I hate my nose!

Says, Alfred. This doggie has self esteem issues and is not happy with his appearance, especially the shape of his nose. Sure enough, we may look at his mug and think 'cute'. But that didn't stop Michael Jackson from getting multiple surgeries, did it? Anyways, I am moving away from the point. Alfred is unhappy with his nose and finds himself on a quest for the perfect nose.

Alfred's Nose promises a great story (with a moral, dont we love that!), and good visuals. I wish to buy this book for my nephew, when he is older. I am actually not a fan of dressing dogs in human clothes, sweaters, mufflers, anything to help them stay warm - OK, anything more, Ugh. Yet, I think the moral of the book might make this entire thing interesting.

The book is written by Vivienne Flesher. You can check out a few pages HERE.

A Second Chance

Literary praise much like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, or reader. Or sometimes praise may be affected by the guilt by association to one's past actions.

After the disaster with A Million Little Pieces, James Frey is now out with a new book – Bright Shiny Morning a book focused on L.A. Interestingly, the NY Times gave it a rave review and its words are a strong but meaningful article giving James a second chance and urging you to do the same. On the other hand, there are other reviews that believe Book 2 is worse than Book 1. One critic implied that if James Frey was going for fiction (which he was not in Book 1), then still the fiction in A Million Little Pieces is much better than Bright Shiny Morning.

Unaccustomed Earth

As a reader of Jhumpa's previous book, I will give this a read. I loved and i mean loved her 'Interpreter of Maladies'. Namesake, not as much. It was good, but kinda slow. The movie was OK too although I wasn't sure is Kal Penn as ideal for the role or if he did a great job. It was a beautifully shot movie though, that I must admit.

In a way I am glad Unaccustomed Earth is a book of short stories. If you have read the book, let me know what you think!

Eerie. Abrupt endings. Just Terrific.

This was the last book I read... Great book to own because you can be quickly enamored by Roald Dahls writing, and fantasy-like macabre stories by picking up this book and reading a story or two.

Kafka on the Shore

I just started 'Kafka on the shore'. It is quite interesting how this book finally got to my hands. On my way to work by subway one morning, I noticed a girl across from me reading this book.

It caught my interest and I twisted anf turned and bent and well, did whatever it took until I found out the name. No! I was not obnoxious or rude!

Half an hour later, I was on Google waiting to read more about it. I hadn't heard of the author before this, so it was kind of difficult for me to remember his name. Anyways, search engines make our lives so much easier these days.

That very day I decided to share my new find with my friends through email. A few months later, among other things, I welcomed Kafka's story in my house as a birthday gift. Thank you N! Its been a while and Haruki has been staying patient as I made my way to pick up his book. Now finally, Kafka and I have begun our journey....will write more when we reach the end.

The Pig Did It

Book titles intrigue us all. They are of course the first impression we have of the book. Some of them might be to apt that we know exactly what to expect and then there are others that might be talking about world peace, while the title screams 'Pencils and paper', what???

Well, The Pig Did It, by Joseph Caldwell sounds like a book I'd like to read. It is about a guy who goes to his aunt's house to get through the rejection he faced by one of his students. He happens to cross paths with Mr. Pig who insists on following him around. The story continues as he embarks on a murder mystery.

I can't share more yet, but I envision it to be a charmingly, funny and thrilling murder mystery. What with a title like 'The Pig Did It', I hope it truly is just that.

Read & Return

If you are one of the regular travelers and enjoy reading, then you probably know about this already. The Read & Return program offered by the Paradies Shops is really cool. It offers travelers a great way to save money. You can buy a book, read it, and return it within 6 months to one of their many stores and still receive 50% off. This program has apparently been around since 2003, but I haven't tried it as yet.

I mean a library definitely beats this model in terms of price, but I think it may just cater to a separate audience, the ones that probably don't have the time to go to a library.