Title: The Other Side of the Table
Author: Madhumita Mukherjee
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Fingerprint (January 18th 2013)
Genre: Epistolary
Read: Paperback
Stars: **/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)
Circa 1990.
A world drawn and woven with words.
A bond punctuated by absence and distance…
Two continents. Two cities. Two people.
And letters. Hundreds of them.
Over years. Across oceans. Between hearts.
Between Abhi, who is training to be a neurosurgeon in London, and Uma, who is just stepping into the world of medicine in Kolkata.
As they ink their emotions onto paper, their lives get chronicled in this subtly nuanced conversation through letters … letters about dreams, desires, heartbreaks, and longings… about a proverbial good life falling apart, about a failed marriage, a visceral loss, and about a dream that threatens social expectations…
Letters that talk. And don’t. Letters about this and that. Letters about everything…
Letters with a story you would never expect.

My Review:

Note: Thanks to the guys at MySmartPrice for offering me this book to review 🙂

Cover: Simple and soothing on the eyes.

Paper and font: White paper and smelt like a text book! 🙁

Readability, language: : The language was simple but the font and print could have been much better.

Why did I choose this book: The blurb had sounded interesting…

Some books you wonder why you read but then are happy you read it. This was one of those. When I picked up the book I had very different expectations of it. The blurb had set me up to expect some action, drama or mystery and I kept looking for it all through the book, didn’t find it at all and that did have me disappointed. That said the story kept me engaged through the book.

The Other Side of the Table is a collection of letters between Abhi in London who is training to be a neurosurgeon and Uma who is studying to be a doctor in Kolkata. Living in different worlds they have very different experiences in the field of medicine. They share their experiences, joys, disappointments, challenges and more through letters as the years roll by.

Uma as a girl trying to follow her dream in India can be related to easily. The challenges she faces at home, in society and at work are things most women experience in India at sometime or another. Her fighting spirit is something I associated with and felt for as she fought for what she wanted.

Abhi on the other hand is recognisable as the guy who leaves India with nothing to come back to but still misses his birth country and makes up the deficit by having more Indian friends around him. When he has trouble they help him out the most, though Abhi does have one non-Indian friend who also helps, so maybe he has mixed into new culture a fair bit.

Taking place in two countries far away from each other, the setting is perfect as a comparison between the lives of doctors and the study of medicine in both countries. The things that are common and so different too. Mukherjee makes all the appropriate references to seasons, festivals and holidays in both countries.

The book is written as letters and that helps overall but the letters were a bit dry and weirdly formal. I also think there were too many happy new years…

I enjoyed the medicine and doctor speak in the book. The peek into the lives of medical students and doctors was revealing enough to keep me reading the entire book. However I think for someone who isn’t very into medicine this might get a bit boring.

Given an option I would have added more drama and maybe even a sinister twist to the story. This was too tame and slow.

If you are looking for a slow, simple, not very complicated medical read, this book would be good as a one time read…

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Title: My Husband and Other Animals
Author: Janaki Lenin
Paperback: 296 pages
Publisher: Westland(2012)
Genre: Biography (Short-Life-Stories)
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)
Rom felt that all the trappings of the human world interfered with his ability to find king cobras. So he discarded his watch and shoes, and stripped down to a loin cloth. Not the best attire for his first brush with the devil nettle!

Whats it like being married to Rom Whitaker herpetologist, wildlife conservationist, and founder of the Madras Snake Park and Madras Crocodile Bank? Janaki Lenin, his wife, tells us, Theres never a dull moment.

In this compilation of stories, Janaki also an animal enthusiast gives us a peek into the zany and unpredictable world that Rom and she have built together, deep in southern India. They battle tree frogs that insist on colonising their house, travel to the wilds of the world pursuing venomous snakes and monster crocodiles, devote precious hours to befriending Gila monsters, playing with porcupines, and taming opinionated shrews.

Entertaining, playful, and downright amusing, the essays shed light on the kingdoms of beasts and plants. They provide flashes of insight into animal disposition relate human stories about the world and our place in it, and demystify natures secret code. Most of all, they highlight Rom and Janakis wide-eyed wonder at sharing this diverse planet with all creatures, large and small.

