BOOKS YOU M U S T READ :)

CHRISTIAN OSTER -A CLEANING WOMAN-

A Cleaning Woman traces the complexities of desire through the sensitive, sensual observations of a man in the thrall of ecstasy. As a long-standing relationship ends, Jacques finds himself irresistibly drawn to the leaflets advertising the cleaning services of an anonymous woman identified only by her initials. Once he learns her name, and the details of her affairs, he enters into an erotic relationship that challenges the class taboos that stand between them.



MARIAN EYES -WATERMELON-

At twenty-nine, fun-loving, good-natured Claire has everything she ever wanted: a husband she adores, a great apartment, a good job. Then, on the day she gives birth to her first baby, James visits her in the recovery room to inform her that he's leaving her. Claire is left with a beautiful newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a body that she can hardly bear to look at in the mirror. So, in the absence of any better offers, Claire decides to go home to her family in Dublin. To her gorgeous man-eating sister Helen, her soap-watching mother, her bewildered father. And there, sheltered by the love of an (albeit quirky) family, she gets better. A lot better. In fact, so much better that when James slithers back into her life, he's in for a bit of a surprise.

FANNIE FLAGG - DAISY FAY AND THE MIRACLE MAN-

A journey to the South that only Southerners know, to a time when "Blue Velvet" was played at the Senior Prom, and into the life of Daisy Fay Harper. Daisy is a sassy, truth-telling heroine who just can't stay out of trouble. What's more, she tells us everything.

KATHY LETTE -NIP'N'TUCK-

Lizzie, 39, has a successful career as a TV news anchorperson, a handsome husband and two small children. Her life seems pretty marvellous - until she realises she is about to hit the dreaded 4-0. Unlike her sister, Tish, looks never mattered that much to Lizzie, but then husband Hugo falls for the outstandingly bodacious Minxy Amore, Texan model and perfect Playboy material and she loses her job to a more attractive journalist. Then Minxy Amore and her husband, Sven, persuade Hugo to use his skills as a doctor in a new clinic that specialises in plastic surgery and body refits, perpetuating the myth that looks are the only thing that count. Is Lizzie the only one to disagree, and is the only way to get her husband back to go under the knife herself?

LISA SEE -SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN-

Set in remote 19th-century China, details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or "old sames") Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women, and their betrayal by pride and love. The author's in-depth research into women's ceremonies and duties in China's rural interior brings fascinating revelations about arranged marriages, women's inferior status in both their natal and married homes, and the Confucian proverbs and myriad superstitions that informed daily life.



MAEVE BINCHY -THE LILAC BUS-

The Journey -- Every Friday night young Ron Fitzgerald's lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter, Mikey Burns, who plays the buffoon while his brother makes a fortune in the family business, to the rich doctor's daughter, Dee Burke, who is having a secret affair with a married man, have their reasons for making the journey.

The Destination, Rathdoon, is the kind of Irish Village where family histories are shared and scandals don't stay secret for long. And this weekend, when Tom's bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them... as each of their very private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man's crime, and chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women on...



MAEVE BINCHY -CIRCLE OF FRIENDS-

In Knockglen, Ireland in 1949, Benny Hogan celebrates her tenth birthday and befriends classmate Eve Malone. Benny is the only child of protective parents Annabel and Eddie, who own a menswear shop. Eve is an orphan being raised by nuns in a convent. Eve's mother's family, the Westwards, who are Protestants, objected to the marriage of Eve's mother Sarah Westward to Eve's father JackMalone , a poor Catholic. They disowned Sarah and refused to raise Eve after Sarah died in childbirth and Jack committed suicide. Because Eve's father was a handyman for the convent, the nun Mother Francis got custody of.....







LAURA ESQUIVEL
- LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE-

The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs h er entire life for her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her domineering mother's traditional belief that the youngest daughter must not marry but take care of her mother until the day she dies. Tita is only able to express her passions and feelings through her cooking, which causes the people who taste it to experience what she feels.


EMILY GIFFIN -SOMETHING BORROWED-

Focuses on Rachel, a 30-year-old single lawyer living in New York City. Rachel has a best friend from way back, Darcy, who is getting married to a law school friend of Rachel's named Dex, with Rachel as her maid of honor. At the beginning of the book, Rachel and Dex spend the night together, and thus begins the tale of the unrequited love of Rachel and Dex.


JENNIFER WEINER -IN HER SHOES-

She is twenty-eight years old, never held a job for more than three months, and likes to party on somebody else's dime. Maggie Feller has learning disabilities that make her feel inferior to her older sister Rose who breezed through law school and landed a job as junior part ner at a prestigious firm. Rose takes Maggie in when she runs out of money but kicks her out when she discovers her boyfriend in bed with her sister.

Maggie goes to Florida to meet the grandmother she has never known and she gradually makes a place for herself in her elderly relative's heart. Rose quits her job and becomes a dog walker, not caring to caring to learn the whereabouts of her sister. When she finds out that Maggie is in Florida with the grandmother she also never met, Rose flies down for an awkward family reunion. It is up to Maggie to find a way to heal past wounds and old injuries.


KARYN BOSNAK -SAVE KARYN!-

Drowning in $20,000 of credit card debt, shopah olic Karyn Bosnak asked strangers for money online- and it worked! For Karyn Bosnak, after growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, living the 'good life' in New York City was a dream come true. A big-shot producer on a 'Judge Judy'-style talk show, Karyn had the six-figure income and developed a liking for the finer things in life, such as Prada blouses, oriental rugs and $400 sandals. Each time she would pull out her credit card, Karyn could justify any expense. Then she hit rock bottom and found herself jobless, and $20,000 in debt. So what does a cash-strapped girl do? Karyn started a website www.savekaryn.com on which she asked for donations to help her pay off her shopping debts. Karyn started to receive emails from all over the world, either confessing to their own debt-ridden lives, or criticising Karyn's. But after only four months of internet pan-handling (and around 2 million hits on her website), a change in lif estyle and selling more than a few of her precious possessions on eBay, her debt was gone!

ELIZABETH HARAN -SUNSET OVER EDEN-

Jordan Hale returns to Eden, the decaying cane farm he left after his parents died. He plans to restore the property to its former glory, and destroy his parent’s enemy, the powerful Max Courtland. He finds support in a bunch of courageous men and falls in love with the mysterious, independent Eve. The
truth about Eve is shocking and Max’s wife divulges a secret that puts all their lives in danger.

RAAJA ALSANEA -GIRLS OF RIYADH-

In Sanaa's book, the familiar format of four girlfriends chatting about love, men, sex, marriage and divorce has been transplanted into a particularly exotic ground: Saudi Arabia. There, sexes are segregated not only in school, but also in the streets, in the banks and in the malls, and the harsh laws of the country make flirtation and romance almost impossible. And still, Rajaa Sanaa's revealing book deals with the most restricted taboos in the country - homosexuality, premarital sex and the discriminations of the divorcees and social casts.