The Return of the Butterfly by Moni Mohsin

One writer that I admire and envy(in a good way) is Moni Mohsin. Every time I read her Butterfly series I wish we had a writer like her in India. Her wit, sarcasm and humour in her books is near perfect. I know this sounds very fan girlish but I have no hesitation in admitting that!

So Butterfly is back the third time and this time she chronicles her tales post Benazir politics of Pakistan. Butterfly through her tabahi diary entries takes a swipe not just at the hi-fi society ladies of Isloo (uf oh Islamabad) . While Butterfly claims to have zero love for politics but comes across as an astute commentator of the goings on in Pakistan.

This time in the book though she is at her fiery best, the reader also can feel her concern for her country and how it impacts her 'crack' husband and equally 'crack' son. Her love hate relationship with her sisters in law and her mother in law is something many women will instantly connect with. What makes Butterfly absolutely lovable is her confidence in herself despite the rest of her family thinking otherwise.

While the author does attempt to show the ugly mess that Pakistan is in right now through the diary jotting of Butterfly but that is something we would want the reader to read and find out.

The author's razor sharp wit makes this book a must must must read. Highly recommended     reading. Long Live Butterfly and more importantly a request to the author to keep writing the life and times of Butterfly!

Scoop by Kuldip Nayar

There are some people who need no introduction, their work speaks for them, Kuldip Nayar, is one such person. Out of many of his books I recently read Scoop the tagline of the book mentions it as providing 'Inside stories from the partition to the Present' Present being till 1999. The book is a good read that gives insider info to events that unfolded post partition. As a young journalist who started his career with an Urdu Daily to serving as a press information officer to Gobind Ballabh Pant and Lal Bahadur Shastri to Emergency the book covers some anecdotes from all his journalistic years.

He while sharing some stories from his stint as a press information officer to Lal Bahadur Shastri also ensures that he sticks to fact telling rather than trying to spice up events as they unfolded or show off in anyway his proximity to the leader. What many in today's writers seem to have forgotten when chronicling their lives and times in important roles in the government.

The book extensively covers the post indepence era from the eyes of a journalist, From Nehruvian period to Shastri era (however short lived) to his scathing attack on the emergency era, also covering the then political upheavals in Bangladesh and Pakistan. 

The book is an interesting and candid collection of some important news events in India's post Independence history. Do read for a quick reckoner to India's contemporary history. 

From online popularity to publishing...a tale of two books.

 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.

Back with a bang!

Yes the blog has been silent for long, but not anymore. We shall soon be sharing more reviews, author interviews, book events, author interviews and upcoming releases on this blog shortly. If you are a publisher/author please do send us details about book releases, author interviews, book contests to the following email id: bookwelove at gmail dot com

If you are a passionate book lover and love to review books we will be giving access to a few select people to share their posts, author interactions on this blog. If this sounds interesting write to us at the above mentioned email id with subject line as Book Reviews.

Looking forward to hearing from our readers and also a new innings on this blog!

Review: Past Perfect by Anna Varughese

Battle for survival. One can come up with a dozen things that this phrase could connote - it could be the intrepid attempts of a regiment in a war to stay alive while in the clutches of death or it could be the very battle a species being threatened with extinction employs. Further still, if one were to let the imagination run amok, it could be the very fight the humans are involved in when being overrun by aliens (yeah, harken back to Pullman's wonderful speech in Independence Day!). Or it could be the arduous and dauntless journey one subjects herself to in order to defeat the disease that is eating her from within, the struggle to stay alive so that her daughter does not end up growing up without the warmth and shelter of a mother. Past Perfect is exactly that and then some.

