Though I read over 50 books last year, it wasn’t the best of years in books for me. I started the year with a back log of books to review and with all that was happening, I just didn’t find much reading time in the first half of last year.

Not reading enough leaves me cranky and grumpy. I need my escape time in each day where I leave my mundane life behind (not that it’s boring in any way) and slip away into a world of fantasy, where I can be a Bridget Jones, fall in love with a Darcy, solve a mystery with a Mason, and all such stuff.

I spent until about May scrambling, trying to catch-up with the lists, unhappy while doing what I love the most, then it broke and I gave up. I realised that I was unhappy because I wasn’t reading what I wanted in the little time I had. Not that I didn’t like the books lined for review, I had chosen them but I felt I wasn’t reading enough of what I wanted to read.

I let go and started reading what I wanted to. It definitely made me happier in the little reading time I used to get. I did a few reviews in-between but they weren’t much at all.

I enjoyed reading impulsively, choosing what I wanted with randomness and picking stuff from my Forever-TBR without feeling guilt. It’s how I landed up with the Perry Mason series.

Perry Mason was on my TBR in college but somehow there was always something else to be read and I never got down to reading Mason. Now years later I’ve started and got hooked. Of course it helped that these are fast books so I could read more and catch up a bit with my book challenge numbers.

Two years in a row I’ve tried to read a 100 books in a year and haven’t managed it. I was hoped the Mason series would work out as a good cheat but well, it didn’t. 🙁

But it did help cross the 50% mark though. 😀

I managed to read 59 books out of the 100 I had targeted. Not too bad considering the chaos of 2014. That said, this year I’m back to trying for the 100 number but with a few learnings.

Biggest learning – I need to reduce the number of books I review and read more books from my Forever TBR. 😀 With that in mind I’m going to be turning down more books for review (I hope), finishing the pending review list and reading lots of stuff I want to.

Ok this post has gone on too long. A post on stats and books and another on my learnings is due but that’s later. For now I’m heading back to reading. ;D

Title: God is a Gamer
Author: Anurag Anand
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books India (September 12th 2014)
Genre: Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon | Flipkart – eBook/Paperback

Summary: (Goodreads)
Aditya runs a gaming company that is struggling to break even. A banker slips off a highrise building, plunging to her death. The finance minister has made some promises that he is finding hard to keep. The LTTE has unleashed terror in America that sends the FBI on a wild goose chase, bringing them to Mumbai.
Enter Varun, parttime drug dealer and fulltime genius. He turns around the gaming company before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, the investigators plunge headlong into the shady world of bitcoins and the Dark Net, websites that only exist for illegal transactions—drugs, sex and money. God Is a Gamer culminates in a stunning climax where money means nothing, assassination is taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems.

My Review:

Note: This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Cover: Eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Ebony on Ivory!

Readability, language: Easy on the Mind.

Why did I choose this book: A book on bit coins sounded interesting, so I thought ‘why not’.

A simple email scam sets off an avalanche of scams, murders and complications. A US Senator is assassinated, an ATM heist is pulled off, a bank is put in jeopardy, a virus is released, virtual money is stolen, a bank chairman is murdered, and there is more. How all of this ties in, is what God is a Gamer is all about.

When I first came across the book, I remember the name striking me as an interesting name. Having read the book, now, I don’t see a connection between the title and story. The cover though well done is a typical thriller cover, not unlike the Dan Brown’s and Tom Clancy’s. The blurb is very unsatisfactory. It has more praise for the author than info on the story. And the little that is said, is said in such a convoluted manner that it muddles more than intrigues.

I have to concede that the plot is new and yet… I felt the plot was just too thick, Subramanian has packed the story with so many twists and sub-plots that after a while I was all lost. There was so much happening and the story was told in bits as it unfolds across the world in various peoples lives.

The story spans across countries but centers mostly around Mumbai and Washington DC. Subramanian’s descriptions of the cities are quite bang on, especially Goa and its hot spots. Yet some how it all feels disjointed.

The story is packed with characters, so many that sometimes I forgot who was who. I couldn’t figure out who was the hero or heroine even at the end of it all. There were just so much happening to so many people.

