Book Reviews - Off the cuff

I have a desire to be a voracious reader, but, as a reader, I am slow and enunciate every single sound in my mind as I read..Somewhat an equivalent of chewing before swallowing. I discovered the love of language and books quite late in life too. So, there is a long road ahead and I love that aspect of my unexplored voyage across time and space!

I have been hoarding the short reviews I write right after reading a book along with a long list of books that keep coming to light. A friend recently suggested that it would be quite helpful if this were to be in the public domain. So, here it is, for whatever it is worth.

Title	Author	Comments
Island of Blood	Anita Pratap	Poignant and relevant story of  strifes in the Arab world which has global ramifications. Srilanka and Afghanistan stories written around the real people were horrifying which defy all the notions we implicitly try to live by. They are a revelation. Writing is top class and compelling. Towards the end, she rushed through India dowry death stories and actress Sobha's story in a rambling manner. Especially Sobha's story was told with bias and the language was a bit rude and heartless.
White Mughals	Dalrymple	Being that it is about Nizams and Hyderabad, it was nostalgic and had a connection. It also reviles you when you read about the excesses of the British during those days. I connected with the dilemma of the Anglo Indians more. It feels that the Raj times have come back with many expats leading nanny-cook-club-party routines in elite environs of urban India
3 Men and a Maid	PG Wodehouse
A Devadasi and a Saint	V. Sriram	Story of the spirit of Bangalore Nagarathnamma who fought the chauvinists of her age and earned a firm footing on the art stage. Towards the end, she made it her mission to build a fitting memorial for Tyagaraja Sannidhi in Tiruvayyaru. Sriram is very articulate and knowledgeable and revels in historical tales.
A Mighty Heart	Marianne Pearl	Moving story of Daniel Pearl
A thousand splendid suns	Khaled Housseini	(beautiful prose)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain	Slavery is brought into the forefront, but, in a uniquely muted manner. It is shocking to learn about how people's mindsets were then. Slave is like chattel - bought and sold. Sometimes, chained like a dog or lynched with no justice. Sad, but, true. It does go through a patch of irony when King and Duke go through their chicanery on the riverside of the South. Sparknotes helped me understand the spirit of it all especially in that patch. I was lost for a bit!
Adventures of Sally	PG Wodehouse	I seem to like Wodehouse's books with no predictable Jeeves. Sally is a delightful character and Ginger is even more so - full of naiveté and all that rot!
Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain
An Elephant, Cell phone and a Sadhu?	Shashi Tharoor
Antony and Cleopatra	Shakespeare	It is so illogical that it is liberating…very passionate love story of Antony and Cleopatra…story oscillates between valour of Antony and deception of Cleopatra
Aunts aren't gentlemen	PG Wodehouse	his last; the Vanessas who don't bat one eyelid before engaging themselves to multiple eligible bachelors and the Orlos who are inclined to brawn vs. brain and the Cooks who define knee-jerk reactions - make up this story which of course resolves itself when the protagonists have eggs laid by contented hens! Non  pareil!!
Better India Better world	Narayanamurthy	If he thought these things himself, wow! Especially one on corporate governance in 2000 forebodes Satyam episode..very prophetic; got through 2/3 rd of this heavy reading
Blink	Malcolm Gladwell	Power of Rapid cognition, what happens in first 2 seconds (completely, rational thinking but without much effort; Let's leverage it e.g. Marriage, interviews (power of thin slicing)
Canterbury Tales	Geoffrey Chaucer	Good to be able to understand some of it..gives you some kind of a high that you can get to understand such convoluted writing (perhaps a norm in the 13th C) Read a few tales; found nothing exceptional, in fact a lot of lewd content (esp in Miller's tale)..covers a range however...could not last the whole book. left it  midway. Will probably not pick it up again...
Catcher in the Rye	JD Salinger	adolescence, rebelliousness
Comedy of Errors	Shakespeare	For a change, funny…easy to understand…poetry in prose fascinates me in parts; most of it is easy straightforward. Spark notes helped!
Damsel in distress	PG Wodehouse	I love these non-Jeeves versions of PGW's books..They are fresh and unpredictable though the silliness runs through it all!
