Category: Books

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N is for Nicholas Sparks

Born December 31, 1965
“The first thing I did when I sold my book was buy a new wedding ring for my wife and asked her to marry me all over again”. Aww.. isn’t that romantic? But then it has to be, coming from an author who writes the most romantic stories. That’s Nicholas Sparks. I first read Message in a Bottle and loved it right away. Interestingly, he refuses to be slotted as a ‘Romance writer’. But for me he’ll always remain master of mush.

Slow start

Success took a while to come to him. While in college he wrote two novels that never got published. He gave up writing and turned to other careers including real estate appraisal and waiting at tables. Five years later he co-wrote a non-fiction book that got published. However that wasn’t really the start of his writing career. He went on to sell pharmaceuticals. While on the job he wrote a book in his spare time, inspired by his wife’s grandparents with everlasting love as it’s theme. Luckily for him, that book was picked off from the bunch of unsolicited manuscripts by a publisher’s assistant and Sparks landed his first book contract for The Notebook.

Since then he has published 17 novels, 8 of which have been made into films. How’s that for success?

Message in a Bottle

My favourite, however, remains Message in a Bottle. It was his second book. In the film Kevin Costner as the grieving widower is just perfect. I was heartbroken at that very sad ending apparently like many other readers. I couldn’t believe real life could ever be that cruel. However, Sparks says the book was inspired by the life of his father. When Sparks’ mother died his father was shattered. He wore black for four years and turned a recluse. It took him seven years to get into a new relationship and finally he found someone and was engaged. Two weeks later he died in a car crash. That’s where the story came from. 

He says the message he’s trying to put across is not a tragic one. Rather, it is one of hope – that people do get second chances at loving. Sigh!

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First: A round of applause for the lady who got Nicholas Sparks right Sreeja Praveen. She blogs at The Alter Ego. Do drop by people. Take a bow Sreeja. 

Now for tomorrow: My next author is miles away from mush and romance. This clue should give it away – one of his most famous protagonist is an animal named Napoleon. So tell me now.
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This post is part of the April A to Z Challenge, 2014 for the theme AMAZING AUTHORS.

Also linking to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

 

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M is for Mark Twain

Mark Twain with his characteristic mop of
shaggy hair and his famous cigar. He is said 
to have smoked 22 to 40 cigars a day and once said, 
“if smoking is not allowed in heaven, I shall not go.”

1835 – 1910

When I was young we had a book of comprehension that had short passages from various books. It was such a great way to whet a young reader’s curiosity – give her a tiny glimpse of a wonderful world then wait for her to go looking for the book.

That’s how I sought out this author ­- Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain author of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of  Huckleberry Finn. I remember well, the passage where Tom Sawyer trades an apple to ‘allow’ his friends to paint the fence instead of him. Brilliant! His other best selling work Huckleburry Finn was an offshoot from Tom Sawyer and tackled the issue of slavery. Twain had seen slavery up close in his homestate Missouri. The books remain popular among readers even today.

It is not possible to do justice to him or to his books in a few hundred words here. I do hope, however, that like my language book I manage to whet your appetite through this post, to seek him out on your own.

His books are special

With his wife and three daughters. He fell in love with his
wife when he saw her picture with his future brother-in-law.
… because he was one of the wittiest authors ever. His wrote funny books that would appeal to young kids even while there would be a sensitive, intelligent undercurrent running through them. His books contain a satirical commentary on the society and the human nature which cannot but appeal to adults as well.

A man of many trades and many names

Mark Twain’s father passed away when he was 11 and he started working when he was just 12 at a printing press. He took up various jobs including that of a steamboat captain (where he got his name Mark Twain) and a prospector before he took to writing. How he got his pen name is one of my favourite stories. While he was a river pilot the cry of ‘Mark Twain’ implied it was safe to sail because the water’s depth as measured by a ‘mark’ on a line was two ‘twain’ fathoms (12 feet). He used other pseudonyms too inluding Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, W Epaminodas Adrastus Blab, Sergeant Fathom and Rambler.

Did you know?

– That Mark Twain was a great speaker? He was often invited to talk shows which he would present in his quintessential witty style. These were solo ‘acts’ almost like the current day stand-up comic shows.

– And that he had a keen interest in Science and Technology? He even patented three inventions – a replacement to suspenders for trousers, a history trivia game and a self-pasting scrap book. How’s that for creativity?

– Also, he was a master of quotable quotes
Next time you need a quirky quote search for Mark Twain. Sample these..

