Book Stop Corner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Your choices are your only freedom.”

Lailah Gifty Akita, a Ghanaian and founder of Smart Youth Volunteers Foundation, quotes this remarkable line.

Rachel Hore, an English best-selling author from London, has penned down a charming and alluring story about past and present entwined by a manuscript in her new book, The Silent Tide.

Synopsis:
London, the present day: Emily Gordon has found her dream job, editor at a small publishing house. When the biography of a late great English novelist crosses her desk, she discovers, buried beneath the history, a story that simply has to be told...

London, 1948: Isabel Barber has barely arrived in the city when a chance meeting leads to a job offer, and a fascinating career beckons. But as she develops a close working relationship with a charismatic young debut novelist the professional soon becomes personal, and she finds herself fighting for her very survival...

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Celebrate the past, don't regret it.”
---― Andrew Critchley, Dublin in the Rain

Andrew Critchley, an English author, has spun a spectacular story in his debut novel, Dublin in the Rain, which follows the life of an emotionally torn man, named, Jonathan Paul Melton.

Synopsis:
On a rainy day in Dublin, during the spring of 1947, a tragic accident brought devastation to those involved. As the subsequent years pass, unable to come to terms with the accident, the survivors set the path for a deeply troubled future for each generation that followed.
Jonathan Melton had a traumatic childhood in which he ended up in foster care, but when he meets the wild, willful, sexually experienced and free spirited Sophia at university, everything changes. At first inept with women, Jonathan’s complex relationship with Sophia evolves from a one-way obsession into a genuine love and shared passion, as the relationship brings happiness, romance and joy to both their lives that neither thought was ever possible. The two marry, and Sophia gives birth to their first child; a beautiful baby daughter. Everything is seemingly perfect, until the evening that their tiny baby is found dead in her cot.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Kami Garcia, the NY Times bestselling author, has quoted about "teenagers" as:

“Teenagers. Everything is so apocalyptic.”

Kate Scott, the American author, who once enchanted us with her debut book, Counting to D, has once again left us mesmerized by yet another YA tale called, The Evolution of Emily . They say high school is one of the most bizarre periods of a person's life and getting and coming through it is one of the biggest challenges in life. Likewise, Kate's protagonist, Emily is one of teenager, who is going through the most bizarre periods of her life and Emily's decisions and life-altering changes will not only make you like her but will also enlighten you in a way.

Synopsis:
Emily Charles knows how to run away. Away from her overprotective, agoraphobic mother. Away from her biology-obsessed, autistic sister. Away from her quiet sheltered claustrophobic home schooled life. When Emily's escape plan involves starting her junior year at Kennedy High School, she realizes she's no longer running away. Now she's running towards. Towards her quiet thoughtful cross-country teammate, August. Towards her zany enthusiastic lab partner, Miles. Towards friendship, love, independence, and life.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


While I was reading If You Were Me by Sheila O'Flanagan, it reminded me of a Katy Perry's old, cheesy, heart-breaking love-song:


Sheila O'Flanagan, an International Best-Selling author, has spun a terrific heart-breaking as well as deeply moving love-story named, If You Were Me who took me on an emotional roller-coaster ride.

Synopsis:
Carlotta O'Keefe is happily engaged, and the wedding plans are coming together. She's clear about her future path, both personally and in her busy career. Maybe Chris doesn't make her heart race every time she sees him, but you can't have that feeling for ever. Can you? Then, on a trip to Seville, Carlotta runs into Luke Evans. Luke broke her heart so long ago she'd almost convinced herself she'd forgotten him. Now, he's not that boy any more, but an attractive and intriguing man. And he can explain everything that happened way back when. Suddenly Carlotta's not so sure of anything anymore.

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not.”
----Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

Normandie Fischer, an American writer, penning her novel from on board her sailboat or from on shore in coastal NC, has spun another remarkable story in her new book, Becalmed which is not a perfect story yet it is beautiful in a way. Sometimes, falling in love with a match fixed by someone else is quite undeniable.