Anna Varughese diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (an abdominal dysfunction) at the age of four saw her relegated to a life of poking and prodding, highly monitored food-on-a-plate and a truckload of medicines. Her condition sometimes improves and often nosedives making a normal life quite impossible. Against these odds, Anna manages a life that had some semblance of routine; she manages to finish her MBA and becomes a mother. The final verdict on her disease came when she got to know that her liver was badly damaged and needed replacement; it was at this juncture that Past Perfect took shape in the form of memoirs to her daughter, a last-ditch attempt at letting a daughter know how much her mother battled for survival and how much she was loved; an account of the lovely childhood that her mother had amidst scores of cousins and family. I am not going to detail the nuances that this book has to offer or the actual occurrences in her life, one has to discover these for oneself for it is the tale of a grueling journey undertaken by a brave woman told in an effortless fashion that is at once compelling and absorbing. I am going to stick to those facets of the book that I found captivating.

Tales of personal suffering and individual uphill battles are a dime-a-dozen each carrying their own merits and traumatic experiences but as a book they sometimes fail to deliver the content that makes it engaging enough. So what does Anna do in order to not relegate herself to the common pile? For starters, her love for books and the fact that she is a voracious reader is amply evident in her style of writing. She abstains from resorting to wax eloquent as is a common pitfall of personal tales but she trusts simplicity to do the job. The prose is often breezy and immediate that keeps the reader engrossed enough to keep those pages turning. The anecdotal experiences are narrated so forthrightly that the reader can instinctively connect to the emotion within - that for me is exactly what a personal account should do, it should draw the reader in and invite him to be a part of the story. Another thing that impressed me is the brutal honesty that is present throughout the narration. Anna has no qualms bringing to light her own shortcomings or flaws as much as she criticizes those around her for their faults, a healthy dose of honesty does wonders in helping to understand the person behind the words.  She is also candid in stating that she is not a brave person and that the battle she was subjected to was due as much as to a lack of choice than anything else. I, however do not entirely agree with this sentiment for I do not believe that a person can tread such a perilous fight without some trace of will; yes, there was a lack of choice but to give up is always a choice that a human being has to which Anna never resorted to. That, to me speaks volume of the strength that Anna possesses and her will to survive against such heavily stacked odds.

Phrases like "Indian culture", "traditional ethics", "family value-system" and many more like those are so often misplaced and confused when narrating a story such as this. But Anna sets it right in the way she enmeshes these aspects into the story. Whether she is at loggerheads with what is accepted as societal norms (daughter-in-law paying obeisance by touching elders' feet) or if she is lauding the irreplaceable devotion of those near and dear to her always ready to lend a support, Anna is at ease; this is another aspect where Anna's candor is at the forefront lending to brilliant narration. Anna is a born raconteur and some of the things she said were actual eye-openers for me. For instance I did not know that some Christian families ancestry traces back to Brahmanism and thus practice customs which I did not know existed in Christianity (like naming the children after maternal and paternal grandparents or the presence of "thali" or "mangal sutra" in their marriage rites) - these facts make the book even more interesting and lend an irrefutable authenticity to the tale. The final icing on the cake that makes Past Perfect, well.... just about perfect is the silent homage it pays to the fundamental importance of the family value system and the beauty that is motherhood. Never in your face extolling the greatness of either, it is indisputably present and tangible enough. At every turn what eggs Anna on to witness the dawn of the next day is Aditi, her daughter. It may sound clichéd but one cannot refute the source of strength that it is. I, for one cannot imagine any reader not envying Anna her rich childhood and the phenomenally tightly-knit family that she got to be a part of (the whole part about Anna in Kerala with her family with games, food and fun is such a pleasant read). Neither their faith in her nor their tireless devotion to her well being is ever in question thus playing a more than significant role in seeing Anna's victory in the end. A special mention that is more than necessary is for Anna's mother (one of her rocks of Gibraltar as Anna puts it herself!) and Tarun (Anna's better half). Tireless in their efforts to keep Anna afloat, they are without question the pillars of support without which this battle would never have been fought, leave alone win.

