iRead: Lilac House..which really isn't about the house but people who make home

The Lilac House: A Novel by Anita Nair
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's one of the really hard book to review about...and though I am one of the worst critic for novel with loose ends...hanging neither here nor there and left to imagination (that too when you are just weaving those characters throughout the novel!!), I still will applaud the author for the way she wrote...a real break from the usual Indian writings...

Coming to the subject, the name is probably misleading...yes it starts with the lilac house; but that's not where it thrives and build on...in fact I don't know which story was the one that was the highlight...Mira's or Jak's...or Smriti's...it's a novel where you can't really hold anyone guilty (other than two characters I would say...Giri, I don't know what the author had so much against the lead woman's husband...portrayed him as a complete hopeless person ;) and then Nina...they lead guy's wife...you don't really have to show one half of a marriage to be wrong to depict that the second half was right...)

It's confusing at times...there are swarms of people...kind of a psychological study of lot of humans...what they think, why they behave the way they do...sometimes you wonder why did she actually include this character, but I appreciate the way she has tried to beautifully analyze and build each character..and then of course, there is a lot of time zone shift...without even telling you...people are suddenly in their past, then they are in future...and then you just don't know where they went...

All said and done, the story pulls you in...and it wasn't just the young girl, people my age would identify with, but it's even the turmoils of a wife, a mother, a woman (and let's not be biased, turmoils of the male species too) that would touch us...we might not comprehend them fully, for thankfully we aren't still that grown up, but we definitely would realize they are true...and even though the story is exaggerated at places, it holds you to it, and that, per me, is a definite win for an author...

A good read for women...not something to be completely avoided by men...and well, all I would say is, I hope there comes a sequel (though I highly doubt it)...for I just don't want to imagine a happy ending, but be convinced that the author actually did give them a happy ending...


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PS: Just checking how the feed directly from GoodReads work...not that I generally write this big reviews there...but once I did, I thought why not bring it here too...and as for ratings..there is no in between 3 and 4 in GoodReads...but here I can...so I say 3.65 (exploiting the freedom by not putting it as 3.75 :D )

A Walk Across the Sun by Addison Corban

I just loved the cover of the book...it was kind of 'Pick me up, I look so glam' kind of cover...and yet when I read the blurb, it was anything but a glam book...the first one by the author, set up in Indian background, which coming by an author who isn't Indian, deserves accolades (in fact, I did wonder, why can't the Indian author pick such serious stuff about Indian background rather than concentrating on love stories and collage romance gone right and wrong)...

It's not a happy novel...child trafficking and molestation never is...being a novel it does give everything a believable but happy ending (as happy as it could ever realistically be), but then again, it was honest in a couple of parts...where it clearly said, trafficking isn't something that would stop by stopping the sellers...you can stop one, hundred new would arise...it is going to go on till there are buyers...sex is a commodity, till the buyers exist, people would sell...and there is no way to eliminate all the buyers...not in our lifetime...that's the harsh truth, a truth none of us can change...

I liked the way it moved...at points it made you understand that it's not just India...any country, no matter how advanced, has its own section of people who are living a life worse than hell...simply because there are people in every country who are well-off, rich and still sadist enough to take pleasure in putting someone through hell...it showed the red light areas not just of Mumbai, but went on till France and New York...and they aren't just Asian gals...there are Russians, there are Americans...what started from India, what centered in India, took the global picture...

This is one thought provoking novel (which really tempted me to write a couple of more philosophical posts...I am somehow trying to hold that temptation back...because somewhere I feel I've already turned life too serious and I need happy thoughts not things to ponder and wonder over...the book is great, my timing to read it was wrong)...and then again, no matter how much I liked the novel, I still would say, it's one, one should think twice before reading...for it would leave you feeling helpless...it would make you cringe..it would make you wish you could help change thing...but in the end you 'll know, there is nothing you and I can do (or at least nothing we would really take up to do)..

After coming with all the cons of reading a novel I really would recommend, I'll have to say it has its pro too...it shows you the faith of two young girls..it shows you what being human is...you come to detest life...you want none of it...you count days and minutes of agony...and still you don't think of dying..because there is someone you want to live for...even when it looks like nothing is worth living...it shows love too...not the romantic one, but the bond two sisters, who lost everything in moments, share...none of the cruelties life served them weakened the love they had...

It shows the healing power of memories...living in past doesn't help...but sometimes our past gives us the courage to live through our present...it's just up to us, which past we chose to think about...the happy one or the sad one..and how we perceive the past...

It shows that growing up corrupts us...the sweetest and most angelic person in this book was a ten year old kid...who really didn't care how the world of elders work...even after having a set of parents who were as far as one could be from being role models, the child remained pure at heart..he showed the selfless caring, without a reason...

The two sisters, Ahalaya and Sita (I loved the names), weren't larger than life characters...though at places I really wondered how can they survive through all this...the protagonist, Thomas was very much human...and wasn't made a larger than life character...he had his shortcomings...and he wasn't made a hero turning miracles..things happened, and thankfully they didn't give him the entire (or even little) credit of being the reason behind those things happening...fighting for the gals, he somewhere found peace in his life...his wife would probably need a little more analytic to be understood...

All in all, a nice read...at around 380 pages, coming towards the last 100, I did feel it could be trimmed a little...there were too many details about the combat operations one could have done without...but then again, for most part of it, it was a page turner...even if a sad, heart-wrenching one, it was a page turner none the less...

Never let me go... by Sachin Garg

Finally I finished another novel (now don't think I haven't finished one in last one month...that's just not possible, I need at least a novel a week), but then I finished a novel, I would definitely write about...it's by the same author, Sachin Garg, I had once gone gaga about (reading his first, I'm not 24...) and turned too critical reading his second (It's first love...)...and with the third, I never knew where I am going...

For starters,  the second novel and this one, 'Never Let Me Go..' are supposedly true accounts...sort of his autobiography...taking a year of his life at a time...I am saying supposedly, because I am the one who claims to have had a super-happening life...with things one doesn't even dream (or have nightmares of) happening in real...and still reading these books, specially the latest one, I am still not able to accept such tragedy do happen in real life...that's what the main issue with any tragic event is...they are hard to believe...it's human nature to believe in fairy tales, but seldom does one really think something bad can happen in reality...unless it happens with us...