I took a day off to read the book and sat glued to it through the day. Thinking back it wasn’t because the story was that gripping but rather because it was all so complicated that I really wanted to get to the end and see how Subramanian tied it all up. The story is like a magicians knot, complicated, tied up, twisted and convoluted but one jerk by the magician and it all straightens out.

Subramanian hops about all over as he tells the story in small bits as it unfolds. This did make for difficult reading as I tried to parallel process all he was saying. Added to this were the intimate scenes with somehow felt out of place to me, almost like the author had to meet a target and so put them in there. The language though is simple and easy, the pace good too.

If my review seems all muddled, it’s because the book left me all muddled. There is just so much happening. I’m not sure if so many sub-plots were needed. There is just one too many a scam. A thriller doesn’t have to be so complicated, does it?

The cover carries the text ‘Is revenge a crime?’. This doesn’t make sense until you read the last four pages. Subramanian makes complex complicated knots on a storyline through the book and tries to untangle with a flourish at the end. Well, he did manage untangle them and explain it all, but was there a flourish, that is debatable.

A book for YA and above. Over all a good book if you don’t intend to use your mind while reading it.

About the Author:
An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, Ravi Subramanian is a banker who has used his industry knowledge to write five bestselling novels. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter. See his other books on his website – www.authorravis.com.

Buy On: Amazon | Flipkart – eBook/Paperback

Title: Chatur
Author: Subhash Kommuru
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Kommuru Books (September 2014)
Genre: Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
Buy On: Amazon.in | Amazon.com




Note: Thanks Subhash for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Simple,fun and colourful.

Paper and font: Fonts are good..

Readability, language: Simple language.

Why did I choose this book: A children’s book in Hindi sounded promising.

I’ve never reviewed a Hindi story book on my blog before, so when I heard from Subhash about reviewing his book I was curious. I got back to him saying I sure was interested in reading his children’s book however my reading capability of Hindi was bad, so I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to read or if I’d be able to read the book at all. He got me even more curious by saying his book catered to people like me. And I got thinking, really?

Language is important and local, regional, national, etc. languages even more so. We are becoming an English speaking country as the generations progress, not that it’s a bad thing but losing our mother-tongues, our native languages is sad. With time I’m noticing less and less children speaking Indian languages and as people stop speaking them, these languages will die. A lot of them have already died. India is a country of diverse languages and so many dead dialects.

Every one has different learning styles and methods. Some people are linguists and some like me just can’t grasp a language easily. Most of the languages I speak I learned as a child, and all the languages I tried to learn as an adult I speak in a pathetic manner. You should hear me speak Kannada and French! But anyway, the point is that people learn most easily as children who have amazing grasping minds. There are so many story books for children out there but how many are written in Indian languages?

Subhash’s book came as a surprise in this space. I found myself enjoying the book even though it was just a short children’s story. The story is one we have heard before as kids, about a lazy donkey and the illustrious washerman with the moral about hard work pays. Well, Chatur has a moral too but not this one. Subhash has put a different spin to it and it comes as pleasant surprise.

This is a story about enjoying life. About learning that greed does not pay. That play is just as important as work. That you don’t have to always be doing something or climbing the success ladder, relaxing is also important. These are odd lessons, and yet, these lessons are important for our children who are growing up in a world where, there is so much expected of them in so little time, that they are forgetting to be children. For that matter we adults so often forget in our busy schedules to just have fun.

Chatur is an illustrious washerman. His work partner is Mand who does not want to do anything more then required, however Chatur wants to increase his business, he wants to get more work. But Chatur is unable to get Mand to work more, and so decides to get Atal the elephant for the job of carting his load. Will Chatur’s plan work? Will his business flourish? What will happened to Mand? Well. thats the story

This is a Hindi story but both Hindi and English scripts are provided. For someone like me who speaks Hindi well but can’t read it fast, the English script was helpful, it increased the rate of my reading speed and in turn my interest in the story.

The language used is simple and clear with sounds and dialogues that will make reading the story out loud to a child fun.

Illustrated by Nayan Soni, the images are simple, colourful and support the story quite well. I think children would enjoy the colours as they flip through the book. Testimonials from children seem to attest to that too!

