The Bookish Reviews

A tiny update

2012-01-14T22:29:00.001+05:30

I guess this picture says it all !!! Yea, my baby would be arriving approximately in a month :D :D Currently I am anxious, worried, excited and happy. Now I am just enjoying the last days of my pregnancy...waiting for the sleepless nights and constant nappy changes :)

I have no idea if it is gonna be a baby boy or a girl, though my mum is kinda of sure that it is gonna be a boy. Anyway I didn't buy anything blue/pink to be on the safe side :) My hubby would have a big surprise if it turns out to be a girl since he is totally expecting a rascal just like him :)

The Poet(Jack McEvoy#1) by Michael Connelly - Book Review

2012-01-14T22:08:00.001+05:30

The Poet was my first encounter with Mr Michael Connelly and this book has hooked me to his creations for some time now.

Jack McEvoy is a crime beat reporter who specializes mainly in homicide cases. His world is turned around when he receives the news of his twin brother's death. The death looks like a straight forward case of police suicide when the policeman pulls the trigger when he can no longer take the pressure of his work. The immediate cause of this drastic step was said to be his inability to close the heinous murder of a young woman. Though the case looked like routine police suicide to everyone, Jack found that something didn't add up especially the suicide note.

Jack finally stumbles on different police suicide cases spanning over a decade and finds a pattern. It seemed that someone was killing these policemen, making it look like suicides and leaving lines from Edgar Allan Poe's poems as suicide notes. Jack very badly wants to find the killer and redeem his brother and save many other police officers.

Michael Connelly should be considered as a literal genius as far as crime fiction is concerned. The way he develops the story and keeps the readers hooked to the story that you cannot function normally until you read that last page is just awesome.

And yes, there is always a twist in the end of his stories. Don't be too blind as to where he is taking you on his crime fighting journeys; suspense and twist is round the next corner.

At this point, I should say that the disappointing part of The Poet was the unnecessary twist at the very end without much conclusion. I felt that he forgot to let the reader the whole truth about the murders. But then Michael Connelly has a whole book lined up about the poet :)

Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge

2012-01-01T16:05:00.000+05:30

A very happy new year to all you out there !!! May you have lots of time to read a lot of books this year :D

Ok. I have decided to put a target to read 50 books in 2012, probably with a good mix of non-fiction and audio books. I may be quite successful with non-fiction, but I am not too sure if I will be able to listen much to audio books. Anyway let us see how it turns out to be. Do check out my reading challenge widget in the page to see my progress.

Did anyone else take up any other book reading challenges ? As of now, I don't have any intentions to take up further challenges, because I know that I will never stick to them :)

Call me Elizabeth by Dawn Annandale - Book Review

2011-12-31T09:40:00.000+05:30

Cover of Call Me Elizabeth: Wife, Mother, Escort

How far will you go to ensure the happiness of your kids? What will you do if you were in Dawn's place? How would have you managed the same situation? I think these are questions that will be running perpetually in the back of your mind while reading this book, especially if you are a married woman with kids.

Dawn Annandale is a mother of six kids and the family was deeply in debt that they could be evicted out of their beautiful house any time. Her husband was quite passive about the situation and Dawn had no hope that he will take charge of the situation and do something to keep the house. Coming from a difficult family, the last thing that Dawn wanted was her kids to lose the sense of loving and security they are currently experiencing.

Dawn's attention is grabbed when she sees an advertisement for escort girls which will pay her around $300 per night. Dawn's desperateness drives her to give the profession a try and later on when she finds that she manage to make more money doing prostitution, she leaves her job and goes into full night escort work. Step by step Dawn is able to manage her finances in a much better way.

This book is supposed to be an autobiography of Dawn Annandale which is the reason why the book has a very long title. "Elizabeth" is the psuedonym that she uses in her alternate profession.

My Thoughts

Call me Elizabeth: Wife, Mother, Escort is a book that needs to be read with an open mind considering the sensitive nature of the story when you imagine Dawn to be a mother of six and woman who is still married to her husband. Dawn has extensively tried to justify her decision to go into the oldest profession, and her children's happiness and sense of security is the prime factor. Her narration is simple but not boring, and she has taken good care not to make it like a porn magazine. But I should say that she has given enough information to give an idea about the dangers of her profession too. Her decision to go into the profession is more justified by the amount of money she made when she went into the profession as a full time profession at night.

This book is an interesting read though some narrations related to her profession may make you uncomfortable. I had my sympathy with Dawn especially when people whom she knew started harrassing her and threatening her. I was relieved when she finally decided to leave her job.

May be the disappointing part of the book was when I learned that Dawn Annandale went ahead and started an escort business of her own once she left her job as an escort. Her experiences as a business woman has been written in another book Call Me Madam: From Mother to Madam. It is difficult to justify this business when we know that Dawn was no longer financially desperate enough to do this. She is also not addressing the question of what would be her kids' reactions when they come to know what their mother did for their happiness.

My verdict: Grab this book for an interesting read, but then try to keep your mind open

Beyond This Place by A J Cronin - Book Review

2011-12-28T13:51:00.003+05:30

Image via Wikipedia

I have a lot of unread books that has been stored inside the cupboard for more than six months. Somehow most of these books doesn't seem to excite me like the new books I see in the library or book shops.

Beyond This Place by A J Cronin is one of the books that had sat in my to-read pile for almost an year. I have a 1953 edition of the book and the outer cover was already gone when I got it from a second hand book shop. The books looks worn out, used and all brown, but the pages are all fine. It felt good when I was holding a book that was printed almost 60 years ago.

Beyond This Place is another simple book by A J Cronin with a simple story line. I would say that it was quite an ordinary read, but then an ordinary book by A J Cronin is itself a joy to read. I finished this book within 2 days, so you cannot calling it boring at all...

