Tara Road - Maeve Binchy (Book)

Tara Road - Maeve Binchy

My very first Maeve Binchy and what an amazing heart touching story this one turns out to be. A huge thanks to whoever sent this one my way :) since I received the book so long ago that have totally forgotten who gifted me :) apologies and thanks from the bottom of my heart. Now that I have finished my first Binchy :) I've got to make a list of her best works and pick them up in my next haul (sometime in next 6 months depending how long my current stock lasts). Surprisingly Maeve Binchy's writing is totally my cup of tea, straight forward, no hard hitting words, flawless writing, totally life like and believable characters with their own set of struggles, aspirations, dreams and desires for which at times some of them betray the same people who in turn totally love them and still keep their faith on them. The story has so much heart in it that it made big time emotional, gave me so many lumps in my throat but it equally inspired, made me smile as well as made me laugh quite a few times. On top of that my search just returned me an amazing result that a movie was made on the same with Andy McDowell playing one of the lead characters with the same guy who played Sir Jorah Mormont in much loved Game of Thrones TV series :) tempting me big time to get hold of the movie and watch it tonight. 

As the title suggests "Tara Road" is the story of one posh locality from Dublin (Ireland) where the lead pair of Danny Lynch and his amazing wife Ria (Maria) make their home. How that get that house and how heavenly she turns it out with some amazing set of friends, relatives and neighbors which always kept the reader in me all delighted. But not everything remains always as good as we expect them to be and Binchy hit me hard with that unexpected twist, giving another set of amazing characters from thousands of miles away who gets in touch with Ria out of sheer co-incidence and they end up doing a house exchange for two months, both recovering from their own set of set-backs. How they help each other from miles away, never have met and with no clue about each other's lives makes up for an amazing cliff hanger story with so much going around that I just couldn't resist and end up reading the whole 600+ pages as fast as I could to get to the end :). Author has done an amazing job of showing two poles apart cultures from Ireland and United States in such an amazing way that it adds up so much value to the whole narrative. It indeed was so amazing to grasp that how different yet how same we all are, wherever we may be living. Ria and Danny's cute kids especially Brian the younger one who is always annoying his teenage sister make up for two super entertaining characters with their own set of problems. You've got to read this wholesome family entertainer as I kept updating my own teenage daughter and wifey with the going on story that I was loving big time. 

As I mentioned earlier this is my first Binchy book but I must say she has a mastery on relationships. This was one superb example of Husband Wife relationship, how different we all are. A perfect story for Father Son and Sibling chemistry (or rivalry). Mother Daughter relationship (two sets) totally amazed me especially the ease with which the story develops and how the characters are carved out and handled, loved it. I have read a lot of books in the recent few years but none comes any close to this one when it comes to talking about depths in relationships, trust, love and even betrayal too. Unbelievably amazing this story is and like I said totally life like. 

Unfortunately I had no idea of Binchy's writing but I must say she is one heck of a writer. I guess I read it at the right time as it has given me some terrific food for my thoughts on teenage life and how to handle them (or set them free). If you have read Tara Road or seen the movie version, do let me know how you liked it :) and if you haven't read this one, I suggest you take a break and grab it ASAP. Also, do let me know if you have a favorite Binchy, I would love to lay my hands on it at the earliest. 

The Mind Whisperer - Rajesh M Iyer (Book)

The Mind Whisperer - Rajesh M Iyer.

I must have read at least a dozen odd books from the Mythological Fiction genre in the last few years and for sure half of them were either based on Karna's life or revolving around it. And I must also add that almost all of them have worked with some that have such beautiful memories in my mind that I will for sure read them again in very near future. I don't know why but Karna's character is totally mesmerizing for me from Mytho stories and every story adds up more to the enigma called Karna for me. So, a few months back as soon as I came to know that one of my favorite authors from our part of the world was writing a book on another chapter of the much loved character, I was totally excited to lay my hands on the book. Last week I got my own fresh baked copy of the book with a superb signed note by the Author himself :) Can anyone be more luckier than me when it comes to reading :). The title was so intriguing that I almost abandoned a Stephen King book to start this one but then realized it will be a blasphemy (King being my all time favorite) so waited another few days to finish that one. Look at that beautiful cover and the note by the Author himself, although I am going to complain about the length (or lack of it) for sure that my heart kept asking for more whereas the writer had different ideas :) (may be a sequel in future or another chapter from his life).

