And I start this year with......Books!

Art and Books are perfect beginning for my blogs this year! I have been more regular with my brushes than I have been with my writing! It seemed like I couldn't write about anything when the topics of books hit me...I have been reading two of them this month and wanted to post my thoughts.

The first one was "Devil Bones" by Kathy Reichs. The author is an renowned anthropologist and her life and experiences have been made into the hit reality TV show "Bones" of which I am a great fan of. I had been waiting to read her books for a really long time and finally found them at the local library. Well to say I was not disappointed would be far from the truth. The author says that she is not a trained writer and it shows! This was one book where I actually skipped pages just to get through...it is so strange considering the synopsis of the book guarantees a page turner. This is what the synopsis said:

"In a house under renovation, a plumber uncovers a cellar no one knew about, and makes a rather grisly discovery — a decapitated chicken, animal bones, and cauldrons containing beads, feathers, and other relics of religious ceremonies. In the center of the shrine is the skull of a teenage girl. Meanwhile, on a nearby lake shore, the headless body of a teenage boy is found by a man walking his dog.

Led by a preacher turned politician, citizen vigilantes blame devil worshippers and Wiccans and begin a witch hunt, intent on seeking revenge. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan — "five-five, feisty, and forty-plus" — is called in to investigate, and a complex and gripping tale unfolds in this deadly mix of voodoo, Santería, and devil worship."


This seemingly thrilling plot was intertwined with useless romances of the main protagonist, voodoo and devil worship (which may get a readers attention ) and descriptions of the human anatomy (which is not my strong subject) and high way descriptions of North Carolina! Half way through the book, I forgot who the characters were and what exactly each one was trying to or had done! If you like human anatomy and scientific research give the book a try and maybe you wont feel like me! I was let down - maybe it's because I am so used to the dynamic, intelligent portrait of Dr. Temperance Brennan and the strong, charming and funny FBI agent Seeley Booth on the TV series. Neither the character of Tempe nor the FBI detectives live up to this mark..


Just to balance reading something like "Devil Bones" I started reading Sophie Kinsella's "Can you keep a secret?" OK! I have to tell you I was tempted to pick up this book as this author is frequently mentioned on one of my favorite blogs "Life, Books and More". Plus I haven't read chick lit in years.....now this book was funny and entertaining! The classic story of the black horse that triumphs, only the black horse in this case being Emma - a twenty something Londoner with a crappy job, struggling with crazy colleagues, few best friends, a cousin who stole most of her childhood and other equally crazy characters. While on a business trip, the plane on which Emma is flying heads into turbulence. Fearing that she may die, she gives in to a sudden bout of hysterics and reveals all her secrets including the most embarrassing ones to her fellow passenger. Now for the twist in the tale - she turns up to work the next day and guess who is visiting the company to supervise its European operations? None other than one of the companies founder Jack Harper - the fellow passenger from Emma's flight! After that its a Laughton all the way to the end and how Emma finally gets what makes her happy and her romance with the mysterious Jack Harper forms the rest of the book!

I loved it... It is a wonderful feeling to escape from real life into books such as these. But me being me, my silly mind wandered to imagine how it would be if something like this were to happen in real life... The heroine would probably work in a software company surrounded by colleagues who are silly in their own ways and the bosses would most probably be egoistic middle aged males, if not middle aged I am pretty sure a good chunk of them would be obnoxious.....the chance of romance - pretty much zero! A male reader may be getting ready to shoot me a hate mail but try polling female readers and many would be support what I just said :D

Mr.Monk and the Blue Flu

I picked this book from a "throw away" organized by a moving neighbour. Since I can't stand books being ignored I picked (rather grabbed) this book and it was totally worth it! A very light and fun read. Based on the popular TV series "Monk" this book is written by Lee Goldberg who penned the screen plays for the TV series.