Coming back to the book, it starts with the twenty first year of the author's life...and somehow rather than being Sachin in the book, he went ahead and took the name Samar...and in case he had used the same name in his last novel, than I shockingly had missed out on it...but if he hadn't, it's kind of understandable...it's easy to write the happy phase of your life with your own identity...it's the sad phase, the guilty phase, and the phase we never really could understand; where we need the identity of some third person, some other name to hide behind....but to think of it, it really isn't much of a sad novel...unless of course you inch towards its last parts...

I guess, it's the raw emotions that touch me way more than the cute college romance...which is kind of so lovey dovey that I no longer am able to identify it (yeah, I know, the granny aged me)...so the beginning of the novel was kind of expected for me...it was the way the first novel of the series (It's first love...) had gone by..with the old characters returning...a couple of more thrown by...and to some extent, it did take me to a place where I really wasn't expecting much from the book...it seemed like the usual, 'I always was the right guy, she wasn't' saga...

Then came the place with too much of beer, weed and partying around...being the person I am...drinking/ smoking/ joint/ partying all night...it never strikes a chord with me...the only thing that kept me hooked was the new gal in picture...somewhere I did identify with her (don't ask me why...because I can never have guts like her...to take those risk)....and then when her character ended (in a way that opens all the ways for her to return in coming books)...it was again casual turning of pages for me to finish the novel...

To give the  book its dues, the last few pages did shock me out...I believe I should appreciate Sachin...for not going for the publicity stunt by stretching those emotional parts (oh, we all know, tear jerkers find a lot of fans...and I know, he could have actually gone ahead and made a whole novel out of those last few pages...garnered all sympathy...but I do respect him for keeping it short...because so often, there really aren't words to express what we feel)...but then a part of me says he wasted too many pages of the novel talking about inconsequential things rather than talking about those part which mattered the most...the ones who found a place only in last 30-35 odd pages of the book...but then, it was his life...it's his novel..I'm sure he wrote it in a way that justifies his life..

So it touched me...it still touches me...We all make mistakes...and we all talk about our mistakes...to the ones we trust, to the ones we can confide in...to the ones who we know won't whisper about it to the world...but coming out in open, talking about our mistakes and consequences openly...it takes a lot...at least I haven't found the courage to do it...and I don't know how it feels after doing...does it feel a lil more free...as if a weight did lift up from our heart...or would it make me feel as if all the eyes are at me...accusing me of doing something deadly wrong...I don't think I ever would take chances to find out what it really feels like...

Anyways, coming back to the book....it's a light read, till it gets a lil too heavy...but even in those light moments, I found places to think about...places I could identify with (which definitely weren't the places where an engaged guy tries to get laid with a gal...or a guy pursuing engineering, decides to run a shackle...or the endless drinking session and getting wasted...) but then tiny small things that were said and done, does make one think at points...

All in all...a nice read...quick one too...and definitely one, I would think a couple of times even after ending...and yeah, I know the 22nd year of his life would be coming out too...and I for sure 'll read that too...the guy still has my attention...in fact, he is now like a mystery to me...I still am unable to believe all this is true...after all, novels do have hint of fiction in them...how else would they sell...but I know it all could very well be truly true...and he can be yet another example of, life moves on...no matter what happen, we continue to live...we come to term with the past...and start building a future...I am not the only one who did that...the whole world does it...

Do read it...if you have any affinity to love stories and emotional stuffs...but don't read it before you read the first one in the series (and I am saying this, even when I was the one criticizing the first one...but then you have to read that one...to really know the characters of this one...else it's a plain disconnect..) And I hope to find the author had happier and better life in the 22nd year...after all, when post peak came the trough...after trough should come the peak...

It's First Love...Just like last one, by Sachin Garg

Before I get lost in the maddening office hours...or more likely the spiral web of laziness, I better get done with the review of the book...this book, definitely has the sequel, one turning up in another two weeks or so...

I was impressed by the way Sachin wrote the earlier novel, in fact I was way more than impressed...so much that I ended up doing something crazy (which only very few know ;) yeah yeah I am back to emoticons too :D ) So this book was picked up with lots of expectations...and yeah, expectations kill a lot of fun, so maybe it wasn't the writer's fault that I really didn't get that engrossed in this one...

Indeed, the novel had it's share of high points, points which hold you to it, tempts you to turn few pages and peek where the part is ending...how it ends...but then, it's a love story...and yeah it has it's own shocking and not so shocking turns (I still believe there ought to be some not-so-complex-with-never-ending-angles love story...there should be a love story where the guy loves the gal, the gal loves the guy, and there is just no one else in between...not even fate/destiny...one non-complex, happy ending is all I wish for) But well, this one isn't that...in fact, there would come a point when you would feel like shouting...

"Goodness, what are you really up to...if you can go to such extremes without being serious about one another, I am just wondering what would you have done in a relationship where you would have been serious since the beginning...."

I guess, I am not good with the taking it light love stories...and I am seriously not good with the stories where one of the main character is all too good (specially when it's a guy...*deep sincere apologies for the gender bias* but that's what it is....) and I am even worse with the stories, where the author goes on the I always did right mode (I mean even the writer is human...he can be wrong, in fact he must be wrong...at least somewhere, aren't we all...for sure I am...so I can't really take an out an out good character!! )

Thankfully though, this one still didn't come to the extreme self-centric level like another recent one I had read...so I still have the hope alive (and very much kicking, for I actually have ordered the next by the author..) In fact, there were a lot of characters in the novel (thankfully), though a lot of them just came or went away abruptly (not so thankfully)

All in all, a decent one...had I not read the previous one by Sachin, and not set expectations, I sure would have liked it way more...A 3/5 from me (not as if I am a real critic...and definitely fingers crossed for next one..)

PS: The editing of the novel should be a little better...that's one issue I always had with the Indian ones...like while reading it, I could easily pick a few grammatical and logical errors...and I actually was surprised at myself..generally I read a novel so quick that I do tend to ignore the mistakes...this one had a couple of very evident ones...

