The Lollipop Shoes

Title : The Lollipop Shoes
Author : Joanne Harris

Synopsis :

Five years have passed since Chocolat, the story of a woman (or is she a witch?) who, with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk, blows into the stuffy little village of Lansquenet and opens her chocolate shop at just the wrong time – and in just the wrong place – incurring the wrath of the local priest and pitting Church against Chocolate.

Since then, things have changed. Vianne has another daughter, Rosette; Anouk has started secondary school; and the three of them are living in a rented chocolaterie in the Montmartre district of Paris. On the surface, life seems good; Anouk goes to school; Vianne has finally found a niche for herself. She is accepted within the community. She has learnt to conform; to blend in. The wind has stopped blowing – for a while.

But security has a high price, and Vianne has made some heavy sacrifices. She has given up her mother’s ways; the magic that she and her daughters shared. She has given up her identity, living now under the name of Yanne Charbonneau. She has even given up making chocolates – the demands of motherhood are just too much – and now orders her stock, just like everyone else. Most importantly, she has given up true love – in the person of Rosette’s father, Roux – and is considering marriage to her reassuringly conventional landlord Thierry, who promises her financial security and a home for her children.

Meanwhile, Anouk (now called Annie) is on the cusp of adolescence. A misfit and a loner at school, she hates Paris, resents the “new” Vianne, and desperately misses the intimacy they once had together. Rosette is nearly four years old, with physical and behavioural problems that are only exacerbated by her uncanny and disturbing Accidents…

Onto this stage comes Zozie de l’Alba, blowing into town on the Day of the Dead. Beautiful, passionate, bohemian and fabulously indifferent to convention, she befriends Anouk, moves into the shop, seduces half the neighbourhood with her effortless charm and little by little, helps Vianne regain, not only her skills, but her life –

But Zozie is not without an agenda. Little by little her influence grows - over Vianne, the shop, the customers, but most of all over Anouk, who sees in her an echo of her own mother, without all the fears that inhibit her. And as Christmas approaches and Zozie’s “help” becomes increasingly more questionable, it becomes clear that behind the charismatic façade there hides a cold and malevolent being, her power immense; her greed insatiable; her ultimate goal – Possession.

My Thoughts:

I loved this book! I finally finished reading it after probably a month or so..I was so busy I didn't have the time. But anyway, it was really surprising about the magic, cause I don't remember too much of magic mentioned in Chocolat (then again, I only saw the movie & didn't read the book). I think it was really exciting, lots of twists and turns and ended really nicely too. As her other books, this also made me hungry for chocolates..I would definitely read it over again someday..

Morality for Beautiful Girls

Title : Morality for Beautiful Girls
Author : Alexander McCall Smith

Synopsis :

With her No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in financial difficulty, Mma Ramotswe makes the tricky decision to share offices with her fiancé, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. But although Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors could do with a little help, it is Mr Matekoni himself who really requires her attention.

If that weren’t enough, the agency is handling some highly puzzling cases: the government official whose sister-in-law is trying to poison his brother; the beauty pageant whose contestants aren’t as good as their looks; and the strange young boy, found naked and wild, and smelling of lion.

My Thoughts :

I enjoyed the book, but because I've read the 2 previous books, I felt the cases in this book are too predictable. But still, I liked the part where Mma. Makutsi becomes Assistant Mgr of the garage and she kicks the apprentices' ass really good. I predict the next book will show better financial situations for Mma. Ramotswe & her fiance.

A Spot of Bother

Title : A Spot of Bother

Author : Mark Haddon

Pages : 368

Synopsis :

George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood or manly bonhomie. He does not understand the modern obsession with talking about everything. "The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely." Some things in life, however, cannot be ignored.
At sixty-one, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, and listening to a bit of light jazz. Then his tempestuous daughter, Katie, announces that she is getting remarried, to the deeply inappropriate Ray. Her family is not pleased—as her brother Jamie observes, Ray has "strangler's hands." Katie can't decide if she loves Ray or loves the wonderful way he has with her son, Jacob; and her mother, Jean, is a bit put out by all the planning and arguing the wedding has occasioned, which get in the way of her quite fulfilling late-life affair with one of her husband's ex-colleagues. And the tidy and pleasant life Jamie has created crumbles when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to the dreaded nuptials.
Unnoticed in the uproar, George discovers a sinister lesion on his hip, and quietly begins to lose his mind.
The way these damaged people fall apart—and come together—as a family is the true subject of Haddon's disturbing yet amusing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.

