book&borrow

Wilbur Smith's Latest

2011-06-07T20:53:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-26T22:52:00.001-07:00

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...

2011-02-02T19:53:00.001-08:00

"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...

2011-02-02T19:31:00.001-08:00

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

2010-12-07T22:02:00.001-08:00

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

2010-09-12T21:58:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-12T05:03:00.001-07:00

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.

Jesus Christ Superstar

2010-09-11T20:28:00.001-07:00

Sat through a very disappointing version of JSC last evening.

How could Mike do this!!

The singing was good, even excellent in parts, but the acting left much to be desired.
Poor Jesus, luckily he had his long curly hair to hide behind.

Arjun Thomas...any day better!!

Untitled

2010-09-09T23:46:00.001-07:00

Haruki Murakami's latest addition to bookandborrow is The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.
Japan's most highly regarded novelist now vaults into the first ranks of international fiction writers with this heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II.
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.
Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon.

Blackberry

2010-09-08T06:21:00.001-07:00

Blackberry is causing so much of discussion and problems in our country. Read about the inside story about Blackberry

Blackberry, The Inside Story of Research in Motion by Rod Mcqueen

The BlackBerry is — quite literally — everywhere. President Barack Obama admits he can't live without it. Oprah Winfrey declared on her show that the BlackBerry is one of her "favorite things." BusinessWeek put the case for owning one bluntly in an article entitled "No BlackBerry: No Life." Launched in 1984 by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsilliewith on a $15,000 loan, Research in Motion (RIM) has grown into one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. The reason: the BlackBerry. RIM had sold more than 50 million BlackBerrys by 2009 and sales of the handheld device generates annual profits in excess of $11 billion. BlackBerry: The Untold Story of Research in Motion is bestselling author Rod McQueen’s fascinating and absorbing biography of the device’s incredible popularity, as well as a never-before-seen glimpse into its origins and development — and the geniuses who were its inspiration.

Latest Arrival: The Case For Books - Robert Darnton

2010-09-07T02:29:00.001-07:00

http://bit.ly/9U2pzB

The Case For Books, Past, Present and Future

Renowned historian Robert Darnton - a pioneering scholar in the history of the book, and a leading voice in the debate about the digital future of books and knowledge - distills his experience and insight. The era of the book as the unrivalled source and vehicle for knowledge is coming to an end. Digitization makes the physical properties of books disposable; e-book readers and mobile phones render them portable and accessible almost everywhere. Google and Amazon could command near monopolistic positions as sellers and dispensers of digital information relatively unfiltered by the traditional caucus of book experts: editors, proof-readers, expert retailers. This is the moment when books could both spring free of the limitations of production processes that have constrained them for 500 years and could also shatter into smithereens, shards of scattered knowledge no longer bound and made meaningful by context, cover and care.

About the author:

Robert Darnton (born May 10, 1939) is an American cultural historian, recognized as a leading expert on eighteenth-century France.
He graduated from Harvard University in 1960, attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship, and earned a Ph.D. (D. Phil.) in history from Oxford in 1964, where he studied with Richard Cobb, among others. He worked as reporter at The New York Times from 1964 to 1965. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, and was President of the American Historical Association in 1999.
He joined the Princeton University faculty in 1968, and was Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of European History. Darnton is a pioneer in the field of the history of the book. He currently is writing about electronic publishing. He is founder of the Gutenberg-e program, sponsored by Mellon Foundation.
His brother is the retired New York Times editor and author John Darnton, and his father was the war correspondent Byron Darnton.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Tiger Hills

2010-09-05T07:51:00.000-07:00

Recently i read Sarita Mandanna's Tiger Hills. For someone who has written her first novel, it was truly delightful. Throughout the book one could see her love for Coorg and identity with the local people.
Sarita Mandanna was born and brought up in India and worked in Hong Kong before moving to the US. She is a private equity professional with a PGDM from the Indian Institute of Management and an MBA from Wharton Business School.
But her indepth knowledge about the fauna and flore of Coorg, and the culture of the people along with three strong characters and the subtle yet powerful attraction between the two protoganists is indeed very interesting.
Definitely a must read if you like long sagas.

Book Title: Anna, The Life and Times of C.N. Annadurai

2010-05-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Book Title: Anna, The Life and Times of C.N. Annadurai

On 6 March 1967, fifty-eight-year-old Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai became chief minister of Madras state, when his party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), swept to power for the first time. Marking the pinnacle of his public life, it reflected his popularity among ordinary people who revered him as Anna, or elder brother. This rich biography illuminates his many lives—as a charismatic leader of modern India, as a stalwart of the Dravidian movement, as the founder of the DMK, as spokesman for the South—besides documenting his abilities as an acclaimed orator and littérateur in Tamil and English, and as a stage actor.