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain

First things first, I am a new fan of Diane Chamberlain...if I liked 'Keeper's of Light', I loved 'The Midwife's Confession', and I for sure am infatuated with 'The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes', and mind you, to me infatuation is stronger and more forceful than love...after all, love expects a little love in return...infatuation knows no logic, and doesn't even dreams of being reciprocated :D (okie that was some uncalled for philosophy...but that was just so me :) )

The first two novels that I read by Chamberlain, dealt with people who had already died...they were about how after the death of someone so close to us we realize that we never the person who died...while it is gripping to know the truths of a person who no longer exists, it is more grappling to read how a very much living person confronts the secrets they have hid and concealed in their heart for years...how do you really come out in open and confess to the truth which can ruin the entire life you had built in years...

As said, in the earlier post just a while back, teenage is the time, when you are expected to do everything wrong...it is so very easy to succumb to all the temptations...hold on to things that really seem right (though hardly are)...it's an age when you are old enough to hate taking someone's advice..and still young enough to make wrong choices..and so very often we do make the wrong choices...I am sure almost all of us have some secret relating to the teenage which we can't confide in anyone...something we did that's impossible for us to tell the world...it's just that most often, we do things which really don't change the course of our lives, just make us feel guilty...but then, there are few unlucky ones, who end up doing something which makes them change the course of their lives...so much so, that they have to become a new person to carry out with life...

Some choices made at teenage, changes who we are as a person...erases our identity, and forces us to take a new one...something similar happened to CeeCee...it was a book of hopes...hopes in the first part, because it showed even after doing the worst kind of mistake one possibly could, life gives you a second chance to make it all right...that you really can have new beginnings and a happy future...for CeeCee had one...

But can we really change identities and have a happily ever after...true that no one in this world other than us knows who we really are...but at least we do know...and can you yourself kill the person you were...sooner or later, to live and thrive in your own eyes, it's time to go back to who you were...accept the repercussions of your actions..it's easy to ignore what other think of you, but it's tough to fight the demons within you...so CeeCee reveals herself after a decades...

I kind of liked almost all the characters in the book...they were believable and not overboard...a perfect blend of grey...in fact the only character going on the 'it can't be true' side was the character of Cory...she did get a lil unbearable...and I really could never understand how pampering can really hamper someone's growth like it did to her...but then again, even her character makes you realize that generally it's just in happy times that the people we love become strangers...in times of tragedy and need, the estranged ones come back...and maybe that's the beauty of love...one might forget your love during the happy times when all is well...but those you truly loved would sure be there for you when things take a downturn...and maybe that's why life needs a blend of both good n bad times...good to have fun and enjoy the ride...bad to get the ones we lost in happy days back to us again (philosophy fir se...I know)

I am definitely smitten by the way she writes...attracted to the twists and turns she brings around...Diane has turned out to be an author with aces her sleeves...and she definitely can make the simplest of lives a perfect story to engross you for hours to come...

My personal ratings..4 and that one point is lost all thanks to Cory...Dru was so much more likable than her, honestly...all in all, it's a must read...and now I will go back to find the fourth novel of Chamberlain...after all, I need to know what's greater than infatuation ;)

I'm not twenty four...I've been nineteen for five years....So very TRUE

Of course, I am not 24, just been 19 for 5 yrs...and coming June, I won't be 25, just 19 for 6 yrs...though yeah,while picking the book, I was wondering, why 19 and not 16..aren't girls supposed to stick to sweet sixteen..but then to think of, nineteen is the last of teen..and teenage is probably the age where you can even kill someone and come out innocent because, "Oh! but she was just a teenager...we all know how confused and terrible teenage is...one can never be sure of what they feel and do at that age..."

So yeah, when a murder is excusable, a wrong turn or two in love life are definitely forgiven (and forgotten too!!) Now that's one reason, I am going to be a teen till I end up marrying (or who knows even after that...after all who said I will stop making errors once married...seven rounds around the fire doesn't result in instant wisdom, right?? )

Anyways, even after being the self obsessed person that I so often am, I should probably come to this book,  'I'm not twenty four...I've been nineteen for five years by Sachin Garg'...The background of how this book reached my hands...of late to kill time, I have started ordering books online (now I can't always be in front of laptop, and then it's very tough to find e-books of Indian authors...and then again, when Flipkart offers you book within 100 bucks, you really shouldn't waste efforts finding an e-version)...And after reading the new books from two renowned and pretty hyped Indian authors (I probably shouldn't name them because I am bickering and not praising them, but common, just because your first novel was best-seller, you can't give everyone a crap to read every next time!!), I was giving up on Indian authors...but then thankfully, I had to order a home appliance, and in the whim of the moment, I ended up ordering both the released books of Sachin Garg (now seems like I had confidence on this guy...after all I didn't try and test, but ordered all that was available :D )

Starting with the book, well the best and the unique part was the book being written from the girl's POV..If I end up writing anything from a girl's perspective, it's understandable, but a guy actually doing it..."WOW" specially because we all know, 'Guys never can understand Gals'...and I won't say Sachin actually does, but let's say, he has done it better than most guys would...and that in itself deserves an applause...the tone of the book was a lot fun...I don't think there was much place for sad or vulnerable emotions here...even when at places it got a little emotional, it was quickly moved ahead...ahead enough that you won't really feel the pain related to the accident...and somehow I prefer it that ways (there is too much to worry and cry about in real life in any case :| )

I won't say that the book was perfect, like I said...it was a fun read...pages passed by...what I liked the most was, the story moved on...things happen, life gives crap...we do have the right to feel low, but we owe it to us and those who care to keep moving...so thankfully no character was crying or ruing over something lost...there was no exaggeration...all believable, other than the idea of someone spending a life in the welfare of others, that too after forgoing all the riches and a perfect career life could have offered..honestly, I am yet to find such people...but well, one can always hope (and in case one does know, please tell me a way to reach out to those people...sometimes, ok a lot many times, even I am inclined to do that...not in all goodie goodie selfless way, but in the way of I want to get rid of my job and do something which can make a difference so that I feel good types ;) )

Honestly, I don't know why I liked the book enough to have told everyone around me in last couple of days to try n read this author...because I frankly wasn't left in tears (and yeah it happens as much reading a novel, as it happens while watching a movie...n u know I am someone who can shed a tear or two...or tens even in animated movies...sighs), I wasn't even left deep in thoughts (my thoughts were provoked by the beginning of the author's second novel :P )...it in fact had an open ending (and I so detest open endings...it leaves you a lot to imagine, and then it of course forces you to buy the sequel whenever it comes...marketing gimmick!! )but then I still liked the book....maybe for it's simplicity...maybe since it tried something new (love stories aren't new, but writing from gal's perspective is new in India...and then of course sending a gal to a remote corner, even if for a kind of HR job is pretty new as well...) 