Adrian Monk is an ex-cop and since the death of his wife suffers from an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) syndrome. He loves nothing better than order and balance in the universe to the extent that he slices his pizza using a compass to measure exact portions! He carries his own cutlery to restaurants and even washes the dishes (his own and the restaurant's dirty dishes) after his meals there. He can't bear to see a speck of dust anywhere and thinks that the duster and the mop are the best inventions of all time and his way of de-stressing is to clean the house and any ones house at that! At time he is even unable to control the urge to set things right at a crime scene. It is this very characteristic that makes him look at angles and clues that other detectives miss out while investigating homicides and solves cases in record time. The San Francisco police department engages him as their consultant to close out on important cases.

Monk is aided by his very efficient and loyal assistant Natalie Teeger who rightfully describes her job as a baby sitter. She is always there to hand him moist wipes when he needs to clean up after touching a messy desk at a crime scene, hand him his mineral water when he needs it and chauffeur him around the city while he investigates his cases. She tries to make him look sane to the rest of the world.

All these details are humorously narrated by Natalie in this book where Monk takes over as the acting captain of the SFPD when the entire police force goes on sick leaves also known as the Blue Flu so that the mayor of the city can understand their needs for decent salaries and medical insurance. In India we would call that a strike! The mayor hires Monk as the acting captain and also assigns to him a team of equally twisted detectives - a conspiracy nut, an officer with anger management issues and a really old detective who forgets his name every few hours! How this team led by Monk, solve 2 high profile cases dealing with serial killers forms the rest of the book!

If you want to laugh a lot, give this book a go - you won't be disappointed

Book Challenge 2009!

Yes! I finally did it - completed the book reading challenge. We had to read 20 books in the year 2009... I know I know for some of you this is nothing! You can read 20 books in 20 minutes but then for people like myself it took some discipline though I do read quite a bit. And I am also happy I didn't really cheat - I didn't read books like "Tales of Beedle the Bard" and similar 20 page books for this challenge! I am thrilled about finishing this for the year - I may have not lost my 5 pounds but I did complete the book challenge! I found some friends on the blogosphere thanks to this challenge. Here are the details of the books I completed this year with the links for my take on the books

1. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
2. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
3. The Rozabal Line by Shawn Haigins a.k.a Ashwin Sanghi
4. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
6. Princess by Jean Sasson
7. Catcher in the Rye by J.D Saligner
8. One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat
9. Ghost Stories of Pennsylvania by Dan Asfar
10. Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass by Lewis Caroll
11. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
12. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
13. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
14. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
15. Son of Witch by Gregory Maguire
16. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
17. Life, Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
18. The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
19. 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
20. The Restaurant at the end of the Universe by Douglas Adams

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I was waiting for this book and thanks to a good friend I received a free copy of it! I am not going to spend too much time reviewing Dan Browns latest - if you have read his previous books this book is not much different. The pace of the book, the narration and story line is almost similar. Just that this time the author moved the wild goose chase from beautiful and historical Europe to architecturally marvelous Washington D.C. The book was pretty interesting, however the last 30-40 pages just dragged and I just wanted to close the book as I found myself yawning - it was a case of too much information and moving in and out of buildings! If you like thrillers filled with a lot of history this book will be enjoyable almost towards the end!

Princess

The first book in the "Princess" trilogy, Princess gives the rest of the world a privy to the life of Saudi Arabian women - royals and non-royals alike. For the rest of the world, Saudi Arabian royal princesses live a privileged life with no dearth of money or luxury. Little do we know that their lives are controlled by the whims and fancies of the men who surround them. Women are treated worse than animals, denied education, married off to men fit to be their grandfathers, divorced if diagnosed with an illness or if their husbands are bored of them and even killed to protect the family honor! The book was described as a "look into an air conditioned nightmare" by the New York times review.

