Mary Higgins Clark could very well be described as the American equivalent of Agatha Christie. While she hasn’t come up with instantly recognizable characters like Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, Clark has certainly cranked out a vast number of best-selling mysteries. Some of them later adapted into TV movies and even a couple of films.

In The Second Time Around, Clark explores the mind of a mass killer with her usual grace and compassion. This time we are introduced to Carly DeCarlo, a financial advice columnist turned investigative reporter, and her quest for the truth about the suspicious disappearance of Nicholas Spencer, the head of medical research company “Gen-stone.” As the facts unravel in what seems to be a predictable con game, Carly slowly finds out that she has become the target of a dangerous group involved in a sinister scheme.

Although the story is based around some questionable medical assumptions, once you have gotten past those ‘glitches’, this book is sure to leave any reader thoroughly entertained. The pace is breath takingly fast, and it passes off as a light, but worthwhile read. Clark is a skilled writer and her books never fail to entertain. Intermingling a well-crafted first-person narrative with sporadic chapters of 3rd-person narrative, she offers readers a fine treat of mystery and suspense which will keep them on their toes throughout the book. In terms of content, there is a lot of juicy stuff about corporate sabotage and medical research which contribute a fair amount to the plot’s believability.

In between the clever twists and turns, there are enough clues to keep the reader guessing and follow hunches without giving too much of the plot away. It’s easy to see how her ability to create believable characters (both likable and not so) has made her books so successful. Each of the characters has been very well defined throughout, and a few are so well described, its easy to get the creeps whenever they re-emerge in the story.

If you’re looking for a nice change of pace after more challenging reads, then this one won’t disappoint. A lot of enjoyable plot twists, some thought involved, but overall, quick and painless to read.

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His books have been made into box office hits. He has 15 published novels, with themes that include faith, love, tragedy and fate. The American hero of romantic short stories, Nicholas Sparks has come a long way since his early days as a salesman for pharmaceuticals who wrote in his free time.

But had he been a writer more interested in the political, economic, and cultural movements which took place in our country, the titles for many of his books would have been inspired by events other than the tragic tales of love between his characters.

Here’s a look at some examples:

Sandra Marton

Bestselling American author of romance novels, she has been a writer of over 75 titles in Harlequin Enterprises Ltd since 1985. Having written her first story at the tender age of seven, her novels are now published in more than twenty languages all around the world.

Some of her famous books are:

Roman Spring Postcards from Europe (1994)

Eye of the Storm (1989)

The Sicilian Marriage (2005)

Merry Christmas Love (2009)

Winston Mawdsley Graham

English novelist, best known for the Poldark series of historical novels. The Poldark saga which was made into a television series during the 1970s, was so successful that some vicars rescheduled or cancelled church services rather than try to have them when Poldark was showing. Other than the Poldark series, Graham’s most successful work was Marnie, a thriller which was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock during 1964.

Some of his famous books are:

No Exit (1940)

Ross Poldark (1945)

Stephanie (1992)

Memoirs of a Private Man (2003)

Browse through more titles available from other bestselling authors at www.INDIAreads.com.

A French aviator and writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupery is best known for his best selling master piece: The Little Prince. On his 110th Birth anniversary, we bring together some of his Little passages filled with Great meaning!!!

“All grown ups were children once,
Although few of them remember it.”

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.”

“If I were to command a general to turn into a seagull, and if the general did not obey, that would not be the general’s fault. It would be mine.”

“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it.”

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.”

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He does not say “My men were beaten,” he says, “I was beaten.”

“I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man’s self-respect is a sin.”

Janelle Taylor

Janelle Diane Williams was born June 28, 1944 in Athens, Georgia. In 1981, Taylor sold her first book. She is known for her historical romances. Currently she lives in Georgia with her husband Michael Taylor.