And then, of course, this was a book I could relate to...at least as far as the title goes...but since it's not perfect, what more can I ask for...well, it would have been great to have a little background and past perspective of the character...only Shubho had his past revealed...rest were the way they were, no reasons given...and maybe that's one thing I appreciate the foreign authors for...the attention to details is something I find only from the authors of west...and maybe that's the reason none of their novels are less than 400-500 odd pages whereas we hardly find novels over 200-250 pages in India...

All in all, a pretty decent attempt, in fact a more than decent attempt...the book delivers what it promises...a good couple of hours read...of life which you can identify with in bit and parts...and best of all, this one won't make you think...and definitely leave you with at least a couple of smiles at places....

My ratings: 3.5 (oh I gave 4 on Goodreads..in fact I even rescued the book on Goodreads (now that's a long story about whole rescuing thing), but the only reason is, I like getting into the skin of the character and have inside out on their lives...which I couldn't in this case...and of course the open ending...) And yeah, I forgot, I loved the cover image of the book (how can I not with my craze for high heels...and the best part, the author sure gives the story behind the image...true or not is for readers to decide :) )

PS: After all my non stop talks, in case one does reach this point, please do suggest me a few other Indian reads that I can order from Flipkart...

The Pact, which never should have been...

It wasn't something new or surprising...Jodi Picoult does it time and again...puts you in a place and makes you choose one side...shows you the two sides of a coin n then asks you to disjoin them into the black and white...the problem is, the coin is a whole, and you really can't break it into two...

The Pact, I picked up this novel quiet long back...but then I didn't pick it up in the hardbook form or even in the ebook forms, maybe that's one reason it took me so long to really read it...with nothin to do while sitting in a really uncomfortable flight (yes IndiGo, I 'll think at least ten times before booking into yet another flight of you guys, after I finish my journey back to Hyd), I popped open the mobile version of The Pact, a novel resting in my iPhone since almost 2-3 months with barely 30 pages read...

I can't really review the novel...for Picoult makes sure you never can pick a side completely...all I know is, given the tragic beginning, she for a change surprised me with the best ending one could have asked for...after all the unfair things that happened in the novel, at least the end was a little fair, though unbelievable...

But the novel again makes me go back to the much used, abused and still never understood topic of love...I don't know how Picoult finds it...she comes up with a side of love none of us could imagine...I probably still can't relate to it even after reading through that impossibly long novel that I couldn't keep down, because I had to know what had happened...would be rather melodramatic, but as a fact, it did hurt to read a lot of what was in it...but it wasn't possible to let go off reading it..

And now, I don't want to think about it, but can't help thinking...there are quiet a lot many flaws in the novel...there are parts I still won't accept...are we so strong that we decide to end life even when it holds almost everything perfectly for us and still so fragile that we can't talk about things that are killing us from inside...can you love someone so much that you would do all they say, but never expect them to love you a little and tell you what really is disturbing them...can a million happiness be overlooked by an incident that happened way back and probably bears no scar in your present...and most of all, what really love and truth is, rather than being a matter of perception...Everyone's Truth is different...and so is everyone's Love..

There is not much I can really say about the book, it definitely is no literary masterpiece...but it does what it was meant to do...play with your emotions, put you in turmoil...

I can't help but be jealous of the girl, she had it all...probably not exactly the way she wanted it...but life never gives it all to us...but she did have the parents to whom she meant the world, she had the friend she could talk all with, she had love which probably exists only in novels (and yeah this was a novel too)..a few detours, few things going wrong, doesn't mean you get to kill yourself...or make someone else's life even worse than death..

I can't help but be amazed by the guy...how do you do that..how does love really make you do things a sane person would never understand...you can hurt yourself for the one you love, but how do you let the one you love give up everything...do you really play God, believing that you can handle it all yourself...

I simply won't be able to comprehend it all...for the book is about three things I never have understood...

Love, a different perception for every individual,

Truth, no one really knows if there is an eternal truth;

Death, more specifically suicide; it just is not imaginable...for someone to choose it as the last option, specially when life gives you a plenty of better things to choose from, Always...

Anyways, I need to get back to read some light, romantic, cute, funny novel....and get some peace for myself...

And hopefully, by the time I am back with something else to blabber on, I'll be in happier mode....Adios...

PS: And I so happened to go by her site and read what the lady herself had to say about her piece of work, in case you are interested to read more..Jodi Picoult's words about The Pact

iReview: "Other Words for Love" by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal

Pre-Script: How I wish my arms were long enough to reach my back and I could pat myself...for a simple reason...it's the third book I'm finishing in as many days...that's the benefit of being at home...and I'm even more glad because I am reading, rather than watching the re-re-reruns of the serials on TV...Last but not the least, I am hopeful that one fine day, I actually will gather the skills of reviewing a book in the nice proper manner...but till then, I'll keep writing at least about the books which really touched me...Thirteen Reasons Why was one...and well Other Words for Love is yet another...

In fact these two books have made me wonder if I ever grew up...these are the books based on teen characters...and I'm like 5 b'days ahead already...but still...I can relate to them...I can feel what the character are feelings (okie never the suicidal part of the previous novel)...Either I'm stuck to being a teenager (And I will be happy...after all which sane gal wishes to age after 16?? ) or maybe we Indians experience at the age of 24 what gals of West experience when they are like 16-17...

