Top 5 Books That Take Place in Your Area/Country/Region

Since I live in the Middle East,it is extremely rare to find books that take place in region that I reside in. I know there are ample books whose premise is set in Saudi Arabia pertaining women especially but I haven't read any of those nor do I want to anytime soon. ( Tsk Tsk ). Instead I have listed books that mostly and even partly take place in my country of origin i.e. India.

5. The Nidhi Kapoor Story by Saurabh Garg

I have read and reviewed this book on my blog couple of months ago.( Click here) A crime thriller set in Mumbai, the characters in the book explores the quite a few areas in Mumbai via the local trains, some of the popular hangout spots and also Pune city which I so dearly love. Ever since I was little, I have visited Mumbai annually and will continue to do so in the coming years.

4) The Mistress of Spice by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni 

A bit of cheating here but I know the origins for the character Tilo is from Southern India. Those who know me, know that my native and ancestral home is on the beautiful Konkan coast. For the most part, the book takes place in Oakland, USA. Click here for the in-dept review.

3) Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

I will give the author props for capturing the essence of Mumbai so accurately. A widely loved book, It tells you how connections are made and how it escalates quickly into trouble especially if you a foreigner. Roberts explores the slums of Mumbai, the red light districts, the city life, downtown areas, Bollywood sets, popular cafes that look like harmless drinking spots, places of historical importance, Arthur Road jail. You name it, the book has it.

2. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

A hit or miss for most people, there was nothing I didn't like about The God of Small Things. An extremely relatable read in terms of the culture. The story and everything with it is Keralite to the core so much that while reading it I missed the humid air of the coast. Checkout out the review here.

1. The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie

Rushdie is know for writing complex tales. The reason why I place Arundhati Roy after is for the similarities in the style of storytelling. The Moor's Last Sigh starts from the Malabar Coast where the air smells of pepper, Black Gold as it was called back then. Again, the coastal region is where I originate from and spend most of my days in India with my grandparents.

It's no surprise how dearly I love my South Indian roots. From the red soil to the green foliage right down to the moist humid air. Whenever I share picture of my home with my friends, they assume I reside on a tree-house in a rain forest.  Not a bad idea though. Right?

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Top 5 Favourite Futuristic Books

The way I devoured books last year, I was under the impression all this while that most of them have been dystopian or futuristic. I'm a bit surprised that I have read less than 10 futuristic books. Narrowing them down to 5 was no challenge.

5. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I was quite surprised by this read. Mostly has to do with me starting it off with low expectations, Well , lo and behold, it genuinely was different. It's fairly descriptive on the physical discomfort front, enough to make you squirm a bit and I loved it. Now that I'm revisiting this, will have to make a reminder to follow up on the remainder of the series.

4. Starters by Lissa Price

Just when I thought dystopia couldn't possibly hold my interest anymore, the Starters duology was a refreshing surprise. If you are someone who wants to dip their toes into this genre, I highly recommend this series. Its quick, fast paced and fairly short. The aftermath and poverty lingering after the war is descriptive enough for the reader to fully grasp the adversities without over doing it.

3. 1984 by George Orwell

You're probably rolling your eyes right about now. Yes I cannot go without mentioning this book in my favourites because of how freakishly relevant it is. This book is more of a smart prediction of the the years to come that just a dytopian pioneer ( a well deserved title ). No amount of praise for Orwell is enough for nailing this in the head. 

2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

A stand-alone, you would not have imagined what a delight this book was. I had to force myself to sleep in order to avoid me from finishing this in one night and trust me when I say it was difficult to stop prying. It's set well into the future with a task that is a vintage 80s old school video game. The players are real, the prize is real and the race to finish is exhilarating. Definitely one of the best books I read last year.

1. Cress by Marissa Meyer 

The 3rd book in the Lunar Chronicles series, Basically every book is a futuristic sci-fi re-telling of popular fairy tales. Cress is loosely based on Rupanzel. Marissa Meyer is a genius for being able to write well so consistently for all the books in the series so far. I was hooked from the first page of Cinder and Cress took the series to a whole new high. I cannot wait for Winter and Fairest to release. Till then I'll have to steady my nerves.

What is your favourite futuristic book? I'd love to know.

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Book Review : The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Pages :  292

Read on : Kindle

Goodreads Rating : 3.16/5

Review:  It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog. Not something I intended to do on purpose but it happened. Shamelessly,I'm not apologizing because I loved every minute I was away. However I can only neglect my blog for so long without feeling guilty.

