The White Tiger -- Aravind Adiga



Review of yet another booker winner from my stable but this is definitely one of the more deserving books to win the coveted prize. The simplicity of characters and narration of the story to Chinese ambassador kept me thoroughly interested thorough out the span of this read. It's a story about a rickshaw pullers son named Balram who carves his way out of Darkness to become a successful entrepreneur in Bangalore, transforming from a faithful servant of his master to his murderer. A must read.

Well I have a confession to make, I’ve been into too much of chick stuff lately, recently I saw Sex and the city and embarrassingly loved it. I followed it up by reading two chick Novel and am gonna review them for my exactly zero readers ;-)

You Were Here

Written by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan whose blog I follow has somehow managed to collate all the stuff on her blog (or we can say her life) and throw it at us in form of a book. I have nothing negative to say about the book but I expected more being a fan. Anyhow this is a story about a 25 year old girl Arushi whose “life is like a bra strap when you put your bra on wrong”, it’s also the tag line of the book. Nothing much in the story just usual stuff like cheating boyfriend, leach of a neighbor, alcohol, sex, drugs…stuff you can find on her blog anyways….read it if you are looking for something light to read.

A Girl like Me – Swati Kaushal

This is a story of a 16 year old Anisha Rai who is transported from suburbs of Minnesota to concrete jungle of Gurgaon with her Mom. She joins a school in Gurgaon and experiences the study load of students in India. Then there is usual crushes, jealousy, soul searching making it full masala stuff. I was amazed how common making out is in youngsters today compared to our times, may be its just exaggerated by authors/newspapers these days, but this one is definitely nicely written as I finished it in one sitting.

Animal's People -- Indra Sinha

A book worthy of it’s bookers nomination, it will go into the core of your psyche and remind you the horrors of Bhopal Gas tragedy that happened in 1984 killing thousands when 40 tonnes of lethal gas was released from a pesticide plant, the traces of contaminants can be found till date. The narrator changed the name of the city to Kaufpur and called Union Carbide “Kampani”, to top it they have made a website www.khaufpur.com which is a must checkout.
The narrators name is Animal, 20 years old who lost his family in the tragedy, got his back bent and walks on all fours. His emotional growth during the story, and people around him taking him from the starting line “I used to be human once” to his “human self” make this an interesting read. An intensely social and sometimes humorous tale. A must READ!!!

****

The 3 mistakes of my life


It’s been a while since I was waiting for the next installment from Mr. Bhagat’s stable, though this one isn’t as amazing as “Five Point Someone” it doesn’t disappoint completely. Chetan’s characters are always ambitious, young and passionate about what they do which is something youth in India can associate with, he has also shown there confusion when it comes to religion, morals and social issues also currently faced by Youngistan.
The story line again revolves around three friends (Govind, Ish and Omi), and as usual the one falling in love is the narrator and like every Gujju (slang for people from Gujrat) wants to become a successful entrepreneur. I really liked the way Chetan has depicted the involvement of communal parties in aggravating the riot situation in Gujrat and how religion can be used to brainwash people. I am not saying that communal parties are the only one that’s wrong as 84 riots was a handiwork of a secular party but that Chetan has used the popular sentiments well.

His formula in this book i.e., Cricket + Religion + Politics + Love + Business = Hit.

So for the love of the highest selling Indian author or if you have nothing else that’s interesting, read this book.

Unaccustomed Earth -- Jhumpa Lahiri

Yet another Lahiri’s book and yet another beautifully written upwardly mobile Bengali immigrants tale. I love the way she defines her characters and brings them together in the end based on there common cultural or family grounds. All the stories whether it’s the father who discovers a new life after mother’s death, a married woman who experienced happiness only by being with another guy, a sister being a spectator to her alcoholic brothers fall, a girl and a boy coming together after lifetime of struggle (best story of the book) or a young Bengali female who looses her mind over a relationship with a white guy.

The twist and turns that takes place during the stories are totally unexpected and keeps the reader guessing, Jhumpa Lahiri is a great writer and this is a book that may get her few more award nominations.

Baby ji -- Abha Dawesar

This book is definitely one of the more erotic books I have read in a long time, but unlike a normal Erotica this one gives us a lot more. It has lot of drama and is really thought provoking during it's exploration of sexuality and its many forms.

Babyji is a story of a Delhi girl Tara Sharma who is a brilliant student, head prefect and favorite of all her teachers but then she is not a typical 'good girl'. At an adolescent age of 16 she has multiple lovers, a middle aged divorced woman, a young house made and her 16 year old classmate. Additionally she is flirting with her best friends Dad and the local school goon. This book has handled the taboo topic of lesbianism and promiscuousness really well, unlike other publications I've read by Indian authors. Definitely not Lolita but a good read.....