There can be no review without some bellyaches now, can there?! Well, I do not mean to find faults just for the sake of doing it but Anna's pretty frequent use of "What if I am not around tomorrow?", "Will I live to see...?" laments could have definitely been toned down. I do not dare suggest that this is an indulgence on her part, by no means. A story that is this powerful and heart rending would definitely mean that the narrator would have been in throes of self doubt whenever life had a new curve ball to throw at her. I just mean to suggest that on hindsight these could have been fine tuned for the book. A minor gripe, I assure you that takes nothing away from the book. I would have also liked more photos (there is an array of photographs inset in the middle of the book) for putting a face to a name means that much more in a story such as this.

I definitely cannot end the review on the note above, that would be injustice! Past Perfect is a story of will and courage that results in triumph. It pays tribute to something that seems to be dwindling in our lives of late - values of family and love, it does so in a fashion that is not pedantic but natural, something that is not forced into its pages. Anna Varughese's debut is well written without doubt; yeah she did have a story already but the presentation is what makes the difference and Anna manages it with panache and skill. This is a book that can be enjoyed as a simple tale without being burdened with the trauma that is present within, the breezy style and matter-of-fact writing makes it possible. Unquestionable is the salute that the books manages to pay to motherhood and its strengths, something that could well use a little bit of reaffirmation in present times. 

(I intend to have an email interview with Anna and I would be following this up with that interview)

Buy from Flipkart

So have you ordered your copy yet?

The Superstar Syndrome, Sanjay Jha and Dr. Myra White's book is up for pre-order on Flipkart. The book has already garnered a lot of positive reviews from voices that matter. To order your copy here's the link http://www.flipkart.com/superstar-syndrome-making-champion/p/itmdmsbgbaqgkh35?pid=9788184004045&ref=8a073cb9-84c4-4ff2-811e-38ee2e5d9387&srno=t_1&otracker=from-search and also below a sneak peek into what the book is all about:

THE SUPERSTAR SYNDROME : THE MAKING OF A CHAMPION (HARDCOVER) PRICE: RS.279

Hidden in each of us is a superstar waiting to come to life. Often we struggle to find this, not because we lack talent, desire, or ability, but because we dont know the right steps to take. Frequently, we surrender to a sea of negative emotions and self-doubts right at the very beginning, or give up after a few setbacks. Dr Myra S. White and Sanjay Jha provide a comprehensive nine-step roadmap to help you succeed in the workplace and other areas of your lives.

The Superstar Syndrome is the ultimate success bible based on the lives of over 80 well-known people, like N.R. Narayana Murthy, M.S. Dhoni, Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, Warren Buffet and Ratan Tata who transformed themselves from ordinary people into exceptional achievers. It covers all aspects of what you need to know and do to successfully make the journey to superstardom how to identify and manage your special talents, build power, influence and deliver A-level performances and illustrates each step with examples from the lives of the well-known superstars that were studied. It makes you believe that the finish line is not just within your reach, but opens up dreams and possibilities beyond.

Reviews

The Superstar Syndrome is a captivating and colourful read that through some fascinating stories strengthens our self belief and makes us realize our often untapped potential. A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable book which delves deep into the human psyche and the superstar resident within each one of us.Naina Lal Kidwai, President, FICCI and Country head India and Director Asia Pacific, HSBC.

The Superstar Syndrome is not about how to become one, but to release your natural talent to exhibit your true stardom. This is because you are a natural superstar, whose stardom is hidden. Here is a book that tells you how to take off the covering. Enjoy reading chapters like know where you are going to know how to have fun. All this and more for a few dollars.Gopalakrishnan, Director, TATA Sons Limited.

The Superstar Syndrome is a book filled with wisdom, wit and well-known leadership superstars. There are myriad case studies and tips gleaned from the fascinating success stories of a wide ranging group of famous superstars from Warren Buffet, Lady Gaga and even Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, to Lee Iacocca, Ratan Tata, Margaret Thatcher and Sam Walton. Dr Myra White and Sanjay Jha have done a superb job. They obviously practice # 9 on their Superstar Roadmap Know How to have Fun. They must have had fun writing this book and I am sure the readers will also have fun reading it.Peter Handal, Chairman and CEO, Dale Carnegie and Associates.

