Off the Shelf Challenge...Reading List

                       

The inevitable 2011 is here..
So now i can begin all the 2011 Reading Challenged i signed up for..
This is my list for the Off the Shelf Challenge..

I am going to pick "Tempted–  Choose 5 books to read" for my challenge level as of now..


1. A Blue So Dark- Holly Schindler
2.Deadline by Simon Kernick
3.Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
4.Before i Fall by Lauren Oliver
5.Wing Less by Paro Anand

I found a book..which i am now eager to get my hands on..

                                                      

This sounds like a really interesting book..I found it on The Book Smuggler's Blog..
This is what the blogger said about the book..


"Described as a psychological thriller exploring the nature of female friendship and stolen identity, this book, and its striking cover, caught my attention and I’m looking forward to checking it out next year."


And then the cover of the book intrigued me..So i Goodread searched it and nada and so i Google-searched 
and did a lit bit of browsing and found....

"A dark, juicy, deliciously unsettling, read-it-in-one-sitting psychological drama.

Rose has it all - the gorgeous children, the husband, the beautiful home. But then her best friend Polly comes to stay. Very soon, Rose's cosy world starts to fall apart at the seams - her baby falls dangerously ill, her husband is distracted - is Polly behind it all? It appears that once you invite Polly into your home, it's very difficult to get her out again...

Reviews:
“A gripping read.  Fluently written with mounting suspense and foreboding.  Very good on the uncertainties and vulnerability of marriage, motherhood and friendship” Cath Staincliffe, author of the acclaimed Sal Kilkenny mysteries and creator of ITV’s BLUE MURDER."

'Seriously sinister – it will make you think again about every close friendship you've ever had.' Jane Casey, author of THE MISSING"

on Julia Crouch's website.

That is a lot of links..hehe..but if i didn't mention them then i wouldn't be giving them credit and also so you (my readers) guys could re-trace and partly satisfy your curiosity and then go on a hunt of your own....:D

Hope this vague amount of information intrigued you to actually go on a hunt of your own. And if you do then please leave your e-trail in your comments below...(so i can browse some more too!)

In My Mailbox

                            

In my Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. In this feature, bloggers post about books they have recently bought/borrowed or even won them.
This week i have only one book in my mailbox, because i still haven't cleared up last week's books..
So i borrowed only one book from a friend of mine..

Its a by an Indian author by the name of Paro Anand and the illustration are all black and white sketches. Its has beautiful illustrations. I shall upload some pictures of them in my book review..

10 Things I Hate About You Trailer

10 Things i Hate About You

Last night, i went to my cousins place to watch a movie because all the gizmos in the house were occupied.
My cousin and I watched 10 Things i Hate About You!Its really old movie which was releases 11 years ago and i've seen it several times. It never gets old to me, i LOVE the movie, its one of my favorite movies, and i am a big fan of Heath Ledger.I borrowed the movie from a friend of mine (who i had gifted the movie too!).


                                    


For those who haven't watch it..


"Cameron, a new kid in school is smitten by Bianca who isn't allowed to date until her older sister Kat does. Not such a big deal is it? except Kat is not the most social person in school, in fact she is a surly being who despises the people of her school and is the last person anyone would want to date. So Cameron with the help of William and Joey get Patrick Verona, the male equivalent of Kat, to date Kat so that Bianca can go out.."


IDMB describes the plot as a "remake of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew in a modern day high school!"


A super cute love-story which is hilarious. The movie is set in the 90's so you get a glimpse of teen-school life back then.

10 Things i Hate About You

Here is a compilation of random things about the movie

They re-made it into a TV series in 2009!

                       

Here is the cast (not the entire one, just the few main characters..)

 
          Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cameron

 

            Larissa Oleynik as Bianca

    
Julia Stiles as Kat
    

  Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona

Here is a list of the soundtracks from the film..

