i am, as some will be aware, always on the lookout for top class, quality literature for my dear, beloved mother-in-law. it's always a delight when i find some brilliant new titles for her, making today in this respect a delight of a day.
as i went about conducting some rudimentary consumerism, i noted that there was a book sale on, with a charitable organization selling a number of books. after having a nice chat with a gent who had purchased a Clive Barker book (us fans of him seem too far apart in this part of the world), i had a look at what they had on offer, and with some ease found not two, not four, certainly not five and indeed not just one title that would bring great literature pleasure to my mother-in-law, but a nice, round, even three.
do you wish to see them? of course you do.
they are stunning titles, are they not? i can imagine you could guess which one first caught my eye. a look at that one, and indeed the others, shortly in this post.
a number of you no doubt consider it heartwarming and indeed a refreshing change of perspective that i actively seek to buy these fine works of literature for my mother-in-law. why do i not, though, also buy the similar for my Mum? well, a number of reasons, since two is indeed very much a number, as odd as it may seem to some.
firstly, getting them to my Mum would in far exceed, cost wise, the purchase value of the books. quite possibly by a multiple of ten or further. books are not light things, and the postal services of the world knack you for sending things that are heavy. they knack you in the wallet.
secondly, with my Dad's ambitious plan to host every single book that exists in New Zealand, or at least on the North Island, it seems she would seldom be short of something to read.
if you are anywhere near Mount Maunganui, or simply in New Zealand and are able to travel on your own or via any of the versatile, reliable and cost effective means of public transport the nation has to offer, do make a turn past Old Grumpy's and check out the range of titles on offer. you will not leave disappointed.
i note, for some free advice, that increasingly charity sales are following the business model of my Dad, selling a larger number of books for a reduced fee, shifting volume and giving purchasers much better value. that is how i came to get three for my mother-in-law, you see.
right now, though, i imagine you want to know more of the books i got. it is with great delight that i give you this knowledge, and hope you can find any of the books if you like the sound.
Hidden Hearts by Susan Kearney looks like it might be part of some sort of trilogy, or similar three part adventure that might have more that three parts, meaning it is not a trilogy. it sounds amazing, man. something about three siblings (a sibling trilogy if you like) being in mortal danger, something about some paper that "surely is not worth killing for" and an ex-CIA field officer with a bit of a spaz name who failed to stop someone getting killed off a terrorist bomb not wanting it to happen again.
it starts with Alexandra Golden ignoring a niggling worry and it just gets better. random quote from page 69 of the book :
At least she now knew he wasn't one of those wackos who fed off women's anxieties to make themselves feel more powerful. But maybe he simply enjoyed toying with her. Maybe the bullets were blanks.
it looks and feels like 240 pages of unbridled joy, romance, sex, terrorist bombs and valuable bits of paper. probably like a Dan Brown novel, only with proper sentences and things.
Hostage To Pleasure by Nalini Singh is apparently a paranormal romance book, a field or genre i am unfamiliar with. as it happens my good friend and celebrated musician Jonathan is, though, and he has given me a few tips on what to look out for. all the criteria he suggested seems to be here in this one.
yes, i've just had a look at the back to try and give you an overview, and it all looks a bit beyond me, to be honest. something about making a neural implant to enslave a psychically gifted race. it actually does not sound like there is too much romance at all really; there seems to be just a lot of stuff about snipers and people changing into animals and that.
as for a random quote from page 69, here you go :
Putting the sudden move down to feline capriciouseness, she focused on the chip. It contained data the Council would kill for. And not all of it had to do with the Implant Protocol. Now, she just had to survive long enough to --- Her head jerked up as Dorain's wild energy washed over her, through her.
hmn. it sounds like it might be one of them homoerotic science fiction things that the fans do about Star Trek. i think it's called slash fiction or something. i am not sure i would want to read it.
what i would want to read, of course, is the last one. yes, i have saved the best and most promising sounding one for last, as you would expect me to. it's all about creating suspense and that.
Cruise Ship Nurse by Dorothy Daniels is the kind of thing i live for.i did a little dance of joy like Cousin Balki out of that show used to do when i spotted this one. i am sure you have too, so the link on the title takes you to a place where you can buy it in America. except of course the use of the US$ is currently illegal why a bunch of people argue over money and stuff.
basically Karen Carlisle has run from her past to start anew as a nurse on a cruise ship (hence the title), but an incident apparently forces her to reveal a scandalous truth.
at 128 pages it is probably a tight, taunt adventure, telling tales of love and sex on the high seas and, presumably at least once, in a dock. a random quote from page 69 for you is here :
Karen frowned with annoyance. "If we stay here, Peter, I have an idea we might be quarreling in a little while. I think I'll go below."
i don't know about you, but to me this sounds rather like the sort of thing that eats up a plate of Jane Austen and then, later, sh!ts it out as Jackie Collins. a remarkable book, indeed a remarkable find.
considering all the horrors in the world, it is always wonderful to escape into the realm of a novel. looking at the major news story in the world today, if we assume that Newport is pretty much all of the known world, never better, or indeed never worse, has the time come to hide in the pages of a book.
if the whole of South Wales, and then soon the world, are to be taken over and left at the mercy of massive tomatoes, then i for one intend to go down reading.
and not just any reading. i will be reading Cruise Ship Nurse.
hopefully i am able to get it to my beloved mother-in-law to read and enjoy before the tomato revolution crosses the equator and knacks us all.
it would be just brilliant if any or all of these book looks have given you some hints or ideas. i really hope my mother-in-law likes them, at least more than she likes me.
happy reading!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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