ERAGON (503 pages) by the young Christopher Paolini will take you on an exhilarating, dangerous, and magical journey—a journey that will unveil his destiny as a Dragon Rider. This is Book 1 of the Inheritance Trilogy and it’s highly readable. When I discovered that Paolini was only fifteen when he started writing the book, I was even more amazed. I loved what he has done with the characters and how each event unfolds.

Readers will be able to see Eragon’s progression from a brash young fifteen-year-old farm boy to a more mature sixteen-year-old warrior when the time comes for him to face the battle.

LADIES’ MAN by Suzanne Brockmann is a romance novel with a touch of thriller, which I finished in two sittings. I could’ve done it in one sitting, but hey, I only started late last night. It was still a treat.

The story unfolds at the airport where Ellen Layne meets a handsome stranger named Sam Schaefer. Ellen, a divorced single mother of two is from Connecticut and she comes to New York with her children to spend the summer at her uncle’s residence. Sam, an NYPD detective and best friend of T.S. Harrison, is a low-profile but hugely successful author. He is doing his friend a favor and that’s how he meets Ellen. It’s a chance meeting that leads to an unexpected fling and possibly a long-term romance.

My first and only Suzanne Brockmann book was LADIES’ MAN read back in December 2007. I’ve enjoyed it very much and I can say the same for THE UNSUNG HERO, which is the first book of the Troubleshooters series. I love its good mix of intense adventure, love story, and flashbacks by the Second World War veterans.

Thirty-six-year-old Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Paoletti returns to his New England hometown on a medical leave after a near-fatal head injury, which could potentially end his military career. Back home, he meets again with his old-time love Kelly Preston, now a pediatrician, whom he left behind sixteen years ago. He has never stopped thinking about her and his feelings for her are still very strong.

During this time, he spots someone in his hometown who looks like the international terrorist he had been tracking [...]

GUYS & DOGS by Elaine Fox is a cute yet intense romance involving a girl and a guy, and indirectly, a puppy. It’s almost like a fairy tale too; too good to be true. Megan Rose is a veterinarian who has recently taken over her father’s practice at the animal hospital. Divorced, she moves from another city, reconciles with her father and hopes to start life anew after her mother’s death.

One morning, a golden retriever puppy strayed into her house and into her room. The tag on the puppy says that her home is the mansion owned by Sutter Foley, a software mogul […]

VALLEY OF SILENCE by Nora Roberts (NR) is the final book in the Circle Trilogy.

In the third and last book of the trilogy, the six are now in Geall. Moira is to be crowned the next queen after the death of her mother. Her mother was brutally murdered by the vampires who had mistaken her for Moira. Lilith has every reason to get her out of the way because she knows Moira will lead her people into battle and even victory. The people of Geall are gathered and trained for THE day. In the Valley of Silence, a bloody battle breaks out between good and evil.

DANCE OF THE GODS by Nora Roberts (NR) is the second book in the Circle Trilogy.

The first book talks of the romance between Hoyt the sorcerer and Glenna the modern-day witch, and how their love strengthens the magic that they create together. In Dance of the Gods, love blossoms between Larkin Riddock the shape-shifter and Blair Murphy the warrior.

Blair is a demon hunter and is well trained by her father who abandoned her when she turned eighteen. At first, her father could not accept the fact that she’s become the demon hunter and not her brother with whom he had placed his hope in.

MORRIGAN’S CROSS by Nora Roberts (NR) is the first book in the Circle Trilogy and also her first endeavor in paranormal romance. This is also the first time I’m reading NR and am glad to say that I have found a new favorite author!

The story is set in the 12th-Century Ireland. Sorcerer, Hoyt Mac Cionaoith is said to be descended from Morrigan, fairie queen and goddess. Hoyt lost his twin brother Cian to Lilith, a centuries-old vampire queen who turned him into a fellow bloodsucker. Lilith is an impossible beauty. There is no way Hoyt can defeat her by himself.

The Road is a heart-wrenching post-apocalypse story of an unnamed father and his young son. For this work, Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2007. It was also selected by Oprah for her book club.

At this juncture, I would like to quote Daily Express: “A daunting, unsettling book that ideally should be read at one sitting, as long as you are prepared to bear the brunt of its full impact. [...]” And in one sitting did I finish the book. I’m still feeling its impact: haunting, gripping, sad. It makes me wonder if the world would really—one day—come to this devastating end. And when it does, will I have the willpower to survive […]

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Cormac McCarthy is fast-paced with lots of guns, bullets and blood everywhere... It’s a man’s novel. And it can be disturbing too (but I can handle that).

Them grammar dont exist here. It’s a style you just have to get used to when reading this novel. It is mainly dialogue throughout. There’s not much indication of who said what but if you follow closely, you’d know. […]

I have finished reading yet another book by Paulo Coelho: Veronika Decides to Die.

Veronika Decides to Die (1998) is one of the three books in the trilogy And on the Seventh Day. The first book is By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept (1994) and the concluding one which is The Devil and Miss Prym (2000).

Veronika, like the other two books, is concerned with a week in the life of ordinary people who are suddenly confronted with love, death, and power.

The Alchemist is an easy book to finish in one sitting. Although there are only 172 pages, the book is packed with profound thoughts. That's nothing unusual seeing that this is a work of Paulo Coelho.

OPEN HOUSE by Elizabeth Berg is a great read. Samantha Morrow is the protagonist and her character is so real you’d feel for her, especially if you’re a woman.

Samantha (or, Sam) has just been dumped by her husband, David on grounds that she is becoming too familiar, simple and appears to be contented with her life as is. She was left with her 11-year old son while David moves out to his own condo, and she doesn’t have a job. […]

THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER by Kim Edwards is unputdownable. Long after I’ve finished the novel, I still think about the main characters: David, Norah, Caroline and Phoebe.

I wonder how I would deal with their situation if it were to happen to me. Norah gave birth to a set of twins—a boy named Paul and a girl named Phoebe. The sad thing is that Phoebe […]

A WHOLE NEW MIND by Daniel Pink is an interesting and practical book. There are two parts: Part 1 deals with the topic on conceptual age and Part 2 explores the six senses needed to develop the whole new mind ready for this new era.

Pink talks about how our future will depend on our ability to ask and answer the following three questions that will determine between who gets ahead and who gets left behind: […]

LOVE, ROSIE by Cecelia Ahern is thoroughly enjoyable. The whole novel is an exchange of emails, instant messaging, greeting cards, and letters between Rosie and Alex, her childhood best friend, and all the people that matter in her life—family, close friends, and even ‘evil’ bosses.

Alex (Prince Moonbeam) and Rosie (Princess Buttercup) are best friends who grow up together in Ireland. Even though they were apart from each other due to cross-continental moves, marriages, parenthood, work, and family challenges, they stay close throughout. Romance is always under the surface, but […]

LOVE IS THE KILLER APP by Tim Sanders is an outstanding and easy-to-digest book. He is a strong advocate of being a “lovecat.” A lovecat according to him thrives through the sharing of knowledge, network, and compassion.

My favourite chapter of the book is Knowledge. It starts with amassing as much usable knowledge as possible by religiously carving out the time to read and then pouring through as many cutting-edge books in one’s field as possible. […]