Rosie

If i have to describe the book in a word - "heartwarming"! Its a warm story about Nick Robertson and his grandmother, Rosie. What made me appreciate this book is that how Rosie, an elderly English citizen lives her life and has so much fun living it. She makes everyone around her feel happy about life. I'm glad i picked out this book when i was in a dull mood. It was a real cheer-upper! Rosie is the main character, of course, and she has a unique quality about being happy. She finds reasons to be happy. She has a strange story to tell about her secret birth and being related to the Russian Royal family, which no one believed, till the end, when Nick gets to know that she is, in fact, Russian royalty. There was a little poem in the story which i loved so much, that i quoted it at my grandad's funeral as well.

"Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry: I am not there. I did not die."

BRAVO Titchmarsh. One of the best compositions I've ever read.

Kill The Messenger

One of those spine chilling books that had me flipping through pages to see what would happen to Jace Damon. Hoag describes how this bicycle messenger gets caught in a murder which he does not wish to be in and how he finds himself so tangled in it, that he's one of the major suspects! I've never read any of Hoag's older books, so i'm not sure what her style is like. But for a first read, this book really impressed me. One thing that i found in this book is that, its got a little too much cramped in a few pages. There are too many thrillers in the story and they seem to keep coming on incessantly. I guess its a good thing for a person like me who loves to read thriller novels, but for regular readers, its too much of a good thing! The characters she sketches in the story - Kev Parker, the detective and Jace, the messengers are the main characters. The story revolves around them and how Kev ends up solving the murder mystery with a little help from Jace and his little brother.