A wish. And a stare-fest.

Happy 24th Birthday to this 'Hawaii' singing, wand-swishing, Voldemort-hugging piece of perfection :)

Today I'll just let you stare.


And listen in, if it be to your liking.

Love Story

She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines..

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter . . . except this story could come true.

This was my first Jennifer Echols. And I was SO eager to read her!
And what better way to start than with an older YA that takes place in college where the protagonist is a creative writing major?


I knew this story was right up my alley. And no surprises there, it was :)


Some random facts about Love Story:


It's written in first person past tense. Which was pleasantly surprising, because I'm on a present tense binge almost all the time, so it takes a while to get into the past tense thingy now, but this worked really, really well for me.


Interspersed with excerpts from stories written by Erin and Hunter. And which besides being entertaining also serves the purpose of hinting at the history between these two characters. The stories range from the frivolous and giggly-ish to the dark and serious and very sexy ones to the outright hilarious -- and do a fine job of peeling back layers and layers of their complicated relationship till you're left with the bare bones of it.


The main character has a nose-piercing, which looks just so cool on the cover. Yeah, it sounds a bit cheesy, but I can't help mentioning it.


There's an eclectic mix of characters. And one of them has a fascination with 'cutting heads' :D




Other things:


I have to say, Jennifer Echols does relationships just so, so well. It was complex and unpredictable and at a point I just stopped wondering what might happen and just allowed myself to go with the flow. Friendship and gorgeous chemistry fall into place like a jigsaw and you realise how necessary they both are in depicting a credible love story. And did I tell you how much I loved Hunter? He was SEXINESS. Seriously, I swooned every time he spoke and gah...major crush-in-the-making ;)


And Erin? I fell into her story quick and easy and loved the ride. Lots of things happen in this book. There's family history and domestic complexities and a lot of crazy things which make it rather difficult for these two.


And there's so much snazzy, sexy dialogue between Erin and Hunter it made me giggle and laugh and want to use use them as pick-up lines. Heh.


So, I've heard things being said about the ending. Well, it's ambiguous in the sense that it doesn't exactly tell you what's gonna happen, but there's a lot of optimism and that gives the readers a lot of freedom to think out their own endings. Well, my only complaint is that it happened a little too quickly, but once I got past that, I liked it.


All I can say is that, I'm floored. And I can't wait to get my hands on the other Jennifer Echols books asap.  
If you want a fun-yet-a-bit-serious love story, with the older YA vibe, and drama that makes you giggle and twists your heart a bit, you might want to pick up Love Story.


Want more?
Author website
Goodreads
Browse inside on Amazon


What's your favourite Jennifer Echols book? Or, if you haven't read her, what's your favourite love story?

In which I complain and ramble about changes (+PHOTOS!)

There's been too many things that happened this past month, which should be blamed for the lack of reviews, or teasers, or just blog posts in general.
Too many changes. Big and small and inbetweens.
The biggest probably is the fact that I've enrolled in Grad School. So basically I'm studying for an M.A. in English degree from the University of Delhi. Which means, I've shifted cities. From Calcutta, which is in the east, to Delhi, that's in the north. And, well, it's this really really big change for me because I've lived in Calcutta all my 21 years of life. My college was near home, so I commuted daily and basically, I've just never lived alone in my life. Although I wanted to. And now that I am, well, it's kind of depressing.
I know, I know, it hasn't been that long, and it'll take some time getting used to it and all that, but, um, I'm not very sure right now. The accommodation facility? Terrible. But I hear the other places are worse. Everything's so damn different. Net conn's so bad in my room it makes me throw my slippers at the wall. Room's all squalid and I have to queue up at 5 in the morning to take a bath. Yes, it's a common bathroom. And oh my god, people study here ALL THE TIME. Yeah, I know they are all here to study and get that damn degree, but what happened to 'all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'? Also, I have a crackhead for a roomie, who scares me because she wants all my things and I have to use five locks even if I'm stepping out of the room for a minute 'cos she might just vanish with my stuff.

And most importantly, really?
I miss my family. I've never stayed away from my brother for so long. And he's like my best friend. And it's weird being away from Mum, although I'd always tell her and Dad that I wanted to get away. Oh, I don't know, maybe this could work out if it was my kinda place, but no, it's like this alienish sphere where I feel the constant urge to pull my hair.

I'm gonna give it some time, I guess, like everyone says. Or I might just move back home. Next week's crucial. I was so excited about this thing and it turned out entirely different from how I thought it would. It's disappointing.

Anyway.
Some good did end up coming out of being in Delhi for a while. I got to visit the Taj. I've been in Delhi about 7 times earlier, but there never was time to plop into Agra for a visit. And there were all these very interesting squeal-worthy things that made my day, in spite of the city being absolutely dust-drenched.
Like, this tonga,

And this camel-carriage thingy

And there was this long snaky queue, which frustrated me because it was insanely hot. But, damn, that first glimpse of the Taj!

