Reading Revolution

Wish you all a very happy new year.

There is no 2009 anymore. But as the year 2010 emerges from the ashes of 2009 lets hope to have fun and frolic all around us and pray God to keep economic stability steady and safe and most importantly keep our eyes open for any injustice and unfairness being inflicted upon the society around us and voice against it through our blogs.

As for 31st night...I've had one hell of a night with so much of masti that I'm gonna cherish it all for the rest of my life. We arranged a bonfire party and danced till late in the night. And as for new year resolution...I've none. I don't need an occasion like new year's eve to resolve to do something that would bring about a remarkable change to my life. If there's any such need, I would do it irrespective of what day or occasion it is.

It was another day while I was whiling away my time surfing Net in order to find something interesting that I chanced upon a site called "The Reader Organisation". After I explored it for next 20-30 minutes I was overwhelmed by feelings of respect for the work the organisation carries out and its contribution to the world of Books.

The Reader Organisation is a charity dedicated to bringing about a Reading Revolution - this means great books reaching everybody - it's their mission to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in sharing a wealth of literature. According to them Reading is a force for social good that can build community and enhance lives.
The Reader Organisation runs various hugely inspiring outreach literacy program such as Get Into Reading, Liverpool Reads and Community Shakespeare to bring about “a reading revolution”.

Get Into Reading is the brainchild of Jane Davis, founder and director of the Reader Organisation. She believes “books can save lives” — believes it so passionately she has, in less than ten years, created an extraordinary movement, with 150 groups now meeting weekly in hospitals, prisons, refugee centres, children’s homes, libraries, YMCAs, day centres and homes for older people.

These are not “book groups”, where people come together to discuss a book they have read; they are reading groups, led by trained Get Into Reading project workers, who read the texts aloud, with group members joining in as much or as little as they wish. Interruptions are encouraged and often lead to spontaneous sharing of life experience. Texts include novels, short stories, poems, plays and works of non-fiction. I wish we could do the same here in India as well.

What most of the people feel that great Literature by Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Charles Dickens belong to academics in English Departments and as a result draw themselves to fictional work by other writers. But this organisation emphasizes a lot on literature to make people savour the works those of Shakespeare and Tolstoy and hence eliminate the beliefs that their work belongs only to academics. My Mom, when young, had read almost all of Shakespeare's work and still longs to read them. Love you Mom..!!

As a child..I was never into classics by Shakespeare or Dickens but more into Comics By Archie, Books by R.L.Stine, Nancy Drew Series, Hardy Boys Books and lots more. I remember I used to read a lot of them by R.L.Stine Fear Street Series and hide them under my pillow given to their glossy covers featuring some gorgeous looking Girls in their Shorts(Guess, this could be a marketing strategy back then...) when someone was around and read later into the Nights after everyone was asleep. Hee Hee..:)

But now I read more of Indian Authors as I feel, I can somehow understand the emotions they put in their work and feel an inexplicable attachment to their books.
But now I'll try my best to lay my hands on some literature as well.

Last word should go to Writer and Poet Blake Morrison who commented 'In the presence of books, it's as if a hand has reached out and taken our own. That's the hand The Reader Organisation is trying to extend'.
I wish we could have the same here in every city and village in India and contribute our best and maximum to Book World.
This is what Reading Revolution is all about and there is nothing to stop people reading great books, at least not me.

How to Pick a Good Book

"How to pick a Good Book and not feel let down?"
"I want to read something good...tell me one."
"Yaar recommend me some book...!!"

These are just some of the questions that many of my friends and colleague who are not much into books, ask me and I, in response, help them recommending books from current bestsellers list or the ones I found interesting and good enough to go through and be a part of my shelf.

It's only when I found one and only one of my blogger friend Smita  enlightening people with Mantra's to Read more and more on her blog, I decide to enlighten people on how to pick a good book and not feel unhappy or disappointed.

Here I go...

How to Pick a Good Book..

1. Feel the Need

Don't read just because you have to. Read because you want to. In my case I read to survive. One should feel the need, the desire, the hunger to lay your hands on something as beautiful as a book and once you find something that appeals to you or interest you...Read to bask in its Beauty.

2. Go to a good and well known Bookstore nearby your place.

When you want to dine out or eat out what do you do? Well, you go to tastiest restaurants (considering you have the money), one which is classy and modern and  specializes in both traditional and contemporary cuisines, where menu and chef's cooking displays and services are sure to get the taste buds interested.

Same goes for shopping(well..most of the time) and Books as well.

