Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here's mine for this week:

The pink cubicle had winked out of existence, the monkeys had sunk away to a better dimension.
Ford and Arthur found themselves in the embarkation area of the ship. It was rather smart.
"I think the ship's brand new," said Ford.
"How can you tell?" asked Arthur. "Have you got some exotic device for measuring the age of
metal?". "No, I just found this sales brochure lying on the floor.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy By Douglas Adams page 73.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here .Thanks and have a great Tuesday.

TOP 100 THRILLERS

NPR has published a list of the top 100 "Killer Thrillers." The NPR audience nominated about 600 novels to the poll and cast over 17,000 ballots. Stephen King has six titles in the top 100 list. Below is the top ten. 


This is the Top 50, if you want to see the top 100 books click here 

 1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris                       
 2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
 3. Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
 4. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
 5. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
 6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
 7. The Shining, by Stephen King
 8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
 9. The Hunt tor Red October, by Tom Clancy
10. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur C.Doyle

         

  11. Dracula, by Bram Stoker

  12. The Stand, by Stephen King
  13. The Bone Collector, by Jeffery Deaver 
  14. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
  15. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown 
  16. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
  17. The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton
  18. Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane
  19. The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth
  20. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
     

 21. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett
 22. It, by Stephen King
 23. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
 24. The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
 25. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
 26. The Alienist, by Caleb Carr
 27. Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
 28. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
 29. The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
 30. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson

     
 31. No Country for old men By Cormac McCarthy        

 32. Gone Baby Gone, by Dennis Lehane
 33. Gorky Park, by Martin Cruz Smith
 34. Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin
 35. Subterranean, by James Rollins
 36. Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy
 37. Salem's Lot, by Stephen King
 38. Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
 39. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre
 40. The Poet, by Michael Connelly
   

 41. The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin
 42. Cape Fear, by John MacDonald
 43. The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker
 44. Pet Sematary, by Stephen King
 45. Dead Zone, by Stephen King
 46. The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon
 47. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre
 48. The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
 49. Tell No One, by Harlan Coben
 50. Consent to Kill, by Vince Flynn

Why not take a look at the list and see whether you agree with it.

What would definately make your list of Top Thrillers?

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. 

I havent received many books this week as I have been too busy trying to read the ones that I already have, but these are  2 books that I have recieved this week.

  The Red Pyramid By Rick Riordan

I will be Reviewing this book shortly so keep an eye out. I am really looking forward to reading this, and I can actually fit this into my Book Club's reading Challenge.

The Truth about Forever By Sarah Dessen

Friday Finds

I have been so busy lately with trying to juggle home-life and also reading. Our Book Club has a great challenge and it has me reading into the wee hours. It has also introduced me to some great books that I would never have thought of reading before. So here are a few of the books for my Friday Finds.

The Giver By Lois Lowry

In the "ideal" world into which Jonas was born, everybody has sensibly agreed that well-matched married couples will raise exactly two offspring, one boy and one girl. These children's adolescent sexual impulses will be stifled with specially prescribed drugs; at age 12 they will receive an appropriate career assignment, sensibly chosen by the community's Elders. 

Terrier - By Tamora Pierce


BEKA COOPER IS a rookie with the Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat, but Beka can hear the voices of the dead on the wings of pigeons, and Beka's birds clue her in to two major murderers on the loose. The rest of the Guard is busy investigating the fire opal killer, so it's up to Beka to nab the Shadow Snake.

The Glass Rainbow By James Lee Burke


in his superlative 18th novel featuring Iberia, La., deputy sheriff Dave Robicheaux (after Swan Peak). Robicheaux finds himself dealing with adopted daughter Alafair's attraction to novelist Kermit Abelard of the degenerate Abelard clan (who echo Faulkner's Snopses), as well as trying to avenge the sadistic murders of two young women, aided by best friend Clete Purcel. Evil comes in many forms, from the psychotic interloper Vidor Perkins to Robert Weingart, a convict turned author, whom Kermit has championed.