Paul Mathry grew up believing that his father died when he was very young, but his mother couldn't hold back the truth from him for long. His father Rees Mathry is a convicted murderer who will be spending the rest of his life in prison. This knowledge devastates Paul, but he has also a burning desire to meet his father of whom he has very cherished memories from childhood. Rees Mathry was convicted for assaulting and murdering a woman of questionable character.The local police and a prosecutor Sir Matthew Sprott was too eager to get the gallows that they totally ignored the innocent pleas of Rees. Rees Mathry's death sentence was later changed to a life sentence and he has been serving the same in a prison where visitors are not allowed.

Paul decides to learn more about his father's case by checking out with the local library and speaking to the witnesses. He finds a lots of flaws in the evidence against his father. Also he learns that there are a lot of people who don't want him prodding into the case. They just want him to let the case die just like the slow death that his father has been undergoing in the prison for the past 15 years. But Paul is determined to save his father from the living hell...But how ?

My Thoughts

Beyond This Place is a simple story of a determined young man who is convinced of his father's innocence in a murder and wants to bring out his father from the living hell that he has been subjected to for the past 15 years. But his journey is not at all smooth. Oppositions from all side including the police, lack of money even to buy food etc is driving him to the edge. This is a well written story of perseverance and great thinking.

The character of Lena Anderson who takes care of Paul even in his most desperate state is depicted as a sensible person. Probably Lena is the foremost reason why Paul was able to get justice for his father.

A J Cronin has taken care not to make a complex case out of Paul Mathry's life. He has tried to keep the narration as simple as possible, yet very interesting. None of the portions have been stretched beyond what is required and this itself makes it a quick and interesting read.

My verdict: Recommended highly for a light and interesting read :)

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T09:15:00.000+05:30

The Lincoln Lawyer(2011) - Movie Review

2011-12-19T12:08:00.000+05:30

Image via Wikipedia

I usually prefer to read the book before watching the movie, but my hubby is quite obsessed with Michael Connelly that he had to watch the movie right away. The Lincoln Lawyer is a movie based on the book by the same title by Michael Connelly ( Mickey Haller #1). Mickey Haller happens to be the half-brother of the much celebrated police detective character Harry Bosch created by Michael Connelly.

Mickey Haller played by Matthew McConaughey gets his name as the Lincoln Lawyer because he runs most of his cases from his Lincoln car. Mickey considers himself to be lucky when he is asked to represent a wealthy real estate agent Louis Roulet, who is accused of brutally assaulting a prostitute Reggie at her own apartment. Louis tells Mickey that the prostitute had invited him to her house and he was assaulted once he entered her apartment. Louis claims that he is totally innocent and Reggie has come up with the false accusation to extradite money from him.

Mickey Haller prepares the case of Louis believing his innocence, but things doesn't look so rosy when he finds that the bloody knife retrieved from the crime scene belonged to Louis. He is astonished when he finds a similarity between Reggie's bruises and that of the victim of his another client Martinez. Mickey realizes that Louis could actually be guilty of the assault and possibly the murder of another prostitute for which Martinez is serving life imprisonment. Mickey regrets the fact that he didn't believe Martinez when he pleaded innocent with him and he is determined to save Martinez out of the jail.But will his client-attorney confidentiality destroy his chance for revealing the information about Louis ?

I hope I didn't give away enough of the story by now. Anyway I should say that I enjoyed watching every bit of this movie. Matthew McConaughey has done an awesome job as Mickey Haller. Ryan Philippe is another awesome actor who was convincing in his role. The story is fast paced and I liked the direction by Brad Furman very much. There are not much twists and turns in the story after Mickey realizes that Louis could be guilty. But it was just fun to watch how he nails Louis without compromising the client-attorney confidentiality.

At this point I am not able to tell how much justice this movie did to the actual story written by Michael Connelly since I haven't read the book. That doesn't matter since I enjoyed the movie very much.

My verdict: The Lincoln Lawyer is worth your time !!!

Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge - Completed

2011-12-19T11:39:00.001+05:30

Cover of The Poet

I am not much into reading challenges as most of the challenges restrict your reading to a particular type or genre. It may not be true, but that is the excuse that I give myself for not taking up any reading challenges. After all anyone should read what they like whenever they like !!!

Inspite of all my above inhibitions abour reading challenges I was very much tempted to sign up for the 2011 Reading Challenge by Goodreads.com. The challenge was quite simple. Just mention the number of books that you plan to read in the year 2011. ie no genres, no particular authors - just a finite number of books. That looked good. Since I had a wedding planned for the year and I was not sure about how the life after marriage would be, I decided to restrict my reading to just 30 books. And yay!!! I finished ( completely read) 30 books by yesterday.

Reading a mere 30 books looks quite easily achievable to book worms like me, but boring plots, uninteresting narration, slow pace and unacceptable theme extra could keep you away from the books for quite some time. Then of course availability of free time is another problem. I really hard to struggle through some books until I finally decided to just put that book in my started-not-completed pack.

Cover of The Hunger Games

By the time I reached around 26 books, I was totally itching to finish the challenge, but all books that I grabbed seemed to drag forever. Finally Mr Michael Connelly came to my rescue. His The Poet and The Black Ice were the fastest reads in the year. The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were another two books which increased my pace. Thus I finished my 30th book by reading The Black Ice .

How about you people out there? Did you finish all the challenges that you undertook? Which were the most difficult ones? Do let me know your answers through the comments or drop a link to your blog posts.

Last 3 books in Anne of Green Gables series - Book Review

2011-12-09T19:35:00.001+05:30

I finally managed to finish all the 8 books in the Anne of Green Gables series. ie - Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside.