A bookstore offers a collection of fictions, novels,classic, books on interior decoration, cookery books, books on religion and various other subjects. You can also find current bestsellers, page turners and so forth.

Here are the names of some of the good Bookstores followed by their Address in Noida and Delhi which can really help you pick your choice.

1. Oxford Book Store : It's the best and feels like heaven. A must visit for every Bookworm.

148, New Statesman House, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001

011 23766083?

2.Om Book Shop

Ground Floor, Great India Place

Sector 38-A, Noida, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301

3. Galgotia book Shop

G - 64 Sector 18, Noida

Near MC Donald's

4. Teksons Bookshop

G-24, Sector-18, Noida, 201301

0120 2511363

You can also do some online shopping where you get discounts on no. of Books and great offers.

Some of them are as follows:

1.Flipkart

2.Rediff Books

3.Indiatimes

4.Indiaplaza

5.FriendsofBooks

3. Search for online book reviews and join some  "social cataloging" website such as  Goodreads and Shelfari.

These social network for readers have more than millions of members who have added  thousands of books to their shelves. This is a place for casual readers and bona-fide bookworms alike, Goodreads members or Shelfari members recommend books, compare what they are reading, keep track of what they've read and would like to read, form book clubs and much more. 

4. Decide what you want to read and pick books which interest you.

Books and Women are the only two things that come in wide variety ( No Offense here....I respect nothing as much as every Women in the world..) with a difference that it's lot easier to handle books as compared to women. 

Read only what you want to at the moment. Well, you should be sensible enough to know what you want.

5. Find out about the Best of the Authors and their work and most importantly their style of writing.

There are books which might have a good and interesting plot but then not much to understand. (Faking it by Amrita Choudhary is one such book..) and then there are books which may not have a gripping plot but feel like heaven while going through it.

All of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's books fall in this category though some of them actually have a gripping plot. She's one Author who creates a magical world by her writing and words. She's my most favorite of all. So before zeroing in on something find out about the Author and if possible try to read first 5-6 pages of a book. If found interesting and readable...Buy.

6. Last but never the least...Go through Book Blogs.

The world is full of Book Lovers who express their love through Blogs where you can find Book Reviews, Books to pick from Bestsellers List,what are they reading, what is next on their mind and lots more.

One such Blog which is a favorite of mine is by Smita and also features in the Best Indian Blog.

Here's a link: Books, Life-n-More 

To make it easier for you here are some of the books that you can pick and would never regret having done so.

1. Twilight Saga - All four Books by Stephenie Meyer

2. Palace of Illusion by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

3. The lost Flamingoes of Bombay by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi

4. The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga

5. Zero Percentile by Neeraj Chhibba

6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

7. Ford County by John Grisham

8. The Zoya Factor by Anuja Chauhan

9.Paths of Glory by Jeffery Archer

10. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

In the end ...Remember what you like may not go well with other's likings and that shouldn't matter much. I like myself but hardly liked by anyone else. So it's up to you to decide what you want to read and what not and pick only what you want and leave unwanted. That's an art as well. The sooner you acquire and understand, the better for you.

Enjoy Reading..!!

After a 20-day Hiatus

Last 20 days have been the busiest days of my life so far. I feel like as if I've been thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry. And then neatly ironed and put back to my usual self.

Well, that's precisely what my life has been for last 20 days and one of the many reasons to "not-to-blog".

I was looking for something motivating to get back to blogging but I didn't get. I never get. And now I've decided to switch back to what I love doing most and would blog only about it unless I find anything as interesting as reading books.

But before I bore you with the books I read and their reviews here's a glimpse inside my life in last 20 days and insanities embedded therein.

List of events in chronological order:

1. My Birthday

2. My cousin's Marriage

3. Meeting a lost friend after a long time of 10-12 years

4. A Night-Out with friends for a  friend's B'Day

1. My Birthday

Well, It was the worst ever....I literally got muffed-up. Don't even wanna think about it forget blog in detail. I would rather not say much.

2. My Cousin's Marriage

I decided to attend her wedding a day prior to its schedule and tried to book my tickets but unsurprisingly didn't get it. So had to travel in non-AC class for 12 hours with my parents in AC class.

I tried to pass hours reading but could not as people around asked to switch off the lights and I did reluctantly.

I was battered and tattered by the time I reached my destination. Later that day I attended my sister's wedding, was thankfully awake throughout the whole ceremony for the very first time and nearly avoided a tiff with the Groom in our very first conversation.  I won't have spared him if it wasn't his own wedding. Though I almost lost my temper on some of the Girls from Groom's side but my mom rescued them seeing the warning in my eyes. 

