Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Wishes I’d Ask The Book Genie

Top Ten Tuesday is a regular weekly feature hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is 10 Wishes I’d Ask The Book Genie To Grant Me (a new book from a certain author,  a reading superpower, a library that is your absolutely #librarygoals, a character to come to life, to met a certain author etc. etc.) YOU DREAM IT AND THE BOOKISH GENIE CAN DO IT.

Dear Book Genie,

Firstly, I’m so happy and grateful that you’re here and I’d like to thank you for granting me my wishes! I don’t want to sound too greedy or exceed my given quota but it would be great if you could manifest them all for me. I’m sure you have many other wishes to fulfill as well and I don’t want to waste your time so here goes:

1. Please grant me the wish to go on a few literary walking tours. Some time ago, I had come across an article about 10 famous literary walking tours for a book lover to add to their bucket list which included places like Bath where Jane Austen lived for a few years. I would love to do a couple of walking tours including an Enid Blyton tour that includes visiting the places where she spent her time writing and some of the locations she mentioned in her books, notably Corfe Castle in Dorset.
   
   

   
2. Please grant me the wish of my very own cozy reading nook or better yet, a home library/reading room! There are so many cute ones here with window seats overlooking luscious gardens, benches hidden in nooks and crannies and armchairs in the corners with bookshelves running from top to bottom! I could go on and on! There are just too many amazing photographs on Pinterest to make me drool!
3. Please grant me the wish to visit the Jaipur Literature Festival. I had the privilege of volunteering with the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature two years ago right here in Dubai and it was an extraordinary experience! I was delighted to meet and be in the same room as some of the world’s biggest authors and celebrities including Jeffrey Archer, Shobhaa De, Shashi Tharoor, celebrity chef Rachel Allen, Ian Rankin and many others. I would really like to visit the Jaipur Literature Festival which is the world’s largest free literary event in the notoriously famous pink city Jaipur in Rajasthan, India. It’s a wonderful way to spread literacy and encourage people to read!
4. Please grant me the wish to see Rainbow Rowell’s books adapted on screen. I’ve only read Attachments so far but it was such a cute, heartwarming tale of two people who work in the same office but have never met that I would love to see it adapted as a romantic comedy/drama on screen!
5. Please grant me the wish to shadow a famous author. I would love to know what the secrets to their success is, how they overcome writer’s block, what they do to tap into their inner creativity and how ideas flow and how they keep their morale up. Nothing beats the experience of seeing your characters come to life on paper and I feel like I would have a similar creative experience like Emma from Alex & Emma did- brainstorming, giving suggestions, helping the author form a character and a plot and be on a journey filled with adventure and excitement!

   Let’s take a breather here Book Genie, are you tired yet? Hope not, it just gets better and better! 😀
   

6. Please grant me the wish to start and successfully run a neighbourhood library for passionate readers. I can never forget July 2008 when I heard the saddest news that our 11 year old tiny, little neighbourhood library was shutting its doors because hardly anyone was reading anymore! I felt a huge part of me was dying literally (not joking!). I would love to start a library someday with hidden rooms behind bookcases that open when you pull out a particular book and other such fun things. My library would have regular reading clubs, read-aloud sessions, creative story-telling and other activities for both children and adults. I know it sounds very wishful (pun intended) but it would be a dream come true!
   
7. Please grant me the wish to have a stronger decisive power and a determined focus while reading. Book Genie, you know how I get distracted so easily while reading – my phone is constantly beckoning, I have to watch that video, or look at Instagram or Pinterest. Sometimes I feel like I have the memory of a goldfish and the attention span of a fruit fly. Please help me. I need to be more focused while reading so I don’t lose interest quickly and actually get through 4 pages without getting distracted.
   
8. Please grant me the wish that I may be able to let go of reading books on my phone and read more physical books. This is sort of an expansion of Point #7, dear book genie. I feel like that personal touch has gone out of the reading experience ever since I started reading e-books and I am not able to enjoy reading a physical book anymore. Please help me, I need to get back to actual books even though e-books are really convenient.
9. Please grant me the wish that I may own the entire collection of my all-time favourite authors Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie. Love, love, love these ladies of the 30’s and 40’s and I would love to own everything by them!
10. Please grant me the wish that my book blog only continues to grow. I have enjoyed writing about my bookish (and non-bookish) experiences here on Thistles and Whistles and I only wish that my blog and the blogs of my blogger friends continues to grow in infinite proportions!