Anne of Ingleside

This book is more about Anne & Gilbert once they moved to the Ingleside house from the House of Dreams as seen in Anne's House of Dreams. The book is more about all the kids that are born to Anne during her life in Ingleside - Walter, Nancy & Diana, Shirley and Rilla. I did find the book bit dragging sometimes, but once the adventures of the different kids was told, it became very interesting.

Rainbow Valley

This book is more about the kids in their growing up years. The family of Mr Meredith, the new pastor in the Methodist Church and his children - Faith, Una and Jerry are also equally important in the book. This book is mostly about the kids' adventures in the Rainbow valley which is a play area next to the Ingleside. Mr Meredith and Mary Vance are the two other major characters that makes this book an interesting read.

The motherless manse kids did get a lot of importance in the story and probably their adventures and their lives in the manse made the story more interesting.

Rilla of Ingleside

As you can understand from the title of the book, this book is mostly about Rilla, the youngest of the Ingleside kids. Rilla finds herself alone when all the men in the neighbourhood including her brothers are called to join the army during World War I. Her elder sisters and the Meredith kids except Una left Ingleside for studies and other war related activities. Rilla being 15 is too young for college and finds herselves along at Ingleside with her parents and Susan. Her only solace is her elder brother Walter who was initially weak to join the army.

Things change when she visits a home and find a newborn baby of a soldier lying next to a dead woman. Rilla adopts the baby and looks after the baby like her own. Though she is not able to bond with the baby initially, she later dreads the day when the father will return to put a claim on his son. Ken Ford whom Rilla during a beach party also captures her heart, though Rilla is not sure about Ken's feelings towards her.Rilla organizes a Junior Red cross to do her bit towards helping the people of Canada during the World War I.

I should say that the book did drag a bit when the narration about the war went on and on. Sometimes I felt the war will never end, just like how the characters in the book felt. But then it was beautiful to read about the beautiful transition of Rilla from a selfish vain child to a mature woman.

Catching Fire(Hunger Games#2) by Suzanne Collins - Book Review

2011-12-05T20:30:00.001+05:30

Image by life serial via Flickr

I had already written about how much I was impressed by the book - The Hunger Games. So I decided to read the next one in the series the next time I went to the Just Books library.

Going a bit away from the topic, I am very much relieved to find the Zemanta Blogging Assistant right beside this editor. You can download your browser compatible version from this Zemanta Browser Plugin download page. And trust me, it is worth the effort !!! especially when you are worried about uploading images without copyright violation. Now back to the topic.

The theme of the Hunger Games series is a much applied theme along the lines of segregating a bunch of people usually criminals in a isolated place and asked to kill each other. The winner goes home with lots of money and goodies. The same theme has been adopted here with some changes in the background. Here it is a bunch of adolescents who are forced to kill each other by the Big Brother kind of government that exist in the country of Panem ( former North America). Well, not a theme that is easy digestable by most people. Yea..even I was pretty much digusted with the plot. But then Suzanne Collins has done an amazing job of writing this series that people were literally counting the days for the date of release of the next one in the series. Anyway the final and third book - The Mockingjay was released long back. So I just need to go and grab the copy from the library.

In Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta who are the winners of the Hunger Games did not have much opportunity to lead the luxurious and safe life that is usually guaranteed when you win the Games. The reason is that somehow Katniss was unknowingly responsible for triggering revolts in many districts of Panem by their defiant gesture at the end of the Hunger Games. And of course President Snow is not at all happy with her. To add some more fuel, Katniss is not able to sort out her feelings for Gale, her friend since childhood and for Peeta. This adds to the wrath that she has to take from President Snow.

Things seems to move upside down when the Quarter Quell which is a bigger version of Hunger Games are announced. The current winners from the districts who are the heroes of the people have to go back to fight each other. This is more or less a measure by Capitol to control the revolts. And this time, Katniss is determined to save Peeta and make him the winner, which could also protect her near and dear ones from the wrath of the Capitol. But the question is - Will she be able to protect them all? Will she be able to sacrifice her life and keep Peeta alive till the end?

Ok. By the second book logic seems to take a far backward place than fantasy. Can a small gesture of defiance by a single person can trigger so many revolts in so many people? If things seems to be so, it is more likely that they were waiting to erupt. So the logic that if Katniss plays along her winner part and keep everyone happy, the revolts will die down looks a bit difficult. This is the main theme in the initial half of the story.

The rest of the story is more about how both Peeta and Katniss are determined to keep each other alive during the Quarter Quell. Another character who gets a prominent place in the story is Finch. Peeta and Katniss is forced to form an alliance with Finch though they don't trust him much initially. As expected the challenges posed during Quarter Quell is more difficult and the tributes have to face much more than the weapons of their opponents.

The success of the story lies in the fact that Suzanne Collins is able to keep up the suspense part of the story and of course her imagination of the intricate details related to Capitol and Quarter Quell challenges are also interesting. How much ever the reader thinks about the logic, it is true that this book is indeed a page turner. Though my eagerness to read the second book was much greater than for the third one, I very much want to get the copy of MockingJay to know how the story turns around :)

The Adventures of Tintin: Movie Review

2011-11-25T11:31:00.001+05:30

After a few disappointments watching 3D Movies with my hubby, we had concluded that 2D version of most of the films will be fine with us. After all you don’t have to worry about your seating in the theatre and sometimes some part of the 3D are very blurred and make it less enjoyable… But we had the same opinion about watching The Adventures of Tintin directed by Steven Spielberg. Somehow we thought that we should expect something much better from a 3D movie by Steven Spielberg…and we were not disappointed even when we watched it from the first row.

The Adventures of Tintin : The Secret of the Unicorn is such a joy to watch. There are a lot of funny moments in the movie making it more enjoyable. It is thrilling and filled with suspense and humour from the very first scene. And the 3D quality is amazing.Tintin's pet dog Snowy is too adorable with all his expressions.

