321. My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

BOOK REVIEW: My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

I am left crying for more after this book! O.M.G. THE BEST MODERN FAIRYTALE I HAVE READ THIS YEAR. PERIOD. It had adaptations from Snow White and Cinderella that were matched with the sensibilities of modern life, that's why this novel was took my heart in its grasp.

If you're Savannah Delano, you end up with a gum-chewing, cell phone-carrying, high heel-wearing, teenage faury godmother named Chrysanthemum (Chrissy) Everstar. After Savannah's picture-perfect boyfriend, Hunter, dumps her to go out with her older sister, Jane, she idly wishes she could not find a true prince to take her to the prom.

Instead, she gets Chrissy. Only a "fair" godmother (because she's not a very good fairy student), Chrissy attempts to grant Savannah 3 wishes, which get her sent back to the Middle Ages: once as Cinderella, once as Snow White, and once to save Tristan, the surprisingly cute boy from her school who's also found himself a victim of Chrissy's mistaken wish-granting.

From trolls to dragons to the mysterious Black Knight, Savannah and Tristan must beat the odds to make it back to modern times together. Part lighthearted fantasy and part romantic comedy, this book proves that finding your one true love can be a Grimm experience!

After reading this, I looked at fairy tales in a completely different light. Wonderfully written by such a talented author, it made for pleasant reading right until the very end. For those of you who are into reading young adult genre books or love a good rom-com, this book will lead you on a magical journey.

 

320. The Complete A to Z for your V - A Women's Guide to Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About your Vagina: Health, Pleasure, Hormones and More by Alyssa Dweck, M.D. and Robin Westen

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Complete A to Z for your V - A Women's Guide to Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About your Vagina: Health, Pleasure, Hormones and More by Alyssa Dweck, M.D. and Robin Westen

The V-word, many of us cringe when we hear the word being uttered openly in public. The women retreat into their shells as if to say "I wish I could get swallowed up by the ground right now!". Well, good news ladies! Feel free to use the word vagina as it is something that we should be proud of and own with heads held high. As women, we were created with this special body part through which life is born and much more!

This book makes finding the answers easy and asking the questions even easier. Breaking the mold on women's health guides, this book tells women of all ages what they need to know about their own unique health. Whether you are researching a specific issue or just want a go-to reference for yourself or other femme fatales, this book offers it all in a friendly and funny voice from experts in the field of women's health.

The best part of this book is that it junks the misinformation, misconceptions and myths that confuse us all. It also encourages women to appreciate their vajayjays and nurture the mind-V connection. Readers will be able to discover the latest science, dispel taboos and get in on the new ways women are talking openly and freely about their health and their rights.

I thought this book was incredibly fun as the facts and recommendations were put forward in a really fun and casual way, not your typical "Doctor says..." like most health advice books. It was truly an eye-opener as a lady myself, I never knew there were so many things that concerned my lady flower and many more out there. Grab this book I say!

319. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

 

BOOK REVIEW: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

I fell in love with this novel in my teens and I'm rereading it now after almost 15 years. Tear-jerking and heart-warming at the same time, this was written in the context of a modern fairytale.

In Bascom, North Carolina, everyone has a story to tell about the Waverley women (and this has nothing in common with the Witches of Waverley Place). The house that's been in the family for generations, the walled garden that mysteriously blooms year round, the rumours of dangerous loves and tragic passions.

Every Waverley woman is somehow touched by magic. Claire has always clung to the Waverleys' roots, tending the enchanted soil in the family garden from which she makes her sought-after delicacies - famed and feared for their curious effects.

She has everything she thinks she needs - until one day she wakes to find a stranger has moved in next door and a vine of ivy has crept into her garden. Claire's carefully tended life is about to run gloriously out of control.

Claire is also brought face-to-face with her half-sister, Sydney, and Sydney's daughter, Bay, both of them carrying much of the magic the Waverley bloodline has. A book of sisterly love and opening heart's doors to welcome in love, this book is sure to captivate the female reader till the last page.

318. Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink by Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller

BOOK REVIEW: Spirituous Journey - A History of Drink by Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller

I miss going out for a drink with my godmother and her family in Kuala Lumpur. A good Long Island Tea or a Mint Julep, nothing can be more refreshing than a cocktail in the tropical climes of Malaysia. Alas, I can only relieve it in my imagination by armchair travelling through the history of drinks. This book definitely worked up a thirst for alcoholic beverages.

What role did Scotch whisky play in the development of the steam engine (and yes, I did mean the steam engine!)? Who first coined the word "alcohol"? These questions and more will be answered by the authors as they have been on a spirituous (pun intended) journey since they first launched their website Shaken Not Stirred: A Celebration of the Martini and the book by the same name.

15 years of travel around the world, a few worn out library cards, and thousands of pages of undiscovered research later, they have amassed their findings in the 2-volume work, Spirituous Journey: A History of Drink.