My Thoughts:

This was a really light and refreshing read. Funny, sad, a little bit vulgar at times but as a whole, it was a fun read. I laughed a lot reading through it and that's a good sign. I would recommend it to all (adults, no kids allowed here).

The Genesis of Shannara - Armageddon's Children

Title : Armageddon's Children (The Genesis of Shannara - Book 1)

Author : Terry Brooks

Pages : 416 (mass market paperback)

Synopsis :

Logan Tom is doomed to remember the past and determined to rescue the future. Far behind him lies a boyhood cut violently short by his family’s slaughter, when the forces of madness and hate swept our world after decadent excesses led to civilization’s downfall. Somewhere ahead of him rests the only chance to beat back the minions of evil that are systematically killing and enslaving the last remnants of humanity. Navigating the scarred and poisoned landscape that once was America and guided by a powerful talisman, Logan has sworn an oath to seek out a remarkable being born of magic, possessed of untold abilities, and destined to lead the final fight against darkness.

Across the country, Angel Perez, herself a survivor of the malevolent, death-dealing forces combing the land, has also been chosen for an uncanny mission in the name of her ruined world’s salvation. From the devastated streets of Los Angeles, she will journey to find a place–and a people–shrouded in mystery, celebrated in legend, and vital to the cause of humankind . . . even as a relentless foe follows close behind, bent on her extermination. While in the nearly forsaken city of Seattle, a makeshift family of refugees has carved out a tenuous existence among the street gangs, mutants, and marauders fighting to stay alive against mounting odds–and something unspeakable that has come from the shadows in search of prey.

In time, all their paths will cross. Their common purpose will draw them together. Their courage and convictions will be tested and their fates will be decided, as their singular crusade begins: to take back, or lose forever, the only world they have.

My Thoughts :

I'm a big fan of Terry Brooks's Shannara series and that's what drew me to this book. The setting is of the new world (I still prefer the old world like in the previous Shannara series). I didn't really enjoy the beginning, but gradually it got more exciting and halfway through I couldn't put the book down.

For One More Day

Title : For One More Day
Author : Mitch Albom
Pages : 208






Synopsis :
Pauline “Posey” Benetto raises her son bravely as a divorced woman in the 1960’s. The boy, Charley, never really appreciates her sacrifices, spending much of his life chasing the elusive love of his father, who left when Charley was 11. The book begins on the night when Charley, now a middle-aged alcoholic whose family and work life have disintegrated, decides to take his own life. He makes a midnight ride to his small hometown, staggers into his old house, which he believes to be abandoned, only to make a startling discovery: his mother, who died eight years earlier, is still living there, as if she never left.
The two of them then embark on the “one more day” that so many wish they had with a lost loved one – a day to ask question, seek forgiveness, and reexamine the life you thought you had.

My Thoughts :
I read this book because I really liked Mitch Albom's previous books (Tuesdays w/ Morrie & The Five people you meet in heaven). Like his other books, there's a lot of moral and values that we can take from this book. It made me look back at my life and think about the times I disappointed the people I cared about the most..and you can't really fix the past, but you can change your ways to make the future better. I hope I never have to wish for that "one more day" because of regret..but I guess if we lose someone we really love we will always wish for that day.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Title : The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author : Mark Haddon

Pages : 288

Synopsis :

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

My Thougths :

This is a children's book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Funny, simple in the way it was told and exciting trying to imagine yourself as Christopher and what he has to go through. It's a light and refreshing read, and I would recommend it to children and adults alike.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Synopsis :

Book 1 : The Magician’s Nephew

Digory and Polly discover a secret passage that links their houses, and are tricked into vanishing out of this world and into the World of Charn, where they wake up the evil Queen Jadis. There, they witness the creation of the Land of Narnia, as it is sung into being by the Great Lion, Aslan.