Thank you so much Book Genie, I know my wishes are not too much to ask and that it’s a cinch for you to fulfill them so I am thanking you from the bottom of my heart for making them come true!

Lots of love, hugs and kisses.
Tx

What are your top ten wishes that you would like the bookish genie to grant for you? Let me know below in the comments because I love to hear from you! 🙂

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Thank you for taking the time to visit this blog, I always value your encouragement and support! If you liked this blog post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help spread it by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Thank you!

If you’d like to contact me for enquiries or just to say hello, you can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com or even connect with me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

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Top Ten Tuesday – Ten Bookish Commandments

**Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is centered on Ten Bookish Things I Want to Quit Or Have Quit (aka ten book series I think I’m going to abandon, ten bookish habits I want to quit, ten authors I quit reading, ten types of books I’m quitting, ten tropes I want to stop reading about, ten books I marked as DNF (did not finish) recently, etc**

Since I started the 2015 Reading Challenge to explore different genres and authors, I developed some reading habits that I would like to forever abandon. Based on these bad habits, here are ten bookish commandments I have drafted mainly as a reminder to myself:

1. Thou shalt not waste time reading bad books for life is too short! Don’t try to finish a book when you know it’s getting really boring. For example, The Five Red Herrings
2. Thou shalt not abandon a book too early. Give a book a chance to prove itself at least by reading the first 100 pages.
3. Thou shalt read everyday and at the same time. As any good habit, stick to reading at the same time everyday.
4. Thou shalt not wallow in reading slumps. Reminding yourself of the reason you started reading and reviewing books in the first place is one good way to come out of the slump.
5. Thou shalt not acquire  too many books. Try to curb your enthusiasm while buying or downloading books one after the other. Instead, spend more time reading the ones you already have in your TBR.
6. Thou shalt not multi-task reading material. The biggest disadvantage of having too many books on your smartphone (or tablet/e-book reader) is suffering from a lack of focus and/or indecisiveness. Try not to start more than one book at a time. Decide and set your priorities.
7. Thou shalt enjoy the reading journey at your own pace. Reading is meant to be savored just like a piece of chocolate. Try not to be in too much of a hurry to finish too many books.
8. Thou shalt not ever give up! Giving up reading is the biggest sin you shall ever commit!
9. Thou shalt not read indulge in too many trashy books. Reading a guilty pleasure or two is fine. Just don’t go down too far on that road again.
10. Thou shalt read and absorb inspirational books everyday. Reading fiction is obviously great but reading a book which can empower and lift you higher is the best! Try to learn something everyday.

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Thank you for taking the time to visit this blog, I always value your encouragement and support! If you liked this blog post, I’d be very grateful if you’d help spread it by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Thank you!

If you’d like to contact me for enquiries or just to say hello, you can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com or even connect with me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

The TBR Book Tag!

I’ve been meaning to write a post about my ever growing TBR pile since a few days. But before I could start drafting it, I was tagged by the lovely Emily of The Diary of a Bibliophile to do this tag which basically consists of almost all the questions I had been meaning to answer! Thanks Emily! 🙂

1. How do you keep track of your TBR pile?
I’m so glad you asked! For the longest time, I’ve had the biggest problem of downloading e-books and never reading them. I tried organizing them on Goodreads however, I don’t find the site to be the best organizer (at least for me!). I wanted something more detailed where I could add my own private notes, so I made my own little spreadsheet filled with all the books that are currently in my smart phone (I haven’t even begun to add any e-books downloaded onto my laptop!) This is the way I am currently organizing my TBR pile:

How I use Google Sheets to organize my TBR pile

2. Is your TBR mostly print or e-book?
Mostly E-books. I keep downloading and downloading and it just gets so out of control ! I do have a lot of print books that I still haven’t read but since I don’t buy physical books that much anymore, it’s mostly e-books.

