#539 Book Review : The Strange Library

 Book Review - The Strange Library

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This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2024.

It was the 6^th book that I picked up to read this year which Haruki Murakami has written. It falls into the category of Fiction. I generally don’t prefer reading fiction unless I have other alternatives. I inaugurated my reading journey at a nearby public library through this book.

I picked up this book to read for several reasons. Firstly, it was a skinny book that appeared quite appealing to me. I wanted to finish reading it in one go. I loved the color of the cover of this book. Secondly, I wanted to motivate myself to read fiction as the English Section had only fiction books. Thirdly, I decided not to get the membership of the library just for burrowing books to create a mini library at home! This decision to not opt for the membership of the library will push me out of my apartment to go to the library and spend some time there.

Coming back to the book, it was a thin book to cover in a single sitting. It has some 50-60 pages with illustrations to supplement the story. It took me about 30 minutes to complete it. It was the first illustration book that I read. It's about a boy who went to the city library to get books related to the taxation regime of the Ottoman Empire. A thought related to this topic came to his mind and he recalled how his mother once suggested him to visit the library for any information. Little did he know that he would be imprisoned by the old man in the basement of the library where he would meet the sheepman and a mute girl. Through the sheepman, he gets to know that the old man likes to eat the brains of the boys like him who are knowledgeable. The old man finds a knowledgeable brain tastier. So, the old man provides all the books to the boy to cram word by word in the stipulated time frame. The sheepman who lives with that old man knows the secrets in getting out of that library and helps the boy in tracking the labyrinth until they get caught by the old man but the boy is successful in

It's a one-time read book of fiction and not for intense reading. I couldn’t understand the ending so well or the ending could’ve been written in a better way, I don’t know, but something felt incomplete to me. Children, who love to read fiction of suspense and thriller, would like it. My rating is 6/10.

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Swati Sarangi

02.09.2024

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#520 Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven : Book Review

 Mitch Albom’s The Five People you meet in heaven – Book Review

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It was the second book of this year. I wasn't unaware of the writer Mitch Albom as I already read and was impressed by his book "Tuesdays with Morrie". I picked up this book to read because I burrowed a book "The Next Person You Meet in Heaven" by the same author which appeared to be the sequel of this book.

About the Novel

This book is about a man named Edward, fondly called, Eddie who worked as a mechanic in Ruby Pier. As a mechanic, he is responsible for greasing the tracks, checking the levers or breaks, or maintenance-related activities of the swings. This amusement park is situated at the beach and many people go there with their kids to enjoy different rides. Unfortunately, Eddie dies due to a technical failure in a ride while saving a girl.

He then finds himself in heaven. The first person whom he meets is the "Blue Man", Joseph Corvelzchik whose body turned blue due to the intake of silver nitrate. On enquiring further, he reveals that he's the reason for his death on the beach, and makes him realize that every incident in life is related to another. Before leaving, he gives the hint that he's going to meet the rest of the four people.

The next person that he meets is the captain who was his commanding officer in the war of which Eddie was a part.  While being kept as a prisoner of war in one of the forced labor camps in the Philippines, he burned it along with his other comrades, but Eddie couldn't follow the shadow that he suspected to be of someone in that camp while the captain shot his leg.

The next person was Ruby whose husband Emile built the amusement park and named it Ruby Pier. She narrated the real cause of the death of his father as his husband shared the same hospital room as that of his father and knowing about his father as an employee of Ruby Pier saddened her. She asked Eddie to forgive his father.

The fourth person he met was his wife, Marguerite for whom his love was profound. She said that love is never lost in death but carried on further to take other forms.

The last person whom he met was the Filipina Girl, Tala whom she couldn't recover in the labor camp during wartime. She asked her to scrape off all the scars due to burn which Eddie did by dipping stone in the water. On asking her if he could save that girl during the accident, she said that he was able to push her away.

In the end, it's shown that Eddie meets his wife Marguerite in his heaven, Stardust Band Shell.

My views:

I loved the concept of this novel and can't wait to read its sequel, “The next person you meet in Heaven". The narrative was simple and captivating. I was so amused to find every little detail in each scene. I find it a page-turner and full of philosophies in the form of wise thoughts. At the end of the book, in the acknowledgment section, I was thrilled to find that Eddie was the name of the uncle of the author.

I rate this book as 4.5/5 and would recommend it to the readers.

 

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Swati Sarangi

28.04.2024

 P.S: This post is a part of #BlogChatterA2Z 2024Challenge for Alphabet ‘M’

#509 Book Review - House of cards

  

Book Review - House of Cards

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This novel is a work of fiction divided into different chapters, making it easy to read and finish. This is the last book I finished before this year ends which I picked up at the beginning of this year! When Sudha Murthy writes it, there will be a description of the story with every possible detail. As I've already read many books by Sudha Murthy, I already anticipated that various scenes of the novel would have been taken from day-to-day life, thus making it very convenient for readers to connect.