Book 2 : The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy find their way through an old wardrobe into the world of Narnia. There, they unite with Aslan to fight the White Witch and save Narnia from perpetual Darkness.

Book 3 : The Horse and His Boy

Shasta escapes from the land of Calormen with a Narnian warhorse, Bree. Along with Aravis and her horse Hwin, they uncover a Calormene plot to conquer Narnia and must find a way to save Narnia and its people.

Book 4 : Prince Caspian

Troubled times have come to Narnia as it is gripped by civil war. Prince Caspian is forced to blow The Great Horn of Narnia, summoning the help of past heroes, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Now they must overthrow Caspian's uncle, King Miraz, to restore peace to Narnia.

Book 5 : The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Lucy, Edmund, and their cousin Eustace, are magically transported onto the ship, Dawn Treader, where King Caspian is searching for the seven lost friends of his father. On the voyage, the children meet many fantastical creatures, including the great Aslan himself.

Book 6 : The Silver Chair

King Caspian's beloved son Prince Rilian has disappeared. Aslan sends Eustace and his school friend Jill to Narnia on a quest to search for the young prince and defeat the evil Witch.

Book 7 : The Last Battle

A false Aslan is roaming Narnia, commanding everyone to work for the cruel Calormemes. Can Eustace and Jill find the true Aslan and restore peace to the land? The last battle is the greatest of all and the final struggle between good and evil.

My Thoughts :
I read the series a few years ago and I think I must reread it. I remember I couldn't stop reading when I started because it was so exciting and full of fantastic imagination. My favourites are The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, but the whole series is magnificent.

The Lord of The Rings

Synopsis - The Fellowship of the Ring :

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his uncle Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Synopsis - The Two Towers :

THE TWO TOWERS, the second part of Tolkien's LOTR trilogy, takes the reader on a remarkable, almost breathless journey: chasing orcs who have captured Merry and Pippen; galloping across the plains of Rohan with Riders of the Rohirrim; the bloody battle of Helm's Deep; the vast wasteland of Isengard; the perilous journey of Frodo and Sam to the borders of Mordor, accompanied by a most unlikely ally. Unlike "The Fellowship of the Ring," Tolkien's first installment, which at times was compelled to slow to a snail's pace to patiently set up the story, THE TWO TOWERS moves the reader along at a rapid clip, from the first page to the last.
Here we are also introduced to a rich variety of new characters: Eomer, King Theoden, the evil Wormtongue, Treebeard the Ent, Faramir of Gondor, and a nasty assortment of snarling orcs. Tolkien's mastery of the written word brings these characters, and the places of Middle-earth they inhabit--to colorful life.

Synopsis - Return of the King :

While the evil might of the Dark Lord Sauron swarmed out to conquer all Middle-earth, Frodo and Sam struggled deep into Mordor, seat of Sauron's power. To defeat the Dark Lord, the accursed Ring of Power had to be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. But the way was impossibly hard, and Frodo was weakening. Weighed down by the compulsion of the Ring he began finally to despair.

My Thoughts :

I just realised I haven't said anything about this masterpiece. I'm glad I read the book before watching the movie. The movie was really good too, but there are always things that they leave out from the movie that's actually interesting in the book. This book has been around for decades and it's a classic. I really enjoyed The Hobbit and The Silmarillion also by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The Kite Runner

Title : The Kite Runner

Author : Khaled Hosseini

Pages : 400

Synopsis:

Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

My Thoughts:

I recently finished reading this book and found that it's really good. Quite a tragic story, it's a novel about friendship, betrayal and the price of loyalty. It's also a story about history that's never been told in fiction before. A lot of stuff about karma in it at the end..it's really worth getting if you haven't already read it..

Labyrinth

Title : Labyrinth
Author : Kate Mosse
Paperback: 528 pages

Synopsis:

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag. Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe. In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.

My Thoughts:

My sister recommended this book to me and she said it's far more interesting & exciting than the Da Vinci Code. I accepted the book eagerly, so curious about how it can be better than DVC. A historical & religious fiction, I found it hard to put down. In the search for the Holy Grail, it is a fascinating story and I liked the way Kate Mosse wrote it.

