I have not read much of Jodi Picoult except for two of her novels,My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen minutes.While the former succeeded in enrapturing me by its poignancy and remarkably dealing with a sensitive issue,I was left underwhelmed on reading the latter.I did not like it at all and that led me to not pick up any more of her books.But somewhere along the way was this voice telling me not to give up on an author just because one of her books failed to impress me.So when Leaving Time,her latest book ,was trending on the new york times bestseller list this week,I decided that it was about time I picked it up.
This is the story of a thirteen year old girl Jenna Metcalf's search for her mother Alice who has disappeared ten years ago without a trace after a tragic incident in the elephant sanctuary where she works as a researcher and studies elephant grief,mother-calf interactions and elephant memories and documents all her findings.Thomas Metcalf,Jenna's dad is a patient at a psychiatric facility as he has lost a grip on reality and Jenna's grandmother refuses to revisit the past which leads Jenna to seek help from two most unlikely people,Serenity Jones a celebrity has-been psychic and Virgil Stanhope an ex-cop who initially investigated the case and left it unsolved.As the story progresses we are introduced to new characters who might be responsible for what happens that night ten years ago.Jenna,however still believes that her mother is alive but ten years is a long time and trying to piece information from that long ago is a challenge for everyone.
My Views:Another reason for picking up this book was the mention of a psychic on the book blurb.Now dont get me wrong here,but I have always been fascinated by psychics,mediums,tarot-readers,though I havent really indulged in readings and such,but I do tread the fine line between being a believer and a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal (but that discussion is for another day)
I must say that the writing pulled me into the story.It was narrated by four characters,Jenna,Serenity,Alice and Virgil and all of them are well-portrayed.I loved the flamboyant,witty Serenity and the conversations she has with Virgil and Jenna are peppered with laugh out moments which provides the humor in an otherwise serious story.Jenna was interesting in parts, however the niggling thought of can a thirteen year old be so knowledgeable and worldy wise which was there at the back of my mind refused to go away.But the teenager in her did come up occasionally.Virgil ,an alcoholic,dealing with his own demons and desperate to right the wrongs and seek redemption was endearing.A gruff cop on the outside but one with a golden heart.
Alice's narration of the story got a bit tedious to read because she speaks a lot about the elephants and their behaviour which I felt was very clinical and boring and at some point my interest level dipped.Full marks to Jodie Picoult for her thorough research on the subject though and how she shows that elephants are more human than any of us and deserve to be treated with the same repect.
Three quarters of the book down and when I still couldnt figure out the puzzle,I thought to myself that maybe this one is going to be a let down too.But the ending was such a shocker that I never saw it coming.Of course if you do think at a deeper level again later it does require a considerable suspension of disbelief.But at the moment I was reading the book it did manage to send a shiver down my spine.
I therefore rate it a 4 out of 5
I have never really understood Paulo Coelho.I did read a few of his books after having liked 'The Alchemist' and found myself struggling to understand the plot most of the times.However I see people around me raving about his books ,which in turn prompts me to read more of him to try and see what it is that I am missing.Adultery was brought by me with this purpose in mind.
The protagonist Linda is a successful journalist living with her loving wealthy husband and their two children in Geneva,Switzerland.She has everything in life but she is depressed.In her search for some kind of meaning and purpose to life she connects with childhood sweetheart Jacob Konig,a politician and seduces him thinking that this will add some kind of excitement in her life.She meets him often for rough sex.She imagines she is in love with him and comes up with a scheme to purchase illegal drugs and plant them in the drawer of his professor wife in a view to destroy her,thus ending their marriage.Lindas husband though unaware of his wife cheating,does understand that she has a problem.In a view to re-examine her life she meets Psychiatrists and Cuban Shamans but only after revisiting their honeymoon location in the Swiss mountains and paragliding with her husband does she have a revelation.
