Book Review – Elephants In The Room – by Suraj Laxminarayanan

I was intrigued mostly by these two factors before I started reading this book – (1) Title and cover of this book  (2) length of around 600 pages.. To be honest, I had a small doubt whether I would be able to complete reading this lengthy book .. But, Kudos to the author, this book was so interesting to read that I really didn’t mind about the number of pages..

This story is set against the backdrop of  Chennai and is mainly about a bank robbery planned by a group of friends due to their cash crunch..Nari, Vel, Assam, Ashok, Shankar and Sarathy  have their own monetary needs and they believe that all their problems would be solved by planning a bank heist..Author has explained their backgrounds in an elaborate manner and also about their fear, insecurities, love, greed and their flaws…They believe that their plan is fool proof  but everything changes all of sudden at the D-day.. They are shocked when they  finally realize that they are not the only ones who had come to rob the bank that day..

Nari and his friends meet another two groups in Bank on the day of robbery  – One is led by Dhantha and his men and another is a  group of professional terrorists who have their own demands and expectations from the government..What happens next, makes this story engaging to read..

Author has weaved all the characters in this story very well…There are many who plays an important role in this story – The three groups, the policemen who handle the negotiations and also the staff and customers of the bank..The feelings and emotions of these persons are depicted clearly in this book..Author had explained the way in which some situations force people to change their views completely..The fear to survive defeats all our other desires and  at a particular stage of life, we want just to breath and survive….Nothing else really matters…

Overall, this book is interesting, fast paced, thrilling and engaging to read!!!

My rating for this book is 4/5.

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Back again…

I haven’t written anything here for more than five months..

So, What happened??? I was busy handling some personal matters and didn’t get time to blog…hmmm.. Life is full of sudden changes and surprises…I don’t want to sound philosophical, but, I have understood that best way to enjoy life is to live it fully and be grateful to God always..

As I have already mentioned, I love reading books and I have got many books to read…I hope I would be able to complete reading those soon!!!!

I love my blog and I hope I will start writing frequently here.

Book Review – A Time To Burnish – by Radhika Nathan

Are we fully aware of the history of the place that we live in?? We might live in any Country and each one has its own culture weaved beautifully..At times, we take things for granted and most of us never fully understand the significance of our own past glory…In this book, the Author talks about archaeological  and historical beauty of our Country in interesting way and it’s not boring!!!

Tom Winslow, who works in a museum is deeply interested in culture and history of India..He receives a Nataraja idol and is intrigued by its connection to Chola period..As he is confined to a wheel chair, he asks his brother Josh Winslow to explore the idol’s origin..Josh doesn’t care much about old idol and reluctantly visits India to help his brother..Tom also asks Vidya Thyagarajan, his friend from Chennai to help Josh..Whether Josh and Vidya find out the true origin of the idol or not, makes this story an interesting read!!

Author has explained the feelings of Josh in a beautiful manner…The way he feels when he first lands in Chennai and the experiences which transform his beliefs in the end are penned clearly by the Author..Further, the characterization of Vidya, is also good and her relationship with her father is interesting..Josh’s love for his brother in spite of many differences is refreshing to read..Romance between Josh and Vidya has been depicted well by the author..

This book is a mixture of love and mystery in background of art and history..It is interesting and engaging to read!!!

My rating for this book is 4/5.

Book Review – If You Only Knew Me – by Divyata Rajaram

Do we really and fully know about a person who is close to us?? That person might be anybody – Our family, friends or co-workers, neighbors, etc..In this book, Author explains about how difficult it is to fully understand a person in our life..

We, human beings, are full of surprises and we may have our own dark secrets which we don’t easily  reveal to others..It is difficult to trust a person completely as appearances may be deceptive..

Rupali, Anjali, Dipika, Sakina and Monica are five NRI women who are close friends living in Dubai..Their lives are exciting with a rich lifestyle and they love spending time with each other..All of them have some problems and they think that they can depend on each other during uncertain times..

But fate plays a cruel role and a grave tragedy happens to one of them..Others are totally  shocked and worried a lot..An investigation to this  tragedy by police opens up a bag of ugly secrets which makes their life totally miserable..Trust is completely broken and they are confused as they can’t believe each other..They realize that they have been cheated totally..What happens next  and whether they overcome their problems or not makes this story worth reading..Author had explained the individual lives and relationship of these five friends in detail..Further, many details about various places in Dubai is also interesting to read..