As soon as I started this one, my daughter after knowing who this one was based on commented that I am going to give her further more gyan on Karna's life once I finish this one :). Unfortunately she hasn't yet read neither the epic Ramayan or Mahabharat, although we are watching the TV series based on the first one and will start the one on latter shortly. The book as I said earlier is based on the last few days of Karna's life, starts almost while the last of the great war is taking place and he is about to kill is own brothers because of the call of the dharma. Although because of the much read and adored epic, we already know the ending still it was fantastic the way Author has waved his magic wand and given us another terrific chapter from the much loved man's life in making his character a few notches more deeper. To know who the actual Mind Whisperer in the story and what changes those whisperers bring to Karna's life (or shall I say death), you've got to read the book which is simply too good but too short too. Hardly 160 pages and the pace is so fast and suspenseful that I had to finish it in two days with no respite. Super thanks to him but it was great to read further more about lesser known characters from the epic especially about Karna's charioteer who competes with the best ever charioteer Krishna himself. Visually it is beautifully told that I had no option but to bring those characters back to my mind from the much loved TV series and see them in a new light from Rajesh's pen.

Although it takes nothing away from the book or the story but I believe it would have done wonders if he had added a few pages from Epic's background especially for those who haven't yet read the original story in full. My kiddo actually started the book but had so many questions to ask about different characters and stories that I had to tell her to read the original full story first before attempting a book like this one based on one character's one particular period from his own life. This one will not work like a stand alone book but will be much enjoyed by people like me who love reading more reference stories based on that era. 

The Perfect Murder - Ruskin Bond (Book)

The Perfect Murder - Ruskin Bond.

What happens when one of your all time favorite Author not only writes a murder mystery but also compiles some of his favorite Writer's stories in one concise book :) - what you get out of this kind of a situation is basically a sleepless Saturday night. It so happened last Saturday that we had an impromptu slumber party at my nephew's place who is not much of a reader anyways (how some people spoil my name I tell you) even when I have given him a few easy to read books and all. Since the night out wasn't planned I was neither carrying any book nor my laptop so was totally clueless as how to spend the night once the party got over. Surprisingly he had this gem of a small book lying on his center table which he picked up few months back as he had heard of the legendary name from me only (guess to impress me maybe). I gladly picked up the book and gorged on it and was done next morning by breakfast before moving back to our place. Imagine a book having not only a terrific story from Ruskin Bond but also from the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Allan Edgar Poe, Wilkie Collins etc :). I must confess that at least two of the stories were so mind-blowing that I had to go back a few pages to catch up again to come to a conclusion as how that happened. I tell you these guys are not at all easy on their readers.

I don't want to give away anything as you have to read this book and the amazing stories but I must say that the title story was my favorite. If you look at the beautiful cover, and read it, it is sure to put a smile on my face as how two brothers dependent on their widowed aunt for their day to day affairs. How she sits on the their uncles money and they get the meager cut till she survives. The amicable planning of a perfect murder, jealousy between the brothers and the final outcome was totally mind-blowing. The way story goes forward stretches to an unbelievable extent and the final blow which I can guarantee that none will be able to predict. And then there is Ruskin Bond's own superb story which he gives out so easily even with no murder involved it brought my heart to my mouth by the audacity of the murderer and the victim :) and again (can't control myself) the ending. And how can I not love a story told by Mr. Watson of his much loved friend Mr. Holmes :) who is always at-least ten steps ahead of a criminal he is going after. I must sadly confess that I have hardly read anything by Allan Edgar Poe and Wilkie Collins in a long long time and this book helped me correct that mistake to an extent.

I so much wished that this had a Christie story too :) that would have made this a super perfect book. Have you read a book with collection of murder mysteries? or which one is your favorite Murder mystery? And if you haven't read this collection, you must not miss it at any cost.