I read this book last year and I profoundly remember It taking me longer than usual to finish this. Also I guess I can safely call it my first magical realism adult book I ever read. The story is about a young girl discovering and exploring her ability to taste feelings/thoughts/emotions in food. It mostly revolves around her mother's never ending despair, depression and an affair. It's extremely uncomfortable knowing the pain and loneliness of her mother since these are things we otherwise wouldn't have noticed in real life.
I would have expected Rose Edelstein ( the protagonist) to have taken her talent and secret and be much more adventurous with it. Sadly, that doesn't happen. If anything, she gets fogged down by an even more complex character - her brother. There isn't much said about him as he is by himself an absent character that we learn is part of who he is, discreetly hinting that he may have had a special ability too. Although his ability was strange and eccentric, losing him almost felt like a death in the Edelstein family. No one, including him, ever knew of his whereabouts and the duration that he would be away for or if he would ever return.
This book made me reflect on a few things. I began staring at my mother while she did mundane house work trying to understand what she was feeling or thinking at that moment. I would be lying If I didn't admit I was glad not to know. Food that we consume thoughtlessly on the basis of flavour may have been a painful and even taxing for young Rose Edelstein. Not being able to fully understand and reason with her brother and his subsequent absence will leave you with heartache.
Apart from that, the book is rampantly vague with way too many lose ends that I personally felt is not encouraging enough for a reader to stay on till the very end. Unanswered questions are tricky. Some books are loved for that one hanging, benefit-of-doubt element but not when it is clouded with a dozen of them.
I wouldn't highly recommend this to a lot people. I would,however, mildly recommend it to an older audience with caution just so that we can discuss what they gathered from the story.

Final Rating: 3/5

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Top 5 Book Series I Want to Start This Year

Due to an injury that kept me immobilized for the a good initial chunk of 2014, I was able to zip through book series like no tomorrow. Some of them left me with mean cliff-hangers but I have to say, book series give you the best thrill ever. Missed out on quite a few which I fully intend to pursue this year.

5. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

I'm cheating here a bit. I have already started with Outlander (Progress!!!) and going through it at snail pace. This series would be a challenge. 8 book x over 600 pages = ?!?!?!
I have very high expectations for this one since I've heard fabulous things about it.

4. Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld

Lesser know fact about me, Steampunk is a genre I enjoy like a giddy 16 year old. I have read Westerfeld's Uglies which I found so-so. However, that would not stop me from taking this plunge.

3. Hopeless series by Colleen Hoover

What would I be if I didn't read any romance. I read Hoover's Ugly Love (Review here!) and was floored.  She usually covers the New Adult genre which I prefer to read with regards to romance. I am very excited for this one, despite the hideous covers (Let's just admit we all appreciate beautiful covers).

2. Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness

Every Booktuber, Book Blogger has not failed to mention Patrick Ness in their best books of 2014. I'm a little over dystopia as its so over done but I'm curious to know what all the fuss is about. Can't wait to find out!

1. Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Another well-loved and highly rave about series. The reason why I didn't get to this earlier was because someone mentioned that Mortal Instruments was not as good as it's prequel Infernal Devices which I thoroughly enjoyed. Still, the buzz and excitement surrounding this series did not dull and the curious cat that I am, I will most definitely get to it this year.

I will let you know if I stay faithful in this endeavor.

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Book Review : The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Pages :  321

Read on : Paperback

Goodreads Rating : 3.88/5

Review: I had picked up this book years ago, read it halfway through and oddly abandoned it soon after. Foolish of me to do so as this is a well-praised contribution to Indian Literature. 

For once, I am struggling to describe what reading this book felt like. It wasn't happy. It wasn't entirely sad or depressing. I'd call it sharp, witty and then tragic.

Roy manages to pen down Kerala exactly as it is,oil-slicked, green and lush, rivers and meen (fish). Her style of storytelling is clever. She introduces you to the characters' mind and their thought, she narrates with their essence and soul and only later does she slowly, page by page, reveal their secrets.  For the most part, the book jumps perspective from Rahel to Estha, the twin protagonists in the book, with subsequent external narration. This may be a tad bid confusing initially, since the first few chapters don't state the exact order of events.  

The main premise of this book are the Love Laws. Who can be loved, how to be loved, how much to love and other dimensions of love which are either questioned, violated or simply explored. However, what is stark is the consequence of this innocent exploration, something that warps their lives forever and has successfully pigmented my brain. It would sting the reader even more after a good amount of time is spent knowing that the twins were really one soul placed in two bodies. (Not trying to be creepy, I swear!).

True to life, when the small things in life begin to shift, normalcy disrupts. Roy's characters aren't happy people. They aren't characters one would like because we are given so much access to their minds that you know their demons can no longer be hidden under the bed. 

On reading The God of Small Things, I couldn't ignore the constant comparison to Salman Rushdie's style of storytelling that kept popping up in my mind. Both authors have a tendency to pace and leak the truth/mystery/revelation by first introducing the current scenario, jumping to pivotal incidents and then starting with the prefix of the eventual catastrophe.