I was fascinated and inspired by the stories narrated and would strongly recommend this book to all who are seeking to make a difference to their own lives and to the world in which they live.Rajeev Dubey, President (Group HR, Corporate Services and After Market), Mahindra & Mahindra.

GREY OAK & THE BOOK LOVERS 'WRITE A STORY, GET PUBLISHED' WINNERS!

Forgot to mention the winners of Grey Oak and The Book Lovers 'Write a story,get Published' short story competition exclusively for Wassup Andheri. 

We received over 100 entries and it was quite a task choosing the final 3 that made it, nevertheless thanking all those who participated and sent their stories to us. 

The names of the 3 winners are: Rahul Biswas,Parimal Datta & Subhasis Ghosal. Congratulations to the winners and wish them a great writing career ahead! All the best!

Grey Oak&The Book Lovers present 'Write a story, get published!'

An exciting new contest exclusively for all out blog readers and book lovers. The Book Lovers and Grey Oak publishing have an exciting short story writing competition lined up only for Wassup!Andheri ! The winners get their stories published in Grey Oak's Urban Shots series. All you budding writers your time starts now! Read the details and send your entries to bookwelove@gmail.com . So read the details real quick and send us your entries NOW! 

The Book Lovers:Day 2&Day 3 at Wassup Andheri

Day 2:  Friday 1st March 2013

4-5pm 

S. Hussain Zaidi - A man who needs no introduction, his books have been bestsellers, a veteran crime reporter & author of Black Friday, Mafia Queens of Mumbai and the latest Dongri to Dubai that covers the life of Mumbai Mafia Dawood Ibrahim joins us to give his valuable insights on Crime Writing. Be there to get tips from the man who witnessed it all.

5-5.30pm

Creative Writing workshop by Salil Desai                                                                                        A perfect blend of crime & fiction is his forte and to let you learn this fine art, Salil Desai will be at Wassup Andheri for an exclusive discussion on Crime Writing.

Day 3-  Saturday 2nd March 2013

4.30-5.30pm 

Talk on Travel & Photography Travel Writer & Avid Photographer Rishad Saam Mehta author of Hot Tea Across India talks to the audience about his adventorous experiences while travelling & his anecdotes with photographs of the usual and the unusual during his road trips.

The Book Lovers at Wassup Andheri on Day 1-28th Feb 2013

The Book Lovers is back along with Wassup! Andheri this year. And as promised we are bigger...better and grander this year! With an exciting line up of events. Here is the itinerary we have lined up for you for the four days starting from 28th Feb to 3rd March 2013.

February 28th 2013 Thursday

 

• Panel Discussion : 5-5.30pm Noted women authors Milan Vohra, Madhuri Banerjee and Pia Heikkila who have made their mark in the Literature World are here to get into a discussion on "Writing for the women of Today"
• 5.30-6pm Book Launch:  Harlequin Contest Winner and India's first Mills& Boon Author Milan Vohra launches her 2nd book Tic  we're 30 at exclusively at Wassup!
• 6-6.30pm Interaction & Fitness Workshop by Abhishek Sharma  author of Fitness on the Go will show us some simple fitness techniques to lead a healthy life without compromising on your daily routine
• 6.30-7pm Music Video Launch of The Oath of Vayuputras - His 3rd book is eagerly awaited, his fans  have all queued up, the pre-orders have begun. Can you guess which author are we talking about? Yes it is none other than Amish as he launches the full music video for his third book exclusively at Wassup! Andheri and talks about his last book in the Shiva Trilogy series'The Oath  of Vayuputras'

Guest Review: Cut Like Wound

Book reviewed by: Mahathi Ramya Vanapalli

Book details:

Title: Cut like Wound

Author: Anita Nair

Publisher: Harper Collins

This is my first novel of Anita Nair’s. I love reading Indian authors, but never got a chance to read a gripping thriller from them. This is the first phsyco thriller that I read from an Indian author and I loved it.

