people believe that he is Dominey? Immediately after reaching London he chances upon Princess Eiderstorm, his former lover, who is bent on causing trouble for him. Will Leopold be successful in his mission?

I was getting more excited at the story that is not being told than the one that is told. I can't say much. I did figure out what was happening that was the reason for the excitement. There is a ghost story for the side which is spooky.

What makes some mysteries, where you figure out everything great and others disappointing? I loved this one!

Sunday 26 August 2012

Classics Challenge- August Prompt

Katherine at November’s Autumn is asking us to share some quotes from the Classic we are reading this month. I am reading the feminist classic The Women's Room by Marilyn French. Here are some quotes from the first quarter of the book!

It was not her virginity she treasured, but her right to herself, to her own mind and body.

And there are so much easier ways to destroy a woman. You don't have to rape or kill her; you don't even have to beat her. You can just marry her.

Pregnancy is the greatest training, disciplining device in the human experience.

When your body has to deal all day with shit and string beans, your mind does too.

Her life, from pregnancy on, was owned by another creature.

You had to act the way they expected you to act or they could keep the child of your own body and your own pain from you.

Her experience with cleaning was that it grew in direct parallel with wealth, and the only way to avoid it is to be born male or pay another woman to do it.

She hated this time of the day, she hated to cook. For herself, she would have been content with a cheese sandwich.

One thing that makes art different from life is that in art things have a shape; they have beginnings, middles, and endings. Whereas in life, things just drift along.

....In life one almost never has an emotion appropriate to an event. Either you don't know the event is occurring, or you don't know it's significance.

Sometimes I get as sick of writing this as you may be at reading this.

The problem with the great literature of the past is that it doesn't tell you how to live with real endings.

What actually happens is that you do get married or you don't, and you don't live happily ever after, but you do live.

Friday 24 August 2012

What's in a Name 5- Challenge Complete



I have read the following books for each category for the What's in a Name 5 challenge.

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Felix
A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Yellow Snake by Edgar Wallace
A book with a type of house in the title: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
The Silent House in Pimlico by Fergus Hume
A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: The Book of the Crime by Elizabeth Daly
Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow

Yellow Snake by Edgar Wallace

I was looking for a book with Yellow in the title for the color coded challenge. I found a free book in feedbooks.com. This work is available in public domain for countries where copyright is Life+70. Yellow Snake published in 1926 is first Edgar Wallace book I read. If you haven't guessed from the title, this book is about Chinese- Chinese domination of the world. Yep! Racist, but given the times, I suppose Yellow Peril novels were quite common then. If you could overlook this bit you can have some great fun. I read Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer last year and it was a great thriller. Everytime I pass Limehouse in London can't help thinking of Opium dens in Yellow Claw.

Now about this book. Stephen Narth's business is close to bankruptcy. He had speculated with his clients' money. Joe Bray, Narth's second cousin, the wealthiest man in China, dies leaving his fortune to Narth on condition that one of his daughters or cousin marry his assistant Clifford Lynne. Both his daughters Letty and Mabel refuse to the condition and decide to sacrifice Joan, the 'Cinderella', who has nil prospects anyway. Joan reluctantly agrees even before seeing Clifford Lynne. Stephen Narth also borrows from Grahame St Clay.

The Narth sisters are happy that they escaped a horrible fate when they meet the eccentric Clifford Lynne, with a long, straggly beard. Joan takes an immediate liking to Clifford despite his appearances. But when Clifford shaves his beard he turns out to be not only best-looking man in China but also the wealthiest man. Could the girls Mabel and Letty let him go off easily?

Grahame St Clay is really crazy and has plans of world domination. To fulfill his mad mission he needs shares of the company owned by Bray and Lynne. He decides to kidnap Joan to coerce Lynne from parting his shares. So what will happen? Will he kidnap Joan? How will Clifford stop Grahame St Clay from taking control of the world?