Death by Meeting	Patrick Lencioni
Dord Diglot and Avocado	Anu Garg	AMAZING, Passionate and well-written book on words/etymology
Far from Madding crowd	James Hardy
Five Dysfunctions of a Team	Patrick Lencioni
Five past Midnight (on Bhopal) etc.	Dominique Lapierre	Grim, real tale of apathy and overconfidence of MNCs and loose execution on the Indian side; Told like a thriller tale
Five Point Someone	Chetan Bhagat
Freakonomics	Steven Levitta	Right incentives for right results
Gem Collector	PG Wodehouse
Girl on the Boat	PG Wodehouse	Hilarious - A boat story where, as usual, two good friends vie for the same girl, with mixed results and lots of funny consequences; Add to this the aunt, Horace (simply lovable, despite being a tyrant!)
Go, Kiss the World	Subroto Bagchi	life, career of Subroto with some tips for budding professionals; Don't fret yourself about making it big, but, make it good; know your potential, work on what is needed for the org, listen, be a good human being
Gone with the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	Riveting..easy to read fiction…but, a mirror to the queer life, sentiments and prejudices that existed in the south (US) in early 1900s. It is amazing to see how 'negroes' have been brainwashed to think that they are better off being slaves and sacrificing their everything for a white man, his family and his dog.
Hamlet	Shakespeare	tragedy where Hamlet, king, king's relative, queen all die. King's relative was involved in deceitful murder of the king and Hamlet is haunted by the loss
Happier	Tal Ben-Shahar	Nothing new from the positive psychology articles he has written
Heart of a goof	PG Wodehouse	Golf Story…they have a character of their own and of course…foolish but intense golfing jealousies!
High Performance Entrepreneur	Subroto Bagchi	Tips for an entrepreneur - ideas, creating wealth, customer delight, fire, motivation, hard work, integrity and exercise!
If I had my life to live over again and others	Erma Bombeck
Iliad	Homer	A toned down Mahabharata…so many names roll out in every sentence like nobody's business…just ignore and move on…there is a flow that is hard to miss
Imagining India	Nandan Nilekani	Reminds one of Amartya Sen's books. Very erudite and logical..but, long…could have used a good editor (some one who edits!)..runs like his diary
Inheritance of loss	Kiran Desai
Inscrutable Americans	Anurag Mathur
Jane Eyre	Charlotte Bronte	An undulating saga of a lonely and upright English late teen going through the vicissitudes of life unscathed. It comes full circle for her and her lover and somehow, it all seems like a happy ending despite a load of hardship. There is one dry patch when Jane goes through a waiting period and dilemma as to how to counter Mr. Rochester on hearing about his impending marriage. Rest of the book is 'unputdownable'. Would ike to read her other books.
Jill The Reckless	PG Wodehouse	Jill loses money, goes to theater and lives poor and through twist of circumstances, finds her true love
Joy in the morning	PG Wodehouse	Very unlike Wodehouse with divorces, separations, fights, melodrama, tears etc…but, there is usual Wodehousean brand of descriptions and cheery observations. Set in the USA.
Julius Caesar	Shakespeare	Caesar is killed by Brutus and Antony, Octavius go after Brutus and unable to face defeat, Brutus and his aides kill themselves
King Henry IV Part 1	Shakespeare	child marriage,
King Henry IV Part 2	Shakespeare
King Lear	Shakespeare	A bit disturbing; temperamental King, does a stupid thing of giving away his kingdom prematurely to the worst of his daughters and suffers the consequences. Not very well told; not too many interesting soliloquies
Life of Pi	Yann Martel	Fantasy mixed in with some philosophy; can wear you down on the length of voyage gone awry; but, there is some strange narration that does not leave you till you finish!
Lincoln Speeches	Abraham Lincoln	Malice towards none speech (second inaugural) Emancipation declaration and Gettysburg address -pithy but powerful
Love Among the chickens	PG Wodehouse	Straddles England and NY, bee farm and funny monkeys and engagements/change of hearts..pretty nice!
Macbeth	Shakespeare	Greed does it to Macbeth. Feels like a (No Suggestions) movie!