The Inscrutable Americans -- Anurag Mathur




I guess I read this book a bit late, as it's based in early 90's when a guy named Gopal from a small town of Jajau sets his foot in America. His complete ineptitude in understanding the mysterious creature called "American Female" (even the willing one's ) was hilarious, also how he interprets the American lingo's is interesting ;-) . Some of the Indians may not like this book as in todays world of outsourcing and MTv they are definitely more aware of American culture.

All in all a hilarious read...best part is those letters that he wrote home :-)

It's not about the bike: My journey back to life -- Lance Armstrong


Where there is a will there is a way, Lance Armstrong a cyclist at the age of 25 was diagnosed with testicular cancer and was given just 40% chance of survival and no hope of being an athlete again. A person like me may not be able to understand what Lance has gone through, the worst i had was Dental Surgery. But this guy takes the cancer challenge head on, he fights with the disease in the same way he used to plan his races.
So beating all odds he recovers from cancer and goes on to win the toughest challenge for an athlete and world biggest cycle race "Tour De France" not once or twice but seven consecutive times.

Raised by a single mom in a small town fighting his way through cancer and becoming one of the most coveted athletes of all times. His life is an inspiration for people who loose hope due to small setbacks (including me), today he is working as a cancer activist and has a cancer foundation called LIVESTRONG , he also conducts inspirational talks. You can find all about it here

Even though the book is not the one of the best written books I have read but the reality of the story and what a human being can achieve with determination and hard work is truly amazing.

A must read :-)

Inkheart and Inkspell --- Cornelia Funke



Yet another magic fantasy series and yet again I get bowled over by the authors imagination, Imagine you are reading Cinderella and she juts pops out of the book and stands right in front of you, looking as beautiful as the author portrayed her in the book. This series is all that and more, it's a story of a father and daughter who are blessed with this magical tongue and what happens when they start reading a particular book called Inkheart.
Where Inkheart leaves you thirsty for more, Inkspell takes you to the virtual world of this book. The adventure expands manifold and just when you don't want the book to finish and the story to carry on the author intelligently makes sure that you are left thirsty for the last part of the series......the story continues and now I have to wait for two books....last part of Inheritance series and this one.....

Inkheart is also being made in a movie and the trailer looks really exciting...check it out here....

The Gathering --- Anne Enright



I have no idea why I can't agree with the panel that award Bookers...why year after year I waste my time in reading this stuff. Words almost fail me while describing how boring I found Gathering.
The almost non-existent story revolves around a really boring Veronica Hagarthy who is sibling to equally boring 11 other Hegarthy's....the whole clan is so uninspiring and so ordinary that you just can't find reasons of anything interesting about there lives.

Then there is Veronica's obsession with imagining her grandmother making out with Lambert Lugent and her own stupid issues of getting distanced from her husband for reasons a normal human mind can't understand and yeah the crooked explicit sexual overtones were just too much.

On the other hand the author has amazing writing style and there are some memorable passages like how Veronica is not surprised when she finds out that Liams dead body was found without any socks and underwear as she knows Liam is fastidious tidy and won't like to be drawn out of the water with dirty undergarments.

The best thing about this book is it worked like a sleeping pill for me....kind of reminded me of those boring history books in school ;-)

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham


This was a really short read and a complete non-thriller or we can say non-Grisham kind of book. The plot revolves around an NFL player Rick Dockery who has a disastrous career and made history by making his team loose a match that they had already won. To escape all the death threats and change of scene he moves to Italy to be a part of Italian version of NFL and play for a team named Panthers until a better offer comes along.

This story is like any sports movie you would have seen but a well written one. There is a happy ending to this book for sure......and then there is a lot of gyan on Italian food, cities and wine.

One thing is for sure, this book will make an amazing movie......

Romancing with Life -- By Dev Anand



"My life has been an open book. I have written honestly about what has stood out in the forefront of my memory."

Dev Anand writes about his 62 years of life, he has written this book with passion even when he is writing about his failures, he does believe that he is the greatest thing to have happened to Indian Cinema when he advocates his flop movies like "Awwal number, Gangster, Mr Prime Minister, Censor", he actually calls Awwal Number ahead of time as Aamir's Lagaan got nominated for Oscars was made with the same cricket theme and soon after it's release Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE which highlighted terrorism in the country.
Dev Anand got almost all women he eyed except Suraiya, the only one he came close to loving. His Mills and Boon kind of soft porn writing has masala for all his fans who want to relive his romantic liaisons they have read about all there lives...and also the one's they haven't like loosing his virginity with a middle aged women in an A/C compartment of a train "She asked me to come and I came" and how Zeenat Aman left his production house and went to Raj Kapoor (who eventually made her a bigger star with Satyam Shivam Sundaram)

This book priced @ Rs 695/- is a bit expensive unless you are a big fan but it's definitely a good read, truth about Autobiographies being you have to accept whatever author has written, read In the Line of Fire: A Memoir by Pervez Musharraf to understand how far can a man go away from truth...

