Wonder - by R.J.Palacio

August Pullman- (Auggie to his parents and sister) is a ten year old boy. Like any other kid his age, he likes playing on his x-box, eating ice creams and watching starwars. He is a great child with a cool sense of humour. But all his life, Auggie has had to deal with people staring at him, kids running away from him and sometimes just averting their eyes from him. The reason ? Auggie was born with severe facial malformations- a condition called "Mandibulofacial Dysostosis". Not many people know the real Auggie simply because he has never been given the chance to be him. He is just ignored most of the time.

August gets homeschooled by his mom when he is young because he has to undergo various medical procedures. When he turns 10, his parents decide to enroll him in a school. The book "wonder" follows Auggie's journey from the first day of fifth grade to the last day of fifth grade.

So, now that you know what the book is about, I'm sure you are wondering if you want to read this book which deals with such a strong and difficult subject. I will have to confess- so did I. But trust me, just read this book.Go on this journey with August. I laughed and cried with him and admired his quiet strength all through. So, stick with Auggie till the very end and you will end up loving him.

R.J.Palacio's writing is so simple and beautiful. All the characters are so well rounded and real. Narrated by August, this book is sad, moving, frank, funny and an absolute delight to read. All in all, a well written book.

This book is listed as a young adult book. But, I feel we all need to read it irrespective of our age.It teaches us a thing or two about life and gives us a lesson in empathy. Personally, this book showed me that life though difficult at times, is worth living to the fullest. We need to give ourselves a chance at life and not be disheartened. I was reminded of this quote I read-

“Life may deal you a bad hand or take away a good hand you were already dealt. The way you play the hand is how your life is defined. Just like in poker you can end up winning no matter how bad the cards are you have.”― Benjamin Bayani, The Nation.

Until the next book, happy reading guys...

Get this book on amazon here:

Wonder

How I braved Anu aunty & co-founded a million dollar company - by Varun Agarwal

If you are in the mood for some light reading, this is the book for you. This is the true story of Varun Agarwal, a youngster from Bangalore who has dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. As you might have guessed from the title, he documents his journey of how he fulfilled this dream of his.

Varun is an engineering graduate who doesn't want to be a part of the corporate rat race. He is not interested in a job and wants to start his own company instead. But, in the Indian society the decision to forego a corporate job to start your own company is frowned upon. So, naturally Varun's mom is worried about him. She can't understand why her son doesn't want a job and bursts into bollywood style tears at the drop of a hat. She asks her friend Anu for help to bring her son back on track.

Thus Anu aunty enters into Varun's life. Anu aunty is a typical character who I am sure every one of us has encountered at some point in our lives. She boasts about her son Arjun's achievements shamelessly at every  given opportunity. According to her, it is a sin to consider doing anything else in life except be a doctor or an engineer. She is ever curious about the goings-on in Varun's life and makes it her agenda to make him see sense and mend his ways. Much to Varun's dismay,she imparts pearls of wisdom to him like:
"Varooon.. no MBA, no future" and  "Varooon.. If you are snoozing you are losing."

Varun's  book is a fun read and he focuses on:

• The way he goes about setting his startup with his friend, all the while dealing with Anu aunty and his mom. He shares a lot of his experiences and gives out a few pointers to aspiring entrepreneurs throughout the book.
• His love life aka facebook stalking the girl he likes.
• The equation he shares with his friends and the time spent with them at various pubs and cool hangout places in Bangalore. He actually names quite a few "happening places" to go to in the city. 

 I found this book a good time-pass read. Varun's writing style is casual. He himself gives a disclaimer at the beginning of the book saying- "I am a storyteller not a writer, so don't expect much." So, you know pretty much what to expect. Varun swears a lot and so do his friends. But, as a person who watches "Game of thrones", who am I to judge ;)

Varun released a music video based on his book. Here's the link. Hope you enjoy..

I will come back to you with the next book. Until then, happy reading guys..

You can find this book on Amazon here:

How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company

Salvation of a Saint - by Keigo Higashino

This is a Japanese mystery novel written by Keigo Higashino. The English translation of the book is by Alexander.O.Smith. I picked up this book because it has been a long time since I read a whodunit- my favourite genre, as I get to play a detective reading along.

The plot of this book revolves around these central characters:

Yoshitaka - the husband
Ayane        - his wife
Hiromi      - Ayane's employee who is having an affair with her husband
Kusanagi  - lead detective assigned to the case
Utsumi     - the detective's assistant
Yukawa    - a brilliant physicist, who is Kusanagi's former classmate in university.

