Too Good to Be True - Prajakta Koli (Book).

Book 46/52.

Too Good to Be True - Prajakta Koli

My Rating: 2/5 (Feeling generous).

When it comes to books, I am a very curious soul, hence at times I keep stealing books from my kids' collection to understand what they are reading these days. This book was unfortunately from that set when my dearest sister in law visited Pune last month for a vacation and had picked this one up from Indore airport. This is more like a teenage love story where nothing goes wrong, even written from a teenage perspective and for someone’s guilty pleasure where the protagonist falls head over heels in love with a guy who is fair, handsome, with dimpled cheeks, curly hairs, superb biceps and body of-course followed by being a CEO of his Dad’s public limited company, swanky penthouse in south Bombay, a Karan Johar styled mansion in Mussorie, a private jet and even a helicopter (reminds you of 50 Shades right?) and right when it sounds “To Good to Be True” there has to be something wrong with him for his family, blah blah blah… and the book gets over with a predictable ending which I was able to predict in first 25 pages but had to finish again to keep my record intact. Not blaming her for reading, and I am hoping she must have loved this book (cause she herself is in mid 20s). Being a debut book of an actor turned author, I didn’t have any expectations, but glad that I was able to breeze through it in no time. 

Do let me know if you have read this one and liked it. If you are looking for a teenage romance with a happy ending, this is your book with a slight twist. Otherwise, you can skip it. 

 

The Secret of Secrets - Dan Brown (Book).

Book 45/52.

The Secret of Secrets - Dan Brown. 

My Rating: 3/5. 

One of my all-time favourite authors, and as soon as his book was released, I was super keen to read it before I get distracted by others’ reviews and thoughts. I had pre-booked the same on Amazon, and it was delivered right the very next day to my utter surprise. Unfortunately, this will be the first from Dan that didn’t work for me as I expected to thrill, engage and shock me by the great revelation in the end as it happens in all his stories. I believe he overcooked it this time and took too much data from social media to make it more interesting, which, in my opinion, didn’t work in his favour (at least in my opinion). As usually it happens in all his stories, Robert Langdon travels to Prague to attend a seminar for his long time friend Katherine is supposed to address, where she reveals that she is about to release her book on Human Consciousness which takes the theory to next level (much to the shock and surprise of CIA), of course they try their level best to sabotage the publication of the book as they themselves are working on a similar theor of their own (or was it theirs?) in between comes a suspicious character Golem of Prague too to further engage the reader on a break-neck thrill and suspense. Now, the parties involved, if we are counting, are Robert Langdon with his friend Katherine, followed by US Embassy Head Heide, further followed by her security team of Marines, a team of CIA hoodlums working with or against them, further followed by the illegal test subjects who have to take their own revenge on the whole system. And in this hodgepodge of things, somewhere after the big reveal around half the way (total 650+ pages), I lost interest, yet finished it to keep my record intact. 

What doesn’t work especially in this book is the plethora of science and scientific terms that Katherine, Gessner (one who invites her to speak at the seminar) and Robert Langdon throw our way. As convincing as they may sound, they do get too confusing at times, and there is no end to his theories, so much so that he reminded me of Christopher Nolan, who shows no respite for his audience, much as we love his movies, but none of them is straightforward. On top of that, this book, I guess, is a few years late, as so many instances which were like I had already seen in so many Instagram reels in the last few years, they all make their way into the book to my shock and heartbreak. You’ve got to read the book if you are keen to know more about the same, but I must say that this might become his least-read book. On top of that, as his last too isn’t adapted yet into a movie or a TV series, this too will share the same fate as Tom Hanks is too old now to take the character forward and looking at the size and the stretch of the story, it won’t be easy to adapt it in the first place. In my opinion, if anyone can play Robert Langdon from the current Hollywood crop, it will be George Clooney, who coincidentally gets a mention in the book, too.  I still rated it a generous 3/5 for the intrigue, suspense and the lovely characters and the stories behind so many monuments that they come across during their chase or being chased. And the best part about this one, too, is that the story takes place in 24 hours. 

Do let me know if you have read this one or if you are planning to read it any time soon. I guess I will go back to the series sometime soon and start again with the first Robert Langdon book, as I enjoyed them all big time, but this one somehow didn’t work for me at all.

 

The Lion Women of Tehran - Marjan Kamali (Book).

Book 44/52.

The Lion Women of Tehran - Marjan Kamali. 

My Rating: 5/5. 