The movie is about Tintin trying to solve the mystery of a sunken ship after he buys a tiny model of a sunken ship called the Unicorn and finds a tiny scroll hidden in the mast of the ship.He becomes more curious about the incident when the model ship is stolen from his house and his house is ransacked when the assailants couldn't find the hidden scroll. During his adventure he meets Captain Haddock whose ancestor Sir Francis Haddock was the captain of the sunken ship. Tintin’s adventures get even more thrilling and hilarious that you can say that Captain Haddock captures the centre stage of the movie from then on.

Highly Recommended :D

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Book Review

2011-11-17T10:09:00.001+05:30

Image by life serial via Flickr

Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games trilogy had caught my attention long time back, but I was very much determined to stay away from it since I believed the series to do something with Vampires...Remember I still have an aversion towards the Vampire Books.

My resolution waned when someone told me that the Hunger Games trilogy has nothing to do with Vampires. So I decided to try the book whenever I get a chance, though I was still not very keen about it. Now things have changed, I am waiting to grab a copy of Catching Fire as soon as I reach my library.

The theme/plot of the Hunger Games is a bit too much to digest initially. You really wouldn't want to read about people killing each other though it is for their own survival. Our world is relatively much more peaceful for us to imagine something like that..So let me be honest when I say that I had a yuck feeling when I realized the plot of the story.

Penam is a country which is divided into 12 districts and these districts are totally controlled by Capitol where people enjoy all the luxuries of life. In the different districts, people lead a more primitive life and has to hunt/farm and work for Capitol to survive without dying.

The Hunger Games is the story of a few bunch of youngsters called tributes from these districts who are forcefully put together by the Capitol to kill each other. The last person to survive is the winner of the game and he/she can go back to their own family with lots of money. Basically it is all about killing someone or getting killed by someone. There is no other way out of the games.

The protagonist of the story is Katniss Everdeen who has a younger sister and mother to feed and she does it mainly by hunting animals in the forest and trading it for other things.Katniss's hunting skills would help her in surviving the Hunger Games, but she has no idea about how strong her opponents are. She has to keep her eyes and ears sharp if she has any hope of winning the game so that she can return back to her mother and sister. Peeta is the boy tribute, the son of the local baker from the same district who has been selected for the Hunger Games along with Katniss. Though they will be trained together and will make appearances together, they know that only one of them will be the winner. Will they have to kill each other to win the game?

The character of Katniss Everdeen is depicted as a stable and sensible person, but there are times when she behaves very irrationally out of anger. Some of those behaviors are very hard to accept, though the author has tried to justify it as a flaw in her character. The whole of the book is a narration by Katniss, but there are sometimes when I wished that what is the point of view of Peeta, Rue etc during the games.

Overall The Hunger Games is a very gripping book and the author has taken care not to sound the killings as too gross. I am waiting to grab a copy of 'Catching Fire' which is the next book in the series.

The Keys of the Kingdom by A J Cronin - Book Review

2011-10-27T18:20:00.001+05:30

It is time that I write about my most favorite book, an absolute masterpiece by Archibald Joseph Cronin which was first published in 1941. The book had such a great effect on my husband that he refused to read anything less written by A J Cronin, since he doesn't want to lose even an ounce of respect that he felt for A J Cronin after reading it :) :P

Francis Chisolm had to live a very hard life ever since his parents' tragic death while he was still a child. Later he had some respite when he went to live with his Aunt Polly. But destiny decided to cast another big shadow on him and finally Francis decided to join the seminary.

As a young seminarian, Francis found it difficult to discipline himself in all ways and he always found himself inadequate in his own eyes and sometimes in others too. But his struggle was paid off when the rector bestowed on his the responsibility of mission work in China, that is to continue the work of his predecessor in China. Francis set on his mission to China with great zeal and was shocked when he discovered that there wasn't much left of the Mission in China after his predecessor left it. Francis vowed to himself that he will not produce so called "rice-Christians" during his tenure in China. He was relieved when he got news that few nuns are coming down to help him. Things didn't go well as he expected when the new Mother Superior decided to run things on her own terms rather than consult Francis. Though the mission and the new children home was run with more efficiency, this indifference by the Mother Superior did put Francis under a lot of sorrow.

Keys of the Kingdom is all about the life of Father Francis especially during his 35 years in China. He was often misunderstood by Church superiors because he often did many things out of his intense faith in Christ which didn't please his superiors. Many a times, his work in China was considered as a failure since there were only few conversions to Catholic faith.

His faith was tested many a times in the face of calamities which itself became a great testimony to the people around him in China. He had to endure epidemics, famine, natural disasters , war etc testing his Catholic faith several times in his life.

There is something in Cronin books that you cannot find anywhere else. No other author has been able to influence my thinking like he does by writing a novel. His writings comes from the heart, almost as if he is telling his own life story. That is what makes this book also special. It won't be too wrong to say that my faith in God has been influenced after reading this masterpiece by Cronin.

I find it so difficult to write about something that is very close to my heart... So let me conclude this writing by saying - If you ever get a chance to read this book, grab it :)

A Widow For One Year by John Irving - Book Review

2011-10-20T12:14:00.000+05:30

Image Courtesy: Goodreads.com

Recently I acquired the realization that if I don't like a book after reading first 100 or 200 pages, it is best not to pursue it further. Also that it is totally OK to put down a book rather than making myself read it till the end of the book. After all I am not taking part in any competition or challenges. May be the sole reason for keeping away from Book Challenges was the freedom to read whatever I like, whenever I like.

Now onto this book which is mentioned in the title. If I can tell my thoughts in one sentence it is that I couldn't stand the frequent sexual content in the book. The book starts by describing the sexual escapades between a 16 yr old boy and a much older woman. Though the story progressed much after this, there were frequent such sexual references. After some point I realized that there is gonna be more of it. Then I decided to put an end to it.