The Secret of Shambhala

Title : The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight
Author : James Redfield
Pages : 256





Synopsis:
In the remote, snow-covered mountains near Tibet lies a community long thought to be mere myth called Shambhala, or Shangri-La. Here, in this place, is knowledge that has been kept hidden for centuries -- and an insight that can have a profound impact on the way each of us lives our lives.
Like James Redfield's other books, THE SECRET OF SHAMBHALA has a parable affect. Open yourself to this adventure, and the experience will stretch your world-view and leave you determined to channel your thoughts and wishes into a dynamic force that can help you liberate your life, enhance others, and actively change the world.

My Thoughts:
This third book had a lot more action put into it and had a bit more suspense than the previous ones. But like the Tenth Insight, you must read the series from the beginning in order to understand it all.

The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision

Title : The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision
Author : James Redfield
Pages : 256

Synopsis: In this exciting sequel to The Celestine Prophecy, in a rich setting of cathedral forests, wooded streams, and majestic waterfalls, your adventure in search of The Tenth Insight unfolds. It is a trip that will take you through portals into other dimensions...to memories of past experiences and other centuries...to the moment before our conception and the birth vision we all experience...to the passage of death and the life review we must all face...to the self-imposed isolation of hell, where fearful souls resist awakening...and the love-filled Afterlife dimension where the knowledge of human destiny is guarded and held. And back on Earth, you will see the fear of the future that is endangering Earth's spiritual renaissance, and you will struggle to overcome this fear by exploring the nature of intuition, synchronicity, and visualization.

My Thoughts: This book was just as tough to read as the one before. And you must read the first book to really understand what they're talking about in this book. It's interesting though, for when you want to feel spiritual and want to get closer to your spiritual side..

The Celestine Prophecy

Title : The Celestine Prophecy
Author : James Redfield
Pages : 256




Synopsis:
In the rain forests of Peru, an ancient manuscript has been discovered. Within its pages are 9 key insights into life itself - insights each human being is predicted to grasp sequentially, one insight then another, as we move toward a completely spiritual culture on Earth.
The Celestine Prophecy contains secrets that are currently changing our world. Drawing on ancient wisdom, it tells you how to make connections among the events happening in your own life right now...and lets you see what is going to happen to you in the years to come!

My Thoughts:
I'm not a very spiritual person, but this book was quite interesting. Some of the things written here can be related to in real life, it's almost eerie at times. I wouldn't read it over again though, once is enough for me.

The Bad Mother’s Handbook & Swallowing Grandma

Title 1 : The Bad Mother's Handbook
Title 2 : Swallowing Grandma
Author : Kate Long







Synopsis:
'The Bad Mother’s Handbook', tells the story of a year in the life of one family. There’s 17 year-old Charlotte, who’s bright and ambitious; her thirtysomething mother Karen, a bitter divorcee; and Nan, a woman who slips between the past and the present and whose 80-year history holds secrets that have the potential to unravel the whole household.

Swallowing Grandma - Orphan Kat Millar seems doomed to waste her best years caring for her horribly ungrateful grandmother, Poll. But relatives Kat knows nothing about are moving in, intent on changing her life forever.

My Thoughts:
I like both books a lot, both by the same author, Kate Long. They're funny, quirky, sad at times and both are telling a lot about life as a family. I would recommend both for really easy & light reading. There's actually another book similar to these that Kate Long wrote but I haven't read it yet. It's called Queen Mum and it's on my list of books to read.

Sophie's World

Title : Sophie's World
Author : Jostein Gaarder




Synopsis:
Sophie Amundsen (Sofie Amundsen in the Norwegian version) is a fourteen year old girl living in Norway in 1990. She lives with her cat Sherekan and her mother. Her father is a captain of an oil tanker, and is away for most of the year. He does not appear in the book.
Sophie's life is rattled as the book begins, when she receives two anonymous messages in her mailbox (Who are you? Where does the world come from?), as well as a post card addressed to 'Hilde Møller Knag, c/o Sophie Amundsen'. Shortly afterwards she receives a packet of papers, part of a correspondence course in philosophy.
With these mysterious communications, Sophie becomes the student of a fifty-year-old philosopher, Alberto Knox. He starts out as totally anonymous, but as the story unfolds he reveals more and more about himself. The papers and the packet both turn out to be from him, although the post card is not; it is addressed from someone called Albert Knag, who is in a United Nations peacekeeping unit stationed in Lebanon.

