NEWSLETTER: 13 Reads Perfect for Fall!

Explore some of our biggest and best fall books!	Can't See the Images? View as a Webpage

“If you think about someone you've loved and lost, you are already with them” —Jodi Picoult, Leaving Time

FEATURED READS For readers of Nora Ephron, Tina Fey, and David Sedaris, this hilarious, wise, and fiercely candid collection of personal essays establishes Lena Dunham—the acclaimed creator, producer, and star of HBO's Girls—as one of the most original young talents writing today. Read a Sample In her highly anticipated new novel, Jodi Picoult has delivered her most affecting work yet—a book unlike anything she's written before. Read a Sample "Kinsella's Bloomwood is plucky and funny. . . . You won't have to shop around to find a more winning protagonist." —People Read a Sample For fans of Jodi Picoult, Kim Edwards, and William Landay, The Deepest Secret is part intimate family drama, part gripping page-turner, exploring the profound power of the truths we're scared to face . . . about our marriages, our children, and ourselves. Read a Sample NEW RELEASES Humor - Political Bestselling Author Cookbook Popular QVC Host's Cookbook! Fiction - Romance New Holiday Favorite! Non-Fiction - Pets Bestselling Author Fiction - Thriller New Thriller Fiction - Mystery and Detective Next in Series Non-Fiction - Political Memoir Soon to be a Major Motion Picture Fiction - Sci-fi New York Times Bestseller

DON'T MISS Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (On-sale 10/21/2014) "Not since Atticus Finch has a fearless and committed lawyer made such a difference in the American South. Though larger than life, Atticus exists only in fiction. Bryan Stevenson, however, is very much alive and doing God's work fighting for the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless, the vulnerable, the outcast, and those with no hope. Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story." —John Grisham

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The Hilarious Tale of "The Strange Case of William Whipper-Snapper"

 One of the earliest fantasy books I read as a child, which  I didn't pay much attention to  at first glance in the school library, because the time I was yet to fully appreciate fantasy books  except  Alice In Wonderland. This  highly entertaining and hilarious  page turner by David R. Morgan (his first novel) is set in Victorian times, about a boy-William Norton Whipper Snapper- very  intelligent but preferred to use his brains to cause mischief at school, much to the annoyance of his grumpy father. He does not get along with his vain tattle tale sister Emma, nor with his parents either. A few days to Christmas he discovers a strange silver box underneath the roots of an uprooted old tree, a talking, very conceited  and annoying silver box which calls itself a '1.B Prize', a talisman made by Jovian 'The Prize Maker of Theomodor' and its sole purpose is to grant unlimited wishes to its owner. William soon discovers the I.B prize brings far more trouble than good and after Emma discovers his secret, they both embark on a quest to return the prize to the 'first given' (an ancestor of theirs) , which involved going back in time until they find the right ancestor; that way, it will never be passed to William and his descendants.

The story mostly revolves round William, Emma being a supporting character and their parents not featuring much in the book. As mentioned before,  in the earlier part of the story they don't get along; Emma always trying to stick her nose into his business causing William to snap at her:

'Don't go poking your nose in where it shouldn't be, or the Man in the Moon will change it into a fat pork sausage and cook it for his supper!'

Fantasy tales usually have talismans that grant wishes but the '1.B' prize is one no one  would find useful! It's more interested in granting wishes more to keep itself in excellent working condition than to actually  satisfy its owner; as William was quick to find out and after two botched wishes  regarded the 1.B prize as ' becoming as useful as a flu epidemic.' Plus, the prize is extremely bossy and rather insulting:

'Now kindly make a proper request. I might as well be under the tree for the amount of good you're doing me!'

Emma, thanks to her usual nosiness, finds out about the prize but rather than going to tell tales to their parents (too amazed on seeing a talking silver case) gangs up with William to see what they can do about returning the stupid case who is determined to thwart them in any way it can, trying  many times to convince them to keep it.