If you look at the book without taking into account the sexual references, it looks much readable. It is a story about writers especially about Ruth. The story starts when Ruth was around 4 and the protagonist was 16. The protagonist meets Ruth and her parents when he starts his internship as a writer's assistant to Ruth's father. The close encounters with the parents reveals a disturbing history in the family and about Ruth's childhood.

The second part is about the life of Ruth as a grown up writer who is more successful than her father. The protagonist himself is a writer though he has not encountered much success in his profession. Unfortunately I stopped reading at this point :)

Three Loves by A J Cronin - Book Review

2011-08-16T11:02:00.002+05:30

Image Courtesy: Amazon

Wow...This is the first time I am using the clutter free Blogspot editor and this was what I wanted for a long time... Thank you Blogger...

After reading A Song of SixPence by A J Cronin, I was once again caught by the cronin-bug and hence grabbed Three Loves. Well, grabbing a Cronin book one after another can have a serious consequence. You may find similarities in the some part of the story line which could be a bit irritating. But I am eveready to forgive Mr Cronin because in the end he makes up for all that irritation by telling you a fabulous story.

Can you love someone too much ? Is there something called too much love ? Yes...I am talking about a love in a relationship which can be suffocating to the person who gets loved too much. A mother who loves her son/daughter too much that she still treats the kid like a child even when he is a full grown youth. A wife who loves her husband too much that she becomes overly possessive about her husband... A person who loves someone too much that it transforms more into an obsession rather than healthy love and respect... I hope you got an idea about what I mean when I say loving too much.

Three Loves by A J Cronin about this kind of love in which the lead character Lucy Moore lives her life filled with love for three people. Lucy is initially portrayed as a normal, happy and devoted wife, but certain circumstances bring out the other side of her character - probably a side which was unknown to even her. Lucy starts to justify all her actions however inappropriate as actions based on love. Her expectations from the other person be it her husband or her son are too much.

But before you write off Lucy as a weak character, you should understand the woman who achieved the impossible by her sheer will power... everything to make her goal even in utter difficult situations...

I am impressed with the detail in which A J Cronin has written the character of Lucy Moore. Such a strong character driven by her goals, ready to endure all sorts of hardships for what she think is right...Never ready to accept defeat even at things which people think at impossible for her...

The book is worth reading for the exploration of the character Lucy Moore. Unlike most other A J Cronin books, this book leaves you very unsettled in the end because in the end some part of you feel sorry for Lucy Moore.

A Song Of Sixpence by A J Cronin

2011-06-19T21:05:00.000+05:30

Archibald Joseph Cronin ( A J Cronin) has been one of my favourite authors even since my encounter with his 'The Keys of the Kingdom'. Though I read it just like any other novel, my respect and admiration for this author has increased more after reading a few of his other works including his autobiography - Adventure in Two Worlds...A book by A J Cronin looked like the right medicine after reading the gloomy 'Never Let Me Go' and my choice proved correct.

Just like most of his books which depicts the story of a poor protagonist who strives hard to overcome his poor financial state, this book depicts the life of young Laurence Caroll who finds himself in a similar state.

The age of Laurence Caroll is not clear when his father dies after a serious respiratory ailment. Mrs Caroll tries to take care of his father's growing business, but manages just enough to meet both ends. Both sides of the families weren't of much help in their cause. Laurie manages to get some sort of basic education but nothing enough to get him to college. Miss G, their friendly neighbour did inculcate in him an interest in zoology and botony and of course cricket.

Inspite of all the well wishers around them, Laurence finds himself separated from his mother due to their poor financial state. Neither he is in any position to go for a proper education until he meets his old teacher which brings about an unexpected turn in his life.

My Thoughts

There is nothing in A J Cronin books which could take the reader by surprise. Mostly his books are all stories of triump by common people who are able to rise about their present prospects by sheer hard work and faith. But I love the way he narrates the story, and how he puts lives to his characters and how much the readers are able to relate to the characters.

A Song of Sixpence is a story about hardwork, perservance and above all about simple human emotions which make the core of a person's existence and which makes him/her a human being. The book concentrates more on his almost obssessive love towards his mother and also about his unending faith in his cousins and family which is fairly exploited very well.

Laurie's uncle Mr Leo Caroll is another character who is often described as a queer character considering that he choose to live in poor circumstances inspite of his wealth. He believed in leading a life of immense austerity that he was almost starving everyday of his life. There is the other uncle Bernard who chose to live well above his circumstances always making false promises to Laurie and his mother.

A J Cronin has once again succeeded in depicting even small human emotions through the narration of Laurie Carroll. He has not dwelled too much on the characters, but just enough to give the readers a good picture of them. I hope to see more of them and Laurie in the sequel A Pocket Full of Rye.

Note:

I found this interesting note when I was looking through the first page of the book. I guess the notes speaks for itself.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro – Book Review

2011-06-17T14:51:00.000+05:30

Literary Awards

Man Booker Prize Nominee (2005),

Arthur C. Clarke Award Nominee (2006),

ALA Alex Award (2006)

Kazuo Ishiguro seems to be famous for his Dystopian Literature and I should confess that I regret never learning the meaning of that term. So before going further let me give you all the definition of “Dystopian literature”. It is the creation of a nightmare world. I really wish I had taken some efforts to understand the meaning of this phrase when I was reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Kathy H is a carer who has been taking care of many donors throughout the last ten years of her life. She will soon stop being a carer as ten years is long enough. She was brought up in a boarding school called Hailsham along with her two close friends – Ruth and Tommy. In Never Let Me Go, Kathy is trying to recollect her life and experiences in Hailsham, her relationships with key characters Ruth and Tommy.

