Book Beginnings on Friday #27

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Chapter 1

London

Summer, 1876

Someone was following her.

The uneasy awareness crept along the nape of Garrett's neck until the fine hairs stood on end. Lately she had the feeling of being watched whenever she went on her weekly visit to the workhouse infirmary.

-Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

Summary-

A woman who defies her time

Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man—why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again.

A man who breaks every rule

As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett's skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he's ever known.

Review- Bleed Like Me by Azzurra Nox

 Bleed Like Me Review

BOOK SUMMARY:

This is how you draw a broken heart:
Dip your fingers in blood and don't
Hesitate to botch the final project.

This is a book about love and the wounds that it can bring. It explores the exhilaration of first love, the damage of unrequited love, and the distress of abandonment. The poems are little memories that come alive, a journey between reality and fantasy, often mingling as one. Fragments of life depicted in words. This is a collection of poems both cruel and sweet. The poems depict the difference between how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. But most of all, this is a kaleidoscope of emotions that are multiplied and amplified as the reader looks into the window of a young woman's heart.

Release date: February 12th 2019

Published by: Twisted Wings Productions

Page numbers: 303

REVIEW: 

I have previously read and thoroughly devoured Azzurra Nox's Doll Parts- which you haven't read, let me just quickly point out- is an absolutely incredible collection of three enticingly gorgeous and dark stories. I have also read the author's collection of horror stories written by female authors, titled My American Nightmare which has stories that are so eerie and dangerously dazzling that they will- as the title aptly suggests- give the reader nightmares. 

I don't normally read poems, but after reading these two gems, I knew I had to read Azzurra's poetry collection, which is a lovely blend of darkness and some amount of hope. Bleed Like Me is a collection of dark and deep poems, which if at all I read poetry, is exactly the way I want poems to be. So on a very selfish level, I savoured the collection. But I totally see how someone who looks for hope and brightness in poetry might find it to be rather average. What is not to be missed, however, is Azzurra's superb writing. 

Poetry is, of course, something you need to read and understand in order to decide whether you like it or not. Which is why, I am sharing a few lines from the collection that truly spoke to me: 

This is how you draw a broken heart; 

Drip you fingers in blood and don't 

Hesitate to botch the final project 

(from Paper Monsters) 

Puncture another vein, 

Watch the red blood stains. 

Varnish my nails with a scarlet hue, 

With every stroke, I feel new. 

Rip my eyes from their sockets, 

A queer fetish have in your pocket. 

(from Betrayed) 

Death is my trusty companion, 

For it knows of my desperation. 

Of my yearning to reach the end,

Before I even start. 

(from Unmotivated Soul) 

I would want to seduce you 

So that I could use you up. 

I would want to reduce you 

To tiny shreds of insignificance. 

I would want to deduce you 

From all my insanity. 

(from Butterfly) 

These are lines that I have shortlisted from a bunch of highlighted notes. Some of my favourite poems from the collection are: Ice Princess, Mademoiselle Elise, Princess Shadow, Marie Antoinette, For Eva Marie, Zura's Hysterical Realm Kills the Innocent and 60 Seconds. 

Bleed Like Me has poems about betrayal, heart break, lust everything in between. If you are looking for dark poetry that is easy to follow, then I highly recommend this book! 

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Azzurra Nox in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Buy the book: AMAZON

Waiting on Wednesday #266

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spines, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating. 

The Lemon Sisters by Jill Shalvis

Publication Date: June 18th, 2019

Summary-

The New York Times bestselling author of Rainy Day Friends and Lost and Found Sisters returns to Wildstone, California, where two completely opposite sisters—who are still nursing wounds from the past—realize they need each other more than they think.

When Brooke’s older sister, Mindy, shows up at her door with her three kids in tow, she barely recognizes her sibling who looks like she’s on the verge of a total breakdown. While adventurous, wanderlust Brooke was always the problem child, eager to slip free of Wildstone and its small-town constraints, Mindy was the golden child, who never had a hair out of place or a GPA below 4.0. The Mindy that arrives at Brooke’s apartment however, is a far cry from the ever-perfect doctor’s wife.

Brooke’s further stunned when Mindy asks to trade places with her for a few days so she can pick up her pieces and put herself back together. What Mindy doesn’t realize is that Brooke is just as broken. Her sister needs her though, so Brooke takes the kids and returns to Wildstone.

But how does one go home after seven years away and what feels like a lifetime of secrets? It doesn’t take long for Brooke to come face-to-face with her past, in the form of one tall, dark, sexy mistake. But Garrett’s no longer interested, or so he says. Only his words don’t match his actions, leaving Brooke feeling things she long ago shoved deep.

The sisters begin to wonder if the childhood taunts were true, are they lemons in life? In love? True or not, they know one thing -- you can’t run far enough to outpace your demons. And when long-dead secrets surface, they’ll have to overcome their differences and learn that sometimes the one person who can help you the most is the one you never thought to ask.

Teaser Tuesday #102

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along!

'Salem Falls coming up,' the cab driver announced, waking him. 

A hand lettered blue placard announced the name of the town and proclaimed it home of Duncan Pharmaceuticals. 

-Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

Goodreads Summary: 

Tall, blonde and handsome, Jack St. Bride was once a beloved teacher and football coach at a girls' school, until a student's crush sparked a powder-keg of accusation and robbed him of his career and reputation. Now after an eight-month jail sentence, Jack resolves to pick up the pieces of his life.

