Recent Book Grabs # 4!

It's been so long since I last posted about the books adding on to my shelf! Talking just about the recent ones, I think I've grabbed some gems! What do you think? Nicey nicey? ;)

Today was particularly spectacular! I was supposed to meet a couple of friends at a mall and I reached 5 minutes early. So to pass those five minutes, what better than a bookstore? Landmark bookstore here was huge, covering half of the whole top floor. I was absolutely dying to get a copy of Madhumita Mukherjee's The Other Side of the Table, which I finished reading last night. I had Usama's borrowed copy and I wanted my own. It's just so wonderful. :') Now, there was this "buy 3 for 2" offer and looking at all those bright and shiny and adorable books, I couldn't contain my drool or the impulse, and so ended up getting three more! :P Here's a detailed list of all of the recent books that made their way to my shelf! 

Click on the book's name to get directed to their goodreads page!

1. The Other Side of The Table by Madhumita Mukherjee: Detailed review to come up soon. It came as a surprise, because I usually do not read Indian, but my perception is being changed gradually! Another reason why I'm reading more Indian these days :D First Nilanjana Roy challenged it with her awesome book, The Wildings, and now Madhumita Mukherjee! :D

2. One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern: Totally because of the cover. I mean, the book doesn't even have a blurb! I have no clue what it is about, but how can one possibly resist such beautiful covers? I have to have them on my shelf, no? 

3. The Secret Wish List by Preeti Shenoy: I had been procrastinating on this author for too long. About time! 

4. 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie: Looked good enough to be a freebie under the '3 for 2' scheme :P

5. Tantra by Adi: Received for review. Read review here.

6. More of A Calmer You by Sonal Kalra: The super sweet editor at HT City, with a weekly column called 'A Calmer You', my idol! I got this book signed at the book signing too! :D 

7. The Secrets of the Dark by Arka Chakrabarti: Received from publisher for review. Started reading today!

8. The Redeemers by Suresh Taneja: Received for review by the author. Next in the to-be-read list!

9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I've been dying and dying and dying to read this for so long! Got it almost a month (or more?) ago and haven't been able to touch it yet. It's supposed to be awesome! :D

Towards the extreme right, there's a book-like thing with a pencil sketch/painting on top. It's more like, an art catalog that a wonderful friend got from an art fair and gifted it to me. It's quite something! Looks awesome in my book collection. :D

So these are some of the recent books! What do you think? Read any of these? 

PS- It'd be awesome if you'd take out time for filling up a short, objective survey I'm doing as an Intern at National Book Trust, India, on the New Delhi World Book Fair. If you know anything about it, and if you've attended it ever, please do fill it out! Each response is super-important! :D 

Click here to fill it. It's also available on the right-most tab I created up there! :)

Recent Book Grabs # 3!

You would probably know by now I've been blogging irregularly the past two months. I'm still trying to figure out how to cope up with all the work and reading and blogging! I've read books but haven't been able to review them yet. *sigh* I'm just hoping I can do a lot better soon. Anyway, the funny thing is, I tend to get a lot more books than I normally do when I don't have the time to read them! Seriously! You just need to take a look at the books I got in the past month. These include books bought, borrowed from the library and those received for reviews. This time I bought books that have been recommended by people, rather than going for my own preferences. Though, I'm super duper happy with the loot! Now I actually need a real bookshelf to accommodate them. ;). (The books at present, are stuffed into the study table racks).

Anyway, ta-da!

(Click on the titles to go the book's Goodreads page)

I know it's not a great picture, but I've included a better pic below!

Bought

1. The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Recommended by a fan of Russian literature. This one will be on the shelf for a while unread, though. I'm anyway hardly getting the time to read and I need to start with the ones received for review first. 

2.  Dracula, by Bram Stoker: Recommended by the same person, too. And yes! I'm very much interested in reading this. I mean, the first, real vampire story ever written, first published in 1897? I so want to read that! And just look at the cover!  

3. The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi: Recommended by a lot of people, actually. The first book in the Shiva trilogy, based on ancient legends and set in India.

4. The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi: The second book in the Shiva trilogy. The third book hasn't been released yet. (And I'm hoping to read these two before it comes out :P)

5. Gagged and Bound by Natasha Cooper: Welllll, it so happened that I went to the library just to return and borrow books (obviously) and guess what? It had this mega sale, giving out old (and some new, too) books the library doesn't need, at very low prices! I bought four books from there, one of which is an academic book (Operations Management. I figured it wouldn't look good among these beauties ;)) and one other that I left at my friend's place my mistake.