SPOILER ALERT

I believe it is impossible to write about this book without giving any hint about what Hailsham is all about. Hailsham is a special boarding school for those kids who have been cloned from humans so that they can donate their vital organs once they reach adulthood. Before going into adoption, they spend some time caring for people who have already started donation. All these people will eventually die specified by the term “completion” during one of their donations.

Isn’t it enough of a nightmare world?

My Thoughts

I have read dystopian Literature like The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but never felt so repulsive about the theme of the story. Yes, the theme of Never Let Me Go didn’t go well with me and I am surprised how this is considered as one of the best books written.

Kazuo Ishiguro has taken a lot of time to put all the pieces together for the reader’s understanding. That means that the reader has to reach almost half of the book to have a slight understanding of the situation that the narrator is trying to give…So it took me a long time to realize what exactly Hailsham is all about.

There is nothing happy or humorous or nice to read in this book. The book is full of gloomy description of a secluded place with lots of references to the narrator’s friends and guardians, most of which I was clearly not able to relate to.

And since I learned the meaning of the term Dystopian Literature, I guess I will think twice before reading another book of the same genre… Guess I am satisfied with my romance fiction, historical fiction and suspense thrillers for the time being. Kazuo Ishiguro for another time…

The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne #1) - Robert Ludlum

2011-06-17T14:06:00.002+05:30

An almost dead man floating in the sea rescued by some fishermen and brought to a half-mad doctor in some remote island. The man becomes the doctor’s “patient” and “the patient” cannot recall any relevant information about himself – not even his name or from where he comes from or how did he reach the sea with bullets on his body.

The doctor who finds a new meaning to his boring life sets himself to redeem his patient. He sets the patient on a meticulous routine though most of his attempts to make the patient recollect his mysterious past turns out to be futile…An implant from the patient’s hip connects him to a bank account in Zurich which is more or less the only thing connecting him to his unknown past.

The patient sets out by himself to meet his past and finds himself in the middle of a lot of people who wants him dead. He is in no position to acknowledge the fact that he doesn’t don’t why people want him dead. Later on he comes to know about his name – Jason Bourne and there starts his attempt to learn who Jason Bourne is. But some where Jason Bourne doesn't feel like what they tell he is - a cold blooded assasin.

This book has a lot of loop holes…if and buts…But I should confess that I truly enjoyed reading it. The ending was a bit of disappointment as there weren’t much of a conclusion. Of course Robert Ludlum was leaving spaces wide open for the next book.

Reading The Bourne Identity was a refreshing change from all kinds of thrillers that I have read – medical thrillers, crime thrillers, legal thrillers etc. Probably that is the reason why this book appealed to me.

As I was mentioning , I am still not clear about how Jason Bourne actually reached the sea with bullets inside him and his memory gone… Isn’t that a bit lousy after investing a lot of time reading 536 pages of the book? And I am not feeling very much tempted to grab the next ones in the trilogy – The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatium.

Let all this not turn my dear readers off since I did find the book engaging to read it till the end… Probably all the loop holes would be closed when I read the next two books, though not sure when..

Settling Into a New Life

2011-06-07T12:34:00.000+05:30

Image by 1ieve via Flickr

I have been married for almost two weeks and as everyone says life has taken a different direction by 180 degrees...But I believe we both have been pretty cool about it till now...

Also I realized there is a lot of stuff I thought I knew about him, but didn't know :) Like he drinks a lot of tea when he is at his mom's place, doesn't like much sugar with tea and always prefer ginger tea ( I have been hopeless in learning to make Ginger tea). I am more surprised about the tea part because of the innumerous coffees and teas we had together before marriage.

A short trip to Andamans was another highlight of the last two weeks, though the pain of losing almost 250 photos due to a corrupted memory card in our brand new Nikon DSLR is still pinching us.I pacified my husband at that point by saying we can very well recover them by using software, but we have lost hope in that direction by now. I tried snorkeling and watching the coral reefs through glass bottom boat. The former was a great experience, but returned back soon as the experience was a bit too scary for me.

I also realized that sun rises too early in Andamans for our liking. It happens at around 4 O'clock in the morning. I feel funny when I confess that we didn't watch even a single sun rise or a sun set after spending 4 nights there in hotels with beaches next to it.

The return flights - Port Blair to Chennai and Chennai to Bangalore were quite a bit turbulent due to the onset of monsoon in India. We both were totally scared by the bumpy ride through the thick clouds. I am sure that we will think twice before planning an air trip in rainy season. Somehow turbulent weather while sitting inside an aeroplane didn't go well with us.

I am also trying to get used to the way my husband calls me by my first name "Elizabeth" unlike what he used to call me before "Eli". Unfortunately 'Eli' in Malayalam (my mother tongue) refers to mice and his eldest uncle has specifically instructed him not to call me like that.

One of the dilemmas of being a working wife would be about cooking. Till date after marriage, I have only cooked bread toast and bull's eye which was on special request from my hubby. Somehow all the cooking was done by either my mom or his mom and I never got an opportunity to cook :)

Coming onto the main topic of this blog, I have not been able to read much after my marriage. Constant travel was the villian. I did manage to read a few pages of the The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzaktis and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and half of Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi.

A New Life

2011-06-06T14:53:00.001+05:30

Image Source

Guess a few of you would have wondered about my prolonged absence from this blog... Even if you haven't, I just wanted to let you that I got married on 21st May. I am just back to office today after a short vacation to Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

I wanted to write about my wedding for a long time, but somehow couldn't get the time to put it here in words which is the reason why I never mentioned it here... But now I truly want all of you (though a few) to share my new happiness...

And I believe today is a great day to write this post since I agreed to marry him on this day last year...And has never looked back to a life without him from then on...

