A-Z Book List: U for Uninvited

I am sure most of you have had books that were bought, which were started but then for some reason stopped in between only never to be picked up again. I have a list of such books with me, both paperback and Kindle books. Why would I even have them on the shelves (physical or online). Because I am never sure when the mood would strike and I would pick them up again and continue. To name a few of them, ‘Brothers Karamazov’, ‘The Fountainhead’, ‘The Winner stands alone’ etc. The book associated with today’s alphabet is one such. Sadly 😦

Name: The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Gothic, Fiction

I bought this book on a sale (paying in Euro’s in fact) while on my way from Paris to London on the ferry’s book shop. I got three books for the price of two. I did complete one during the trip. One I finished when I got back home. The third on, The Uninvited Guests, was the one that got dumped not even half way through. Not that it was uninteresting. It was a mystery. I did not know it was a paranormal story (at that time at least) but it was going pretty OK. And I honestly don’t remember the reason for me to stop that book. Was it because it was a little slow for my taste? May be or may be not. I remember about the accident that brought people to this estate and the girl not being very happy about it because it was her birthday and she didn’t want the attention away from her. But that is where I stopped. Now I might have to pick it up again sometime and complete it or at least, see if I got bored of the story earlier or was it some other external factors that made me put that book back in the shelf. If you have read that book, please drop in a word as to how you felt about that book, or if you have written a review of the same, please do ping me the link. I would love to know about it.

 

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

A-Z Book List: T for Tell

I had mentioned in one of my earlier A-Z Book series post that I got introduced to Fiction through a friend who owned almost all of Sidney Sheldon’s novels. I have read almost all of his works because she had them with her and I am a fairly fast reader.  One of my very favorites of his work is ‘If Tomorrow Comes‘. I have got a copy for myself when I found it in a 2+1 sale. With such a kick arse leading lady, Tracey Whitney, it was such a pleasure to read that novel. It is still my favorite of all his books. I could have used that book for today’s alphabet, but there is one more very appropriate one.

Name: Tell me your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Psychology, Drama, Fiction

It was another book that got me all wound up and I was not able to figure out who, what, when etc. All of his books have very strong female characters. And this one has three. All of the varied characters and varied levels of complexity. Or are they? Spoiler Alert. Yes. I cannot say anything about this book without giving away a very crucial information.

In Tamil, around 1997-1999 I believe there used to be a series called Marmadesam (Land of mystery). There were three main stories to it which were one the very few series I managed to watch (because my mom was a big fan of those) and I liked it too. Well, it was about mystery, mythology, belief etc. And it was done well too. The second story of that series was called Vidaadhu Karuppu. Karuppu is the God of the village where the story takes place and the title means, Karuppu will not spare you. So if you are doing anything wrong in that village, you better be careful. It was the first time I learnt anything about split personalities or multiple personality disorders. So it did help me to figure out the characters of those three ladies in ‘Tell me your dreams’ almost during the third half of the novel. That doesn’t mean that it did not make me lose my interest.

Later when a Tamil movie Anniyan was released, which was also based on multiple personality disorders, I thought it the director took his inspiration from this novel. Because it was too close. Three characters from one person. All three very varied in their behaviour. There are too many similarities to miss. But the director denied it. Well, whatever.

I also got to show off to my roommates and friends that I already knew what was ailing those women and they were quite impressed 😉 Of course, I did not tell them about the series I had watched already.

Sidney Sheldon’s novels can be very cliched and quite predictable after a couple of novels, but there were a good source of entertainment. And they are all mysteries.

 

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

A-Z Book List: S for Silent (ssshhh)

Y’all know by now that my favorite genre is Mystery, Thrillers etc. I am not sure about you, but when the story gets going at a very face pace so does my adrenaline. I don’t have to do anything to increase my pressure or to increase my heart beat. Just read some of those fast paced well-written thrillers and I am sweating just by reading them. This book is one such.