My Thoughts:
This was an interesting book, it reminded me a lot about history lessons at school. A book full of philosophy and a plot quite different to other books I’ve read before. A book worth reading, but personally I wouldn’t re-read it because it’s pretty deep and complicated.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Title : The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Author : Alexander McCall Smith






Synopsis:
This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to "help people with problems in their lives." Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors.

My Thoughts:
This book is very amusing and refreshing. I like the writing style of the author and I definitely recommend this. It also tells a lot about African culture and moral lessons which I found really interesting. I've read the second book too, which is just as good. Books in this series include :
1. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
2. Tears of the Giraffe
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls
4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men
5. The Full Cupboard of Life
6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
7. Blue Shoes and Happiness
I think Alexander M.S. is still brewing up new stories to compliment the series..more updates when I have further news.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Title : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author : J.K. Rowling
Cover : Hardback

Synopsis:

"Harry has been burdened with a dark, dangerous and seemingly impossible task: that of locating and destroying Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. Never has Harry felt so alone, or faced a future so full of shadows. But Harry must somehow find within himself the strength to complete the task he has been given. He must leave the warmth, safety and companionship of The Burrow and follow without fear or hesitation the inexorable path laid out for him"

My Thoughts :

This is by far my most favourite book right now. I stayed up all night reading it last night and it was well worth it! Out of all the Potter books, I think this book is the most exciting. It's full of suspense and surprises and ends really nicely too. A lot of things that seemed mysterious to us in the previous books are answered here. If you haven't done so already, make sure you pick up your copy today!! Previous books in the series :

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

To Kill a Mockingbird

Synopsis:

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.
My Thoughts :

I liked this book a lot, it expresses a lot of racial / social problems happening in the world. It's actually a simple story with not much going on but a short climax nearing the end, but I enjoyed it altogether.

The Secret Life of Bees

Synopsis :
Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory--the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her “stand-in mother.” When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina--a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother. There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May, June, and August. Lily thinks of them as the calendar sisters and enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness entwine in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.
My thoughts :
I really enjoyed this book though it wasn't very exciting at first. After a while I couldn't put it down. I liked the way Sue Monk Kidd expressed the emotions of each character in this book. And the power of women is very strongly described here. It's a must read!

Tuesdays with Morrie & The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Synopsis :

Tuesdays with Morrie :

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.
For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?
Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final "class": lessons in how to live.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world

The Five People you Meet in Heaven:

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years -- from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge -- so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.
Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his -- and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.
One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

My Thoughts:

These small books by Mitch Albom are two of the most interesting books I have ever read. Tuesdays with Morrie makes you want to get to know Mr. Morrie because he's such a unique and pleasant character..this book was sad but you don't want to cry cause Mr. Morrie wouldn't want you to.

The Five People you meet in Heaven makes you wonder on life and how it all works..are there people in your life that you will meet again on your way to heaven?

The Food Trilogy by Joanne Harris

Synopsis - Chocolat

Chocolat begins with the arrival in a tiny French village of Vianne Rocher, a single mother with a young daughter, on Shrove Tuesday. As the inhabitants of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes clear away the remains of the carnival which heralds the beginning of Lent, Vianne moves with her daughter into a disused bakery facing the church, where Francis Reynaud, the young and opinionated curé of the parish, watches her arrival with disapproval and suspicion.When he realizes that Vianne intends to open a chocolate shop in place of the old bakery, thereby tempting the churchgoers to over-indulgence, Reynaud's disapproval increases. As it becomes clear that the villagers of Lansquenet are falling under the spell of Vianne's easy ways and unorthodox opinions, to the detriment of his own authority, he is quick to see her as a danger. Under Vianne's influence an old woman embraces a new life, a battered wife finds the courage to leave her husband, children rebel against authority, outcasts and strays are welcomed... and Reynaud's tight and carefully ordered community is in danger of breaking apart. As Easter approaches, both parties throw themselves whole-heartedly into the preparations; Vianne for the chocolate festival she plans to hold on Easter Sunday, Reynaud into a desperate attempt to win back his straying flock. Both factions have a great deal at stake; the village is bitterly divided; and as the big day looms closer their struggle becomes much more than a conflict between church and chocolate - it becomes an exorcism of the past, a declaration of independence, a showdown between dogma and understanding, pleasure and self-denial.