Being bookworms, one of the first things we did when we got some free time was to renew our library membership :)

The Killing Game (Eve Duncan #2) by Iris Johansen - Book Review

2011-04-11T15:48:00.003+05:30

Cover of The Killing Game

Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen continues in The Killing Game which is the second book of the Eve Duncan series. It starts with Joe Quinn and John Logan trying to prove to each other who is more important to Eve. Though Logan manages to find a place in Eve's life, he know one day he will lose it to Joe who has been Eve's friend for a long time.

A few dead bodies including that of a young girl are found buried in a valley and Eve hopes that is the body of her daughter Bonnie who was killed by a serial killer. But then another serial killer Dom enters Eve's life who claims that he killed Bonnie and not the one that was executed after trial. Dom also gives indication to Eve about his next victim who is a 10 year old orphan girl called Jane. Dom wants Eve to protect Jane, though his actual motive is to kill Eve. He does it by alluring her into Jane's life and creating an attachment between the two so that he can see Eve suffer when he kills Jane. Eve is forced to go beyond her limits and against law in her pursuit to protect Jane...and of course to find Dom and stop him from killing anyone else...if she can keep herself alive.

My Thoughts

The second book found another serial killer which goes with the theme of the story, but some of the unpredictability of the first book is gone. The readers have a better understanding of the protagonist Eve Duncan and this sometimes goes against the thriller part of the story.

Some of the details in the story looks beyond impossible, but the author has tried to make them look quite simple. For example, the way she writes about murder and death may leave much to be desired.

But all in all, The Killing Game is one of the best crime fictions I have read with all the ingredients to make it a suspense thriller. The identity of the murderer is also a great suspense. I was totally struck by that point.

Iris Johansen has developed the character Eve Duncan very well. Her actions are well explained, though she becomes a bit predictable in some places. Joe Quinn is an important character in the story, but somehow his character is not explored well though Logan has been given considerable attention even though he is the lesser of the two in the main theme of the story. Waiting for more of Eve Duncan in the coming series.

Rating: 4.25/5
Genre : Forensic Thriller
Year of Release: 1999

The GodFather by Mario Puzo - Book Review

2011-04-08T16:39:00.000+05:30

Image via Wikipedia

Wow!!! This book is amazing and I regret pushing this book far down my to-read list till last week; and very happy that I finally plunged myself into the amazing world of Don Corleone.

Guess there is no point in telling much about the theme of the book which is about Don Vito Corleone, an Italian in New York city in the first half of 20th century. Don believes in helping anyone who comes to seek out his help and is always ready to extend his warm friendship to anyone who is ready to accept his friendship and make him their patron. The only drawback is that he expect the benefactor to pay him back sometime in future when Don requires a favor from him. The Corleone Family consists of his wife, three sons and a daughter and the story is mainly focused on this family. Another person who plays a key role in the family is Tom Hagen who is more like an adopted son and right hand of the Don.

My Thoughts

The GodFather by Mario Puzo is rightfully called one of the best books written in the world. Until recently I was somehow put off by the title of the book since it correctly reminded me of the dark world of the underground mafia in the world. I wasn't much interested in reading a story about a Don who eats, sleeps, kills people at his own will. I believe that was my general impression of this book.

What do I feel know? The God Father has been portrayed in a very humane way. Don Corleone is not someone who does anything without a reason. Each and every action is done after a well thought out planning. Don is a man of vision, which was the reason why he was able to succeed in the tough world of underworld Mafia. He believes in offering deals to people which they cannot refuse - "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

The God Father takes the reader into the mysterious world of the underground and shows you what it takes to be a real Don.

Highly Recommended !!!

Now for the people who are looking for a serious look at this book. The characters Tom Hagen and Michael Corleone( Don Vito Corleone's youngest son) stands out. Tom Hagen lacks only one thing - He is not a Sicilian. Don Corleone appreciates Tom so much that he makes Tom his right hand even when such an action could bring about the displeasure of other families.

Mario Puzo has developed the characters very well and there are no unconnected dots. And of course the best quote from the book is "A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults". And this quote sums up the theme of the story because Don had been victorious even in situations where people assumed him to fail miserably.

Rating: 4.75/5
Genre: Fiction
Year of Release: 1969

The Face of Deception(Eve Duncan) by Iris Johansen-Book Review

2011-03-29T14:52:00.002+05:30

The Face of Deception (Eve Duncan)

I was hooked onto Eve Duncan series by Iris Johansen when I read 'The Search' and 'Body of Lies'. At that point I didn't realize that these were a part of a series called Eve Duncan Forensic Thriller series. The eleventh book in this series (Chasing the Night) was published in 2010.

Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor whose 8 year old daughter Bonnie was murdered by a serial killer. The murderer is executed without confessing the place where he has buried Bonnie's body. Eve is determined to keep searching for Bonnie and also to identify as many bodies of children found buried so that they can be buried with proper respect by the parents. As an expert forensic sculptor, Eve Duncan has helped to identify many of bodies recovered and this passion keeps her going on with life and her search for Bonnie.

John Logan is a rich business who needs Eve to help him identify a skull. He tries to allure Eve by donating a huge sum for the cause of identification of bodies of unidentified children. Eve agrees to take the risk involved for the donation. Once she is done with the identification, Eve is shocked to identify the dead body and the danger she is currently in. She understands that the information she possess could put the lives of her and dear ones in serious danger. But there was no going back for her...She has to fight it against all the forces which very badly wanted to keep the truth a secret...Will Eve succeed in bringing out the truth? Will the world believe her? Will she be able to keep herself and near ones alive?

My Thoughts

Forensic Thrillers like The Face of Deception (Eve Duncan) are quite interesting especially because there are not many around. Another point is that the story needs to be convincing. Iris Johansen has built the character of Eve Duncan very well that most of her actions & thought processes looks quite justified. It is true that sometimes she seems to develop larger than life characters. But then a little extra is always tolerable in fiction :P

I enjoyed reading The Face of Deception because the plot was very refreshing filled with lots of suspense. Most characters are well formed and Iris Johansen has written the book such a way that the reader gets to know each one of them including the villain.

