Fall Book Review: The Piano-Man Project by Late French

Purchase|Goodreads 

MY SYNOPSIS 

Imagine This: You are never the type of woman to orgasm. No matter what your friends say, you just know no man can do THAT for you, thanks very much!

So when your friends contemplate on the kind of man who can just make you have that much multiple 'O's: a piano-playing sex-god, you know when they set out to get him wherever he is, it's going to be a disaster! But you play on, because you want to keep your hopes up that out there there's a (piano-playing) sex god who can just make you come (for once!)

Meanwhile, the man next-door is tinkling your interest. He's rude, bad-tempered and only needs company when he's getting a bottle of whiskey in return. He plays no Piano, people. Except when he mentions your name, you feel you might as well come with the ripple of sensations that courses through you. 

How do you work your way into the bed of a man who is deeply troubled and emotionally distorted? It's only for the orgasm, you keep telling yourself. But why do you want to stake a claim on his heart (even when sometimes he makes you feel like driving a stake throught it!)

Honeysuckle Jones' trouble-seeking, orgasm-less life summarized for your delight. 

My Review. 

I loved this book!

The storyline is very run-off-the-mill chicklit title. Though it is not unique in its sense, it's very enjoyable. So Blonde wants an orgasm, she wants to keep her oldies from being thrown out of their home and she wants the man next-door to stop being such an arse. A star.—★

I loved Honeysuckle, the main character. What a funny name. But Rose and Lily would have been quite non-unique, wouldn't it? She's very charismatic, loves to STEP in to help anyone everywhere, the kind of neighbor who would help you pick up your fallen groceries whilst secretly wishing you would be the one to make her come. A star to her.—★★

Other characters also made this title IMMENSELY fun. There's Lucille, the kind-hearted co-worker of Honey and Mimi, her eighty-year old sister who comes off as hard but is genuinely a sweetheart and is just your ordinary senior citizen who just wants to have a normal adventurous sex life. There's also old Billy, Mimi's boyfriend who loves being handcuffed. You'd love Tash (the Samantha Jones-lookalike friend) and also Nell (the Charlotte-esque friend of Honey who's lately experimenting with more tools with her sweater-clad husband). Christopher, the villain of the book is humorously wicked. Plus, you'd love Hal, the tempestuous next-door-man.—★★★ 

One of the features about this book is its humor. It's also one of those community books in which the whole town joins in to protest major, abnormal changes to their town.—★★★★

My rating: Four-stars.

This book is available on Amazon. Go get.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a feel-good, funny read full of senior citizens engaged in lots of shenanigans. Another good book to add to your fall reading list. 

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Fall Book Review: Disclaimer by Renee Knight

PURCHASE|GOODREADS 

My Synopsis. 

Imagine This: You have been hiding this big secret all your life. With your adorable husband and son who's recently moved out of home, your life is perfect. You recently won an award in your field of investigative journalism. Everything is going like it's supposed to. Your secret is safe. No one knows. Your life isn't in tatters... yet.

During a pastime, you pick up a book to while the hours away—you have no one to look after these days, why don't you look after yourself then? So you begin reading this novel with your feet up, a glass of wine by your bedside—more like it!—and happen to be enjoying this novel. Until you realize you are reading about you. The secret you kept all these years unraveled in a book.

Who knows? Who's out to destroy you? You would only find out if you go back in the past. 

Meanwhile, the writer of your work of 'fiction' is presently working on their best revenge yet. You will pay for what you did years ago.

Catherine's life summed up for your delight! 

My Review. 

I love this book!

The storyline was what reeled me in! I loved the whole idea conceptualized for a psychological thriller! Woman finds herself reading a book about her dark secret. Writer is out to make Woman pay with pen... or more! Lovely! A star!—★

Oh, you'd love its main character, Cath! Very ruthless (at times), very bold. Kind of the character you'd expect to handle a writer who's lost their hinges! A star to her!—★★

I cannot read this book and not comment about its opening chapters! Edge-of-your-seat fun! Very gripping and fast-paced! Most thrillers do not begin this way!!!—★★★

You'd love other characters too. The deluded writer out to get our main character's blood, our lead's husband who's for most part of the book supportive (till he finds out...)—★★★★

Ugh! What killed me about this book is its anti-climax, with such a promising start I was expecting more for an ending. Though, the ending was very soulful and fulfilling, I just wanted... something that would have this book imprinted in my mind forever!

