The Plot Thickens presented by Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark brings together mystery writers to put together an anthology of short mystery tales for a cause- to fight illiteracy in America.The writers were free to contribute any type of story, the only condition was that it had to contain three items: 

It was a quick story and each story uses the three main elements interestingly. At first, I skipped the introduction and every other written material that explained this theme to me. So I read the first story unaware. But when I took actual interest in the book, I went back and read the introduction and then payed more attention to each story and the usage of these objects.

It was fascinating to read each story and discover the role these objects played in the story. It would have been fun if I had discovered this common theme by myself- ha a Sherlock moment.

Enough rambling, getting onto the review. This time instead of the standard format that reviews the book as a whole I decided to do a story by story review:

 "How Far It Could Go"

Lawrence Block

1.Book 2. Steak 3.Fog

Dorothy Morgan is meeting up with Billy Cutler over lunch to hire him to scare her ex-husband because he is demanding money from her. 

My thoughts: 1 on 5. The story was bizzare and vague and seemed to have little purpose. 

"Foolproof"

Edna Buchanan

1. Book 2. Steak 3. Fog

Detective Dan Flood and Dr George Webb investigate a queer postmortem Junior Wallace and the body of an Egyptian Mummy. 

My thoughts: 2 on 5. It has an interesting twist, but the conclusion was screwed up and made the story seem odd and pointless. Or maybe I just didn't get it. Not sure.

"The Man Next Door"

Mary Higgins Clark

1.Book 2. Steak 3.Fog

August Mench adds his neighbor- Bree Mathews  to his list of "guests" he keeps locked up in a basement room so they can read to him.

My thoughts: 3/5 on 5. Firstly because she is my favorite suspense novelist! Secondly the story was creepy and interesting to read. Predictable but engaging.

"Too Many Cooks"

Carol Higgins Clark

1.Steak 2. Fog 3.Book

The story of how chef Ellie Butternut portrayed became the main character in all the Royal Steak Sauce commercials.

My thoughts: 4 on 5. This one was a fresh plot in comparison to the rest. No cops, detectives and doctors! Ha, and it was still a suspense novel with a very cool ending.

"Revenge and Rebellion"

Nelson DeMille & Lauren DeMille

1. Steak 2.Book 3.Fog

Sarah and Ron had a bumpy friendship since college. The tables have turned and given Ron the upper hand as opposed to Sarah (in their college days) - today Sarah is a struggling freelance writer and Jon a literary agent.

My thoughts: 0.5. Very bizarre and annoying story. It didn't have a point. Except the ending (which is why its got a .5) which made reading the story worthwhile.

"The Last Peep"

Janet Evanovich

1. Steak 2. Book 3. Fog

"She'd never met Lula, and she was a making a good effort not to look dazed at seeing a huge blond-haired black wearing brilliant azure eye shadow speckled with silver sparkles, shocking pink spandex shorts and poison green spandex top,standing on her porch." 

"It's a sign from God," Lula said, tilting her face heavenward, squinting into the rain, "God wants us to forget about all this shit and go eat some cake."

Wonderful. Now God was in on it.

"God's no dummy," Lula said."He knows chocolate cake helps clear a person's head for making important decisions."

My thoughts: 2 on 5. Story revolved around a nude dead man named Squirrel. When alive he was creep who peeped into people's homes and wanked! Eew! LOL. But the the above two quotes and some other parts of the story made me laugh.

"Going Under"

Linda Fairstein

1.Book 2.Fog 3.Steak

Samantha Atwell has coveted her grand daddy's detective badge ever since she was a kid. Her big chance to get hold of a badge of her own comes by when she has to go on an undercover mission. But is she willing to "Go Under" and be molested by the dentist Melvin Trichner to get it? 

My thoughts: 2.5 on 5. Simple plot line. Creepy Melvin. Despite being predictable I liked the ending.

"Thick Headed"

Walter Mosley

1.Steak 2.Book 3.Steak

A confusing story about a delivery which goes fail. The delivery turns out to be a body and the delivery man- Fearless Jones piqued curiosity lands himself into trouble when he snoops about the cause of the body's death.

My thoughts: 1 on 5 for suspense. Otherwise I found it confusing and kept waiting for it to end.