Plot is about the investigation of similar serial crimes in Bangalore by an experienced inspector Gowda. Though Gowda is not young and dynamic, he is the hero of our story with his small imperfections.

Story starts with a burnt body of young male prostitute in Ramzan month and series of murders of random men on every Friday with peculiar ligature strangulation on neck. Author introduces us to corporator Ravi’s life in parallel. What is the relation between murders and Corporator? How Gowda finds the pattern in the killings? Remaining story is about the clues and findings of Gowda. Gowda’s problems in his family life, affair with his ex-girl friend etc., also form a part of the story. Climax is good and unexpected.

What I liked?

Story seems to be intriguing till the end. It is a medium paced psycho thriller. It met my expectation for sure. Characterization and writing style are impressive. Climax is good, Reader will be sure of the murderer from the middle of the story, but suddenly realizes that it is not that person.

What I didn’t like..

Motive of the crime doesn’t look very convincing. Sometimes, We feel , story is dragging and going no where, but, from the middle of the novel it picks the proper pace.

My overall rating: 4/5

Guest Review: The Householder

Author Amitabha Bagchi

Reviewed by: Amit Gupta

I must admit i was not a big fan of the writer's debut novel, 'Above Average'. I thought it was a book which was true to its title. But in his next book, the writer explores the dark underbelly of power, greed and corruption in Delhi. It has delicate touches of humour and sensitivity which is rare to find in the India based fiction writing these days.

The novel incorporates two worlds — New Delhi’s babu-dom and the flashy gen-next culture of Gurgaon’s call centres. He takes us into the labyrinth of bureaucracy to meet Naresh Kumar, PA to Shri Asthana, IAS. Although he failed to make the grade as an IAS officer, Naresh learnt early in life how to negotiate the path to success — from upping the dowry amount set by his father to securing his first bribe. Naresh’s moral justification is that he is a householder, a man whose primary duty is to provide for his family.Naresh’s life progresses satisfactorily until a series of calamities occur. A complaint on a deal — which helped Naresh pay for the catering and the tent-wallah at his daughter’s wedding — leads to a departmental inquiry that results in Naresh being suspended. His daughter Seema’s marriage flounders because she has not borne the obligatory child despite IVF treatments. His son Praveen, who works in a call centre, gets implicated in a murder and runs off to Manali. And moreover, he is attracted to a widow colleague Pinki, who has marriage plans of her own. The Householder is about how Naresh charts his journey through these turbulent waters. The writing is taut in most cases and even though the book does get slow at times, but then picks up pace once more toward the final leg. Amitabha writes about a world where money rules and nothing can be done without it – he presents the dilemma of a common man – of morals, of the metaphoric good and evil and the choices we make.The writing is taut in most cases and even though the book does get slow at times, but then picks up pace once more toward the final leg. Amitabha writes about a world where money rules and nothing can be done without it – he presents the dilemma of a common man – of morals, of the metaphoric good and evil and the choices we make.

There are scenes which stay with you - like the one where the mother and the daughter in a casual dining table conversation discuss about men's approach towards sex or the one where Naresh is fired.  The decaying moral fiber of the society and families, in general always loom around in the background and gives us a surprising, yet disturbing overview of each of us as individuals.

I am going with 4/5 for Amitabha Bachi's 'The Householder'. It is slow at times, but in the end it is an extremely rewarding read. It promises to break new grounds and in make sure, it achieves that with some solid storytelling. Don't miss it.

Review: Garbage Beat

What happens when what you see on television news channels makes you want to be like one of them? When the glamorous news reporters covering Bollywood beat makes you think that this is the dream job that you got to have? How would you convince your parents that you want to make a career in the cut throat television industry instead of becoming a doctor or an engineer as they had planned?

Meet Laila the protagonist of the book Garbage Beat who does exactly that. She is ecstatic when she lands up getting her dream job in her dream channel but not all is as glamorous and beautiful as she thinks it would be.  As she gets busier with her own role, working odd hours to cover film events and report them for her channel she ends up distancing herself from her dad- who as per her will never understand her and her boyfriend Rehan. To top it all her constant fights with her hard to please boss/ editor Bunny who doesn’t stop to remind her that there are others waiting in queue to get Laila’s job.