William and Emma go back in time to find the 'first given'; first Elizabethan  England- meeting an ancestor called Lord Benjamin Whippsnappin, then encountering  Edras Whippsnapson in Norman- Saxton England before  heading to Pre-Roman Britain, afterwards meeting Jovian the Prize Maker himself.

For fans of fantasy/adventure tales, this is a very interesting comic one but I'm not sure if it's easy to find these days except online; I'm lucky enough to still have my lone copy which was bought several years ago. But if one is lucky to find it, you won't be disappointed!

Quote from  book: 

He was also coming round to realise the merits of doing things for yourself, not putting the burden of achieving something on the dubious shoulders of luck, wishes and dreams. One could say, in fact, that finding the case had, in some ways, opened his eyes.

SANDRA BROWN'S "THE CRUSH"

To date, this the only book by Sandra Brown I've read. I usually stick to particular writers: Danielle Steel, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Dan Brown, Stephen King and some other selected writers but when I found this book in the school library years ago (where I worked as a teacher), I just had to read it after viewing the summary at the back.


THE CRUSH is what I would call a thriller and I really think this book should be adapted into a movie. The story is about a beautiful doctor who finds herself stalked by a professional killer who first encountered her in his own trial as she was the forewoman of the jury who acquitted him. To impress her and show his 'devotion', he commits a terrible act on her behalf and the police's fingers all point to her as the victim was a colleague/rival. Enter a disgraced  police officer to help solve the case i.e investigate whether or not the doctor is guilty of complicity, which is rather hard on this chap as the assassin was his nemesis and he found himself genuinely attracted to the doctor, who is not pleased when she finds out the handsome stranger she was reluctantly liking was sent to spy on her; as if getting unwanted flowers and cards from her so called  admirer wasn't bad enough.

There are two main characters here; Dr. Rennie Newton and Detective Wick Threadgill. An unlikely pair. Yet they are rather alike; they are both dedicated to their line of work, both very stubborn, both cynical and jaded,  both carrying the heavy load of pain and penance on their shoulders and the assassin, Ricky Roy Lozada- their enemy.  In the first half of the book, they don't trust each other despite the growing emotional and sexual attraction for each other.  Rennie we find is calm and collected and a fine surgeon but the reader immediately senses she's hiding something. Detective Wick is an angry, bitter man and we wonder what caused him to take a long leave of absence and the reason behind his panic attacks. He is told about Rennie's past by his partner and two people who knew Rennie as a child but- and this I like about him- was more interested in hearing Rennie's side of the story. Some malicious readers would say he was letting his sexual desire for the beautiful doctor cloud his judgement but Wick simply followed his intuition; refusing to   completely judge her and very insistent she told him the real story. As they get to know each other properly, with the dark cloud of Lozada looming over them, they heal each other emotionally. Wick opens up to her about his sad past and she does the same- for the first time in years letting a man steal her heart. It's true what they say about finding love in unexpected places and situations and this was a classic example; the moment when Rennie and Wick finally made love is one of the most memorable and erotic scenes in fiction.

Lozada is a pure sociopath, it's shown that even as a child, he was incapable of love, compassion and remorse; he fears nothing and nobody. He's also super confident and narcissistic- actually believing Rennie's decision to acquit him during her jury duty was out of personal interest of him and got very angry when he saw Rennie with his enemy; regarding it as a huge betrayal. A man like that is terrifying and evil and all through the book, I was hoping he wouldn't get the chance to harm Rennie. I wouldn't say he's sick, he's just plain evil.

Wick's partner, Oren Wesley... he's an ASS; I  really detested him. He was so certain Rennie was guilty of complicity and constantly used her past against her, actually calling her 'a whore in a white coat' to Wick's face and I was glad to see Wick  immediately defending her. I would have thought someone who was less impulsive than Wick would know better; but no- Oren was horrible towards Rennie, biased and really judgmental- as a police officer he didn't seem to  want to assume the 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' stance with Rennie, her past his main reason for his attitude and it was only after she suffers a tragedy that he relents and realized he was wrong.