"Love's Cottage"

Nancy Pickard

1.Book 2.Fog 3.Steak

"On August 14, 1914, seven persons were murdered at the home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The story that follows is a fictionalized account of the events preceding that day."

It is in fact based on the true story of the Taliesin murders. Here is a link to a BBC article about the incident.

Mystery of the Murders at Taliesin

The scene of devastation at Taliesin the day after the murders

My thoughs: 3 on 5. For fascinating me with ite "true story" basis and uncommon mode of storytelling.

"The Road Trip"

Ann Rule

1.Fog 2.Book 3. Steak

The story of Blair Scott, her obsessively jealous ex-husband who scares the life out of her ("her fear response was too finely honed"), her road trip "across the North Cascades to Wenatchee", her eerie adventure at Kabin Kamp!

My thoughts: 5 on 5!! My favorite story of them all! It kept me on the edge of my seat and chewing my nails the whole time!!

"Take It Away"

Donald E. Westlake

1.Book 2.Steak 3.Fog 

"In his left hand he held an X-Men comic book folded open to the middle of a  story."

"...and I saw the poster there advertising this month's special in all twenty-seven hundred Burger Whoopers all across the United States and Canada, which was for their Special Thick Steak Whopper Sandwich, made with the U.S. government inspected steak guaranteed to be a full quarter- inch thick."

"...outside the picture windows of Burger Whopper,there crowded a thick misty fog, wet to touch, kind of streaked and dirty, that looked like an airport hotel's laundry on the rinse cycle."

My thoughts: 1 on 5. Bleh. I predicted the end from the beginning itself. Ha. Bleh ending to the anthology. But it used the elements in a more obvious fashion than the other stories. For example, it was literal fog not a metaphorical as in "Going Under".

--x--

What did you think of the review?

The new style?

Have you read the book? 

Leave me links, feedbacks and suggestions in the comments below! :)

Pwetty scented soy candles with rings? O.o

Diamond Candles? 
Who are they?
They are an eco-friendly candle making brand that make pwetty, scented soy candles!
The set up shop in the beginning of 2011! 
Soy?! So cool right?
Here is the super cool thing about their candles- they all come with rings worth various amounts at the bottom.




So your all excited to burn up you candle. Haha, so fun! Love the idea.


Click on the image below to get onto their site to know more about them..

Why am I blogging about them?

a) Cuz their candle concept is soo cool!

And...

b)Diamond Candles is looking for bloggers to review their products. You can sign up HERE. I signed up and I am prom-ing them! :) 

Tune In Tuesday#2

GReads shares some music love on a weekly basis when she's taking an off from displaying her reading loot. Stop by her's and check out her pick..(click on the image above!)

Track: Titanium

Artists: David Guetta feat Sia Furler

Album: Nothing But The Beat (2011)

      

Infamous and super cute French DJ, David Guetta teams up with adorable and funky Australian pop singer, Sia Furler for this (now becoming) Hit Single from Guetta's album Nothing But the Beat.

I heard it on vH1 an hour ago twice and now its looping in my head. So I came online and on my Dashboard I spotted Tune in Tuesdays and went "Aha! I HAVE to share this track with my folks!". 

So take a listen to the track above and shake your hips to it. Its a club number with lyrics that are not so silly and about mindless sex. LOL.Nothing powerful or moving but fun lyrics with an interesting video.

Isn't the boy cute?I love his teeth! ^^

Daily Dose#3 *Spoil Yourself*

   Hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly    

So I decided to theme my photos display! 

Because taking pictures of WeHeartIt is a plain task. Hehe

SPOIL YOURSELF!

With Sinful Chocolate

                                       

                                                                                                                         with Notorious Make-up

With some LOVE-ly breakfast..

And some Sparkly Shoes! 

The Quote Segment of this Display

A delayed review for Here by Denise Grover Swank

Hello folks! 

I haven't done a book review in forever. Mostly out of sheer laziness, because I've read a whole LOAD of books since my last review. Every time I willed myself to review, I had finished a stack and then it was hard to choose which one to review! Hehe

I chose Here because I owed the author a review at the beginning of this month. But I had a busy year beginning and no time for my blog. So I messed up dates and had to muck about my cyber-calendar! 

