Tara Lane - Shama Futehally

nostalgia

This book is like a rivulet - calm, quiet and graceful. And painfully poetic. It takes you back to your childhood memories and lost paradises. The story is of Tahera, her carefree days at her parent's house, marital conflicts, financial challenges and corruption in the society.

Beautiful.

The Crack-Up With Other Pieces And Stories - F Sott Fitzgerald

Warning ! You are advised to google on Fitzgerald or else you may get lost in his word maze.

There are 5 short stories,  of autobiographical nature. I liked his superior writing style. Witty, sharp and sarcastic, it's not an easy read. I'm still struggling with the stories in short form. But I intend to read Fitzgerald's novels ASAP.   

                                      

Dork Diaries - Rachel Renee Russell

This post is dedicated to my own dork @ home, my sweet daughter. She enjoyed reading this book and wanted me to do the same. So, that's it. I luurved the book, the dork and her pestering cutie pie sister. My dork is happy. 

Teens' moms, don't you ever think that Dork Diaries are silly and brash. You are wrong there. They are apostles of family-sibling bonding, friendship and moral values. This diary gives a demo on 'How to manipulate your weakness to your benefit'.

Teens, keep reading.

Welcome to Advertising. Now Get Lost - Omkar Sane

This read is part of getting to know the newbies of Guy Lit. Yes. The lay out/ design / cover of the book is appreciated. I liked the illustrations too. Very interesting. And I absolutely loved the introductions by Cyrus Broacha, Bharat Dabholkar and Gangadharan Menon. Ain't it something worth reading?

The book

 

I hopped in, got lost in many places, had a hearty laugh and popped out unscathed. Thank you-know-who, advertising is not my calling. 

 

The author 

 

I liked the Sane guy instantly. All fatty guys are funny n witty. It's a proven fact. Eg:- Cyrus Broacha. Hee hee. Sane looks quite sane with overworked humor glands. Thus the books. He got talents. See, I have bought both his books. Good luck Sane.

50x3 Grey shades - Erika Leonard

Yeah. The trilogy. Yum. Yum. Actually I had a tough time hiding the 3 books away from the teenagers roaming at home during the reading breaks. And so I devoured the books within a  week and now I'm a certified speed reader. Too bad that I didn't get time to highlight or write footnotes nor ref reminders.

Moral of the story:- A few ideas, objects n positions can color up the grey shade of your life.

Haroun And The Sea Of Stories - Salman Rushdie

Confusion. Confusion. How to categorize this book? Fantasy? Children's Lit? Classic? Political satire? Magical realism? Whatever. It's brilliant to the beat. I loved the names of places n characters like - Kahani, Chup, Princess Batcheat, Prince Bolo, General Kitab, Iff the water genie, Khattam Shud..... But my teenaged junior finds the names a li'l difficult to comprehend. Hindi like Delhi is far far away.... The story is racy, action packed , suspense filled and makes the reader content n victorious at the end. Granted, I find the sequel Luka and the fire of life a better witty and joyful ride.

Rushdie dedicates this story to his then teenaged son. Great. But look at the mother figure. Haroun's mother elopes with their neighbor in the beginning of the story itself and joins them back at the end as cool as a kakdi. What nonsense. Autobiographical?

Another country - Anjali Joseph

 Anjali Joseph:''Stop trying to label me.''   

Hii Anjali, are you a  Malayali ? Half-Malayali ? Google says you are a Bombayite. Not that it matters. Anjali - a commoner in South India. The lack of a surname - so typical of Keralites and so I bought the book because of your name.


Another Country details the dull n dusty daily dramas of Leela Gosh - born in India, brought up in London, works in Paris, London and Bombay. The supposedly modern chick suffers from commitment phobia and dutifully goes through a string of 'boring' affairs. She seems to celebrate the staleness of modern life.

The novel is a freeze-dry read, full of stomach clenching real life situations. I didn't like the former and the latter too bitter to swallow. This surely is not my cappuccino. I'm on holiday.