Man with two left feet	PG Wodehouse	Several stories are good and are green in memory ..especially the last name sake.
Measure for Measure	Shakespeare	Tit for Tat; Dialogues and monologues by Isabella and Duke are very charming and convincing. Duke tries to test his deputy in implementing strict rule but with a  heart and by being himself true
Merchant of Venice	Shakespeare	4 caskets, amazing rationalizations, Portia's double take on Shylock; Shylock's mad anger against Antonio, unreal goodness of Antonio; merry ways but loyalty of Bassanio
Money for Nothing	PG Wodehouse	Garnet is lured to starting a chicken farm, fails miserably, but finds his love despite a testy FIL
Mr. Mulliner Speaking	PG Wodehouse	Sam the lawyer chases his love really hard after his friend is unable to make it to his own wedding; twists galore!
My Man Jeeves	PG Wodehouse	Very readable and introduces the intrepid and merry nature of the kids.
My Name is Red	Omar Pamuk	First 50 pages were so enigmatic that I understood the words and sentences but not the meaning! When I picked it up after a few months, I could not put it down as Pamuk weaves a love triangle, artistic wars along with an intimate sketch of the Istanbul of that ottoman and post ottoman eras.
Namesake	Jhumpa Lahiri	expat life story; clash between cultures
Odyssey	Homer
Othello	Shakespeare	Man of principles, Othello, but a bit foolish to be totally allowing to be maneuvered by
Our Mutual Friend	Charles Dickens
Pickwick Papers	Charles Dickens	…
Pigs have Wings	PG Wodehouse	Blandings castle was fun and innocent after a long gap. Never knew Pig sties can be so full of action! An ingenious pig swap and a swap back that somehow makes everything come together nicely for the butlers and the couples who are intricately engaged/disengaged to one another..Only Wodehouse can dream this type of stuff up.
Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen
Right Ho Jeeves	PG Wodehouse	Fiction that is reasonably well narrated with good grip. Language is lack luster with so little subtlety and everything very explicit. It feels as uncomfortable as being stripped naked on a cold day and readers/characters in complete discomfort.
Romeo and Juliet	Shakespeare	Some of the poetic dialogues between Romeo and Juliet are quite intense and lovely. But, the characters themselves dying at the drop of a hat seem silly and outlandish from today's perspective.
Sea of Poppies	Amitav Ghosh	Trilogy 1; British opium trade, Chinese, Indian characters, slave ship (Ibis)poppy cultivation, seafaring; exuberant and expansive..like War and Peace
Seven Years in Tibet	Heinrich Harrer
Shantaram	Gregory David Roberts	NOTHING great about his story..nor a great mission..he was very intent on saving himself…could not endure the pedestrian details of his escape and life in disguise
Something New	PG Wodehouse	A non-Jeeves and Non-Blandings castle book…Joe is a very affable character with his tact and syrupy talk. Jane is equally endearing for her spirit. Feel bad for Buck and his silly travails
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves	PG Wodehouse	Madeline Bassett and her silliness is eternal that Bertie will do anything to keep away from. Plank is interesting with all his aboriginal experience..Loved it.
Stillness speaks	Eckhart Tolle
Summer Moonshine	PG Wodehouse	Gally (Galahad) is a delightful character who always has some thing fresh to say despite the stickiness of the situation
Thank You, Jeeves	PG Wodehouse	A bit dragging…Jeeves was portrayed differently (seemed selfish and uncaring for Wooster a bit)
The 3 mistakes of my life	Chetan Bhagat	Best of the 3 books of Mr. Bhagat. Expletives; a bit over-the edge language perhaps to connect with the teenager lot. Though it contended with the critical issues of the day, it did not intend to resolve any of these deeply. It used that more as a context. It has a bit of an anti-climax because Bhagat seemed to have thought 'It's enough!"
The Clicking of Cuthbert	PG Wodehouse	Heart warming, love stories which are somehow intertwined with the strokes of golf. Stories were more romantic and syrupy than I had seen before from the pen of PGW. Ah! Those stymies, niblicks and maches…very alluring
The Color Purple	Alice Walker	See the blog
The Coming of Bill	PG Wodehouse
The curious Incident of the Dog in the night time	Mark Haddon	Very striking style of story telling through the eyes and ears of an autistic child. A bit monotonous, at times. But, the message is ultra-subliminal and told with a lot of understanding of the autistic child's mind with very little pretense or doubt.