My Review:

Cover: Earthy and pleasing to the eye!

Paper and font: The kind you want to smell again and again with an easy on the eye font.

Readability, language: Simple no-nonsense language that you want to keep reading.

Why did I choose this book: I wanted to learn what it would take to move out.

Janaki Lenin’s ‘My Husband and Other Animals’ did not meet expectations…

Che and I hope to move out of Bangalore soon for a lot of reasons, some of them will make our lives better and some of them will be excellent for our dogs. But moving out isn’t just that simple, there are so many things that worry me – how will I deal with leopards, I’m not scared of creepy crawlies but neither do I want to play host to tons of them, can I really grow enough to sustain my family, and many other such thoughts are on the list. With all this running in my head I grabbed at ‘My Husband and Other Animals’ when I came across it hoping for answers. After all Janaki had also made the move from a city to a farm.

As I started reading I was disappointed, where were the solutions I was looking for. Not being someone who gives up easily I stuck with the book as Janaki recounted her and Rom’s adventures with snakes, frogs, crocs and leopards.

A quarter of my way though the book my disappointment was replaced by a soft smile as I travelled dusty paths with Janaki. She isn’t the standard storyteller who has a punchline at the end of each story; she is more like our grandmothers who tells a story for the telling. The story is everywhere not just at the end of the tale.

As I continued listening to Janaki’s stories of Rom’s childhood, how he setup the croc bank, the initial challenges they faced, their adventures in the wild across India and the settling down hiccups at the farm, I couldn’t help but notice a shift in how I saw life outside the city. Gone was the worry-wart who jumped out of her skin at every boo, instead I found myself making peace with all that was disturbing me. Life on a farm would be challenging and some things would be out of my control but that was all a part to living on or off the land.

Janaki lost one of her dogs to a leopard and almost lost a second too. It must have hurt to lose a dog but she learnt some invaluable lessons. And it wasn’t just leopards, there were the snakes to account for too. Being over protective isn’t the answer I learned, I had to think smart and plan ahead.

As the book came to an end I was wishing pages would add themselves, I wanted to hear more about Janaki and Rom’s life. But I guess for now I have to settle for keeping her book within arms reach and re-reading it. That is until I can meet this couple whose lives are a fairytale albeit not the fairy kind, and I’m looking forward to it. (As a kid I think I must have met Rom since Dad took us often to the Croc Bank but I guess I was too little to remember him.) Time to make a trip to Madras and the Croc Bank again.

Let me reinstate and revise what I started this review with –  Janaki Lenin’s ‘My Husband and Other Animals’ did not meet expectations… It exceeded them!

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Title: Govinda
Author: Krishna Udayasankar
Paperback: 458 pages
Publisher: Hachette India (July 2012)
Genre: Mythology
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)
Aryavarta – the ancient realm of the noble.
For generations, the Firstborn dynasty of scholar-sages, descendants of Vasishta Varuni and protectors of the Divine Order on earth, has dominated here. For just as long, the Angirasa family of Firewrights, weapon-makers to the kings and master inventors, has defied them. In the aftermath of the centuries-long conflict between the two orders, the once-united empire of Aryavarta lies splintered, a shadow of its former glorious self.

Now, the last Secret Keeper of the Firewrights is dead, killed by a violent hand, and the battle for supreme power in the empire is about to begin.

As mighty powers hurtle towards a bloody conflict, Govinda Shauri, cowherd-turned-prince and now Commander of the armies of Dwaraka, must use all his cunning to counter deception and treachery if he is to protect his people and those whom he loves.

But who holds the key to the fantastic and startling knowledge of the Firewrights, which in the wrong hands will bring doom upon the empire? And does Govinda have it in him to confront the dark secrets of his past and discover the true meaning of being Arya, of being noble?

My Review:

Cover: Nothing great but not so bad either.

Paper and font: Smell-Worthy with a print that is easy on the eyes.

Readability, language: Reads well and language is easy on the mind.

Why did I choose this book: I couldn’t let another perspective to the Mahabharata pass me by.