 My Blood Approves By Amanda Hocking

Seventeen-year-old Alice Bonham's life feels out of control after she meets Jack. With his fondness for pink Chuck Taylors and New Wave hits aside, Jack's unlike anyone she's ever met.

Then she meets his brother, Peter. His eyes pierce through her, and she can barely breathe when he's around. Even though he can't stand the sight of her, she's drawn to him.

But falling for two very different guys isn't even the worst of her problems. Jack and Peter are vampires.

Oh and its Friday so you know what that means? Join in the fun and follow as many bloggers as you can.


Happy Friday everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Leaving Paradise By Simone Elkeles

My Review Rating 7/10



GOODREADS DESCRIPTION

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares — has been canceled.

After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.

Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other

MY REVIEW

I really enjoy reading Simone Elkeles books, although a YA writer she is one who can bridge the gap between YA and adults very nicely.

Two very different people are joined together by the most common yet dreadful experience. Both live in the town of Paradise, but for them it is nothing like the name.

Caleb Becker has just been released from having hit a girl whilst driving drunk and maiming her. Caleb now has to return to the small town of Paradise to rebuild his life. But for Caleb, returning to Paradise isn't so easy. His mother is trying to act like nothing has happened, his sister hardly talks to anyone and looks like a vampire chick, and his dad is never there.

Maggie Armstrong was that innocent person that Caleb hit, and she's been living in her own prison, the hospital.The worst news comes to her is that Caleb has been released early and now school is starting she will have to face him every day. Trying to get back her life, Maggie has been trying her best to walk right again. But during those times, the people who Maggie thought were her friends began to grow apart from her.

I really liked both Maggie and Caleb, they were both very real characters and the developing romance between them was very well written and believable. I love the way Simone Elkeles switches the point of view between them so we really get both sides of the story. I also felt that the relationships between Maggie & Caleb and their respective families were very well written - the accident and it's aftermath had a major impact on family life for everyone involved.

I'm really looking forward to the next novel, having left off the way it did makes me eager to know what happens with Caleb and Maggie.

If you are a fan of Perfect Chemistry I'm sure you'll enjoy Leaving Paradise and I would definitely recommend it.

The Passage By Justin Cronin

Product Description 
 

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

MY REVIEW

I never seem to be daunted by long books, I once read THE STAND by Stephen King when I was 16, and I think if you can read that, you can read anything. So the length of this book didn’t bother me. I had read other reviews about this book and they were fairly mixed, the word’s that were used quite frequently were “Boring” and “slow” but over time I have come to know that some people are incredibly impatient and if someone isn’t getting killed, chased or blown up then they tend to give up. I normally would consider myself one of those people, If a book doesn’t grab me in the first 50 pages then I simply read something else. I didn’t have a problem with THE PASSAGE.

The Passage is the first of a post-apocalyptic vampire trilogy.
This "apocalypse" is brought on by a single event, in this case a secret government experiment gone wrong. The test-subjects, twelve death row inmates and a six-year-old orphan Amy are injected with a virus which is believed to have near-magical powers. The experiment goes wrong; the human guinea pigs escape, and spread the virus with them. The infected transform into super-fast, super-strong "vampires" with an appetite for live meat and an aversion  to sunlight. They soon overrun America and  the Rest of The world. As Cronin puts it "It happened fast. Thirty two minutes for one world to die, another to be born".

Then we jump 100 years into the future and into a very different world. It could almost be a separate book as old characters are killed off and new ones are introduced and this is when some readers have accused the book of being slow, this wasn’t the case for me. I guess the book does slow down slightly, but at no point did It lose my interest, and after some introduction to new characters and their background, the story is back on track at an enthralling pace.

This second part of the book focuses on the descendants of the survivors of the initial outbreak who are living in an isolated colony. Amy, now immortal, is found by one of the colonists, and they embark on a mission to Colorado to the place of the original experiment with the hope of somehow eradicating the vampire’s or as the colonists call them “Virals”.