Over all this is a good book to get for your child, especially if you read him or her bedtime stories. 🙂

About the Author:
Though originally from India, Subhash currently resides in the US with this wife, Sujata and their son. Website – Kommuru Books.

Buy On: Amazon.in | Amazon.com

Title: The Bad Touch
Author: Payal Shah Karwa
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Hay House Publishers (2014)
Genre: Non-Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

Summary: (Goodreads)
Real-life stories of victims of child sex abuse who emerged victorious!

Harish Iyer is a survivor nay he is a thriver of child sex abuse. He is an award winning social activist who first shared his disturbing story of his sexual abuse on the television show Satyamev Jayate and who gave voice to the issue when most would be silent.

There are others: noted film director Anurag Khashyap, a victim of incest and sexual abuse, not once but many times over; Jai, living in a Mumbai high rise suffers abuse and a now 34 year old mother who suffered sexual abuse as a 12 year old.

The stories in The Bad Touch will shock, horrify, sadden, repulse and numb the reader. But underlying them is the small ray of hope that if the immediate family is sensitive enough to the signals a child may send out, he or she may be rescued from being victimized.

This book is a mission: to help ebb the trauma of survivors and inspire them with stories like Harishs and to create awareness of the issue of child sex abuse amongst parents/guardians.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Payal Shah Karwa for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: The background image has a blue tinge and is not clear. But the name pops out!

Paper and font: Paper and font is good.

Readability, language: Simple language.

Why did I choose this book: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is an issue close to my heart. I was abused as a child and I know the trauma first hand. So, when I heard from Karwa’s team to review the book, there’s no way I’d say no.

‘The Bad Touch’ is a book packed with information. The backbone of the book is the story of Harish Iyer, who was brutally abused as a child. It is a hard hitting story of how cruel and traumatic CSA can be on a child.

Harish Iyer’s childhood is gruesome (it made me squirm) but he has survived his ordeal and is now a social activist. Through Harish’s story Karwa lays the foundations of what is CSA and it’s brutality.

There are further stories of both men and women who have been abused as children. Most of them are aliases but one noted name is Anurag Kyashap.

The stories are all varied and chilling but the common thread through them all is that these are the stories of people who have gotten over their pasts and are thriving today.

Reading these stories makes you realise that there are so many untold stories in the world of people who lost the fight or are still struggling with their pasts.

Child Sex Abuse can happen to any child, it doesn’t matter how much care the parents take. The more sure method of preventing it is educating your child and building a bond of trust with your child, so the child tells you when it happens.

Apart from the stories ‘The Bad Touch’ gives insight into the trauma of victims, what they thought and felt as children and the various healing processes they followed.

It also has information about organisations working in the CSA space, how to deal with Child Sexual Abuse, tips for parents, how abusers work, and more. Karwa also gives a history and explains The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act of 2012 in detail.

Karwa has done a good job with incorporating all the various aspects of Child Sexual Abuse in ‘The Bad Touch’. This is a book I’d recommend to all parents, not just to read but to keep handy, just in case.

About the Author:
After 6 years in marketing communications Payal Shah Karwa is now a content writer pursuing her mission of being actively involved in social causes through her writing. She can be found on Twitter at @payalshahkarwa

Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

Title: Where The Rainbow Ends
Author: Anurag Anand
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Srishti Publishers (October 2013)
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

Summary: (Goodreads)
Rahul had everything going his way – a soaring career, a happy family and all else a man his age could yearn for. And then suddenly his life began to crumble all around him, disintegrating element after precious element, leaving him to watch in helpless horror.

Avantika, a pretty, vivacious girl who had come into Rahul’s life by pure accident, literally, has suddenly gone missing. Just like that, without as much as a trace. Where is Avantika? Will Rahul be able to find her? Is it her own past that has come back to consume her or is it something even more vicious and sinister?

Shalini, Rahul’s first love and a girl accustomed to leading life on her own terms. Hailing from a family that exerts considerable influence in the galleries of politics and power, she certainly has the wherewithal to impact a lot of things. Even lives. Is Shalini fostering a grudge that could displace not one but many lives? Could she be the one behind Avantika’s mysterious disappearance?

My Review:

Note: Thanks Anurag Anand for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Looks like a pirated copy; could have been better!