Overall, this book is a good and an interesting read.. A small  suspense and thrilling factor engages the reader a lot…I enjoyed reading this book…

My rating is 4/5.

Book Review – Mango People in Banana Republic – by Vishak Shakti

Before I started reading this book, I was intrigued by it’s title and also cover.. When I finished reading, I felt that Author’s narration of story and characterization has made this book a very interesting and a good read!!!

Ravi Bhalerao works as a Strategy Consultant in one of the bigger firms and  he feels that his life is purposeless and boring..He realizes that he misses something vital in life and he also suffers from severe physical pain due to anal fistula..His physical pain and office politics makes him fully depressed and he quits his job..He travels to new places seeking answers to numerous questions..He is worried on seeing the poor status of farmers in his village and he tries hard to help them..This leads him to cross paths with activists, political parties, maoists, communists and spiritualists..Whether he finally gets answers and the way he gets transformed in the end makes this book an engaging read..

Anand Reddy, a former NASA scientist, comes to India on a spiritual quest..He visits various ashrams in search of true realization and liberation..He finally realizes that everything is within an individual and it requires greater sacrifice to achieve his wishes.. Author had told this story through  Ravi and Anand..The way both these characters meet is interesting..

Author explains about various problems faced by farmers and also politics in our country..Many politicians, activists have their own understanding of core issues and they believe that only they can provide solutions!!!! But in the end, problems are not solved and it becomes complicated..

This story revolves around lives of Ravi, Anand and Author talks about important issues in our country with humour, sattire and  also about role of spirituality and self realization in life..

Overall, I feel that this book is a good, interesting and an engaging read and  I enjoyed reading it!!!

My rating for this book is 4/5.

Book Review – The Game Of Secrets – by Saurish Hegde

In this book, Author talks about the life of a young oncologist Nishanth shetty…Nishanth’s father Dr.Vittal, famous oncologist, manages a chain of hospitals in Mangalore and also in other cities..Nishanth loves his profession and he wants to help needy people a lot..So, he joins Politics along with his friend Kashyap and decides to form a new political party..He supports Kashyap in his political activities and faces problems from Adishakthi and Dhanush, who belong to another rival political party..

Further, he meets  Navya at first time in a party and is madly in love with her..He is very serious about their relationship, but a call from Dr.Ramdas,a scientist, changes everything in his life..Nishanth respects Dr.Ramdas a lot for his knowledge in the field of science..Dr.Ramdas asks Nishanth’s help in a research which is very vital for mankind..Nishanth accepts the offer and he starts helping him in his research..

Ramdas and Nishanth are  happy due to positive outcome of their research..But, Nishanth suddenly  gets a phone call from a stranger who asks him about research and warns him of serious consequences if he didn’t share details about his research..Both Ramdas and Nishanth are shocked and confused and they also face problems from Adishakthi…They don’t know about their enemy and are worried and they couldn’t believe anyone..What happens next makes this story interesting to read..

I liked reading this story but I personally feel that this book could have been edited and proofreaded better…Author’s narration of the story was good, but I feel that some characters could have been portrayed better..

My rating for this book is 3.5/5.

Book Review – Small is Big: A collection of 100 micro tales – by Rafaa Dalvi

This book is a collection of 100 micro tales of different genres..I  feel that it’s difficult for an Author to write a story within 140 characters (It’s my personal opinion)..So, when I started reading this book, I was amazed at how the Author had written all these stories..There is so much said and also not said at the same time and as a reader, I liked imagining about the flow of these stories..

Author had written about diverse topics – Love, relationships, thriller, humor,horror mystery and loss.. I liked all stories but my personal favorites are  – Always, Barren,Busy, Birthday special, Compliment, Confiscate,Contest,Cry, Gift, Grasp, Last, Liberated,Manage,Management,Missing,Murder,Saw, Tell, The Memorial,Trapped and Trust.

This book is a quick, interesting and a  good read..

My rating is 4/5.

Book Review – When the Chief fell in Love – by Tuhin A Sinha

This story starts with a terrorist attack at an army camp in Kashmir during 2016 in which eighteen people are killed..Vihaan Shastri, Defence minister, takes steps to counter the terrorist attack..During this tense situation, he is surprised when fate brings back Zaira Bhat, his lover, back in his life again after many years..