I love Jodi Picoult and I am devouring this books. What teaser have you shared? 

About Course Hero

Hello, guys! 

Today, I am going to tell you about an application that I recently came across. Having been a student of literature, I understand the importance of resources available for students. So when Yulian Golodnykh, the Outreach Coordinator of Course Hero contacted me about a study guide for Khaled Hosseini's famous book, The Kite Runner, I was pleasantly surprised to see how useful it really is. 

Course Hero is an app that is available for free download and it comes with in app purchases. It has a great variety of resources on books that are popular. You obviously do not have to be a student in order to use it. For a teacher like me who aspires to teach literature at some point, it comes across as being beneficial to understand some books better. Even as a  reader, we are sometimes curious to read up more on a book, and the resources shared on Course Hero will satisfy that curiosity. 

The site is also very easy to use in any browser. Check it out right here. So you obviously do not have to own a smartphone and there is no need to download the app. The site provides just as much as the app even in terms of free content. 

Here is how I used the application to find out more about The Kite Runner: 

Once you sign up, you also get a few free tutor questions to ask in case the documents available do not answer your questions. The free questions option is really cool because who doesn't love free stuff? But do keep in mind that in order for you to read up more on a book, there is a certain fee to be paid on a monthly basis, which for me, makes absolute sense as you will be referring to something someone worked hard to make.

Here is some more information provided by the coordinator Yulian: 

The course specific study guide and the literature study guides are available for free if the individual decides to create a free account. Otherwise, if they do not want to create an account they will only be allowed 3 study guide page views. The paid portion of our site is specifically for resources that students have uploaded, and again, while some individuals choose to pay, site/app users can gain "free" access to all sorts of documents and study guides if they upload unique documents such as notes and study guides to our site. 

I would say this app/ site is worth a try. Download, sign up and see how it goes. If you do end up using it, let me know your thoughts!

Book Beginnings on Friday #26

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

Chapter 1

I've finished my free trial of adulthood and am no longer interested, so please cancel my subscription.

-from "The Mixed-Up Files of Tilly Adams's Journal"

Tilly Adams sat in the vet's office staring at the doctor in shock. "Say that again?"

-The Good Luck Sister by Jill Shalvis

Summary-

This summer, romance blooms again in Wildstone!

After a difficult few years, Tilly Adams is ready for life to start going right. Though she has a case of first day nerves teaching art at the local community college, she knows it isn’t anything a few snuggles from her rescue puppy won’t cure. Until she sees Dylan Scott again, her one time bff and first love sitting in the front row.

Dylan knows he should’ve left well enough alone, but when he sees Tilly living her dream, he can’t help but make contact. Ten years ago, he left Wildstone and everything in it behind, including Tilly. He had his reasons, but now he wants her back in his life, anyway he can get her.

When Tilly agrees to design the logo for Dylan’s new helicopter touring company, it’s business only…until she finds herself falling into his arms once again. Can she possibly open her heart back up to the only man who’s ever broken it? But soon they’re both realizing the truth -- love always deserves a second chance.

Review- Straight to Normal by Sharif D. Rangnekar

Straight to Normal on Goodreads

Release date: January 31st 2019

Published by: Rupa Publications

Page numbers: 232

REVIEW: 

The few autobiographies that I picked before bore me to no end, which is why I was wary of reading Straight to Normal, which is the biography of author Sharif Rangnekar. But LGBT is one of my favourite genres to read and explore, so when Rupa Publications came out with Straight to Normal, it took me a long time to take a decision but somewhere, I knew I had to read the book. And I am so glad I did. 

This is a book that Indian literature desperately needed. I am reminded of JK Rowling's lines about Harry Potter which I hope at some time also apply to Straight to Normal: 

"This boy will be famous. There won't be a child in our world who won't know his name. There will be books about him, he will be a legend." 

While Straight to Normal is fast paced and and will keep the reader on the edge of the seat, the incidents recounted by the author- with some of them being shockingly terrifying- will make the reader want to pause and just understand how difficult it sometimes is just to be human. Not accepting someone just because they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex is super ridiculous but Straight to Normal shows that it's never easy to accept humans as humans. Homosexuality is not a disease and if you feel it is, then pick up this book and see that the struggles we all face in spite of our sexual preferences are the same and in the end, we all have feelings. So next time you bash someone for petty reasons, take a decent look at how they are as a person rather than who they're attracted to. 

Straight to Normal gives a superb insight into the LGBT situation in India from the 1970s to today, which acts as an excellent resource for somebody who just wants to know what happened without wanting to spend heaps of time researching. This book will tell you what you need to know in terms of the sociological situation and also what a person goes through while trying to figure out what's happening. A lovely parallelism between the personal life of the author and the socio-political situation of the time makes it both an interesting and intelligent read. Like I said before, Indian shelves really needed this book and I want to thank Sharif Rangnekar for penning down his inspiring and raw story. 

Keep aside all your fiction reads for a while and pick up this book which won't take you more than a few days to finish. Besides, you'll end up gaining knowledge which is always a plus. I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you like reading if not. Give it a go- trust me, you will leave it being aware and feeling happy you know more than you did before. I sure hope the author writes more, non-fiction or otherwise, because I sure am a fan of his splendid writing! 

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by Rupa Publications in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.

Buy the book: AMAZON