Paper and font: Paper and font is good [doesn’t looked pirated 😀 ].

Readability, language: Reads well with simple language.

Why did I choose this book: I did enjoy Anurag Anand’s earlier book ‘The Legend of Amrapali‘, so the next had to be tried.

Rahul meets Avantika at a time when nothing is going his way. His wife is putting him through a difficult divorce, he has lost his job, his house and to top it all his daughter is seriously ill and needs expensive treatment. Avantika comes into his life like a ray of sunshine, that is until she suddenly and mysteriously disappears.

At the end of the rainbow lies a pot of gold is an old saying and considering the storm in Rahul’s life and Avantika coming into it like a rainbow, the title is apt for a story that follows the rainbow to the end. The dark cover with bright rainbow colours is a nice idea but it could have been better – as such it looks like a cheap pirated cover with hazy text that isn’t straight. The blurb is interesting though and makes you want to read the book.

An unusual plot, I haven’t read a book with a storyline like ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’ before. Almost at the start you start wondering about Avantika, Rahul tells his and his ex-wife Shalini’s story but hardly anything is known about Avantika. Though Rahul is the protagonist, it was Avantika who kept me turning the pages as I wondered who she was and what was her story.

Set in present day Mumbai and Delhi, Anand uses the cities backdrops well to further the story. His descriptions of the localities and houses in both Mumbai and Delhi are believable and add to the story. I could almost see the city and it’s people in my mind’s eye, especially Delhi.

Anand introduces characters as he goes along in the story but the core characters of Rahul and Avantika stay to tie the story together throughout. More than Avantika it is Rahul who keeps the story rolling as he slowly discovers Avantika’s past.
As I read ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’ I felt sorry for Rahul for the hand life had dealt him but at times I also felt he was a sissy, searching for a way to run and hide rather than face it all. Shalini is the typical rich spoilt kid who has always got what her wanted and when she didn’t, she’d throw a tantrum that would make Papa materialize and give her what she wanted. Avantika though a mystery in the first half of the book, turns out to be a strong character in the second. Some of her past is sordid but as the story continues her strength of character comes through and makes her transgressions more palatable.

Anand has done a good job with the story structure, keeping me gripped till the end to know all about Avantika. Rahul may not have held my interest until the end but Avantika did. There are a few sub-plots that make Avantika’s disappearance more intriguing however Anand ties up all the loose ends and closes all loops by the end of the book. The build-up to the climax is well written but the climax itself left me disturbed and brimming with questions (more on this later).

Having read Anand’s earlier book, I’m glad to have read his next. His writing has gotten better and so has his story telling ability. The pace is good, not slackening at any point. The style and language is simple and easy on the mind while making you rethink about some stuck-up societal notions. Also makes you think about how money and death changes how you judge people.

Over all I enjoyed Anand’s latest book ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’ and look forward to his next book. Though this book doesn’t have any erotic scenes, it still has some thoughts and incidents that are not for children. If you are an adult, I highly recommend you read ‘Where The Rainbow Ends’. 🙂

***This might be a bit of a spoiler, so avoid it if it will spoil your reading experience***
Avantika’s history as I mention earlier is sordid, she had prostituted herself at some point in her life. Later on she gets to know she has cancer and limited time to live. These two bits of her history don’t have much to do with each other but are relevant to how you feel about the character. Lastly she has a lot of money that she leaves in a trust for Rahul’s daughter. By the time Rahul gets to know all of Avantika’s past, she is dead. Now coming to what disturbed me. Rahul as expected is disgusted when he gets to know that the woman he has fallen in love with was a prostitute but somehow as the rest of her story unfolds and the trust comes into picture he finds it in himself to forgive her. This behaviour (among other things) though expected and seen in normal life left me a bit disturbed. Did Anand kill Avantika before her past was revealed to make her past more acceptable and forgivable? Would Rahul’s feelings have been different had she still been alive? Would his ‘love’ have been the same? Had money not been in the picture how would Rahul have felt about Avantika’s past?
These questions gave me a disturbed afternoon. At some level I was angry at Anand for putting a woman in a place where she was judged and making her conveniently dead so she could not defend herself. Rahul’s ‘forgiveness’ pissed me off coz men don’t sell themselves but pay for sex, how is that less shameful?
Questions like these kept cropping up in my mind. Guess it’s the feminist in me who just wants equality. I want the words whore and promiscuous to be equal and interchangeable not as they are now – whore for women and promiscuous for men.
*** End of Rant 😀 ***

About the Author:
Anurag is a banker who wrote his first book ‘Pillars of Success’ at the age of 25. He currently has six published titles. See his other books on his website – www.anuraganand.in.

Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

Title: The Gardian Angels
Author: Rohit Gore
Paperback: 328 pages
Publisher: Grapevine India (July 10th 2013)
Genre: Romance
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart
Summary: (Goodreads)

The Guardian Angels is the epic and tumultuous story of two star-crossed lovers who weren’t just soul-mates but were also each other’s protectors.
The fates of Adi Mehta and Radha Deodhar are deeply entwined when within days of their first rendezvous they save each other’s lives.
Despite their vast sociopolitical differences, they are drawn to an uncertain future fraught with contrasting ambitions, personas and ideologies.

. . . he is the son of a billionaire, she is the daughter of a socialist.
. . . he is quiet and unassuming, she is a firebrand and spirited.

However, the unexplained phenomena ties them forever – whenever they are in peril, they are each other’s only saviors.
Over the following two decades Adi and Radha live through hope and despair, joy and sadness, and try to decipher their relationship. As the truth of their bond is revealed, they must confront the true nature of love, and ultimately, their destinies.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Rohit Gore for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Ebony on Ivory!

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and mind with no big words.

Why did I choose this book: The cover caught my eye.

This is the story of two people, Radha and Aditya, who have known they have chemistry since they became friends as kids and yet life keeps them apart. They are different in so many ways and they walk different paths but destiny brings them together every time one of them is in trouble. Will they ever come together, that’s the story.

Considering that Radha and Aditya are always there for each other in times of trouble, the title seems appropriate. The cover caught my eye with a simple outline of the face of a man filled with the image of a woman. It’s simple and uncluttered. The blurb though left me wondering if I would like the book.

I’ve read a fair number of romances over the years but this is the first time I’ve read a story like this. A unique plot, the story had me wondering right to the end if Radha and Aditya would get together. The plot is a simple one of a girl and boy from very different backgrounds coming together and yet it’s complicated with the intricacies and sub-plots of each of their lives.

Set in Mumbai, Gore goes back in time to the city of Bombay and works his way to present day Mumbai. He has used the city as a good backdrop for his setting of the world of a rich industrialist’s son and a socialist’s daughter. However there isn’t so much of the city as Gore focuses on the lives of his hero and heroine. That said, I did get subtle flavours that are so Bombay.

Aditya, a billionaire’s son has the world at his feet yet he lives in the shadow of his father and Radha, the daughter of a union man is wise beyond her years. The story revolves round Aditya and Radha but with them are a host of well described characters. Some of the characters are an integral part of the story but there are quite a few others who make fleeting appearances and take the story forward.

After my skeptical start of the story, I must say I enjoyed the book. The blurb had left me wondering if I had done the right thing when accepting the book and the first few pages made me wonder some more but as I read on I started to get curious about the end. The story starts a little before the end and then backtracks. It’s clear right at the start that this couple is going to go through a struggle and Gore doesn’t disappoint. The story builds up well and the climax is almost expected, yet you don’t know what the end will bring. There are some threads that Gore doesn’t tie up tight but it doesn’t rankle when the book finishes.

Told from the perspective of Aditya along with Radha’s journal entries, both sides of the story are told as incidents unfold. The language is simple and the emotions believable. Gore keeps the pace though the book and I didn’t find myself getting bored at any point.

Over all this is a good book to read once if you like reading romance set in modern day India where the girl and boy come from diverse backgrounds. Men would like the book but I think women would enjoy it more. There are some violent and sexual scenes so age I think is YA and above.

