Chetan Bhagat's - The 3 mistakes of my life

Genre – Fiction
Rating – 3.5 / 5

I am head over heels in love with Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone. With 5 point Someone, Chetan Bhagat has set very high expectations of himself in my mind. When a book says – ‘by Chetan Bhagat’ I have great expectations from the book. Somehow his second book ‘One night at call center’ did not please me well… and my liking score took a deep plunge for his third – ‘3 mistakes of my life’. If not for its tail-end plot, I would have given a real poor rating for this book.

This is a story about 3 friends, Govind, Ish and Omi and their business (sports store). To start the entrepreneurship, Omi makes the arrangement for the store, Ish brings knowledge of sports and Govind has the intelligence to run the business. Along with the sports store they also provide Cricket coaching and Maths tuition to make some extra bucks. Both Cricket and Maths classes have “special” students who unknowingly play major role in the story. Govind is the narrator and the “3 mistakes” are his mistakes in life. This simple tale is set in the backdrop of Gujarat’s earthquake and Godhara riots. Like every other common man’s dream in Gujarat, Govind, Ish and Omi’s dream come crashing as the result of these mishaps. To add up, the political riot showcased at the near-end brings everything to halt.

The book is ‘Okay’. Story is plain. Characters are average. Book completely lacks Chetan Bhagat’s charisma. I kept on reading with optimism for finding Chetan’s witty funny side. Sadly author hasn’t utilized his language skills and humor sense as he has in his previous works. From the story line I wonder if it was written with a perspective of converting it into another Bollywood movie. I would not recommend it to a Chetan Bhagat fan.

Ernest Thompson's - On Golden Pond

Genre – Fiction
Rating - 4.5 /5

‘Cute’ was what I said when I finished reading the last line of this play. The movie ‘On Golden Pond’ was long time back recommended to me (it is in my to-watch list). During the last book sale in the local library, I had gladly picked this book in a dash. Only after I pulled it out for reading, I realized that it is not the usual story book. It is a play!

It is about Norman and Ethel’s (an elderly couple in late seventies) one summer vacation which they spent at a place called Golden Pond in Maine and hence the name – On Golden Pond. Staying in their lake house on the Golden pond has been Norman and Ethel’s summer ritual since last 48 years. This time, when Norman is turning 80, their daughter, Chelsea (now 42 yrs old), wants to join them too. Norman wanted her to be a boy and all his life, they both have had a tense relationship. She comes with her new boy friend (Bill) and Bill’s 13 yr old son Billy. From the very first meet, Norman finds Billy very interesting and eventually they get along pretty well. At the end of the show, as Chelsea and Norman burry their hatchet everything ends happily as well.

The story line is very simple. But don’t fall prey to its simplicity. This play is hilarious to the core! Norman’s sarcastic comments are sure to produce belly laughs every now and then. Ethel is shown extremely loving wife. She is the only one with capacity to backhand Norman’s acrid remarks in a very adorable manner. Their unshakable affection for each other makes them a perfect made-in-heaven couple. The reconciliation between father and daughter is well pictured without any over poignant dialogues. There are few sentimental moments too, but they are very calculated.

Overall, liked it dearly.

Jhumpa Lahiri's - Unaccustomed Earth

Genre : Short Stories
Rating : 4.5 / 5

I was little disappointed with Interpreter of Maladies, however, had loved Jhumpa Lahiri’s style of writing, her way of describing the characters. After having read two of her books, I was not certainly expecting this book to be all-happy but without having any prejudices I picked it up. I must say, I liked it better than Interpreter of Maladies. The later falls in the same genus as 'Interpreter….'; similar short stories revolving round Bengali immigrants of men from academia, women as housewives and American born kids who are torn between the two worlds. Even this collection has the families staying in the north-east coast of U.S.A and kids attending Ivy League schools. But it is different in a way that it has less melancholic, less grieving scenes and the characters seem to have developed little positive attitude towards life. Thankfully the first and second generations appear to have understood each other to some extent. ;)