3. How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?
This depends upon my mood. However, I have a wee bit of a problem known as the Shiny Object Syndrome, where I’ll start one book and then get dazzled by another and before I know it, there’s a whole pile of books half-read. When I started organizing my TBR pile on Google Sheets, I made a little pact with myself that the only way I’ll choose the next book to read is to use an online random number generator that will help decide for me.

4. A book that has been on your TBR list the longest?
Srimad Bhagavad Gita. I keep meaning and meaning to read it and I never do! It’s really unfortunate that I haven’t read my own Holy Scripture yet!

5. A book you recently added to your TBR?
Start Your Own Business by The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc

6. A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?
Although I love covers, I mostly read books because of their content.

7. A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?
50 Shades of Grey. My friends recommended it to me and I even put it up on my 2015 Reading Challenge but I recently removed it because I knew I would never read it.

8. An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited for?
None as yet. I think I’ll try to finish the 800+ books already on my TBR pile before I fall for another shiny object again.

9. A book on your TBR that everyone has read but you?
Probably 50 Shades of Grey.

10. A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

11. A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?
Coincidentally, a lot of people have been recently recommending Jhumpa Lahiri’s books to me.

12. How many books are on your Goodreads TBR shelf?
Currently 95.

I tag:

Holly at Nut-Free Nerd
Sarah at Books Are True Magic
Bookish Dubai
Amanda of Big City Bibliophile
The ladies over at Brewing Up Books

If you haven’t been tagged and still want to do The TBR Book Tag, no problem! Please go ahead and do it anyway! It’s a fun way to spread some blogger love all around!

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com and also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Books for Life 101

I am so excited to be sharing my Top Ten Books this week. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is on Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught X 101 (examples: YA fantasy 101, feminist literature 101, magic in YA 101, classic YA lit 101, world-building 101).

What an amazing subject to talk about (no pun intended) ! I was so excited when I read this topic that I felt that I just had to get my two (err…ten) cents in.

When I started reading self-help and motivational books in my post-college years during a bad phase of my life, I realised that my ‘bookish’ knowledge gained in school and university had never been enough and that beyond the textbooks and the theories, I wasn’t prepared for the real world at all. Times are much different now than back when I was in school because there’s so much information that students have access to which is a huge advantage. However, so many practical things are not covered in the classroom setting including setting goals, getting out there with confidence, leadership skills and other basic knowledge that is useful for everyone. So if I were a teacher, besides fiction which is so important for the imagination, these Top Ten Books Would Most Definitely Be On My Syllabus If I Taught Life 101 :

1. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne : Oh My God! (Say it with me, each word at a time like Janice!) I cannot emphasize how much this book changed my life! I was the last person you would EVER see reading a Self-Help book, no way, jose. This came to me at the perfect time when I needed it the most and I have never been the same again. I have even written about it here. In fact, I just finished re-watching the movie version a few minutes ago because I sort of needed a reminder about the power of The Law of Attraction and I highly highly recommend everyone to read this (or watch the film!) at least once, no matter what age you are.

   

2. God Never Blinks by Regina Brett : What a lovely book this is! 50 life lessons learned in 50 years of newspaper columnist Regina Brett. I loved the heartwarming personal stories and the lessons she learned out of them. I’ve mentioned more about this book in one of my earlier posts. Definitely a good book to read while in school to prepare yourself for the years ahead.

   

3. Goals! by Brian Tracy : I’ve had this book in my TBR pile for ages! I’ve always read and applied the book’s principles in bits and pieces but this time I’m on a mission to go through it in it’s entirety and practically apply them while answering some tough questions! I wish someone had taught me how to set goals and achieve them in school. I would definitely teach this to my students for sure.

   

4. As a Man Thinketh by James Allen : This isn’t even a book, it’s like a little booklet of a few pages under hundred. I was given this to read by an American gentleman whom I had met in India and I remember the book was full of his personal notes and scribbles. I really really enjoyed this little treasure, it was a confirmation of everything that I had read in The Secret. For students who don’t want to read too many pages, read this!

   

5. I Have a Dream / Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish / Connect the Dots / Poor Little Rich Slum by Rashmi Bansal : I’m going to go ahead and suggest all these four books by Rashmi Bansal to anyone wanting to take the entrepreneurship route.  I love the real life stories of all the Indians from poor or middle class families that she has met and interviewed and who have made a mark for themselves. This book is for all the big dreamers out there.