With twists and turns Yellow Snake is a fun read with some surprises, kidnapping, murders and mistaken identities. Grahame St Clay, a strange name isn't it? His real name is Fing-Su. Oh! A real Yellow Snake does appear in the first few pages of the novel. I didn't expect the book to be such a delightful read.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Chunkster Challenge Complete

I signed up for the Chubby Chunkster level to read 4 books over 450 pages for the Chunkster Challenge. I read the following 6 books. I may read a few more.

The Leopard by Jo Nesbo-740
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell-451
The Holcroft Covenant by Robert Ludlum-547
Middlemarch by George Eliot-795
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak-584
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough-560

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

“There is a legend about a bird which sings only once in it's life, more beautifully than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves it's nest, it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, it impales it's breast on the longest, sharpest thorn. But as it is dying, it rises above it's own agony to outsing the Lark and the Nightingale. The Thornbird pays it's life for that one song, and the whole world stills to listen, and God in his heaven smiles, as it's best is brought only at the cost of great pain; Driven to the thorn with no knowledge of the dying to come. But when we press the thorn to our breast, we know, we understand.... and still, we do it."

“The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself, and die singing. At the very instant the thorn enters there is no awareness in it of the dying to come; it simply sings and sings until there is not the life left to utter another note. But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it.”

I picked The Thorn Birds for the Birth Year Reading Challenge. Though published in 1977, it was still topping the the New York Times Bestsellers list a year later in 1978. The Thorn Birds narrates the story of Clearys from 1912 to 1969'of events in their lives during the two wars, deaths in their family, birth of new children, floods, draughts, love and pain. Though there are ups and downs in their lives, the story is predictable. This post may contain spoilers.

The thorn birds is basically the story of Meggie 'Meghann Cleary' only daughter of the huge Cleary family of sons in New Zealand. One would think an only daughter in a huge family of sons would be pampered and spoilt. But poor Meggie! All she probably wants in this world is somebody to love her. I can picture Fiona Cleary at the worktable working away without being hardly present there. Why doesn't Fee (as Fiona is called) do the one thing that would have come naturally to any mother? Why wouldn't she love? If she did love anybody, it is her first born Frank. There is trouble brewing at home, with constant differences between Frank and Paddy, Fee's husband. I liked Frank. But it is sad he disappears before even a quarter of the story has begun.

The Clearys move to Australia on Mary Carson's (Paddy Cleary's sister) invitation as they are the only heirs to Drogheda sheep outstation after her death. Clearys work in Drogheda as workmen rather than her future heirs. In Australia, Father Ralph meets Meggie as a nine year old and takes an immediate liking to her. He feels it is safe to love Meggie as she is a child. Isn't Ralph misguided? Will children remain children forever? Meggie loves the only person in her life who clearly cares for her. But Ralph is 'married to the church.' 'Did all men do that, love some inanimate thing more than they could love a woman?'

Mary Carson's trick with the will reminded me of George Eliot's Middlemarch. Meggie marries Luke O'Neill only because he looks like Ralph. But why does Luke O'Neill marry Meggie?

'Is it so much to ask of a man, to be needed and wanted by him?' 'you are all the same, great big hairy moths bashing yourselves to pieces after a silly flame behind a glass so clear your eyes don't see it. And if you do manage to blunder your way inside the glass to fly into the flame, you fall down burned and dead.'

O'Neill disappears from the story after a while. What happened to him? Is he going to cut cane all his life? Why haven't any of the other Clearys married? Even Ralph disappears from the story line after a point.

Justine, Meggie's daughter, is the most interesting character in the story. Rejected by her mother from her birth she grows up independent. Justine's conversation with Rainer in interesting.