This first volume opens with the surprising discovery that ancient Arabic term "al kol" had 2 appropriate definitions long before Europeans learnt to distill alcohol. From there, the authors trace the birth of spirits from China, to India, to Persia, through Europe and on to the New World.

This book is the winner of the 2009 World Gourmand Cookbook awards for Drink History, and the writing is what sets this book apart from the rest, earning its place in the Food (and now Drink) Lover's literary canon. Full of humorous anecdotes, recipes, and a brilliant foreword by Gary Regan, this is a drink historian's bible that is fun to read as well.

I found this book very intriguing as the history of drinks was very comprehensive. There was even a part of the book commemorated solely for the discussion of how commercial ice transformed from a luxurious commodity to a household necessity, then to bars, pubs and taverns all over the world. Get this book for your friends or family who enjoy the occassional tipple or two.

 

317. A Breath of Fresh Air by Erica James

 

BOOK REVIEW: A Breath of Fresh Air by Erica James

We found love in a hopeless place. - from the song "We Found Love" by Rihanna

The sentence from this song aptly describes the whole story. Death of a husband in a loveless marriage, bumping into a guy who has a history of his own...emotional complications and rollercoasters bring the reader on a thoroughly enjoyable ride in this paperback romance novel.

Charlotte Lawrence is consumed by guilt - after months of agonising she finally asked her workaholic husband for a divorce. The very same day, Peter was killed in a tragic accident. Charlotte's only wish is to return home to the idyllic Cheshire village of her childhood.

Ivy Cottage and Hulme Welford are all Charlotte remembered - lunch in the shade of the fig tree and fork suppers. And her interfering sister Hilary hasn't changed either, organizing everything from milk on the doorstep to Alex, the sitting tenant.

Hilary is determined that Charlotte, far too young for a widow's weeds, should find love anew. And what better place to start than with the eligible bachelor next door? 

Set in the quaint England village, I was amused by many of the English terms. Heartwarming and tearjerking at the same time, this novel brought up a similar situation in my mind about someone close to me. Just because she is now a widow, love can't be denied its place when it comes a-knocking. I'm going to pass this book to her, for her to know that love mends all grief and makes you start life anew.

316. Most Bizarre...Mysteries of the Deep compiled & edited by Frank Spaeth

BOOK  REVIEW: Most Bizarre...Mysteries of the Deep compiled and edited by Frank Spaeth

Being locked up at home due to the MCO, all of us dream of a holiday by the clear blue waters of pristine beaches, let it be Pulau Perhentian or the more exotic Maldives. But beneath the tranquility of those waves lies something darker and more sinister than you would ever have imagined.....

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water, this book of water monsters, ghostly vessels and oceanic oddities surfaces, from Atlantis to the Bermuda Triangle, from the Loch Ness monster to giant jellyfish, readers will be amazed at both the personal accounts and detailed investigations of extraordinary experiences in our world's waterways.

Straight from the pages of FATE Magazine, the best sea stories of the past years are sure to keep the avid reader on dry land (and maybe develop thallasophobia, a dreaded fear of water). 

I especially loved the chapter on the Bermuda Triangle and sea monsters. The theories, though outdated, were pretty logical. It made me think of how sometimes the answers for unaswered questions are closer to home than we think. I found this to be a great read and left me completely awestruck at the end.

315. The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin

BOOK REVIEW: The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus & Emma McLaughlin

I was moved to tears through both the emotional and hilarious sides that this novel had to offer. This book which has been adapted for the silver screen, is a classic in the non-fiction genre and still remains a fast favourite in the chick lit section today.

The story revolves around Nan (I'm not sure whether the pun for the short form of nanny was intended here). Nan has a tricky relationship with her employer, Mrs. X. A non-existent relationship with Mr. X. But she loves their little boy, Grayer, to pieces.

In between looking after 4-year-old Grayer and running a thousand errands for Mrs. X, his rich, uptight Manhattanite mother, Nan is trying to have a life. There's college, shopping, her friends, her cat George. And the gorgeous Harvard boy from the sixth floor😂

But the X family's dramas keep intruding - visits from Mr. X's predatory mistress, catastrophic family outings and, as a final straw, the case of the marriage-destroying panties. As divorce looms, Nan realizes how attached she's become to the X's underloved son - and how nannying has become more than just a job.

I loved this story because it hit a chord on so many levels. First are the nannies, in Malaysia we call them domestic helpers. Most parents who have domestic helpers at home COMPLETELY leave the care of their children to them. The children become more attached to the helpers compared to parents.

This book invites readers to be more immersive parents and take a child's development process to heart compared to just earning and showering them with earthly goods. Funny, touching and true-to-life, this novel is a modern-day Mary Poppins story - with attitude.