   

6. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay : Now this may not necessarily be interesting to young teenage blood, BUT it is the best book out there for applying the Law of Attraction and the power of affirmations to heal yourself of any disease both mentally and physically. I love Louise’s personal story – she went through a lot of problems in her teens from sexual abuse to giving up her baby for adoption and she didn’t begin her life until her mid-40’s when she got divorced from her husband. Her journey from battling cancer (and curing it herself!) to becoming the founder of a multi-million publishing house is amazing and the lesson I have taken from this book is that it’s never too late to start anything. I would definitely suggest reading it while in school.

   
   

7. Tuesdays with Morrie / The Five People You Meet In Heaven / For One More Day by Mitch Albom : I’m pretty sure I’ve read more books by Mitch Albom but I can’t seem to remember the plots of any of them. All I remember is how they made me feel – a little teary, a little happy, and so so grateful for the presence of loved ones. The heartwarming style of writing just goes straight to the very depths of your soul and there are so so many lessons to be learned from all of them. For all you non-fiction skeptics, they’re all written in a fictitious style so you can rush to your nearest bookstore and pick them up.

   
   

8. Any book by Robin Sharma : Really, go for it ! He’s one of the world’s top success coaches who teaches leadership, personal and business mastery skills. The best part is, his books are for E.V.E.R.Y.B.O.D.Y. and not just for people in suits. If you’re into fiction with a lesson, go for his first book The Monk Who Sold His Safari which was a huge bestseller. I love his little personal anecdotes which he adds in most of his books and although I have temporarily dropped out of his 5 AM Club, I still have complete faith in its benefits.

   

9. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey : This is such a fun and practical book to read with cute illustrations. Teaches you everything from writing your personal mission and vision statement to setting clear goals. A must read for teens !

   

10. The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale : Another great gem ! Based on The Law of Attraction and Biblical references, this book will leave you so happy, positive and carefree that you will forget about your unnecessary worries of things that haven’t happened! Go ahead and watch his larger than life personality in a couple of his sermon videos on YouTube. Best book to read for students while they’re preparing for exams or an interview!

    

So these were my top ten books in my syllabus for Life 101. Let me know if you’ve read them before or are inspired to read them! If you have any other book suggestions, please do let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear from you! 🙂

If you want to drop me a line, you can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com and you can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

 

Happy Belated Top Ten Tuesday!

I’m a day late for this week’s TTT hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but I just could not help myself when I read the topic for this week ! Top 10 Books From My Childhood (or teen years) That I Would Love To Revisit.

I love my childhood bookish memories. I read voraciously during the day and couldn’t stop even during the night when I would sneak under my blanket and read by the light of a big black rubber encased torch.

Most of these books that have been a huge part of my childhood are second or even third-hand copies that my father bought for my elder sister when she was a child or a teen. Considering the fact that she and I have a huge age difference, some of them are at least three decades old ! This mélange of books were a huge part of my growing up years after my sister had already grown up and gone away to college.

Here are the top ten books I would like to re-visit from my childhood and teen years:

1. Girl’s Adventure Stories

These short stories for young ladies were quite fun to read. A different female protagonist in each short story finds herself in the middle of an adventure most of the time in a new place. There is no mention of the author nor the publication date but my guess is they were published in the early 80’s. These books are originally a part of my sister’s collection and we have four out of the six in the collection.

2. Girl’s Mystery Stories

Look at the 80’s look on these young ladies! Handed down to me by my sister, we own four of the six stand alone full length novels written by different authors. Some of these are a bit spine-tingling but my favourite one is Dancing with Danger.

3. Hamlyn Story Library Collection

There were many books published in this particular collection for young adults including adventure, mystery, spy, supernatural, animal, fantasy and horror stories but my sister and I just have the 1980’s editions of these three beauties. My special preference is the Adventure Stories for Girls which are charming in their own right.