I grew up to the Mahabharata on TV but as time went by I started to question the epic as I knew it. Then last year I read ‘The Palace of Illusions’ by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and saw the epic in new light from Panchaali’s perspective. When I came across Krishna Udayasankar’s ‘Govinda’ I couldn’t give another perspective a miss. A story about a Govinda who does not have any super powers was very compelling.

The main characters are the usual Mahabharata ones, only here Krishna is more predominant in ‘Govinda’. Krishna Udayasankar’s book gives a deeper inside into the enigma of Krishna, a more real and practical perspective compared to the usual magical one. Seeing him as a man and understanding the reasons behind his magic made the Mahabharata so much more believable as an epic.

Udayasankar also has some very thought provoking takes on incidents and people of the Mahabharata – the man Panchaali truly loved, how she landed up with Dharma even though she had been won by Partha, the kind of man Dharma really was and the truth behind Dhulyodhana’s intentions and motivations, and the lead up to Dharma becoming Emperor and real people and reasons behind why he became emperor.

Even though it is the same old Mahabharata with the same core story, Udayasankar couldn’t have made it more different with her explanations and reasoning behind plots and situations. Krishna, his intentions, his mind , his heart and just why he did certain things are finally explained in a light and a world I could believe.

Udayasankar has done a good job of describing the kingdoms of those times, the terrain, the places, the people and their lives. Dwaraka does feel like utopia where everyone is happy and content. Indraprastha the mirror of Indra’s palace as it is supposed to be in the epic.

What I loved best was the premise that these men were not Gods but only human in all they did. Udayasankar knows her history well and her research shows. It was an enjoyable retelling of the great epic of India the Mahabharata and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series, I just the author doesn’t take too long.

Definitely a book to read if you want a different perspective to the epic we all grew up too!

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Title: The Accidental Apprentice
Author: Vikas Swarup
Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 31st 2013)
Genre: Mystery
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)
Life pivots on a few key moments. This is one of them.

Sapna Sinha works in an electronics store in downtown Delhi. She hates her job, but she is ambitious and determined to succeed, and she knows without the money she brings in, her family won’t be able to survive. Little does she know it but her life is about to change forever.

As she leaves the shop on her lunch break one day, she is approached by a man who claims to be CEO of one of India’s biggest companies. He tells her he is looking for an heir for his business empire. And that he has decided it should be her.

There are just seven tests she must pass. And then the biggest lottery ticket of all time will be hers.

My Review:

Note: Thanks to the guys at MySmartPrice for offering me this book to review 🙂

Cover: Decent…

Paper and font: Smell-Worthy! And font is easy on the eyes.

Readability, language: : The font size and print is great with just the right tint of ivory to make it an easy, fun read.

Why did I choose this book: Missed the first, couldn’t miss this one ;P

Like a lot of other people I have seen Slumdog Millionaire the movie but have not read Q&A, the book it was based on. Somehow after the movie I never got down to reading the book even though Che recommended it and said it was way better than the movie. So, when I came across Vikas Swarup’s new book The Accidental Apprentice I figured I better read it before it becomes a movie.

Sinha is a middle class salesgirl working hard to make ends meet. Being the bread winner of the family she tries hard to fulfill her mothers needs and sisters demands without losing her sanity. Then one day she meets Mr. Vinay Mohan Acharya who wants to make her his company’s CEO, the only condition is that she pass 7 life tests. Initially Sapna shrugs him off, after all who approaches a random stranger and makes this kind of offer. But life’s cruelly dealt hand has Sapna go back to him within days to give his tests a try and the rest is the story. 😀

The Accidental Apprentice has a host of characters that are recognisable from our daily lives. The hard working elder sister, the pretty petty younger sister, the next door sweetheart, the quaint quirky neighbour Aunt, and last but not the least the business brothers who remind me of the Ambanis. I found myself smiling, egging on, rejoicing and sympathising with most characters through the book.

Set in Delhi, it’s only fitting that there is a hunger strike with flavours of Anna Hazare that goes viral on social media, among other situations Sapna finds herself in, as Swarup talks about some of the current issues and news in India as the life tests promised unravel.

I enjoyed the pace and speed of the book. It reads easy and fast with being difficult to put down. I was constantly wondering what would come next and was regularly surprised through the book.

