The thing about Rainbow Rowell

I can proudly say I have read all the books Rainbow Rowell has written so far and I am pretty impressed. I think if you were to compare any contemporary author who is into writing about love, I don't think anybody else does it any better than what she does. Her stories are more life like, characters more closer to heart. Their predicaments so similar to the ordinary beings that we are that one can't help but fall in love with her books. There are no grand gestures or gifts or sweeping off the feet and none of the Mills and Boons bullshit. To all those who love Mills and Boons, I feel it is just a rehash of the same every single time with just the professions of the 2 main leads varying.

And its just not the characters and their stories, its the way she writes, her humour. You can't help but snicker while reading it. #NotTheKindToLOL. I am officially in love with Rainbow Rowell and I think I like Eleanor and Park and Attachments the best out of the four she has published till date. I think her writing is one of those things that will tide you through a bad day just becomes of the warm fuzzy feels it gives you. Recommending reading atleast one of her books.

The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

This is the first book I have read dealing with the topic of schizophrenia and that as a means for coping with depression. The story is about this boy named Mathew, whose elder brother dies at a very young age of 10 and somehow how Mathew feels responsible for his death. Since his death, Mathew is unable to get on with his life and has issues with expressing his grief leading to his eventual mental breakdown. The narration is from the perspective of Mathew and sucks you into his life, his thoughts and how fucked up his mind gets in trying to come to terms with his brother's death. The author does a fine balance of keeping the narrative from being too heavy handed or depressing. It is sad, but does not get you down and under you only want to make Mathew feel better. I really liked the characters in the story, especially that of his grandmother who is a silent support for Mathew and the only person who he really lets in. The reader is taken slowly and steadily through the break down of Mathew's mental state and the suspense of his brother's death never fizzles out. I really liked the story and I think it was a good beginning to the year of 2015. I had previously read that the story was similar to the Perks of being a Wallflower but I really don't see much of a resemblance. I really liked the use of different font styles in the book and the use of Mathew's sketches making it more life like, like you were reading through his actual diary.

All in all I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars on goodreads.

Ahoy 2015!!!!

So its that time of the year again, where we look back and look ahead at the same time and introspect what is it we could have done better, what is it want to do more of in the year to come and what is it we want bring in new in ourselves. My resolutions more or less remain the same when it comes to my reading, other than imposing myself with a book buying ban till I finish all the books that are on my shelf. 

But for the sake of reiteration, I list them below

1) Complete my goodreads 2015 challenge of reading 25 books. Pumped it up by 10 books more, as more than half of the year had gone in a reading slump.

2) Review all the books I read more systematically and more regularly

3) Book buying ban till all the books I own are read.

Mini Book Reviews- November

I have not kept the rigour of reviewing all books I read going, but to compensate I will write about what I liked about the below books and not get into the plotlines for what is Good Reads or Wikipedia for.

The Lives of Others - Neel Mukherjee

This year's the usual Indian origin representation from India which like most year makes it to the shortlist but does not win it when it has everything going for it. Each of the chapter's in the story keeps going back and forth between the general narrative of the story of the wealthy Ghosh Family and a first person account of Supratik one of the member's of the family who chooses to join the naxal forces during the Charu Mazumdar times of Naxalbari, after the usual disillusionment with the wastefulness of the life of the wealthy. What moves you about the book, is the starkness of the situations that the author brings to the fore especially those of the debt ridden farmers, who are exploited by the hand in glove of landlords and the government. I don't think I have read a more poignant account of the people living on the margins. What also impresses is the slew of characters that are there in the book and yet the author does justice to all, dissecting them layer by layer giving them reasons for what makes them the way they are. The family dynamics is something one sees in most families, the messed up nature of joint families. It is certainly not a book, you can ignore. You will keep thinking about it, long after its over.

Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell

Like all Rainbow Rowell books, you will read through this book like a breeze and love it for how this makes you feel about love and companionship. It makes you believe in the honesty of these feelings as well as in those who make you feel this way. The only disappointment was the open endedness of the story, I hoped for a happy ending but the end leaves you wanting for a sequel. All said and done I loved it better than Fangirl and loved how two misfits fall in love, none of them misfits in the jarring or over the top kind of manner.

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

This is my first graphic novel which I have been wanting to read since the time it came out and became much talked about. It is the story about a girl growing up during the Iranian revolution. And what I liked about this book that not only did it deal with the what led to the revolution and the milieu during those times but also the author's personal life struggles, her growing up alone away from Iran and her messed up friendships and relationships. What strikes though is the perfect understanding that she seems to have with her parents. I can only thank God, that in India we have still not had to face this kind of curtailment of personal freedom, simple things like listening to the kind of music we want and wearing what one desires is done without even a second thought.

The Girl with all the gifts - M. R. Carey

At first I thought it was a story about Zombies, but soon into the story I realised naah nope, it was about the sister clan of Zombies called Hungries who are not dead, but seem to have the same insatiable apetite for humans. So here is the story of Melanie who is a child hungry who is not as affected by the infection, who still retains some of her human faculties. And it is basically her ability to adhere more to her human faculties than her hungriness that makes her so special. Well, yeah I liked it for how different it was to the stuff I have read till date. And I guess the newness of it did not make me love it as much I would have wanted to.