I Want You To Want Me   Letters to Cleo FNT  Semisonic I Know  Save Ferris Your Winter  Sister Hazel Even Angels Fall Jessica Riddle New World Leroy Saturday Night  Ta-Gana Atomic Dog  George Clinton Dazz  Brick The Weakness In Me  Joan Armatrading War  The Cardigans Wings of a Dove Madness Cruel To Be Kind  Letters to Cleo    One More Thing  Richard Gibbs Sexy Boy      Air

Waiting On Wednesdays..#2

                                                  
Weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.. This feature spotlights upcoming releases that are eagerly anticipated.
This week my "cant-wait-to-read book" is..


A Need So Beautiful
     by Suzanne Young
             Expected on June 21st 2011


         


From Goodreads..


"Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

There have been others before who’ve felt the Need, but they’re gone—erased from the memories of everyone whose lives they had touched. It's as though they never existed. This is the fate that awaits Charlotte. But the last thing Charlotte wants to do is disappear, to be Forgotten. She wants to stay with her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. She wishes she could just ignore the Need, but she can’t. And as everyone important in her life begins to slowly forget her, she has to decide if she’ll fight the Need in order to remain herself—no matter how dark the consequences."

Rebbeca Read-a-longs..

While browsing through blogs i found a very interesting activity- a read-a-long! I was astonished (in a good way) by the idea. From what i understand the blogger reads out i.e types out the entire book in parts along with her thoughts and shares them on her blog. Then everybody else links or comments their thoughts on the book too! Its a wonderful idea but sounds tedious-you need to be like a patient blogger who can type out an entire book!
As the picture shows its happening in the month of January next year. Here are the dates for Daphne Du Maurier- from the 14th till the 31st!
Any how i still love the idea and i am going to be a part of it!
The blogger is doing 3 of them! (good lord) a whole LOT of typing there. You should check it out..

Teaser Tuesdays

                                                          

A weekly meme, where you type out 2 "teaser" sentences from your current read, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.Anyone (that includes non-bloggers) can play along.


"Conversation stopped, Elizabeth looked at Grace, and Grace looked at Amelia, and Amelia just kept looking at the now empty doorway. After a moment of held breath, Elizabeth turned to Amelia and said "I think he does not realise that we are here."


a teaser from... 

            

              (page 47)

Mary Mary by James Patterson

                                                  

"Somebody's murdering Hollywood's A-list.Her calling card: "You've got mail". On a family vacation, FBI Agent Alex Cross is asked to investigate the shooting of a top actress...and email sent to Los Angeles Times with shocking details about the murders,signed Mary Smith. More killings and emails follow every time, signed Mary Smith. More killings and emails follow, Mary Smith is getting even  better every time. To hunt down this merciless killer of Tinseltown's elite, Cross must navigate a world where the stars sip San Pellegrino at the Ivy as hopefuls hover around studio gates with the 8x 10 glossies...."


There was more in the back cover of the book, this seemed sufficient synopsis. As told above the plot is about a series of killings by a person who goes by the name Mary Smith and sends an email describing the murder, post the killing to an L.A Times reporter- Arnold Griner. After reading the back pages of  the book, i realised its like a series, the main character-Alex Cross is a detective who features in all the books. Parallel to the plot, even his family life is described in the book. 
The book started off interesting and the killings also were creepy but i was disappointed with the way it ended. It seemed like Patterson was trying to double-twist the plot, which he did but not too well. I thought the book was an okay one. (which reminds me, i should work out a rating system!). I would give it a 2 on scale of 1 to 5.It was long, or at-least it seemed long, but i finished it because i was curious. 
He included excessive amounts of details in my opinion and had so many characters on board. It got quite cumbersome to me, so i just payed attention to the really important seeming ones *goofy grin*
Overall a good plot, but i wish it ended differently,and the characters were alright. So i would say it was a mediocre read..

Its Monday! What are you reading?