Coming to the novel...It didn't have much of a back cover note kind of for me to determine if I would like  it or not...I didn't check the GoodReads rating before opening it (I guess the forgetful me always does it somewhere in between her reads)...just having the word "Love" in the novel is often an incentive enough for girls my age (or rather in teens lets say :P )...and the starting of the novel scared me...It was set in 1985 (I still wonder why?? maybe because the author didn't feel like using cell phones or internet chats :-/ ) and I never have been good with classics (yeah to me anything before the time I was born is a classic!!) 

To be honest, the starting few pages weren't all that encouraging...the only thing that kept me going was that the chapters were small, made you feel that you are making a good progress and the number of pages in the novel were less...added advantage :) And the author being a first timer (another common feature between this n previous novel) I actually never expected much...

So the story is about a 16 year old gal, generally referred as Ari (please don't ask me the complete name, it was complicated :P )...it's about her life, her family, her school, her friends, and of course her love life...what I loved in the novel is the fact that it revolves around just a handful of people, and every character has a depth to it..they are all well defined and shaded out...and well, the novel shows all the facets of love...casual love, affairs, love for someone who is dead, love for your child, love for the spouse, the dream of love and happily ever after...every character of the story is interesting as per me...and none has been comprised for the sake of highlighting Ari...

It's the story of Ari who never found acceptance in her peer group (though I don't know why...but let's just accept it she doesn't and it's not very hard to accept for me..) it has bits about Evelyn, Ari's sister who as per her mom failed in living up to the expectations...it has Evelyn's husband (who I don't know how come attracted so much female attention but eventually like for loving his wife)...it's about Ari's parents (her mother mostly...the father is not much mentioned but I loved a couple of scene between him n Ari towards the end...they sounded so real :| ) and then it's about two completely different friends of Ari...and finally about two guys in Ari's life...her dreams of settling down and happy ever after (and don't you dare ask me since when American gals think of settling down at the age of 18..yup the novel traces her from 16-19 about ...)

I won't go on saying how much I accept the ending, how much I don't...it's a person to person perspective..some would love it, some would hate it and some would just hope it could have had an open end...Goodbyes are never easy, and to some people like me, there never is a final goodbye...the novel has some really sweet moments (the ones a gal like me can absolutely fall in love with)..it has some real heart breaking moments...love isn't always about happiness and love doesn't always motivate you to move ahead...at times love leaves you crushed...and that's the time your stamina and strength is tested...again, I don't accept the part where Ari actually fell into what looked like an abyss...but then it's realistic...it probably is what generally happens and I am so thankful that the novel didn't end before getting things right (I wouldn't have stood by a second suicidal novel :| )

All in all, an amazing read...just keep the patience for the first 75 pages...take whatever the crap is happening as infatuation (and we know it actually happens!!)...after that it's a compelling read....

My Rating: Definitely a 4.5/5 ...this one deserves it...at least from all the young readers (yeah I like to call myself that and I'm sure lot many else would like to call themselves young too :P )

Post Script: I realized at the end of the novel that the writer is a psychiatrist...maybe that's hoe she understands and brings the emotions and feelings of every character so alive...I never felt an over-drive of emotions are a lil bit too much of melodrama...give it a read, whenever you get a chance... :)

iReview: Thirteen Reasons Why

Pre-Script: I found this book while I was randomly browsing a books catalog...the few lines in there were eye-catching...this novel promised to be different...how often do you find a novel about a girl who is dead...who in fact, ended her life...but not before leaving her last words, for people to listen....whether they wish, or not!! And trust me, when I found the novel, I thought I have found something uncommon...only to realize, after I finished reading, this novel has been a big hit..has a completely dedicated site to it and soon releasing as a movie (a fan made trailer) too!!

Suicide, has always been a topic which raises few eyebrows....no one really knows why people kill themselves, or at least we never understand...somewhere most of us, have thought about ending our lives...killing ourselves...but then, it's just a passing thought...the same way we think about bunking a class (and the useless ones like me, generally just think about it, never able to do it in reality :( ) or like we think that we should start this business venture...definitely, death isn't a pleasant thought...so in the end, none of us know (other than those who have had a failed suicide attempt) as to what was a reason so big enough that they finally got the strength to end it all..the debate of whether someone who has it in him/her to end their life is a person full of courage or is someone who just isn't brave enough to face life....

This novel, is just an attempt to understand what leads someone to decide they have had enough of life...and no, I'm not praising this novel for justifying a suicide...in fact this novel, in my eyes, is a wake up call...a wake up call that seemingly (un)popular gals, the ones who r hyped, the one who have a completely active social life, are hanging on to life by a very thin thread...a thread which can snap by ever so little incident...It's the story of Hannah Baker, a teenage gal who has recently killed herself....It's the story of Clay, a guy who loved her, but just didn't have the strength to confront her...it's a story about their school, their classmates and their teachers...

A chunk of it is difficult to relate to...simply because Indian environment is a lot different from the western school environment (at least I haven't had that school life :) )....but then, a lot of it is actually identifiable...the confusions, the gossips, issues of heart, dreams, hopes, the thin line between right and wrong, blames and parties....there is so much in this novel...seemingly small incidents, the ones we don't even realize are happening, leaves an ever-lasting impact in few lives...

One thing, this novel stresses is, a suicide isn't the result of one massive upturn of life...it's more often than not a series of lil events...and probably all it takes to avert a person on the verge of killing themselves is a supporting shoulder...someone who can listen, someone who can accept...but worst of all, generally the one who is about to end it all, rejects all the support which comes to them...because in their eyes, they aren't worth it...a suicide isn't about someone who blames the world of their miseries, it is more often about a person who blames themselves for the miseries of the world...

