This is my last book for the year.I couldnt wait to read this one ever since I saw the movie.Usually I read the book before watching the movie but this time around it turned the other way.I would be happy eitherways.I loved the movie and enjoyed the book even more.
This novel tells us the magical story of a small french town turned upside down by the arrival of Vianne Roche,a chocolate confectioner who opens her chocolaterie in the town just at the beginning of Lent which marks a period of abstinence.Vianne and her daughter Anouk are free spirited souls not tethered to any beliefs and Vianne has a gift to see into peoples souls.However there are many in the town who are against Vianne,chief amongst them being the local priest Father Reynaud who cannot bear the fact that Vianne is a non-believer and takes it upon himself to spoil her planned chocolate festival.Vianne,however owing to her friendly demeanour and open-minded acceptance towards all succeeds in befriending many of the town locals like Josephine,who finally musters the courage to leave her abusive spouse.Guillaume who eventually learns to let go of his sick dog and move on and Amande an elderly lady who shares the same free spirit as Vianne.She also welcomes Roux and his tribe of gypsies when they arrive in the town and are looked down upon by all the other residents.How Vianne deals with all the others in the town and Father Reynaud and the lessons we learn along the way is what makes this an enchanting read.
My Views:I savoured this book and didnt want it to end.It is a beautiful story which teaches us that humanity is above everything else.That we should be open-minded and accepting towards others,how to face our fears,how to be tolerant,how to learn to let go and how everyone deserves a chance to live life on their own terms.This book was magical,the story flowed effortlessly and there was not a single moment of boredom.The chocoholic in me was delighted at the delicious decriptions of chocolate.I loved the little french town of Lansequenet-Sous-Tannes and felt that I had been there already.At the heart of this story is the age old fight between good and evil,but what I liked was that it was not all black and white.Even Father Reynaud was as real as anyone else with his moments of doubt,his guilt,his justification of what he thinks is right.His character was portrayed as someone who is not all black but with shades of gray like everyone else.I admired Vianne for her free spirit .Above all,I loved the subtle hint at magic.I look forward to read more by this author.I am so glad that I picked up a fantastic book to end the year :)
I rate it a 4 out of 5.
I had been meaning to get around reading this book a long time ago.I was familiar with Pamela Timms blog Eat and Dust,way before the release of this book.Had read about Uparwali Chai and loved the concept.So when I got to know about the book I was naturally curious.I just got my hands on it recently and got down to reading it immediately.And this here is my signed copy :)
This book as the name very clearly suggests is all about food.Pamela ,a Scotswoman by birth has to relocate to India owing to her Husbands job and finds herself in Delhi.After the few initial shocks India offers every foreigner and being frustrated with expatriate life ,she bravely decides to go to the back of beyond and find what the real India is all about.Always being passionate about food and cooking she embarks on a journey to find out all about Old Delhi's beloved street food.Here she talks about eating the most delectable Korma at Ashok and Ashoks mutton Korma.Bade Mian's Kheer,Baba Singhs Amritsari Kulcha,Pandit Kuremals kulfi ,Mouth watering Jalebis from the old and famous Jalebi wala,the non-glamorous Shakarkandi which is just a roasted sweet potato to the elusive winter treat only a few know about called Daulat Ki Chaat.Her passion about Indian food and her quest to find its origins brings her in contact with many people who end up being treasured friends and she soon realises that Old Delhi finally feels like home.
My Views:You cannot pick up this book and not linger on the cover photo for a bit before finally settling down to read it.The chipped ceramic cups,the dented tin kettle and the rusty shelves give a dreamy quality to the entire setting.It succeeds in exuding an old-world charm.I have already spoken about my love for book covers and this one managed to work its charm.
I consider myself fortunate to live in India where food,culture and language changes every hundred kms.I have been to Delhi only a few times but have been fascinated by the variety in street-food that this place boasts of.Korma,Kheer and Kismet serves as an excellent guide to help anyone embark on the same food trail Pamela has so vividly decribed.I am charmed by the fact that she being a foreigner ,delved into the dusty lanes to source the recipes of all the famous street food and compile them all in this book.Her writing manages to elevate the humble sweet potato or shakarkandi to another level.Besides she also tells us how Daulat Ki Chaat is made.I had been fascinated by Daulat Ki chaat ever since I read about it in Madhur Jaffreys memoir 'Climbing the Mango trees' and when she spoke about 'mutkainas' or terra-cotta pots filled with this piece of sweetened cloud,I had placed it way up there on my must-eat before I die list.Madhur Jaffrey had written beautifully about how a woman in white would always bring this delicacy in winter and how she was reluctant to part with the recipe saying that it required just the right number of dew drops on a cold winter moon lit night .However Pamela tells us how it is actually made and I liked that it was pretty honest and believable and has now led me to take it down from the top position on my must-eat list and list it under may-eat sometime list.Thanks to her for that.She does give food the due recognition it deserves comparing the Amritsari Kulche worthy of being in league with a Parisian bakery.