My second Marjan Kamali after “The Stationery Shop of Tehran” and I loved it, loved it, loved it (if you have read any of her books, you would know that emotion). Incredibly heart-touching story of two lion women of Tehran, their friendship, struggle to make their country a better place, and so many ups and downs that they go through their entire lives, a totally emotional roller coaster ride. The story starts with a pretty young Ellie narrating her life story when she loses her father, and they are forced to move out of their plush lives (from being descendants of royalty) to a life in a slum, where they struggle for everything. Her mother tries her level best to save her from the evil eye that has shot them down and never trusts anyone, especially her best friend Homa, whom Ellie admires big time. Although Homa too doesn’t come from any better background than what she herself was going through but to see her in a loving family with a father, caring mother and two siblings to die for, she envies her so much that at times she imagines what if her mother died too, will they take her on as a family memeber and she will get to live their life with them. And imagine this was just the start of it all. What follows is a heartbreak of growing up for both the girls, their college lives, while the country of Iran goes through so much political turmoil, where lives of thousands get destroyed, some fighting to make it better and an equal number of people dragging it back to the stone age of patriarchy with no freedom of any kind, especially for women. Although it's a work of fiction but the way she takes us through the sea of change in women’s lifestyle in the 1950s to the following decades is an eye-opener. Even now, looking at what is happening not only in Iran but nearby countries is simply unbelievable, with no short-term solution on the horizon, and this is when we are talking in the 21st century. 

Elli’s mother’s struggle comes to no end as she tries her level best to give her a better life by compromising herself, and on the other hand, Homa, her best friend, goes through her own struggle, which was totally emotional and such a heartbreaking read. But the way they fight for each other and finally by the end of the story is incredible, to know what they achieve and how it all falls out for them is what you need to read the book for. I highly recommend that you read The Stationery Shop of Tehran” first, followed by this one, for better timeline understanding of the country’s political situation, but even otherwise, this works like a perfect read. I have become a huge fan of her work now and will look forward to as many as she is writing with awe. Her earlier book, as well as this one too reads like a thriller and a seriously unputdownable book till you reach the ending. I have never read a better book from that part of the world, for sure in recent times, which is so engaging and meaningful too. I loved her use of Persian words and phrases, which sound so similar to our Hindi; it was a delight to read and especially the dishes both of their mothers make for them, they kept me salivating throughout the story. 

Do let me know if you have read this one and loved it. I am going to get her first book now, which she wrote way before both of these and read it at the earliest too. 

 

The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai (Book).

Book 43/52.

The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai

My Rating: 5/5. 

Winner of The Man Booker Prize 2006. I just finished the book, around 320+ pages, and I am still stunned by what I have read that she wrote in early 2000, not only about 80’s India but the happenings around the world in such a beautiful and realistic way that even getting a Man Booker for this one doesn’t feel enough. Usually, the prize-winning books are very heavy on subject and story too, but this one was so life-like, covering the then India, Britain and even the US of A with the help of four major characters. First and foremost was a retired Chief Justice, as the entire story takes place in his backyard, his Cook’s son, who somehow aspires to get to the USA to make a life for himself and his father. To the Judge’s utter surprise, shock and against his wishes, one day he gets burdened with his own granddaughter, who was dumped in a boarding school earlier and her teenage love story with her Mathematics teacher Gyan, who is a sort of revolutionary for Nepalis back in the day. Location of the story is the incredible town of Kalimpong and the countryside of Piphit, from where Kanchenjunga and Mt Everest are visible. Loved the way she makes one character like the CJ, whose story is from rags to riches (while he gets married to travel to the UK to study, followed by becoming an elite member of ICS) and back to rags once he retires. The way he treats his illiterate wife vs the way his granddaughter turns out was such an amazing contrast, especially when it comes to India (loved it). Unfortunately, the world as she has captured it in the 80s, I am sad to say, nothing much has changed even in the 21st century. Life is still the same way as it is depicted in her fictional story. 

The timing of my reading this book couldn’t be better, as so much we have read in the news in the last few days, right across the north eastern border of India (Nepal). Just that she captured the insurgency some 40 years ago, and the effect is still taking place. Her sarcasm about India’s queuing outside an American Embassy to reach the land of dreams is still the same. She goes on to say that even if they dump a load of crap on our heads as the price of entering their country, a majority from our part will gladly take that dump on their head - so damn right. But the best part about the entire book is that she carries her heart in her hands and shows it big time, she even goes on to write so many words and sentences in Hindi and refuses to even translate the in Enlish which I totally loved, let them translate it themselves to understand as so many times we do when they show so many Foreign languages in their literature and leave us confused to find the meaning. And she wasn’t afraid of name-calling when she clearly talks about the likes of Khalistan demand and its outcome, Gorkhaland, Tibet, China taking advantage and all that. She didn’t even spare the leaders and openly talks about religious sentiments and their followers breaking the same at the drop of a hat. I would say she has captured so much in this gem of a book, which is too small in size to have that much depth. And on top of that, she ends up getting a Man Booker for the same, which is no mean feat. This must be one of those few prize-winning books that made a lot of sense to me, especially from our part of the world. Having said that, I would like to read a lot more from her at the earliest. 