PS: I was fortunate enough to get an Autographed copy of Dev Anand's book. I hope Mr. Anand is able to give us another magical movie experience that reminds us of his genius before fading into oblivion!!!!!!

-ve reviews of Fountainhead.....i will still give it *****

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0451191153/ref=cm_cr_pr_redirect/102-4635129-7067322?%5Fencoding=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar

Holy Cow

If I would have thought of someone who could've written this kind of book it had to be some humorous atheist foreigner, Sarah McDonald comes to India and leaves swearing never to return but as predicted by a roadside Sadhu she comes back in search of love. It is her journey in search of spirituality where she narrates you her understanding of different religions and beliefs in India.
Her in depth analysis includes almost all the religious beliefs like Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Sufism. More recent targets of devotion, such as Sai Baba, Osho Rajneesh, Yogi Bhajan, Jiddu Krishnamurti and Bollywood stars, are also discussed.
The line I liked the most is "The one thing that can stop a bus, is the king of the road the lord of jungle[traffic] and the top god. The holy cow."

Gifted -- By Nikita Lalwani



This name struck to me after this book made an appearance in Bookers Long List. This books talk about how far a father can go in Pushing his child to achieve his dreams. Rumi is a maths prodigy who is forced in following a strict discipline by her father on her quest to become a child prodigy, she is forced to follow Army bootcamp kind of rules like staying hungry to be able to concentrate more.

This book is heavily inspired from Sufiah Yusof's story who as a child prodigy ran away from Oxford and blamed her parents for putting too much pressure on her.

All in all this book was a nice read, I liked the way Rumi was able to enjoy her maths and even created lullaby's of numbers and her cummin seeds fetish beats any fetish I had as a kid.

Wish I was so good @ maths.....

A Thousand Splendid Suns

He does it again, as a follow up to his amazing story Kite Runner (forgot to write it's review but it's a must read) he comes out with a heart touching story of Mariam and Laila.

Mariam was born in Afghanistan in 1959 as an illegitimate child who is later married off to a man 30 years older then her and has to endure a difficult restricted life burdened on an Afghan women in the middle of Russian revolution and then the rise of Taliban. Then some 15 years later her husband marries another 14 year old girl Laila whose parents are killed in the bombing.
Khaled Hosseini has shown the plight of women living in Afghanistan and there struggle of individuality..........he is a magician of words......A must read......

Hari Putter ne chakk te fatte




Well at last I finished the last Harry Potter Book(Deathly Hallows) in almost a single sitting (took 6 hours of sleep in between)..this book is a bit different from all other Harry Potter books...it's definitely more interesting as the trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron are on a run and face some difficulty or other in there adventure, though I didn't like the ending...I was waiting to be surprised but Rowling gave the expected end of the story without killing any central character and triumphing Harry in the end....but now since the series is over I'll miss Mr. Potter and his adventures......i loved it and lived it and don't really mind that the ending was not really a shocker....

Donno when Mr. Paolini will come up with his next.......also waiting to catch the next Potter flick!!!!

Anything for you Maam...


I donno why every story needs to be an IITians love story..i mean think about it..we all have done crazy things in love....(may be i'll write an exaggerated book abt my love story as well someday)

IIT apart this book made me laugh...specially at the end when Mr. Fate caused endless coincidences (too many to digest though) but I would recommend this to all people who have done crazy things in love...just to relive those moments READ IT.

Next --- By Michael Crichton




This book has a strange subject but keeps you hooked as soon as you finish reading the first page, this has all the masala one could ask for being a magic fantasy fan...talking ape...a humanzee(chimp crossed with human)...talking parrot who is capable of maths....but then the difference being this is not a Magic fantasy....it's about science and genetics...Crichton is able to combine some facts about the world of genetics research and made a good fiction out of it....his depiction of future not so far is a bit scary....only downfall of this book being not all the characters stay till the end and vanish without completing the story.

All is all a worth read.....

The Inheritance of Loss

Or should I say booker’s prize went for a toss????

I read this book from the start till the end and am still hunting for a story, there were so many characters but Kiran Desai seems to be struggling to gel all the characters together. Though the setup was nice and she could’ve produced a really marvelous book.

The only good thing about this book is how she has pictured the Northeast India and people living there, specially the one's who have settled down there marveled by its beauty. The US connection has no significance all together and I still believe that focus should have been more on the stories in India........ The ending was so sudden that it keeps you wondering whether you skipped a few pages....

What I wonder is since Salman Rushdie is backing Kiran Desai so much and I truly like his work I must have missed something about this book. I guess I would recommend 'God of small things', 'Kite Runner' , 'A Fine Balance' or 'Midnight Children' if you really want to know what award winning books are really like.....cause all this book lacks is Focus...and that too on the story :-(

My Rating: ***