Recommended for fast, thrilling and easy read.

PS: From my experience, the books in the series can be read without following the sequence. But then following it gives you a clearer picture.

Rating: 4.5/5

Genre: Forensic Thriller

Year of Release: 1998

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough - Book Review

2011-03-18T16:07:00.001+05:30

Image via Wikipedia

Rating: 4.75/5
Source : Reliance Timeout
Year of Release : 1977

Plot

The Thorn Birds is the story of 3 generations of the Cleary Family and mainly of Meghann "Meggie" Cleary. Meghann is the only daughter of Paddy and Fee Cleary, an Irish family living in New Zealand. The Cleary family is poor and find it very hard to meet both ends meet. Things brighten up when Paddy's sister Mary Carson living in Australia sends a letter to Paddy asking him to come to Australia and look after her enormous estate Drogheda in the Outback. Paddy and his children will inherit Drogheda from Mary Carson.

In Drogheda, the Clearys come across Father Ralph de Bricassart who is the local Catholic priest. Fr Ralph seems to be very influential with Mary Carson and very soon becomes a part of the Drogheda life. Fr Ralph develops an affection towards Meggie from the first day he met her and always looks out for the ten year old child. Things turn upside down for Clearys after Mary Carson's death when they realise that Mary has changed her will before her death. By her latest will, Clearys will not inherit Drogheda though they can continue to live off it.

The rest of the story is about life in Drogheda and the lives of Meggie and Father Ralph whose affection towards Meggie has grown to be more than childish love. Father Ralph is determined to keep his vows of chastity at any cost and is tormented by his love for Meggie.

While the story progresses, Father Ralph moves up the ladder and becomes an influential person in Vatican. Meggie gets married to Luke who looks similar to Fr Ralph, but later she painfully finds out that their similarities end with their looks. Meggie gets a daughter with Luke. Meanwhile Fr Ralph comes looking out for Meggie and Ralph breaks his Catholic vows. When Meggie realizes that she is pregnant with Ralph's child, she seeks out Luke to make it look like his baby. In a short while Meggie returns to Drogheda forever, gives birth to a son and raises him as Luke's son. Father Ralph also doesn't realize the truth even when the truth was right infront of his eyes and he is made to pay a huge price his ignorance.

My Thoughts

I believe it is very difficult to write the plot of a book without giving away much of the story...I am often confused as to how much should I tell the reader so that he can be induced into reading the book, but without divulging much of the details.

The Thorn Birds has been called the "Gone with the Wind" of Australia. I believe this comparison is not at all wrong. Infact I enjoyed The Thorn Birds more than Gone with the Wind. I could relate to Meggie more than Scarlett O'Hara.

The Thorn Birds is an awesome combination of all the necessary ingredients for a great book - love, compassion, religion, hatred etc. Colleen McCullough should be appreciated for the hard work she has put to research and lay down the background of this book.

The involvement of a Catholic priest in a relationship and his obsession towards a girl from childhood looked very real but made it a bit uncomfortable to read. I felt that the author's idea about the Catholic vows taken by priests were quite one-sided.

To conclude , I loved reading each and every page of this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed reading Gone with the Wind. Anyway I believe it is one of the best books written.

Trinity by Leon Uris - Book Review

2011-03-15T18:37:00.001+05:30

Rating: 4.75/5
Source : JustBooks Library, Bangalore
Year of Release: 1976

Trinity is the story of Ireland from the Great Irish Famine in 1840s to the Easter Rising of 1916. More than that it is the story of Irish Catholics, their struggle in their own land for the sake of their religious beliefs, the British colonization and exploitation of Ireland.

As usually seen in novels by Leon Uris, Trinity is a beautiful blend of fiction and history. There are characters which are entwined very well to portray the history in a very interesting way. This is what makes Leon Uris novels like Exodus so much fun to read.

Seamus O'Neill is the narrator of the story. The story starts while Conor Larkin the protagonist and Seamus are in their early adolescence. There are other characters in the story like Roger Hubble the British aristocrat, Cornelia his wife, Sir Fredrick West, but the focus of the book is the three generations of Larkin family mainly the life of Conor Larkin.

Conor Larkin just like his father and grand father are rebel Catholics who understand the depth of the exploitation faced by Irish Catholics. The never ending hatred between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland has been conveniently exploited by the British Empire to implement the 'Divide and Rule' policy.

My Thoughts

I was initially scared to start reading this book as a 900 page book is quite a long read. But I couldn't put it down once I started it. The story did feel a bit long towards the second half, but that lasted only for a few pages. Personally I enjoyed every bit of this book. It is true that the history portrayed in this novel may be far from the actual truth, but from my past experience I know that it cannot be too far from truth either.

Conor Larkin is the strong point of the story. Many can say that he is a larger than life character, but I believe his character is not an impossible one either; otherwise the world could never have had such great leaders like Mahatma Gandhiji, Nelson Mandela etc who strived hard for their causes. Conor Larkin is portrayed as a strong man who cannot get the cause of Ireland from his life. Though he was many a times tempted to flee Ireland, he always comes back to his own country.

The history of Ireland was something which never came into my realm of thought until I started reading this book. Even the difference or enmity that existed between Protestants and Catholics in the past was unknown to me. So this book was a total eye opener to me.

I find it difficult to put down my precise thoughts on this particular book. So I would just stop after recommending it to every one who doesn't get scared by a 900 page book. Believe me. Try reading it, the story will take you till the end of the book :) And I am currently tempted to read more on these subjects. ( which should be cured very soon when I got hold of another great book)