Suitable for YA and upwards, it’s a must read. An adventure and thriller combined, it’s a fun one time read that surprises at many a moment.

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Title: A Degree In Death
Author: Ruby Gupta
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Alchemy Publishers (2012)
Genre: Mystery
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)
The midnight murder of a student in the sleepy town of Dehradun rouses everyone with suspicion and alarm. Violence is incomprehensible in this institute located at the foothills of the Himalayas. With no clues or suspects, the police are unable to catch the killer.

Professor Shantanu Bose, an eminent nano-expert and Dean of Research and Development is deeply troubled at this havoc caused to his institute. Determined to bring back the peaceful academic environment of the campus, he begins his own investigation.

Fear increases as another dead body turns up. Soon the professor finds himself in grave danger. Yet, he persists with his inquiry; and discovers that the truth is more startling than what anyone could have imagined…

My Review:

Note: Thanks to the guys at MySmartPrice for offering me this book to review 🙂

Cover: So so!

Paper and font: The font was eye-friendly but the paper is ordinary. Nothing great.

Readability, language: : The language is easy in the mind and the book reads fast.

Why did I choose this book: I had found the blurb interesting and since I’ve been to Dehradun the location had me interested too.

MIST is an engineering college in Dehradun where life is rolling along as normal with the usual skirmishes of students and teachers. That is until there is a sucide in the boys hostel. On investigation it is revealed that the boy hadn’t committed suicide, he had been murdered. While the management is scrambling to maintain order among students and reduce bad publicity, Professor Shantanu Bose who considers himself a bit of a detective starts to investigate the murder. Soon more deaths follow and it becomes imperative to find the culprit soon.

Professor Shantanu reminded me of Bomkesh Bakshi, a detective I grew up watching on TV. A simple man who has an objective and logical mind-set, Professor Shantanu follows each lead in the case trying to fill in the blanks and complete the big picture. He is helped by students and faculty who also believe they have the answer to the case.

There is the usual mix of people who are scared and don’t want to have anything to do with the murders and there are also those who believe they will be the ones to solve the case and catch the murderer. But as they get closer to the answer they get eliminated and the answer continues to elude the Professor.

Set in Dehradun, a quite retirement town, the furor caused by the murder is understandable. The city is shocked and shaken as the murders continue. Gupta captures the essence of the city and its landscapes well and I could see it all in my minds-eye as the story unfolded.

A lot of research has gone into the book as Gupta talks about Tibet, the Dalai Lama and Tibetans taking refuge in Dehradun. I got a better understanding of the political and world situation in regard to Tibet as I read the book.

The layout of the book could have been better though, the paragraphs flowed into each other and the breaks between situations and locations was not distinct. I had a lot of confusing moments in the book as I tried to figure where one act ended and the next started.

If you are into mysteries and thrillers this is definitely a good book to read.

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Title: Black Hills
Author: Nora Roberts
Paperback: 472 pages
Publisher: Putnam (July 7th 2009)
Genre: Romance
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)
A summer at his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan’s idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he’s discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn’t as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop’s annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker’s body.

As the seasons change and the years roll, Lil stays steadfast to her aspiration of becoming a wildlife biologist and protecting her family land, while Coop struggles with his father’s demand that he attend law school and join the family firm. Twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most.

Lil and Coop both know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. Now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

My Review:

I’ve been reading a lot of Indian authors lately hence thought I’d take a break and read a Nora Roberts. Looking around at the library I came across one of her recent books – Black Hills. The premise sounded interesting, and it was about the big cats so I picked it up. The story is about Lillian and Cooper who become friends as children and grow up together over the years. Teenage love blossoms but slides away as they both follow their dreams and part ways. Years later, Cooper finds his way back to his grandparents farm and his life in South Dakota while Lillian has fulfilled her dream of setting up a refuge for wild animals where she cares and rehabilitates them. The plot thickens as animals get killed and people go missing in the hills. Pretty soon it becomes clear that Lillian is the target and all of this is being done to threaten her.

