Mirror Image

Yet another lovely story by my Favorite author!  This is a story about identical twins Victoria and Olivia Henderson. These girls are identical mirror images yet their thoughts and actions are quite the opposite.

The story is set in World War 1 period.The book literally took me through that time period and I could see all the images right in front of me!

Olivia is a well mannered and well behaved girl but Victoria is just the opposite! She falls for a guy who is already married and gets pregnant. After a fall from a horse ride session, the baby gets aborted and that is when Olivia comes to know about it.

Since her reputation is gone, her father gets her married off to Charles Dawson.Olivia is saddened as she had a liking fot Charles but says nothing to keep up the family pride.

Charles had lost his wife in the Titanic and has a 10 year old son -Geoffrey.The wedding takes place and Olivia is left to tend her ailing father. She makes up her mind never to marry and be with her father till his end.

Victoria on the other hand neglects the house hold duties and is more interested in attending political meetings.This saddens and affects Charles.

Once when Olivia visits her sister, Victoria convinces Olivia to switch places so that she can go and serve the army in France.Reluctantly Olivia accepts and starts living as Victoria.

Unaware of all this, Charles is gladdened when Olivia [as Victoria] looks after Geoffrey and takes care of the house and is not ill tempered as before.Soon she gives birth to twins and lives happily with Charles.

On the other side, Olivia is helping out in the army and has a son with the army major and both of them are fatally wounded in the war.The Major then dies.

Olivia goes to see a very wounded Victoria and she finds a lot of changes in her. She learns about the Major, her son and when Olivia dies, she plans to bring home her son to live with them.

Between all this, the girls dad passes away and Charles learns the truth about the switched identity.

How he manages the issue and what happens when Olivia decides to bring back her sisters son is the interesting part in this story...

After reading this book , you will feel a lot of emotions as expressed by the characters and for a while you will be living in France, amidst the war, laughing happily with Charles and his family, feeling pity on Mr. Henderson and so on.

A very emotional and toughing read about the two sisters...

Happy browsing...

Daddy

Today being ‘Father’s Day’,I thought it will apt to post a novel with fits the theme.Daddy- one of the most touching novels written by Danielle Steel. From what I read so far,most of Danielle Steel’s books are women centric. This one is an exception

Though the story starts with Sarah looking out of the window into the snow and wondering where life had lead her, this is actually the story of the life of her husband –Oliver.

Sarah,who once was the assistant editor with Crimson marries Oliver a graduate from Harvard business school and who works for an ad agency. Life goes on smoothly ,they have 3 kids-Ben,Melissa and Sam, a dog and a lovely housekeeper –Aggie.

Sarah ,after 18 years of marriage to Oliver, suddenly feels life is empty and feels the need to do something worthwhile-like getting back to the profession she once loved. She applies to Harvard and gets accepted.

Sarah is delighted but the news falls hard on the family. They all beg her to stay but she leaves them after Christmas.

This act stirs up a lot of emotions within the family and each member of the family reacts differently to the situation.Oliver is the most shaken and tries to keep the family intact but he too has a bad time.

In between all this Olivers mother falls prey to Alzemiers and he has to take care of his father as well.

Ben gets his girl friend pregnant and takes on Oliver by leaving him and living with the girl Sandra.He quits college and works to jobs to take care of her.Melissa feels that her mom going away had something to do with Oliver and is quite withdrawn.Sam is equally shaken

The kids meet up with their mom and once Sam mentions that Jean Pierre , his moms room mate might have a crush on her but he is far younger than his mom!

Once she takes the kids to France with Jean Pierre and there they meet with an accident and Jean Pierre dies leaving behind a shaken and saddened Sarah!

Oliver moves out of the town and meets a girl and have a whirlwind romance that does not last. 

Then he  meets Charlotte a.k.a Charlie, a TV star and finds her company a solice. Then plan to get married and even the kids are happy with the decision. But just when the plan takes shape Charlie  gets a chance to do a Broadway show.This has been her dream and now Charlie wonders how things will work out and the wedding plans are on the rocks!