Author explains about how Vihaan meets Zaira for the first time during 1990’s..It was love at first sight for Vihaan and he was strangely attracted towards her..Zaira was deeply hurt due to some incidents in her past and  not ready to reciprocate his feelings..Vihaan tries hard to win her heart and he succeeds finally..But, Zaira breaks up with him and their lives change a lot..After some years, Vihaan marries Ritu and he loves their daughter Tia deeply..He is a journalist and is interested in joining active politics..He realizes that Ritu is not trustworthy and their marriage is just a marriage of convenience..Zaira also has problems with her husband Aziz..Both Vihaan and Zaira meet again during 2003..But fate plays in their life again..

Vihaan meets Zaira again in 2016 during her book launch when he is Defence Minister of India…Zaira’s father Bilal Mohammad Bhat, a business man in Kashmir, becomes a supporter to Pakistan and this complicates Vihaan’s political career and his personal life a lot..What happens next makes this story interesting to read..

Author talks about the way Vihaan tries to change the situation in Kashmir..To be honest, I don’t know more about the unrest situation, politics and history of Kashmir..Though the solution to problems in Kashmir is fictional in this story, I  hope that it becomes true soon in future..I liked both Vihaan and Zaira’s characters in this story..Author had explained their feelings in detail..

Overall, I feel that this book is good, interesting, fast paced and engaging to read..This is a romantic story weaved along with politics..

My rating for this book is 4/5.

Book Review – The Big Switch: It’s never too late – by John Thomas

Many of us are busy in life with our own professional and personal commitments…At times, some like me, have this question – “What am I doing in this life?? This is not what I wished for”..But, after some time, reality kicks in and I accept that I have to continue doing the same irrespective of I like it or not..This is mainly because of fear – I fear about my future and uncertainties I have to encounter if I start pursuing what I truly wish for in my life..

In this book, the Author talks about this fear that protagonist Keith faces in his life and how he finally overcomes the same after many problems..Kudos to the Author for not being so preachy – I can relate to the dilemmas faced by Keith and I loved the way Author stresses the importance of saying “NO” to others whenever it’s needed..

Keith works in  an IT company and has troubles balancing his professional and personal life..He is a hard worker, but his boss takes him for granted as he never says “NO” to him..He is dejected when he gets a bad appraisal irrespective of his hard work..Further, his girlfriend Maya also breaks up with him..He is sent to his company’s Bangalore office on deputation for a project..There he meets Ramesh, a team leader who makes him think about life in a very different perspective..Keith realizes that it’s never too late to chase dreams in his life..He understands the fact that it is important to at-least try before accepting any defeat..This change within him transforms both his professional and personal life.. What happens next makes this story interesting to read!!!

Keith’s character has been portrayed well by the author..His fear, failures, hard work and determination to win is inspiring ..Author also has stressed the importance of patience in life when we pursue towards our goals..

Overall, I feel that this book is good, interesting  to read and this story is relatable…

My rating is 4/5.

Book Review – The Woman Who Saw The Future – by Amit Sharma

Sapna Vaid, the protagonist, is one of the very few people who are gifted with very special powers of premonitions and it makes her predictions about others’ future come true..As the story unfolds, the Author explains how these premonitions are both boon and curse to Sapna..

Sapna belongs to a middle class family and lives happily with her parents and elder brother..Her life changes completely when her elder bother dies suddenly..She and her parents are overwhelmed with grief and couldn’t cope up with the loss..Sapna starts getting many dreams about death of some people in various incidents..She is shocked when all her dreams come true..She dreams about something bad happening to her neighbour and she saves her..Her parents start believing her and her boyfriend Saahil is her emotional support and loves her very deeply..

Sapna saves Kabir, a businessman who owns a news and other entertainment channels, from a bomb blast..Kabir convinces Sapna to appear in a new show named “Lucky People” – Through this show, Sapna tells about her dreams and saves many people from death..She becomes famous and is even considered as powerful Goddess on Earth..But her life changes due to her unique power and she tries hard to live in peace..What happens next makes this story interesting to read..

I liked the way the Author chose to tell his story through the perceptions of all characters involved in this book..It makes the reader to understand the effect of Sapna’s unique powers on her parents and her friends..Author explains the way in which Sapna transforms from an ordinary college girl to most powerful person and what power does to her..Sapna’s love for her brother and her relationship with Saahil and Kabir is depicted well by the Author..

To be honest, I sympathize with Sapna’s character..She is portrayed as a  girl who faces severe pain in her life and she couldn’t handle her unique power..A single mistake made by her changes her life totally..

Overall, I feel that this book is good, interesting and thrilling to read..

My rating for this book is 4/5.

Disclaimer: I received this book  in return for my honest review..I didn’t receive any monetary compensation for the same.