The characters were believable enough but nothing really stood out for me about them. There is of course the hero and heroine – Cooper and Lillian. But aside from them there are a lot of other characters – Joe and Jenna (Lillian’s parents), Sam and Lucy (Coopers Grandparents), Farley, Tansy, Brad, Matt, Eric and a few others who are friends of Coop and Lil or work with them. Not to forget the villian – Ethan Howe. There are moments when you can immediately associate with the characters but its off and on through the book.

It was the setting of the book that drew me to it and that has been done well. Roberts describes the hills, it’s trails, the farms and the land well and I could see it all in my minds eye as the book progressed. I’ve never been to South Dakota but if the book is true it must be beautiful. Roberts has done a good job of describing forests and the trails through it.

Lillian is in love with the cougar who she sees as her spirit guide and the book has lots of anecdotes and information about the various big cats. I did learn a few things about them and the differences between them too. From the cat perspective the book does seem well researched. The book also raises questions about how natural a refuge can be, after-all an enclosure is a cage even though it is a large natural enclosure. But then again nothing can replace the wild and in a refuge you can only do so much. Roberts talks about all that the animals need to keep them safe and healthy and why sometimes enclosures are needed to be able to do that.

The best bit of the book for me (if you haven’t realised it already) were the animals. But that was also its drawback, as everything else seemed lost in it. The story plays out well almost until the last 50-100 pages. The villian is depicted well and you keep wondering about the showdown at the end. Towards the latter half of the book you can almost guess the end but when it does come it’s quick and short.

If I had to change one thing in the book, I’d make the showdown longer and more dramatic. As it is, it’s almost as if the witer after 400 pages got tired and just tied it all up to finish the book. The end was disappointing!

Considering the language I’d say this is a book for young adults and above but worth only one read. Definitely not worth a re-read.

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I’ve already started with my reading for this year but thanks to being ill I haven’t done any major reading (I’ve been reading Harry Potter, the Enid Blyton of today) yet. Now before I start reading my lists for this year I thought I’d take a quick look at my book stats for 2012 and compare them to 2011 and see how I did fare in two years.

Here’s what I found –

Top Rated Books
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Books that stood-out for me in 2012
I experimented quite a bit in 2012 with books, genres and authors, especially since a lot of authors started to give away their ebooks on Amazon for free through the KDP program. Here are the books and series that were interesting finds for me in 2012.

Books –
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Indian Maidens Bust Loose by Vidya Samson
Sikander by M. Salahuddin Khan
The Loom by Shella Gillus
Bitch Goddess for Dummies by Maya Sharma Sriram

Series –
Little Blue Envelope Series by Maureen Johnson
A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
Ghost-in-Law Series by Jana Deleon
An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Series by Chanda Hahn
Chronicles of the Kings Series by Lynn Austin

Most Read Authors
George R.R. Martin – 5
J.K. Rowling – 7
Chanda Hahn – 2
Maureen Johnson – 2

Books Read each Month
May – 13
August – 12
January – 10
February and June – 6
March, July and September – 5
April and November – 3
December – 2

Last year I read the most number of books in February (11). This year in October I didn’t read even one book :O

Out of the 70 books I read 59 were eBooks! The Kindle has completely paid off; it’s officially the best gift I’ve got in a while. Another significant number is 11 – the number of books I read by Indian Authors. I’m hoping this will be a higher number in 2013.

Looking back my choice of books says so much about the year. I’ve read a large variety of authors this year and alot of Indian authors that I made a concsious effort to find. I didn’t always find good books but mostly the books I’ve read I enjoyed and would recommend. Indian Authors have gotten better over the years and so has publishing. I’ve seen some very nice book covers this year, specially the ones from Rupa Publishing.

I found some great books by chance trolling through Amazon. Don’t miss out on Indian Maidens Bust Loose and Sikander. If you are looking for something different yet enjoyable then read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Palace of Illusions.

What have you noticed in your reading in 2012? Which books stood-out for you? What would you recommend I read in 2013?

2011 was the first year I took part in the GoodReads reading challenge. I decided to read 50 books in the year and exceeded that target by reading 66. Feeling all motivated by my success I set my target in 2012 at 100 books. Sadly 🙁 I didn’t achieve it and read only 70 books but it is still more than 2011. Sticking to my guns I’ve set this years target at 100 again, I’m gonna try my best to beat it this year.