How Oliver solves all the problems and moves on is the story!

This is a very touching story of a man who struggles to keep the family intact and finally finds joy...

Happy browsing...

Where to find Free E-books and Deals on Books - Resources

We all love to buy / collect books and read them at any given chances. At times this awesome habit does pinch the purse!!But that does not mean we have to put an end to our favorite hobby,right!

I have been looking up for sites that let's you read / download ebooks for free and I wanted to share them here so that anyone with a habit of buying/ reading books will benefit from it.

Also let me know any other sites with similar offers and I will update this post with the links...

Here are a few sites that let's us download books on various genres and also offers books on deals...

1. BookBub - All genres
2. Encore Book Club - Free Cook books
3. Goodreads - All genres
4. ..

Happy Reading....

Journey

I am a huge fan of Danielle Steel's Novels. And this year when I drew up a list of books to read for the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge, I made sure to include 4 books from my favorite author. Here is the first in the list...

This is yet another women centered book,meaning its about Madeleine Hunter and her journey through her life,the hurdles she faces and how she overcomes it all.

The story goes like this....

Madeleine is rescued from an abusive husband by Jack Hunter and he transforms her into an award winning anchor woman for his his network.Madeleine or Maddy as she is fondly known, marries Jack Hunter and their life becomes an envy for everyone!

Maddy's life revolves around Jack, the network, expensive gifts, elaborate parties, exotic tours etc.But deep within she feel deprived of kids.Jack had expressed his wish to never had kids and Maddy gladly accepted it back then.


Meanwhile,Jack's ego hurts Maddy both mentally and physically.She realizes that when she attends a meet for women who have undergone abuse. She open ups to Bill and he becomes her confidant.

Jack becomes even more abusive and in turn Maddy get's emotional relief by talking about her life to Bill.

Meanwhile, a girl comes looking for her claiming to be her daughter. Maddy finds out that the girl- Elizabeth / Lizze is indeed her daughter whom she gave up for adoption when she was a teenager.

Jack is furious when he learns about Lizze and abuses her even more. But Maddy is determined to make up for the lost years with her daughter.

Finally, Maddy decides to leave Jack but before she can actually face the situation, she is caught in building bombing and is almost buried alive.Bill is very worried but Jack is more worried that she is not around to do a report for the network. Both are not aware of Maddy's condition.

Maddy is rescued and Jack visits her in the hospital and emotionally abuses her. She finally tells him that she is leaving him and Jack vows to destroy her and also her career so that she will realize that Maddy can never live without Jack.

He replaces the locks in their house, disposes off her cloths and everything that belonged to her and also makes a press statement that she had a mental breakdown.The last one was to ensure that she never has a career after that!

But Bill helps her through all these crisis and there is a press release that Jack had falsely accused her since she split from him.Offers come pouring in and life seems to be returning to normal. She and Bill want to get together and they look forward to a peaceful life.

She also adopts a baby that was rescued from the building where she was stuck in the rubble and Lizze joins her mom...

This book has a very touching story. The emotions of Maddy are portrayed in a very realistic manner.Also the ways in which one can recognize and overcome spousal abuse is something worth knowing. If not for self, it can be used to help others...

Until the next post....

From Where I See

I have posted this review on my other blog. Reposting it here for the REading challenge...

From Where I See ,a novel by Ajay Yadav is quite a different one from those that I have been reading these days.

It is basically a murder mystery story which is narrated through the voice of Dr. Ajay, the author's namesake.The book starts with Dr. Ajay being questioned at the police station,in typical police style, with regard to the death of Sruthi a.k.a. Nagma. What follows this and up to almost the end of the book is a sort of flashback! And the last four chapters spell out the climax.

So at the beginning when Dr. Ajay is being interrogated,it looks like he is a suspect in the murder case. Then he is asked to wait in the station till Inspector Om Prakash returns to the station after attending to another case. That is when he recollects his childhood times in the village along with his best buddies - Sruthi and Kaniyah.