The television industry has its fair share of glamorous people but the industry also has its set of eccentric but fun bunch working there – having worked in the television industry I can say it with confidence! So in every channel you will find the kind of people described in the book.  While reading the book I was almost taken back to my days in the TV industry. The author has managed to capture the essence of television industry well, could be because she herself comes from there.

As Laila struggles her way trying to excel in her chosen career of TV journalism, as a reader you end up engrossed in her story, her struggles, her laughter and her tears. It is an endearing story written straight from the heart by an author who has looked and worked in the industry closely.

A fun fast paced read. For those in television industry will enjoy reading it and those who wish to make a career in it will get a glimpse of how the industry works especially the entertainment news industry.

Interesting debut by the author looking forward to many many more.

                                                                                                                                        

Book Synopsis Garbage Beat

Laila is on the entertainment beat—a world where bitchy is sexy, and sexy is everything. Vain heroines, superstars with fragile egoes who get their ‘bad’ stories dropped by blackmailing editors, spirited item girls, prissy stars … To top it all, life in the newsroom is a series of deadline-driven bloopers till her tv life hits black. 

Adding to the mayhem is a madcap cast: sexy Bollywood journo-turned-hit item girl Latika; star-struck reporter Chiki, who is obsessed with a superstar; Nandu, the byline-swindler; award-winning super hack Indumati; and their razor sharp and hard to please editor Bunny.
Caught between her ambition to excel, a live-in boyfriend who feels ignored, and a super-intelligent and brilliant father who is ashamed of her career choice, Laila realizes that the life of an entertainment reporter is not the glamour ride she had expected … because, on the Garbage Beat, reporting is a harrowing, ball-crushing and back-breaking affair.

Some real love stories, some real heartbreaks, and some real tragedies.

But life as a reporter gets worse when she crosses powerful producers, has big fights with jealous reporters and adamant cameramen and makes bloopers galore.Its about how tv this very greedy god of the airwaves demands a new pound of flesh from her everyday.

Profile-
Ten years of entertainment journalism. A lifetime of  being a manoranjan junkie. Richa believes that you should accept your most demented thoughts fears and fantasies. Born in Dehradun. Richa did her Masters in Chemistry from Miranda House, before she studied Journalism. Special Correspondent and TV Anchor Richa is currently Associate Editor, entertainment in a prominent news channel. She has extensively covered Hindi Cinema, Bollywood, Fashion and Art in several prominent national news channels and reported from Mumbai to Malaysia, Seoul to Simla, Johannesberg to Jodhpur, Pretoria to Punjab, Dubai to Delhi to Benaras,Goa, Agra, Ajmer,Kolkata,Nainital and counting. She has produced, anchored and reported for shows like Night Out, Bollywood Quiz show IDBI Sawaal India Ka, Glamour Show, Filmy Friday, Cinema India, Cinema Ke Sikander, Raat Baaki.

Mumbai Book Launch of Garbage Beat

Dear Mumbai Book Lovers

Here's an invite to a book launch you just wouldn't wanna miss!!

Kareena Kapoor will be launching Richa Lakhera's book Garbage Beat  today Sunday 23rd December at 4pm Venue details on the card!

Richa's book is a scandalous novel set in the big bad world of entertainment television.The highs and lows of entertainment reporting.

Do join in for the book launch and buy the book for a fun super pacy read!

http://www.flipkart.com/garbage-beat-9350293978/p/itmdezennajmputh?pid=9789350293973

Guest Review: Sexy at Sixty

Book Reviewed By : Dr. ShivaniKapoor

Author: Namita Jain

To my chagrin the book had nothing to do with a kinky story of a sixty year old couple. Sexy @ Sixty instead is a book on yoga, exercise and diet. If there is anything to do with the word sexy it is the author, Namita Jain, who is all of that at her age.

Once my disappointment of the book not being the one to satisfy my voyeuristic pallet was overcome, I started actually to enjoy the book. It is simple, and straight to the point- how to celebrate life at sixty. Many tips ranging from exercises to diet plans to feeling positive are offered by her. What catches your attention is the way she makes being slimmer and sexier simple and quick. In fact, those younger can pick it up too that is if you are a lazy bum who has been adding up the body meat. She doesn’t just suggest but also softly motivates you. If you are an exercise freak at 60 and eat measured quantity, read it nevertheless.

The author has specially chosen the common physical problems at sixty and touched upon the relevant solutions. Prostrate, menopause, arthritis and the likes are dealt with well.

Maybe it is a book you could keep for a chapter a day, chew on it and slowly inculcate. The exercises are more of a warm up sessions for those regular at gym, are easy to handle for specially for the very obese elders and for those lethargic few whose simple rule is- If I can’t reach it, I don’t need it.

Facts and figures (I meant the mathematical ones) add to the authenticity. Illustrations and tables make reading quick.

My rating: 2.5 of 5

Winners of the contest: When the Snow Melts

To make it a memorable 12-12-12 for the winners we chose to hold on to the names of the winners of our contest! We received many correct replies and the response to the contest was phenomenal. Thank you to all those who participated. Congratulations winners and better luck next time to the other participants.

Requesting all the winners to send their postal address with contact number to bookwelove at gmail dot com to enable us to send the book across as soon as possible:

Gunjan S
Vulcan Eager
Dr. Sharmila K
MM Roy
Shilpa Roy

Send us your address as soon as possible please!

When the Snow Melts: A Review and a contest!

I recently happened to read a book called When the Snow Melts by Vinod Joseph. The book is Vinod’s debut novel and must say it was a very interesting, fast paced read.  What surprises me is the low key or almost zilch promotions for the book by the publishers- seriously wonder why. It is a good read, well priced yet not many would have heard of the book. Also have a major bone to pick about the book cover! Anyway that’s the publisher and author’s call, but I am glad I chose to read the book.

So what is the book about? It is a racy thriller about espionage, spies , where everything is deceptive and trust is rare. The protagonist Ritwik Kumar is the Indian representative in an International intelligence gathering group named International Assessment Group. This group has intelligence agents from all over the world who are trying to pool in their information networks to help fight global terrorism. Ritwik who is battling his alcohol addiction ends up borrowing a lot of money and when IAG head General West gets to know of this, asks him to pay up within 15 days or lose his job. Finding himself isolated and cornered he finally decides to defect. To get out of the mess he is in, he ends up getting into a much bigger mess by defecting to terror network of Al-Qaeda. He realizes he doesn’t fit there either and its ideology is something he can never agree to.

Is it going to be such an easy task to switch loyalities? Would the members of Al-Qaeda trust him enough to let them know of what is going on in their organization? Will Ritwik be able to get out of the self created trouble he is in? It gets messier still when he starts falling in love with Nilofer, wife of one of the members of the Al-Qaeda team. In a hostile place where he can trust not a single soul is he setting himself up for the worse….

All in all a good read, nice plot and page turner of a read. For those who like to read such genres should give reading this book a try. Believe me it is worth your money.

What’s more our blog also gives you a chance to win an autographed copy of his book by answering 2 very very simple questions. We have 5 copies to give away. But remember the contest closes on 8/12/12. The rules: You need to be an Indian Resident above 18 years of age, Judges decision is final…Now for the questions:

A)      Who was the founder of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW)?

B)      “Mossad” is Israel’s external intelligence agency. What’s the name of Israel’s internal intelligence agency?

So hurry and send us your answers to bookwelove(at)gmail(dot)com your time starts now!

Guest Review: Land of the Well

Author: Sampurna Chattarji

Reviewed by: Madhulika Mitra 

Too many elements took away the story.