My Views:I just didnt get this book.I finished reading it only because I was curious about how it ends.I could not empathize with Linda and I just did not understand what her existential crisis was all about.It just got weirder when Linda randomly walks up to her childhood sweetheart Jacob Konig and gave him oral sex.Jacob to me seemed like he was not even interested.Also how he made her feel complete after treating her with zero respect and leaving her stripped of her dignity was beyond me.The sex portrayed was of a very graphic nature.
Her husband,on the other hand behaves as if nothing is wrong and is clueless even though at some point he does acknowledge that she has a problem.This seemed too far-fetched to me.Also the way depression is dealt with and the view on psychiatrists in general made me question why we even have them,which I am sure was not the motive in the first place.I could not relate to any of the characters and they seemed very unreal.I don't know if this is because I'm Indian because for some reason Paulo Coelho kept speaking about Geneva as if the location was very important.There was a chapter on the New Testament on theology which was very heavy handed.The book did not prompt me to analyze my thoughts about life,if anything it left me utterly confused.Also the ending which I was curious about was very disappointing.Linda finally attaining some kind of spiritual awakening when she goes paragliding was baffling.
However these are just my views on it.I know there will be many people out there who have found a lot of meaning in the book.Clearly I didn't.
I rate it a 1 out of 5.
I was in one of those reading slumps and nothing I picked up could hold my attention.I was just not in the mood for a really serious story which didn't have a happy ending and I happened to mention this to a friend who promptly suggested that I read 'The Jana Bibi' series.So this was one book I picked up without reading the book blurb and delved into the story clueless.
Jana Bibi's excellent fortunes is the first in a series of three books.It tells us the story of Mrs Janet Laird,(fondly nicknamed Jana Bibi) an unpretentious scotswoman who happens to inherit the Jolly Grant House ,in Hamara Nagar,Uttar Pradesh,left to her by her late Grandfather.She moves to this fictional town along with her parrot Mr.Ganguly and Mary the Madrassi Ayah.In this quaint hillstation,she gets to meet a motley host of characters.Jana gets acquainted with these colorful characters at the Why Not?tea shop.All's well in this peaceful town until word gets out that the government is planning on building a dam there and evacuating all the people forcing everyone to start over.Jana is then enlisted to save the community,which she agrees to do by starting a fortune reading salon called 'Jana Bibi's excellent fortunes' thus trying to put their little town on the Map by making it more attractive to tourists.Does everything go as smoothly as planned and does luck work in their favor is what the story is all about.
My Views:Like I said earlier,I picked up this book during a lull in my reading and it took some time for the story to grow on me.I trudged through the initial few pages when the characters were being introduced and this happened a bit slower than I would have liked but the book really did pick pace when Jana Bibi sets up the salon.I enjoyed the story after that.I loved that Mr Ganguly could anticipate the persons mood and character and say just the right thing at the right time. What I liked most was the Indianness this book portrays despite the author being a foreigner.The repeated references to Indian films,songs,The Hindustan Times,The Illustrated Weekly of India brought back a flood of memories. I could recognise and hum the tune of the songs mentioned despite their English translations...Mera Joota hai japani,hawa mein udta jayee tera lal dupatta malmal ka and ai maalik tere bande hum and these brought a smile to my face.Also there were parallel stories running along the main story and everything falls neatly in place at the end.
Its the kind of book where everything gets sorted out rather quickly but then you find yourself wanting it to.
This book took its time to pick up pace but once it did it was a fun ride,like a ferris-wheel,slow to begin with but then you find yourself whirling faster and enjoying it.Will I pick up the next one in the series?Most definitely !
I rate it a 3 out of 5.
Sometimes a person leaves a lasting impression on you and you find yourself wanting to know more about him/her.I was thoroughly impressed by Justice Leila Seth way before her memoir was released.Needless to say that I am also a huge fan of her son Vikram Seth and this only served to fuel my interest further.So when I got to know about her memoir,I promptly bought it.