Coming to the novel's narrative...it's a dual narrative, which is handled very well...the italics for the girl's voice in tape...normal font for the listening guy's actions and thoughts....13 people who the girl thinks should know about her story, because they had a part to play in it...a couple of stories weren't the ones who warrant attention...somewhere I missed the parents of the gals...they were in-existent in the story (though the boy's mom turns up...n she in fact leaves a friendly presence...) But then, in the end, I don't think the gal could justify her decision to kill herself (somewhere I wanted to see her alive at the end of the novel...wanted that as a shocking event...but nah, guess it wouldn't have worked well for the novel :| ) 

And other than a couple of people who the gals take a stab at, I couldn't find a problem with the rest...what they did, is probably what all of us to at some point in life...it's nothing conscious, it's just the human nature...maybe in the end the novel tries to leave you with the question if you can actually help the ones who decide to end it all...it definitely motivates you to...but is in check with reality, that maybe you can't...you can't help the ones who can't handle life...who either take all the blame, or just pass all the blames to the rest before ending it up all...

Give it a read, because it's different...because (for the likes of me) it hasn't been long since you've lived that life yourself...or because the people around you, the ones who matter to you are living this life...read it, because a lot of it is identifiable...read it to understand how seemingly worthless actions of yours can alter someone's life (even if that someone happens to be a gal who can make a mountain out of a mole!!!)

My Score...well 4/5 (you gain it all for the concept and the narrative...but you lose one because, well I just couldn't accept that all that happened in Hannah's life was an excuse good enough to end life!!)

Post Script:- I hope everyone who ever has or will read this novel, 'll end up believing that they are stronger than Hannah...that they are better and more determined than Clay...because in the end, a suicide affects the people around the victim way more than the victim itself...just to ensure you sleep peacefully, make sure; everyone who matters, who is reachable...is happy and sane...

iReview: 'Never Look Away' by Linwood Barclay...

Back to a book review after long...not as if I didn't read books in between...did finish John Grisham's "The Confession" and even mid way through yet another by Jeffery Archer, "Prisoner of Birth" (midway because of project deadlines n then exams n definitely not bcoz there r issues with the book, I definitely 'll resume it one day :) )...but then I felt that maybe reviewing books isn't in my genes (I mean common, my blog is more of incoherent thoughts written down, how do I deal with something dealing in facts and reality :P )

But then this book, has been a lot of firsts for me...so this had to come to the blog...this is the first book I've read by the author (and I guess for a long time it's going to be the only one, because well...this one is claimed to be his best production till date...and why read other books by the other and ruin the impression you've about him :) ) ...

Then again this book is the first book I read a gist of in the recommended books section of ToI (they had it in the weekend planner of theirs on Friday...things to do over weekend...and how do I let them know that I finished the book they recommended in like 24 hours...and no other book in the list given by them excites me enough to start them....I need more nice recommendations!!!)

Another first in this book was, the way it's written...most of the novels I've read, has it all in a third person sense...there are characters, and those character's actions n thoughts are discussed...a complete impersonal way of writing (and well, I doubt, that's how I prefer it even now)...but this novel was different...it was all full of I, my mother, my father n so it goes on...reading a novel in the first person, was definitely a change; and probably the only way I really am not much fond of...I mean common, you are a author, the main character of the novel is a journalist, but still there is something more comfortable in talking about third person rather than the "I's" in the novel (or maybe just that I don't adapt to the changes well!!!  And it reminds me, most probably Chetan Bhagat writes the novels in first person...but then his novels r still believable, ones you can relate to...this novel is a pure fiction...and definitely not something I want to relate to ;) )

Coming back to the novel....it's written in the simplest of English you can think of (at one point of time it made me wonder if Barclay has some Indian connection!!!) and what's more interesting it, there were points in the novel where the author had used lines inside brackets (it felt so sweet, I can't express it in words...he keeps the faith alive in me that maybe one day...just one lucky day, I actually can pen a novel :D :D :D )

So the novel is a perfect storyline, in case Ekta Kapoor feels like making a thriller (common, even she is slowly, at snail's pace, moving away from the Saas-Bahu regime..) it has all the twists n turns in place...starting from the slow notes of the I (David Harwood), a journalist with a simple usual family (including a wife who has issues like every couple does, a naughty son, parents who are just like the typical parents) and has big ambitions about journalism....it starts up as a story about the guy who wants to find a story, curb corruption, bring the true picture of  the political set up in place...but well few pages down the book, as in real life, his personal issues starts shadowing his professional troubles...nothing is what it seemed...and he is left wondering if he even knows the identity  of the woman he was married to for 5 yrs, is the mother of his 4 yrs old a women capable of maternal instincts??

Starting from slow notes, a guy working on a news story, planning a family picnic...to the guy who lost his son, found him only to realize a missing wife, for whose murder he would be a suspect, a wife turned strangers...strangers who have a hand in the whole ordeal he is going through and strangers who would face the ordeal themselves...at one point of time, you might even feel there were a l ot too many characters in the novel...characters who really weren't needed...who didn't have a depth...they were there, maybe to increase the thickness of the book....

The book has its fun moments...the detective (Duckworth), mostly has nothing special in him to stand out from rest, but his lil personal side ( the way he sneaks sweets n high calorie food while investigating the case while his wife has put him on strict low carb diet, the way he feels the things aren't right when the clues keep pointing just one person, and so on) makes sure that he doesn't become one of the investigator we love to hate just because they r hell bent on framing the guy n get him behind bars...

It's a simple book...a make believe book, a book which can make u wonder do u really know a person u have lived with years...it goes to high profile sections n then comes back to day to day usual life...in the end it's just about common people with (thankfully) uncommon incidents...

Give this one a read, if you like thrillers...if you are into family reads...if you don't want a novel who keeps you on the edge with every page turn (at one point you may feel that the twists and turns are getting predictable...but even that's worth, because  you 'll continue reading just to find if you were right :) ) 

The best part about the book...you won't end up hating anyone...even the one person behind this whole commotion is bound to win over you by the end...this book, somewhere shows that we are a product of our upbringing....even the worst of us, the most inhumane of us, have feelings itched deep in us...and it's only when we are looked off, not cared for attended to, that brings the worst out in us...

For a happily ever after, for a family that stays together...for the love that grows and blossom year after year, there is just one way...."Never Look Away!!!"

False Impression Gives Me a Character to Fall in Love With...