Sruthi is a sort of a bold girl who is  happy and rebellious to try out new tricks ,play hockey with the village boys, hit the Village chieftain's son with a stone coz he teased her.And also a very religious one who never fails to pray or visit the temple everyday...Kaniyah is the person who usually get's caught because of Sruthi's antics!

They grow up and go their separate ways due to family situations and lose touch with each other. Then Dr.Ajay meets Sruthi, becomes friends again and also Sruthi meets Kaniyah in a party hosted by Ajay and his wife...A lot of things happen in between and then Sruthi dies.

This is the story... But, it is not as simple as I have spelt it here..

In between ,in the flashback sessions, the author has expressed his ideas and thoughts about everything from religion,corruption and bribery, history of Indian Freedom struggle, world wars,reasons for extra marital affairs, role of man and women through the ages and a lot more!

After discussions of all these subjects is where he brings into light a lot of things that were not known , and then in the end the murder/suicide mystery is solved.

What I liked about the book:

The author has taken a bold move in  discussing some controversial topics and I like the way he has justified his points.In this process he has answered a lot of questions that the people in the society are facing or want to ask but can't find the answer.

There are several lines in the book written in italics that are a sort of message to the community.. Here are a few that impressed me.

'Actually we have failed terribly in utilizing our education to incorporate logical thinking in us;we consider education as only a medium for bread earning'
'There is no doubt that they[social media] have brought the distant ones closer but at the same time they have distanced the closer ones' - How true!!!!
Why we have to bargain with everything in life;why can't we honestly get what we deserve and honestly give others what they deserve.

These are just a few examples of the statements present in the book.

 I liked this book because it is something different and deals with the issues of the society and also argues and explains the cause and action for the dysfunction / disharmony in the society.

The only thing that I can say that I was not so fond of is the long, long narrations on various topics that seem to take place as a  discussion / conversation between friends / in a convention. But looking it from the author's point of view, that is actually the place where is expresses his thoughts that were intended for this book. So I think the long narrations/ discussions is justified.

It is one of the books that we can read over and over again for the many logical explanations and the messages/ statements in italics [which I really liked]

As the book says - It's not only a book;it's the path to a revolution,it's a journey towards a Utopian world. And it does take an open mind to have the courage to accept the truth. And I also agree with the forward written by Prof.Harish Narang- ...a very interesting read with a serious message.

And about the death of Sruthi, it is for you to read the book and find out if it was a suicide or a murder. I am definitely not breaking the suspense here :)

About the author....

Dr. Ajay Yadav is a consultant anesthetist, intensivist and pain specialist. His textbook of anesthesia is the most sold textbook for medical undergraduates in India, Southeast Asia and Africa. He is a rational, logical and analytical thinker and is fond of reading, traveling and long distance running. It had always been his dream to write a book which can unfurl the other side of curtain.

The Mug of Melancholy

The Mug of Melancholy is one of the books that was sent across for reviewing. What intrigued me was the mail from the publishers which said that the author has been writing since age 8 and the story line attached with the mail sounded something like Harry Potter novels.

 The story line...

Everything seems fine for Bhuvan until his 15th birthday! He has lost his mother when he was very young and it was his father who has brought him up.


Things change on his 15th birthday when he overhears his dad and his neighbor -Aunt Neera talking about Bhuvan getting a proper training. Further Neera also cautions Anil,Bhuvan's father, that without proper training he is bound to end up killing himself!Bhuvan wants to know about the secret yet does not want to ask his dad about it.

He gets a strange dream that night and wakes up a bit shaken.Things do not go well the next day at the library as well.He is killed yet he wakes up alive!Bhuvan finds it hard to understand if it was a dream or if he really was in that situation!