  • Go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company.
  • Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: This is the ideal life.
  • My mother had a great deal of trouble with me but I think she enjoyed it.
  • Familiarity breeds contempt and children.

The Comet Connection

He was born in 1835 two weeks after the Halley’s Comet made its closest approach to the Earth. He believed he would go away with the Comet as well. And he did just that – he passed away in 1910 one day after the comet again made a close approach to the earth.

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Ladies keep your handkerchief’s at the ready for tomorrow as I host a Master of Mush. A contemporary gentleman who has penned some of the most poignant romances you’ve ever read.

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This post is part of the April A to Z Challenge, 2014 for the theme AMAZING AUTHORS.

Also linking to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

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L for Louisa May Alcott

It’s back to my childhood and back to a 19th century lady with L. Today it is Louisa May Alcott. If you didn’t read her Little Women series in your childhood it’s not too late to pick up a copy. Make sure you save it for your daughter too. If you do not have daughters well then you can just skip this one for here’s one author who is pretty much a girl thing.

I started reading her in school and they had the right amount of gyan to appeal to the Irish nuns who ran our school and yet had that tiny dash of very ‘propah’ romance to keep me glued.

Louisa Alcott’s life was ‘Little Women’

She was the second of four sisters  born to an educationist father and a social worker mother. She was taught by her father and his intellectual friends who included writers and educators like Emerson, Hawthorne and Thoreau.
The family went through a rough patch when all the sisters had to take up work to support the family finances. Louisa worked as a teacher, a seamstress, governess, a writer and a domestic helper…  a lot like the girls in Little Women.
She started off writing passionate books for adults that told dramatic stories of revenge (the ones I never got to read). And of course there were her books for kids. Once her kids’ book became popular she never returned to adult writing.
A scene from her book Little Women
Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men and Jo’s Boys formed a perfect series. I also read a set of two – Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.
A lot of Louisa’s family values spilled into her books. Principles like ‘Plain living high thinking’, inculcating good habits, dignity of labour — all formed a conservatively perfect mix for young girls.

Louisa and Jo

Louisa modeled Jo after herself in Little Women. She had Jo’s rebellious streak. Jo turned writer, just like her. Also, she shared a rivalry with her youngest sister quite like Jo and Amy in the book. However when her sister passed away at childbirth she took in her daughter, also called Louisa, and cared for her till she herself passed away.

Unlike Jo, who gets married, Alcott remained a spinster all her life. Remarking on her spinsterhood she says, “I am more than half persuaded that I am a man’s soul put by some freak of nature into a woman’s body… because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man.”

Did you have a favourite sister from among Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy?

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And now for tomorrow’s clue. Oh I enjoy this bit tremendously. So tomorrow’s author is a man, a very witty one. His most well know book has a young protagonist who shares his initials with me.. hee hee! Well it’s my blog, I get to behave like a megalomaniac here once in a while.
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This post is part of the April A to Z Challenge, 2014 for the theme AMAZING AUTHORS.

Also linking to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
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K is for Khaled Hosseini

Born 1965

Each morning as you pick up the paper over your cup of tea you read about the happenings in a far off country. They might disturb you sometimes, but you start your day and it’s all forgotten. Then along comes an author who tells a story so powerful, so stirring he makes the country come alive in a way that you can never get it out of your mind.

That’s what Khaled Hosseini’s books did for me.  Not only does he weave a perfect story, the setting brings alive Afghanistan, his country of birth, in an I-saw-it-happen kind of way.
Hosseini was born in Afghanistan but his father, a diplomat, moved to France when he was 11. He never got back to Kabul until much later when he was 38. However his connection with the country remained strong through his friends and family back home.
A doctor by profession, he gave it up after the success of his debut book ‘The Kite Runner’ to become a full time writer.

His books

Kite Runner
The Kite Runner was born when Hossieni heard the Taliban had banned kite flying. Since he had plenty of happy memories of this childhood sport he found the dictat exceptionally cruel. He did a short story on it but it was rejected. Years later he found the draft and decided to expand it into a novel.
That the book tells the story of a father and a son, a story of friendship, of betrayal and of redemption is what makes it universal. Although the political upheaval in Afghanistan is a story in itself, in the book it is a backdrop that adds beautifully to the heartbreaking narrative.
After getting into a young boy’s mind Hosseini explored the relationship between two women Mariam and Laila bound together by a strange bond in his next A Thousand Splendid Suns.
His third book, And the Mountains Echoed, is yet again about relationships.. between a brother and a sister, a mother and a daughter.