Synopsis:
When a Southern woman with a broken heart falls for a widower with a broken boat, it's anything but smooth sailing.
Tadie Longworth doesn't mind acting the maiden aunt in Beaufort, North Carolina. She has a gift shop full of her own jewelry designs and a sweet little sailboat to take her mind off the guy who got away. But now he’s back . . . with the fashion-plate wife he picked instead of Tadie . . . and he’s hitting on her again.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathed enemy.”
----- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Teri Wilson, an American author, has spun a remarkable modern-day tale based on Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet, named, Unmasking Juliet. I warn you, this enchanting tale is bound to arrest your soul into the high ride of emotions and confusion.

Synopsis:
Ever since she was a little girl learning to make decadent truffles in her family's chocolate shop, Juliet Arabella has been aware of the bitter feud between the Arabellas and the Mezzanottes. With their rival chocolate boutiques on the same street in Napa Valley, these families never mix. Until one night, when Juliet anonymously attends the annual masquerade ball. In a moonlit vineyard, she finds herself falling for a gorgeous stranger; a man who reminds her what passion is like outside of the kitchen. But her bliss is short-lived when she discovers her masked prince is actually Leo Mezzanotte, newly returned from Paris and the heir to her archenemy's confection dynasty.

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Woody Allen has said,

The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have.

Carla Richards, who is in her late 30s, is one such woman, who had to learn this fact of happiness from a giant woman who was the guest in Oprah's talk show and by following the giant's advice to maintain a diary. Well wonder who Carla is? Carla is the main protagonist in Cinthia Ritchie's novel, Dolls Behaving Badly. The name is quirky and has a really interesting meaning to it name. Cinthia Ritchie has pen down this tale in the form of Carla's diary entry, hence the book's pace is quite good.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Often the right path is the one that may be hardest for you to follow. But the hard path is also the one that will make you grow as a human being.”
----Karen Mueller Coombs, author

Susan Wüthrich, an English author, has envisioned a heart-touching story in her debut book, Portrait of Stella, which is about the journey of a young woman, named Jemima searching for her real identity and roots.

Synopsis:
A fake birth certificate! No record of her existence in the UK data base. Jemima Ashton is desperate to discover her real identity.
With scant information and the burning question 'who am I?', she embarks on an incredible journey of detection.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After reading The Sham by Ellen Allen, I can't stop myself from quoting Arthur Conan Doyle’s remarkable words:

“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”

Ellen Allen, an indie YA author, who has woven a spectacular story in her debut book, The Sham about simple unexplained mysteries surrounding us, and which will force you to stop and think before trusting anyone so blindly.

Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-old Emily Heath would love to leave her dead-end town, known locally as "The Sham", with her boyfriend, Jack, but he's very, very sick; his body is failing and his brain is shutting down. He's also in hiding, under suspicion of murder. Six months' ago, strange signs were painted across town in a dialect no one has spoken for decades and one of Emily's classmates washed up in the local floods.
Emily has never trusted her instincts and now they're pulling her towards Jack, who the police think is a sham himself, someone else entirely. As the town wakes to discover new signs plastered across its walls, Emily must decide who and what she trusts, and fast: local vigilantes are hunting Jack; the floods, the police, and her parents are blocking her path; and the town doesn’t need another dead body.

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My rating: 3 of 5 stars


John Robert Wooden, a retired American basketball coach, quoted about "fathers" as:

“Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating...too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.”

David Gilbert, is one such American author, who has spun an incredible tale which explores the whole dimension of a father-son relationship in an all new angle, in his latest release, & Sons .

Synopsis:
Told from the first person narrative, Philip Topping unfolds a story about the life and times of his favorite author, A.N. Dyer, who also happens to be his father's best friend. The Manhattan funeral of Charles Henry Topping would have been a minor affair but for the identity of the eulogist: reclusive author A.N. Dyer, whose novel Ampersand stands as a classic of teenage angst. Now Andrew Newbold Dyer takes stock of his own life, the people he’s hurt and the novel that will endure as his legacy. He realizes he must reunite with his three sons before it’s too late. Eldest son Richard is a screenwriter in Californian exile. In the middle is Jamie, who has spent his life capturing the sorrow that surrounds him. And last is Andy, now a pupil at the boarding school that inspired Ampersand. It is only when the hidden purpose of the reunion comes to light do the sons realize what’s at stake – for their father, themselves and three generations of Dyers.