Some of her popular books include

Wild Sweet promise

Chase the Wind

Midnight Secrets

Moondust Madness

Rent these and other popular Janelle Taylor titles from the INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

(28 June 1712  – 2 July 1778)

Son of a Geneva watchmaker, 18th century writer, composer and philosopher Rousseau influenced the French revolution with his political thoughts. His novel, Emile: or, On Education, is a seminal treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of thephilosophes among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death.

Some of his well known works include:

Discourse on the Arts and Sciences

Pygmalion: A Lyric Scene

The Social Contract

Robert Lynn Asprin

Everyone who has read Eclipse, the third book in The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, knows the fate of Bree Tanner, a newborn vampire who is killed by the powerful Volturi. This is the tale recounting the last five days of her second life as a vampire.

In Eclipse, readers were introduced to Bree as a girl with negative character shades. She thirsts for Bella Swan’s blood, and is completely used to violence, death, and mass bloodshed. Besides the fact that she is a bloodthirsty newborn vampire named Bree, who does not want to die, readers do not know anything much about her. In this book, written from her perspective, readers will see how she lives, and find out why a Vampire Army is very difficult to sustain. This book takes a journey into her daily life to find out how she must have felt throughout the whole period of time.

Bree’s story is much different from Bella’s. Where Bella’s world always seemed muted because she was shielded from much of the violence throughout the series, Bree sees and experiences violence on a day-to-day basis. As far as the storytelling goes, the way the details of Bree’s conversion to the vampire life is revealed gradually throughout the first half of the story is both dramatic and engaging. Even the fact that Bree ended up trading her humanity for a cheeseburger, of all things provides a great sense of tragic irony to the story. A nice touch by Meyer is how the contemporary culture references in her books always act as a nice reality contrast to the more fantastical elements.

Meyer seems to finally get into her genre and fully explores her creation. We see that newborn vampires have absolutely no loyalty to each other, no self-control, and no qualms about sinking their teeth into their poor human food banks.  While it is difficult to give a more detailed review without adding a spoiler here and there, another nice touch is the inclusion of several new characters who add to the story quite interestingly. The characters of Fred and Diego in particular are sure to generate added interest for readers with their quirky abilities. Also seeing the Cullens from Bree’s point of view is quite fascinating.

However, a lot of possibilities seem to have been cut short, even though there are some memorable characters who seem to have the potential to take the story much further ahead as mentioned before. On the bright side, though short, the tale is somewhat bittersweet, and seems to  actually be a bit of a metaphor for how real life actually is. Bree’s life and even her roots are much more relatable than Bella’s ever were. Her circumstances are far from desirable, yet she works with the lot she was dealt . . .even until the bitter end.

Overall, this is a quick, yet very enjoyable read recommended to all Twilight fans. It will also change the way that readers view Newborn Vampires.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer is available for rent and purchase at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore. Members get to avail huge discounts and points on every purchase. Register now!

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Jennifer Archer

American author of young adult/teen fiction, women’s fiction and novels, her books typically have strong female protagonists, and have been nominated for numerous awards. Before becoming a full-time writer she worked in the fields of oil and gas accounting, real estate management, and the pharmacy and medical equipment industries. She is the author of eight published novels and three novellas, and has published numerous non-fiction works.

Some of her famous books are:

Body and Soul (1999)

The Me I Used to Be (2005)

Of Her Rocker (2006)

Annie on the Lam: A Christmas Caper (2007)

Colin Henry Wilson

Prolific British writer who first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist, Wilson has since written widely on true crime, mysticism, and other topics. His books on crime, ranging from encyclopedias to studies of serial killing show his deep ongoing interest in the life and times of Jack the Ripper.

Some of his famous works are:

The Outsider (1956)

Adrift in Soho (1961)

The Mind Parasites (1967)

Super Consciousness (2009)

Browse through more titles from other bestselling and award winning authors at the INDIAreads Online Library.

