Hi and welcome to my reading blog, I'm glad you've come to visit.
This is just my informal reviews to keep track of what I've read lately. You may find some that interest you. Enjoy!
by Nora Roberts What a lovely romantic short story by Nora Roberts. A warrier prince is wounded and dying after battle, in an icy land, when along comes Deirdre a young queen who rescues him and takes him to her kingdom. The queen rules over a land that has been cursed by her aunt, to eternal winter and snow. She risks her own life to heal others and is trapped in a lonely life, ruling over her people, with no family of her own. While Prince Kylar is recovering he falls in love with Deirdre and wants to take her away from this cursed land but she will not leave her people to struggle by themselves and cannot trust her heart to love anyone. This story reminded me of the fairy tale of Snow White. It was a beautifully written love story that had a few 'aaahhh' moments, which I enjoyed. Short and sweet but nice.
by Colleen Houck Wow, what a series! I started reading this series because a friend of mine (a book guru) said I'd love them and gave me the whole set to read. Although I adored the cover of 'Tiger's Curse', I was doubtful I would really enjoy them as I'm not really into fantasy much, but was willing to give them a try... glad I did! Full of adventure and danger that's on a par with 'Indiana Jones', the story starts with a teenager, Kelsey Hayes, who has just finished school and decides to get a summer job. A circus wasn't what she had in mind but straight away she grew to love the atmosphere and the people. Little did she know that her job of looking after a beautiful white tiger named Ren, would change her life forever. She is asked to escort the tiger back to India by a mysterious man and when she accepts she is soon half way across the world starting an unbelievable adventure full of mystery, magic, fear, danger, ancient prophecies and of course... romance... but not just any old romance that's for sure. She must deal with issues of 'fate', 'passion' and 'loyalty' as she finds out she is the only one who can break the ancient curse put on Ren and his brother. A great read that you can't put down. Thanks 'book guru' for recommending it to me... I'll never doubt you again! The other books in the series are Tiger's Quest, Tiger's Voyage and Tiger's Destiny. Watch the book trailer to get you excited about the journey.
What an truly incredible story. A poor, black woman named Henrietta Lacks, from Clover, Virginia, dies a painful death of cervical cancer in 1951. No one would know her remarkable story... unless a science journalist, Rebecca Skloot, took it upon herself to investigate Henrietta and HeLa cells and write this best seller. After ten years of investigating, Rebecca discovers that unbeknown to Henrietta's family, her doctor had taken samples of her cancerous cells and was experimenting with them in his laboratory. Amazingly, Henrietta's cells stayed alive and multiplied at such a rate her doctor was able to use them in important medical research, including developing the polio vaccine, cloning, in vitro fertilisation and more. Her cells have been sold for billions of dollars and were the first living cells to be taken into space. It is twenty years on before her family become aware of what has happened and that in a strange way she is still living on. This books raises many questions regarding medicine, ethics and race issues. A fascinating book.
by Annah Faulkner I really, really loved this beautiful book. From the first page it had me and it only took a day or so to finish it... that's how much I loved it! Roberta, a young girl contracts polio and is confined to hospital for months, then forced to wear a calliper and boot. This is devastating to Roberta and her family but when she is given a set of paints she realises how much she loves art and how talented she is. She is 'special' for sure as she can see colours hovering over people she meets. Some are angry colours others are full of love and she of course paints them, but her style is very different from the 'norm' and through a set of circumstances her mother forbids her to pain any more. This is who Roberta is.... she must paint... it's what she was born to do. In Australia she is bullied at school, because of her gympy leg, but her life changes when her family move to New Guinea. There is so much colour there she must continue her passion. Because I love to draw and paint I really felt the frustration Roberta felt from being banned to paint. When she discovers secrets in her mother's life her whole world is turned upside down and I wanted the story to go on and on.I won't give you any more of the story because there many highs and lows that come her way. This story is so beautifully written. I felt like I was with little Roberta as she grew up, peering into her life, feeling her pain. It felt so real that I thought it must have been an autobiography but this was Annah Faulkner's first novel. I can't believe it!
by Karen Blumenthal At first I thought this book would be a little to 'techie' for me but I was surprised when reading it how easily the writer took you through the turbulent life of Steve Jobs, who some say 'changed our world'. Steve was adopted, dropped out of college, had many failures in his personal and business world but he kept going and as was his focus in life 'to live each day as if it was your last', he certainly did this. At times there were tantrums and outbursts and he could be quite rude to his colleagues and friends, however he never forgot his passion. It is amazing to follow this story and how technology has changed in just a few decades. The timeline at the end of the book puts everything into context. It was Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniack, who started the Apple Computer company in his father's garage and later became millionaires, and really changing how we think about our technology and devices. They certainly didn't agree all the time but had a great vision and had a symbiotic relationship. The book touches on Steve's personal life, his outburst with companies, his own workers, his time with Pixar and of course struggle with cancer over the past ten years and his ultimate death. He certainly didn't have the nicest personality and I thought when he married and settled down he would mature a little more, but he was always focuses on himself. Some say he stole ideas from others and made them his own, and that he was greedy and ripped off his friends. Perhaps this is true, but you cannot question his futuristic vision, his perseverance and attention to detail and design, which has surely paid off and made our lives a little easier and more portable. It certainly was worth a read and I must say.... I just love my iPhone and iPad.... so thanks Steve!
by Nora Roberts