Jeffrey Archer, another author, whose work I used relish way back in past....I remember reading its thick, heavy n kind of never ending "Kane and Abel" around a decade back...I happened to have finished my 9th standard n was spending a huge chunk of time (read around a month) at di's  place...with her being in office throughout the day on weekdays, n no television in tow in her apartment, the sweet lil me had to keep myself busy with all the books I could find...wasn't surprising when it took me just a few days to complete a book, di was stuck with since weeks :D

It was a nice read...a paced story revolving around the life of two men, born on the same date, but with different fortune...and as has been my habit, I delved into all the novel written by the man (though I doubt I've read them all...I believe I've missed plenty) The kind of novels this guy writes can be broadly categorized into epic dramas or suspense (or thriller) novels...and truth be told, being the dramatic gal I'm; I loved Archer for those dramas spanning from birth till the end of men or even across generation...Sherlock Holmes isn't my favorite genre in any case... 

He is one guy, who actually has had a life as dramatic as his novel...a baron, a writer, a political reader to insider's trading only to even taste being a prisoner...hell of a life it was...and we think, it's the end of the world once u land up in jail (even his novels suggest so) but man, he continued with his pen even then (though I left reading him :P nothing related to his jail stint in any case ;) )

So, I just realized a couple of days back that there are now 3 proper fictional novels by him that are out since his time in prison and I haven't touched even one yet...and hence began my journey with "False Impression" .

Confession, before I move forward (yup, it's my kind of review...so it's bound to be like pages n pages long :P ) I generally tend to read a lil backdrop about the story of novels I pick...generally myself go through some shadowed reviews on various blogs and Amazon...but seems like amidst all my submission n rocking-rolling life, I started this novel without going into the backdrop or storyline of the novel...

Good, I didn't...else I would probably have not started with the novel (as I said, not a big fan of thriller or chases...) Bad, had I been through the reviews, I probably would have understood it's not a novel with perfect fit for me...I remember reading "Da Vinci Code", n getting so overwhelmed with all the artwork they mentioned that the entire novel got too heavy to take in for me (not to forget, I ended up comparing it with "Angels and Demons" and well "Da Vinci" just lost it with huge margin) "False Impression" is the next novel I've ever come across, full of painting and their history (and frankly I've no clue about them, never even had heard about them...like I had no idea what a Monet could be, losing which made a man sad, a man who didn't think twice before killing someone, gettin sad for a person?? Nah...till I realized its a painting :P ) And yet, I'll say hats of too Jeffrey, I not only finished the novel, I actually ended up learning about a couple of artworks...

A story spanning across ten days needs to be thrilling...keeping the suspense n action quotient up all the time, be enthralling and succinct...sadly, the book was neither of the two...at least not the first half...the entire backdrop of 9/11 actually had no correlation with the plot of the novel (only serving as a mean to give the lead a way to hide her presence, claim herself dead!!!) The way the characters kept jumping from one country to another, was kind of lame (it actually can make me all d more weary about travelling, n not to forget it also tempts me to think that every flight has a killer, a cop n a lead-in-run as its passenger :O ) The male lead, hardly had a role (except of-course trying out his luck with the female lead, n occasionally outwitting the bad man, actually woman :D ) 

And man, what a negative lead she is...I guess she is one character that got me completely hooked (how often do u find that the negative lead is a light frame woman??) This book was worth it for her (and I had to read d ending twice for her...trying to figure out if she is alive or dead...n seems like I'll find her again in some of Jeffrey's novel because to the best of my knowledge she was given a last moment life n chance to escape..) and well I would keep my fingers crossed that she re-surfaces in some other of his novel....she completely steals the show from the male-female lead...hats off!!

Other than that there are some characters here n there...all suiting pretty well to their character (including the negative lead, the assistants, and the friends for the leads...) but well, to be honest, none of the character had a depth or big background attached to it...in fact, one of the biggest mystery in the novel; the reason for the the lady assistant to be helping the female lead, was in fact a dampener (okie the dramatic me wanted some big mystery to be revealed and not a one paragraph revelation just before the novel ended)..

To cut it short, it was a decent read...the first half tested me a lil, but the second half was a page-turner...loved the female negative lead....in fact will keep my eyes open for more such characters, which I know would be hard to come across :( 

One-line Review: Read the novel if:

a. you like the chases and have a knack for thrillers 

b. want to see a negative female who goes beyond the kitchen politics but is actually in love with kitchen knives..

c. are interested even the tiniest bit in artworks :)

d. wish to read a lil more about the 9/11 destruction and a fiction on how the people trapped in twin towers would have gone through those moments...

and give it a miss if:

a. you are looking forward to a chase like Robert Ludlum's novel,

b. you prefer novels who have a good research work done about the character's background,

c. you actually are looking for a sensible, coherent, practical stream of actions

d. and last but not the least, are looking for some big mystery element.

(And dare anyone point out that it was way more than one line!!!)

Rating: 4/5 (and trust me at least two of these four point here are for Krantz, the female negative lead...yup I like d bad guys...oops...gals :D)

Post Script: Would be back soon...very soon!!! ;))

and no, it won't b a post on Prisoners of Birth, the next Archer novel I've started with :)

Tilly Bagshawe: Mistress of the Game...the Game of Banking on a Brand Name??

Pre-script: This probably is a kind of review you never have read or heard of before...it hardly touches the aspect of the book but rather bears all the characteristic of something written by me (yeah, tangential is the term) and well, it's my most dedicated effort to stay with one single topic....which as you must know, is kind of impossible for me :D :D

Sidney Sheldon, I am sure everyone must have heard this name...and anyone of us who likes to read (no matter what genre he/she prefers) must have read at-least one of HIS book...stressing on the his because for a long time I was under the assumption that Sidney, as the name sounds and suggests (at least to me) must be a girl...it's just once that I actually happened to look at the back cover of one of his novels which printed his snap that I realized, oh God, he is a guy!!!