Is it strange that she becomes what her mother calls a monster? You would think that Meggie would learn from her mother's mistakes. If Fee had shown little bit love, little bit care probably Meggie's life would have been different. It is really sad that Meggie does exactly what her mother does keep her daughter bereft of love. Don't we ever learn? What's with Meggie clamouring about 'the men in my life- my man and my son'? What about her daughter? I understand for all parents say, they have their favourites, isn't it that the reason, that they try to make it up with their not so favourites. Do they have to be blatantly partial? Oh ya! Everyone choose their own thorn, own poison, own pain- Fee, Meggie and Justine. For Justine it is her mothers love that is the unattainable goal-the thorn.

The story is too long. It could have been cut short by half. I was least interested in the Second World war bit. None of the Cleary brothers characters are developed. So much so that I don't remember how many brothers Meggie has. McCullogh gives interesting details into sheep stations in Australia- Sheep shearing, cane-cutting, droughts, floods, storms, dust and flies.

Meggie's story occupies more than a three fourths of the book. The final one fourth is Justine's story. To write a tome of 560 pages of tiny print with just two, okay, three main characters is no mean deal and to sustain interest is the difficult task. It is a bit melodramatic- god taking back what these women stole. If there was a god, do you think he would be playing such mean tricks. Grow up girls! I understand this book making an interesting melodramatic Television mini-series! Oh the thorns of forbidden love! Why should any love be forbidden as long as it is love?

Monday 20 August 2012

What an Animal V Challenge Complete

I have read the following books for the What an Animal V Challenge.

I am the Cat by Rosemary Kutak
When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong
The Leopard by Jo Nesbo
The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell
The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Yellow Snake by Edgar Wallace

The Leopard by Jo Nesbo

Two women found brutally murdered in a horrible way prompt the Oslo crime squad to re- recruit Harry Hole, the serial killer expert, who is in a hole in Hong Kong. Hole reluctantly(?) comes back to escape his debts with the Triad in Hong Kong. When a third woman is murdered, Harry Hole starts his investigation. The women murdered and the methods used to kill are very different. What is the connection between these women? What is this horrible method used to kill two of these women? Is this the case of a psychopathic serial killer or the women murdered for a different reason?

An edge of the seat thriller full of gore and blood reminiscent of the Saw movies. There are nice twists and I like the trick Nesbo plays on us. He makes us feel smug at spotting the killer yet provides with enough surprises to feel satisfied. The action takes place all over the world from Hong Kong to Oslo to Africa. There is the side story of politics between Kripos and Oslo Police Crime squad, something like the FBI and local police. Who will Harry be loyal to Kripos or Oslo Police? Who is the mole in Oslo crime squad?

At 740 pages it is a bit too long, maybe lacking in pace here and there, but with enough twists and turns to keep one glued to the book. Now I go hunting for his other books.

The Leopard published in Norwegian in 2009 is the eighth novel featuring detective Harry Hole and translated into English by Don Bartlett. I haven't read any Scandinavian crime fiction before. I have lined up books of Sjƶwall-Wahlƶƶ, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson to read next.

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet N and European Reading Challenge.

Saturday 18 August 2012

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Review contains Spoilers

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell was originally published in 1855. Elizabeth Gaskell is one of the major Victorian authors I haven't read. So to redeem it, I picked it up for the Getting lost into a Comfortable read Challenge. One of the reasons for not reading Gaskell before is that I know her books are Industrial novels -poverty, union, strikes, loss of innocence do not make great escapist reads. Do they?

Margret Hale moves to Industrial Milton North (based on Manchester)from pastoral south of England after her father turns 'dissenter'. Hales aren't exactly rich but the move from a beautiful village to a smoky town in North is not an easy one.

Initially I was miffed with Margret.

"Here, even the necessary accommodation of two sitting-rooms and four bed-rooms seemed unattainable. "

They have to settle for a house with gaudy wall paper and

"three sitting-rooms; don't you remember how we laughed at the number compared with the three bed-rooms?"

Three sitting rooms and three bed-rooms in a city is not really coming down in life, is it? Immediately Margret redeemed herself to me when she creates a bond of friendship with Bessy Higgins. Elizabeth Gaskell is not being judgmental about North, after all it is the place she lived most of her life.