Sis, I didn't like your "madrasi" looking husband and any of his family member for their weird, arrogant and exaggerated self-opinion and importance. They are nothing but a bunch of boneheaded, brainless, crazy fools.

All the best Sis..!!

3. Meeting a lost friend after a long time of 10-12 years

Met a friend of mine after a long time. I would have not recognized her ever if she wouldn't have told her name. Both of us were really more shocked than surprised to see each other. 

She was all howling, shouting to see me( I doubt...)...well, I didn't notice this unless my friends told me this. She complimented or insulted me saying I was more "handsome"( I've never been one...) then back in school than I'm now and I realized She was more blind then than she is now.

We took each other's no. and promised to catch up soon.

4. A Night-Out with friends for a  friend's B'Day

"I fell asleep and don't even remember if the cake was cut or not."

Conclusion: I'm the weirdest person with even more weird luck to act as magnet for troubles. I should be forbidden to set foot on anything auspicious.

Now the Books...

Here are the books and their ratings that I read in last 2-3 weeks and will post their reviews soon.

1. To kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee

My Rating : 4/5

2. Ladies Coupé -by Anita Nair

My Rating: 3/5

3. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
My Rating: 2.5/5

4. The Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
My Rating: 3.5/5

The Secret : The Sacred & Not So Sacred

The Secret By Rhonda Byrne

Price: Rs 251/-

Of all the words that exist I believe the word "Secret" is most "beckoning". The moment one sees it somewhere or hears it...he/she is instantly pulled into it. It's human to have an unrestrained desire to know information that have been kept hidden. Every living or non-living soul in the world has some or the other secret and each of them  feels an abstruse desire to know other's secret without revealing their own.


But then there are some greatest of them ....well..that's what they seem to profess ...who are way too brave, bold and daring that they go onto reveal their secrets( I wonder if they truly mean when they call it Secret...) not only to just few closed ones but to the whole world. And the best way to do so is through the medium of entertainment....such as Film, TV show, Newspaper....and of course Books.


Last month...I picked Rhonda Byrne's The Secret given to my so called human desire to know all secrets in the world. One night I even dreamed myself as the President of United States and hence in the power to know every Secret in the world...courtesy Hollywood's National Treasure : Book of Secrets.


Now the Book....
Some  Good Points....


1. The hardcover looks great
2. Pages are all glossy and feel aberrant in my hands
3. Every chapter starts with a picture of an Alpenliebe candy
4. And the teaser given at the back...Huh..!!
5. And talks mostly and only about "Law of Attraction"




One and the only Bad Point:
It's bore to the core.


If I say I hated it...would be too much but then I can't help say that It's boring.
The book is heavily focused on wealth and creating abundance through law of attraction. "The Secret" is a self-help book which tries to convince the reader to be happy now, and to think happy thoughts all the time in order to attain any goal in life. I agree with positive thinking but not to the extend that this book explained its magic and power.


It is really only the power of positive thinking, which, I agree is very influential in our lives. This book is a bunch of quotes from "experts" of this theory. Some of it are good, helpful or insightful, but when Rhonda Byrne says that she learned everything that there is to know about quantum physics because she just felt like learning about it and believed that she could learn it, and how she doesn't exercise or eat healthy but still weighs 110 pounds simply by thinking herself thin, I want to vomit. I couldn't take it.


Needless to say that there are people who have loved and praised it but then they seriously need some help..not the self-help ones.
I'll ask you not to buy the book as its pdf is easily available.


My Ratings : * *


It also said that if one thinks too much about something...he/she would positively have it through Law of Attraction. 
Next instant...
I think...I'll meet Katrina Kaif and she'll fall in love with me and eventually marry me. I kept on thinking it throughout the day...but ...what...?
Like you don't know...huh..!!






The Sacred Secret by Ravi Kapur
Price: Rs 250/-

About this Book:

This book tells about the seven wonders of the world and the spiritual secrets behind them.

Someone dies...leaves a letter behind asking his descendants to go look for seven wonders of the world and seven most influential personalities in the history and find about their secrets and power.

This is a well told story and interesting too for its different plot. Though at times you feel you should just leave it aside and get on with something more interesting but, mind you, it takes its pace gradually.

I liked it but not much given to few boring chapters and hence would give it not more than three stars.

My Ratings: * * *

Some more Books and their Reviews

Here's a quick glance over a list of some of the books that I've finished reading and a short review for all those who might be interested.



1. Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup

It's Vikas's second book after Q & A. Like you all know that "slumdog millionaire" is an  adaptation of the novel Q & A  by Indian author and diplomat  Vikas Swarup and won many oscars for reasons unknown to me.


