Title: Ruby
Author: Lauraine Snelling
Paperback: 285 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (Aug. 01st 2003)
Genre: Historical Romance
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
Kate has no time for meaningless romantic charades, and definitely no time for hot college professors who are full of themselves and smitten with her. Constantly battling eviction notices, tuition she can’t afford, and a sick, dependent mother, the last thing she needs is to be distracted with someone else’s complicated baggage.

When she stumbles into Ryan Campbell’s creative writing class, he is only “Mr. Campbell” to her, until Ryan finds himself captivated by her writing and she is forced to face their mutual attraction. His cocky know-it-all syndrome is enough to send her running in the other direction, and his posse of female admirers and playboy reputation are enough to squander any odds in her favor.

But underneath Ryan’s abrasive facade is something to behold, and she can’t stay away for long. Ryan and Kate must decide who they’re willing to become and fight against their former selves if they want to make things work. That’s if academia, vicious vixens, old skeletons, and their own mastery at self-destruction don’t pummel their efforts first.

My Review:

Thanks to Lauraine Snelling for giving away this book free for the Kindle on Amazon.

This book came as surprise. Like all romances I expected a happily-ever-after and its not there!

The story is about Ruby who leaves New York in a hurry to meet her dying father and claim her inheritance along with her sister Opal. Ruby arrives in Little Missouri and learns soon that life is very different here. Her father has left her a brothel that she decides to convert reputable hotel. The book goes on into her challenges and successes that are heart warming.

The girls who worked in the brothel before choose to stay on and stop selling themselves. Snelling deals with the troubles and pain faced by these girls well and I could feel for them. Very subtly but strongly Snelling makes points about why prostitutes are not bad woman, its bad situations that get them down to selling themselves. She make clear distinctions between prostitution and rape and just what a rape victim goes through even though she may have been a prostitute. Oops… That’s a bit of the story given away but hell, I liked the job Snelling did with the issue.

There are two strong heroes in the story. Captain McHenry – stationed in Little Missouri gets friendly with Opal and Rudy. Ruby and the McHenry get close and Ruby starts having feelings for him but he is transferred to Arizona. Rand Harrison is a cattle rancher, excellent horseman, loved by all person and a cool dude, not to mention good-looking. But he messes up big time with his courtship and proposal. Who will win Ruby? I kept looking at the percentage of the book left as I read because I could seen the end of the book coming but I couldn’t see the happily-ever-after coming!
‘Ruby’ is the 1st part of the Dakotah Treasures 4 book series so I guess this question will be answered in the rest.

So did I enjoy the book. Oh yes I did! An excellent Historical Romance of the Mid-West with emphasis on the woman’s day-to-day life and not just romance. I picked up some baking tips too!

I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Pearl (Dakotah Treasures, #2)
Opal (Dakotah Treasures, #3)
Amethyst (Dakotah Treasures, #4)

Title: The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses
Author: Eric Ries
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (Sept. 13th 2011)
Genre: Non-Fiction: Business
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.

The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

My Review:

Now this book is really good for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses so I wasn’t really sure if I would find it helpful. I’m not yet an entrepreneur you see. 😀

But I did find it helpful in the work I do right now. Actually I think it would be helpful in almost all you do.

Ries says “The concept of entrepreneurship includes anyone who works within my definition of a startup: a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”

This to me means an entrepreneur is someone who creates new products or offers services in conditions of uncertainty. But that is what I do at work and at home but I am do not have a startup. (well when I cook I work under a lot of uncertainties – my hubby’s mood, his appetite, the taste of the food… and my product is a tasty meal :D)

Ok seriously – Ries talks about a method of approach that will help make whatever you are doing better incrementally. Simply put he asks us to experiment while monitoring and accessing results.

Here are some of the things he talks about –

1. MVP or Minimum Viable Product – Once you have an idea, don’t wait to perfect it, just put together the idea in its minimum form and share it to see the response of people. That means you make the product better as you go along in small increments rather than waste your chance making something perfect that people don’t want.
This works in almost everything I do. I tend to spend too much time perfecting plans and realize now that breaking up the plan into small chunks and implementing each turn by turn will help the overall plan get much better. This way the overall plan can be fluid and change as and when required and I save a lot of time.

2. Metrics – Measure your experiments; approach them with a requirement, objective and outcome in mind. The key is learning with each trial and making sure not to make the same mistakes again. Don’t fall for vanity metrics that show great numbers for a while but deceive you in the long term. Choose your metrics based on what you want long term for your product and watch them like a hawk.
With each trial you should learn and make the next iteration better. Use a root cause analysis and go back atleast 5 levels when checking an issue. What makes you better than your competition is how little time you take in each iteration. The faster you learn, the better your product gets.