Collection has varied stories of unexpected endings. The most I liked is the first story – Unaccustomed Earth; about a daughter and her father. It is different from the usual lovey-dovey father and daughter stories. It doesn’t have any daddy’s-little-girl or my-daddy-is-the-best moments. They both have differences in their thinking and yet they respect each others decisions. Hell Heaven – is about a married women’s crush for a younger man. Her woe when he decides to marry an American is well portrayed. I did not quite understand A Choice of Accommodations. Only Goodness is about the sister-brother relationship where sister is her parents pride and brother turns out to be a black sheep of the family. Nobody’s Business – story about broken relationship. I had started developing a slight liking for this story but after a while it felt like a drag. Second part of the book is collection of 3 stories revolving round Hema and Kaushik. First story is Hema’s part of life, second Kaushik’s and third entwined. First two were quick reads. The third story, though ended well, at places, has completely gone off bounds.

In all her stories author has portrayed mundane activities with great precision. The few typical-desi moments do bring wisp of smile. The stories give good insight into minds of American born kids of Indian origin. I am pleased that Jhumpa Lahiri’s characters are breaking the shell of glumness that always seem to have covered their lives in her previous works. Overall, I liked this book.

Jerome K. Jerome's - Three Men on the Bummel

Genre : Humor
Rating : 4/5

Jerome K. Jerome had impressed me first when our school curriculum had a chapter from his book – Three men in a boat. Later I read the complete book and undoubtedly it had sent me in fits of laughter. Both the author and the book are my favorites .

‘Three men on the bummel’ is on similar note of its predecessor. It is about the same friends – author, Harris and George (except their funny dog Montmorency) who decide to go for a bicycle ride to Black Forrest of Germany. They, of course, get into hysterical troubles at time but come out unscathed. It would have been a surprise if the there was no mention of any kind of hilarious situation, wouldn’t it? This book is not a laugh riot as its prequel but funny incidents happening en route make you chuckle out loud. The gentle mockery of the Germans is well sprinkled in the later chapters. The author does have an eagle-eye for the everyday things. He has an incredible ability to convert a mundane affair (e.g. saying goodbye to 6 kids) into uproarious episode. Explanations of the hose_incident and Harris_losing _his wife are bound to split you.

The book is certainly delightful but it lacks the charm of author’s previous work. At times I felt the humor has been stretched and at few places there was unnecessary explanation of German scenery. Having said that, this book is still a joy to read.

Vikas Swarup's - Q & A

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 3.5 / 5

When a colleague mentioned that an interesting movie (Slumdog millionaire) is coming up based on a book (Viaks Swarup’s Q & A), I had made a mental note of ordering this book before I watch the movie.

After a long time I was reading a non-Disney book ( ;) ) so was excited about it. The story is about an orphan, Ram Mohommad Thomas, who wins the real-life show – Who Will Win a Billion? Considering the facts that this oddly named boy is not well educated and/or is not updated with any sort of current affairs, his triumph comes as a surprise to everyone including the producer / director of the show. The people from the show want to believe that he has cheated and hand him over to the local authorities who plan on unleashing brutal means to know the reality. Fortunately a lawyer takes in charge of his case and digs out how Thomas is able to answer all the twelve questions correctly.

Each chapter of the book is a story behind the correct answer to the quiz question. It is Ram’s life that has educated him enough to answer the questions fittingly. He is shown as a orphan, servant in a Australian’s house, a confidante to bollywood actress, a loyal friend, caring brother, tour guide, a traveler, bartender, lover of a prostitute. He doesn’t have much knowledge but luckily in the show he is asked the questions which he has answers of.

The book as a whole is interesting and the story altogether has a clever plot. The answers to the questions are not the chief points in the stories but they are just the minute details that would have gone unrecognized otherwise. So at times it is tad unbelievable to accept that fact that Ram remembers the answers to such questions at the tense moment of the game show. The book is a sure page-turner!

The initial part of the book has good deal of unnecessary molestation scenes which made me loath this book. I had earnest desire to leave it half-read. But in the hope of things getting better I kept reading. I liked the way it ended. The book doesn’t offer anything to learn as such but I cannot complain as I was warned the same by the book’s online-reviews. You won’t miss anything in life if you do not read it. So indulge yourself if you are one of first-book-then-movie types!

All In One

I have deliberately ignored this place for last 6 months. Reason? Pure laziness!!! I read couple of books during this missed period and have conglomerated all the books in this post with really really short reviews.