I was expecting coloured pictures and more pictures of the food,but there are very few of them and they are in black and white.I am not really a huge fan of recipes and re-creating dishes at home so the recipes listed didnt really hold my interest.However apart from that this book is a gastronomes delight .
I rate it a 3 out of 5.
It has been a year already!The Bibliophiles Corner is a year old today.
Christmas is a magical time of the year and im hoping this magic lasts for all of us through the coming year.Hoping to read new books and writing about them here diligently.
With hopes that this humble blog does manage to connect to somebody out there and hoping to find fellow bookaholics along this journey.
Signing Off ,
With Hopes and Dreams for a fabulous year ahead for all of us.Merry Christmas!!
The Bibliophile
We are right in the middle of December.I love this time of the year for the warmth that it brings into our lives.The Holiday season has just begun and I was looking for something really light to read to kick-start my serious reading again and this one seemed like the ideal slump breaker.Besides it also made it to the new york times bestseller list last week so I went ahead and picked it up.
Elise Dutton is a divorced young woman disillusioned by life and going through the routine of living it every single day.She is approached by a handsome lawyer Nicholas Derr who happens to be a partner in a law firm in the same building.So that they dont have to spend the holidays alone,Nicholas comes up with a very interesting proposal for Elise in which she gets to be his date for the holiday season and gets to spend time with Nicholas on an all expenses paid together time.As per the contract it is strictly a platonic relation in which no personal ,probing questions can be asked by either parties and it expires at midnight on christmas eve.After demurring a bit initially,Elise does agree to this contract and thus begins a journey in which they find themselves falling for each other.However everything is not as it seems,Elise is damaged and has been through a harrowing experience she cannot let go off.Nicholas too has certain unresolved issues.Do they finally come to terms with their past and begin again or does the mistle-toe promise expire on christmas eve is what the story is about.
My Views:I could easily complete this book is a single sitting.Nicholas seemed too good to be true and there was a different track playing in my mind which was screaming serial killer when he comes up with this ridiculous proposal and expects Elise,someone he hardly knows to play along but that was because I was reading this author for the first time and so realised soon enough that this wasnt a thriller.Elise accepting the proposal also seemed far-fetched and I dont know if people easily accept proposals like this is real life.It seemed like one of those too good to be true Christmas romantic movies in the beginning of the story.
However as it progressed,we are shown that both Elise and Nicholas have a guilt-ridden conscience because of their past transgressions and are both struggling in their own way to seek some kind of redemption.Now that was something I could understand.I believe we are all flawed in our own ways and each one of us is dealing with our own demons.Sometimes all we need is forgiveness,to be able to move forward and let go of our past.It is unfair to judge people.Mistakes are a part of life,one cannot avoid them.All one can hope is to let go of the crippling guilt sometimes in order to be able to forgive oneself and hope that the mistakes are not so life-altering as to take you to the point of no return.
I also loved the description of new york city.
If you read this book with the right spirit you will love it,if you read it being skeptical then you wont.I read it in the holiday spirit of good cheer.
I rate it a 3 out of 5
Let me begin by confessing that I am not a literature snob,so I dont have any qualms about picking up a Mary Higgins Clark,as and when the mood strikes.There was a phase a few years back when I was on a Mary Higgins Clark reading spree.I have read her books back to back and it did get to a point where I thought I was reading the same book again and again because frankly the stories are so similar but I have a particular fondness for these fast paced books.