Mr.Thornton's and Margret Hale's love story runs in parallel to Pride and Prejudice. While Margret is proud, Thornton is prejudiced. He misunderstands her simple actions of not shaking hands as pride, while it is mostly cultural difference between North and South. Margret is poor and proud. Thornton is prejudiced. When he finds her with another man, he runs to the conclusion that he is her lover.

Mr.Thornton is rich but he is one of the tradespeople. While Margret is poor, she belongs to the genteel class. In some senses they are equals. But Gaskell creates a change in fortunes of the two protagonists to make them really equal. So it wouldn't appear to anybody that she married him for his money.

At 451 pages it was not an easy read. I took a break at 250 pages and continued it again after a week, which was a good thing because I liked the story better. The love story among Industrial set up is interesting. Gaskell portrays the struggle between the employers and employees, problems of the workers, poverty, occupational hazards, union strikes, hunger, pain and death. She discusses about how employers should treat employees?

I like Margret for her strength and independence. She is not a damsel in distress. When her mother is crushed by the move to the north, she takes care of her and her father. She takes upon herself to hide her mother's illness from her father and suffers alone, because she doesn't want to break him further. She does not blame her father for their move. She never questions him 'Why should he become a dissenter?' She undertands people too. When reduced to poverty, she does not run to her rich relatives.

Interesting book about Industrial problems softend by a love story. I haven't read any Industrial novels. I will be picking up The Hard Times by Dickens which is also based in Manchester very soon.

Whoever wrote the blurb of the 2006 Penguin edition I borrowed from the library did not read the book.

Friday 17 August 2012

Book Spine Poetry- Day 5 Challenge

Bout of Books 5.0- Day 5 Challenge
Book Spine Poetry hosted by bookgoonie

Here is mine
A Stranger is Watching
A darker domain written in Bone
Those in Peril promise me- Don't Blink

The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey

Is it possible to murder somebody in a busy crowded place and get away? In this Josephine Tey novel published in 1929, a man in a overcrowded queue for the last week show of a famous London play is murdered. Before who murdered him and why, the question is why this location? It looks like something done on the spur of the moment, if so do people carry ornate weapons for no purpose? If it was planned, wouldn't the murderer look for a more easy location where the person would have a greater chance to escape? Would nobody in the big long overcrowded queue, notice neither the murderer nor the murder? Why are there no identification papers or marks on the victim? Why is the victim carrying a gun? Who is the victim?

Inspector Alan Grant investigates! On seeing the murder weapon, Grant pronounces that no Englishman would use such an ornate weapon to commit murder or use such a location for murder. Therefore the murder should be a Levantine. After this, I wasn't sure what direction the story would take. Luckily for Grant, a foreigner is found on the immediate vicinity of the murder. Grant goes on a wild goose chase all over remote Scottish highlands before he apprehends his suspect.

I wasn't entirely sure of what to make of this story or Grant. First is the location. What kind of person would choose such an impractical location for murder? Second would any detective start with a prejudice? Englishman or not, if the murderer finds a suitable weapon for his deed, is he not likely to use it?

Another thing that irked me was Grant for all his running about all over England and Scotland does not solve the case. Though the ending is satisfactory and gives a plausible explanation, it wasn't easy for me to buy the story.

It took a very long while for me to understand that Tey is laughing at me. A second reading of the first few chapters brought the humour out to me and the points that irked me the first time brought smile now. It was reading Nicola Upson's An Expert in Murder where Tey is featured and Ruth Rendell's The Saint Zita Society that brought home to me that the location is plausible.

I borrowed the book from Openlibrary. My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet M.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Bout of Books 5.0- Day 4 Challenges

A Book for Every Season hosted by Reading in Winter

Winter, Spring, Autumn or Summer all I read is crime fiction. So here are different crime fiction books for each season. I haven't read any of them. But I have a feeling The Snowman will be chilling and thrilling, as I read The Leopard earlier this year.