This novel revolves around the life of Sanjay and Mridula, from Sanjay getting mesmerized by Mridula from their first meeting at a wedding ceremony to marrying her and starting a family in Bangalore. This novel very well depicts all the nuances of life after marriage in India from describing the pain of a woman leaving her maiden home behind and happily accepting the norms of the home of her in-laws to being deceived by her husband in a family matter. Every stage of a growing relationship between a husband and wife has been aptly portrayed through intelligently designed circumstances that are generally observed in real life. This shows the immaculate observation of the life and surroundings of Sudha Murthy. The story ends on a note that Sanjay goes to meet Mridula at Alldahli, where she went after she felt cheated by Sanjay on a family matter. The scenes that follow are left for the interpretation of the readers. As an optimistic person, I would interpret it as a realization of Sanjay about his mistakes and an emotional reunion that follows the aftermath.

I loved the main character Mridula, an intelligent lady with a strong sense of integrity, who knows how to stay happy in life without the need for any external factor. Initially, I struggled to relate to many characters who were introduced one after the other, but I eventually, found a way to create a family tree to help me relate to the characters. In my opinion, I would suggest it to other readers.

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Swati Sarangi

  P.S: This post is a part of #BlogChatterA2Z 2024Challenge for Alphabet ‘H’

#501 Book Review - Marry Me Stranger

 Book Review – Marry Me Stranger

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This is the first book that I finished reading this year and I am lagging in terms of the books that I should finish reading before this year ends. This is also the first book (for me )by the author Novoneel Chakraborty that I picked up to read. 

This book revolves around a stranger who has been sending notes/SMS from unknown numbers to the protagonist, Rivanah, ever since she moved to Mumbai for the job. This stranger, which initially, seemed someone frightening to her, appears to be helpful when he helps her catch her boyfriend (whom she loved so blindly) red-handed, cheating her for a girl. That's when she realized that this stranger had been someone whom she could confide in. She came to know that the stranger could hear her talking and respond to her through SMS. There are good sides to this stranger when he makes her teach orphan children English every Saturday and compels her to present herself as a witness of the gangrape case. This 160-page-long novel is a romance suspense thriller which made me turn its pages to solve this mystery of finding the stranger. In the end, when the police force is involved in finding the stranger, they too are unsuccessful in unveiling the stranger which leads to the introduction of other sequels of this novel.

           This book is the first of a kind from the genre of Suspense and thriller for me to pick up and I must say that I was not disappointed. The plots are clear and the characters are introduced without any mess. They don't create a lot of confusion for readers. I wasn't expecting too much explicit content in such a detail. I liked the way a middle-class Indian household is projected where parents are overprotective of their children and are obsessed with marrying their children in an arranged marriage set up within their community. A lot of scenes like marriage scenes, corporate life, and living in a shared apartment in metro cities in India are relatable. Overall, it's a good book and the author has written it well!

 

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Swati Sarangi

02.04.2024

P.S: This post is a part of #BlogChatterA2Z 2024Challenge for Alphabet ‘B’.

#438 Book Review : Do Epic Shit

 Do Epic Shit

Source : Google Picture

Author: Ankur Warikoo

Genre: Non-Fiction

Format: E-Book

Number of pages: 146

Star: 4.2/5 (Self)

Published by: Juggernaut

My Review:

A non-fiction book worth reading, this was the 24th book I picked up to read before this year ends and I am glad I did it. The author has compiled his tweets into different chapters as the contents of this book. This reminds me of the book "The almanack of Naval Ravikant" by Eric Jorgenson who has done a similar job. Coincidentally, I got the recommendation of "The almanack of Naval Ravikant" by Ankur Warikoo himself and finished reading it long before "Do epic sh*t".

This book is a complete manifestation of the power of compounding - thoughts into tweets, tweets into threads, threads into chapters, and chapters into the book. Tweets expressing similar ideas are grouped together into a chapter and there are 6 chapters in this book.

Amidst much criticism, the author himself has confessed at the beginning of the Acknowledgments section that the thoughts expressed in the book are burrowed ones and he doesn't take the responsibility of owning them. What impresses me is the way those common thoughts are expressed in simple language which everyone can connect to. These thoughts are raw, honest, and unmanipulated. Ankur doesn't shy away from exposing the stark reality of life. He aims to help people to take decisions from the point of view of awareness and not ignorance, just like the way this book has been written with a lot of honesty and life experiences.

A few of my favorites are written below –

1) "Nothing matters more in life than showing up every day. To work, assume responsibilities, to nurture relationships."

2)"We bring people down because we are feeling low."

3)"The scars that you wear on your body. Don't regret them. Don't hate them. Don't reject them."

4)"Asking is the best thing to do, before making assumptions. It either validates your assumption or you get to understand people better. Either way, you get to be a better communicator."

5)"We know others through their actions. We know ourselves through our thoughts."

6)"We're not average of the five people we spend the most time with. We are average of the five thoughts we spend the most time with. And those thoughts needn't come from people in our life".

7)"How we treat others is a reflection of how we treat ourselves. It is rare, almost impossible, for a man, conniving, hurtful, racist, bigoted person to truly love themselves."

8)"An excuse is a distance between who you are and who you wish to be."

9)"If you don't ask, the answer is always no."

10)"It is better to be busy in the chase of finding yourself instead of being busy in the rat race and never know yourself."

11)"Safe is better than sorry. Nope. Risk is better than regret."

12)"People will help you only when you have helped them understand how they can."

As written by Ankur on page 83, "We may show to the world that we seek something different from what we truly seek. Yet hand on heart, we always know what we truly seek. And the universe has a beautiful system of landing what you ask for, on your plate." I too have sought this book as a gift from the universe before this year ends, lo and behold! I won this book in a giveaway contest before 2022. My belief in the Law of Attraction strengthens.

My favourite chapters of this book are Relationships and Epilogue. I loved the idea of writing letters to the children and to oneself. Something, as personal as a letter, can only be written with a heart full of gratitude and willingness to appreciate the beauty that one can perceive. The book couldn't have been completed in a better way than the way the epilogue has been written. It made me awestruck and emotional when I read those concluding lines that remind the readers of their hidden superpowers and urge to invoke them.

In the end, thank you Ankur Warikoo for writing a wonderful book like this, of course, the title makes it stand out.

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Swati Sarangi

22.12.2022

 

#422 : Book Review : Life's Amazing Secrets

 Life’s Amazing Secrets-How to find balance and purpose in life

Image : Google

Author: Gaur Gopal Das

Genre: Non-Fiction

Format: Ebook

Number of pages: 209

Star: 4.9/5 (Self)

Published by: Penguine

 

Review: Who doesn't know Gaur Gopal Das? This book is written by one of the most respected and loved monks of today’s time, who is also a disciple of Radhanath Swami. This book provides a very interesting read just like his lectures that you might have come across in YouTube. This is a self-help book of its own kind which is written in a very simple and narrative tone.

 

Gaur Gopal Das has made sure to inculcate precious philosophies of life through real-life examples. This is the reason why he has created a main character Harry who invites him over the lunch prepared and served lovingly by his wife Lalitha. They discuss several aspects of life, right from how those couples met, fell in and out of love to the meaning of life. This is when the monk goes on narrating several incidences from his life to emphasize on the fact that our car-like-life must be balanced on four wheels as Personal life, Relationships, Work-life and Social Contribution. If there's an imbalance in any of these wheels, the car might get lost from its path while moving towards its destination. He also has discussed the importance of gratitude, spiritual practice, the act of forgiveness, speaking sensitively, self-discovery, decoding spirituality at work, selfless sacrifice, etc through several stories and anecdotes to make it relatable by the readers. Philosophies of life are better understood when those are relatable. This is what Gaur Gopal Das has exactly done.

My Review:                                                           

I feel so grateful to have picked up this book for reading as it’s my 5^th book of the year. The language of the book is such that I felt listening to his lectures. This book acts as a gist of all the lectures given by the monk. I would definitely recommend this book to those who are on the path to figure out the purpose of their lives.

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Swati Sarangi

23.03.2021

#418 Book Review:The infinite Road

 

The Infinite Road

Grab a copy from here :The Infinite Road

Author: Shefali Arora

Genre: Fiction

Format: Ebook

Number of pages: 147

Star: 4.8/5 (Self)

Published by: Locksley Hall Publishing

 

Review: This novel revolves around the central character, Alunkrita, who works in the corporate sector of  IT. She discovers a disabled and abandoned child, Anokhi (which she names her later), and brings her to her home to take care of her. Slowly and steadily Anokhi becomes the motivation of her life and her mundane corporate life does not seem to be dominating now. When she returned from her office, Anokhi’s description of her day at school and her mesmerizing skills of art would always enchant Alunkrita. Alunkrita’s life consists of Sowmya, her childhood best friend who invites her to be her partner in her business venture with Parth, who was her lover from her school days. Alunkrita was in a relationship with Parth and because of the career priorities of pre-University days of preparation, their relationship broke up on a bitter tone and Alunkrita has still not forgiven Parth for that incident.  It was from that incident, Alunkrita has never fallen in love until she meets the neighbor, Siddharth who located from Dehradun to her neighbor’s house which remained empty for many months. Alunkrita’s attraction towards Siddharth grew more over the fact that he bonded so well with Anokhi.

One day, Alunkrita’s mother arrives at her home surprisingly and finds Anokhi to be there. There’s an unpleasant discussion about Anokhi between the two. Anokhi overhears their discussion and Alunkrita’s plan to send her to a boarding school in the future. The fact of going away from Alunkrita saddens Anokhi.

Alunkrita plans a surprise birthday plan for Anokhi where she has also invited an orthopaediatrician couple who will be doing surgery on Anokhi’s feet so as to remove her disability. On her birthday, Anokhi goes missing. After a lot of efforts of Alunkrita, Siddharth , Sowmya and Parth, it’s Parth who finally finds Anokhi and takes her to her office the next day after finishing off all formality.   

All misunderstandings between Alunkrita and Parth starts to fade away after Anokhi’s discovery and Alunkrita decides to give love a second chance after Parth’s honest confession of feelings towards her. Both of them get engaged and plan to marry in the next two months. Parth gifts a well-designed office room to Alunkrita to begin the start-up journey that she has always wished to.

 

Alunkrita gives a nod to Siddharth’s wish to adopt Anokhi and take her to his home at Dehradun. Siddharth, a widower, who has lost his wife and daughter, in a car accident, feels that Anokhi would alleviate the emptiness of his daughter, Diya in his life. With an understanding partner, Parth by her side, Alunkrita’s journey of the infinite road of life now seems less challenging.

My Review:

First of all, I would like to thank my dear blogger friend, Shefali for gifting me her book as a Christmas gift and this is a really great book to end the year with! It’s really great to connect with one of the dear blogger friends of google+ days and witness her pursuing her passion along with her profession.

I always prefer a happy ending in fiction and I am glad the story has a happy ending to it. I like the way the characters have been introduced in the plot and connected to the existing characters. The style of describing different events and expressing different emotions is simply superb. The narrating style is so interesting and engaging that I finished the book within three sitting and I felt like I was one of those neighbors of Alunkrita who witnessed everything happening in her life and neighborhood. I was so engrossed in the plot that I left everything aside to finish off this book. Believe me, it was a very engaging read! With this novel, I'm successful in completing the 2020 Reading Challenge of Goodreads

I would definitely recommend you to read it. I’m sure about the fact that when you get hold of this novel, you’ll simply lose track of the time until you reach the last page of it which exactly happened in my case.

I wish the budding Author and my friend great success in all her future endeavors.

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Swati Sarangi

30.12.2020

#409 : Book Review- Time Heals

 

Time Heals

Get your copy here

 

Author: Arti Honrao

Genre: fiction

Format: hard copy

Number of pages: 144 

Star: 3.8/5 (Self)

Published by: pothi.com

 

Review: This novel revolves around the central character, Reva, lady from middle class who is in her early thirties, is staying with her husband Siddharth and daughter Sia. A mysterious guy, Daniel, in his late twenties shifts to the locality where Reva is staying. He appears to observe Reva from his windows as her house is visible through his window. He develops an unusual attraction to her and craves to meet her. Reva’s discovery of infidelity of his husband demands to seek mental support and Daniel shows up as a helping guy in the neighbourhood. The the rest of the story describes how a married woman struggles between several thoughts and selects that path which appears to her as the best thing to do. She comes out of the abusive relationship and chooses love over compromise. She realizes a supportive partner in Daniel and lives happily ever after with Sia as a family.  

 

My Review:  I participated in a contest; Lovingly Abusive conducted by Arti Honrao. I submitted two of my entries in it. You can read those entries here-Breaking free and Rain and tears . Unfortunately I couldn’t win the contest through voting yet I managed to receive consolation prize for the same. This book came to me as the prize of the contest. I felt very happy to receive that and immediately started reading it.

Personally I prefer happy ending in a love story and this novel ends in a happy note. This novel is written from a third person tone.  It would have been little bit more interesting had there been more dialogues between Daniel and Reva as I was eagerly looking forward to their conversation. It’s a novel describing a lot of critical circumstances at one plot. The central character, Reva chooses the path which was unconventional yet the most right thing to do. I was intrigued about the ending , so was curiously flipping over the pages. Several emotions have been very well depicted in different circumstances. 

I enjoyed reading this book and that too something being delivered at my doorstep during this pandemic era to cheer me up as a consolation prize. I liked this experience.

 

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Swati Sarangi

24.08.2020