    

A blog event which is weekly hosted by Sheila at the Book Journey.Here you share what you finish reading, are reading and going to read. She also offers weekly contests for the meme..based on how much you network..


                                                                      I 
                                     finish reading
                                       


                                                 currently reading
                                           


                                                  planning to read..
                                        

Cover Crazy #2

Cover Crazy is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Worms on Mondays. The idea is to showcase book covers that draw your attention. This week i am crazy about...


 
Roses and Goblins by Francesa Lia Block. The cover is an interesting one, not the intriguing types with the model tantalizing you but in another way. It drew my attention, especially the green eyeshadow and the pink lipstick! The green highlights and the bold combination- pixie-ish combination!Her pink lips have a pout though or maybe she has braces..(no offence meant). She is a pretty girl, though i am not sure what the cover has to do with the story. The synopsis i found on Goodreads and Harper Teens were pretty vague. Something about a girl who gets involved in a mix of worlds dealing with myths, gods, demons etc. Hmmm, doesn't sound exciting to read to me but the cover is beautiful, so maybe this time i should judge the book by its cover..hehe..


Which cover are you Crazy about this week?

Blog Hops

  I got really excited so I ended up participating in several Blog Hops so i just decided to publish them all in one post and here they are ta-da!

                                          

                     A weekend Blog Hop hosted by Graphic Design by Tara.

                                            

                                     Blog hop hosted by Toddler Awesome..

                                             

                                      This one is hosted by For the Love of Blogs

Fun Follow Friday

                                         


Fun Follow Friday is a hop hosted by Simply Stacie and My Wee View.
 The aim of the hop is to get new followers for your blog and be introduced to blogs you can follow!
When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave a comment on the blog with your link telling them your are following from the Fun Follow Friday.
Leave me comment and i'll follow you back! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Follow Fridays

                  One of the few memes that hasn't been paused for vacation..

                                                     

Follow Friday..a feature hosted by Parajunkee's View...like a blog hop..happens every friday..
this week's question is..


What are your plans for this Fabulous Day?


Hmm..today is another lazy day. Since i am in India, Christmas is not a huge thing for me at home.But i still put up a tree every year! That reminds me..Shoot! I haven't put up my tree yet, i've been meaning to make my own decorations for it.So put up my Christmas tree, my friend was throwing a Christmas Eve party but she cancelled last minute, so i shall just have to amble around the house and text a bunch of friends till i make some alternative plans for today! 
                  
                          

                                                  

Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

                               

I haven't read a book from a series in a long time, because i am too lazy to hunt down the entire series *sheepish grin*. And by the time i find the book (that too if i do), i would have forgotten the details from the last one i had read. But since it turned up in my reading pile...
Its was nice, refreshing after reading complicated crime plots. This one was predictable up until Colfer introduced a twist. 
Artemis Fowl in his 3rd book is back with another one of his criminal ideas of making money, except it goes wrong. Artemis has developed a device namely a C cube- which is designed with a combination of fairy and human technology-a powerful supercomputer. He can't afford to let it slip into the wrong hands,so what happens when in does. Into Jon Spiro- a rich,powerful megalomaniac's hands.
Now another worry is that the C cube can also access devices from the world under-the fairy civilization, and giving the C cube to a man who is not aware of them,unlike Artemis, can be a potential threat to the fairy civilization.Hence recovery of the cube is vital.And a lot of other complication come in parallel and some in-line with the plot.
So once again agent Holly Short and Artemis Fowl come together along with some help from Foaly (a gadget pro from the fairy world) to save the (fairy) world along with Mulch Diggums-an escaped convict from the world under and Juliet Butler (Butler's sister,a body guard in-training) and of course Butler...
It was a nice book- a middle grade read. I wasn't too enthusiastic on working through the series but the end left me wondering and so i probably am going to have to hunt down the next in the series- Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception...*groan*

Scratches head in confusion!

I don't understand how some bloggers seem to be reading and reviewing books that are suppose to have releases in 2011??!!! Somebody please explain..