Murder in Bloom by Lesley Cookman
Summer of Discontent by Susana Gregory
A mourning in autumn by Harker Moore
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

Candy Challenge hosted by BookSmartie

I do most of my reading in bed before sleeping -so no snacking. Sometimes when I get the luxury to read in the late afternoons or evenings, I do drink a cup of coffee with my reading.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Bout of Books 5.0- Day 2 Challenges

Limerick Challenge hosted by Curiosity Killed the Bookworm

Oh! I love a gripping whodunit
Who pushed him from the summit
Who did the horrendous crime
of all who needs to do time
And finally who is the culprit

Character Interaction hosted by Once Upon a Time
In another Readathon mini-challenge I decided Mr. Darcy and Scarlett O' Hara would make a good couple. Here is the interaction between them made from real quotes from the Pride and Prejudice and Gone with the Wind (movie). This is a scene between Ashley and Scarlett. I have changed Ashley's dialogues with quotes from Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

Darcy: In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not repressed.
Scarlett: Don't tease me now. Have I your heart, my darling?
Darcy: I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding.
Scarlett: And I know you must care about me. Oh, you do care, don't you?
Darcy: My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.
Scarlett: Don't you... don't you want to marry me?
Darcy: My temper I dare not vouch for.
Scarlett: But you can't. Not if you care for me!
Darcy: My temper would perhaps be called resentful.
Scarlett: All I know is that I love you!
Darcy: I cannot forget the follies and vices of others.
Scarlett: But you love me!
Darcy: I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men

Darcy storms out of the room.

Scarlett: I can't let him go. I can't. There must be some way to bring him back. Oh, I can't think about this now! I'll go crazy if I do! I'll think about it tomorrow. But I must think about it. I must think about it. What is there to do? What is there that matters? Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day!

Relocate hosted by The Grammarian's Reviews
I finished reading Hypothermia by Arnaldur IndriĆ°ason, a detective story based in ReykjavĆ­k, Iceland, it was chilling and sometimes creepy. Death by Hypothermia, snow storm are some of the features of the story. I will relocate the story to The Arabian Desert and death would by sunstroke and snow storm will be replaced by sand storm.

Some more Limericks

Here is my limerick
Hope it doesn't make you sick
I know it is not funny
Or at least punny
Or the best of the pick

But then you asked for it


I hope it is not a crime
If it doesn't rhyme
After all I am not a poet
And you know it
May be another Time

Pick Your Thon-Starting Line

I am also participating in Pick Your Thon hosted by Kristen and Kate at The Book Monsters and where participants can choose to make it a read-a-thon, a review-a-thon, or both. It runs from August 13th to August 18th. I am clubbing it with Bout of Books Readathon to motivate me to do some reading in Summer.


So to start off, create a post or comment below to answer the following questions.
1. Which thon are you choosing? Readathon, Reviewathon or both? And why?
Mostly Read. But some Reviews too. Maybe Five Reviews.
2. Where are you from? You can be vague or specific, up to you.
I am from a place in India where we have three wonderful seasons- Hot, Hotter and hottest.
3. Say a little bit about yourself so we can get to know you if we don't already!
When I don't read, I play. I play with my little boy.
4. What are you currently reading or about to pick up to read?
I just finished Hypothermia by Arnaldur IndriĆ°ason. I am starting The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
5. What are your goals for this Pick Your Thon?
Read some of these books.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Smiley's people by John Le Carre´
Rites of Passage by William Golding
An unsuitable job for a woman by P D James
Hypothermia by Arnaldur IndriĆ°ason
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

And write at least Five Reviews.

Day 2 Organising

I am not very good at Organizing. But I do like making lists. Lists of books to read, list of books read, lists of books reviewed, lists and lists. I use excel to make lists. I love playing around with arranging in different orders. I use my Ipad calendar for reminders.