 Stars:2/5

One book which I was totally looking forward to has disappointed me at quite a few places. The snippet behind the book increased my curiosity levels and made me feel that it would be a good read. Quickly getting to the main theme of the book, it’s about youngsters who are totally misguided by the idea of Death.

The story is set up in Goa, away from the fun and the frolic (surprised? It was off season in Goa), about a young lad who has just finished his 12^th exams, brilliant but very protected by his parents. This youngster has a very sad story to share about not having friends ever, always being shielded by his mom and dad, no decision of his own. For a boy of his age where independence is everything, he was being caged. And when you are sad you are vulnerable. This is where the other characters of the story enter Goa and the story begins. And he who is in dire need of friends gives in everything to be in their gang.

For the first time in life he breaks away from his cage and demands to stay back in Goa for a few more days alone. The strength to take this stand comes from straight from his heart after he sees a pretty girl whom he gets attracted to from the very moment he sees her. But she is not alone. She comes with a group of friends very weird in their own ways but with even more weird names.

He does manage to stay back after his parents leave, finally gets to taste independence but everything comes with a price tag. So what price does he pay: something which really shook me off.   He meets them, gets their approval to be one among them, gets their appreciation but is all that for real or a very big trap he is unaware of. The book really held me till he narrates the story of “land of the well” but then the only constant term and feeling in the book was DEATH.

All these friends are traumatized scared and have almost stopped living their life because they are scared they would die someday. To be very honest I did not understand the book after a point, could be because it was beyond my understanding levels or because I always search stuff which I can relate to or a feel good/bad (this din feel anything-may be too mournful). There are a lot of crisscrossed love stories, lot of deaths and one murder or maybe not hidden in the story.

My advice: Pick up the book and try to finish it at one go. If not you might lose the flow.

After a point the book had a lot of repetitions of the same incidents, same characters and failed to leave a mark in my mind. I do not know which adjective I should associate with the book: Spiritual, philosophical, or morose.  It’s for you if you can associate to one of these attributes closely. I would not agree that it was a mystery or even if it was, it was not carried out properly.  A little lesser pages with a little more of suspense/proper story line would have done justice to the book.

Review: The Edge of Desire

Author: Tuhin Sinha

Reviewed by: Purvi Shah

The Edge of Desire is a story of a female, who is raped and that event shapes up her life as a politician, seemngly changing the future course of events for the country. The inspiration comes from the age old epic "Mahabharata" where  Draupadi's cheer haran lays the foundation for the battle. 

There are principally two kinds of writers. One , who start a story and shape is up as the heart goes or as the pen prevails, the others who outline a story, chart out the characters, frame the sequence and go by joining the dots. Essentially a difference between way of thinking, but the end product of this book, makes you think of the latter ones.

The two central characters, Shruti and Sharad seem to have a lot in common. They are both enigmatic public personalities with a drive to do something for the country. Both politicians with failed marriages, lonely and depicting shades of grey. Yet they do not have a clearly defined relationship. They are not friends, they do not fall in love, they are colleagues, yes. Tuhin Sinha tries to define their relationship making them the modern day Draupadi and Krishna of the Mahabharata, citing the example many a times comparing various turns of events in the story. Not very convincingly , though.

The story does not rise and fall, or has many , sorry any highs and lows, mostly revolving around the Indian political scenario in the 70's and 80's. Except for the rape of the central female character, which is pivotal in her joining Indian politics, the story moves on pretty much like a daily soap.

Also , an important aspect, I noticed throughout is that: There are descriptions of emotional turmoils Shruti faces many a times (but as would be clearly evident to any female reader) and  all of them, I repeat ALL of them are starkly from a male viewpoint. When the author has attempted so much research on politics, the Mahabharata, etc, he should have done a little homework on the female psyche, especially since the book is in the first person, a memoir of Shruti, and if a female cannot relate to the emotional punch at all....I don't know what to say.

On that note, I leave it  for the reader to figure out whether to like the book or not. Its a difficult one to label and very tough to review. I would give it a 5 on 10. A good read for the political minds, maybe...