Leila Seth was the first woman chief justice of a high court in India,the first woman judge of the delhi high court,the first woman on the law commission and the first woman to top the bar examination in London.Just too many firsts!!Writing about oneself in complete honesty is such a tough job and she has truly followed the dictum ,'If its worth doing,its worth doing well'.Her memoir tells us about her childhood,about the time spent away from family,about losing her father at such an early age,about being brought up in a very westernised Bengali family and how this influenced her and inculcated in her a love of gardening.The memoir then shifts seamlessly to a time when she gets married and goes to London with her Husband,Mr Prem Seth and talks about studying law there.Here we come to know that she balances both effortlessly and that for her family comes first.Despite having the unconditional support of Mr Seth,she too makes sacrifices and manages to effortlessly top the bar exam in London.She then talks about returning to India to practice law here in a largely male-dominated profession and how she held her own,refusing to take just women's cases and choosing instead to compete with her male colleagues,taking up tax matters,constitutional law and criminal cases.Shifting to her personal life ,she talks about her remarkably accomplished three children,writer Vikram Seth,who needs no introduction,her second son Shantum who is a peace activist and daughter Aradhana who is a film maker.She talks about personal issues concerning each of them and we realize that she was there for them every step of the way.She dedicates this book to her grandchild Nandini .
My views:This was truly an engrossing read.There is so much to learn from Jutice Leila Seth and the way she has lived her life.I loved the way this memoir has been written with complete honesty.I got to know about incidents like her panicking because she hadn't washed her husbands socks and he was rather peeved .How she held them outside the car window so that they could dry fast and he could then wear them.This makes her as real as any other person.The chapter on Ira was heart wrenching and very sad.The humiliation faced by her family when Mr Prem Seth was falsely implicated by his office in an enquiry and how the family stood together during tough times.She truly has accomplished so much in professional as well as personal life that I cant help but be in awe of her.She has beautifully balanced her personal and professional life and what can be an apt title to her memoir other than 'ON BALANCE'.Truly a life well-lived.I loved the book!
I have refrained from reviewing books in a series here but maybe that is going to change now.How can one not help but talk about a series as endearing as this one??!!
This is the fifteenth book in The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.Alexander McCall Smith takes us to charming old-world Botswana where everything and nothing really happens.We find Botswana's well-acclaimed and only lady detective Precious Ramotswe investigating a case of an Indian woman who is suffering from amnesia and cannot remember who she is or where she comes from.She is helped by a fellow Indian Mr Sengupta who along with his sister Miss Rose decide to take her in,however owing to immigration problems they need to know the identity of this lady and decide to hand the case over to Mme Ramotswe.
Meanwhile Mr J L B Matekoni,the great mechanic and owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors is facing the turmoil of making a difficult decision in order to save his Garage.As if this wasn't enough Grace Makutsi secretary par excellence,having scored the unattainable 97% has ventured into new territory by opening the Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe.She is faced with early staffing problems but refuses to pay heed to anyone's advice including her shoes(yes she imagines that her shoes talk to her) leading to disastrous consequences which are further worsened when Violet Sephotho self proclaimed food critic ,reviews the cafe.However nothing ever goes wrong in Smith's Botswana and how everything eventually gets sorted is what the story is all about.
My Views : I am a huge fan of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series and this is my fifteenth book.I am utterly charmed by the simplicity of the setting as well as the characters so much so that I have grown very fond of them.It was delightful to read about the old favorites Mme Ramotswe,Mme Makutsi,Mr J L B Matekoni,Charlie.Smith also introduces recurring character very briefly and one fondly remembers reading about them in previous books too.Nothing dramatic really happens in these books and that is exactly what makes them so charming .The stories are always fairly simple with many laugh out loud moments in them and everything falls in place at the end,with valuable lessons learnt along the way.Simple observations like this one"If you wanted to know what people would actually do,then the only way of finding out was by watching them and seeing what they did.Then you would know what they might do in the future-because most people did what they had always done."or when Mr J L B Matekoni talks about refusing to change for the sake of modernity-"We want to stay exactly where we are,because there is nothing wrong with that place.That place is the place we have always been,and if you think that where you have been is where you should be,then why go to another place that you do not know at all and may not be as good as the place you were in before somebody came along and said to you that you must go forwards-which is not what you wanted to do?"These lines really did stay with me.This book is a delightful read and I am eagerly awaiting the next one.