The book describes the various events in the life of Princess Sultana the 7th daughter of a Saudi Royal Family of Al Saud. From a tender age she finds out that her father would never love her or her sisters and that their brother would have preference over everyone in all matters including food and lifestyle! They were just the "unwanted daughters" who had to abide their time until they could get married to serve their duty as a woman by being an obedient wife and giving birth to plenty of children hopefully male. Most marriages were arranged as strategic business alliances or partnerships and it was and probably still is common for a girl as young as 15 to be married to a man as old as 62! Observing how her mother and the rest of the women are treated Sultana learns to rebel and fight for what is her right in male dominated world where the verses of the Koran are twisted to suit men and men alone.

The events in the book have been based on the stories of a actual princess who requested the author that her story and issues that affect the women of Saudi Arabia be published. She hoped that this would be the beginning of bringing some change to the laws and ways of her land. Of course the name of the princess and others in her life has been changed to ensure the safety of the princess. The book is very gripping and most of the women around the world (if not all) will definitely be grateful to have the access to education and a certain amount of independence. I do not want to come across as someone thrashing Saudi Arabia as I am sure it has changed compared to what it was 20 years (which was the timeline for Sultanas stories though women are still not allowed to drive and a women was arrested as early as March 2009 for driving!

The book was very gripping and I didn't want to put it down until I finished it. We Indian women may celebrate the fact that we were not born in a place like Saudi Arabia but we still have a long way to go when it comes to establishing our place in the society. Certain incidents described in the book like female infanticide, domestic violence and mobbing of women by religious groups bring to memory the various incidents that keep happening through out India almost every day. The day has not yet come when a women can roam freely at night on Indian roads without the fear of being attacked, robbed or killed! It just makes me feel we are in a slightly less cruel version of a Saudi Arabian country. This book is a must read for all women.

The Palace of Illusions

Born from the fire, it was prophesied that princess Draupadi would leave her mark on history. She would be the reason for one of the biggest wars in the history of Bharath which would wipe out the third age of man. We all know the story of the Mahabharatha and how an insult to one women and her subsequent thirst for revenge wiped out an entire clan of more than 100 brothers and others who supported them. But how many of us have actually stopped to think what went through Draupadi's mind during all these moments and events that altered history?

In a world dominated by men, in a world where the role of the wife was just about taking care of her husband and family and their needs, we are given the opportunity to take a look into the mind of the women who changed it all and in the process set the ball rolling for generations to follow. Having said this, I found that I could relate myself a lot to the character of Draupadi - her need to be independent and not really give up her personality traits no matter what....

Some factors stand out throughout the book like its spine; Like how hate and revenge fuel Draupadi's fire to bring down those who insulted her and took away everything from her. It seems as if she has realized that her husbands cannot really help her cope with her loss and she makes the best use of their talents to get back rightfully what belongs to them - the kingdom of Hastinapur and also quench her thirst by destroying those who treated her like some kind of vermin.

Another interesting factor that made its presence felt throughout the book was the "Palace of Illusions" the beautiful palace that was built specially for the Pandavas and Draupadi by the asura Maya. The palace unable to exist without its rightful owners and disintegrates to when Duryodhan tries to claim it. Though this pleases Draupadi, the thought loosing of the only place she calls home, the only place where she was truly herself and found a sense of peace and belonging helps in keeping her hatred for the Kauravas fresh and ultimately destroying them.

Moving on to the colorful characters and what motivates their actions: Apart from Draupadis emotional turmoil, we have the Pandavas agreeing to battle to put an end to the ruling of their bad natured cousin Duryodan and to avenge their wife. Duryodan who all his life always worried about loosing Hastinapur one day to its rightful owners and was obsessed with the need to cheat his cousins out of their rights. His father Dirdhirashta who suffered from an inferiority complex all his life owing to his blindness and could never get over the fact that his better brother Pandu was made King over him and ruled until he was cursed!

And the women Kunti and Gandhari - the former a passive aggressive character making sure that her sons were brought up with the sole aim of claiming back what was theirs. A special mention should be made between the bond that was shared between Kunti and Draupadi - that of a mother in law and daughter in law. It seems that they hated each others guts and character - no different from most MILs and DILs in the world! I found this ironically funny! And Gandhari, if only the blindfolded queen Gandhari taught her sons to share, the whole debacle could have been averted in the first place.