The Cinderella Murder is the first book in the "Under Suspicion' series.Laurie Moran is a successful television producer who has this idea for a reality television show called 'Under Suspicion',which involves revisiting cold cases ,renacting key moments with the actual people involved and interviewing each of them thus shedding new light on the case.Owing to the huge success of the pilot episode (the first book which I havent yet read)she wants to go ahead with the case of a 20 year old beautiful Susan Dempsey,a college student and an aspiring actress which was shut years ago without being solved.Susan is on her way to the house of a movie director to audition for a part in his new film.However her body is found with a shoe missing in a park near the directors home.Noone at that particular time can provide any vital clues to solve the case and everyone including her roommate,a friend,her boyfriend and the movie director have perfect alibis,thus leading to the case being unsolved and it being dubbed as the Cinderella Murder.However her mother Rosemary is still searching for answers and agrees to be a part of the series.There are various suspects.Both,Susans boyfriend and her roommate quit college shortly after her murder.Her other roommate gets the part in the film Susan was to audition for the night of the murder.The movie producer who invites the roommate later that night.Her socially awkward computer lab partner who used to carry the torch for her and who along with a professor has now made it big in the tech world and to top it all a controversial church called Advocates of God which seems very suspiciously involved.It also doesnt help that Susans so called friend and roommate is behaving very reticent.How Laurie manages to get everyone on board and interview them after twenty years of the case being closed and finally track the murderer is what the book is about.
My views:The 'Under Suspicion'series is co-authored by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke and it is a winning combination.The classic Mary Higgins Clark charm is not lost.I loved the fact that it was a fast-paced page turner.It kept me up reading for a good part of the night.I normally try to solve the case myself when Im reading such books and that usually happens when I am halfway through,but this time I was wrong (maybe I am losing my edge or maybe the book is just better)The characters are all engaging and a lot of the book centers around them and their possible motives to kill.Laurie however kept revisiting her past far too frequently for my liking but that can be ignored.Advocates of God provides a creepy element to the story.I liked the twists and turns in the plot which are the trademark of a MHC novel.My only grouse is that there are just too many characters and they get introduced rather quickly,so you are compelled to read this book in one go,but then again you wouldnt want it any other way!So that too works in the books favor at some level.I liked it for the suspense and the pace.I think it is a perfect read for the holiday season.
I rate it a 3 out of 5.
When I first saw this book ,I was intrigued by the cover.The hourglass has always fascinated me,as an early form of recording time and the three butterflies trapped seemed like a perfect imagery for those caged in the vestiges of time running out.Also it had mumbai's queens necklace as the backdrop and that prompted me to read the book blurb,which in turn led me to pick up this book.
This story is about three friends,Sharwari Joshi,Nandini Muzumdar and Parizaad Sethna who being from disparate backgrounds have a bonding of the soul.Sharwari comes from a middle class background and aspires to be a writer.Nandini comes from a high class socialite family where the parents are too busy to participate in a kids life and Parizaad is raised by a strong and kind single mother.They are soul- sisters.Typical teens with their own set of problems and guided through it all by the kindly Mrs Sethna who plays a surrogate mother when she is not indulging them with the most delicious food from her cafe.But despite the promises of being together till the end,they have to part ways as life throws curve balls their way.Everyone is shocked when Parizaad along with her mother suddenly disappears from their lives.The same Mrs Setha who helped Nandini when she was grappling with a serious disorder.A decade passes with total disconnect and then fate decides to intervene once more.However everythings changed over time. Sharvari is dealing with her own demons.Nandini has some bitter memories she is running away from and Parizaad is dealing with the catastrophy which made her run away in the first place.How they reunite after a decade and how the picture falls back in place is what this story is all about.
My Views:This story was a very refreshing read.It chronicled the lives of the three friends from their teens to adulthood.What I loved about the book is its simplicity.It succeeds in reminding everyone of all that they once used to be,it takes us back to those care-free childhood days.It managed to evoke a bitter-sweet nostalgia in me.Friends are the family we get to choose.However in this mad rush of life how many of us even endeavour to keep the friendship alive?!Life almost never turns out the way we want it to be but there are greater bonds like friendship which keep us sailing even during turbulent times.There are various thought provoking lines throughout the story which gently nudge you to think.Parental guidance,Friendship,life and its responsibilities and how it all comes full circle somewhere along the way is portrayed beautifully.Some medical issues are blended seamlessly and reflect the authors professional background.The writing is very lucid and the characters well-etched.The innocence in the teenage years is complete with teenage angst and teasing.In contrast the time leap of a decade and the change in the characters personas makes the story even more interesting and fast paced.The end was very apt for a story like this.I enjoyed this book.
I rate it a 4 out of 5