It was all white and gorgeous and a bit sad considering it's actually a tombstone and oh my, it was time for all that epic squealing. There's the Yamuna river right behind and..GAH! I couldn't believe I hadn't been there earlier. It was a crazy wish fulfillment. And THEN, we went to the Agra Fort, which was home to the Mughal Emperors and has all these VERY INTERESTING tunnels and secret passageways and enormous gold-plated rooms and gigantic grounds which held man-fights and beast-fights and I was so blown away.

And that's only one of 22 such parts of the fort. The best thing though, turned out to be this,

The view of the Taj from the fort. It was so bloody stunning, this photo doesn't do it any kind of justice.
So yeah, some good did come out of shifting here, although I'm going crazy bonkers thinking how I am to survive two whole damn years here.
Also, I'm gonna get back to the regular blogging thing asap to get into the hang of things. Provided, of course, that the net conn doesn't make me throw more than my slippers at the wall.
Also, the writing. That needs to be taken care of.
And the TBR pile. Oh yeah.
So, this is what I'm reading:

And you?

Happy Birthday ENID BLYTON!

She was the reason I bothered with books in the first place,
And then became an addict.

She was the reason I tried my hand at writing,
And then fell in love with it.

She showed me a world of adventure -
Where castles hid treasures waiting to be discovered,
Princes' were held hostage in the house-next-door,
An island could be owned by a girl and her dog,
    Secret passages existed right under your nose.

    She showed me a world of enchantment -
    Where trees took you to magical lands,
    Wishing chairs traveled far and wide,
    Moonface, Silky, Saucepan Man and Dame Washalot
    could be your friends,
    And swish you away to the
    Land of Take-What-You-Want,
    Or the Land of Birthdays,
    Right according to your wish.

      She took me to exciting boarding schools,
      To Malory Towers, St Clare's and Whyteleaf school,
      To midnight snacks and sneak-outs and circus mayhem,
      Befriending artsy scatterbrains and brainy pranksters,
      Who dabbled in stink pellets and invisible chalk.

       She taught me life's lessons,
       Amidst nabbing smugglers,
       And finding tunnels behind bookshelves,
       And fairy folk inside your neighbour's basket.

    She made me believe that,
    Toys could talk,
    Trees could dance,
    And chairs could grant my wishes.

    Kidhood couldn't have been more fun!
    And it all I owe to her.

My Invented Life

With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade.
Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamor for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel.

 Oh didn't I just adore this novel. It has to be one of the most open-minded novels written. And I'm not saying so because of the issues embraced and talked about. There are a lot of issue based books out there but what the open-mined aspect of it really comes through because of the characters, I loved them. Every one of them. Even the mean girl. Yes, can you believe that? I didn't start out loving her. I mean, she was a meanie and a bully of sorts but Lauren Bjorkman does such an amazing job with all the characters, they all have rich backstories to them and it worked out oh-so-well for me as a reader.

Roz is a most endearing protagonist - fickle, impulsive, overtly imaginative with an odd tendency to insult in Shakespearean slangs (!) Don't you just love her already? She is out and ready to pretend to be gay to help her sister come out of the closet - who she believes is really gay after finding a book about lesbian lovers in her possession. It starts as a trifle dare spurred on by impulsiveness that sets off a a random set of events that make up this book. And it's a hell of a ride.

The thing about My Invented Life, is that the atmosphere of the book is light and pleasant in spite of the difficult things the characters have to face up to. It doesn't bog you down. Yet keeps you hooked so you can't stop reading and then makes you wish it didn't end  so you could keep reading it. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it all over again.

The writing is utterly delightful. You know the author's done a fine job when the writing, the story, the characters are all handled skillfully. And really, Ms. Bjorkman's characters are indeed ones to be boasted about. Roz, Eva, Jonathan, Bryan, Nico all had distinct personalities and the collison of them all in the school production of As You Like It is insanely amusing. And Andie. Eyeliner Andie has to be one of the most dynamic characters ever created in YA fiction. Oh, how I loved her. She may only be a supporting character but she is a genius in creation. It shows a lot of responsibilty on the author's part to create someone like her. Because books and what you portray in them send you signals, and they may be wrong ones or right ones. And authors have such great influence over readers it is important to portray things in the right light. And Lauren Bjorkman's handling of Andie's sexuality...wow, just wow.

Way back last year, I interviewed Lauren Bjorkman but I didn't get to read her book till now. And, for me, this is a book to hold on to. My Invented Life is clever, outrageously hilarious, big-hearted and has that funky vibe which just makes it very, very cool. I adored it to bits. And I had a lot of Shakespearean fun doing that :)

To give you an idea, have a look at the book trailer:

What's the most fun book you've read recently?

Disappearing acts..and not.

This is just a quick wave to say that I haven't disappeared.
But I'm currently computerless and also, internetless. My hard drive crashed and with it, took everything else to the drain. So basically I've lost everything that was in my comp. If I've been beta-ing for you, I'm so, so sorry. But I'm gonna make it up to you. Promise.
My comp's currently being ressurected, but um, my internet connection's taken a toll as well. It's crazy. I have no idea when this thing will be fixed, but I'm kinda going bonkers over here - not being able to blog, read your blogs etc.