Karna who only wanted to belong but could never find peace while he lived, with Bheeshma the patriarch who was torn between duty and what was right! Topping these characters and more is the dashing and amazing 'Kirshna' whose magic is felt throughout. The special bond that he shares with Draupadi(she feels that they were drawn to each other because of their dark skin), the way he uses his wits and charms to pacify even those who curse him and how he never forsakes his believers makes me a much bigger fan of his than I ever was.

The book just doesn't stop with how the war was won and the happily ever afters! It goes ahead and describes how the Pandavas had to get over the grief of their loved ones killed in battle, coming to terms with their loss, picking up the pieces of a war ravaged kingdom and shaping it back to prosperity and their final journey - their march to death. Even here they are joined by their faithful wife Draupadi - she joins them on a journey that women never make. What can I say other than the fact I totally get her! I mean I always seem to do things that others don't want to do or try and later take the back lash for it and even ignore it! So you see we are all crazy in good way!

Seems I could go on and on about the book and how it has inspired me to read the actual Mahabharatha! Do check out this book - its worth all the bucks you would pay for it!

Lost and Found!

It seems that right from the day I created this blog it has been jinxed. I published and took down the first article I ever wrote regarding my frustrations at the work place because many of my friends felt that I shouldn't express my issues with work as freely! This was way back in 2007 or 08 (I don't even remember!) Towards the end of last year I started blogging again about whatever I felt like and was pretty determined to carry on. Well 8 months have passed this year when I try and try to be regular and I just seem to be terrible at keeping up pace with the blogging world! Seems those that I met on the blogosphere might have probably have forgotten me...anyways here is my attempt at this again and for the last time I hope to keep it up.

It seems fitting that I write about (not in detail though) what made me give up all my blogs these last few months! Not wanting to sound too depressed all I can think of are the words 'a few personal road blocks!'Seems that my run of meeting weirdos is not quite over. Somehow I never seem to tire out of the fact that the person in front of me may not always be who he or she actually claims to be. Even when I know this I make the grave mistake of trusting said person and temporarily messing up my life in the process. Maybe its just "Maya", the goddess who temporarily blinds our minds to something which results in our brains not functioning as they should be! Well..it is always easy to blame it on someone and in my case its "Maya"! (Note to self: I should write about this more in the future)


It was during this time that I spent my days reading the book "A Lion Among Men" by Gregory McGuire. I really enjoyed reading the authors first two books "Wicked" and "Son of Witch" but turning the pages of this book seemed like a never ending chore! Like I wasn't depressed and stressed enough! What promised to be a very interesting read took me about 4 months to finish it! Here is the write up that made me pick up the book in the first place!Why should I alone suffer??? If any of you think you may be interested please yourself!Maybe I am still not ready for books like this one!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Lion_Among_Men


Anyways I was totally put off of reading books as this one had tired me so much! Another 2 months went by before I picked up my next book!By now I am totally behind on my 20in2009 challenge!Soul searching and in a desperate need for laughter I turned to my favorite author who has never let me down till date - Terry Pratchett! In continuation of Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters I picked up the third book of his 'witches' series titled 'Witches Abroad'! This book actually did the trick - I escaped into a world of funnies where fairly tales were challenged! Cinderella I mean Emberella did not want to marry the prince (who was actually a frog by night), Count Dracula was killed by a cat looking for his dinner and little red riding hood did not make it to her grandmother's to find her eaten by the big bad wolf. The poor misunderstood creature was just really confused and had no intention of killing anyone and all this was coupled with a magic wand that turned everything to pumpkins! Stringing all these tales together were my favorite witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick! Gosh I have missed reading! Be sure to check this one out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches_Abroad



After a good laugh I have started reading something a little more serious called "The Palace of Illusions" tale strung from the important events from "The Mahabharatha" narrated by none other than Draupadi herself. I shall post a review of this book when I 'm done with it. Finally I think I am back on my blogs and I hope I stay.. I have some great ideas for my other blogs and plan to implement them at the latest! I was lost in the midst of my mundane life and it seems like I found myself here again!