The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith

This is definitely much much better than the Cuckoo's calling, but I think the story could have been more tighter and could have made it more mysterious, not like the character who ends up being the murderer isn't a surprise, but some of the flaws of Cuckoo's calling do continue in this. But I guess the gorier nature of the murder keeps you hooked to the story. Yet to come across a writer who writes mystery better than Agatha Christie. And Harry Potter will always be Rowling's master piece as it appears from the 3 books she has published since Harry Potter ended.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

It's only rare that a book leaves such a profound impact on you. I think this will be one of my favorite books of all times. It is heart wrenching, beautifully written and at the same time gives a warm fuzzy feeling of goodness of having met good people in your life. If a book could be endearing this would be it.

And the truth be told, there is absolutely nothing I want to critique about in the book. The character building as well as the whole set up has been done justice to, neither come at the cost of the other.

So the story is set in Germany predictably during Hitler's dictatorship and is about this girl who has been adopted by another family and how with the help of her adopted father who she hero worships and adores learns to read and eventually becomes the book thief, as she finds herself mesmerised by the world of words. And the story is definitely not as light hearted as this, for one it is narrated by Death.


What makes you love the book so much, is the warmth of of close human relationships, of how they go out of their way to do something for you, for humanity. I know I cried copious amounts at the end of the book, last time I did that was only in my 6th or 7th standard when I had finished reading Anne and the Green Gables. When people say Fault in your Stars is a tear jerker, wait till you read the Book Thief. All in all a 5 out of 5 stars from me. 

A Suitable Boy- VIkram Seth

To complete this book is achievement in itself for me, for never have I attempted such a behemoth of a novel and to have successfully completed it is a big deal for me. Second of all, it is among one of the many novels that I had bought more than a year back and had been collecting dust and cobwebs on the shelf. And what a book it has been. The characters are so well thrashed out, the story so beautifully narrated that not once I felt I needed to skip any part. More than anything it gives you a peak into the tumultous times of post independent India. The communalism, socialism, caste divide and the ineffectual laws to curb the same and other anachronistic fiefdom that existed during those times some of which that still exists even today. It touches upon so many different themes at so many levels and yet remains true to the essence which is the search of a mother for a suitable boy for her daughter, Lata. I loved all the suitors that had been created for Lata, somewhere down wishing I had been regaled with such attention during my college days. But the suitor I loved best was the bengali poet/author Amit, who wooed Lata with his poems. The story veers through various backdrops of the Congress party's slow disillusionment post independence, the Zamindari Act, the political milieu and the religious accord  of those times and in the well knit dysfunctional hindu family fabric, where you know what is happening even in lives of relatives twice separated. It is a poignant story of love, loss, despair and above all forgiveness. I am usually not the kind who laughs out loud when I read something funny in a book, but humour at certain points did crack me and I couldn't help but break into a laugh quiet a few times. 

The book for its length does not feel unnecessarily stretched as each and every incident narrative thread adds up at the end and adds to the storyline, without weighing it down. Although at times I did feel difficult holding the book up when I was at the beginning and at the end of the novel, when the weight shifted to one side. Its task well completed and even more so for I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and someday I might just re-read it. 

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

Since my love for all things make up subsided I have rekindled  love for books and during one of those Book reviews that I ended up watching I landed up on this book. Truth be told what made me buy the book was the cover and the illustrations in the inside covers. Yes I did judge the book by its cover :P. The story of course too appealed but primarily it was bought because of the illustrations. And was I to know that the main character of this book Cather Avery or Cath would be so much like me I would have bought the book on more stronger grounds. 

The story is about Cath who is obsessed about writing Fanfiction on this very popular series (read: Harry Potter) which was awaiting its final instalment. Unlike her twin sister Wren who is more outgoing, loves partying, meeting new people and fraternising in general, Cath on the other hand is the misanthropist. She goes to the extent of not finding the dining hall to avoid striking up conversation of any sort even with her room mate Reagan and instead survives on Protein bars. Then there is the supposed boyfriend of Reagan, Levi who takes a liking for her and who together with Reagan kind of break into her shell. Cath is shown to be this extremely emotional person who would rather take care of her father and sister Wren or write fanfiction (a world in which she is hugely popular) than deal with newness. I felt this character was almost an alter ego to my erstwhile self in college. Who was ill-at-ease with new people, did not know how to make small talk and who rather preferred writing her blog or reading than do anything akin to socialising. I wasn't probably as bad as Cath at this, but I was almost a pariah of sorts. I wore whatever clothes my mom bought me, I cowered under my big glasses and was generally not the mingling kind in anything else other than what required writing or reading. My crushes were so uncannily similar to the kind Cath has. 

So all in all, this book is almost like the story of my life, some part of myself from school (my Harry Potter love) and some part from college (the socially awkward self). I couldn't help but love this book and rate it 5 on 5 on good reads. I think I liked it even better than Fault in our stars.