Day 3 Book Cover @ Danasquare

I read mostly crime fiction. Among the books I am reading I like the cover of Hypothermia. I like the blue of the sky and the blue of the water and serenity of the picture. Also it looks cold and chilling highlighting the features of the book.



Updates
Monday
Number of pages read: 132 completed Hypothermia

Tuesday
Number of pages read:30 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Wednesday
Number of pages read:50 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
30 pages Caravan of thieves by David Rich

Thursday
Number of pages read:132 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Friday
Number of pages read: 30 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
50 pages Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer
Reviewed: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey

Saturday:
Number of pages read:50 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Review: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Leopard by Jo Nesbo(Will be posted on Monday)

Total Pages Read: 504 pages
Books Reviwed: 3

Monday 13 August 2012

Bout of Books 5.0: Goals

I am participating in yes, yet another Readathon. Readathons are addictive and fun but are helpful in getting some reading done.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 13th and runs through Sunday, August 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week.



My Goals

I am planning to read at least some of the following

Hypothermia by Arnaldur IndriĆ°ason starting at page 182
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Smiley's people by John Le Carre´
Rites of Passage by William Golding
An unsuitable job for a woman by P D James
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo


Summer is a difficult time to read for me with the distraction of long summer days. I am not a fast reader so I am going to measure my progress in number of pages read everyday instead of Number of books read everyday.

Monday
Number of pages read: 132 completed Hypothermia

Tuesday
Number of pages read:30 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Wednesday
Number of pages read:50 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
30 pages Caravan of thieves by David Rich

Thursday
Number of pages read:132 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Friday
Number of pages read: 30 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
50 pages Behold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer

Saturday:
Number of pages read:50 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Sunday
Number of pages read: 50 pages Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

Total Pages read: 554
It was fun participating in this readathon and in various mini-challenges. Wish I had more reading done!

Friday 10 August 2012

Friday Memes

This week I am posting from Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason
Friday Book Beginnings is a weekly meme where we share the opening line of our current read. Book Beginnings is hosted by the Rose City Reader.

Prologue
Maria hardly registered what was happening during the funeral.

1
The emergency line received a call from a mobile phone shortly after midnight.

Friday 56 hosted @ Freda's Voice is a weekly Meme where we share an interesting snippet from page 56 of our current book.

Everything was as it should have been, as if she had just popped out for a moment.

Thursday 9 August 2012

Summer Wrap-Up Thon: Flower Challenge

Rachel @Unforgettable Books is hosting a Summer Wrap-Up Thon: Flower Challenge for Summer Wrap-Up Readathon participants. For this challenge one can use any flower name and use it as the stem for an acrostic poem describing why one likes reading, blogging or any hobby one is passionate about.

Here is my poem about my reading. The Flower I have chosen is Jasmine. I love to read Mysteries and Thrillers. Hope my poem reflects it!

Journey into strange lands
Adventures on sunny sands
Solving the baffling Minds
Mysteries of unknown Kinds
Infinite possibilities to unwind
Noisy babbling colourful streams
Escape into rainbow Dreams

Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie

Lord Asherton and Dame Caroline's son-in-law, Connor Swann is found dead in River Thames. Lord Asherton and Dame Caroline are renowned opera singers. Presumably upon Asherton's request Duncan Kincaid and Gemma are asked to investigate the case. Was Swann murdered? Was his death accidental? Did he commit suicide?

This is the third book in the Gemma and Kincaid series. I haven't read the first two books. The story starts with the death of young Mathew, son of Lord Asherton and Dame Caroline in the River Thames. The shadow of the event haunts the present case too. Was Mathew murdered? Or was it a accident? Is there a connection between both the cases?

I hear a lot about Deborah Crombie and wanted to pick a book to see if it works for me. I would just say it is a good mystery. There are details about lives of artists, Opera Singers, costume designers and the stage. One of the reasons I couldn't really get involved in the story was because of all the use of the best police, Swann's death could have been accident. I had the same problem with P D James' The Black Tower. I read these books around the same time. Maybe I should stop plunging in middle of a series, then probably I would enjoy more.