Looking back, I realize that it's almost a decade since I read the first Sidney book (well, yeah I was spoiled pretty early I guess...it was probably 9th standard that I got my hands on "The Best Laid Plans" by the author...a friend had just passed it across..and I graduated from Nancy Drews to a new league :-o ) And well, I've this bad habit of sticking to an author till I finish almost all my collection, so it was all over by 12th...almost all (and don't be suspicious about my interest in Sidney Sheldons, I have completed most of the Robin Cook, all Jeffery Archer, complete Dan Brown, a good deal of John Grisham and Robert Ludlum too...all by the 2nd year of B.Tech...I miss my sincere reading days now :'( )

All said and done, I like he fast pace in his novels (though few of the books have a lot of, to my imagination, impossible crap attached to it) and I generally love the suspense factor in it...the mystery or even just finding out what actually happened to the lead characters...were they able to achieve their goals of life n kind of stuff...and yeah, I love the sitcom penned by the same author (which was another revelation...how on this earth can I dream that the writer of such novels is associated with something like I Dream of Jeannie!!!! )

My one week of break at home (at the end of which came "Bored and Unstable Me...") was kind of dedicated back to the author...I happened to catch up with a mini tele-series based on his novel "If Tomorrow Comes"  which so happens to be one of my favorite by him...and well, for once I was pleased with the way it has been adopted in the mini-series...the story hasn't been cut-short, the way Twilight's movie adaption ruined the novel (so much so that I couldn't bring myself to watch any movie after the first one....but I'm fine if they adapt the fourth one...given that, the fourth part novel itself was a big let down :( ) and neither has the story been stretched beyond limits (yeah, you are right I'm talking about Twilight again, the television serial made out of it by Ekta Kapoor...Pyaar ki yeh ek kahani..ufff X( ) Do catch up with the series, I really enjoyed it even after having read and remembering the novel...and even the 4-5 hours it's spread over passes with all the entertainment intact (in fact this happens to be the second novel adaptation I actually have liked, the first being Gone With the Wind, which actually made it possible for the people who can't read 1000 pages of the book to get the story...and to think of, even Harry Potter generally has been nicely adapted though I haven't got any after the 3rd one :-| )

And other than catching up his series, I finally happened to read a book...more out of curiosity than actually following my reading temptation...I happened to stumble upon the title "Mistress of the Game" which is being promoted as a sequel to Sheldon's "Master of the Game" and I in fact if you look at the cover, it makes you feel as if Sidney Sheldon himself is the author, which would be shocking given the fact that Mr. Sheldon died soon after his not-so-well novel "Are you afraid of the dark?" , a kind of sequel to my first book "Best Laid Plans" had come out...so well, me being me, dug a lil deeper and realized that the novels are actually penned by a woman named Tilly Bagshawe, who claims to love Sidney's book and has done a lot of research to come up with the sequel so that it sounds and shapes the way it would have been had Sidney himself would have written (if he ever would have...which I doubt :-/ )

So well, picked up the book...and thought of giving it a read and I don't know if it's my time away from books or if it's the way that the book was written, it took me almost the entire week to actually finish it... which happens to be a complete contrast to the usual way I finish a book within the day or in one sitting (yup, that's one more reason I try to stay away from books these days...I leave all other works pending for the love of novels) 

And finally coming to what I feel about the novel....the story is mostly carried from where it was left in Master of the Game...Tilly didn't have to work much on setting the background and behavior of the character, thankfully Sidney had made the leads strong enough to ensure no one dared change their touches....the new generation brought forward by Tilly was kind of expected...the one with a subtle and peaceful mother grows up to be strong and determined whereas the son of the willful headstrong mom is expectedly over-shadowed by her and kind of lost in the efforts to please her...the relationships in the novel were badly misplaced in the name of copying the lines of Sidney (yeah I know and accept that his story lines had some unacceptable relationship equations too but this one seems to make sure that not even one person is straight!!! over-exaggeration...) The story ended at some strange place (which scares me that Tilly might try to bring yet another sequel :-S ) and well, truly saying I didn't like the way Tilly actually led the story to crumble the empire which formed the back-bone of the story...it's just not the way it's supposed to be... #-o

So well, it's worth a read if you actually have read the sequel and would like to spend a lil more time with the characters you had come to love and hate...but I just don't agree with the next generation which has been showcased, with the exception of Gabe's character (which has it's own flaws but thankfully hasn't ever turned into a vindictive person and he in fact seems to be the only person to keep Lexi in check lest she turns up like Kate, her evil aunt)...I can condemn Tilly and the publisher on one hand to showcase the book such that one is led to believe it's  Sidney himself (and I till date doubt how Tilly got the permission to use his name this way on the covers and all) and on the other hand hats off to Tilly for trying out such a dangerous stuff...fans of Sidney can both embrace or criticize her badly...

But in either case, Tilly has found a new route to success...the die-hard followers of Sidney 'll definitely pick up the book to read it once...just to see how similar or different it is, to applaud or rubbish it...and I guess that things did work out with Tilly, for she is already out with another novel, and yet again has Sidney Sheldon's name in much bigger font and on top rather than her own name (makes me wonder, does she wants to live in the shadows of Sidney and let go of her chances as a writer with different personal touch?? )...in any case, yet to read any novel by her (which isn't claimed as having Sidney's touch, and yeah she I guess has 3-4 of them before she got hooked to Sidney #:-s)

One line verdict: Give it a read if:-

• you are a Sidney fan and have read most of his work... :-?
• you got nothing better to read (which you probably don't, given you read this long review =)) )
• you like reading about the life journey of people with lots of ups n down and of course things gone wrong...
• you have the stamina left to read the sequel after reading the original, which happens to be a thick book itself but delightful too (and has made me wonder many times that, yeah again a hindi serial, had once come up loosely based n it's story line...though I don't recollect the name, it had Smriti Irani playing the role of the nice good grand-child)

And those who read it, would be left like me...a lil confused...and left waiting for their prediction of another sequel coming up...

Rating (he ha ha...me n rating something...I know how I say that the only way I'll fail is if I check my papers myself...I am bad in giving marks :P ) Anyways I'll be good n pass it with a 3.25/5  (see I'm still with .25 ...that's the way we are marked in the department :()

I hope I have able to maintain some single track theme...fingers crossed...catch ya laters :-h

And yeah, I've been a lil too liberal with emoticons in this post...just that it's long since I saw Yahoo emoticons again (Gmail has conquered it) so was kind of in a mood to revisit the old memories with all those long forgotten icons <:-P