Nonetheless, this did not diminish my love for The God of Small Things. I do understand it may not be a read loved by all but that wouldn't stop me from recommending it. 

Final Rating : 5/5

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Top 5 Non-Young Adult Books

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of Non- YA books I had read so far. I usually gravitate to them more whenever I crave great prose and an abundance of emotional overwhelm.  As much as I love Young Adult fiction for the thrill it gives, It's the Non - YA books that predominantly stay imprinted on my mind for years to come.

Here are my top 5 favourites:

5. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 

I just finished this book last night. I remember picking it up years ago and abandoning it halfway. What a poignant read! This is a book where you don't love the characters , you observe them. You awe at their mannerism and shock at their moves. Their actions are open yet not short of causing chaos beyond repair. Also something I call a 'conflict read ' because, as I mentioned , their actions and reactions are natural but it manages to yield the most tragic turn of events.  A day does change everything. 

4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

All of my friends who have read this book have not fallen short of praises. I immediately jumped on the bandwagon too and don't regret it one bit. The characters , irrespective of what social or economic strata they belong to, were warm loving and well rooted. The underlining guilt grows like a creeper. The language is simple with a beautiful intermix of Farsi  mostly to translate the on-going emotions, which I loved. Hosseini is so in touch with his Afghan roots and his introduction of it left me spellbound.

3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 

Highly explicit, graphic and also, if I dare say, controversial. This book is no fun and games. It's very hardcore in its elements, well researched and thorough in detail. At first, I was skeptical, thinking that keeping in mind all the names and sub plots I would end up losing track of the chain of events. That did not happen! By far the best paced mystery novel I have ever read, with  perfect closure and justifications to all the sub plots. No loose ends and no further questions asked. A must-read for all murder mystery lovers.

2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

The book and I have a connection. So it feels like. There is not one character I did not like in the book (Yes, even Miss Hilly). I adored the country accent it was written in. Stockett's ability to have various narratives of the three different women run parallel then converging them and weaving them together with laughter , love and loss is commendable. The stories are their own, the pain and the way they deal with it is heterogeneous. You love them , you laugh with them and you hurt like it was your own .The movie was equally fantastic. Exactly how I had envisioned it. Can we make this a classic already!

1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 

*cue gasp* Majority of people could not stomach this book and I completely understand why. For the longest time, this has been and still is a controversial and unacceptable-in-society kind of read. There is a niche audience that has found the true motive and meaning behind Nabokov. He challenges you with words to empathize with a inadmissible love. Something you would never support in real life. His description and language is unmatched.  To read this book one would have to be really open-minded.

What are your favourite Non YA books? I'd love to know!

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The Good Girl is Fake

Artist : Polly-is-a-good-girl (Paulina)Source :DeviantArt 

India is obsessed with the idea of a traditional girl. Good-natured , sweet , respectful , modest , shy , obedient ( parents and then husband and in-laws ) *insert adjectives here*.

Just like every other girl , I too was raised amidst these societal norms. While we are young we are taught to be polite , respectfully dressed , sit closed legged and not speak unless spoken to.  Trained like show dogs. Now that I ponder on it , and even observe some of my female family members , this regime that was practised has successfully managed to narrow thought process and individuality. We cultivate good manners and obedience only to have minions. Girls who break away from this regime as by default are labelled as 'loose' and IF they have parents who support their expressiveness, it's abysmal parenting,

I am one of those girls. Everyone who knew me in my college days , would remember I had taken my rebellion much further. I dyed my hair an unnatural shade of red , wore dark intense make up everyday and got pierced in as many places as I could. I was definitely not loved for this. Again , the judgements ran free and wild. It hurt my feelings too when a large contributing part of these judgements constituted of women too. I looked like a walking - talking negative influence even if I was void of any 'habits'

Till date that has been my biggest social experiment , also the most important transitional point in my life.

 Even though Indian youth is striving for an open minded society , what cannot be ignored is the hidden number of girls whose fate is pre-decided. They get moved around like chess pieces , unable to voice their dreams and aspirations due to the fear of being seen as disobedient or worse still - disowned. An ideal Indian girl. The perfect beti (daughter) . The sanskaari bahu ( daughter-in-law). The hear- all , do-all slave.

Criticism and bitter remarks come regardless.  No one sees the good deeds or the intelligence in a promiscuous party girl. Had she worn a kurta and a bindi on her forehead , may be then. Which also is strange hypocrisy because at times, a traditionally dressed  girl is confused to be old-school , reclusive, nerdy , boring.  Either way , both cases are subjected to the incorrect norms of society.

So where did this concept of 'Good Girl' come from? and why are we subjected to these false standards and unwritten rules?

The 'Good Girl' is as fake as barbie.


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* a similar post called ' Why I'm a Woman o Questionable Character' was posted earlier.