To my blogosphere friends, do leave your comments - it would make me feel at home again! Until later....

Life, Universe and Everything

Title – Life, Universe and Everything
Author – Douglas Adams
Series – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Genre – Science Fiction, Humor

Summary: Once again, the book was a journey through space and time that made me loose my way around the pages every now and then. This book is no exception to the usual crazy humor that is a consistent throughout the series. Arthur tries hard to find the meaning of Life, Universe and Everything and in the process saves the Universe twice and rescues the ashes. By ashes I refer to the ashes from burning the cricket stumps of England and the cricket series for winning back the same. Being one of the keys to destroy the universe the ashes are stolen by the alien robots from Krikkit so that they can destroy the universe. There is also a lot of insight about the planet Krikkit, which was probably the source for Cricket and the usual weird characters that range from a talking, flopping mattress, a floating couch landing in the middle of Lord’s and and a floating party! Does Arthur find what he is looking for? What is the meaning of life? Is it really the number 42?Find out all this and more while reading this book!

Verdict –Borrow and Read
Finished: 6th February 2009

The Canterville Ghost

Title - The Canterville Ghost
Author – Oscar Wilde
Genre - Mystery, Humor, Classics

Summary: Though I have heard the name of Oscar Wilde, I have never read any of his works before. I happened to come across ‘The Canterville Ghost’ while browsing for books at the local ‘Borders’ and couldn’t give it a pass. The story was amazingly humorous – just the way I like my books! The main protagonist of this endearing tale is the ghost of Sir Simon who haunts an old English country house called Canterville Chase. An American family, the Otis’s move into the house without paying much heed to the warnings of the owner who insists that the house has been haunted for many years and the residents have died due to fear after paranormal encounters. But the ghost is no match for the Otis’s whose twins chase the ghost at every encounter, play dirty tricks on the unsuspecting ghost and even manage to scare it while the lady and man of the house go to the extent of offering the ghost some oil for its rusted chains and medicine for its cough! The ghost feels insulted on not being able to scare the family away and enters a state of depression. This is when the daughter of the house, Virginia steps in to help poor Sir Simon to actually move over to the other world.

The book tickles your funny bones and towards the end of the tale, it also manages to tug your heart strings. It makes you roll with laughter trying to imagine a ghost that’s been played upon by humans and actually avoiding them because it is scared. I am pretty sure that this book has found its way into the reading list of many school and college curriculum's. Well, as for me I am definitely going to read more books from Mr. Wilde.

Verdict – Must Read and Enjoy!

Finished: 29'th Jan 2009
Rating: *****

I Read...

Here I am racking my brains again on what exactly I should be writing about. Honestly, this is my third attempt at maintaining a blog. All I know is that I have so many things to talk about but my hands fall asleep when I try to convert my thoughts into words. Some of my friends have been egging me for sometime now on how I need to start somewhere so that I could get somewhere as far as my passion for writing is concerned. So I thought I’d write about some of the authors whose books whisked me away to another realm when the rest of the world enjoyed an afternoon siesta or an evening before the telly!!

Here goes in no particular order……

Doughlas Adams – The dude rocks! He has definitely taken science fiction to the most imaginative and humorous extent possible. I fell in love with the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and even more with the paranoid robot Marvin. The very thought of characters such as Zaphod Beeblebrox and the Dentrassis and the concept of the Babel fish bring a smile to my face. Too bad Doughlas Adams passed away at an early age, people like myself will definitely miss any of the other books he would have written.