Do let me know if you have read The Inheritance of Loss and loved it. Also, let me know if you have a personal favourite from Kiran Desai. 

 

Bridgerton 8: On the way to the Wedding - Julia Quinn (Book).

 

Book 42/52.

Bridgerton 8: On the way to the Wedding - Julia Quinn. 

My Rating: 4/5.

Book 8 from the Bridgerton series, and I must say that the story has finally come to an ending in the shape of the 8th marriage in the Bridgerton family. The fourth youngest son, Gregory, finally falls head over heels for the wrong girl, creates a sort of very loving love triangle, but after an abrupt twist and turn, goes in the right direction. Again, as I said earlier too, Ms Quinn has a way with words and she continues that magic in this one too as the book is seriously unputdownable till I reached the very last page to get the final wished ending :). With that, I have finished the series and have come to a realisation that she has written the 9th as an Epilogue, calling it “Happily Ever After”, and that I will be getting after a break of about 4-5 books for sure. This one didn’t work the way its earlier counterparts did, as there is hardly a mention of the much-loved Bridgerton family, nor any histrionics of my favourite Lady Danbury, but still, it made up for a breezy read as all her other books are. 

Do let me know which one is your favourite Bridgerton book and the favourite Bridgerton family member. I am in love with Eloise and Lady Danbury in equal measures. 

Bridgerton 7: It’s In His Kiss - Julia Quinn (Book).

Book 41/52.

Bridgerton 7: It’s In His Kiss - Julia Quinn. 

My Rating: 4/5.

Book 7 from the Bridgerton series and I must say that the story is going strong, I was able to finish it in flat three days with two more to go before I finish the whole series and wait for S04 of Netflix adaptation, which isn’t so good in the first place. This one is the story of 8th Bridgerton kid Hyacinth, who is the fourth unmarried daughter from the family, so the target of this book is to get her hooked by the time it ends. This time, Julia decided to write a sort of thriller with a treasure hunt thrown in for good measure for the young couple to find while they fall in love, and Gareth, her fiancé, his background or lack of it, is revealed. How they fight and come out as the winner in the end is the rest of the story. I loved the way Lady Danbury plays an important role in this one, totally love her character, her nuances, especially the way she handles not only the Bridgerton kids but the general crowd, and when it comes to his Grandson, the matter is totally different. I must say Ms Quinn has a way with words and her love stories, hence this one too was a quick, pleasant read. Looking forward to reading the last two at the earliest and posting that I am planning to read even “Queen Charlotte” too from her as that will give me a better perspective on Lady D in great detail, so I hope. 

 

Bridgerton 6: When He Was Wicked - Julia Quinn (Book).

Book 40/52.

Bridgerton 6: When He Was Wicked - Julia Quinn. 

My Rating: 4/5.

Book 6 from the series, surprisingly, turns out to be amazing to read, with all the typical twists and turns of Julia Quinn’s love stories so far. This one is based on the 6th Bridgerton kid and the 3rd daughter, who hasn’t made a detailed entry in the book series, and the only bits and pieces we know of her were that she gets widowed quite soon after her marriage. This one is the detailed account of her story and the second marriage, which was predictable, even with whom it was easy to guess, but what takes the cake is how it all happens. The initial one-sided love triangle was too good and kind if given away at the very start for the reader in me to wish, predict, and slightly later actually pray to make it work, but all that doesn't go that easily as it sounds here and was totally gripping, exciting and lovely to read. But I must say that as the series is progressing, Ms Quinn has started losing the steam for sure, or maybe I wasn’t able to like the character of Francesca that much as I loved her other earlier siblings with their stories. Frannie has the quirks of Eloise, her elder sister, and a few similarities with her eldest sister Daphne, too, and that is where it was hard for me to differentiate her from them; nonetheless, a beautiful love story at the end of the day. Now I am curious to know how the Author is going to do justice to the last two siblings in the upcoming two books. 

Undoubtedly, this is the longest that I have hung on to a book series and still looking forward to reading the rest, hope they work for me though. Do let me know if you have a personal favourite, Julia Quinn, too.