The Diary of Anne Frank	Anne Frank
The English Patient	Michael Ondaatje's	Words/writer/comedy (You need a Helene!) 1992-9 Oscars
The Fourth Estate	Jeffrey Archer	A fast read…story of animosity between 2 newspaper barons…Good for a long train journey!
The Girl in Blue	PG Wodehouse
The Kite runner	Khaled Housseini	Supposedly fun in stead of grim, dark tales
The leader in me	Stephen Covey	Integrating 7 habits in school (1-3 - Be proactive, begin with the end in mind (private victory); 4-6: Seek to understand before seeking to be understood, think win win (Public victory); 7-sharpen the saw (keep fit, etc.)
The Madras Quartet	Indira Menon	Very engaging account of what women and music went through over the last couple of centuries before we we could be blessed with the divine music of DKP, MS, MLV and Brinda.
The Music Room	Namita Devidayal	Amazing book about Dhondutai who was not worldly enough to gain name and fame but was a dedicated sentinel of Jaipur gharana (Alladiya Khan) and a tale of love of music as the very soul of several dedicated Ustads. The dogmas and limitations/discrimination of the times (girls were not allowed to learn in Moslem households), dichotomy of practicing parts of Hinduism and Islam by Alladiya khan etc. were delicately woven into the narrative written in an easy but, riveting style.
The Picture of Dorian Gray	Oscar Wilde	Easy to read; interesting way to reflect Dorian's soul in his portrait; Great epigrams; 1. It is the spectator, not life that art really mirrors. 2. When Critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself. 3. Conscience is but the name which cowardice/Fleeing from the battle scrawls upon its shield 4. Americans, when they die, go to Paris 5. Nowadays, people know the price of everything and the value of nothing 6. Experience was merely the name men gave to their mistakes. 7. Conscience makes egotists of us all. 8. The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one.
The Red Carpet	Lavanya Sankaran	A bouquet of 8 stories in current day setting where the old and the new collide trying to find grooves to dovetail into and sometimes, not making it. Some profane language and graphic descriptions perhaps to paint the current day starkly in contrast with the old and the traditional. All stories are set in Bangalore. I am not a fan of short stories because they seem to be hell-bent on a major twist towards the end to call it a story. There is not that repose and lazy unraveling of the plot as in the longer version.
The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne	Amazing prose that flows like a river in spate. It is like the two contrasting protagonists whose hearts are so much tangled but in pain and unexpressed. It was really a great reading surprise.
The Secret	Rhonda Byrne	Inspirational…cheerful? Per Linked in Reco; Simple law of attraction..think positive and deeply..you can't but succeed
The Story of Nagaraj	RK Narayan	Deceptively simple and starkly real characters. Too close to home and hence not that interesting and fresh
The Tempest	Shakespeare
The Three Musketeers	Alexander Dumas	Very interesting, flowing prose. Gascon's (D'Artagnan) pride, courage and courtesy are riveting; takes on a tone of Milady's hubris and helplessness in last third of the book…Milady gets executed dramatically, D'Artagnan gets promoted..all is well that ends well
The Zoya Factor	Anup?	Magic abounds here. Vithalacharya comes to mind…possibly Vithalacharya copied from here!!
Three Cups of Tea	Greg Mortenson	AMAZING! What a beautiful story and so full of hope and compassion. I was so moved that I went and donated $100 to his Himalayan foundation…what an unlikely answer to terrorism ..just build a school
Through the Looking Glass	Lewis Caroll	It does feel like Alice in wonderland. A tour around the dream land in the form of a chess board. I particularly like the conversation that Alice has with Queens, Humptee Dumptee etc…Playing on words ignoring the context and resulting frustration/helplessness are interesting. An easy read.