The book does not shy away from the controversies that surrounded the Dravidian movement and candidly examines Anna’s complex relationship with Periyar. It records Anna’s move to form the DMK in 1949, his split with Sampath in 1961 over the party’s strategy and course, and his disillusionment with the corruption and power politics he witnessed as chief minister.

Kannan draws on Anna’s considerable body of writing, the memoirs of other leaders and authors in Tamil, including critics like the poet Kannadasan, Jayakanthan and P. Ramamurti, apart from secondary sources. Featuring luminaries like Rajagopalachari and Kamaraj, Kalaignar Karunanidhi and MGR, among many others, Anna offers a warm and rounded portrait of a man who showed the way for the democratic expression of regional aspirations within a united India.

Book title : Temple

2010-05-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Book Title: Temple

Deep in the jungles of Peru, the race of the century is underway. A race to locate a legendary Incan idol an idol carved out of a strange kind of stone. A stone which in the late 20th century could be used as the basis for a terrifying new weapon. The US Army wants it at any cost but they are not alone....

The only clue to the idol's final resting place lies in a 400yearold manuscript. Enter Professor William Race, a brilliant young linguist, who is unwittingly recruited to translate the manuscript and lead the Army team to the idol. And so begins the mission that will lead Race and his companions to a mysterious stone temple hidden in the foothills of the Andes. A temple seething with menace and danger. But it is only when the temple is opened that Race and his team discover that they have broken a golden rule: Some doors are meant to remain unopened.

From the author of Ice Station comes a sensational new adventure that will literally leave you gasping for air.
Matthew Reilly is a New York Times best-selling author of eight novels that have been published in eighteen languages in twenty countries. He has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. The author in focus for bookandborrow this week is Mathew Reilly.

The New York Times Bestsellers in the fiction category – April 30

2010-05-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

The New York Times Bestsellers in the fiction category – April 30

1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson.

2. THE LAST SONG, by Nicholas Sparks.

3. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson.

4. JUST TAKE MY HEART, by Mary Higgins Clark

5. DEAD AND GONE, by Charlaine Harris.

6. FATALLY FLAKY, by Diane Mott Davidson.

7. GONE TOMORROW, by Lee Child.

8. HERO AT LARGE, by Janet Evanovich.

9. DEAR JOHN, by Nicholas Sparks.

10. BLOOD GAME, by Iris Johansen.

11. A ROGUE OF MY OWN, by Johanna Lindsey.

12. SILENT TRUTH, by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love.

13. CEMETERY DANCE, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

14. LION'S HEAT, by Lora Leigh.

15. HOME IN CAROLINA, by Sherryl Woods.

16. DEADLY DEALS, by Fern Michaels.

17. THE SIGN, by Raymond Khoury.

18. FIRST FAMILY, by David Baldacci.

19. BORDERLINE, by Nevada Barr

20. KINDRED IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb.

Book Title: The Vampire Diaries

2010-05-01T06:47:00.001-07:00

The first book in a new trilogy from L. J. Smith!
Elena Gilbert is alive—again.
When Elena sacrificed herself to save the two vampire brothers who love her—the handsome, brooding Stefan and the sleek and dangerous Damon—she was consigned to a fate beyond death. Until a powerful supernatural force pulled her back.
Now Elena is not just human. She has powers and gifts that were bestowed on her in the afterlife. What's more, her blood pulses with an overwhelming and unique force that makes her irresistible to any vampire.
Stefan wants to find a way to keep Elena safe so that they can make a life together. Damon, however, is driven by an insatiable desire for power, and wants Elena to rule as his princess. When Stefan is lured away from Fell's Church, Damon seizes his chance to convince her that he is the brother she is meant to be with...
But a darkness is infiltrating the town, and Damon, always the hunter, is now the hunted; he becomes the prey of...
Vampire diaries have now been made into a popular TV serial.............

the 3 R's

2010-05-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

The importance of the three R's often reiterated by my late father in law was the key to progress. The three R's being Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmetic.In todays world CST seems to have taken over. Chatting, Smsing and Tweeting.
The gadget that seems to have found its way into almost every one's hand is the cell phone. From school children to grand parents, from corporate giants to street hawkers, the cell phone has become one of the simple bare necessities of life. Cell phones may have brought us closer but not necessarily dearer. Whatever maybe it has certainly rung the death knell of the bullying unpleasant phone line man.