What I like best …

…about his books is the way he explores the connection between people – relationships are central to his tales. I love that his stories allow for redemption. I love that despite the dark narrative they end with a ray of hope, however tiny. And I love the way he weaves in the political background so that it becomes a part of the story.

So what do you love about Khaled Hosseini?
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Tomorrow’s clue will be an easy one if you studied at a conservative Convent school like I did. It’s a lady again… a lady of my childhood who wrote stories about good little girls for good little girls. Come on ladies – come up with the name.
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This post is part of the April A to Z Challenge, 2014 for the theme AMAZING AUTHORS.

Also linking to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
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J is for JK Rowling

There’s barely anything I can say about this author who’s life has been almost as magical as the protagonist she created. It’s JK Rowling the creator of the wonderful Harry Potter. I’ll confine my post to the author and will not even attempt to talk about her books at all. One, because there’s so much been said already and two, because if I do start I wouldn’t know where to stop. I’ll just say that …
– If you thought the books are just for kids, you’re wrong, wrong, wrong.
– If you watched the films without reading the books and wrote them off – big mistake. The films ONLY add to the book experience. They do not substitute it at all.
– If you haven’t read the books at all, you’ve missed being touched by magic.


Jo, Joanne, JK Rowling

She was born Joanne Rowling in a small family comprising her mum, dad and a younger sister. She called herself Jo and says, “No one called me Joannae unless they were angry.” The K stands for Kathleen, her paternal grandmother’s name, and was added later because the publishers felt a book written by a woman wouldn’t appeal to young boys who they thought would be their primary audience. And so JK Rowling she became. She has also written books like the crime thriller, The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

As for those publishers how wrong were they!! 

The hard times

Her mum passed away early from Multiple Sclerosis and that broke her heart. Later, she got married and moved to Portugal. However when her daughter, Jessica, was just three months old her marriage ended and she moved back to Edinburg… penniless.

She moved into a rat infested tiny home that she painted herself. Friends played a very important role in her life and probably that’s reflected in her novels. They loaned her money to move to a better home and also helped her furnish her house sending her as much furniture as they could spare.

She applied for a PG course that would qualify her to take up a teaching position. That, she thought, was the only way she could improve her life. She had planned on leaving Jessica in the creche for student mums. To her despair the creche had closed down. “That was one of the worst moments,” says she. However, another friend came to her rescue lending her childcare fees.

She took a student loan for her course and toiled for one long hard year barely aware that success awaited her right around the corner. 

The birth of Harry Potter

This is the stuff legends are made of. During a delayed train ride from Manchester to London the idea of Harry Potter was born .. fully formed including the ending of book seven. She had the whole thing in her head all the time. How’s that for cool? She started writing six months before her mum passed away and regrets not having shared the book with her.  

Rowling recreates her ‘cafe writing’ for the cameras in 1999. Photo: Austral

The going must have been tough as she struggled for survival. Famously, she would write in cafes while her daughter snoozed by her. “I write in cafe’s because I like other people making my coffees,” said she in an interview.

As she ended her teaching course she had also finished writing the first Harry Potter book – The Philosopher’s Stone. It was a bit of a struggle to find a publisher. But by the time she took up a part time teaching position her novel had been accepted and the rest, as they say, is history. Within five years she turned from a penniless writer surviving on state support, to a multi-millionairess… a rages to riches story!!


Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermionie (Emma Watson), JK Rowling and Ron (Rupert Grinch)

Much later.. she finished her last book in a hotel room over a glass of champagne.. quite a contrast to her ‘sad little apartment’ days. In an interview she says, “I sat in that hotel room drinking champagne, sobbing my heart out.”


One of my favourite quotes from her ..

“I was set free because my greatest fear had been realised, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Rock bottom ‘a solid foundation’.. positive thinking at it’s best!

So tell me which is your favourite Harry Potter book. Mine would be The Goblet of Fire for it’s sheer scale and the super climax and also a tiny bit because of the gorgeous Twilight hero (Robert Pattinson) who makes an appearance as Cedric Diggory in the film.

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Tomorrow we meet an author from closer home, not quite India, but from a neighbour’s neighbour. Oh and he’s another gentleman. Finally, the men seem to be catching up. Guesses anyone?
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This post is part of the April A to Z Challenge, 2014 for the theme AMAZING AUTHORS.

Also linking to the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
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