Thus spake Zarathustra	Nietzsche
Tipping Point	Malcolm Gladwell	1. Law of the few (Connector, Maven, Salesman) [Messenger] 2. Stickiness (message itself) 3. Power of Context (conducive environment) lead to Social epidemic (positive or negative)
To Kill a Mocking bird	Harper Lee	Racism, fairness
Tom Peter's 100 Tips for Success	Tom Peters	Good for really ambitious, earnest folks. Lots of simple good tips with his authoritarian style help
Uneasy Money	PG Wodehouse
War and Peace	Leo Tolstoy	GRAND! There is war and there is love…Amazing details...Goes on and on…Interesting in parts; language is descriptive to the point of exhaustion! Kudos to whoever translated..Not that he needs my advice; he could have avoided whole soapbox philosophizing on history a bit and brought it to a nice ending!
Wuthering Heights	Emily Bronte	About a nameless african-american man in search of success, friendship and his own identity
	Haruki Murakami	Really Weird love story and very graphic. I did not fall for this type of writing
Stones into Schools	Greg Mortenson	Story continues into heroic efforts in spreading Girls' education into Wakhan region (sandwiched between Hindukush and Pamirs) and other remote areas of Afghanistan (including Kirgiz - bozai gumbaz - the rooftop of the world) Very touching and spirited and very well written (But sadly, all this is most likely not as noble as it sounds!)
Ecological intelligence	Daniel Goleman	Long and short of it is that information about the effects of various ingredients of the products we use is not available widely, hampering consumer action and letting the companies go scot free for a long time …
Summer Lightning	PG Wodehouse	Love quadrangle among Baxter (Efficient and with gleaming spectacles), Ronnie (The last of the Firshes) and Pilbeam (the blighter and the sleuth) vying for Sue Brown, the chorus girl of the Regal theatre is a rip-roaring affair. Add to it the pilfering of the Empress, the pig, it is bound to be thick! Was a bit taken aback at the mention of guns, murders and torture..very unlike Pelham. But, overall, vintage Wodehouse all the same!
Anna Karenina	Leo Tolstoy	Tolstoy displays his interest and knowledge of various areas (farming etc.). Very deep, complicated characters..it's no ordinary love story
Pig-Hooey	PG Wodehouse
Robinson Crusoe	Daniel Defoe	Adventure - sea faring; could not keep myself interested
India After Gandhi	Ramachandra Guha	Amazing book and amazing way of writing about history. The fact that it talks about events around my own life gives me so much context. Very readable and unputdownable. Not a single proof-reading error -  a piece of quality work
River of Smoke	Amitav Ghosh	Amitav outdid himself this time in a book that flows better than his first of the trilogy. The atrocious act of the British of smuggling Opium brazenly from India to China did not cease to enrage me. 3-4 stories with vestiges from the first book happen in parallel leading to a movie-style climax towards the end. Very well written!
The Help	Katheryn Stockett	Very readable; segregation in the recent past in Mississippi; going to be a movie; is it very different from how we treat our help?
The Emperor of Maladies	Siddhartha Mukherjee	Biography of Cancer written in half Guha and half Robin Cook style; Beautiful language, humane and sharp analysis of the biological world (cellular, genetic, clinical, pharma)
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks	Rebecca Skloot	Humane history of the woman Henrietta behind her cancer cells that have been growing by the billions helping science. Family was poor, illiterate and were tormented by what they did not know and understand.
Such a long journey	Rohinton Mistry	A great work of fiction by Mistry; I loved the way he weaved the story through the Emergency/Bangladesh war backdrop. Very masterly conception!
Makers of Modern India	Ramachandra Guha	Never thought speeches by freedom fighters, leaders and makers of modern India will have made a such a gripping reading. Of all the speakers/thinkers, I am floored by Ambedkar and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay.
Gifted Hands	Ben Carson	A re-read; prose is pedestrian; story is inspiring
Swimming lessons	Rohinton Mistry	First few stories are extremely frank revealing thoughts that may have crossed all our minds; in that sense, it is embarrassingly revealing; Some stories like Condolence visit and Swimming lessons are very touching and so true! Last story seemed autobiographical
To Sir with Love	Braithwhite	A reread; English prose is good; narration is too straightforward; not very subtle
Purple Hibiscus	Adiche	Story set in Nigeria; missionaries vs traditionalists/pagans..