About the Author:
Rohit Gore currently lives in Pune and has spent over a decade in the IT industry. He loves sports, specifically the discussing and watching part of it, since he says his playing days are long gone. He is interested in history, especially the history of music and arts. You can connect with Rohit on his Facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

Title: Haveli
Author: Zeenat Mahal
Paperback: 93 pages
Publisher: Indireads (June 12th 2013)
Genre: Romance
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon
Summary: (Goodreads)

It’s the 1970′s in Jalalabad, an erstwhile princely state in Pakistan. Chandni is a self-proclaimed cynic and prefers to be called C. An orphan brought up by her domineering grandmother, a.k.a. The Broad, C is rebellious, quick-witted and stunningly beautiful.

When Taimur, a.k.a. Alpha Male, enters the closed universe of the haveli, he is smitten, but he’ll never admit it.

The stakes get higher when the father, who had so cruelly abandoned her at birth, returns and C’s dream of reuniting with him becomes a reality. But now she has to choose between her father and his hand-picked groom on the one side, and Alpha Male and The Broad on the other.

My Review:

Thanks Indireads for offering me this book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Simple pleasing illustration!

Paper and font: BIG FONT 😀

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and the mind.

Why did I choose this book: Something about the cover and 1970’s Pakistan caught my fancy.

C or Chandni is a 20 year old growing up 1970’s Jalalabad, Pakistan. She is a product of the times and upper class society – rebellious, sarcastic, and cynical, with a sense of humour. An orphan she was brought by her strict matriarchal grandmother who isn’t ease to please. She rebels against a betrothal arranged by her grandmother only to find that she is attracted to the guy.
While she’s figuring all of this out, the father who had abandoned her as a child turns up to reclaim her and her affections but not alone. He brings along with him another suitor for her hand. Who will C choose – her grandmother or her father?

When I think about joint families, extended families, old school families or matriarchal families I think of old houses, sprawling old buildings and havelis that were as much a part of the families as the people who lived in them. From that point of view the title makes sense. The cover is a simple pleasing illustration but I couldn’t make out the haveli in it. As for the blurb, it was definitely captivating and interesting, it was what got me to read the book.

As I read Haveli I was reminded of a lot classic romances but being set in 1970’s Pakistan makes the plot feel new. It has the classic conflict of beautiful girl and dashing boy who start off on the wrong foot. The boy is so mature that he can see through the girls immaturity and goes about wooing her is a weird tangential way while the girl is smitten but doesn’t see it and fights it to the end. In the midst of all this throw in a long lost father, a matriarchal grandmother, a conniving suiter and an extended family and you’ve got multiple plots playing out.
Chandni or C as she prefers to be called, is in the middle of all the drama as protagonist and we see it all unfold through her eyes and mind.

Set in 1970’s towns of Jalabad and Cholistan in Pakistan, Mahal does a good job of describing the life of upper-class highly-educated society. From the clothes to language, I felt transported to that time. I was so reminded of old time serials, set in that time, that I had watched as a child.

Haveli has a fair number of well drawn out characters – Chandni or C, Bi Amma or the Broad, Baba and Bua, Taimur or Alpha Male, Chandni’s father Shen Jahan and more. Though there are a lot of characters all of them seem to have a motive to being in the story, however not all characters complete their individual stories. I was left wondering about what happened to a few characters like Faisal,Shen Jahan and his wife at the end of the book.

C typical to her nature gives most of the characters interesting names from classic literature and switches around the names – from Heathcliff to Mr. Darcy – on based on her mood. The throwing in of character names was fun in the beginning but towards the end it was a bit of a drag.

On the whole Haveli isn’t all that bad but towards the end it feels rushed and incomplete. The build-up to climax and the final union of the lovers left me with questions. Characters hanging in story loops with no conclusion in sight. I would have liked to hear about what happened to Shen Jahan and Faisal now that their plans are thwarted.

That said I did enjoy the romance between Chandni and Taimur. Taimur is so the suave gentleman who can set a woman’s nerves tingling. And Chandni is that silly nitwit who has a great wit but loses her head in tight spots. They make for a good couple and story.

The story being told by Chandni lends an insight into the life and mind of a 20 year old affluent girl in 1970’s Pakistan. The language is a good mix of the Hinglish we speak here in the subcontinent and the English we try hard to speak, it made me laugh sometimes as I could almost here the words and accent in my head.

Mahal keeps a good pace for two-thirds of the book, then suddenly it just jumps forward and closes, almost as if Mahal was suddenly reminded she was writing a novella and was running out of words.