So my rating: Four-out-of five stars. 

The Disclaimer is up on Amazon!

I recommend this book to anyone in need of a psychological thriller laden with flashbacks (of so many versions from the POVs of some characters) that are as gripping as the current day events! You won't be able to put this book down!

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Amazon and Goodreads! 

Fall Book Review: The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah

Purchase|Goodreads

My Synopsis 

Imagine This: You've spent two years in prison.  About to face execution. In Zimbabwe. 

It's a known fact that African prisons are not exactly the safe havens Western prisons are. The food is shitty. The toilet rolls are not enough to contain your shit. And every time, there's a new death recorded. Even in the women's ward.

So you killed the man your parents sold you to. And you are the only woman in Zimbabwe on death-row—so you are quite a sensation in the media. Except there are no hangmen in the country to put you out of your misery (from the annoying sadistic guards who ensure you have absolutely nothing to enjoy).

So while you are waiting for the hangman position to be filled (by someone heartless and brave enough), your lawyer insists you write about every little detail about your crime to gain amnesty.

Your life is no more in the government's hands. It's in yours. How do you detail your murder enough to get a pardon? And more importantly, where do you begin? (You are not too sure of your recall skills).

Memory's impending doom summarized for your delight. 

My Review  

Oh, I adored this book! So you know in my review I'd be as crude as some of the inmates of Orange is the New Black!

The storyline! Amazing! Albino girl commits murder, gets sent to prison, is bullied because of her features, and because she's a woman with education, gets opportunity to write herself out of jail. I like that it's set in Africa, Zimbabwe, giving an insight about the people, their culture through the point of view of a character who's been overseas! Lovely! A star!──★

You'd love Memory. Very dull yet intriguing. She has a voice that has the power to reel every reader in to take her side though she's committed a heinous crime. You'd find yourself sympathizing with her about the harsh conditions in Zimbabwean prisons, and her impending doom. More important, you'd love her story from a traditional background (with strange believes to match) to her transformation into a fine Zimbabwean woman with a very English mindset that erases all traces of her native upbringing. A star.──★★

Other characters you'd love are: Synodia, the authoritating prison guard who has a (teasing) version of baby-talk that aggravates every prisoner and is enough to make any reader wish her tragic end. There's Loveness, the prison guard who's more understanding to Memory due to a secret she keeps. You'd also adore Lloyd, the white man who's  Memory's guardian and the reason she's in jail. Memory's traditional community also embodies characters with primitive (superstitious) beliefs that give an insight into the psychological makeup of the uneducated and rural Zimbabwean.──★★★

It was nice delving into a story with people of different cultures and backgrounds that also has a killer plot to match. Plus this book has a very fulfilling end, so what's not to like?──★★★★

Good work by Petina Gappah. Hope to read more code-mixing/setting-mixing titles from her.──★★★★★

My rating: Five out of five stars!

Petina Gappah's novel debut is available on Amazon! 

I recommend this to anyone who loves a very different read set in the most remotest locations with people of different culture. Anyone who wants a novel on the painful state of prisons in Africa, should grab this book. Plus if you love very biographical novels that are so true and real, this is just a great pick for your fall reading. 

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Amazon and Goodreads. 

Fall Book Review: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Purchase|Goodreads 

My Synopsis.

Imagine This: You were abandoned by your mum when you were but a toddler. This has marred your life heavily: you are not like all the other kids at school, you are more science-ly for someone at your age because your mum was, your dad has been institutionalized since her departure and your grandmother doesn't want to talk about it (or anything at all).