3. Pivot/Persevere – This is a neat concept. A lot of times I’m not sure if I should continue what I’m doing even though its not showing results because it seems like pay off is just round the corner. If my metrics are right and I have defined the outcome of the action I should know pretty soon if my activity is working or not.
This data from my trial is really helpful to decide whether to stop or continue. So I can pivot and try something different or I can persevere. Even if I persevere the metrics will help me fine tune and make the iteration better. Either way I save time and learn more. A pivot does not mean my idea failed, it just means I’ve found a better way to do it.

Ries puts across some really useful ideas through the book. My only complaint is his rambling. He rambles a lot in the book and especially a lot at the end. The book could have been shorter and I’d have been happier. I remember struggling towards the end to finish.

Title: Preservation
Author: Rachael Wade
Paperback: 217 pages
Publisher: Rabbit Hole Press (May 25th 2012)
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
Kate has no time for meaningless romantic charades, and definitely no time for hot college professors who are full of themselves and smitten with her. Constantly battling eviction notices, tuition she can’t afford, and a sick, dependent mother, the last thing she needs is to be distracted with someone else’s complicated baggage.

When she stumbles into Ryan Campbell’s creative writing class, he is only “Mr. Campbell” to her, until Ryan finds himself captivated by her writing and she is forced to face their mutual attraction. His cocky know-it-all syndrome is enough to send her running in the other direction, and his posse of female admirers and playboy reputation are enough to squander any odds in her favor.

But underneath Ryan’s abrasive facade is something to behold, and she can’t stay away for long. Ryan and Kate must decide who they’re willing to become and fight against their former selves if they want to make things work. That’s if academia, vicious vixens, old skeletons, and their own mastery at self-destruction don’t pummel their efforts first.

My Review:

Preservation is the first book I’ve read by Rachael Wade. I’d heard about her paranormal books so when I saw this one free for the Kindle I picked it up.

The book is a nice read though I am starting to think I am more of a historical fan rather than contemporary, so I may not be the best judge here.

The characters are interesting and I quite liked crisp Ryan though he seemed too loose (for want of a better word; promiscuous was too tame a word). I agree, he had been ‘burned’ by a woman but using women and discarding them just isn’t my kind of hero.

I understand Kate’s need to be independent in the story and found Ryan a little too controlling. That said this might be because Wade hasn’t seemed to spend too much time on romance. The characters meet briefly a couple of times, then Ryan declares he won’t sleep with Kate while she’s in his class and then promptly the two fall into bed. I just like a bit of love and romance before sex I guess. 🙂

The first 12% of the book is quite draggy but it picks up after that. The story seemed to me more about two people who have found great sex together rather than true love. A bit more romance would have been nice.

In the second half of the story Ryan sets Kate up with a chance to publish her book and then double-crosses her to get the deal for himself. This is something Kate later forgives. Really!!! How do you forgive that in a relationship? What about integrity? At this point in the story I expected a real surprise, coming from a woman I didn’t expect to see the lead female character just give her self-esteem up so easily.

Wade though has put Kate through her paces – her mother dies and she is almost raped. The bit about her mother seemed a bit over dramatic but Wade has dealt well with the almost rape and I could feel for Kate.

Two endearing characters in this story are Kate’s best friends – Carter and Dean. They make it easier to endure Ryan and Kate 🙂 Carter loves Kate and frankly I did expect him to be Kate’s soulmate. When Ryan double-crossed Kate I really expected Kate and Carter to get together. Now that would have been a cool end.

What I did get though was an OK read. You can get through the book for sure but I don’t guarantee enjoying it. I think Wade could have done better.

Title: Lady Sophia’s Rescue
Author: Cheryl Bolen
Paperback: 20,000 words
Publisher: Self-pub Kindle (Aug. 22th 2011)
Genre: Historical Regency Romance
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
As Lady Sophia passes through the gates of her new bridegroom’s country estate and he begins to whisper in her ear the delights that await her in his bed, Lady Sophia realizes she has made a most dreadful mistake. There’s only one thing to do. She must bolt.