Steve Jobs	Walter Issacson	Very intriguing account of Steve Jobs, the person, creator, technologist, businessman and visionary. Dispelling my initial reservations of reading the account of a rude, unkind person, I learned a few things and some support for my thinking of management by nonlinearity, intuition instead of linear thinking and PowerPoints. I think he had psychological problems which worked out to his/our extraordinary creative benefit. Enjoyed it and learned a lot from his personal and business struggles. One thing I must admit: he never professed to be anything more than he is (mostly)
This is all I have to say	Swapan Seth
Immortals of Meluha	Amish	Writing is pedestrian after the publisher supposedly edited Amish's original writing. But, it is a masterstroke to fuse mythology and modernity to appeal to young India
Man's search for meaning	Viktor Frankl	What a book! What a deep subject written most eloquently, sensitively and elegantly. Only a writer who has deeply experienced the subject matter can write like this. Viktor Frankl is a Holocaust survivor while almost all his immediate family (except his sister) perished in Auswitz and other gory camps. First half is about his camp experience while the rest is on his 'logotherapy' but, somehow is still riveting..the way he has written it. I feel so much the richer for reading it
The secret of the Nagas	Amish Tripathi	Best of the lot.
The oath of the Vayuputras	Amish Tripathi
If this is a man	Primo Levi	ebook - Focus was on camp and liberation in a very detailed account
Indiscretions of Archie	PG Wodehouse	Archie just in the US from England and all the silly and naïve indiscretions trying to woo his FIL!
Intrusions of Jimmy	PG Wodehouse	Another character just landed in NY on a boat from UK and his looking for excitement by 'getting into' burglary!
Bleak House	Charles Dickens	A diatribe on the systems of law, courts and justice (or lack of it) with a love, lost children and murder mystery towards the end. Very unlike his other books but a long tome!
Gauhar jaan	Vikram Sampath	Art history; brain behind Archive of Indian music; Gauhaar jaan is the very first voice recorded on LP in early 1900s
Daddy Long legs	Jean Webster	A fabulous forerunner of modern chicklit
Angels and demons	Dan brown
Inferno	Dan brown
And the mountains echoed	Khaled Housseini	Flashes of brilliance but patches of turgid writing for no known reason. Feels like a movie was in his mind
Five little pigs	Agatha Christie	A bit kiddish; prosaic denouement but the nuances of reasoning are pretty good
My Man Jeeves	PG Wodehouse	Old prose by PGW; brilliant in parts
Many lives Many Masters	Dr. Brian Weiss	Past life regressions; the concept that an evolved soul has a better memory and choice in choosing the next birth; eye-opening
The Secret History	Donna Tartt	dark, intellectual and anachronistic mystery but, gripping in an odd sort of way
Interpreter of melodies	Jhumpa Lahiri	new age concept and physical/sexual focus is unsettling; so suspended it
Gandhi Before India	Ramachandra Guha	what a book! It was revealing to learn how Gandhi has evolved to be a bapu. Bapu to Mahatma is the next book. Details Gandhi's journey from Porbander to South Africa and back to India
The Age of Kali	Ramachandra Guha	Travelogue should be written like this. It was fascinating to learn about different parts of India and South Asia.
Frankenstein	Mary Shelly	Love the poetic English of 1800s. Not as horrific as I thought it would be. More a philosophical work that questions the meaning of life
Murder on the orient Express	Agatha Christie	Interesting..could not find who dunnit till the end. But, the whole Christie genre is a bit vacuously written. This may be my last!
Miracles from the masters	Dr. Brian Weiss	Very profound
Man of means	PG Wodehouse	Hilarious - but an early work. Comic timing is not immaculate
Ideal Husband	Oscar Wilde	Shakespearean
The Hundred Foot Journey	Richard Morais	Lovely book. Nice writing..and gripping story into the world of haute cuisine. Movie and Book are quite different in terms of details though aligned on the spirit of it..
Great Expectations	Charles Dickens	Tedious at times, but, a brilliant idea of aspiration was explored from an ambitious young boy's perspective and life journey….It all should come back to where one started!