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My rating: 2 of 5 stars


“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
----Mahatma Gandhi

That's incredibly correct. What will be left of us, if we all start to do that "eye-for-an-eye" thing- the world will be certainly doomed. But in this 21st century, we've clearly and proudly chose the road to doomed future rather than a better future- courtesy: thanks to revenge.

Well, sorry for drifting away from the topic, I mean that's what I was literally feeling after reading, Glenn Kaplan, a New York Times bestselling author's latest book, Poison Pill . Although my initial reaction after reading the book was WTF!?!! , still I felt it was something worth reading to have a reading-Robin-Cook-kind-novel-experience only till the mid-way of the book. And the ending was drastic, so w\out-of-the-world, and really crappy! End of story!

Synopsis:
Caught in a war that pits greed and ambition against conscience and love, Emma Conway faces the fight of her life—to save her family, her company, and everything she treasures.
Emma is finally living the dream—a happy second marriage and a great career. She has built Percival & Baxter’s painkiller, Acordinol, into a huge success. But her dream becomes a nightmare when a Wall Street raider threatens a hostile takeover. Worse, the raider is no ordinary cutthroat but her ex-husband Josh Katz, father of their teenage son.

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars


They say, "Without a bit of Drama, life is way boring". Although I'm not a great believer of dramas in a relationship, but then again, whom can I blame after all Harlequin Books scream DRAMA!


Synopsis:
The narration is done by the two protagonist of this book, Cleo and Jax. Cleo is working as Host in a posh Las Vegas Casino. One day she finds her long-time crush, Joe Monroe from her small hometown, Wyoming. Back then, Jax was famous for his troubles and was thus called the Bad Boy. Seeing him after all those years, certainly Cleo wells up with all her past emotions. And as by luck, she ends up being Jax's casino host. Certainly they had a lot of catching up to do. But the more Cleo gets closer to Jax, the more Jax pushes her back by shutting the windows of his heart as tightly as possible. Since Jax had a dark past and some grave secrets about himself, so he doesn't want Cleo to end up with him. Suddenly, a killer shows up on the Casino, and Cleo ends up being hurt very badly. So they take off and hide themselves in a movie-star's condo. But things get dangerous, and you really need to find out if the high was the worth the pain for these two lovers.

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Tell me which girl doesn't dream about a fairytale ending in her life- that impossibly handsome prince sweeping you off on your feet! Even after growing up, you still cherish that dream, but keep it aside because we become so wise. Well I also did kept the thought aside and moved on, but I never stopped myself from reading one and losing into it.



Well, to be honest, I know many people do not like this kind of cheesy love-stories, but since I read Jennifer Faye's previous book, titled, The Return of the Rebel, I turned into a complete fan of her, and started rooting for reading more of her books. Maybe because I love way too cheesy and emotional love-stories, which takes me into an unreal world filled with promises and trust and LOVE-unlimited! Who doesn't need a break and for me- a good romantic book is a total getaway! No matter whomever the publisher is! I have never learnt to judge a book by its publisher or author!

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty - this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.” --Paul Thomas Mann, German novelist, penned these words in his book Death in Venice.

Turn back the clock to 18th century and find Venice as a lover's paradise, where every men end up with more than 1 lover in their lifetime in Venice and those carnivals where the masked men and women find each other equally. All these beauty has been strikingly portrayed by the author, Elizabeth McKenna, in her new novel, Venice in the Moonlight. This book portrays a beautiful love-story wrapped in a dark and terrifying thrilling mystery.

Synopsis:
A young widow, Marietta Gatti, was shunned from her in-laws house after her husband's death, and soon finds herself travelling back to Venice to her father, where she belonged. But en-route, she discovers that her father has died very recently and because of her evil mother-in-law, she never ever once could contact her father for once after her marriage. But reaching Venice, she finds out from her father's lover that her father was murdered by some powerful men. Meanwhile, Nico Foscari, the most famous womanizer and playboy of Venice, tries all his means to woo Marietta. But being reluctant and determined to find her father's killer and not to end up with a man like her deceased husband, she never pays heeds to his conquest. As Marietta digs deeper into her father's past, the more she invited danger to herself. After almost getting killed and losing Nico, she finally uncovers the real villain.

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