Ramayana- The Game of Life - Stolen Hope - Book review

I am posting this here for the Full House Challenge as I will be crossing out the theme - Book published in 2016.

 I have already posted the review for Part 1 - Rise Of  The Sun Prince and Part 2 - Shattered Dreams.The first part talks about the time before Lord Rama was born to the time of His wedding to Sita. The second part describes the preparation for crowning Lord Rama as the King, Kaikeyi's plot  , the trio - Rama , Lakshmana and Sita leaving the country to live in the forest.

Unlike many other series of books, you can start reading this book straight away  without the feel that you are missing something from the first two parts. The author rightly says - When you bite into a cake,it hardly matters where you begin.

In this book, there is a Story So Far section where you can read the synopsis of the first two books in this series.

The story starts with King Danda violating the modesty of Araja the beautiful daughter of Sage Sukracharya.Enraged by this deed, the sage curses that his kingdom would into the place that houses animal-like humans and become home to the fiercest jungle humans ever known.Within minutes the glorious kingdom turned into a great jungle called Dandakaranya,

The book ends with Lord Rama meeting Sabari and she handing over a map to the brothers to get to the wonder monkeys in the Kishkinda forest who would be the instruments in helping Rama rescue Sita.

In between this,the trio - Rama , Lakshmana and Sita encounter a whole lot of hardships and demons and monsters of various sizes and shapes. The brothers find their way through the forest and also meet a lot of Sages, many of whom have been eagerly waiting for the brothers to arrive and free them of the various hardships that the demons have been putting them through.With each encounter with the demons, Rama makes sure that Sita does not see the gore of the war .

13 years in the forest moves seemingly smooth when catastrophe strikes .One of the main characters in this series is Surpanaka who is the trigger for the big war and the destruction of Ravana .

Read the full review here..

Happy Browsing....

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I'm kick starting the reading Challenges for 2016 with this book...

Title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell

Publication Date:Aug 1945
Publisher: Fingerprint Classics

Format : Paperback

Pages: 143
Genre:Dystopia / Political Satire


I finished reading this in less than 3 hours...

Though I have seen this book plenty of times while shopping online, it never occurred to me to add it to my collection since it looked more like a kid's book to me.Then one fine day,when it was on promotional sale,I pick it up.It then stayed on the shelf till I saw this Dystopia  Reading Challenge announcement and then went over to check out list of the  books that fall into this category.My eyes fell on this book and that kindled my interest to read this book.

This book written by George Orwell is said to be based on the events that happened around the Russian Revolution.

On the outside, the book looks more like the story that happens in a farm among animals.It is more like a 'Fairy tale' theme. On digging deeper, you realize it is indeed a political satire.

It is the story set in the Mr.Jones' Manor farm.The animals are sick and tired of being taken for granted to do the farm work. One night ,a pig named ,Old Major, speaks to the assembled animals about his dream where the animals are all free from the tyranny of the humans.

After Old Major's death,two pigs named Snowball and Napoleon,plan to take over the farm. Being considered intelligent, they head the rebellion and succeed.The name of the farm is changed to 'Animal Farm'

At first everything is sunny .On the gate outside,7 commandments are written and followed by all .Later the pigs gain upper hand and soon the 'doctrines that were first emphasized crumbles . Corruption surfaces and all the animals begin to see the differences.

Snowball is accused of  treachery after her disappearnace and Napoleon is full in command. The laws of the farm are changed as per the pigs requirements.Life becomes harsh for all the animals except for the pigs. The animals are made to work longer and harder with very little food but the pigs live in comfort and luxury with good food and alcohol!

Years pass by and Napoleon goes into contract with the owners of the nearby farm.Eventually,the pigs start walking on hind legs and take on many qualities of the humans.

The previously written 7 commandments are reduced to one - All animals are equal;But some animals are more equal than the others.The name of the farm is also changed back to 'Manor Farm'.

One night the other animals watch from outside as the pigs and humans from the nearby farm drink and play cards. In a while these animals find it difficult to distinguish between the pigs and humans!

Though this was written in 1945, it still finds relevance to the present day political scenario.The corruption and the craze for power that arises subsequently is unmistakable in this novel.

It is truly a timeless classic that divulges the human nature even though the story is set in a farm!

