travel – One Book a Week

John Grisham * The Broker

The new bestseller from the world’s most popular author. With fourteen years left on a twenty-year sentence, notorious Washington powerbroker Joel Blackman receives a surprise pardon from a lame duck President.

David Nicholls – Us * Man Booker Prize 2014

I found this lovely book in the charity pile and I was wondering why. I mean, Man Booker Prize winners should not really reside in Charity Bins at the local shops. Maybe someone did a clearout and didn’t really like the cover? As I continued reading I realised what had happened. The person who donatedContinue reading “David Nicholls – Us * Man Booker Prize 2014”

Pen Hadow * Solo

Interesting auto-biography of Pen Hadow who had attempted a few times to get to the North Pole but ends up creating a business with his wive’s help to bring others to what he couldn’t attain. Struggles for funding, issues with company PR, all topped by a strong desire to succeed against the odds. It’s aContinue reading “Pen Hadow * Solo”

The Last American Vampire * Seth Grahame-Smith

[He received] A package containing a bundle of ancient letters, a list of names and contact information, and ten ancient-looking leather-bound journals, each one filled with tightly packed handwriting. They were the personal journals of Abraham Lincoln, chronicling his lifelong battle against the vampires that had shaped his destiny and long haunted the American night.Continue reading “The Last American Vampire * Seth Grahame-Smith”

Of temples and dream travels

More often than not I find myself travelling when I sleep. Sunny bays, green valleys, hills and mountains. And last night there were dark clouds over abandoned temples. I do know it’s my mind’s way of sorting through stored information and cataloging it in a story-line which more often than not is nonsensical.

15 beautiful pictures from Romania

The Romanian landscape is approximately one-third mountainous and one-third forested, with the remainder made up of hills and plains. The climate is temperate and marked by four distinct seasons. Romania enjoys a considerable wealth of natural resources: fertile land for agriculture; pastures for livestock; forests that provide hard and soft woods; petroleum reserves; metals, includingContinue reading “15 beautiful pictures from Romania”

Song of Kali by Dan Simmons

After the Romans had conquered the city of Carthage, they killed the men, sold the women and children into slavery, pulled down the great buildings, broke up the stones, burned the rubble, and salted the earth so that nothing would ever grow there again. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in my lifeContinue reading “Song of Kali by Dan Simmons”

Zero G by Dan Wells Book Review

I had the book in my audiobook library and it came as a freebie so I had my expectations on low and under. I was blown away with the acting, the smart way of introducing interesting concepts to children and for actually making you think for a while. If you’ve seen the movie “Passengers” withContinue reading “Zero G by Dan Wells Book Review”

NIGHT ON THE MOUNTAIN By George Sterling

The fog has risen from the sea and crowned The dark, untrodden summits of the coast, Where roams a voice, in canyons uttermost, From midnight waters vibrant and profound. High on each granite altar dies the sound, Deep as the trampling of an armored host, Lone as the lamentation of a ghost, Sad as theContinue reading “NIGHT ON THE MOUNTAIN By George Sterling”

Parrot and Olivier in America – Peter Carey Book Review

Novel set around 1830 and narrated alternately by Parrot (the son of an English engraver killed for unwittingly participating in a Dartmoor counterfeiting ring) and Olivier (the grandson of a Nobel guillotined in the revolution and whose family cautiously support restoration).