6. Earth and Heaven by Sue Gee: Another one from that library sale! :D Total impulse purchase. 

7. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain: Just thought an introvert like me should read this book. I've read just a few pages, but it does seem very interesting. :)

8. The Secret of Teams by Mark Miller: This is a forced purchase! Okay, that's too harsh. We need to do a book review on a management book and our group chose this one. I just might get to keep it afterwards. 

9. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead: Okay, I was gifted this one. My brother thought I'd like books as a gift on the festival of 'raksha bandhan' (he knows me so well!). And so he saw the list of 'books I want' tacked on my study table and went to a bookshop. However, he got confused (courtesy my clumsy handwriting) and ended up getting book 4 and 6 from the Vampire Academy series. But hey, I'm not complaining! Now I have a solid reason to purchase the other 4! ;)

10. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead: Book 4 from the VA series. I know I should have read this sooner, but it's never too late. ;)

Borrowed

(from the library)

1. Handle With Care, by Jodi Picoult: It's just amazing. I had read My Sister's Keeper by this author and after this one, I'm a fan! :D

2. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume: I had heard so much about this book and the author, but I haven't gone past half of the book. I guess it's because it's just not my type of book.

3. Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L Jones: Seemed interesting so picked it up. Haven't read it yet.

4. Jump by Elisa Carbone: I picked this one up on the basis of the cover. Kids climbing mountains! And I just love mountains and thought I'd read a book that would give me an idea of the experience of mountain climbing. Just stared reading this, seems interesting. :)

Received for review

1. When the Snow Melts by Vinod Joseph: A thriller about the al Qaeda, diplomats, spies, IAG! Interesting book. Read review here.

2. Love, Peace and Happiness: What more could you want? by Rituraj Verma: Received today. Hope to read and review soon!

3. Legally, Lovingly Yours by Abhishek Bose: Received yesterday. Hope to read it soon too!

Won

1. "Chosen" Dark Passage by ML Wooley: It's an e-book, haven't read yet.

There were some freebies from Amazon.com too, which I'm not posting. Anyway, it's a good enough haul. I just need to find out enough time to read them. Good luck to me! ;)

PS- Amazon Kindle is now available in India too! (Croma stores!) Can't just wait to get one!! 

Recent Book Grabs # 2!

My books list has been growing a bit and I thought it's about time I put down this post after all! The last post was 1 and a half months ago, so the books I'm listing are the ones I've grabbed in the past month! I'm actually very happy with the haul, since most of them are pretty awesome! Tell me if you've read any of these as well, and what you think about them! :)

Wow. They look amazing, right? I loved each of the ones I've managed to read. Most of them are from the library and they were the awesomest ones! Here's the list! (Click on the titles to go to the books' Goodreads page)

Bought

Angels and Demons, Dan Brown: The only one in the Robert Langdon books I hadn't yet read. I know it's really great and nominated as the best one by some friends, so I picked this one up! Haven't read it yet, though.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach: Recommended by a great lady in Chandigarh who loves reading too. I liked this one. It's really simple, has great depth of meaning and is different from the usual motivational books. 

Easy Marks, Nancy Drew Case Files, Carolyn Keene: Hehe.. let's just say I like revisiting this series. I think I pick up a Nancy Drew book wherever it's on sale. ;) I love it like anything! Did I mention I wanted to be Nancy Drew when I was a kid? 

The Story of My Life, Hellen Keller: (Non-Fiction) I really want to know more about this amazing woman! Not read this one yet.

Iliad by Homer: I hadn't ever read it, but wanted to try it out. Turns out I ordered a book that's filled with critics' remarks and interpretations, while I was looking for the complete, original version. Anyway, next time. 

How to Read Faces: (Non-Fiction) Impulse purchase, since it was on a great sale and I thought it'd be cool to know 'how to read faces'. It's so thick a book, I haven't gotten down to reading it yet! I mean, if I have fiction as an alternate choice, I always pick that first! 

P is for Peril & O is for Outlaw, Sue Grafton: I had read a Kinsey Millhone mystery earlier and liked it, so picked these up when I saw them at a thrift shop. Haven't read these yet, either. (If you missed it earlier, I've started with my Post Graduation college and it's extremely hectic).

A Little Princess, F.H. Burnett and Rip Wan Winkle, Washington Irwing: Again, hahaha! But I really loved these when I read them years ago, so I picked 'em up from the thrift shop too!