All that aside, cutting to the chase. My review!

I've been meaning to get creative about my reviews, make them fun to read. This brain-storming process is pretty s-l-o-w. So bear with me please.

Goodreads Summary:

"Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before. 

Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can't ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from."

My review:

The story starts of with a grieving Julia who goes from loud, fun and popular to awkward, depressed, lonely and artistic Julia. She can't recall the accident that took Monica's life very clearly, but she comes out of it with some foreign items- her new art skill and her bracelet. Turns out her art works all begin to form a pattern.

A pattern which Evan Whittaker, most popular boy in school observes. He gets chummy with Julia, due to a bizarre turn of events and helps her heal from the trauma of the accident. 

As she is slowly recovering from her mucked up life, she get wound up in an adventure with Evan and Reece.

Strange things happen:

Evan, school popular boy, is talking to her

Evan has gone missing

Evan's impostor is running about

Evan knows where Monica is..

Here has mixed element of a high-school flic+ mild paranormal element+ Utopian/ Sci-fi fiction+ mild case of romance. It was hodge podge of novel elements. The story is an engaging read right until the last couple of chapters. Then it becomes a drag, I kept reading only to know what finally happens!

I start off reading the book assuming it was a paranormal read but it surprised me with its  turn of events and genre. Once the plot starts to unravel it took me completely by surprise! This was both good and bad; good-because it had the element of surprise and kept me hooked, bad-because the twist made me groan, because I am not big on Sci-fi YA novels! :/

The characters are strong, the plot is engaging, the climax is awesome but gets dragged on for too on. The end was a disappointment. I started of liking the book and its characters but towards the end I was thoroughly annoyed with Julia who starts of from a sensible, depressed girl into a cranky and stubborn heroine! 

The plot was a mish-mash of story elements:

There was high school drama, there a love triangle, there was jealous girlfriend, there was a Sci-Fi lab setting, there was a utopian society and other such things. 

There were cliche elements,which when put together didn't seem cliche at all (at first).

Oh,here is the cliche reader-character-love-story, I started of hating Reece but in the end I fell in love with him! He is the only kid in there with a sane head. The rest just need to be blended in a jar along with some sense and bashings!

There is a sequel coming out, which I am not a 100% on reading.

I would give it a 2 on 5 for an engaging plot, characters that evoke hate and love. And also most importantly for engaging me despite the large amount of novel elements blended in. 

 EXTRAS:

# Reece reminds of 

#The cover reminds me of horror movies with psycho overgrown-children killers.

#You can read more about Denise (the author), the book, her other books

over Here! ..LOL

#This was suppose to be up on the 2nd of January but I am 13 days behind. :/

Terrible I know, but here is the tour schedule.

P.S. My sincerest apologizes for the delay! :/

Bangalore Jam [Take one] # Drongographer

              

"Bring out the bread 

and get your Saturday Spread of

Bangalore Jam!"

The anticipated feature has gotten rolling FINALLY! :)

This week I bring you a spread on the Drongographer.

So what is Drongography all about? 

"Drono-graphy. Just a photo blog, well almost." 

- Drongographer (Facebook)

I picked Drongography this week, because 

a) He replied first to my message.

b) because photography looks like the in thing. Oh, well everything on Facebook looks like the in thing! :P

But seriously its 'cause the Dronographer interests me.

The logo- (Drongo bird) & the pictures (black and white).

So I decided to do a post on him, his story and his photography!

The Drongo tale...

How did Drongography start off?

"I've been fascinated with cameras for as long as I can remember. That my Father was a professional photographer may have been one of the reasons. I remember taking pictures with a film "Yashica" camera when I was like in the 3rd grade and I also remember how frustrated I used to get when the pictures came out blur because I had a tendency to shake the camera. I think I've come a long way since then. I started digital photography with a Nikon that a friend of the family owned, when he came down to Bangalore [I mentioned him in my blog]. This was when I was in the 7th grade. He was impressed with my photographs I guess because once he got back he sent me the camera from there! I couldn't have been happier! It was a 3.2 mp camera [highest that you could get in those days] a Nikon 3200. I don't have any pictures I took with that camera thought; unfortunately because my hard drive crashed and that was that. Ever since I knew that Facebook had the option of starting a 'page' I decided to open once of my own and put up picture I thought were interesting. I never got around to doing it till now- I'm very lazy- I have starting problems. Anyways once I got motivated enough I realized Facebook was full of budding photographers and so I was determined to do things differently. After much time spent day dreaming/brain storming and consulting friends and family I decided to start a photo blog. I noticed everyone had a photography page usually named after their own name- 'x photography and y photography' so I decided I won't use my name!"

