Archive | May, 2011

Author: Paritosh Uttam
Publisher: Penguin India

First-year student Naina is utterly smitten by her senior, Michael, acknowledged genius and resident rebel of the Fine Arts College, Mumbai. So when he proposes that they drop out of college and live in, she readily agrees. But life with Michael soon turns into an emotional roller coaster. Temperamental, opinionated and incredibly selfish, he expects Naina to run the household so that he is free to paint. Naina tries her hand at several odd jobs, but when an accident leave Michael blind, their life…

Back cover blurb:
 A captivating saga about love, family, friendship, and faith – a tender love story of lifelong love between husband and wife, eternal family ties between father and son and inseparable true friendship between young friends that continues through the twilight years. Naveen BC’s debut novel is a gospel of faith in true human values. The moving story that spans generations will make you cry and laugh and rebuild your faith and trust in the human species that ancient and modern prophets of doom have often times condemned…

The Quest for Nothing by Anurag Anand is a DINK story very realistically told, reflective of the lives of most working youngsters today who have the world at their feet and don’t exactly know what to do with it!

With the novel commencing with a poem acknowledging friends and family alike I wondered as I read along as to whether the forthcoming pages would be as enticing as this. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.

Each chapter begins as a periodic phase and you get a vague idea as to what…

Book Review : I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (or James Frey)

Review will most definitely contain spoilers!
Within the known universe there are three planets that have been inhabited with intelligent life. The Mogadorians, a hateful, destructive race have ruined their own planet, and have stripped the planet Lorien of its resources while trying to exterminate the Loriens. Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of earth a select group of Mogadorians occupy this planet.
To avoid annihilation the Lorien’s have preserved nine children of their species, the Cepan, to live…

Paperback: 342 pages

Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Voice 2009
Source: Purchased Oxfam Bookshop in UK
Review Quote: ‘A visual standout, Metz brings refreshing candour to a startling painful tale.’

I have absolutely no idea why this book has so many good reviews, mind you it does seem to have lots of bad ones as well. Maybe if I had read them first I would not have bothered with this tedious, dull read.I knew it was going to be a memoir about a young woman trying to put her life back together…

I usually do not read self-help but this one was a “Home Run”

 “I guess there’s just too much cynicism in the world today” I answered “We don’t believe in the great dreams as we had as kids anymore. We don’t believe in the great dreams we had as kids anymore. We don’t believe we have the power to create the lives we want. We don’t think we can really make a difference by the things we do”
Goosebumps! That’s what happened when I read these few lines of the…

My last Murakami outing was a Surreal book,After Dark .But,I loved it to bits. That prompted me to pick this book up. Blind Willow,sleeping woman is a collection of short stories ,that has gone on to garner rave reviews. There are very few books that are exhilarating and depressing at the same time. Murakami’s writing somehow manages to be both.After the first few stories,I wondered why the book was so critically acclaimed. After all, the writing didn’t seem very proficient,being loaded with superfluous similes, metaphors and dark philosophical undertones .…

Title: LaikaAuthor: Nick AbadzisPublisher: First Second BooksGenre: Young Adult, Graphic NovelsPP: 208 pagesPrice: $17.95Source: PublisherRating: 5/5
Any preconception that I had about graphic novels presenting simplistic or cartoonish stories was shattered by this book. Laika, is a complex story that focuses on the deep relationships that can be formed between humans and animals. The graphics and text work in concert to portray the action and emotion in this story, especially in the dream sequences where Laika imagines that she is flying. Readers who are familiar with graphic novels will appreciate…

Burnt Toast. No, this has no relation to any culinary misadventures and has nothing to do with Teri Hatcher either. Teri Hatcher who? Arre, Susan Mayer of “Desperate Housewives”, and Lois Lane from “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman”. Got it? Good. Ummm, this “Burnt Toast” is advertising professional-turned-author Sandy Kundra Verma’s debut novel. Apparently after years of living on a percentage of what her B-school batch-mates were being paid and convincing herself that it was all worth it, she decided to branch out into what she liked…

Title: Nothing to Declare: StoriesAuthor: Rabi ThapaPublisher: Penguin IndiaISBN: 978-0-143-41543-5Genre: Short Stories, FictionPP: 172 pagesPrice: Rs.199Source: PublisherRating: 4/5
Nepal has had special memories for me. I practically spent every summer there since I was ten with my cousins and the entire extended family and loved it. There was nothing more special than watching rented movies (No DVD age and thank god for that!) and munching on home-cooked popcorn with mugs of hot chocolate and the anticipation of waking the next morning and visiting Pokhra or Bakthapur. We also spent freezing…