Synopsis - Blackberry Wine:

What if you could bottle a year of your past? Which one would it be? Which time of year? What would it smell like? How would it taste?
These are the questions which began Blackberry Wine: the second volume of my "food trilogy" and the story of Jay Mackintosh, a writer of pulp fiction with one literary success to his name and a dwindling grasp of reality. Trapped between an unresolved past and a humdrum present, suffering from writer's block and the beginnings of alcoholism, Jay has lost his bearings.
But the accidental discovery of six bottles of home-brewed wine, a legacy from an old and vanished friend, seems to hold the key to a new beginning, a means of escape, and a final reconciliation. For there is something magical about this wine; something which brings the past to life, an agent of transformation. Under its influence, time can work backwards and the dead return to life - as Jay finds, when, on impulse, he gives up his glamorous London lifestyle and escapes to a half-derelict farmhouse in a remote village in Gascony, where two mysteries await him; a ghost from the past whom no-one else can see, and Marise, a reclusive widow with ghosts of her own...

Synopsis - Five Quarters of the Orange :
This completes the "food trilogy" (Chocolat, Blackberry Wine) and explores some of the same themes, although this third book is much darker than the previous two. Set in a small village near Angers on the Loire, it deals with the fortunes of a widow and her three children, Cassis, Reine-Claude and Framboise, against the background of the German Occupation. With no father and only their harsh and overworked mother to care for them, the three children inhabit a strange and brutal world in which adults are a different race, and which works according to a completely different set of moral values. Into this circle comes Tomas Leibnitz, a German soldier who secretly befriends the three children and leads them step-by-step into a world of betrayal, blackmail and lies.

A lifetime later, Framboise, the last survivor of the ill-fated group, returns under a different identity to the village in which she was born, meaning to make a new start as the proprietor of a small crêperie-restaurant. But she is still haunted by the past and by an unresolved mystery, recalled once more to life by the encrypted writing in her mother's old book of recipes.

My Thoughts :

The movie - Chocolat - was what made me want to know more about other books from the same author. The other books proved just as tasty - Blackberry Wine and Five Quarters of an Orange..both are delicious, made me hungry reading them.. She really knows how to capture the taste and beauty of France and the countryside.. I found out that most are based on her personal experiences..some of the characters are actually real people in her life. I just love books by Joanne Harris!

His Dark Materials

Synopsis - The Northern Lights (part 1):

The Northern Lights forms the first part of a story in three volumes. The first volume is set in a world like ours, but different in many ways. The second volume is set partly in the world we know. The third moves between many worlds.
In The Northern Lights, readers meet for the first time 11-year-old Lyra Belacqua, a precocious orphan growing up within the precincts of Jordan College in Oxford, England. It quickly becomes clear that Lyra's Oxford is not precisely like our own - nor is her world. In Lyra's world, everyone has a personal dæmon, a lifelong animal familiar. This is a world in which science, theology and magic are closely intertwined.

Synopsis - The Subtle Knife (part 2):

The Subtle Knife is the second part of the trilogy that began with The Golden Compass. That first book was set in a world like ours, but different. This book begins in our own world.
In The Subtle Knife, readers are introduced to Will Parry, a young boy living in modern-day Oxford, England. Will is only twelve years old, but he bears the responsibilities of an adult. Following the disappearance of his explorer-father, John Parry, during an expedition in the North, Will became parent, provider and protector to his frail, confused mother. And it's in protecting her that he becomes a murderer, too: he accidentally kills a man who breaks into their home to steal valuable letters written by John Parry. After placing his mother in the care of a kind friend, Will takes those letters and sets off to discover the truth about his father.