But I'm sure Six Suspects  wouldn't get anywhere near to it. But if well made by a Bollywood director except for Ram Gopal Verma...it is sure to win, at the very least, some zee cine award...or something like that.


Now as for the plot...the book tells us a story about Vicky Rai, the corrupt son of a corrupt politician, who kills a young woman in a fit of rage.  Despite the presence of several witnesses during the murder, Vicky is acquitted by the Indian judicial system which is not a rarity in our country. When Vicky is shot dead at a party (now that is extremely rare for it to happen here in our country) celebrating the verdict, six suspects emerge: a Bollywood actress, a tribal, a petty thief, an American visitor, a bureaucrat and a politician. Each has a motive, each has a gun, and each one's life is filled with coincidence.


Vikas Swarup is good but not at his very best...that's how I felt. Though..the book is readable and sometimes doesn't fail to amuse you but what struck me hard is the way Vikas Swarup smartly and brilliantly encompasses modern India's many issues in four hundred seventy pages. Terrorism, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and endemic institutional corruption and lots more. Well...that's obvious as it comes from the position he holds for Indian Govt.


If you want to have a good time pass....and wanna watch an indian bollywood movie through a book...then this a book for you.

My Ratings are :  * * * and half




2. Afterwards by Jaishree Misra 



Jaishree Misra is one of my favorite author for the way she weaves complex emotions into the plot of her books with an ease that they straight away seep through your heart.


Well  this book tells us a story, set in the backdrop of Kerala and London, of a failed marriage....love of a man for another man's wife....their burgeoning relationship followed by, in the end, loss of lives  and the flood of excruciating emotions that one goes through "Afterwards".


My Ratings are : * * *

Book Review: Twilight Series

Twilight Series

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Price: Rs 1400

Connaught place isn't far from my place in NOIDA. It's about 30-45 mins distant. So once in a week one can easily spot me  strolling down its wide yet crowded pathways with some or the other friends of mine. So, like so many times, One day I went out again with a close friend of mine who happens to be an avid reader but not as serious as me.

We were simply taking a walk down the pathways in a brightly lit CP taking in its exquisite and unparalleled beauty when all of a sudden it dawned upon me that my dear friend wasn't walking beside me anymore. I looked around and found her nowhere in the crowd. 

It's only then you realize power of your mind when thousands of sick thoughts cross  through it in a fraction of seconds. It was only a moment before I could feel  my muscles go stiff with fear and anxiety that I happen to look down and there I found her, to my relief, bend  on her knees looking down over a set of books available for sale by the roadside stall. Well, these roadside book stalls are quite a common thing to spot around CP and mind you they  offer original as well as the pirated copy at reasonable prices.

Once I found her with anxiety throbbing through my veins, I realized she's as much a serious reader as I am and seeing the same level of love toward books as I have in my heart,my tension,anger and fear...all subsided.

I walked up and knelt down just beside her. To my surprise, I found her eyes wide with a look of horror into them....I wondered and looked in the direction of her gaze and found a set of four books in her hand. Only then did I realize it's not horror rather boundless love for a things called "Books" and found myself a lot more behind her in terms reading and love for books.

Having seen me kneeling beside her,  she passes the books in my hand and goes on to explain me in detail about the book ,which was then  followed by  hundreds of "wow!" and some strange sounds with her eyes glinting sharp over the books in my hand.

It was then she introduced me to Stephenie Meyer and her four books with three of her books sequel to one another in sequence.

Her first book : "Twilight" which was soon followed by a sequel "New Moon"...which led to another sequel "Eclipse" to be followed by the last book in series "Breaking Dawn".  That was more than enough to convince me of writer's immense talent and power of imagination.

I wondered at the calibre and ability of writer to write 4 books one after the other..bound around the same story and all of them being the bestseller. Well that's quite obvious for she wouldn't have come up with the next book had her previous book been a disaster. I didn't   buy the book then as I was short of money then and had already bought books for the week.

After that It started to feel quite usual to go through same experience everytime I went out with a female friend and finally after having seen so much of drama and madness, I eventually buy the whole set.

I start with the first book and finish it in just 3 days....

I start with the second book and finish it in 3 days...and now I'm reading the    third one...it's incredibly great so far.

Let me give you a glimpse of its storyline first....

The whole series is a love story with loads of twists and turns.

 Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan who is character so accurate and well described that you'll find yourself falling in love with her as you turn page after page.

And it's not just Bella...there are other characters which, I bet, would steal your heart  away with their beautiful and apt description.