The bride-on-the-run is rescued by the exceedingly handsome William Birmingham who thinks she’s a woman named Isadore, and though he’s the richest man in England, she mistakes him for a common (but well-to-do) criminal. Since she’d rather be dead than wed to her wretched bridegroom, Sophia pretends to be Isadore and take her chances with the provocative Mr. Birmingham. But how could she have known that her ruse would bring the gallant Mr. Birmingham into such peril from the wicked man she married? And how could she have known her enigmatic rescuer would ignite passions she never knew she possessed?

My Review:

Lady Sophia’s Rescue is a nice feel-good read. My only complaint is that its too short. Yes, I know it is a novella but I wish Bolen had sketched out the story more. It could definitely have been a full-fledged book.

I really liked the characters but again they could have been sketched out more. I would have liked to know each of them better. Especially Mr. Birmingham – he must have so many adventures to recount. And the villain Mr. Finkel – he seemed to give up so easily, I would rather he had put up a bit of a fight.

The story has a sense of adventure that is fun as you read but the end leaves you with a lot of loose strings and unanswered questions. I would have liked to know more about the scandal involving Lady Sophia’s sister and the yarn about the gold bullion would have made for excellent reading. I so was looking forward to the real Isadora’s entry.

Aside: The book cover could definitely have been better. Cutting off the heroine’s head at the top of the cover just seems gruesome and odd.

On the whole I enjoyed reading the novella and look forward to more books from Cheryl Bolen.

Title: Steve Jobs
Author: Walter Isaacson
Paperback: 630 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Oct. 24th 2011)
Genre: Biography
Read: eBook
Stars: *****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years–as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues–Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

My Review:

I’ve just finished reading Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson and I’m blown away by Jobs genius.

I have always been a staunch supporter of the open system. I’ve been a Windows used most of my life and when not Windows I was using Linux and Suse. I’ve been against Apple’s proprietary principle always but the book got me to see things from a different angle.

Before I had read the book I had seen and used some Apple products. A friend owned a Mac, hubby owns an iPad 2 which I enjoy using and the ease of use on it blows me away. I hardly have to ask for help. And now, I own a Mac Book Air and I’m unlearning Windows and finding that it’s not so difficult to learn to use a Mac.

Until I read the book I looked at Apple’s products as “products”. But Jobs doesn’t see Apple or its products that way. To him, each of them is a work of art, an ode to perfection. He saw that not everyone likes to tinker, some of us like it clean and simple.

Issacson has done a good job of showing us what Steve Jobs was like. A man with a lot of quirks that were painful but also a sheer genius who saw what no one else did. It amazes me how he knew what we wanted before we did so intuitively.

The book says so much about Jobs and Apple but it also walks you down the history of computers and gives a deeper understanding of where we came from and where we at today.

I haven’t switched to the closed camp after the book but I definitely take more pride in the Mac I have. After all its not just a computer, it’s a work of art!

A day after I wrote a post about asking people for what you want on Social Media, I finished reading Ginny Baird’s ‘The Sometime Bride’. Ginny’s was the first ebook in 22 ebooks I’ve read until now to ask me to engage with her explicitly.

Here’s what Ginny wrote –

A Note From the Author

Thanks for reading The Sometime Bride! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please help other people find this book.

1. This book is lendable, so send it to a friend who you think might like it so that she (or he) can discover me, too.

Watch for my upcoming release, Real Romance, due out in May 2012!

Here’s why I think more authors should do this.

Unlike most authors Ginny told me to share her book. Most authors tell you that the book you are reading is not lendable/shareable. This makes no sense as if I bought a paper book I would share it with friends, so why can’t I do that with an ebook as freely. As an author would you consider the number of people who have read your book or would you just focus on how many people have paid for your book? Isn’t the reason we write, to be read?

After reading Ginny’s message i stopped to think about the story and characters of her book. I gave the idea of a review a definite consideration. I don’t review all the books I read so asking definitely put ‘The Sometime Bride’ on my review list. My way of paying back an author for taking the time to write a book that I enjoyed is to review the book. Reviews help authors reach out to more readers and they work as great testimonials too. If you love books help authors reach out by reviewing their book.

I considered joining her newsletter and Facebook page. But what Ginny could have done better was check for typos and add a link to her Facebook page. I would have to search for her page on Facebook and thats a deterrent; giving me a link or way to find her page would have made me take action immediately.

I wish more authors would do this, it makes authors more approachable and human compared to that vague image I have of a person bend over a typewriter as I read a book. It gets me to like the author more, want to know more about the author and her books. Most importantly it builds a community of readers for an author for future books!

Title: The Palace of Illusions
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Paperback: 360 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (May 12th 2008)
Genre: Mythology (Indian)
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
A reimagining of the world-famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat—told from the point of view of an amazing woman.

Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.

The novel traces the princess Panchaali’s life, beginning with her birth in fire and following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war involving all the important kings of India. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her strategic duels with her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands’ most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female redefining for us a world of warriors, gods, and the ever-manipulating hands of fate.

Review:

I heard of ‘The Palace of Illusions’ first from my husband Che during a discussion about perpectives and how what we think of history may not be the only way it happened.

I have read the Amar Chitra Katha version of the Mahabharata and even watched the TV serials avidly but all of these were from Vayasa’s viewpoint. Somehow that was the Mahabharata for me, I’d never thought that Draupadi or a woman’s point of view to the whole battle maybe different. Thats why I read this book.

And it didn’t let me down. It is a journey worth taking to see the battle with a different pair of eyes. ‘The Palace of Illusions’ is the same old Mahabharata but as seen by Draupadi. Chitra does a good job of letting us peek into the heart and mind of a woman. Her turmoil at trying to be more that just a woman in the harem of kings and her quest to learn more, be more. How she struggles to accept her fate that was sealed the day she stepped out of the fire. Her love for one unattainable man and her duty to another five.

Chitra makes Draupadi just like any other woman with her issues and reconciliation with her mother-in-law. Her sense of pride and honour and the lengths she would go to to revenge them. A woman we can relate to and yet she stands apart with the role she plays in the story.

This book is a must read if you’re into Hindu Mythology and Lore, and even if you’re not, this is a must read for the different perpective to history and lore.

Title: Death by Facebook
Author: Everett Peacock
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (March 4th 2011)
Genre: Mystery
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
A vacationing soldier in Hawaii…
Earth’s most active volcano, anxious to repeat itself…
Two murders involving love, madness, friendship, hippies, tsunamis, and the great hereafter…

DEATH BY FACEBOOK by Everett Peacock
Be careful what you say online

Review:

The story plays out in Hawaii where James and Janet have gone for a vacation before he gets deployed to Afghanistan. Janet murders James and the book is about why she did that and the consequences of the murder on the island like a butterfly effect but much closer.

Death by Facebook has a lot of characters but each adds to the story. I found myself relating and feeling for each one of the many characters on the island.

Other than the murder Everett Peacock describes a volcano eruption and its impact on the people on the island. The mix of the kind of people he chooses to tell the story are varied – from a hippie to the police and scientists. The views and reactions of people in crisis fascinated me.

When I picked up this book I thought it would be all about Facebook and a murder but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Facebook played only a small part in the large story. There was so much more happening. The book is written well and grabs the reader. The pace of the story is good with a lot of action.

The book got me thinking about Facebook and just how powerful it could be both to do good and evil. Just how far reaching its messages are and its impact on people.

It also questioned good and evil. Janet starts her journey through the book as an evil person who murders her fiancé but as I went along with the story getting to know her better, I started to question if it was she who was evil or her situation.

I’d recommend this book to all who are looking for something different to read that is still enjoyable.

Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen Johnson
Paperback: 319 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (October 1st 2006)
Genre: YA
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
Summary: (GoodReads)When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn’t know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

Title: The Last Little Blue Envelope
Author: Maureen Johnson
Paperback: 282 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (April 26th 2011)
Genre: YA
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny’s backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he’s found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

Review:

These two books from Maureen are about Ginny who receives 13 envelopes from her Aunt who has passed away a short while back. Her Aunt is an adventurous spirit and the letters set Ginny off on an adventure that will change the way she sees the world.

There are questions that raise themselves as you read – the fact that Ginny’s parents allow her to embark on this journey, especially since Ginny is not allowed to carry a phone or any travel books. The trusting way that Ginny accepts the challenge of the trip even though she isn’t the adventurous type then.

But all that said the books are interesting and if you are a travel person you will relate to the books. Ginny’s adventures are fun and she learns some life lesson’s from her travels. Maureen describes the places and the people well; I could see Ginny walk down many of the lanes described. Ginny doesn’t travel to the only to touristy sites, she also goes to many hidden away parts of the cities she travels too. Kudos to Maureen for the research and travel involved.

I did find a few catches though, like – in book 2, Ginny is travelling in a two door car but at some points in the book Maureen writes as if it is a 4 door. 😀

The characters are described well and I related to them. Guess I’ve met people like them while travelling myself. The heroes Keith and Oliver are very real and I liked and felt for them both.

I liked the second book more than the first. That’s one of those rare things 🙂

The books are a quick read and worth reading!