Robert James Waller's - Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend



Genre - Romantic
Rating - 3.0/5


I was impressed by Robert Waller's 'Bridges of Madison County' and immediately bought this book as soon as I saw it. But this book turned out to be a little disappointing. It was little romantic but it fails to touch your heart the way Bridges of Madison County does. Lesson Learned - Do not read second book of the author if you really liked his / her first book.

Paul Reiser's - Couplehood



Genre : Hilarious
Rating : 3.0/ 5


This book is about short, day-to-day incidents in husband-wife's life. I felt it to be a good, relaxing read at the start but as I advanced through pages, the books started losing its charm. The excessive use of 'hyperbole' at places made it little lackluster. Its a good book to read if you want to kill your time

Salman Rushdie's - East West



Genre : Short stories
Rating : 3.5


I was very excited to read this book. First two stories are really good but after that it really became difficult to read. This book is certainly not for me. I could feel the richness of the language but was not able to clearly understand what author wants to tell. At times I tried reading the same sentence twice-thrice but was not able to grasp the meaning. I thought his language to be very profound and now I do not want to read any of his books. I know I am not doing justice to the author but........ I can't help!


Arundhati Roy's - The God of Small Things




Genre : Fiction
Rating : 4.5 /5


It is the story about the fraternal twins who reunite after some 23-24 years. Story takes us back and forth in their present and past life. I somehow had wrong impression of this book and was glad it turned out a lot better than what I had expected. Story revolves around lot of relations (which are named in Malayalam) Fortunately I had a Malayali colleague and was able to understand what those words meant. Otherwise it would have been a little confusing :) I would certainly recommend this book.


Bill Watterson's - The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes



Genre : Hilarious
Rating : 5.0 / 5


Do you really need any review on this??? :)

Kaavya Vishwanathan's - How Opal Mehta got kissed, got wild and got a life




Genre : Fiction
Rating : 4.0 / 5

It is about a teenager whose parents have just one dream - How to get their daughter in Harvard. Right from th beginning her parents plan o n getting her into the most reputed college. During this they concentrate only on good marks and when Opal fails in her interview as she lacks any social ethics, her parents change their plan to make her live her life as a normal American does. This book is hilarious at places. I would not say it is a 'must read' but its okay to once lay your hands on this.

Gita Piramal's - Business Maharaje

Genre : Non-Fictional
Rating : 4/5

No, I did not misspell the name of the book on the title. I read Marathi version 'Business Maharaje' but could not find the image for the Marathi version and hence the mismatch!

Lives of Dhirubhai Ambani, Rahul Bajaj, Aditya Birla, Rama Prasad Goenka, Brij Mohan Khaitan, Bharat and Vijay Shah and Ratan Tata adorn this book.

In spite of coming from the same coutry where they reign, it was surprising how less I knew about them. Growing up I had seen so many avertisement about their products but less did I know those were their brands! I wont put it as lack of knowledge. I would rather say that at that age (of 8-9) advertisements were more eye-catching than their manufacturers!

Book has detailed minute incidents of the businesses of these men. Their rise and fall, their rivalry, their struggle. As these men have/had lions share in bringing up the Indian Economy they were always in news. While reading this book I could associate few of the incidents which made news and was glad to know more about those events. Except Ratan Tata, everybody had a Marwadi background. So no wonder they chose to enter into business but the way they have walked their way all upto the top is fascinating! I have seen enough families in business to strengthen my belief that their kids are more keen in expanding their family business rather than getting an higher education. Though these days they have started earning foriegn degrees in Business Administration I was totally impressed to know that few of these businessmen are Harvard and MIT alumini!

Even before reading the preface of the book, I, somehow, had an impression that this book would bring into limelight the personality of these people rather than going deep into their business. I know that was wrong in my part, I should have not expected solely that. As long as the author spoke about their struggle, or their disputes, or their business startegy, the book kept me glued but the elaborative talks about the shares and the amount of loss and gain made the book a little drab. May be, because I do not have a wee bit of business sense, when the author started talking about their outgo and income in lakhs and crores I was not able to fathom whether it was really that bad or was it really that laudable. At times I felt I am not the targeted reader of this book yet I enjoyed reading about them!