Overall a good book. I enjoyed the peek into the 1970’s and Pakistan but I do wish Mahal had closed all loops and told the whole Shah Jahan story. If you are someone who likes old world stories, you’ll enjoy reading Haveli. It’s worth your time!

About the Author:
Zeenat Mahal has been writing for as long as she can remember. She has an MPhil in English literature from Government College Lahore and is currently doing an MFA in creative writing from Kingston University, London. She is currently working on her next novel. You can connect with Zeenat on her Facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon

Title: Done With Men
Author: Shuchi Singh Kalra
Paperback: 109 pages
Publisher: Indireads Incorporated ( February 14th 2014)
Genre: Chick Lit
Read: ebook
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon
Summary: (Goodreads)

Travel journo, Kairavi Krishna (Kay) has had it with men. After a series of disasters (losers, philanderers, leeches, mama’s boys and possessive psychos), she is all too tempted to walk out on the prospect of ever finding love. Accompanied by her best friend and flat-mate Baani, she sets off for Goa, hoping to get away from her miserable love life and vowing to stay clear of the male species.

Goa however, has a host of surprises in store for her. Ricky, her pesky ex-boyfriend, is busy painting the town red with his hot new girlfriend. Now what is poor Kay to do other than overdose on vodka, smoke pot, get an outrageous tattoo and fall off the hotel balcony? She wakes up in the hospital to the tender ministrations of Dr.Vivian D’Mello–young, suave and handsome as hell. Will Kay stick to her guns or will she fall for his ridiculously sexy charms? And what’s up with the mixed signals he’s giving out?

My Review:

Thanks Shuchi Singh Kalra for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Simple, bright and eye-catchy!

Paper and font: So large, I had to manually reduce it 🙂

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and mind.

Why did I choose this book: Really needed some light reading and a book on a girl done with men seemed perfect for that 😀

After her most recent heart-break Kay jumps at the chance when she gets an assignment in Goa. She hopes that the distance from her ex and the Goa carnival atmosphere will ease her heart and heal it. But in Goa she bumps into her ex, which leads to a night of debauchery, which in turn lands her in the arms of a rather hot doctor. Oh Kay, what will happen of you…

‘Done With Men’ are words I’ve said and heard innumerable times after a break-up but they are rarely final, somehow love does happen again sooner or later. Looking at it that way, the title is appropriate for a book where the heroine falls out and then right back into love. The cover caught my eye with a simple illustration of a woman sitting alone by the beach by herself and the blurb was interesting enough to make me want to read the book.

The plot of heart-break followed by finding prince charming is an old one but Kalra spins it well and it almost feels new. The book revolves around the life of Kay and is true to life in that Kay almost makes a fool of herself at every bend of her love story. It’s something we have all done when we were young. A simple story without any major sub-plots or complications.

Mostly set in present day Goa, Kalra uses the carnival and Goa’s party scene to set the stage for her story. That’s about all it does, it’s that hazy backdrop with not much detail or clarity. However this one is forgivable as Kalra focuses in-depth on Kay and hey, it’s a novella.

Though Kay is the central character, there are quite a few other supporting characters. There’s Baani, Kay’s best friend and flat-mate, Ricky, her ex, and Dr.Vivian D’Mello, Kay’s love interest among others. All the characters have a role to play and they all tie up neatly in the end. I liked most of the characters too, but I wish Vivian had had more spine, he seemed a bit of a sissy (for want of a better word).

The first half of the book is fast and gripping, especially when Kalra hints at some girl-on-girl action, but she veers away all to soon to chase the man and there it gets a little dull. I could have done with more drama there. However Kalra ties up all the loose ends and pairs up characters quite neatly at the end.

Over all this is a good, quick read in-between larger books.