Yoshitaka is found dead, poisoned by arsenic in his coffee. His wife Ayane is the prime suspect. All the facts point to her as the guilty party but she was in another city at the time of his death and has an iron clad alibi. The lead detective Kusanagi believes Ayane is innocent but his assistant is not so sure. So, Utsumi approaches Yukawa, a genius who has helped Kusanagi in solving crimes before. Together the trio try to crack this case.

The above synopsis of the story line might have led you to believe that this is a simple story of love, betrayal and revenge. But this story is anything but simple. This book is unlike any other I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns in the story. All I can say about the solution to the case is "expect the unexpected". Dramatic as it sounds, it is the only way I can sum up this book.

I am not going to say much about the writing style because this is a translation. Translating a book into another language while keeping the essence intact is a difficult task, and Alexander.O.Smith has done a fairly good job.

Coming back to the story, the way it is narrated makes it unusual and interesting. It is definitely different when compared to the other mysteries I have read. Here, not only the"who" but also the "how" kept me guessing till the very end. The detective in me ( I take that role very seriously ;) you know that annoying person in your group who keeps yelling out their predictions and theories whenever you watch a whodunit on television-  yup, that's totally me) was stumped and that to me is the sign of a good mystery. Without revealing too much of the story because I want to keep this review spoiler free, all I will say is this- If you enjoy reading different kinds of stories and books, then this is a must read for you. Read it and you will not be disappointed.

I was feeling a bit low so I turned to this book for diverting myself and to take my mind off things. But this book did more than just divert my mind. It helped me get out of a slump and put me back on the reading wagon. So, more book reviews coming your way soon. Until then, happy reading guys..

Get this book on amazon here:

Salvation of a Saint

Thirteen Reasons Why - by Jay Asher

This story is set in a high school in America. It is a young adult fiction.

Clay Jensen is a high school student. When he returns home from school one day, he finds a brown package on the front porch addressed to him. He opens it to find a shoe box filled with 13 cassette tapes. He starts playing the tapes and is shocked to find out they are from Hannah Baker, his crush from school. Hannah had committed suicide two weeks earlier. In the tapes, Hannah lists 13 people/ 13 reasons responsible for her suicide. She narrates various incidents in her life involving these people which ultimately led to her decision. Clay has made it onto her list. But, he must listen to all of the tapes to find out how and why he ends up there. 

This book can best be summed up by one of the lines Hannah says - "When you mess with one part of a person's life, you're messing with their entire life. Everything affects everything." This is what happens with Hannah in the book. A series of unpleasant incidents and experiences in her life build up to a snowball effect. She feels helpless and inadequate. She reaches a point where her problems seem insurmountable, and eventually ends her life. The author shows how we can never know what a person is going through in his/her life,and how sometimes even a seemingly small incident/experience can prove to be overwhelming and push them over the edge. He also states that the reason for a suicide can never be pinpointed to a single event in the person's life.

Though I appreciate the point the author is trying to make, I had mixed feelings while reading this book. The characterisation of Hannah and the incidents which push her to suicide, didn't feel right to me. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly was wrong. But I felt something was a little off. I read along trying to make sense of what was happening in Hannah's mind but I just couldn't connect with the book. The idea for the book was good but it could have been better executed in terms of the story and characters.

However, this book did make me think about the many lives that are cut short by suicide. It made me question what makes a person give up on this wonderful gift of life. A question which has no simple, straightforward answer. I came across this talk on youtube which sheds some light on the subject: 

That's it till the next book.. happy reading guys..

Behind closed doors - by B A Paris 

Jack  is  a successful lawyer in London. Grace works at Harrods ( a famous department store in London). Jack and Grace meet and fall in love. After a whirlwind romance, Jack proposes to Grace. They get married within just six months of knowing each other.

After the wedding, Grace gives up her job ( at Jack's insistence) and they move to a huge house in the countryside.Everything looks perfect in their life. Jack is charming, good looking, and successful. Grace is attractive and an amazing cook. Both of them make a great couple. When they meet at parties, their friends marvel at their perfect life.They wonder how they manage to have such a perfect relationship.

But, everything is not as hunky-dory as it seems. Though Grace appears to be happy, she is anxious at times. She always finds excuses to avoid going out alone with her friends. There are bars fitted onto the windows of their house. Jack tells everyone that it is for security reasons, given his profession as a lawyer. But is Jack telling the truth? Are they really the perfect couple or is their perfect marriage too good to be true?