At the start of 2012 I looked at GoodReads and reviewed my year in books. Not breaking away from tradition I’m doing it again this year to see what did I do in terms of books through 2012.

So here’s the stats in comparison to last year (2011).

Unlike 2011, in 2012 all the books I read were published after 1995 and not earlier than that.

Last year I read 25,397 pages, thats 751 less than 2011. 🙁

I gave 6 books 5 stars!! (10 in 2011)
And 32 books got 4 stars. (32 in 2011)
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin was the longest book I read with 1,177 pages. (Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, 985 pages in 2011)
And there were no books that I did not finish! (1 in 2011)

How many books did you read in 2012? Notice any trends in your reading?

Title: Bitch Goddess for Dummies
Author: Maya Sharma Sriram
Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: Rupa Publications (2012)
Genre: Chick-Lit
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart
Summary: (Amazon)
Edgy and wickedly funny, this is exciting debut novel that will have readers engaged and entertained throughout.
Bitch Goddess Rule # 52: Dont Mess with a Bitch Goddess. Ever. She Gives as Good as She Gets.
Tired of being a pushover and a wimp, Mira Iyer decides to change her life forever. Thus begins Project Bitch Goddess. She junks her Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes image and brings out the killer stilettos. She demands her bosss attention, and the next pro- motion, and matches her crafty colleague, the impossibly beautiful Sanya, move for move. But when Mira starts playing mind games with the suave Rohan whom Sanya is also desperately trying to woo things threaten to go too far. Then, Miras half-sister lands at her doorstep, and compels her to confront her estranged father and her long-closeted inner demons. Will the snappy Bitch Goddess Rules come to Miras rescue, or leave her scarred?
Set in Singapore and India, Bitch Goddess for Dummies is replete with dark humour and is a powerful antidote for those who must suffer because they are too nice.

My Review:

Note: Thanks to the guys at MySmartPrice for offering me this book to review 🙂

Cover: Eye-Candy! The cover is true to the book!

Paper and font: The paper’s ok, though I would have liked a slightly bigger and spacier font. It’s a tad bit small and tight.

Readability, language: The book reads well, with mostly simple language (there are words like solecism) and a subject every working girl knows about.

Why did I choose this book: Something about the name said ‘You must read this!’.

A racy chick-lit, I couldn’t keep the book down once I started. Mira the heroine is a simple Tam-Bram girl who has been brought up to do things properly. She doesn’t know the twisted ways of the world today and ends up being walked over constantly by Sanya in office. Sanya is the epitome of the girl we all called the ‘Bitch’ in office, the one who with her coy ways always gets her way. Mira tired of being a wimp and a pushover decides to take a leaf from Sanya’s book and become the bitch goddess. What results is an account of Mira’s conflicts between being her and a bitch goddress, the confusion for her close friend Vinay who can’t seem to understand what’s got into her and the upheavel caused by the entry of the hero Rohan in the midst of things as Mira finds the right balance of things in her life.

Mira is that girl each one of us was when we first stepped into the corporate world of today, stumbling along and learning the rules of the game. Sanya like I said before is the epitome of the ‘Bitch’, the one each one of us hated but secretly wanted to be. Vinay is a loveable charater and so remined my of my close buddies at work and how they were my family away from home. All Sriram’s characters are well sketched out and easily recogniseable with someone in our lives.

The book is set in Singapore and India and true to Indians working abroad Sriram brings out the Indian’isms’ displayed by them. Mira’s mother is the typical Tamil Brahmin parent back home trying hard to get her daughter married.

The book is a fast-paced read and I couldn’t keep it down once I started, I wanted to know all that happened to Mira. Sriram has mostly used simple language but there are some big words like ‘Solecism’ thrown in that made me reach out for the dictitionary. Not that am complaining 🙂

I loved the Bitch Goddess Rules that popped up in-between as I was reading the book. Also Mira’s new avatar made me smile big and wide everytime she whooped Sanya. I don’t have any complaints as such of the book. As a to-read-once-chick-lit it’s great.

I’d recommend this book to all those in the corporate world. Most women will associate with it and men like Vinay (who have ‘proper’ women friends) will have a good laugh. Definitely worth a read!

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