Tamil books at bookandborrow

2010-04-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Finally we have added tamil books to our library. As we were uploading the books and doing the blurbs, we got a preview of some of the books and childhood memories came rushing in. Appusamiyum africa azhagiyum was one of the books. When I was young, I used to live in a little town in Kerala and the popular tamil weekly ananda vikatan used to come 3 days after they were distributed all over tamil nadu. We used to wait for the weekly and make our grand mother read it out to us. Funny episodes in the life of appusamy and his wife parvathi patti with some moral values and ethics were always incorporated . It was all purely fun and we kids enjoyed them thoroughly.
Washintonil Thirumanam was another book. In the early 60's how the Tamil Brahmins settled in US conducted the weddings of their children. There was no compromise on anything. Betel leaves, coconuts, small plaintains and banana leaves to serve food were flown into the US to the shock of the Americans. When this book was published, it generated a lot of curiosity about the life and customs our people followed in US.

real books vs kindle/IPad

2010-04-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

Internet is slowly replacing so many things in our real life. Reading seems to be one of them. Last month, I was in the US and while talking to people about our online lending library, they looked very surprised and said you guys still go to a library to get books? (I think it was mostly from the less exposed ones to India). A lot of them read newspapers to paper backs to self help online. If that doesnt work, then they get to the Kindle. This year apparently it is the most popular mother's day gift being sold. Of course I Pad was launched on the first of this month......... a glorified laptop with less functions.
I am not being a retrograde here, all I am saying is reading online or on kindle or I Pad does not come anywhere near the same feel and enjoyment as reading a real book. The pleasure one derives while holding a brand new crisp book,the smell of the paper, a hot cuppa and a comfortable sofa is something I love.

Vacation musings

2010-04-30T03:07:00.001-07:00

The summer vacation is here . The present bustle of activity is summer camps engaging children in various tasks like swimming, karate, dance, theater, computer,football, athletics, cricket, tennis and educational camps like math classes, abacus etc..
The children of today are involved either in such activities organised by their parents or they keep themselves busy watching television, playing video games and the more sophisticated amuse themselves with Wii and X Box.
Reminiscence of yester year games makes me feel that today's children have missed out something of value and joy that we cherished in our childhood. Vacation meant playing games like gilli,goli (marbles),kathadi(kites), bambaram (tops),hide and seek, robber and police,hopscotch, cycling and swimming. Our rural cousins played in addition to this, pallankuzhi and kuzhangkal etc..These games would seem alien to the children of today. Many of us spent the evenings listening to Radio Ceylon as there was no TV. We read comics such as Phantom, Mandrake, and Chandamama. Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Five findouters and the Dog, Secret Seven were read by the young ones while the older kids stealthily read James Handley Chase and some even had a sneak preview of Harold Robbins. Libraries were very few and we used to cajole and beg our parents to take us to the library.

2010-04-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have been away for the past two months. Missed my dear friends cum partners and my library very much. I was in a town called Stamford, Connecticut. The weather was more or less oppressive,most of the time, cold, windy and at times very warm sunny days. On a good warm and sunny day, my favourite outing used to be a long walk down Atlantic street and into the Stamford Mall, where there is a huge Barnes and Noble book store.
As you enter the store the first thing that hits you is a calm , serene feeling. I dont know whether any of you feel this, but I do, everytime I walk into Landmark I get a bit overwhelmed. I feel little oppressed. Much as I love books and I love to browse and look at all the books and magazines around me, I am happier when I walk out. At Landmark,there is some sort of a restricted space around you. In B&N you can breathe in and out and never get the claustrophobic feeling.
After I walk in and browse around a bit, usually I choose one of the books on the shelf where they have the top ten from the NY Times best seller list. Everytime I do that I am delighted to note that most of the books there are already in our library bookandborrow.com. The girl with the dragon tattoo and The girl who played with fire by Steig Larrson were sitting snugly in the front book shelf. More later..........

2010-03-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

And then my cat peed on Sue Townsend…..

Confessions of THIS middle aged woman!!
I borrowed Townsend’s Confessions, and delighted in
her inimitable humour…but every now and then she had a crack at her cat and I wasn’t so amused…I couldn’t decide whether she really loved her cat or not!
Anyway, my cat Bif decided….i caught him studying the open page with a twitching tail. I drifted off, with a jigsaw puzzle of words in my head….and when I awoke, I found this strange stain on the book…and an even stranger smell…

Oh well….i guess it was time Townsend was reviewed by a feline
reader!! I think he gave it the tails up.

Confesssions of a Middle Aged Woman, by Susan Townsend
is a witty collection of typically Townsend observations on a variety of topics.

2010-02-22T00:36:00.000-08:00

"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel you've lost a friend."
Paul Sweeny

2010-02-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

For all you young moms and dads out there - read to your babies everyday!!! Kids whos parents read to them everyday know more words by the age of two than children who have not been read to. its a wonderful shared activity which can continue for many years...before the computer takes over...:) And reading becomes a habit for life. What a lovely thing to gift a child!!

Dick Francis

2010-02-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

Dick Francis, the author of 42 books - many of which were mysteries that centered around the equestrian world - passed away today. He was 89 years old. Francis was born in Southwest Wales in 1920. He served in WW II as a fighter and a bomber pilot. Like many of his main characters, Francis was a champion jockey. His books have been translated into over 30 languages.