And to make things worse a vanishing lady hands him a paper and asks him to open it somewhere private without his father knowing it.He opens the paper and reads the contents and unveils a room below his bed which has books on Andrunains,bottles and containers with curiously colored liquids and a small sweaty man bound in ropes! Bhuvan helps the small man escape and the dwarf's parting words are to walk into the cedar tree in the garden and then all his questions will be answered.

The next day he walks into the cedar tree and is transported or treelevated into a whole new world called Andrunain Umpling!There he meets a group of school kids of the Padma Institute of Fine Arts and Sciences taking a tour of the Omenwhisky gardens.

He befriends Orville,Kalki,Jwala and Samudra.He walks with them to the various parts of the gardens and lands in Aunt Neeras house when he realizes that his dad will be returning home any time soon .He finds out that he is an Andrunain just like his mom and Neera and even her daughter Jaldhara and he is astounded! The conversation does not proceed further as his father comes knocking by to see if Bhuvan was around.

Anil in the meantime grows suspicious yet does not ask anything directly to Neera / Bhuvan.After his school final exams, Bhuvan sets off [with his mom's purse] to meet his friends and gets to know more about Andrunains.

And then a lady named Amaterasu offers to tutor Bhuvan with skills that would be necessary to save himself in times of need. This has been arranged by Neera.

Bhuvan also meets Zoya who promises to bring his mother back alive in return of a favor.Bhuvan trusts Zoya and starts following her requests. Zoya also plants ideas that Amaterasu and Neeru are after Bhuvan's life after which he cuts himself from the two women.

Bhuvan learns that he is the ninth malfaisant and also gets his scepter.He also finds out that the incident in the library was not a dream and it was Amaterasu who had saved his life that day.He is now caught between Zoya and Ameterasu , not knowing whom to trust. Yet he keeps Zoya's existence a secret in an expectation to see his mother.

Zoya leads him away from his beliefs of trusting Aunt Neeru and he ends up in the garden of eternal bitter winter along with Jaldhara, Neeru's daughter to fetch the Mug of Melancholy.The kidnapped girl from Andrunain Umpling,Kalki who is a music hypnotist is needed for the completion of the mission.

What happens in the Garden of Eternal Bitter Winter, Who is Zoya and what is her mission, is Zoya her real name, does Bhuvan's mom come back just like Zoya promised, are Neeru and Amaterasu really after Bhuvan's life,does Anil find out about his son's mission, does Bhuvan get the Mug of Melancholy etc is the mystery that will find when you read the book....


Read the full review here...

Gulabi - Book Review

Books can be humorous, fictional, romantic,thriller and so on.But the one that I read today is created a different type of emotion in me.It left a thug in my mind. I am still revolving with the characters!

I got this book - Gulabi by Pankaj Suneja for review...

Before going on to the story here is what the author shares...

The book is about experience of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is challenging disorder often characterized by abnormal social behavior and a significantly altered perception of reality. Its treatment largely depends on medications and psychosocial interventions but no single approach is widely considered effective for all patients. Through this book he offers the readers a glimpse into the multifaceted world of schizophrenia in the form of fictitious storyline revolving around two characters..

So  now you know what the story is all about. Yes, it revolves around two people - Monty and Virginia.And there is also this special character- Gulabi!

This is a simple story of the two characters -Monty who is the psychotic part and Virginia -the non psychotic part.


The books does begin with Death as its first chapter!!

Hop over to my other blog to read the full review....

About Author

Pankaj Suneja has completed his Master of Arts in Psychology (Psychosocial Clinical Studies) from Ambedkar University, Delhi. In 2011- 12, he suffered from a psychotic episode and had to leave his studies.Thanks to medications and the support of  family and teachers, he regained the health and resumed studies. In October 2013, he wanted to do an experiment for his thesis and decided to survive without medications.He wanted to record the episode in an authentic manner.The same year he experienced another breakdown after a painful long term relationship break-off.That was when Gulabi came into being.His thesis work has been about understanding the experience of psychosis or schizophrenia.
 

Happy Browsing...