Sundays at Tiffany's-james Patterson

It never fails to amuse and amaze me how James Patterson can write romance as well as his crime novels. It almost seems like he is "bi-gender".
Sundays at Tiffany's is a cute romance about a woman falling in love with her imaginary childhood friend. Yep it's as strange as it gets but a captivating read nonetheless. The writing style varies so widely from his usual crime novels that it seems like it's been written by a woman. Amusingly enough, he wrote in the voice of the female lead, Jane. Jane, the chubby kid who imagined Michael when she was a young child with a neglectful and overbearing mother. She was often lonely and her only friend was Michael. On her 9th birthday, Michael had to leave her as he so often did when his "mission" was accomplished.
Many years later when Jane was in her 30s, she met Michael again. Imagine her shock. And so it is that Michael is pretty much like an angel. Sent on missions to keep little girls and boys company in their childhood. However, he never forgot Kane and neither did Jane forget him after all these years. And so it was, that they fell in love. By falling in love Michael became more like a human, feeling pain and all. It sounds pretty much like City of Angels when Nicholas Cage fell in love with Meg Ryan and decided to be human.

Quite a good read.

Cross-Fire- James Patterson

I really like the Alex cross series. I don't really know where Alex is in his life in Cross Fire. But his wife Marie(?) was already murdered. He was in a new relationship with another cop, Bree and planning to get married. Kyle Craig his long-time nemesis was on the loose and threatening to kill him and his family. Craig went for plastic surgery to transform himself into an undercover cop and managed to infiltrate the FBI(?) and got closer to Alex Cross. At the same time, murder after murder of important bankers, politicians were occurring, inciting fear in the city. And frustration for Alex.

The book was gripping but nothing new. I would probably give it a 3.5/5.

The little book-Selden Edwards

The idea of this book was very interesting. A man from modern-day San Francisco suffered a blackout and mysteriously ended up in 19th century Vienna. There he met his father who suffered the same condition. And to add complexities, they met their grandfather/father, a stern and no-nonsense man. The story revolved around this teacher they deeply respected and his little book of anecdotes, quotes, teachings.
Unfortunately I did not finish the book. It gets a little boring after some time. But I do love the idea of time travelling and meeting people from the past. Wheeler met Freud, mark twain,etc. Perhaps I should really persevere in finishing this book. I saw a review saying it took the author 30 years to write this book. 30 years!!!?! Seriously....

The start of a book

Dear Mr Pinkton,
This is my last letter to you. You have annoyed me tremendously and I shall never talk to you again. Please do not write me.

Yours sincerely,
I.A.

Ms Adler sealed the envelope carefully and dabbed a rose-scented perfume on the back of the envelope.

There! That should frighten that terrible man a little bit!

She had the maid mailed the letter out urgently.

A week went by and then another, and still no news from a certain Mr. Pinkton.

Ms Adler was highly agitated by now.

Oh that terrible, terrible man! I shall never ever speak with him again!

She sat at her desk and began writing the next nasty letter to Pinkton.

Dear Mr Pinkton,
I was just wondering if you had received my last letter, informing you to never write me again. I hereby, state it again, just in case that last letter was lost, that, You, Mr Pinkton should never ever write me again. I shall burn every last letter that you send my way!

Yours sincerely,
I.A.

The descendants

Read this book some moons ago but forgot to review it...
Heard the movie was pretty good. So decided to borrow the book. Not too bad a read. Set in Hawaii, the story spun around a wife/mother in a coma and how the husband and two daughters dealt with the situation. I only remember the daughters' names were Alex and Scottie and forgot about the rest. I think the wife was Joan or Joanie...something like that.

Scottie , the youngest daughter , seemed to have the hardest time dealing with a vegetable mother. Her mother was a beautiful adventurer and Scottie was hell bent on creating an adventure for herself so that she could have an interesting story to tell her mother. Pretty sad as she knowingly put herself in danger just for a piece of story for Joanie.

The husband inherited a land And was debating whether to keep it or sell it to a developer. The local community opposed the idea of having it sold. The wife had, before her coma, took a very high interest in the land and worked hard to have it sold to a particular developer.

It was at midway through the story that the husband found out that his wife was having an affair with the property dealer , who was the brother in law of the developer.

A very complicated web of lies....

Alex, the elder daughter knew about the affair but did not have the heart to tell her father. Instead she rebelled against her mother and eventually left home.

She told her father the truth one fine day and they went to visit the man at the centre of the messy affairs. He had plotted to tell the man's wife. I can't remember if the husband did just that or the dealer confessed to her about it. But the truth was out and the wife visited Joanie. Joanie was eventually pulled off life support and the husband decided to keep the land for his descendants.

Quite an interesting read. But it makes you wonder what the deal is about marriage, affairs, and all its burden and complications. Sometimes people marry for the most selfish reasons, to satisfy our own yearnings, goals, and to curb our fears of loneliness. Or just for the sale of companionship. It's almost rarely about what we want to give to other party and wanting what's best for him or her. Eventually the other party sees through our motives and selfish goals, and the bubble pops.

And I dreamt you were gone.
When I woke.
I realized it was real.
Not a shadow of you
Left.
In this empty room.
In this empty house.
But you are still there
Beating with my heart.
This crazy push pull
Wanting to expel you
Thoroughly from my life
Yet, wanting so much
That you will stay.
I have to remind myself
That you were never mine
To begin with.
I have lost you.
Because we were both driven by fears.
They say,
You do not need courage
To drive away your fears
That you all need is love.
Perhaps we have never loved.
Perhaps fear has won
And conquered love.
And so, we admit defeat
And say our goodbyes.

Sandra Cisneros-House on mango street

House on mango street was quite a cute read. I wouldn't really call it a story per se; rather it was like a collection of fictitious anecdotes.

It described the neighborhood that little Esperanza Cordero grew up in- mango street. It was a poor neighborhood with plentiful of colorful characters. Esperanza was ashamed of the house she, her parents and siblings lived in and longed to leave mango street (probably by becoming a writer).
Quite a nice read but it probably wouldn't whet the appetite of someone who loves a storyline.