Instead, he went for Drongography (you guessed it! :D) 

That, I think is an interesting choice of name,

 why Drongographer?

When my friends and I were on a trip in Masinagudi [tiger reserve in Tamil nadu] we stayed in a forest rest house where each room was given a name of a bird. I happened to be in the 'Parakeet' room and my friend the 'Drongo' room. Drongo I just loved the ring that it had to it and so I decided I will name my blog Drongo Photography, but I found out that another photographer had already gone with this because he had 'Drongo' in his name [he is really good, check him out] so that's how drongography came about. 

FYI The Drongo is also known as the king of crows in India. In Australia however Drongo is slang for stupid, supposedly because of the seemingly madcap attacks these birds are prone to launch [wiki.org]. I thought this was perfect because I wanted to keep my pictures as original as possible i.e. without the use of 'photoshop'. 

So Drongo graphy also means stupid graphy - don't get me wrong, what I mean by this is I want to take pictures that will motivate/inspire people to take awesome pictures, with any kind of camera without rewiring the use of any software to edit the picture. 

Just like what a very talented FB photographer says or makes it a point to say- "It's not what camera you have, but what you can do with the camera you have." 

So you can say what i actually mean by 'Drongography' is 'Simple-graphy' hence the no 'B.S.' sign on the poster [if you noticed]."

His story...

"I am Samuel Bushi, I am 20 years old 

and

I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.I moved here only four months ago.

I am looking to study photography at 'Grand Rapids Community College'

Apart from taking pictures,I play the guitar and drums a little.

I absolutely love motorbikes and 

I am very passionate about dirt bike racing."

Fast facts:

"5 things about me that will surprise people?

1. I had to ask my sister to help em make this list.

2. I never payed attention to dialog's in movies until a couple of years ago.

3. I can balance myself on an exercise ball [sitting].

4. When I'm doing something that makes me uncomfortable or feel awkward I hum.

[I make up the tun.]

5. I can hula hoop!"

The Bangalore JAM-ing riff..

What do you love most about Namma Bengaluru?

"I love the food, the traffic (*gasp* really?!) and also that I can ride my bike throughout the year!

Its home, how can you state reasons for loving home?"

An activity/place-to-be you unique to Bangalore,

that you would recommend?

Eat:

"There is the place behind MS Ramiah college that sells the best egg roll in Bangalore."

Listen: 

"Bangalore is home to some of the best bands in the county- there are shows every weekend.

You must check out "The Bicycle Days", they're one of my favorites."

Watch: 

"Bangalore also happens to be home to the best dirt bike racers in India. You MUST go watch a local racing event once in your life, you will not regret it! 

There is no official website that lists when or where these events take place, get in touch with your local two-wheeler mechanic or get in touch with 

Kumar from V.L Auto Works in Kavanagar and mention my name, he will help you [he is also one the best two wheeler mechanics in Bangalore."

Where to find him (Kumar, I mean):

V.L Auto works

Nehru Road

Kammanahalli 

Opposite Ramoo Flour Mill

My fav pics

The lighting= brilliant!

Love the composition

Twin shades! ;)

<3 the close up!

Isn't she gorgeous? [I know her! :D]

This picture moves me. Seriously! (no pun intended)

Honestly I love them all but these (I guess) are my top pics! [pun intended]

Why?

 I like the rawness in the Drongographer's pictures. There's something that catches

your eye and is stark and visible. I can't put a finger to what exactly, but each picture has

its own raw trait. Like for instance the Grandpa and his cycle, the composition of a simple man with his simple bike among this fast paced "sophisticated world". Of course, the last bit is not in the picture. But it makes me smile when I put these two and contrast them in my head, and admire the picture.  