Robert Asprin – The name sounds like some cure for a headache doesn’t it? Well his books may actually do the trick by making you break into peels of laughter. He takes you on a fantasy journey into the world of ‘Myth’ along with ‘Skeeve’ the thief turned magician apprentice and his teacher ‘Aahz’ the demon that lost his magic due to a summoning ritual gone wrong. Of course the army of imp assassins, the dimension of Deva populated by the deveels and their popular bazaars leave a reader wanting more! I will definitely miss more books from Mr. Asprin. May his soul rest in peace!

Dan Brown – His books got me hooked on to historical fictions. The amount of research that has gone behind each of these books can be felt as one reads ‘Angels and Demons’ or ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Thanks to him I fell in love with Italy / Rome and I also felt sad that I did not pay much attention at the Louvre museum! I also enjoyed his ‘Deception Point’ about a compelling scientific discovery deep in the Atlantic Ocean. However his ‘Digital Fortress’ was a let down… The book dragged on so much that I wished I hadn’t started reading it.

Phillipa Gregory – The lady who got me curious about the history of England, its castles, cultures and the royal way of life! Her book ‘The Other Boleyn girl’ though panned by critics for its historical inaccuracies was a very candid look into the life of King Henry VIII and his beautiful wife, the proud Anne Boleyn who played an important role in shaping the religious future of England. The elements of politics, ambition, love and betrayal in the midst of London, the English country side and France makes the reader sit up and inspires one to know more about the history of their own country. I wish there was a way to introduce the world to our rich history in an interesting way other than just Bollywood!

Michael Crichton – The man behind the ‘Jurassic Park Series’. I was surprised to know the he was also the author of ‘Disclosure’ which was a corporate drama; far from the cry of dinosaurs and Orangutans! I especially enjoyed his travel back to medieval England with ‘Timeline’ and the journey into the deep jungles of Africa with ‘Congo’. The possibilities with science are sure to send a shiver down your spine with ‘Next’.

J K Rowling – I know many of you don’t think much of her writing abilities; however I am sure most of us would agree that she is good story teller. Her books are entertaining, creative and she seems to have a knack of connecting even the smallest of events together. The Harry Potter Series was definitely a page turner and I have not experienced even the slightest boredom in turning the pages even when I re-read the books.

Terry Pratchett – Another great author who gives science fiction yet another makeover by introducing the world to the dimension of ‘Ankh-Morpork’ and a concept that Earth is actually balanced on the back of four elephants trying to balance themselves on the back of a giant turtle! Stunned? His characters like the magician Rincewind, the walking trunk with life and other delightful misfits and imbeciles who create the ecology of Ankh-Morpork would definitely take you on roller coaster of laughter and curiosity.

Stephen King – The undisputed King of horror fictions in my list! The first book I read by him was ‘Salems Lot’. I couldn’t help not putting down the book. The idea of the hunt for evil vampires that have taken over an entire town was novel and scary only after Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Kings other books such as Christine, Pet Cemetery and Thinner made me wonder what kind of research the author had to do to write such convincing plots. Kudos to him!

Sidney Sheldon – I started reading books by this author after finding some of his publications in my dad’s mobile trunk library. I found his books thrilling and they never seemed to give away what’s coming next. My personal favorite was ‘Tell Me Your Dreams’ and among those who have read the book till date, there is always doubt on whether the main protagonists alter ego was really chased away.

Jeffrey Archer – I am not sure how I started reading his books. His books always reminded me of some of our Hindi movies, especially ‘Sons of Fortune’. I also enjoyed ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ where he made possible for the United States to have its first female president. The only other fictional female president I can think of is that of the Geena Davis starring as the American president in the show ‘Commander and Chief’. My favorite book of the lot was ‘False Impression’. No surprise here as it that had a lot to do with arts and artists.

Ayn Rand – I read ‘The Fountainhead’ by this author. Other than the fact she created a character that lived an Utopian existence in the midst of a greedy world, the book did not hold much fascination for me. I found the book packed with too many details that just dragged its story line….

And more…… Hey! Don't think I have run out of a list of authors; its just that I am tired and would like to move on. So until next time share with me any of your favorite authors and books and Happy reading!