This book leads you on a rollercoaster ride of action and adventure. There's something for everyone here and I hope that readers will not be put off by the sheer size of this book and instead embrace this mesmerizing, epic tale. There have been many books that I have read that haven’t lived upto the hype, but for once this book deserves the attention. You would only be doing yourself a disservice by ignoring it. I look forward to reading the subsequent titles and I recommend this book to anyone.

About the Author

Born in New England, Justin Cronin is the author of Mary O Neill which won the Pen/Hemingway Award and the Stephen Crane Prize, and The Summer Guest. Having earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, Cronin is now a professor of English at Rice University and lives with his family in Houston, Texas.

Justin Cronin's Website 

Subject Zero Website

Friday Finds

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

 Here are mine for this week: 

 Beyond the Reflections Edge By Bryan Davis

 Sixteen-year-old Nathan Shepherd has a great life traveling where the careers of his father, an investigator, and mother, a renowned violinist, take him ... until his parents are found murdered. Left with only a mirror and notes from his father's last case, Nathan goes into hiding at the remote country home of Tony, his father's college buddy, and Tony's teenage daughter, Kelly. The mysterious mirror must be a clue to what happened to his parents, and when images appear in it---people and things that don't exist---Nathan and Kelly painstakingly gather evidence. But the killers want the mirror too, and danger threatens the teens at every turn. As it becomes evident that Nathan's father had stumbled upon dark forces at work in the world, several questions arise. Could it be that the mirror is a portal to a parallel world? Could this technology be used for evil purposes? And could his parents still be alive, trapped in another dimension? Nathan and Kelly struggle to solve the mystery before they too become victims. This chilling, hair-raising adventure is jam-packed with action in a fantastical world where nothing is as it seems, and even mirrors tell lies. 

 Face of Betrayal ( A triple Threat Novel) By Lis Wiehl

When 17-year-old Senate page Katie Converse goes missing on her Christmas break near her parents' white Victorian home in Portland, Ore., law enforcement and media personnel go into overdrive in a search for clues. Three friends at the pinnacle of their respective careers—Allison Pierce, a federal prosecutor; Cassidy Shaw, a crime reporter; and Nicole Hedges, an FBI special agent—soon discover that Katie wasn't the picture of innocence painted by her parents. It appears Katie was having an affair with a much older man, a senator whose political career could be derailed if the affair was publicized. The seamless plot offers a plethora of twists and turns.

 Rules of Attraction By Simone Elkeles -Sequel to Perfect Chemistry

Carlos Fuentes doesn't want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him in Boulder, Colorado. He wants to keep living on the edge, and carve his own path—just like Alex did. Unfortunately, his ties to a Mexican gang aren't easy to break, and he soon finds himself being set up by a drug lord.
danger grows for Carlos, he's shocked to discover that it's this seemingly All-American family who can save him. But is he willing to endanger their safety for a chance at the kind of life he's never even dreamed possible?

 Jellicoe Road By Melina Marchetta

Taylor Markham isn’t just one of the new student leaders of her boarding school, she’s also the heir to the Underground Community, one of three battling school factions in her small Australian community (the others being the Cadets and the Townies). For a generation, these three camps have fought “the territory wars,” a deadly serious negotiation of land and property rife with surprise attacks, diplomatic immunities, and physical violence. Only this year, it’s complicated: Taylor might just have a thing for Cadet leader Jonah, and Jonah might just be the key to unlocking the secret identity of Taylor’s mother, who abandoned her when she was 11.

Why not share your Friday Finds?  

Oh and since it is Follow Friday, be sure to follow me and I will follow you back.  






And if you are new to Follow Friday please leave a comment and a link to your blog as I would love to check it out.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Well I am currently trying to read 4 books!! Yes a complete nightmare but this is what happens when you go on holiday and fall behind in your reading schedule.

So here are my teasers from 2 of the books that I am reading:

1. The Passage By Justin Cronin - Review next week!

"That’s the last,” she said to Peter. “We’ve got about ten seconds before they figure out the current’s off.” Caleb was straddling the top of the fence now. “Caleb,” she yelled, “move your ass!”

2. Before I fall By Lauren Oliver - Book club read for this month


It's funny, isn't it? When you are young you just want to be old, and then later you wish you could go back to being a kid." 

