What a fun way to begin the weekend on a beautiful Saturday by reading Roald Dahl’s JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH! This book—along with four others—is part of my Roald Dahl Reading Marathon. The goal is to read all the five books within two days.

My first Roald Dahl book was CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, which I read last year in September. I’ve enjoyed it very much and JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH did not disappoint. It’s a fun book and an imaginative one. Loved the cover too! Here, I went on a fantastical peachy journey with a little boy named James Henry Trotter. […]

TEHANU by Ursula K. Le Guin is the fourth book in the Earthsea Cycle series.

The first book, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, is about Ged. The second book, THE TOMBS OF ATUAN, is about Tenar and the third one, THE FARTHEST SHORE, introduces us to prince Arren who embarks on a journey with Ged to restore good to the evil that has befallen Earthsea.

In TEHANU, however, there is no working of magic. The story reunites Ged and Tenar. And a young girl named Therru. The widow Tenar rescues a badly burned girl […]

The third book in the Earthsea Cycle series, THE FARTHEST SHORE by Ursula K. Le Guin, is a thought-provoking book that deals with the issue of death and eternal life. I loved it.

In this one, there is another wizard with great power—perhaps even one that matches Ged’s—who is working a spell. A spell that will throw the world into chaos and upsets its balance by denying and avoiding death. To set things right again, Ged and prince Arren embarks on a journey of possibly no return. They travel by sea into the West, the farthest shore. In their adventure, they encounter dragons and the children of the open sea [...]

TOMBS OF ATUAN is my second Ursula K. Le Guin book. Again, I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Like the first book, this is a also short book at 192 pages but a good read nonetheless. The synopsis above gives a good overview of the book.

Here, the magical journey continues where a young girl named Tenar is identified and chosen as the High Priestess of the Tombs of Atuan.

Angels & Demons is my first Dan Brown book and will certainly not be the last.

The novel had me glued to my seat turning those pages furiously and playing the guessing game right until the end. You wouldn’t believe who the culprit will be. It is a little over-the-top but still. . . Set in the Vatican City, this is one intriguing thriller that is full of drama. Robert Langdon is a Harvard specialist on religious symbolism (those who have read The Da Vinci Code would be familiar with him). He is called in by a Swiss research lab when Dr. Leonardo Vetra, the scientist who discovered antimatter, is found murdered with the word “Illuminati” branded on his chest.

BEDTIME FOR BONSAI is Elaine Fox’s latest novel. No, it has got nothing to do with the plant but everything to do with a cute dog (and romance). In this one, the highlight of the story is the socialite-looking, beautiful and good girl, Penelope Porter. Penelope plans to get back together with her no-good ex-husband and she also wants a baby. But it was for that very reason her ex-husband left her for another woman (he does not want any babies).

Penelope gets herself a cute puppy and she names him Mr Darcy. The problem with Mr Darcy is that he keeps sneaking over to the shop across the street owned by the new-guy-in-town, Dylan Mersey. Dylan is a very good looking bad boy […]

THE PAGAN STONE by Nora Roberts (NR) is the third book of the Sign of Seven Trilogy.

This one—the third book—is my favorite. It is Gage Turner and Cybil Kinski’s story. Both are able to ‘see’ and both saw a lot of visions—frightening ones. I really enjoyed the signature NR dialogues in this book and I like seeing these two kick each others’ backside for the fun of it. Things are getting intense just as evil gets stronger.

A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA is my first Ursula K. Le Guin book and I enjoyed it immensely. The synopsis above gives a good overview of the book. It’s also a fairly short novel with 197 pages only.

Ged (his true name) is destined to be an Archmage but he does not yet know that. As a child, he is called Duny. He is wild and quick, loud and proud, and full of temper. One day by accident he repeats aloud the rhyme that he heard his aunt uses to call a goat that has strayed, and the other goats come to him. That is how he is ‘discovered’ and is sent to learn from a mage named Ogion.