4. Kay Tracey Mystery Series by Frances K. Judd

I just found out that the Kay Tracey series of 18 books was originally published from 1934 until the 1940’s ! My sister passed me these 1980’s editions that had four books out of which we have these three. The series is very similar to Nancy Drew. Sixteen year old Kay, an amateur detective, lives her mother and a lawyer cousin Bill and goes to high school with her two best friends Betty and Wilma who are twins. A good old-fashioned mystery is right up her alley. My favourite one is The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery.

5. Miscellaneous Mystery Stories

Hurrah for more female protagonists!  Same overall theme of a cozy mystery but of course with different ladies and different plots.

6. The Three Investigators by Robert Arthur

Finally, some boys! Until a couple of months ago, I thought that these books were written by Alfred Hitchcock himself as he was featured in each book as the mentor and friend of the three investigators – Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews. I used to think it was pretty pompous of him to write his own character as “the famous Hollywood director” in the books. Turns out the series was written by a huge fan of Mr. Hitchcock, a writer by the name of Robert Arthur. My favourite out of the four we possess is The Mystery of the Fiery Eye.

7. The Babysitters Club by Ann M. Martin

Now, we finally move onto my personal collection! Who can forget these lovely young and enterprising ladies who weren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves for the love of kids and some extra pocket money? I wanted to start a club (any club!) or be in one so bad because of them. I also longed for my own phone line because they had their own number for clients to call them on! My favourites are the Super Specials and the scrapbook of chain letters and cards. I read a lot of these from our local library too. Good times.

8. Sweet Valley Twins by Francine Pascal

Another very popular series that I have personally collected is about the pretty twins – nerdy Elizabeth and party-animal Jessica. I loved reading about their school, high school and university lives, right to the point where Jessica gets married to this really bad boy and has to face the consequences. This series dealt with a lot of teenage issues including bullying, teen pregnancy, drug abuse and a whole lot of other stuff.

9. Sugar Secrets by Mel Sparke

I don’t remember a whole lot about this series of 20 books but I remember being captivated by them and reading all of them one after the other from my neighbourhood library. They also dealt with a lot of problems and difficult circumstances that a lot of young adults face in their teen years.

10. The Enid Blyton Collection

I was saving the BEST for the last! How can I forget the books that got me hooked onto reading as a very young child? Secret Seven, The Famous Five, Mallory Towers, St. Clares, The Naughtiest Girl, The Five Find-Outers – Enid Blyton has written the world’s famous characters and series’. My favourite in this whole collection that is a mixture of my sister’s and my books is the 1967 edition of The Mystery of the Tally-Ho Cottage, the old and tattered pages of which literally crumble to dust upon touch!

My sister and I have read, re-read and then re-re-read our personal collection until they have become shabby and their covers and pages have fallen off. Despite their wear and tear, they still retain their inherent charm. Inside each yellowed book is a bit of my past that I have left behind – dog-eared pages, scribblings, doodles and comments written here and there. I haven’t paid these gems a visit in a long time but just knowing that they are always on my bookshelf, is of great comfort to me. Some of them are so rare that I can’t find proper details of them anywhere online. I love ’em and couldn’t do without any of them! 🙂

Have you read any of these books I’ve featured? Which books led you to take a trip down memory lane? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you. 🙂

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

 

Blogging Event: The Book Worm Club by Jumbleskine

I’m very excited to be taking part in a new blogging event called The Book Worm Club that the lovely Mariella of Jumbleskine is hosting every Friday starting from today.

In this club, readers are invited to:
1. Blog about a favourite book they have read or one that they are currently reading and enjoying and would like to recommend to others.
2. Post a picture/image of the book.
3. Pingback to Jumbleskine’s post and use the hashtag #thebookwormclub.

When I decided to write this post this morning, I looked at my bookcase to decide which book I would talk about. In the past few years, I have read a lot of inspirational and motivational books to help me understand a lot more about myself. I have mentioned about this period of my life in an earlier post as well. An inspiring book that was on my to-read list was God Never Blinks by Regina Brett. A friend of mine who knew I wanted this particular book very kindly got this copy for me from a trip to Canada a couple of years ago.

This book is a compilation of 50 lessons that the author Regina Brett has learned from life. She had gone through some very difficult times in life from raising her child as a single parent to battling cancer and the lessons were originally published in a newspaper column she wrote when she turned fifty.