Coming to the cover, I specifically chose this one over the others as it looked kinda rustic and more like a worn-out sign board.

This is my first George Orwell novel and after reading this,I have ordered a few more of his books and you are sure to read the reviews here.


This book is a part of 2016 Alphabet soup reading challenge , Dystopia Reading Challenge,
Full House Challenge  and this book crosses out the theme - Way out of comfort zone as this genre is very new to me and this is my first read in this genre.

December 2015 - Book Haul

From this month on I plan to post pics of the books I get for each month. Its a small way to show love towards my book blog which I have not been updating regularly.

So here are the books that I purchased this month..

First one is of the books that I purchased online. There was a big discount on books and I didn't want to miss out the deals. So all these books here cost only INR 811/-

The twilight saga was from a used book store and I still have wait for the final volume.These books cost INR 300/-. Considering that these are the imported editions and look good as new, this is surely a good deal..

Kalki - Selected story is the book I picked up from mom's home. I was cleaning out some boxes and found it there.Dad said he got it in some garage sale long back and that it cost almost nothing.So I will count is as a free book :)

The other 2 books were sent in for review..

Stats:

Total Books - 18
Amount spent - INR 1111/-
No. of books read from this months haul - 2  [Those are the ones that came in for review]

The Bestseller She Wrote

A signed copy of a novel is sure to brighten the day of a bibliophile, right!That was exactly what happened when BlogAdda sent me a signed copy of Ravi Subramanian's latest novel -The Best Seller She Wrote.

I have read his earlier books and reviewed The Bankster and God is a Gamer here. I was eager to start right away but with some personal things cropping up I could pick up the book just last night .After tucking the kids into bed I started reading.My original plan was to read for a while and continue reading the next morning.

But guess what! I just could not put down the book and finished it in less than 4 hours flat! Wow!! The book is really unputdownable!![Is there a word like that!!]

 

Eager to read the plot and my views on this book? Hop over to my review post and as soon as you are done, I am sure you will want to order a copy for yourself :)

Happy Reading...

Reading Challenges for 2016

 I have a room full of books-on the shelves, on the sofa, on the bed and table and a few even on the floor!That's exactly how our guest bed room looks right now, littered with food props and books!


My To Be Read [TBR]list is growing faster than my kids and I thought it is time to read them all.Well, I do keep reading but in 2015, I could not post all the reviews on this blog.

This year, I wanted to do justice to the books that I got as well as this book space of mine and hence decided to join a few challenges that might be easy for me to read and most importantly document my reviews / reads.

I saw this huge list of reading challenges for 2016 and immediately started planning to join a few.

I am taking it easy this time by not setting a major challenges and just as much as I can. If I stress out on reading then there is no fun,right!!

Here is what I will be doing this year ...

1.Color coded challenge @ My Readers Block  where the challenge is to read 9 books in 9 categories with the specified color in the title or book cover. Interesting isn't it!!

 

2.2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge @ Cornerfolds - I found the the theme very interesting and something that I don't read very often. So I am going out of my comfort zone to read this genre. Incidentally, I have 2 books in the genre and the rest I am hoping to find them from this list.

3.2016 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge  @ My Soul Called Life - 6 keywords to choose from each month which should be in the title of the book. I am sure I will have 12 books off my TBR!

4. 2016 Alphabet soup reading challenge @ Escapes with Dollycas Into a Good Book - The name says it all - One book per alphabet.Now, I wonder what I willbe reading for Q,X and Z!!!Let's wait and see...

 

5.Full House Challenge @ Book Date - All one has to do is complete the categories on the card and get a full house. The categories are simple as well as interesting and right now I am sure I can cross off all but 2 categories in the card!!

 

Here are the themes to cross out..

6.Literary Loners Challenge @ Whatever I Think Of - Read the books written by loners or those that feature the main character as a loner. I do have some books that fit the bill, so I am joining in this one too!

Last but not the least - 

 7..Foodies Read Challenge @ Based On a True Story - I will post about this one on my food blog in a while.

 

Though I have posted all the sign ups in a single page, the reviews will be posted individually for each group and so will be the roundups at the end of the year. 

I am thoroughly excited to be doing these challenges and hopefully I will finish them all as planned. Fingers crossed...

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...