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Showing posts with label 'Random House India'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 'Random House India'. Show all posts
Recently we read two books authored by people we love to follow on twitter and through their blogs. Their humour, wit and sarcasm on every topic (especially current affairs) has been exceptionally fantastic. So when we heard that the hugely popular blog The Unreal Times had come up with a book on Indian Elections, it was a on our must read list. The book turned out to be as much fun as we had expected. Indian politics with its very complexities has always had people very seriously opining on it but thanks to the authors who through their satire have made our politicians, if we may say so, more likeable. Most of the chapters in the book have their extremely popular FB updates of some well known politicians and the following comments to the updates. The humour will have you laughing out loud literally. The book clearly establishes the author duo C S Krishna and Karthik Laxman have their finger on the political pulse of the nation. It does go a bit over the top in the end but clearly a good read. A great debut and looking forward to many more books from The Unreal Times, till then we continue to read their blog.
The second book we read is from Aditya Magal (the man behind the parody account of the renowned stockbroker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala)..Aditya has been extremely popular on twitter with his funny and hilarious tweets as the parody account, his blog The Secret Journal of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala also has many followers. So it came as no surprise when we heard he is writing a book, we expected the book,like his tweets to be larger than largest, grander than grandest, funnier than funniest. Did the book match our expectations? Yes again. For a debut author it is a good effort, How to become a millionaire by selling Nothing, is a fun read. Though it does seem to stretch on a bit at the end and the humour at places does seem a bit forced but nevertheless it makes for a funny read. If you are looking for a crazy, whacky and funny book go for this.
Dhantanaa!!!! We have the winners of The Brett Lee book giveaway contest and here they are:
Vishal Kale
Kshaunish
Crystal Clear Thinking
Congratulations winners! Do send us your contact details(postal address and telephone number) to boookwelove(at)gmail(dot)com to send the book across to you.
Thank you all for participating! Every single response to that question was a memorable moment in cricket history but we had only three books to give away...But we have another contest coming up real soon..so keep reading.
Neeraj Grover has been one murder story which I have followed diligently all these years. The shock, the gruesomeness of the murder, the absolute calmness with which the murderers Maria Susairaj and her boyfriend Emile Jerome conducted themselves shocked me no end. Seeing Neeraj’s parents break down on every news channel broke my heart. When they managed to get bail it upset me and I tweeted about it continuously, but as if, that would help.
Now Neeraj Grover was one such guy you encounter everyday in Mumbai, almost like one of our own, struggling with Mumbai’s life, small town boy from Kanpur trying to make it big in this city despite his parents not wanting him to go anywhere beyond Kanpur. His is a story you encounter every day, the fact that he worked close to where I work, got murdered just two suburbs away from where I stay and ended up dying such a horrific death was and still is very hard to digest.
But anyway this post is not about what I feel about the murder but a review of Meenal Baghel’s excellent and well researched book ‘Death in Mumbai’. Since this book was about the murder which I still track I started reading it instantly and was hooked. This book was not just about Neeraj’s death but it tried to show how aspirations, the pressures of the city can lead young professionals to a crime so heinous in proportion.
Who were the main characters in this entire episode? What made them do what they did? She tries to take us into their lives and you realize that they are perfectly normal people like you and me. What drove Emile Jerome an extremely bright student coming from a well off family and employed in the Naval services to commit a crime of such tragic proportions. Maria hailing from a wealthy background out to make it big in Bollywood, supposedly very shy and meek person manage to help cover up the murder? And did Neeraj Grover a man obsessed with making it big in the industry misuse his position to lure Maria into a relationship with him?
Lots of questions remain unanswered, lots of permutations and combinations derived to try and answer why the murderers did what they did. Did Neeraj deserve a death so gruesome? Meenal tactfully judges none but draws a riveting picture of a death whose mystery has not faded even though the killers may have been found.
Though at times and at places I found the book increasingly repetitive but it was a minor hiccup in trying to present all angles to the case.
Desperate in
Dubai was one book which I had to read after reading a lot of heavy non-fiction
books! And the book didn’t disappoint. The book is set in Dubai and it revolves
around the lives of 4 women. The book
has its glamour, luxury cars, hotels all that you would think of when you think
Dubai! If you pick up the book thinking it is a regular flippant chick-lit, let me tell you that this book ain't.