 I am looking forward to reading everyone's teasers this week. Have a Great day everyone.

Meet Me On Monday

Welcome to the 8th edition of "Meet Me On Monday!"

Questions:

1. What is your favorite holiday?
2. What color clothing do you wear the most?
3. What is your heritage?
4. What is your middle name?
5. What is your favorite cookie?

My Answers:

1. What is your favourite Holiday?

Anytime that I can spend with friends and family is the best type of holiday for me.

2. What color clothing do you wear the most?

If I check in my closet there seems to be a mish mash of colours, but I tend to sway towards black, greys and white, but I do like green as well.


3. What is your Heritage?

I was born in England but now live in  South Africa.

4. What is your Middle Name?

LOUISE

5. What is your favourite cookie?

I used to love  Jammy Dodgers when I was little. I live in South Africa now, and they just dont taste the same here.

In My Mailbox

 I have been on holiday for a week with my hubby so I haven't had much chance to blog or read, but saying that somehow I always manage to read something. What can I say? I am a bookworm ;-)

 In My Mailbox is a weekely meme hosted by The Story Siren and is a great way to share what new books you get each week. Either from the library or ones you have bought recently.

So here are my books for the week.They are both e-books so I am sure that they will still count.

 
1. Incarceron By Catherine Fisher

Finn is a 17-year old prisoner of Incarceron. His memories begin and end there. He knows nothing about his heritage except for vague memories that tease at his mind. The teen is determined to escape the prison fashioned centuries ago as a solution to the chaos created by man. Now Incarceron is self-sustaining and self-perpetuatingprisoners are born there and they die there. Legend claims only one man has ever escaped, Sapphique, and Finn is determined to follow in his steps. Claudia, the warden's daughter, lives sequestered in a castle surrounded by servants. But she, too, longs for escape—from a father who frightens her and from betrothal to an insipid prince.

2. Darkflame By Alyson Noel

In Alyson Noel’s most darkly seductive Immortals novel yet, Ever fights for control of her body, her soul—and the timeless true love she’s been chasing for centuries.

What about you?

Infidel By Ayaan Hirsi Ali

My Review Rating 10/10. A definite Must read!

 This is the first book this year that I will rate 10/10. It was a page turner and I simply could not put this book down. I was compelled to read every page and was absolutely fascinated with Ayaan's upbringing and life as a young Muslim woman.

In 2004, Ayaan received numerous death threats due to the film she was making with a dutch filmmaker named Theo Van Gogh. At the time, Ali was collaborating with Van Gogh on his film, Submission, which questioned a culture and religion that oppresses Muslim .

In her compelling memoir, INFIDEL, Ali shares her extraordinary ordeal in surviving a "culture of virginity" that oppresses women, and threatens their liberty as well as their lives. From her own experiences, she reveals the brutal genital mutilation that is prolific in Somalia and unfortunately many other lands today.Her forced marriage-abuses suffered by other female Muslims. While en route to meet her new husband in Canada, Ayaan abruptly decided to seek political asylum in the Netherlands-where she became a Dutch citizen, enrolled in a university, and then met Van Gogh-a decision that ultimately transformed her into an internationally renowned spokeswoman for the rights of all Muslim women. Ali's ultimate conclusion is that Islamic practices are incompatible in many ways with modern life and democracy, and should not be tolerated in the West without radical transformation.

I found many things fascinating in this book, that Muslims are not really supposed to question their religion, as to be a Muslim means to submit, yet Ayaan continually asked and sought out answers to her many questions. Of-course today we live in a world that has become politically correct, and tries its best not to be offensive to other cultures , yet Ayaan urges us all to question.

There aren't more people speaking out because they're afraid of becoming the next Theo van Gogh; they're afraid some Islamic fundamentalist will stick a knife in their chest if they tell the truth. Look at what happened when this author spoke up. She had to go into hiding for weeks at a time in order to avoid execution. "Infidel" is a wake up call to the West just as surely as the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 were. We ignore the problem at our own peril.