About the Author:
Shuchi Singh Kalra is not just a writer, but also an editor and blogger. She has been published in a large number popular magazines over the years since she started writing in 2005. She is also the owner of Pixie Dust Writing Studio, a writing and editing firm and the Indian Freelance Writers Blog. Shuchi lives with her army husband and toddler. You can connect with Shuchi on her facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon

Title: English Bites!
Author: Manish Gupta
Paperback: 344 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books (December 21st 2012)
Genre: Non-Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart
Summary: (Goodreads)

English Bites! My Fullproof English Learning Formula is the story of a man who goes from being tongue-tied in school to becoming a smooth talking banker. Through a series of hilarious personal adventures and misadventures, Manish Gupta provides easy solutions to problems faced by language learners. So, whether you’re a vernacular speaker, a GRE/ GMAT/CAT/XAT aspirant or just a language nut, English Bites! will expand your vocabulary and improve your verbal ability. It may even help you love the English language a little more!

My Review:

Thanks Manish Gupta for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Simple, bright and eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Ebony on Old Ivory 🙂

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes but maybe not the mind.

Why did I choose this book: English with it’s innumerable number of words has always fascinated me but learning and remembering those words has always been difficult.

There are scores of books written on learning the English language and I’ve read my fair share over the years but English Bites! is the first book I’ve read that talks about someone’s journey in learning English while still teaching me a lot about it. Manish Gupta takes us down the path he followed starting out in an English medium school as he tried to wrap his mind around the English language gaining a proficiency that finally resulted in a book. The book covers not only words but also tips and tricks that help learn and remember words and usage.

English Bites is an appropriate title as it has multiple meanings through the book – from the painful episodes of getting language wrong to Gupta’s bite-sized bits of information. The cover is simple and bright with the orange jumping out at you and grabbing your attention. The blurb does justice to the book in terms of what to expect.

The plot (if there is one) is a simple one with Gupta as the main protagonist as he fights his way through understanding and learning a language that is constantly growing with the acceptance of numerous new words from various sources where the meaning may not always be what it seems.

The book is laid out well with meanings of words either explained in the text or as foot notes. Gupta has also included illustrations and expansions that help understand concepts better.

When I started reading the book, it felt like a drag and I couldn’t seem to read more than two pages at a time. It took me a while to realise that, that was because I couldn’t control my curiosity; I kept jumping to the foot notes to read about the words, sometimes even the ones I knew. The jumping about of course meant that I was constantly losing track of where I was in the story and had to go back and re-read parts. Once I got my curiosity under control and I accepted that reading two-odd pages at a stretch was ok, I started making progress.

English Bites! is one of the few books I have taken so long to read – 47 days! After my initial struggle I quickly realised that this book was perfect for my ‘on the pot’ reading. It was a great way to start my day as I could then spend my day mulling over the new words I learned and trying to use them through the day. I kind of believe in the saying that you have to use a word thrice correctly to make it your own.

The first half of the book is about Gupta’s initial journey into learning English with lots of helpful tips like using mnemonics, limericks, rhymes, alliterations, and trivia to learn and remember words and their usage. Some of these were really interesting or wacky and I’m sure to remember them over time, like did you know the largest eggs are not those of an ostrich but a shark or that an easy way to remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites is that stalactites grow from the roof so they have to hold on tight and stalagmites, grow from the floor and might just make it to the roof.

He also goes into types of words like isograms, palindromes, etc. and fun with words, letters and meanings like pointing out that the word ‘set’ has ’58 noun uses, 126 verb uses and 10 uses as an adjective’.

In the second half Gupta starts to focus on areas like medicine, food, coffee, etc. as he explores the words used in these arenas. I learned a lot of new words here like – abdominoplasty, chummery, hyperpagia, circumlocution, consanguine, patronymic, etc. along with learning the history or etymology of some words like expresso.

In the last chapter Gupta loops back to complete his story and renew his learning curve with new words from the mouth of a babe. At 344 pages English Bites! seems long but the end came as a surprise to me; I was looking forward to learning more.

Over all the book is well written and quite detailed. English Bites! will definitely help anyone who wants to get better in English no matter whether it’s just casual interest or a study for exams, however it will take a few reads before you make a dent in your English vocabulary. This book is going to permanently reside on my ‘pot reading shelf’. 😀

About the Author:
In my short life I think I’ve meant too many people of numbers (finance guys) who are in love with letters. It baffles my mind, numbers and letters don’t go together in my head. Manish Gupta adds to my list by being a banker. Hailing from Rajasthan, he has studied in Chandigarh and Jamshedpur, and currently lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughters. You can connect with Manish on the English Bites! facebook page.

Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart