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Tag Archives: book

Book Review : Tuki’s Grand Salon Chase

06 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by monikamanchanda in review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

book, book review, parul sharma, review, tuki's grand salon chase

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When I first read about the book, it reminded me of the movie “Everybody says I am fine” where the main protagonist is a hair stylist and can read what the person is thinking while cutting the hair. While no such thing happens in the book with Tuki, the book is filled with small nuggets about all aspects of running a salon and includes a decent share on the customers, their thought process etc.

The story starts in “Nancy Factory”, an upmarket and one of THE hair salons of Mumbai which was started by predictably someone called Nancy and where now Tuki, Rene and Jene (nancy’s daughters) work as hair stylists.

The book takes us through the emotions and the struggle of Tuki so well while she deals with trying to make a mark of her own in the industry and yet holds on to her relationships. It takes us the politics of relationship and work, takes us to through the mind of a girl who is lost and trying to get the bearings of her life back.

The book is laced with humor and wit, which is so categorically Parul’s style and yet seemed to have matured. If you have read the author’s previous work as well as her blog you will know what I am talking about.  The other thing that I loved about the book was how well the characters were defined and how they felt real. One could easily identify with Tuki, the middle class who has so many dreams and is desperately trying to fit herself in Mumbai fashion, Tuki’s stay at home dad who is somewhere trying to defy the notion that all stay at home dad’s are useless. Brenda, a new mother who is just not able to deal with motherhood and life away from home.

The book by far according to me is Parul’s best work yet, Parul dear you just raised the bar and the expectations from your next book.

Go grab this one, for a easy yet brilliant read

Book’s FB Page – https://www.facebook.com/TukisGrandSalonChase

 

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Gulabi, Bemba and a head : Book Review (The Spy Who Lost Her Head by Jane De Suza)

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by monikamanchanda in review

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

book, review, the spy who lost her head

DSC_1133When a friend has written a book and you pick it up, it’s always a tough situation. What if you don’t like the book? What if it doesn’t match up to the expectations you have from your friend. Will your friend’s funny bone reflect in the book or will it fall flat on your face. These were some of the thoughts with which I started reading “The Spy Who Lost Her Head by Jane De Suza”. Jane is a fellow blogger (blog link) and has become a friend too. Her blog Jane Kidding is a hilarious read I kid you not and that is what reflects in the book too.

The book is about Gulabi, a village belle who comes to town to search for her man, her BEMBA (read the book to know what it means, I am not gonna tell you) and turns into a James Bond style super spy. The city takes Gulabi with surprise and the effect of Gulabi and her Queen English is similar on the city and its people. In the process of finding her Bemba, Gulabi, who somewhere becomes Pink Rose in the book, lands with an additional head which she inturns loses and creates a mystery.

The book is a roller coaster ride of humor, I kid you not when I say that there is no moment in the book when you will not be laughing out aloud. The characters are very well defined and clearly seem to have a mind of their own. Whether its Gulabi herself or the landlord which she keeps forcing to believe is her Bemba, Tanya the other roommate and a journalist who tries hard to turn the village belle in a city girl.

The only little small crib I had from the book was that the climax somehow seemed a little rushed to me. Else it kept me laughing and engrossed through and through.

In the end like I said on Gulabi’s FB page “me spending two nights with you. Laafffing too much and then crying with laffter. My head is hurting with laffter but I am still spending night with you. Gulabi you are too good. My Bemba might get angry with me but I am still spending night with you laffing :)”

Go pick up the book now and I promise you won’t regret.

Rating 4/5

Book The Spy Who Lost Her Head by

Authors  Jane De Suza

Price Rs 250/-

Flipkart Link – BUY HERE

 

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A Calendar Too Crowded

02 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by monikamanchanda in Causes to Champion, Feminism, review

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

a calendar too crowded, book, book review, causes to champion, Feminism, Sagarika Chakraborty, womans day, women, womens issues

My state right now and a book review too… I MUST begin this post by profusely apologizing to Sags and Harish… Sags because she is such a good friend and whose book I loved that I should have posted this review eons ago and Harish because damn, I think this is the record number of follow ups he would have done for a review with anyone I think… Unless Swaram hasnt still posted it 😉 But guys truly my state these days is just as the title of the book in a different manner that’s it… (but what I am upto is a topic of different post altogether and hopefully after this post, I will try to be regular :P)

a-calendar-too-crowded

Now Coming to the book itself, it was a book I was really looking forward too and not just because its been written by a very very dear friend but also because its on a topic very dear to my heart (surprise surprise? I can see the regular readers of my blog, smiling wide enough on this)

For those who don’t know what the book is about, here is the excerpt

Sagarika Chakraborty is a lawyer and student at ISB. Her début book is “a collection of stories and poems woven around the theme of womanhood”. Throughout the year there are a few dozen days set apart for women and issues surrounding gender. As is usual, we hear a lot about these issues on the special days and then go back to routine stories for the rest of the year.

In her introduction Sags goes ahead to explain the intent behind choosing the unique concept for the stories in the book

“The attempt is to delve deeper and analyse whether it is merely enough to rely on statistics and be complacent in the knowledge that the numbers indicate a better society in the making, or whether there is an urgent need to look beneath the covers and realise that despite all such dedicated days, there are 300 odd days when there is nothing special that life has to offer. Where each day is still an unending drudgery and where womanhood is cursed and trampled upon.”

I love the way the stories have been threaded in, the unique approach of picking up dates and how very true it is that its not just dates that matter, its all year through that we have to suffer, does a woman’s day make a difference to me if I see my maid coming home beaten blue by her drunk husband a day after 8th March? Does it hold any significance at that point of time? Standing for woman and improving there plight is a task that has to be done every single day through the year, through the life and that is what the book attempts by bringing to front the numerous stories

that touch you deep inside somewhere.

When I started reading the book, I was heart broken and the eyes were wet, the feelings becoming numb as I moved forward and somewhere in the middle of the book I realised that these are not the stories she wrote, these are the stories so unfortunately we see all around us 😦 Yes I know there are a lot of people which will say… “oh well the book is too depressing”, “naa you women aren’t so deprived these days” to those people I just have one answer… if the ostrich ducks her head, the problems don’t go away. Just look around yourself, the women in your life, the one that cleans your utensils? the one you have hired as a nanny to take care of your child? May be a distant (and god forbid a close one) who has gone through a divorce and had to listen to taunts from all and sundry, a woman who doesnt want a child or god help her if as a couple they can’t have a child… These are the stories of woman around us that touch you deep inside. Yes its depressing, yes its heartbreaking and that is exactly why its important to read it. To be aware, to be shaken out of our comfort zone and to be able to do something.

The book stands up and questions many things that will trouble us and its amazing to note how the author has gone under the skin of many many women so effortlessly.Another thing which I loved about the book is the how lucid the language is in the book, its hard to believe that its her first book.

The thing that may be could been improved in the book? The names, the names, the names… None of the characters in her books have names and when I started reading it, I found it very disturbing, we are used to of relating to people my name, then why leave such an important thing aside? May be she wanted to shake us out of our comfort zone while reading the book? But yes initially it did disturb me but slowly as I read more, I think it kind of stopped making a difference.

Final Word : A must read book for people in this generation, people who think that the problems of womanhood existed only in the era gone or these problems exist only in remote villages. It opens your eyes wide and clear. And yeah my fav three would be – Naked, Can you Hear me ma?, An equal friendship.. Do share which are yours?

Author : Sagarika Chakraborty

Publisher : Niyogi Books

Rating : 3.5/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

PS: do u like the new look of the blog?

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Where the Kay Woman meets the M Woman

16 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by monikamanchanda in Random thoughts

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

blogging, book, friends, kiran manral, the reluctant detective

Yeah Yeah we are talking about the latest book of most loved Kiran Manral‘s The Reluctant Detective.

I have been a long time reader of Kiran’s blog and love the way she writes. Be it humour or the social causes she takes up. She has her own distinct way of describing everything, a way that keeps you hooked to reading from the starting of the post till the end…  The way she changes hat between the loving mumma to the brat, the dedicated person running India Helps, being the fashionista at her yet another blog and ofcourse making us smile and laugh at ThirtySix Forty and counting is amazing. Super Woman Kiran Manral 😉

I finally had a chance to meet her last year sometime during Feb when we went for the Lavasa trip and one of the biggest highlight of the trip was meeting her and chatting away to glory as long last friends naa make that soul sisters 🙂 We chatted about everything under the sun from handbags to men (wink wink), to mils to kids, from bloggers to twitter folks, it seemed that full 2 days weren’t enough for the things we needed to speak about

And somewhere during these chats, came up the topic of child sexual abuse which eventually turned into a month long initiative to spread awareness and break the taboo that we carry around CSA. If I may say so myself it was very well received and the feedback we got from the readers, the support we got from organisations like blogadda and many NGO’s and also the media mentions had us totally humbled us. The month will always be in my heart and mind as one of the milestone months of my life and CSA wasn’t the only that will make it memorable, it was also working so closely with the woman I came to admire even more, a woman who became much more than a blog buddy and moved on to become more like a sister.

So when she announced her book (seems like ages ago though 😉 ) the excited wait began and when I received it two days ago, my excitement was beyond control.. the book I was reading already was ditched and to N’s horror surprise a baking order was ignored because I couldn’t put the book down 😛 Eventually N put some sense into my head (read screamed at me to get baking he he) and hence I haven’t been able to finish the book as of yet. But soon I will be back with a review but till now it feels exciting, gripping and funny as I thought it will be…

After all any book which starts with a struggle of what to wear to a party and how its a struggle to keep the nail polish from not smudging has to be interesting anyways 😉 and yeah did I mention some handsome men and two murders

I will be back with my review till such time here is how u can grab your copy from any of the below links depending of whether you have a favorite or you want to go for the cheapest which BTW is infibeam 😉

Flipkart 

Signed Copies at Dialabook

Crossword

IndiaPlaza

InfiBeam

And for more information on the book follow the book blog and LIKE the FB Page

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Book Review | Live From London by Parinda Joshi

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by monikamanchanda in review

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

book, book review, chiclit, fiction, indian author, indian fiction, reading, review

live from london  

I love reading chicklits, and the first look of this book promised to be everything that a chicklit is supposed to be – a smart but slightly confused girl, a good looking hunk who might be her saviour, good friends, steamy romance, mushy feelings and to add to it London. I knew its a book that has to be read.

Live from London is primarily a story of Nishi Gupta, who came to live in London with her parents after her father got transferred, loves playing guitar and her bunch of friends Riya, Sarah and Zac. After finishing her education at a respectable college in London, she decides to play a risk with her career by wanting to join the music industry to prove the world that she has got it, to recover from the terrible hurt and embarrassment on her disastrous appearance in “Britain’s Got Talent”.

Against her Indian and conservative parents she sets out her struggle to make it somewhere with a cold and calculative boss but things turn around with the entry of America’s new pop star, Nick which predictably results in a steamy affair. Along with the love life, Nishi’s career begins to look good too with a song deal coming her way till the world decides to do a u-turn on her.

The book is a fast and easy read, written in a casual conversational language. I finished it in a single sitting during my Bangalore-Delhi flight. What I liked about the book was that it makes you realise that Parinda Joshi has promise for a better future, the characters were well formed and thought about. The book has it humor moments too, doesn’t drag around the story. Sticks to it and says is decently well

However inspite of all this, the book didn’t leave me fully satisfied. Why you ask? Couple of reasons and the top most being, like all Rupa books its not been copy read properly. It has grammatical errors and quite a few of them at that. And I have said that before, I can’t stand when that happens. For God’s sake there is some responsibility a publishing house has to take too.

The second reason that it left me wanting for more. I mean the book at times seemed hurried through, as if someone was under pressure to finish it for a deadline or as if short story has been forcibly converted to a novel.

But the book is surely a good addition to the fast emerging Indian Chicklits, books like this make me feel yes there is hope that may be just may be someday we will have an India Sophie Kinsella too?

Final Word : A fast and easy Indian chicklit with well defined characters. I would a good flight companion for people who like reading this genre.

Book : Live from London

Author : Parinda Joshi

Publisher : Rupa

Rating : 3/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

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The Boss Is Not My Friend

08 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by monikamanchanda in review

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

book, book review, review, the boss is not my friend

First thing first I love the cover, second I love the name  There is no truth bigger than this in corporate world… “The Boss is not your Friend” full stop whatever he says or whatever you think other wise  And the book makes this simple thing clear in a not so crude manner. I mean when we say Boss is not your friend, it doesn’t mean that boss is you enemy either and one should head his way with a sword…

The book starts by proving that “Corporations are evil” and the way it does that one is sure that what lies ahead is a great entertaining read with insights in our everyday mad world…. And the point he makes is what me and N have discussed many a time between us. Companies run for business and nothing else. Employees just happen to be a part of it, fine there could be companies which could say they are employee friendly and sure they are but still “Corporations are evil”  and read the book to know why

Vijay has an amazing sense of humor that is evident all across the book, in the jokes he cracks or the advice he dishes out in not to preachy way or even the alternate name of the chapters like for eg  “Banging the Boss” . He keeps the book light which is a pleasant surprise specially considering its actually a non fiction which are not really my cup of tea. I don’t do a lot of non fiction but this book held my attention till the end.

The book took me back to many a moments where I have argued with the HR, or wanted the curse the boss under my breath and as an added advantage is the brilliant quiz in the book…

Any person with some experience in the corporate would love the book, N also read it and read it one sitting that too and that is a big thing to say when it comes to him, he usually takes ages to finish a book. Left us both wondering why didn’t some one get the idea of writing this before, what took it so long 😉

The book also left me craving to go back to corporate though I used to say I hate it but I think I still do but the book made me realise that there are many things I miss about that life too. Small things that did make the life I had bearable and fruitful. May be I am ready to go back and sending the book was god’s err blogadda’s way of making me realise that he he

For me the book was a nice entertaining read around the corporate world which teaches a thing or two without being preachy

Rating – 3.5/5

 

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Book Review | Hunger Games Series | Post 4

05 Thursday May 2011

Posted by monikamanchanda in NaBloPoMo, review, Uncategorized

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

book, book review, catching fire, hunger game series, hunger games, mockingjay, NaBloPoMo, review

So did you come here thinking I will be doing Thursday challenge unfortunately I don’t have that luxury as I do it on the project 365 blog, so TC is here  for those interested

And all those who are (includes me) excited on so many people doing the marathon together I have a good news for you. Some more people have joined the fun please see the updated list here, also I have added the link to the updated list in my sidebar for those who wanna check at anytime who all are participating So now to the main post, Lets talk about Hunger Games

Some days back when I asked around in twitter for a book reco to buy my first book in Kindle lot of people suggested Hunger Games till that time I had heard of the name sometimes too but I wasn’t fully aware of what the book is about. Couple of tweets exchanged with some people and within 15 minutes I was convinced that it is a book that must be read. And I connected by Kindle to the wifi, went to the amazon store and there bought the book, within seconds I had the book in my hands (that’s one of the things I am loving about Kindle, instant gratification, we are a generation which doesn’t like to wait for anything, always in hurry the instant generation as my mom calls us)

Hunger games is a 3 book series based in Post apocalyptic world based in Panem (the former United States). Panem is divided into 12 districts and ruled by The Capitol to whom all the twelve districts supply essentials like clothes, electronics, coal, agriculture etc in return for the food Capitol gives them the rationed food. The main protagonist of the story Katniss, a 16 year old girl who lives in the coal mining district 12 were everything is less, whether its food, clothes or fun. Everyday survival is a huge issue and to top it all there are hunger games – the games started by The Capitol to remind all districts of the revolt they did against the capitol about 75 years back. 2 kids from each district are chosen every year to fight against each other to kill each other until one remains and the district from where the child is doesn’t remain hungry for that year. They get abundant food and clothing as a prize for killing the other 23 children. The whole event is televised for the people in The Capitol to enjoy for whom this the highlight sport of the year and for the districts to watch their children die in front of them and refresh the reminder that what one revolt did to them, to make them realise that who is the true ruler.

The book plays with the human sentiments of love, hate and passion. Makes us realise that in the end we are all animals living for the sake of entertainment along with the basic needs. It shocks you by the way people can create on the things people can take joy from. While reading we all know its a make believe fictional world but its not at all difficult to get lost into it and feel for it.


Now to the protagonist Katniss the very fact that she is female is enough to make me love her the regular readers of the blog will now but apart from that there is something about her that makes one admire her if not anything. She started hunting in the forbidden woods after her father died and made her best friend Gale, how she takes upto supporting her family at the age of 12, how she stands upto to prevent her sister from the hunger games. The best thing is that through the novel Collins has not tried to create pity on her as was the case with the shaking Bella of Twilight. She has a mind of her own, a conviction and intuition that is hard to beat and yet a weakness somewhere that is easy to catch. All in all her character seems very real.

The first book in the series Hunger games deal with what happens when Katniss and Peeta (the other child from District 12) enter the Hunger Game arena, will one of them come out alive?

The book is pacy, gory and makes you hate the world at time but is unputdownable. When I started reading the book for an two hours or so I couldn’t put the book down for anything, not even for a bio break. Initially I thought its the new kindle effect but it was soon clear its the effect of the book as I finished the whole series in 4 days flat. Everynight reminding myself dude its 1am in the night sleep and 1 would change to 2 and 2 to 3 when I would finally force myself to keep it down knowing very well that I have to get up at 7am.

And its not just the first book, all three books maintain the pace and keep up gripped to them. Read them that will Katniss be able to raise her voice against The Capitol? Will people realise its high time they did something to save their own children and most important Will the Hunger Games ever get over or just take another ugly turn?

Final Word : A fast pacy series, but a series which is more than mere fiction. According to me its the story of a brutal society, a society which we can become if we don’t keep things in check. Its the ode to democracy and a book which makes one realise yet again how important freedom and meeting basic needs is.

Book : Hunger Game Series (Hunger Game, Catching Fire, MockingJay)

Author : Suzanne Collins

Rating : 4/5

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Hush by Manta Ray

12 Tuesday Apr 2011

Posted by monikamanchanda in Causes to Champion, review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

book, book review, CSA, hush


I first heard of Hush it was after we started organising and talking about CSA. A friend mentioned that HUSH is a very hard-hitting book on CSA. I looked up the net and found out that it was a graphic novel. I haven’t read too many graphic novels before (infact I think this is the first one). I went to their website and it seemed pretty interesting. So we contacted them and asked them if they will send us a review copy. They were prompt and I personally met Pratheek who handed over Hush to me.

I had met him at about 9pm to take the book and I finished reading it the first time but 10:30pm. The first time when I read the book what hit me was the force in the book the sheer directness. No beating around the bush. The book is thin the graphic story gets covered in about 24 pages but by no means it leaves us wanting for more.

The book is about Maya a girl who is sexually abused by her own father and how she turns to violence and suicide when she has nothing else to do.

Hush is a story without any words and yet it captures things which many many words wouldn’t have been able to. It almost stands up to its name and also the taboo idea that the book is trying to portray

However because its wordless I rushed through the book the first time I read it. I don’t know whether it was just me or the book wants you to rush so I read it again the next morning absorbing even more than I did in the first read. The shades of pages do speak a lot.

The book makes me sad yet gives me hope that may be we are ready to talk about CSA finally.

According to me its a must read

Rating 4/5

Here is the book trailer

We also did a small interview with the writer and illustrator of the book. Read below to what they had to say about HUSH

Q& A with Pratheek Thomas (the writer and partner at Manta Ray) and Rajiv Eipe (the illustrator) behind the graphic novel Hush, from Manta Ray Publishing which deals with the topic of CSA.

How the concept of Hush come to you?

Hush is a story my brother Vivek told me in early 2009. He wanted to make it into a short film, and I told him that I’d like to adapt into a comic book, which he could use as a pitch to producers when he looked for funding. I approached Rajiv Eipe who studied with me at NID (National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad) to collaborate on this comic and he readily agreed. As I began to write the script, it changed in certain degrees from the story that Vivek told me…

What was your primary aim in taking on such a dark and taboo subject in India?

The origins of Hush & Manta Ray are intertwined, in fact, Hush led to Manta Ray’s inception as a publishing house. The way we saw it,Hush was a real story, though it takes its own fictional liberties. It’s a story that no one talks about, and we wanted to break that silence… and then, to break that silence with a silent story… it was a perfect book for us to debut with. With Hush, we were also trying to show that comics can tell different stories and not the usual mythology, superhero, personal history kind of stories that one usually finds in Indian comics.
How has the book been received? How are children reacting to it? Parents?

The response to the book has been overwhelming positive! Almost all the major newspapers in India have covered the book, The Hindu, Mint’s Cult Fiction, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Mid Day, Open Magazine… Hush has been featured in all these and more. Even in terms of sales, the response to the book has been very positive. For Manta Ray, Hush was an experiment, and it paid off.
Hush is meant for a ‘mature readership’, which would technically mean an 18+ audience, though it’s something a 16 or 17 year-old may also happen to pick up. But, it’s definitely not for children. We also don’t know how many of our readers are ‘parents’. But overall, we have had a hugely positive response and feedback from our readers. Many readers said they read Hush 5-6 times to grasp the story in full and each time they noticed something new.Faculty of a certain prestigious college also has indicated an interest to include Hush as part of their visual narrative coursework. But one of the biggest recognitions for Hush is the fact that people working on the field, like subscribers of this blog have noticed Hush. We want as many people to read Hush and it’s great to see it go beyond a normal comic book and being used as a tool to spread awareness.

 

 


What, according to you, is the biggest stumbling block that Child Sexual Abuse Awareness faces in India?

The biggest obstacle is the silence that surrounds CSA. There is a huge culture of silence, of taboo around CSA – that a child who has been abused has no one to go to – not her parents or relatives, not her teacher… there is almost no adult in whom a child can confide. Our society would rather pretend that CSA does not exist.
The other obstacle is the shortcoming of our own legal system. I was horrified to read recently (in an article on the Open magazine website) that India’s legal system does not recognize a crime called child sexual abuse! We’ve clubbed it under some archaic law from our British-rule era, and no one’s made an attempt to change it.

Are you planning any more books on CSA?

Manta Ray is not exactly an issue-based storytelling company. We are an entertainment company. But we want to tell realistic stories, stories of real people living real lives speaking in real voices. While we do not have any upcoming stories about CSA specifically, if there is a compelling reason to tell a story from a CSA perspective, I’m sure we will.

U can buy HUSH at flipkart

Cross Posted here

 

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The F- Word : Book Review

10 Thursday Mar 2011

Posted by monikamanchanda in review

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

book, book review, food, food writing, review

 

The first time I heard of this book was from Kiran who said that this book got her into kitchen 🙂 she was all praises of the book and being a foodie having cooking as one of the hobbies it promptly went into my must reading list…I bought it on the first chance I had and went along with Mita for a ride in her world….

BTW if u are still confused the F in the F-Word is Food 😉 The book is about the life and culinary journey of a woman who loves to cook and loves to feed people, loves to explore street food and get lost while talking to the person making it and noting down the recipe… Damn that is a description that fits me well too

CM, I’ll eat salad for dinner, just go easy on the veggies.’

‘But kebabs are meant to be minced mutton, Mom!’

‘Has CM cooked today? If she has, it must be diet food and I’m not eating!’

CM is the lead lady in the book BTW, the book is a mad account of a working women who manages the different tastes of everyone in a joint family… juggling between peanuts, pappad and kebabs she takes us through the culinary journey which can almost be termed “Sexy”. The story in the book is interwined with some out standing recipes from all over over… from Luckhnow to Rajasthan, from Thailand to Europe… a ride which I love taking

Summary : If you love food reading this is a book you will love

Rating 4/5

Book The F- Word

Authors Mita Kapur

Price Rs 599 (available on flipkart at Rs 485)

PS: Have u checked out my WW and TC on my all photo blog….

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Another Chance by Ahmed Faiyaz

22 Saturday Jan 2011

Posted by monikamanchanda in review

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

book, book review, review

ano

  Another Chance is the second novel by Ahmed, I have read first one Love, Life and All that Jazz (read review here). Like Love Life and All that Jazz this book is about relationships too. Like Love, Life and All that Jazz is about love, friendship, losing and gaining… Like Love, Life and All that Jazz its a book about our generation… the current youngsters (can I still call myself that?) but yet the two books are very different.

    Another Chance is a primarily a story of Ruheen who is drop dead gorgeous but doesn’t know how to handle life particularly her love life… right from school time she is running from one relation to other and the book is all about the choices she makes and how her life takes her through as a result of these choices. The losing of one man important to her because of an abusive ex boyfriend, dealing with an abusive disaster of a marriage, living in a new coutry with a new identity to regaining the only man who really mattered in her life and moving to a live in  relation with her. The book also deals with a lot of modern day problems like Work Life Balance and how it can kill a relationship, friendships turning into love…. divorces, miscarriages and how both the couple are mostly clueless on how to deal with the emotions post it. Its a book which makes you face to face to the reality of the life we are living

The only thing I didnt enjoy too much in the book was the fact that it felt repeating itself at places and I think some people may have a problem accepting the fast pace of life it depicts in every angle in this book but I think lets face thats a reality not far if it hasn’t arrived that is….

Another thing that stuck me when I was reading this book was the clear growth of Ahmed one can feel as an author, while Love, Life and All that Jazz was raw and hitting… Another Chance is a mature book…

Last Words : A good fast read ideal about relationships in todays generation, perfect as a travel companion

Rating 3/5

Book Another Chance

Authors Ahmed Faiyaz

Price Rs 195/-

And that completes my first book of the South Asian Challenge I took

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