It's a story about Bella swan who happens to fall in love with Edward Cullen who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn.

Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edward's burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These immortal friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples.

Mind you its a triangular love story which you'll find only when you come to second book.

Twilight is an easy and enjoyable read. When reading Twilight one really connects with the characters and their emotions, regardless how much of a macho man you claim to be. Its first-person viewpoint keeps the the pages turning. This isn't a masterpiece of literary achievement, however. You have to take it for what it is –- a unique and entertaining, if not flawlessly written, story. 

Twilight will almost certainly appeal to teenage girls and many women of all ages, but probably not to the majority of males not at the very least by same level.

In a nutshell....It's a book for everyone and must for every girl. Its romantic theme, gripping plot with simple writing style would make you fall in love with it and keep you hooked  for very long.

Though I'm still reading the third in series but I don't doubt giving it all 5 out of 5. 

A perfect book for every reader...!!

In the end there's something else I wanna tell you all.....

I have a friend who I keep telling to read books and even gave her few but she never read them. She never took any interest in reading. It was one day after I finished Twilight that I asked her again to read ...if not the whole book but at the very least 2-3 chapters of it. 

After loads of prodding...she, eventually, gave in and started with the book...

And this is what she texted me after a week.....

"I'm sorry Raj...I know..I'm bugging you a lot with this twilight thing but I can't help. Twilight is making me completely mad....I even saw the movie after I read the book...wow..!!

I'm not able to think beyond it....i'll soon be buying the whole lot very soon...all four.

Thank you so much for giving me this. I'm not able to concentrate on anything...All I think of Edward and Bella...sometimes...I re-read it and it's not only me who's smitten....there are a whole lot of them back in college who are as mad as i am.

I know...M sounding all weird but then that's how it is..:)"

I smile in response...!!! 

Books and Life

I know it's been really long since i have come up with any post of late...but now things wouldn't be the same anymore. I'm back to my world with loads of things up on mind and will soon be putting them up on this part of cosmos too. Until now..I was too occupied with more important things in my life...things that had to be done before I could start with less important things but now when I'm over with those...I'm all set to entertain and amuse you all with my posts.

While I was busy doing my daily chores there was one thing that never left my side...not even for a second. It's the only thing I need to survive alone apart from basic necessities of life.

They were none other than my "books". In the last few days I got to read some amazing books...some bestsellers..some classics...some "chicklits" too and I'm still on my way to read even more.

I'll be putting detailed reviews of them all on my blog very soon but for now i'll just let you know the books that you can buy and enjoy and the ones you should stay away from.

I'll be putting Book Reviews including their details and everything....Bestseller list for the month....Books you must read and have and books that you should avoid.

Anyway...These are some of the books that I've been reading in last few months and here's a quick view of their details and  ratings in case you're in too much of hurry to buy and can't wait to have their complete and honest review by me.

1. Twilight Series           

Author: Stephenie Meyer

a)Twilight

Rating : *****

Price: Rs 280

Paperback: 464 pages

Subjects: fantasy, love, teens & young adult

ISBN: 9781904233657

Publisher: Little Brown

Published: February 2007

b)New Moon

Rating: *****

Price: Rs 260

Paperback: 608 pages
Subjects: fiction, horror, love, paranormal, romance

ISBN: 9781904233886

Publisher: Little Brown

Published: September 2007

c) Eclipse

Rating: *****

Price: Rs 300

Paperback: 558 pages
Subjects: fiction, love, romance, science fiction, vampires

ISBN: 9781904233916

Publisher: Atom Books

Published: 2008

d) Breaking Dawn

Rating: ***** 

Price: Rs 450

Paperback: 640 pages
Subjects: fantasy, fiction, love, romance, vampires

ISBN: 1905654291

Publisher: Hachette

Published: August 2008

2. Faking It 

Author: Amrita Chowdhury

Rating: ***

Price: Rs 225
Paperback: 225 pages
ISBN:    8190617321
Publisher: Hachette

Published: June 2009

3. Sister of My Heart

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Rating : ****

Price: Rs 310

4. The Secret - Hardcover

by Rhonda Byrne

Rating: ***

Price: Rs 533
Hardcover: 198 pages

Subjects: non-fiction, psychology, self help

ISBN: 9781847370297

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: November 2006

5. Keep Off The Grass By Karan Bajaj

Rating: * * *




6. Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

Rating : * * *

7. Lashkar by Mukul Deva

Rating: * *

These are just some of the books and there are many more. I'll soon be putting up their reviews too.

Have fun..!!