Name: Silent Predator by Tony Park

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction

It takes place on an African safari. Surrounded by jungles, all kind of predators lurking around the corners, people backstabbing, animals hindering the rescue process…what is not there in this story. I read this before a very important IPL T20 match. I was already all hyped up with this story and that match too increased my pressure. I was almost hyperventilating that day and it did feel like I had climbed a mountain. It was a very very good thriller and I just couldn’t keep it down. I was not ready to endure a night without knowing what happened. Not many books do that to me. This is the only book of this author that I had read. I got this book on a sale and as part of a deal. So didn’t bother looking for other books of his. Maybe I should and see if his other works are as fast paced as this one.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

 

A-Z Book List: R for Ram

I was tempted to go with ‘Redeeming Love‘ or ‘The Rosie Project‘ but then I remembered that I had already written posts on them. So I went back to my first choice, which is another epic story from the Hindu Mythology.

Name: Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari

Genre: Hinduism, Fantasy, Spirituality, Fiction, Mythology, Classics

Rama (pronounced as Raamaa)or Ram (pronounced as Raam) is the main character of the Hindu Epic novel called Ramayana. He is the epitome of a Virtue, Self Control etc. There is no such thing as going wrong with what he does. There are no shades of gray at all, unlike Krishna even though both are incarnations of Vishnu. This story is about the eldest son of a King, Ram, who is sent on a exile by one of the stepmothers and how he, his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshmana, (who refused to leave his eldest brother’s side) survive the tough life with a lot of help from a lot of people in the forest and how Ravana abducts his wife to exact revenge and how Ram follows Ravana to Srilanka to rescue his wife with the able guidance and help of the Vaanar (Monkey) army which includes Hanuman.

This book is an abridged version of the story by the famous Rajaji (who was also an able politician) and I kind of liked his version which is easy and simple to read giving us the essence of the story along with some explanations on certain aspects. I do not agree with everyone on how Lord Ram is the epitome of everything that is right. My friend Sree and I used to have so many discussions on this. But let me tell you one interesting news that I read recently. In Bihar (one of the Indian States), one guy filed a case against Lord Ram, because he exiled his wife (owing to public pressure) just because she was in the custody of a man (Raavana) for a long time. It was hilarious to read this article 🙂 It might not make much sense if you don’t know the story of Ramayana. So if you fancy a mythological story just read about it in Wikipedia to get the gist of it.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

 

 

A-Z Book List: Q for Question

If I had started this series almost 3 months ago, I wouldn’t have found a book that I had read which starts with the letter Q. I might have ended up listing a book which I wanted to read as Linda once suggested when I started this series. But recently I read this mystery series in which the second book’s title started with the letter Q. So I got a save. How many other books do you know that starts with the letter Q? Goodreads lists only 102 books according to this list. Mostly starting with the word Question or Queen which are the most common ones used.

Name: A Question of Inheritance by Elizabeth Edmondson

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

Thanks to the Amazon Kindle Unlimited trial period to which I was subscribed at that time (and then later went ahead with my subscription paying 9.99$ per month) I got introduced to this series called A Very English Mystery and enjoyed both the books that is available in Kindle Unlimited. It is a historical mystery with a slight hint of romance. It is not a fast-paced story, flows at a medium speed, but never boring, at least to me 🙂 The male protagonist, Hugo, is slightly disabled (for now) and reminds me of Cormoran Strike (the Robert Galbraith’s series) and uses his sharp senses and with a huge help from the female protagonist, Freya solves the murders that happen in that small town. In this second book, the Selchester Castle (where Hugo, Freya, Hugo’s sister are staying for now) has got a new Earl, that too from America (the first book deals with the death of the Earl of the castle). But when he lands, people start to drop dead. And the very quiet town gets into a frenzy all again. I gave it 4 stars in Goodreads because I loved both the books in this series and will be eagerly waiting for the nex tone.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here