You have never given up on your search for her. Even though it's mostly in old drawers finding her endless research notes on elephants in the process. You are sure she would never willingly abandon you. Something must have happened. But no one wants to talk about it. So your only solution:

Find her to tell you exactly what happened.

Your search begins intensely when you are thirteen. You are sneaking out of home with the lie of babysitting a teacher's son, getting a con psychic to give you answers, finding a shady cop who worked on your mom's case.

Soon, you are in too deep to quit. Chances are your mum was a lot of things you never hoped to find out that would taint your (little) memories of her. You find answers that lead to heavy unsettelment and if you are not lucky enough, your own demise.

Jenna Metcalfe's puzzling life summed up for your delight.

My Review. 

I loved, loved this book so in my review you know I'd be throttling you and yelling in your face to go get it!

Amazing storyline! A young teen sets out to find her missing mother and discover answers to why she just disappeared yet she has no idea the ghosts of her past still pertain in the present. Beautiful! A star.── ★

Jenna, the main character is very, very hard to dislike. No, she's not your normal teen! She's very practical about her search for her mum due to her science-liness. And she's adorable all the same because nothing beats a well-developed character who's not just a stereotype of another lead finding a missing character.── ★★

This book is told in point of views of the vanishing cop, Virgil; the fake psychic, Serenity; and Jenna's mysterious mum, Alice. These characters were all peculiar and fabulously developed. You'd love Virgil for his shifty yet great investigation techniques and his love for too many Jack Daniels. You'd love Serenity the no-nonsense, (no-good), bulshitting psychic who's praying she gets back her ability of communicating with the spirit world. Alice is a brilliant animal research scientist, her stories about elephants in the wild are so insightful you cannot wait to flip into her chapter next.── ★★★

Other characters you'd love are: Thomas, Jenna's Dad, who is off his mind. Tallulah, the lab scientist who wants Virgil to go out on a date with her (and then some). One waitress who thinks Serenity is off her hinges (no kidding there). All characters necessary and not redundant in any way!── ★★★★

This is one of those few pieces you could go on and on about the excellent writing (even if you clearly have no idea what excellent writing is, but are sure this is!). From every scene or chapter Jodi Picoult ends with a cliffhanger or some hallmark heartful quote that makes you want to note that down for a little Facebook update! Plus, you'd love her technique of foreshadowing by—wait for it!—using a past character's (Alice) research notes about elephant grief and parenting to give readers an idea of what might take place in the upcoming chapter. So you are sure to have your heart skip a beat if something negative is happening to an elephant in Alice's narrative! A not-done-before technique! Brilliant!── ★★★★★

I loved this book because it offered more than its blurb let on. The blurb makes you feel like reading this book so much. But it leaves out other amazing things I had no idea I'd encounter in this title. And I'm not even talking about the suspense and humor! It's like getting a DVD with lots of fun extras!
I hail the OMG-moment in this book! A star!── ★★★★★★

Oh, heavens! Plus, it supports a cause! Who doesn't want to read a book that makes them want to get on a superhero costume and save the world in their own special way (if not to end poaching of elephants in African countries for Ivory)

My rating: Six out of five stars!

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult is available on Amazon. Just go get it now!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a well-written title (—lots of people use this term loosely, I don't!). Anyone who wants to read a book that would fill out all their boring times. Anyone who wants a book that is so different from most of the women's fiction titles out there! Plus, you could do worse for your choice of Fall reads (this is doing best!).


Woo! Loved this title. Would Look out more for Jodi Picoult's works! Spreading the word on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter!

Fall Book Review: That Day In June by Martina Reilly

Purchase|Goodreads


My Synopsis 

Imagine This: You run away from home when you were seventeen. You've gotten used to the streets, at night and day. You like to exist on the sidelines of all the human traffic.  That way, no one can recognize you are that Girl whose face was splashed all over the 'Missing' headlines seven years ago.

Now your life is a constant endless routine you have been used to. Getting a shower, getting some food at the shelter, pickpocketing when the need arises and sitting on one bench staring at the world go by.

