Wilbur Smith's Latest

To all you Wilbur Smith fans out there... "Those in Peril" his new book has just been launched.
In fact, the author is on a promotional tour to India and claims, "Africa is in my blood."

My first Wilbur Smith book was "When the Lion Feeds" -became a fan for life!!!

Here's the storyline:
Hazel Bannock is heir to the Bannock Oil Corporation, one of the major global oil producers. While cruising the Indian Ocean, her yacht is hijacked by Somalian pirates and her nineteen-year-old daughter, Cayla, kidnapped. The pirates demand a crippling twenty-billion-dollar ransom for her release, and complicated political and diplomatic sensitivities render the major powers incapable of intervening.

With growing evidence of the horrific torture to which Cayla is being subjected, Hazel calls on Hector Cross to help her rescue her daughter. Hector is the man behind Cross Bow Security, the company contracted to Bannock Oil Corporation to provide all their protection. He is a formidable fighting man. Between them, Hazel and Hector are determined to take the law into their own hands.

Water for elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by  Sara Gruen is the story of Jacob Jankowski,  told as a series of flashbacks, while living inside a nursing home.

Jacob is in his final year of veterinary school at Cornell University when he receives the news that his parents have been killed in a car accident. Returning home for the funeral, Jacob discovers that his father’s veterinary practice – which he planned on joining after graduation – is mortgaged to the hilt and now owned by the bank, as is the family home. Having nowhere else to go, Jacob returns to Cornell, but is too grief-stricken and flees in the middle of the final exam. Hopping a train, Jacob finds himself in the midst of working men on the Benzini Brothers Greatest Show on Earth, a train circus. His knowledge of veterinary science earns him a place on the show.

Jacob meets August and Marlena, a married couple on the show. August is in charge of the menagerie; Marlena is a performer. Jacob becomes friends with the couple, and soon discovers that their marriage is less than happy.  Jacob falls for Marlena, and the ripple of consequences begin.

Sara Gruen has written a  novel full of  descriptions of circus life, with   the most unique characters, from the chillingly evil August to the feisty dwarf Walter and his beloved dog, Queenie. Gruen’s love of animals also comes through, especially in the elephant, Rosie.

I loved this book, from it’s beginning to it’s ending.  Highly recommended.

today the music died...

"On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll musicians:
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson.
The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song "American Pie".
Listen to it today.

In mY life...

today I'm in a happy mood. so to all my friends in my life... this is for you

Makers of Modern India - Rmachandra Guha

 Makers of Modern India, edited and introduced by Ramachandra Guha was lunched to a packed audience at the Ballroom at Vivanta by Taj, Connemara on the 6th Dec.

The book features excerpts of the writings of 19 influential Indian political thinker-activists whom he has chosen not just for how they shaped the formation of our republic, but also for how original their ideas were, and how accessible and relevant their words remain to this day. The book begins with the writings of Raja Rammohan Roy, whom Guha calls ‘The First Liberal’, and then proceeds chronologically to cover the works of great thinkers up into the 1960s, some well-known, such as Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and Ambedkar, some almost forgotten, such as Kalmadevi Chattopadhyay, Tarabai Shinde and Jotirao Phule, and some rather controversial, such as Jinnah and M.S. Golwalkar.

A good read!

Wallander

Have you watched 'Wallander' - the serial on BBC Entertainment?
Based on the novels by the Swedish author Henning Mankell, who created the character of Inspector Wallander.
Kenneth Branagh returns to British television as Kurt Wallander in the second series of the BBC's adaptations of Henning Mankell's novels. The three new films were shot on location in Ystad with a mix of British and Swedish actors, continuing the successful formula of the first series.
Watch the serial and read his books, available at bookandborrow.com

Mister Monday

Mister Monday by  Garth Nix

The Keys To The Kingdom, #1.
Breathtaking new magical adventure series from the author of Sabriel. Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets.Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is supposed to die an early death. But then his life is saved by a key shaped like the minute hand of a clock.Arthur is safe but his world is not. Along with the key comes a plague brought by bizarre creatures from another realm. A stranger named Mister Monday, his avenging messengers with bloodstained wings, and an army of dog-faced Fetchers will stop at nothing to get the key back even if it means destroying Arthur and everything around him.Desperate, Arthur escapes to the mysterious house that has appeared in town a house that only he can see. Maybe there he can unravel the secrets of the key and discover his true fate.