Bhendi Bazaar - Book Review

I got this book only because it was on a promotional sale! But now I am glad I got it!!

Of late, my trend in buying books is sort of buy books when they are on a sale. Though I have a wishlist of books, I buy those that are not on the list if I get them for a  discounted price.This was in the category of  50-70% discount!And that is exactly how I ended buying this book. 

Then I posted my monthly book haul on Instagram and a few of my friends said it was a great crime novel.That’s when I got interested in reading it.

This books also happens to fit in for theFull House Challenge, where I can strike off  the box with – story that is set in a place starting with B, because this story revolves around Bhendi Bazaar and also to 2016 Alphabet soup reading challenge.

Take a look at the reading challenges I have signed up this year and here are the books that I have read and reviewed so far.

This 365 paged book is authored by Vish Dhamija.

The book starts with three Russian girls –Magdalena,Dunya and Varnika coming to India to take part in the 1982 Asian games. What the others in their troupe are not aware is that these girls are planning never to return to Russia but settle down in India.

Magdalena is sort of the team leader and she arranges for fake passports for the three and also makes contacts in India for their travel to Mumbai

The story fast forwards to 2007,where DCP Rita Ferriera is woken up in the early hours of the day. There has been a murder of Adit Lele.Vikram and Jatin her aides try solving the case.

Soon they realize there is a serial killer on the loose. More men are killed in the same pattern as the first one and there are hardly any evidences left behind and no leads at all. But the whiff of perfume, a lipstick and a lady’s inner garment that are found at the crime scenes don’t provide any help and the team soon realizes that a man is trying to throw off the scent by making the police assume that the killer is a lady.

The story goes back and forth between the murders and the three girls.The girls who assume that life will be a bed of roses after they escape from Russia do not realize that life would become a living hell when they are tricked into prostitution and live a life of pain and sorrow.

In between these there is Anita Raizada,a journalist who comes into the team when the killer sends her publisher evidence of the first murder. Jatin sort of falls for her .

There is the womanizer, Narang who is a political big-wig and also runs the newspaper that Anita works in.

Then there is Dr. Ashwin Mittal aka Ash Mattel who is a criminal profiler and also gives a lot of tips and hints about the the way a criminal would think and act.He is actually Rita’s college mate and the two meet when Rita’s boss suggest they take a consult with Ash because he is a famous criminal profiler in  UK

Until the last couple of chapters, I assumed that one of the three girls grow up and took revenge on the men but then two of them die .So I was clueless.

The killer contacts her and even leaves a small gift wrapped parcel inside her vehicle!All this stumps Rita.

Finally,Rita manages to find the killer and I was as shocked as she was on the discovery! 

I am sure you are dying to know if the killer was a male or female and I am sure you will be even more eager when I tell you that the killer was in touch with Rita all through without Rita ever realizing it!! 

The story shows the dark shades of Mumbai where innocent girls and women are forced into prostitution, their lives and the hurdles they face in their trade. It is indeed heart wrenching!

The ending has a huge twist which I am not going to give away!!

This is one of those books which you will find hard to put down . The narration is set in a such a pace that one minute you guess something and the next minute you are proved wrong!!

It is worth a buy and I am sure you will enjoy reading this book.

So here is where I stand in the full house challenge..

Happy Browsing....

Half Girlfriend - Book Review

This book is for the 2016 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge  @ My Soul Called Life. There are 6 keywords to choose from each month which should be in the title of the book.

For January, the key words were - Crowd, Girl, The, Bad, Soul, Soft

The chose 'Girl' and read Chetan Bhagat's Half Girlfriend.

For the past couple of days, I have been down with a bad cough and sniffles. I took advantage of this time to relax and read a book for the challenges I signed up.

It was a very quick read and I finished it within a few hours...

The back of the book says-

Once upon a time there was a Bihari Boy called Madhav.He fell in love with a girl called Riya from Delhi.Madhav didn't speak English well. Riya did.Madhav wanted a relationship.Riya didn't.Riya just wanted friendship.Madhav didn't.Riya suggested is a compromise.She agreed to be half girlfriend.

These lines were what prompted me to buy this book!

It starts with a typical boy meets girl and it was love at first sight for the boy. Being a little shy Madhav tries to be content with the friendship but his residence mates on campus urge him to have a relationship. Riya refuses and cuts off the friendship,well,almost.

She quits college and agrees to marry the son of their family friend. Madhav finishes college, refuses a job at HDFC and returns to his hometown to work with his mother in their family school.

A few years later he meets Riya in Patna and learns that she is now a divorcee and since she is still his half girlfriend, he wants to renew the friendship.

What happens in the end is where the real twist lies!!

The story starts with Madhav meeting the author Chetan Bhagat and asking him to read his girlfriends journal .He says the memories are too painful as his half girl frind is dead. The author refuses at first but is intrigued so he starts reading. The pages are old, yellow and crumpling.He asks Madhav to narrate their love story or why Riya was his half girlfriend.

So Madhav starts narrating the story which is Act 1 which takes place in Delhi.MAdhav and Riya joining the college on sports quota,the college fun, the duo practicing basketball ,his inability to mingle due to the lack of spoken English.Falling in love with the most beautiful girl on earth aka Riya and then the breakup ,the lonely years Madhav spent in college after Riya left the college to get married and travel.

Act 2 takes place in Bihar where Madhav works @ his family school after finishing his dies and takes care of the administrative side as well as helps with the classes.It is in this part that he meets Riya again in Patna and also takes her to his hometown, Bill Gates visiting his school and Madhav preparing a speech with Riya's help and getting a huge grant money for the school.Once the function is over a student hands over a letter from Riya which states that dying from lung cancer and she does not want him to see her suffer.

After Madhav's narration ends,Chetan Bhagat hands him her journal.Madhav is asked to read a few legible paragraphs from Riya's journal that Chetan Bhagat has marked .He is surprised to read that Riya is still alive and has left him since his mother did not approve their friendship and she did not want her son to get hurt again.

Act 3 is in New York. Madhav recollects her passion to perform at a New York music bar and goes there searching across 1000's of music bars.

Does he find her? Well, that is for you to read and find out!!!

This 260 paged book published in 2014 costs INR 176.

Happy Browsing....

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...