Why don't people answer the questions police ask? Okay, these people are celebrities but when the police are asking simple questions like what you were doing at a particular time, doesn't it make sense to establish an alibi rather than beat about a bush or talking something irrelevant? I suppose they are celebrities and they can get away with it.

There are some unexpected twists, and turns. Pool of suspects is really small and you can work out who long before, Kincaid and Gemma work it out. I should try another Deborah Crombie to really decide whether I want to read her books or not.

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet L.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

A to Z Reading Challenge Complete

I completed the A to Z reading Challenge hosted by Babies, Books and Signs. Here is the list! I haven't reviewed all the books, eventually I would.

Amendment of Life by Catherine Aird
The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill
A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson
Fate by Amanda Hocking
The Great Impersonation by E Philiphs Oppenhiem
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
I Could Murder by E C R Lorac
Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler
Killing Orders by Sara Paretsky
Leave the Grave Green by Deborah Crombie
The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell
The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Felix
Ocracokes Curse- The Mystery at Teach's Hole by Mark Duffey
The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr
The Question of Belief by Donna Leon
The Retribution by Val McDermid
Shroud of Darkness by E C R Lorac
Tragedy of Z by Ellery Queen
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
The Vault by Ruth Rendell
Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar
XPD by Len Deighton
Yellow Snake by Edgar Wallace
Zone Defence by Petros Markaris

The Great Impersonation by E Philips Oppenheim

British citizen Everard Dominey chances upon German Leopold Von Ragastein in German East Africa. Dominey and Ragastein studied in the same school in England and have a great resemblance. After a night of drinking and confessing about their respective exiles, Ragastein murders Dominey and takes his place in English Society spying for Germany. As Dominey had been away for a long time and his wife is deranged and doesn't have many relatives or friends, Leopold believes that he can sucessfully pretend as Dominey and be of use to Germany that is preparing for war. Can he? Will he make people believe that he is Dominey? Immediately after reaching London he chances upon Princess Eiderstorm, his former lover, who is bent on causing trouble for him. Will Leopold be successful in his mission?

I was getting more excited at the story that is not being told than the one that is told. I can't say much. It is a great read. I did figure out what was happening that was the reason for the excitement. There is a ghost story for the side which is spooky.

The Great Impersonation by E Philips Oppenheim published in 1920 deals with doubles, impersonation, espionage, spooky ghosts, a deranged woman, and a woman mad in love. I borrowed it from Openlibrary.

What makes some mysteries, where you figure out everything great and others disappointing? I loved this one!

When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong

I picked up When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong published in 2004 mainly for author name starting with 'X' for the A to Z mystery challenge. I was also interested in crime novels interested in different countries.

Inspector Chen of Shangai police is on a two-week vacation to do a lucrative translation project for his friend. When former Red guard and University Professor Yin is found dead Inspector Yu takes charge. Yin is found dead in her one room home in a traditional Chinese house where many different families have rooms with common kitchen and courtyard. The front and back of the house is overlooked by many including a shrimp woman and a foodstall. They have not noticed a stranger get out of the house. It looks like an inside job. It looks like one of her many disgruntled neighbours have murdered her, have they? But that doesn't limit the suspects. There at least 100 people living in the house. Is there a political motivation for this murder? More than who or why, it is the how that seems important? How did the murderer get away?

Though Inspector Chen does not get involved in the case directly he gives inputs and plays an important role in the investigation. He has 'a little secretary' at his bidding to do whatever he wants provided by his friend who needs his translation service. There is a love angle between Yin and Yang. It is interesting to know how changing political dynamics can change the fate of a person.