Leila who has
been in search of a wealthy husband for over a decade, while running her own
successful business, we then have Nadia who has moved to Dubai for her husband’s
career only to realize that this move could result in her unhappiness. Sugar
has moved to Dubai after living in London all her life to escape her past and
last is Lady Luxe, the rebellious and gorgeous Emirati heiress who wants to
live her life by her rules at the same time trying to maintain a balance with
her family’s expectations.
All four seemingly from different backgrounds but their stories all come together and you realize that
all are running for the elusive thing called happiness. So while Lady Luxe is
maintaining her double life to keep herself and her family happy, she is also
hiding a big secret from her friend Leila. While Leila in her desperation to
get hooked to a rich Emirati ends up getting influenced by Nadia, leading to unhappy
circumstances all around. Nadia also does not have it easy when she realizes her
husband is in a relationship with another woman, and Sugar is grappling with
her past, trying to move on in a new city.
Extremely well
written, will keep you hooked and engrossed in the lives of these 4 women. The
book is well paced and language is lucid which makes this book a page turner. It
is hard to believe that this happens to be the author’s first book. Honestly I
have nothing to say that could be reworked in this book to make it a better read.
It is a lovely read just the way it is.
My recommendation:
girls absolutely go for this book, you sure will enjoy it!
Roadside eating in India is serious business and a topic of much discussion in every house in our country. The highways are dotted with interesting eateries, dhabas that make stopping and eating mandatory! So if you are on the highway or a town and you want to know the best place to stop and eat at, look no further, you now have a book that serves specifically that purpose! The book, Highway on My Plate, is a definitive guide to roadside eating in India.
Adapted from the hit TV series on NDTV Good Times, Highway on My Plate lists great eats to be found on every major Indian highway. The best part of it is that the book has been written keeping both vegetarians and non-vegetarians in mind. The book offers an honest and no hold barred opinion on all these roadside dhabas at the same time offering details on what is to be found at these places.
So the hosts Rocky and Mayur guide you to a list of amazing places. The book gives the reader a chance to check out Punjab’s legendary Kesar Da Dhaba (estd in 1916) renowned for its parathas and kaali dal, the kachoris (called kachoras) from chawani Lal Halwai in Rajasthan….
Packed with information this book is an essential must have if you are a foodie or a frequent traveler on Indian roads.
About the authors:
Rocky Singh (Non-veg)
He’s run a restaurant, worked with International Airlines, played Hockey for India (Juniors) and most recently taken early retirement as the CEO of a multinational organization. He still plays Golf, regularly goes scuba diving, off road 4 wheeling, fishing and above all enjoys his food.
Mayur Sharma (Veg)
Mayur is an ‘outdoors’ kind of a guy. He has played, worked, traveled, rafted and climbed his way across over 60 countries in 5 continents and is always looking to share new adventures at home, work and in the fridge.
Aftertaste is Namita Devidayal’s second book after the critically acclaimed debut novel The Music Room. The Music Room was a winner of the 2008 Vodafone Crossword Popular Book Award and was named Outlook Book of 2007. So with an impressive debut like that it was obvious that the reader would have higher expectations from her second book. Well, does it match up with her first book or excels we would leave that for the reader to decide! But Aftertaste proves Namita’s writing prowess and her in depth research on the subject she has chosen to write about.
Aftertaste is the story of an Indian baniya (a prosperous community) family -The Todarmals who have moved from Punjab to settle in Bombay to make their fortune. If anyone who has interacted with any baniya would know that they are known to speak the language of money. Nobody understands money or the business of money better than a baniya. So the same is with the Todarmal family. The story is more driven by the lady of the house known as Mummyji who has managed to single handedly, with her business acumen and ideas, create a huge mithai business in Bombay. What started as a way to help her husband out of his financial mess by starting a small mithai business from her kitchen turns into a huge business with her razor sharp mind. After her husband’s death she takes over the entire reign of the business and helps it grow from strength to strength.
Mummyji has four children whom she dominates and manipulates as per her convenience. The family dynamics keep changing as and when she wishes. The author takes us in detail through the entire family; we have the eldest son Rajan Papa who comes across as a weak and ineffectual person and has been sidelined in the family business because of his unwillingness to change the business as per the modern demands of Sunny the youngest son. They both have a bitter fallout when Sunny proposes to change the name of the store from Bimmo di Barfi to a more contemporary Bimz and also branch out in various areas of the city. Mummyji decides to go with Sunny’s ideas leaving Rajan Papa very unhappy. Mummyji is also very interfering in her two married daughters’ lives Suman and Saroj. Money seems to be the only driving force in their lives and Mummyji is at the center of it all. So, when Mummyji ,just before Diwali suffers a stroke everyone is in a frenzy to take charge of her money, jewels and her Swiss bank account details. Things have become so unhappy that all of them secretly want her to die.