Synopsis - The Amber Spyglass (part 3) :

The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife to a heartstopping close, marking the third and final volume as the most powerful of the trilogy. Along with the return of Lyra, Will, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary Malone, and Iorek Byrnison the armored bear, The Amber Spyglass introduces a host of new characters: the Mulefa, mysterious wheeled creatures with the power to see Dust; Gallivespian Lord Roke, a hand-high spy-master to Lord Asriel; and Metatron, a fierce and mighty angel. And this final volume brings startling revelations, too: the painful price Lyra must pay to walk through the land of the dead, the haunting power of Dr. Malone's amber spyglass, and the names of who will live - and who will die - for love. And all the while, war rages with the Kingdom of Heaven, a brutal battle that - in its shocking outcome - will reveal the secret of Dust.

My Thoughts :

I found out about this trilogy from a friend of mine and luckily got a really good deal buying it. The first book is called Northern Lights, which I really enjoyed. The second book, the Subtle Knife was good too and the strangest and most extreme is the third book, the Amber Spyglass..there's a lot of anti-religious stuff in this third book, so it might not really appeal to you if you're very religious.. I think the most brilliant idea in the trilogy is the fact that everyone has a daemon..your soul in the form of an animal..I heard that they're making a movie of this..it'll be interesting to see how it turns out.. Angels, talking animals, scientific experiments..you have to read it!

The Sword of Shannara & related books

Synopsis :
Long ago the world of Shea Ohmsford was ruined by the wars of ancient Evil. Now mankind must compete for the Earth with many other races-- gnomes, trolls, dwarfs and elves. But Shea, the half-human, half-elven adopted son of an innkeeper, knows little of such troubles. Shady Vale, where he grew to manhood, seems a haven for peace.

Then into Shady Vale comes the giant, forbidding figure of Allanon, possessed of strange knowledge and even stranger Druidic powers. To Shea, he reveals that the evil Warlock Lord, supposedly long dead, is once again plotting to destroy the world. Against this Power of Darkness the sole effective weapon is the Sword of Shannara, which can be used only by a true descendant of Jerle Shannara. Shea is the last living heir: on him rests the hope of all races! When Shea protests that he is no hero, the Druid states that he must reclaim the Sword. In the morning Allanon is gone, leaving behind a mysterious warning note.

Soon a Skull Bearer, dread minion of the Warlock Lord, flies to the Vale, seeking to destroy the last heir of Shannara. Rather than risk destruction for the Vale, Shea and his skeptical half-brother Flick flee, drawing the Skull Bearer after them. Allanon's cryptic orders have directed them to Culhaven, home of the dwarfs. Somehow they must go there to await him, despite the Skull Bearers and other unknown, dire perils. And beyond Culhaven, they must enter the ravaged Northland, where the Warlock Lord holds total dominion.

Thus begins the seemingly hopeless quest of a simple man against the greatest power of evil the world has known. Valiant comrades join him against a host of foes and soul-wrenching dangers. Terrors and wonders increase as the overwhelming armies of the Warlock Lord move toward war. But in the end, Shea alone must confront the Lord of Evil without knowledge or hope to guide him.

My Thoughts :

When I first grabbed this book from the shelf, I imagined something like the Lord of the Rings.. I wasn't wrong, but not entirely right either. The magic and adventures are similar, but there are a lot of different ideas in these stories by Terry Brooks. There's actually a book that came before The Sword of Shannara, which is called First King of Shannara (that's how it all began). Stories that came after The Sword are also just as exciting. This series is one of my personal favourites. In the Sword of Shannara Trilogy there are : The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, & The Wishsong of Shannara. The following series called the Heritage of Shannara consist of 4 books : The Scions of Shannara, The Druid of Shannara, The Elf Queen of Shannara, & The Talismans of Shannara. After that came the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy which include : Ilse Witch, Antrax & Morgawr. The last trilogy so far is the High Druid of Shannara, with the titles Jaarka Ruus, Tanequil, & Straken.