There are lots of references to food from description of breakfast, lunch to dinner and gourmet food in restaurants and frugal gourmets. Sparrow gizzard, Sauna Shrimp, breakfast crisp noodles are just a sample. As the murdered woman is a Red Gaurd we get insightful details into lives of Red Gaurds during cultural revolution and what happened after. Every other page has a Chinese proverb and there are some interesting translation of Chinese love Poems. Qiu Xiaolong plays with nostalgia for the past bygone era before the cultural revolution. It is interesting to note that in 90s people still used coal to cook. Mystery itself is quite straightforward. But you get to know Shanghai of the 90s and the problems and anguish of the ordinary people- the changing China that is politically Communist while economically Capitalist.

I have never ever heard of any one being described as below-

"She was a delicious girl with a watermelon-seed-shaped face, almond eyes, and cherry lips."

An interesting read.

Sunday 5 August 2012

Wicked Summer Cover Challenge

Jessica @ Wickedly Bookish is hosting the Wicked Summer Cover Challenge  for the Summer Wrap-Up Readathon.We have to find the following items on Book covers from our TBR or otherwise. It is a fun challenge. I read mostly crime fiction and it wasn't easy to find these items. But I have found them all and here are my covers.
Sun- Dead man's Grip
A teeny bikni, Beach umbrella, Sun bather, Lemonade/Iced Tea-Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikni
Sandcastle- Crocodile on the sand bank
Oceanscape or a beach scene- Hypothermia
Sunflower- Utopia
An American flag (4th of July)- Lost Girls
Sunset-Not dead enough
Sailboat-Rites of Passage
Camping equipment (tent, sleeping bag, etc.)- Saturday Big Tent wedding party
Sunglasses-Hollywood scandals
Swimming Pool- Poppy Done to Death
Picnic -Ghost a la mode

Saturday 4 August 2012

Summer Wrap-Up Read-a-thon



I am signing up for the Summer Wrap Up Readathon Hosted by Jennifer at Some Like It Paranormal and Jude at In Between which take place from August 4th-August 12th. It will provide some motivation to finish up some of my reading.

My goals/ Show your TBR
I am planning to read at least some of the following

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Smiley's people by John Le Carre´
Rites of Passage by William Golding
An unsuitable job for a woman by P D James
The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim.
Hypothermia by Arnaldur IndriĆ°ason
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde


Rewrite the Synopsis- Challenge

Rewrite the Synopsis is hosted by Misa @ Skyway Avenue

I wrote the synopsis of the first book I finished for the Readathon. It is When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong

Inspector Chen of Shangai police is on a two-week vacation to do a lucrative translation project for his friend. When former Red guard and University Professor Yin is found dead, Inspector Yu takes charge. Yin is found dead in her one room home in a traditional Chinese house where many different families have rooms with common kitchen and courtyard. The front and back of the house is overlooked by many including a shrimp woman and a foodstall. They have not noticed a stranger get out of the house. It looks like an inside job. It looks like one of her many disgruntled neighbours have murdered her, have they? But that doesn't limit the suspects. There at least 100 people living in the house. Is there a political motivation for this murder? More than who or why, it is the how that seems important? How did the murderer get away?

Updates
Day 1, Saturday: 83 pages Completed When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong- Interesting Read
Day 2, Sunday: 50 pages The Great Impersonation by Oppenhiem- Great Start
Day 3, Monday: 50 pages Rites of Passage by William Golding-Slow Start
Day 4, Tuesday: 290 pages completed The Great Impersonation by Oppenhiem-A great mystery-loved it
Day 5, Wednesday:20 Pages Hypothermia-cold-
Day 6, Thursday: 32 Pages Hypothermia-Colder
Day 7, Friday: 50 pages Slice of Murder-Funny
Day 8, Saturday: 30 pages Hypothermia-Getting creepy
Day 9, Sunday: 100 pages of Hypothermia-Chilling
Total Pages Read: 705
Total Books Read: Finished 2 books. Half way through another and started two others.

Reading in Summer Photo Album

During the Readathon I am at my sister's place. I do most of my reading in bed before sleep, sometimes outside on the garden deck and sometimes in my sister's DIY built Summerhouse. Here are the pictures!