What do you think of his works? 

Got any advice, suggestions, queries, question, to make...

Keep reading.. hehe..

make them on his Facebook page, he will get back to you! :)

To see some more of them..

Go to the Drongographer's Facebook page,

to see pictures (exclusives, not included in Facebook album) along with some writing drop by his home (the cyberspace one!) 

Thank you Sam for being a part of my feature 

and than you folks for being here to read my feature! :D

Until next Saturday!

Book Nooks

Books Nooks

is weekly meme that works as a collective gallery hop of pretty and comfortable place for a reader to get cozy with her beloved...

*every weekend*

Founder: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)

Show us something pretty

Photo credits: Weheartit

I know lying down and reading is not healthy, but that looks so perfect for curling up and reading on a cold night. The fluffy mattress, the plump pillows looks so inviting. And the scrap-wall looks so cute. Though the lights will probably make me go blind after a while; I speak from experience mind you! And also if your bunk mate is a not very quiet sleeper. :/

But otherwise I LOVE it. Its nothing to fancy and prim that I'd be worried about keeping clean and organized all the time. My own reading corner is somewhat similar- the bed and pillow deal. 

So I can connect with this one. 

What do you think?

Agree or do you have your own nook to show me..?

Join in: Add your own Book Nooks post

Introducing the all new Bangalore Jam!

Took me a while to put this post together because I could't find all the right words to tie into this post, I don't mean this in a cheesy way, I really couldn't.

So here goes, I bring to you an all new feature:

 Bangalore Jam!

Its a more local feature..

As the name suggests, it will give you guys a spread on Bangalore city 

Initially I was only going do interviews on Bangalore based people who do interesting things. But then I decided to go all in and feature the entire city. This way I have posting content to keep me occupied all year round; because you know what if I run out of people?! (like that is possible ha!But what if..) It also gives me an opportunity to practice my travel writing skills and introduce my fellow bloggers and viewers to my gorgeous city!

[photo credits: to the Dronographer]

I've lived in Bangalore all my life, so I am technically a Banglorean, I just wasn't born here. That can be ignored (right?!). I adore the city and I always get city-sick if I am away from it for too long. 

IMPORTANT# Bangalore and Bengaluru are inter-changeable names for the same city.

We were once upon a time called Garden City but all our gardens have been replaced by IT hubs and led to a name change. We are now referred to as the Silicon Valley of India. That part I am not proud of, yes we've got the brains, the research institutes, the glass building the crazy communications sectors; but they cost us our greens, being an eco-freak it makes me sad..

Sob story aside, we are the (second) fastest growing metropolitan city. Our achievements- we are the capital of Karnataka, we are the third most populated city, demographically diverse, major economy..and the list goes on...

According to Wikipedia we got our name from a battle and some guards. In school I was told a different story. We did this whole school project on our city, its history,culture,toursit spots etc etc. My version is that long ago, this very old lady was cooking Benda Kaalu in the middle of a forest clearing.. (baked beans).

Around the same time, a lost king along with his horse stumbled into the clearing starved. The lady was old and kind so she shared her beans with the King. Grateful and touched by her generosity he named the clearing and the area around it Bendakaaluru. "Uru" usually means village in Kannada; so to start of with we were called the Baked Beans Village! :D

 Over time the name evolved to Bengaluru and now Bangalore. Between the last two it keeps alternating from person to person.

 This is just a tale, one can't be sure. I am going to skip the history lesson (for today) and get on with the post. I can't use up ALL my contents on just this post now can I?

Now beans aside, we are still a green and gorgeous city. Our city is an assorted mix of "demographically diverse" people, food, coffee, cows, traffic,metro, fly-overs, buses, gardens, IT buildings and many more things. I could discuss our city some more but it would make this post endless; because I'd get crazy excited and find 101 things to go on about.

 Nuf said for today!

I hope to cover them all in this feature. 

Its meant to be almost like a virtual blog tour of the city one feature/place/fixation/person at a time. 

Hope you have fun and are bedazzled. 

I will be posting every Saturday.

So bring out the bread

and Get your spread of Bangalore Jam!