My Rating 4 out of 5.
Just how do u pick up a book?Well,I for one read the dust jacket first,then open it randomly to any page and read a paragraph or two just to get a feel of the writing and if that enagages me I go ahead and buy it.However lately I have been in a strange kind of phase wherein i am picking up books just by looking at the cover.I hope this phase sorts itself soon because I usually feel compelled to read what I buy and inevitably toil through it refusing to put it down even if it is an average read.Most of the time,it is and by the end of it I am usually left annoyed and grumpy.
Like I said,I picked this one up because I liked its cover.This is a story about four friends,women in different age groups who meet each other through their blogs.There is Lavender Wills,the owner of Lavender Honey Farms who connects with Ginny,a cake blogger,Ruby,who blogs about organic eating and Valerie, who has a popular wine blog.Lavender is soon to celebrate her 85th birthday and extends an invitation to her three friends to come to her farm and join in the celebrations.However there is more to Lavenders invitation.She wants to leave her farm and its successful business of honey,lavender and organic produce to one of the women,instead of her nephews who she knows dont really care much for the farm and will eventually sell it to a developer and she cant bear the thought.
Ginny,Ruby and Valerie have their own stories.Ginny is travelling from Kansas for the first time in her life in an attempt to run away from an unhappy marriage.Ruby is a young pregnant woman trying to sort her own issues and Valerie is trying to connect with her teenage daughter after a family tragedy.
My views:It is a fairly simple story and I did like it for that.It also includes pages of blogs that the women post.Somehow that didn't strike a chord with me.However it was alluring to read about the the farm and the lavender. I could not relate to the addition of magical realism in an otherwise ordinary story.Also the cover is very misleading and so is the title.At no point while reading the story could I imagine something like the picture depicted in the cover.The romance is raunchy and something totally unexpected in a book like this.
Some lines did stay with me though,especially when Ruby says---"Sometimes things just are.There's no message from the great beyond or God or whoever.Life evolves."
and also"Whenever I am going to leave one place for another,it is as if every corner and light switch and scent of the old place suddenly becomes unbearably unique and precious beyond measure.And of course they are.Every moment of our lives is precious and unique beyond measure."
All in all,the story is predictable.Sometimes I couldn't relate to the characters.The romance is unnecessary and cheesy.
My personal rating:2 out of 5
Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Price: Rs 695
Whoa!! What do I say about this book!!!!!It was a wondrous read,a journey I enjoyed thoroughly.What a ride!!I did nothing for two days but just read this book to reach till the end.I could not do any other task in between.Some books do that to you and this book is definitely recommended.
I picked this one up,due to curiosity,I was ready to give it up mid way had it been anything less than what it was.But what can I say !!It proved me totally wrong.Oh !I can go on and on .Now writing a review for this one without including spoilers is a tough feat to achieve,so I am not going to go into crucial details which reveal the plot.
Lets just say that this story is about a couple Nick and Amy and their failing marriage.The book opens the morning of Nick and Amy's fifth wedding anniversary,it is told right at the beginning that their marriage is declining steadily .Nick comes home after receiving a call from a neighbor to inform him that his front door is wide open and the cat is outside.Nick returns home to find the signs of a struggle and his wife gone without a trace.
The story progresses thus alternating between Nick's day ,telling us how things were from his point of view and Amy's old diary entries.It weaves a rich tapestry including many characters and gets so interesting that it requires a lot of restraint to not turn the pages and quickly sneak a peek to see how it ends.You try to figure out and judge as to what or who is justified but a page later you find that things are not how they seem.
As for the end,I felt a little dissatisfied with it at first but then after much thought ,I felt it couldn't have ended any other way. I am sure this book will be turned into a movie,It has all the elements of one.Pick it up ,if you haven't already.It is a thrilling ride!
I had written this review almost two years ago,I just saw the movie this weekend and it failed to create the same impact.In fact,I was disappointed with the movie or maybe I was expecting a bit much.
I rate the book a 4 and a half out of 5.