I consumed this book on the metro on my way to work every morning and the heartwarming personal stories and the wisdom that came out of them resonated deeply with me. The situations she has gone through are both general and specific, that thousands, including myself might have also experienced.

I found this book to be so charming, in the way that it is written and how inspiring it is without being over-bearing. One day, an elderly gentleman standing behind me on the metro even asked me the title of the book and I was pleased to be able to tell him about it. I think he may have read a page or two with me as I was reading it and obviously enjoyed it. Even my dad found this collection to be a winner.

Some of my favourite lesson titles are, “Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks”, “Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save anything for a special occasion. Today is special enough.” and “No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up for life.” 

But my favourite one that I loved was one I could definitely relate to completely right from the start. It was as if it was meant for me. The lesson is written in an anti-version of a “How to be a writer” and the title is, “A writer is someone who writes. If you want to be a writer, write.” I have mentioned a little bit about this lesson in my very first post.

How not to be a writer -Wait until a doctor says you’ve got six months to live. Die with your words still inside of you.

Final words – Please find some way to acquire this book. It’s relatable to all and a gem that everyone needs in their bookshelves.

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’

 

My very first Top Ten Tuesday!

 

I’m very excited to be part of my very first weekly feature, Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! Today’s topic is “Top Ten Things I Like/Dislike When It Comes To Romances In Books.” which I am guessing is on account of Valentine’s Day, that’s just around the corner.

As I’ve so emphatically said before, I’ve been sadly left behind in the reading area. I have, though, not been left behind in the Romance genre as I’ve read years worth of these light reads.

Now, as per the instructions, I’ve done a list of 5 things I like and 5 I dislike about romances in books:

I like it:
1. When the hero and heroine are at sparring ends of each other, typically in a work environment. Comical conflict from the very beginning clears up the air in the latter part of the book when the two are forced to work together for a project.

2. When the heroine is a strong, independent woman who can take care of herself but secretly needs a little TLC too. (Anyone who says, “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” is the one who needs a little bit of extra lovin’).

3. When a one-year contractual marriage (again between people who usually cannot stand each other) turns into a permanent one as the two start spending more time with one another and fall in love. Love is slowly getting to know each other’s quirks.

4. When the hero falls in love with the heroine before she does and relentlessly pursues her (but not in a creepy, stalkerish way!). There’s a man who is so obviously not afraid of commitment.

5. When two long-time best friends realise that they’ve been in love with each other all along and not known it. Friendship, as they say, is the foundation of love.

I vehemently dislike:
1. When the hero is sometimes portrayed as a horrible, arrogant prick of a boss picking on his employees, especially his new secretary/personal assistant who is usually the heroine. How rude!

2. When a passionate, one-night stand with a random stranger results in a baby leading to a forced marriage/living arrangement and eventually love. Disclaimer: Do not try this at home (or in a hotel). This has NO guarantee of a 100% success rate. Also, poor baby.

3. When a relationship/marriage between a ruthless Sicilian/Italian/Greek tycoon and a hard-up, vulnerable American/English woman is purely based on physical attraction and ends up culminating into love when the heroine runs away thinking she has been used and abused and the hero chases after her, realising he has loved her all along. Ti Amo! Amore Mio!

4. A jealous, possessive and insecure love resulting in a bad divorce/break up. Months or years of bad relationships later, fate decides to throw them together again which makes them realise they were so stupid in the first place to break up when they couldn’t obviously stop loving each other. They start over and live happily ever after.

5.  A luxurious lifestyle with a personal jet, big villas in Spain or humongous châteaux in the South of France where all the heroine does is eat exotic cuisine, swim in the Olympic-sized pool and basically get bored while the above mentioned Sicilian/Italian/Greek tycoon hero is off finalizing business deals or ruthlessly taking over small companies. He thinks nothing of casually throwing his cash around by buying the heroine diamond necklaces and properties on the side. Yawn, so typical.

What are your reasons for liking/disliking romances in books? What are your favorite classic or contemporary romance novels? Would love to hear from you.

You can email me at thistlesandwhistles@hotmail.com
You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads and BlogLovin’