The story is excellent; it's mostly about obsession and finding healing after a lot of pain- so it's not just your average detective story. It's a page turner with a good amount of suspense and the earlier mentioned VERY HOT love scene and afterwards the reader will impatiently turn the pages to see how it will all end with Rennie and Wick.

Quote from book:

"I'll be your best friend for the rest of your life. I'll try my damnedest to heal the parts of you that still hurts. I'll be an ardent and faithful lover. I'd father your children, gladly. And I would protect you with my life."

FORGIVENESS; WHAT ABOUT FORGETTING?

To err is human; to forgive divine...

A much quoted sentence by millions. We are human; we make mistakes, we sin, we hurt others- deliberately and unknowingly. And when the remorse kicks in, we seek forgiveness. Some sins are hard to forgive, the wounds inflicted too close to the bone that the act of forgiveness is very hard or impossible. Still forgiveness is a pathway to closure and healing and it is widely preached that if God can forgive us; why can't we do the same among ourselves? 

But forgiveness is one thing... what about forgetting? "Forgive and Forget"- does they actually go together or two separate actions because the way I see it, forgetting is harder than forgiveness itself. And if one is unable to forget... is the certain act of forgiveness real? 

I think it depends on the wrong doing/sin/mistake/betrayal committed or the gravity of the wrong act/sin itself. Some wounds, like I said early, run too deep and close to the bone, some sins and wrong acts too hard to forgive and get past. But even if forgiveness is possible in cases like that; forgetting would be near to impossible.

Another case would be the relationship between the wrong doer and the victim. In African culture, it's almost unheard off for parents to apologise to their children for acts of verbal and physical abuse and for the children to hold grudges- that is  seen as an act of disrespect and they are expected to 'automatically' forgive their parents and move on. But it's not likely they will forget, because when they become adults and parents themselves; they wouldn't want to inflict what they went through on their own kids. 

And there the case of a sibling backstabbing a sibling, a friend backstabbing a friend, or a spouse betraying a spouse. A wrong act or betrayal  from someone close to you is the worst type of hurt because usually it's not foreseen or expected. How easy is it to forgive in this case? It would be hard but gradually out of love and if there is a genuine show of remorse from the guilty party, forgiveness is easy. But there would come a time when there would be a fight and the old wound would resurface when the victim throws the past wrong action at the wrong doer's face. So NO... in most cases, Forgiveness and Forgetting do not go together. However at the same time, forgetting is necessary. NOT forgetting festers old wounds and eat into the soul and causes lasting bitterness and resentment.

 The victim will always remember, hence unable to really heal. A person who is able to both forgive and forget does so merely to be able to completely  remove all wounds from the heart in order to live life to the fullness, with the knowledge he or she did the right thing. 

WHAT DEFINES A REAL MARRIAGE?

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"Only dogs are to obey. If you love your wife, you'll value her opinion"- Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) to Semmi (Aresnio Hall) in COMING TO AMERICA.
How many men follow that quote in the real world?

The general consensus is that marriage is a relationship of equals; the husband of course is the head of the household and the wife is his companion, lover, mother of his children and his best friend. The wife has her own role to play of course but it's not to be a doormat. Respect your husband but do not let him walk over you, belittle you and not allow you to voice your opinion.
I feel the best kind of marriage is a marriage of equals. The fact the man is the head of the household doesn't mean the woman won't get to make some decisions in the marriage or in the raising of the children. The best kind of relationship is the one where both spouses make the decisions. They go over the issue in question and reach a real agreement without resentment or second thoughts. In most patriarchal societies, the wife is expected to be the submissive subordinate but surely not every man follows the patriarchal principle, not if he's modern and truly loves his wife. Will a man who really loves his wife prefer her to be a timid mouse who is far too submissive to make her opinions known and just allow him to make ALL the decisions in the house and control her? I think not.
I'm not married yet but when I do, that's the type of marriage I want- a marriage of equals. That's the definition of a real marriage, where the wife is a partner and not the subordinate, guided but NOT controlled. Only tyrants and men who live in the dark ages would prefer to be married to a woman with no will of her own.