Made a collage of the books!

Borrowed:

Witchlanders, Lena Coakley: A fantasy, YA book about two classes of witches, the Witchlanders and the Baen. It was interesting, though it got better only towards the second half of the book. 

Belle Teal, Ann M. Martin: A book on racism, told from the perspective of a ten year old girl. A deeply touching, heart moving story. Loved it totally! 5/5 stars!

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd: Just an amazingly amazing, highly recommended book! Read my review here.

The Ghost's Child, Sonya Hartnett: Liked the cover and description and it's a small one! Haven't read this either! 

My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult: I can only say it's a must read. It moved me, turned my insides out, flipped the way I knew things and made me cry (admitting. Really) towards the end. It's awesome. 

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri: I realized I should at least have read famous Indian authors! 

Won:

The Kashmir Shawl, Rosie Thomas: I was getting my library membership renewed and there was this 'rotate the wheel' thing for new memberships and renewals and guess what I won? Yeah, a book! :P

Received for review:

The Clockwork Man, William Jablonsky: Received from blogadda.com! A story of a man made entirely of clockwork. Read my review here.

Poor Little Rich Slum, Rashmi Bansal and Deepak Gandhi: A non-fiction book on entrepreneurship, exploring with clarity the truth about Dharavi, considered Asia's largest slum and how its residents are  people with a motive. Read review here.

E-books:
Underworld, Meg Cabot: The second book in the Abandon trilogy! Read my review here.

There were also a few freebies I grabbed from Amazon.com, which I'm not mentioning here! Time constraint! :| So, which books did you get? I'm at a point where I've to really struggle for time to read, and this has been affecting my blog too. I might not be very active, but I'll try my best in keeping up as much as possible! :)

PS- I hope that collage picture doesn't make you want to beat me up. I seriously wanted a quick fix, instead of putting up individual pictures.


PPS- I received a few blogger awards recently, including three Liebster blog awards!!! I know I haven't posted about it, answered the questions and nominated more blogs for the awards. Makes me sound like an unworthy candidate, but I promise I'll do that soon!

Recent book grabs!

A few books have again been added to my reading shelf! I'm including those I've got in the past three weeks, either bought, borrowed or received as freebies! It has been a pretty good three week period, especially since those exams are over and I am enjoying full liberty when it comes to reading! (The only bad spot being those glasses I've to wear for a while for my eyes now. It's hugely irritating and I really want them to get off a-s-a-p!).

Anyway, here's the haul:

Don't mind the books in the background....

Bought: (Click on the title to go to the Book's Goodreads page)

1. Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson : Impulse purchase, but since I love Iva Ibbotson's writings, I guess I'll like this one as well.

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth : So, SO excited to read this one! If I could, I would have done that as soon as I got my copy, but I have some library books with their due dates near, so I'll be reading those first.

(The pictures for the book covers have been taken from Google, since the ones I took are apparently not willing to get themselves posted vertically! :|)

                                          

Library stuff:

1. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta: This is supposed to be my 'currently reading' read and I've started, but stopped for a while because the names, of everything, are kind of confusing and difficult to pronounce. But I've read great reviews about it, so I guess I'll read more and maybe find out the real gem! 

2. The Bright Forever by Lee Martin: It seemed to be a simple read and I picked it up since I think I've been reading heavy books for some time.

3. Glamour by Louise Bagshawe: This one is a best seller and I was looking for a chick lit book, so I got this one! 

4. Dashing through the Snow by Mary and Carol Higgins Clark: Mystery! My all time favorite, so picking this one was natural ;) 

5. Cook Simple by Diana Henry (Non- Fiction): Those tempting easy-to-make dishes were enough to make me grab this one! Though I got it for my brother, he's the one who likes cooking. I'm just interested in eating. ;)

6. The Art and Craft of Papier Mache by Juliet Bawden (Non- Fiction): It's the vacations and I had to have something interesting to do! This book made me remember the good old school days where we did all sorts of art and craft, especially papier mache! And all kinds of techniques have been explained beautifully in this book, with easy to understand illustrations and writing style! 

                                   

Received for review: (by blogadda.com)

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino: An amazing Japanese murder mystery! Thrilling, engaging, some parts utterly unpredictable and an ending we couldn't have imagined! I loved it whole! Read my review here . It's a must read! :)

Won!!!