Thus, begins this story. It is a thriller. The last thriller I read was "The Girl on The Train". Though the book received great reviews, it was not to my taste. It was rather depressing and I didn't enjoy it. So, I was hesitant to pick up another book in the same genre, not knowing what to expect. But I found " Behind closed doors" interesting. The story is fast paced. The book is disturbing at times but very gripping. The author shows us the dark side of the human nature. This book makes us wonder if we can ever truly know what happens behind closed doors in our society , and if our neighbours and friends are really what they appear to be.

I finished this book in a day. It is definitely a page-turner. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the thriller genre. It will surely get your heart beating faster. And you will find it hard to put down the book once you start reading it.

That's it for now guys. I'll be back with the next book. Until then, happy reading...


You can find this book on amazon here: 

Behind Closed Doors

Secret Daughter - by Shilpi somaya gowda

This story begins by introducing us to two couples-

Kavitha and Jasu 

They live in the village Dahanu located in the state of Maharashtra in India. Jasu is a farmer who makes a living working in his fields, while Kavitha is a housewife.

Somer and Krishnan

They live in San Franciso, USA. Krishnan is an Indian who gets married to Somer, an American. Both of them are practising doctors in California.

In Kavitha's world, there is no place for a girl child. She loses her first child, a girl, to female infanticide.So, when she gives birth to a second girl child she is left with no other option but to give up her child to an orphanage in Mumbai.She does so without her husband's knowledge, to save her child from the clutches of death.

Somer is going through her own struggles. Having suffered two miscarriages, she is falling apart and is desperate to have a child of her own. The final blow comes when she finds out that she can never have a child due to an early menopause. After a lot of deliberation, Somer and Krishnan decide to adopt a baby from Mumbai- Krishnan's birth place. They adopt a beautiful baby girl who is the same child Kavitha was forced to give up.

The story then takes us through the various twists and turns in the lives of both these women, as the years go by. What starts off as a story about female infanticide, orphanages and adoption of a child, transitions quite smoothly into a tale exploring human relations and family ties.

The author Shilpi has a lovely writing style. I found her writing simple and crisp. It was very comfortable and easy to read. Kavitha's anguish and Somer's frustration are beautifully captured. All the characters in the book are well depicted, and their emotions are communicated well with the reader. The pace of her writing was also perfect for me. The story is neither hurried along nor is it too slow. This is a good read, without a doubt.

The issue of female infanticide is something we are all familiar with. But, reading about it in the newspapers and other reports repeatedly had somehow made me lose touch with the human aspect of the issue. It was all figures and statistics and ratios."Infanticide" became just a term with no feelings attached. But, looking at this issue from the point of view of these characters brought home to me the true horror of killing a baby. These are not just some numbers on a paper, they are actual people.I was struck by the heartlessness of it all. Though this story begins in 1984 in the book, it is sad to note that this issue along with many others are still quite pertinent in today's society.

Let me leave you all with this quote by Mahatma Gandhi, which gives us something to ponder upon: 

See you all again with the next book.  Happy reading guys..


You can find this book on amazon here: 

The Secret Daughter

A Street Cat Named Bob - by James Bowen

I chanced upon this book. I had never heard of it before and knew nothing about the author James Bowen. So, I had zero expectations when I began reading it. But, to my pleasant surprise I was completely hooked before long.

The book tells us the story of James Bowen- a homeless man in London ,who is a recovering drug addict. It is a true account of his life narrated by him. He takes in a stray cat and names him Bob. Bob changes James' life in more ways than one. The book is about their journey together and how Bob helps James bring his life back on track. We also get a glimpse into the London street life. It was interesting to look at life from the perspective of a homeless man.

There is this quote I once read somewhere:

"  A person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world- someone to love, something to do and something to hope for. "

Reading this book made me realize how true that is. It is amazing how a companion in life, be it a friend , a relative, a partner or ( in James' case)  a pet , can have such a huge influence on our lives.
"A street cat named Bob" is a heartwarming story and I loved reading it.

It was only after finishing the book, I came to know that Bob-the cat is kind of a youtube celebrity and has fans all over the world. Here's a clip I found online :

The book has a sequel "The World According To Bob" which I am yet to read. It is going on my reading list for sure...

So, that's it for now. Catch you later with another book and another story. Until then, happy reading guys...


Find this book on amazon here:

A Street Cat Named Bob: And How He Saved My Life