Until a stranger works his way into your routine and buys you coffee every morning.

You like him. He's very nice. Plus he wants to know of your thoughts of each coffee. Now isn't that just FAB? Something to use your voice for, innit?

Except, one morning, there's no coffee, there's no stranger, there's no company and certainly no talking.

Where the hell is this guy? You find yourself asking after the third day. If he doesn't show up the next day, you are going to look for him.

Sandy's search for a stranger which leads to touching results and a heart-melting story about a journey to recover all that's been lost.

My Review. 

I loved this book.

It has one of those rare unique storylines that reel you in from the start. I love the whole curiosity angle played from the onset. I was aching to know what happened to this stranger and how the lead character was going to locate him. OK, a star.── ★

You would also love the lead, Sandy. Her voice is... how do I put it?... very earthy, raw, with a dash of innocence that proves a character whose development had been stifled all through adulthood.

You would also love Max. The story alternates between their two point of views (Max's and Sandy's). It's really nice that the point of views of both characters are marred by their mental state. It gives character to the narrative and helps the reader sympathize with both leads. That said, this book is very quirky. A star.── ★★

Other characters in the madhouse are also fun to read about from Norm and his wife Evie, to Vic. All these characters were cool and kinda nuts. You'd also love Molly, the diseased woman who wouldn't leave her flat because she's succumbed to her situation—"I am dying soon, so rather be bedridden." A star.── ★★★

Backstory was one of the amazing features of this novel. From the onset, you are intrigued by the upbringing of Sandy because of her narrative voice. Max's backstory was also nice to read about for it explains why a perfectly sane character would find themselves in a madhouse losing it all.── ★★★★

My only problem with this title is, I wanted more earth-shattering secrets and revelations to make for fantastic OMG moments. It was all so mild on this front.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Go buy this book, on Amazon, it's worth the read.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something unique and very, very quirky (—in a good way). Anyone who wants something touching this Fall should go get this. If you want an unusual love story, this is one of the titles you must buy.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Blog Tour + Fall Book Review: The Things We Do For Love by Alice Peterson

Purchase|Goodreads 

My Synopsis 

Imagine This: Life has given you too many blows to survive any further. First, your parents were taken away. Your grandparents did a great job raising you—then life has to take the one, most important thing closer to a mum you ever had. 

A whirlwind romance ends abruptly with nothing but a pregnancy you have to face alone.
It doesn't end there. The doctors have more shocking news for you about your baby: cerebral palsy. 

Frankly, if there's any reason to quit living this is it. Watching your child receive odd looks from competitive mothers, watching your child in pain during physio. But you never give up, you want to be the best mum your mother never had the opportunity to be.

With single motherhood, comes the subject of work. Working to pay the bills, working to afford the best treatment for your little girl. Years down the line you have been able to strike the perfect balance between your professional life and your familial one. Your boss is Great, gives you lots of time off. Your daughter is doing amazing, she's coping in a world of perfectly normal kids (and bullies).

But in comes a new boss. A new boss everyone doesn't take a liking to because he puts the, um, slave in the driver(?). A new boss who's moody, and heartless. Most important, a new boss with ghosts to deal with.

You have a chance of helping this new boss let go of the one thing that shattered his past (he's keeping a secret), so you can have your old boss in your new boss again. Everyone at work will be happy, and so will you. 

But are you willing to? Is he willing to let you in? What if you get in too deep?

MY REVIEW. 

I loved this book! So you know in my review I'd be yelling at you to go buy the hell out of it!