GEORGE ORWELL

(25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950)

He gave us satirical The Animal Farm and dystopian 1984. The world knew him as George Orwell, but his real name was Eric Arthur Blair. Born in Motihari in Bihar, Orwell spent the first year of his life in India. He went on to join the INDIA Imperial Police and at the age of 19 went to serve his posting in Burma.  His experiences there became the inspiration behind his novel Burmese days and his essays, The Hanging and Shooting an Elephant.  In a little over four years, he was back in England on sick leave (having contracted Dengue) and decided to give up his Police life for becoming a writer. Soon however, he joined the Spanish Civil war to “fight against Fascism.” During the World War 2 when he was declared as “unfit for military service of any kind”, Orwell joined the BBC and started a programme with Indian broadcasts.

When he finished Animal Farm in 1944, no publisher was ready to print it as it was considered to be an attack on the Soviet regime. But one year later,  Secker and Warburg agreed to publish it and in the post-war climate, it became an instant success. Orwell died at the age of 1946 and his tombstone in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire makes no mention of his pen name.

Orwell’s novels and writings are known not just for his language and writing skills, but for his intense political commentary and satire. He was opposed to totalitarianism and advocated democratic socialism. Some his famous works include:

1984

Animal Farm

Shooting an Elephant

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JOSEPHINE TEY

(25 July 1896–13 February 1952)

A Scottish author Josephine Tey or Elizabeth Mackintosh is best known for her mystery novels. She also wrote under the pen name Gordon DaviotTey has also made an appearance in other novels including the 1982 Stephen King best seller Apt Pupil.

Some of her famous works include:

Richard of Bordeaux

The Man in the Queue

To Love and Be Wise

Join the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore and discover new authors and books – learn what makes them memorable and why.

According to Wikipedia, the novel’s success actually brought the term “Pollyanna” into use in English language. It is used to describe someone who seems always to be able to find something to be “glad” about no matter what circumstances arise.

Even though this is a book for children and younger readers, it is an awesome read even for adults. The book follows the story of an orphan girl, named Pollyanna, who is sent to live with her aunt after her father’s death. Soon she finds out that she has stepped into a house where she is not welcome. Her aunt seems to hate her and has a harsh behavior toward her. . Moreover, Pollyanna is not allowed to talk about her father in her aunt’s presence.

Pollyanna, is somewhat of a “blind” optimist, and this becomes very clear very soon. She’s been through some tough times but she still manages to put a smile on her face and shake off the bad stuff. Nothing can put her in bad mood. She can always find something to be glad for. Although she is only eleven years old, she starts to change the view of all the people who live around toward life. She plays a game called Glad Game which soon becomes famous around the small town where she lives.

When she starts reaching out to the troubled people of the small town, the little girl is met with a wide variety of pathetic tales of woe and loss. And Pollyanna’s insistently cheerful nature is clouded by the fact that each time she plays the infamous “glad game” it is bitter reminder of the harsh life she lived, and the loss of her beloved father.

This books belongs to the same genre as the famous Anne Gables series or Mister God,This is Anna, where through little girls the authors teach people to live life to the fullest, to accept problems and to find happiness in everyday events and things.

Eleanor H. Porter describes her characters very well, and it is easy for the reader to picture them as the story moves along. She is an extremely talented writer, who leaves an excellent message for the reader through a simple and short story. Although some might be a little disappointed with the pathos embedded into the story, it is needed in order to balance out the sometimes saccharine nature of the tale where a little girl reminds a whole town of what it is to be glad. This book is recommended for all those who think that life is currently too full of problems, or simply want to be more happy than what they already are!

Pollyanna is available for rent and purchase at the INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library cum Bookstore.

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Anita Mazumdar Desai

Indian novelist and Emeritus John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1978 for her novel, “Fire on the Mountain.”

Some of her famous books are:

The Village By The Sea (1982)

Fasting, Feasting (1999)

Best Loved Indian Stories (2000)

Matter of Taste (2004)

Mercedes Lackey

American author of fantasy novels, many which are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels form a complex tapestry of interaction between human and non-human protagonists with many different cultures and social mores.

Some of her famous novels are:

Valdemar universe

Nightside

The Last Herald Mage

Bedlam’s Bard