Booking Through Thursdays

Booking Through Thursday is like a meme, except it has like its own blog page just for BTT updates.
Click on the banner if you want to participate..
This week's question  is ..


Which book changed you life?


That a tough one!  I can't name one particular book. As i grew up and am still growing up, various books affect and teach me different things differently. And depending on my age, situation and context of the book etc, its influence varies. Also the changes are gradual i have never had an immediate change when i finish an eye-opening or thought-provoking book. As i contemplate what i have learnt and put it together,then slowly it begins to influence me. 
Hmm..but i could name a few (out of the many that have) influence me...Paulo Colheo's Alchemist & Veronica decides to die..These are off the top of my head so i could come up with only two..but there have been many..What about you?

In My Mailbox

                                       

I accidently posted this yesterday and didn't realise until  today that i had! I was suppose to make a draft and save it so i could just post it today!But i ended up having to do double-work! (i had to delete yesterdays and re-do it!)

Last week i didn't update my IMM because i didn't get my pictures ready in time so i didn't end up doing it.

And i haven't linked this to Story Siren because i can't access her page! Either my net is messed up or her page is! Are you facing the same problem? or wait is it because she is giving her page a re-vamp?

If you are featuring IMMs please do leave your links below so i can come see them, because if i remember correctly she did her last one for the year the previous week...

                         

                                

                                                  

Beauuutiful illustrations...

While googling images for book piles i found the perfect one and then when i was copy-pasting it, i stumbled upon the website! The creator of the picture i picked is named Mary Harris- a UK based illustrator! She does beautiful sketches. She is a designer and illustrator. She has illustrated a few children's stories and books! Here are some of my favorites..


                                







I LOVE the waves in this one!!!

My list is growing as i am browsing her page...
What's even cooler is that she does greeting cards too!
                          
Her art is cute, all her figures are shapely and features detailed, like Indian Art found in the North of India particularly.
You should go check out her page!

My reading pile

My holiday goal is to clear out my reading pile sitting on top of my music system(which can only play the radio because everything else doesn't function!) The pile had been growing for a while now and i still keep adding to the pile..hehe..

1. A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler
2. Mary Mary by James Patterson
3. Size Doesn't Matter by Meg Cabot
4. The Amsterdam Connection by Sue Leather
5. The Morning Gift by Eva Ibottson
6. Democracy Kills by Humprey Hawksley
7. Deadline by Simon Kernick
8. The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn
9. Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
10. 500 Things you Should Know about History
11. No place like Home by Mary Higgins Clark
12. Cleopatra and her Asp by Margaret Simpson
13. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (currently reading...)
14. Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
15. The Ambler Warning by Robert Ludlum
16. Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
17. Funny Side of English by O. Abootty
18. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
19. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
20. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
21. Hamlet by Shakespeare
22. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

BBC Reading List

I came across this as a note on Facebook which i got tagged in. At that time i had not read too many of them or heard even. I've come across this post on several blogs, i am sure most of you'll have too! Nevertheless, i intend to work through the list, because a lot of them are on my TBR list...






The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

I have read 18 out of the list..I am pleased with myself..I am just beginning to read classics..my reading pile usually consist of chic-flics..hehe..
Whereas my teacher has read 70 from the list!!!!

Instructions:

• Copy this list.
• Bold those books you’ve read in their entirety.
• Italicise the ones you started but didn’t finish or read only an excerpt.
• Tag other book nerds.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 
The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 
The King James Bible
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 
Nineteen Eighty Four (1984) – George Orwell
His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
Emma -Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden  
Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The DaVinci Code – Dan Brown
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Atonement – Ian McEwan
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Dune – Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
On The Road – Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding ( I have watched the movie though...)
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Inferno – Dante
Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
Germinal – Emile Zola
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession – AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens 
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte's Web- E.B. White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Watership Down – Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

The Dead Famous series