Thank you HT Education!! :D

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Health by Mark Bunn  (Non- Fiction): It came at a time when I was told by the doctor to concentrate on my health! And it is written so well! I mean, it's not at all boring, like the kind of boring you would think a health book would be! :D

E-books

(These are all freebies from Amazon!)

1. The Changelings (War of the Fae #1) by Elle Casey: Read it already. Watch this space for the review. Hint hint: The concept was good, but was a bit similar to a famous book.

2. Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer: It's a small book, about 50 pages, kind of like a long prologue for the main books. Will review soon!

3. Entangled (Spellbound # 1) by Nikki Jefford: SO excited to read this one! It's the next e-book I'll be reading. I mean, look at the cover! :D

4. Dimension Shifter (Dimensions saga) by T.M. Nielsen: Again, the cover and the description looked interesting and since I'm really experimenting with fantasy and YA and loving them, I've been getting these books like crazy!

5. Fateful (Fateful series #1) by Cheri Schmidt: Got this because of the wonderful description, seems like an interesting story (it's in line after Entangled).

                                                   

             

Well, to be honest, there are more e-books, but I'm just including those that I'm really excited about! (That doesn't rule out the reason being the tedious task of linking and putting pictures. You guys better use them!). 

That's all for now. I've got another trip to the library due and maybe I'll buy some more, so I'll post again when I get a few! :) What books did you recently get? 

In My Mailbox # 2!

God, I would have to be really lousy to post the second IMM after weeks of the first! In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren as a way to blog about the books you've received over the week (or month, as in my case :P). These are the titles I've had the opportunity to get my hands on. For some books, I was particularly excited. Others I got as freebies, some of which were actually good!

Paperbacks:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- Awesome would be an understatement! Read review here.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins- I haven't reviewed it yet, but I loved it too! Maybe not as much as the first; I thought the action began only after about 100 pages.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins- Due to read, after I finish with A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern.

                                   

               

                      

E-Books:

Beyond the Sea by Emily Goodwin

Fearless by Tawdra T. Kandle (Book one of the King Series).

City of the Falling Sky (The Seckry Sequence) by Joseph Evans

Confessions of a Cake Addict by Emma Kaufmann

Surface Tension by Christine Kling

Spur of the Moment by Candace Bowen Early

Awaken by Sarah M Ross

That's a lot of e-books! I SO want to read them all, but the darned exams are here again! :| I'll still manage a few, I know. *wink, wink*

So, what did you get in your mailbox?  

In My Mailbox # 1 !

In My Mailbox is a feature hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, as a way to blog about the books you've received over the week. So many book bloggers (about 200, to be precise) participate in this feature and fascinated by it, I thought I'll post my own IMM too!

A rather hurried (and harried) trip to the 20th World Book Fair at Delhi added a few books to the pile, though they're not new releases. The kind of books that are popular and those I hadn't a chance to read yet! I had initially planned on making another trip, but thanks to exams (just a week ahead), I'm sitting here, blogging about it instead of being there, grabbing books (and discounts!). 

Anyway, I have these particular four recent purchases- three from the Book Fair and one from Flipkart.

A Place Called Here and The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern- Attractive covers and bestselling status automatically act as motivators! Besides, when people know so much about some particular books and I don't, it kills me, hence the purchases!

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan- I should have read this a long time ago. It's about a young teenage boy who finds out his normal life isn't that normal after all, and he's the son of Zeus! Based on Greek mythology, this book's been made into a movie as well (in fact, I saw the movie and then came to know about the book!). Plus it always feels good to read young teen reads every once in a while. :)

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma- Motivational book about finding inner peace, knowing yourself and achieving your dreams, in the self-help category, appealed to me when readers praised Robin Sharma's books a lot! Hence, I ordered it from Flipkart!

Front covers of the books. (ignore the background.. that's a part of the bookshelf!)

I got a few more books from the Sunday book market at Daryaganj, Delhi (where they mostly sell books second hand at dirt cheap prices, but if you dig a bit, you can find out awesome bargains). There I picked up books for light reads (some light mysteries, a couple of books by Jeffery Archer, and some chick-lit). Another trip to the place is due (and to the library too), which will take place after two weeks (thank you exams).

I will be away from the blogosphere for a couple of weeks, again, thanks to exams, so won't be posting here before 18th of March! Though, knowing me, I guess I'll put up a random post on my other blog whenever I feel like it, because well, that's what I mostly do there! 

Happy Reading! :)

PS- (I would like to check out your IMM. If you have one for this week, please leave a link!)