The only thing that holds the book back at times is that the family only comes across as a set of selfish, unscrupulous, bitter people who are bound together because of their relationship. Though they are in the business of sweets on the personal front it is only an acrimonious and bitter existence. At times you have to take a break from reading the book because it ends up leaving a bitter aftertaste and you almost wish for some happiness in their lives. The book tends to drag when the author painstakingly tries to explain every single character of the book and what makes them what they are.
But overall the entire book is a fascinating insight into the lives of a baniya family of traders and small businessmen. The author’s in depth research and understanding of such a family shines through the book. Whether it is her research on the mithai business or the psychology of the characters in the book, every single bit comes across as authentic and real. Her characters are well defined, her writing style impeccable.
It is a book you would enjoy reading despite its flaws.
I got a chance to read this lovely book by Ramsay Wood.It is the Panchatantra retold in a very interesting way.All Indians have grown up listening to the stories of Panchatantra.What I particularly like about these simple and easy to understand stories are the lessons that you learn from them.Panchatantra has lessons/morals not just for kids but also the grown ups, there is a lot to learn from these ancient texts.
There are many versions as to how the Panchatantra came to be written ..the one this book follows is that of King Dabschelim who was a no good ruler who came across a wise and incorruptible sage named Bidpai.So Bidpai helps the king follow the right and judicious path by telling him these animal fables which are simple to understand and carry a lot of valuable learning for the king.
The other popular version is that Kalila and Dimna was originally written in Sanskrit,some time in the fourth century A.D. In Sanskrit it was called the Panchatantra, or "Five Discourses." It was written for three young princes who had driven their tutors to despair and their father to distraction. Afraid to entrust his kingdom to sons unable to master the most elementary lessons, the king turned over the problem to his wise wazir, and the wazir wrote the Panchatantra, which concealed great practical wisdom in the easily digestible form of animal fables. Six months later the princes were on the road to wisdom and later ruled judiciously.
The original Kalila and Dimna has 13 sections which are The Separation of Friends,The winning of friends,War and Peace,The Loss of One's Gains,The rewards of Impatience and so on so forth.What Ramsay Wood has managed to do is made the stories more contemporary,racy and full of zest.
The book successfully manages to introduce us to a global Indian classic through this illustrated book.
If you are a fan of Panchatantra you must read this book!
Many times when I used to read Mills and Boon as a teenager I could never relate with the protagonist and I wished that there would come a day when romance novels would get more local and desi .Mills and Boon, Harlequin was a part of growing up. I have devoured hundreds of M&B’s and whenever I got a chance would even re-read some of my favourites. But there was always the Indian tall dark and handsome I longed to read romancing an Indian woman.
Looks like years down the line my prayers have been answered! Random House India has published a series ‘Kama Kahani’ .The romance series are historical romances rather than contemporary love stories. So you have a rich backdrop of palaces, historical places and colorful characters such as Maharajas, Thakurs, Britishers. Think Heer-Ranjha, Soni-Mahiwal …the book tries to re-capture the essence of all these and more.
The books, however, don't score much on the authenticity of the period details. I also felt the writers have a severe M&B hangover. The plot is almost the same –
·Boy meets girl
·The girl hates him at first
·Then a few chance encounters make her fall in love with the handsome man
·She is unsure of his reciprocation
·By the end they manage to clear the misunderstanding and live happily ever after!
Apart from a few drawbacks I feel it’s a good attempt by the publishing house to initiate an Indian Romance Series. India is the country of Kama Sutra and we very well deserve our very own desi romance!
What I’d really like to read though would be a few contemporary romance novels from them.
Some of the Titles available in the series: Mistress to the Yuvraj –Sanyogita Rathore
The second book we read is from Aditya Magal (the man behind the parody account of the renowned stockbroker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala)..Aditya has been extremely popular on twitter with his funny and hilarious tweets as the parody account, his blog The Secret Journal of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala also has many followers. So it came as no surprise when we heard he is writing a book, we expected the book,like his tweets to be larger than largest, grander than grandest, funnier than funniest. Did the book match our expectations? Yes again. For a debut author it is a good effort, How to become a millionaire by selling Nothing, is a fun read. Though it does seem to stretch on a bit at the end and the humour at places does seem a bit forced but nevertheless it makes for a funny read. If you are looking for a crazy, whacky and funny book go for this.