Anyway, here's what I've been up to:
- looking at postgraduate courses and lots of tests, in turn, and basically, losing a lot of sleep.
- in respect to the above, I've also been away - to a totally different city - where I got lost and found my way back. I'm storing that up on my 'experience' file.
- getting lost is what I ended up doing on my 21st birthday, too - which was on the 3rd of July. And yeah, this was the weirdest birthday I've ever had. More on that later. Or, uh, lets just skip it.
- reading. Lots. And there's a lot of Meg Cabot involved. Yeah.
- writing. Lots. As much as I've been grumbling about being internetless, it's come to some good. I've done more writing recently than I can remember. That, perhaps, is the only thing that's been keeping me sane.
- Harry Potter. Basically, I've been moping about it and squealing about it. I can't wait for Deathly Hallows - II, and I also can't believe that it's all going to come to an end. Soon. And that's very troubling. You see, since the time I was 9 (I started reading the series two years after the first book came out) it's been something to look forward to. First there were the books, and then there were the movies. And then the books ended, so there was the mourning for that. But there were still the movies to look forward to. Now they, too, are coming to an end, and well, there's just nothing to look forward to anymore. It's unnerving. Meanwhile I've also been re-watching all the Harry Potter movies over and over again and it's so much fun watching the Daniel-Rupert-Emma fluctuate between kiddies and biggies. No, I'm not watching the movies in order, so that should explain it.

Which makes me wonder, which is your favourite Harry Potter movie?

until, my internet makes an appearance again, I'll let you sit on that.
oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm at a library computer. Which is not much fun, while writing blog posts.

Cayman Summer

In Morrison's debut young adult novel, TAKEN BY STORM, Michael faces incredible loss, but he finds Leesie. UNBROKEN CONNECTION is Leesie's story. By the final page, she is broken and battered--physically and spiritually. Morrison vowed to her readers not to leave her that way. CAYMAN SUMMER recounts Michael and Leesie's final journey.

Michael takes Leesie to the Cayman Islands to heal. Time, sunshine, and Michael's devotion free her of physical pain, but grief and guilt haunt her. Michael will do anything to find the old Leesie who prayed, spoke of visions, and kept the rules. For Leesie, that girl is lost forever. Rules? What's the point now? She's ready to break every one.

Morrison wrote CAYMAN SUMMER with fan critique and input at http://caymansummer.blogspot.com.

Isn't that a beautiful cover?

Cayman Summer is the much-awaited finale to Leesie and Michael's story that began with a high-school romance in Taken By Storm, travelled through Thailand and BYU in Unbroken Connection and sweeps you to Cayman on the final leg of the journey.

Whilst Taken By Storm was a personal struggle for Leesie between faith and desire, between saving the grief-stricken Michael and keeping her feet on the ground in the process, Unbroken Connection was a test of their relationship, taking the two to the opposite corners of the globe. The second book ends on a horrific tragedy for Leesie, and I couldn't wait to find out what happens to them after-this.

The level-headed Leesie from Taken By Storm is lost and Cayman Summer shows her scarred, both physically and emotionally. While her faith is thoroughly shaken, Michael tries to find the Leesie he had fallen in love with in the puzzles of her grief. What makes Angela Morrison such a good writer is her ability to portray relationships with lot of tenderness and realism. Leesie and Michael's isn't a love-on-the-first-day story. Theirs is an attraction that evolves to love and then matures to so much more during the course of their journey. Cayman Summer is perhaps their biggest struggle, because the struggle is within. Overridden by pain Leesie is keeping the secret of her guilt from Michael and doesn't seem to care about her Mormon rules anymore, while Michael desperately pulls away from her so he doesn't take advantage of her while her guard is down. And oh yeah, they are Cayman now, away from the prying eyes of their family and friends, having run away from the place of the tragedy.

Angela Morrison continues with the writing style employed in the earlier two books. Michael's PoV appears in his dive log entries, while Leesie's is etched in poetry. The poems here often come in fragmented lines, shadowing her mental state. Chat-logs with Leesie's online-friend-who-she-has-never-met, Kim, are longer here and show a deep development in the friendship.

Oh, and I adored the introduction of several new characters. There's an entourage of super-hot dive instructors from various parts of the world, who you'd totally fall in love with at first read. They bring in a lightness to the atmosphere with some added drama of the fun, exciting kind. The oddball fusion works wonders for the book.

I can't reveal much, without giving away the entire book. Morrison's writing, as usual is something to savour. She strings together sentences that are almost like phrases, in a crisp manner that sends across just the right kind of emotion. Cayman Summer is a lovely summation of an endearing journey of two very strong individuals that ends with the right amount of flourish.

And yeah, Angela Morrison is hosting a humongous contest as part of the M + L Forever Blog Tour. Get thee there quick! Lots of books and goodies to be won for several winners :)

You can read my conversation with Angela, Leesie and Michael. How's that for an incentive?

So tell me, what are you reading now?