Great storyline. It's one of those things about Alice Peterson's novels you can't take away: the Heart. Her storylines are filled with so much heart you can't help but be engaged from start to finish. Cerebral Palsy explored in this writing gives the depth this book needs. Bullying, single motherhood, loss, painful relationships are also some of the tear-jerking worthy subjects explored in this storyline. A star!── ★

You'd adore January Wild. Funny voice. Great mother. Can't hold back the tears. Amazing worker. It's not hard not to relate to her with some of the above subjects explored in this novel. She's gone through so much, she withers from the image of the perfect lead attaining real human-ness of characters you can't help but ask the question: What To Do If I Were In Her Shoes?── ★★

Other characters are also spectacular! There's Lizzie, the humorous friend who offers lots of amazing insight into January's problems. There's also Granny, January's grandma/mother who gives our lead the support and the love she needs through the tough. January's Grandpa is also funny, and loving, and kind and would beat the life out of any man who hurts her granddaughter. There's Luke, the brother who's sort of moody recluse. Graham, the colleague at work who's always down with something. Lucy, another colleague who quite fancies the pants off the new boss while waiting for her boyfriend of many years to propose. Trust, lots of amazing characters I cannot mention for the length of this review. A star!── ★★★★

Humour is another one of those things you would love in this title. I am not sure I said this last year about Peterson's previous novel, but there's this quality her writing has—no suspense, no gripping-ness, it's all just relaxed and calms the reader as they take in the problematic life of her leads. Goes to show, you do not need suspense to keep the reader embroiled. Sometimes the ability of the novel to be satisfyingly moving can just do the trick. A star.── ★★★★★ 

My rating is obviously five out five stars (5/5 stars).

Alice Peterson's novel is available on Amazon. Go get!

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something touching to read this fall. Anyone dealing with a child of rare disability or not should go get this. All mothers (and not mothers yet) out there should go get this title. If you are in the mood for some good romance this title is for you too.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads and Amazon

Summer Book Review: My Sister's Secret by Tracy Buchanan

Purchase|Goodreads

My Synopsis

Imagine This: You are still reeling from the death of your parents. Parents who were the best anyone would ever want, at least that's all you know.

You go on with your life traveling from one location to another, just fleeting through, hoping some way your job as a diver would give you both the thrill and the time to heal. But years have passed and you are not exactly sure if you've moved on from this loss. The pain is always as fresh the night your aunt broke it to you they died underwater.

Upon a recent diving gig, to uncover lost possessions from your parents and see their underwater grave, you find out the initials "N&C" in your mother's purse.

Of course, it can't be a designer label. Your dad had been rich enough to buy your mum "D&G" (because who exactly is "N&C"—not someone anyone would be wearing, that's for sure). It doesn't help your mum's name begins with a 'C' and your dad's DOESN'T begin with an 'N'. 

What's going on in this purse? Why is your aunt so secretive about your past? Why is no one telling you the truth? 

Answers you can only find in the past. You must travel back in time to uncover your life story. You must dive deep down submerged forests underwater for answers you need.

Willow's complicated past laden with secrets, suspense and lies summarized for your delight.

My Review. 

I liked this book.

Good storyline. Writing a book about past secrets, family secrets is always a winner. So much unraveling to do. So much layers upon layers of secrets revealed to keep the reader glued to his seat. A star.── ★ 

The main characters were good too. You'd love Charity, the mother of Willow whose story is told in the past. Her complicated ties with a man who ruined her family. Her affair with a married man trying to get his wife on track. Willow's life is also plagued with enough mysteries of secrets of the past and her underwater adventures.── ★★

Other characters I loved were: Niall, the guy Charity can't ever forget but should. Dan, the married man Charity feels she has an unmistakable chemistry with. There's also Ajay, Willow's Indian diving companion. You'd also love the secretive and surly Hope, aunt of Willow. And Lana, wife of Dan, who's not all right upstairs.── ★★★ 

I love the persistent mystery in this title. Secrets capable of making any reader gasp out loud. A star.── ★★★★

All in all, I liked this book. But I wished I could have loved, loved it. Reading it was like watching the heart monitor of a dying patient. Too many flat-lines then you are jolted awake by a peak (which happens when another layer of secret is uncovered).

My rating: FOUR/ Five stars (4/5 stars).

My Sister's Secret is available on Amazon.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to books on family secrets. Anyone who loves a title featuring exotic locations should go grab this too.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads as well as Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Sisters-Secret-Tracy-Buchanan/dp/000757939X