The Bridgertons - Happily Ever After - Julia Quinn (Book).

Book 60/52

The Bridgertons - Happily Ever After - Julia Quinn

My Rating: 5/5

The last of the much-loved book series for me, which sums up all the earlier 8 books and gives the second epilogue to all of them in one place. I actually wanted to know what happens with each Bridgerton kid after they all get married one by one and settle with their life partners, and to finally know what happens with their mother, one of my favourite Bridgerton character Violet, reading the Violet in Bloom as the last chapter of this book was totally amazing. It was fantastic to read 40-50 pages dedicated to each kid starting in alphabetical order as they are named in the story, starting from Anthony and going upto Gregory with all the rest in between :). The only grudge in this one was no mention of either Lady Danbury, one of my all-time favourite characters, or anything on much-loved Queen Charlotte, who usually makes a guest appearance in all her stories. Nevertheless, Julia Quinn has become the fifth most-read author for me, after my all-time favourite, Stephen King, followed closely by my young age favourite, Jeffrey Archer, further followed by Nicholas Sparks (my romantic author) and historical fiction, until he was writing Wilbur Smith. I haven’t read more than 4-5 books by any author in one particular year, but this year I have read 9 from Julia Quinn, and that too almost back to back :). She is full on entertainment and good on happiness quotient as far as my reading taste goes. I am going to change that in 2026 and want a new writer to show up in my list, overtaking all three above. Also, I had to read this one and close the chapter on the Bridgerton family once, and for all, as come Jan 2026 end, we have another season of TV series coming up based on Benedict’s life and story, which I am definitely looking forward to. I loved reading these books for their simple yet heart-touching story, and with so much humour of a close-knit joint family feeling they gave. 

Have you read Happily Ever After and loved it too? Do let me know if you have a personal favourite Bridgerton novel or any other Julia Quinn novel that stayed with you for a long time. I may read a few from her other series just to check if they are any good. 

 

The Fan Club - Irving Wallace (Book).

Book 59/52

The Fan Club - Irving Wallace

My Rating: 5/5

As the year is coming to an end, and so is my book collection, this one happens to be the penultimate book from my personal collection, which was yet to be read. Slated as the most lethal book by Irving Wallace, I kept it for the year-end :) And what a jolt it has given me, I must say, totally unpredictable, with a shocking but believable ending it had. Very straightforward story of a young small-time journalist, Adam Malone, who falls head over heels over a Hollywood hottie who happens to be the sex symbol in the mid 70’s (Sharon Fields). That actually made me Google if this could be based on Sharon Stone’s life, but other than just the first name, this had no resemblance since this book was written in 1973, she was hardly 15. One day, he comes across some like-minded men in a bar who were in love or awe of Sharon Fields big time. They make a fan club and decide to pick her up one fine day and take her to a secluded place, and give her all the love they can, as per them, all her movies and her characters in the movies were kind of inviting men from all walks of life to force their love on her, as she liked surprises. They don’t consider it a kidnapping or crime because, as per them, she was lonely and craving for good company. One of the club members was a Vietnam vet working as a mechanic in a garage where he gets no respect from anyone, least from the females whose cars he repairs. One of them is an old Accountant who wishes to retire soon after one last love affair with his dream girl. The last member was an Insurance agent who had an eye on her for so long that he felt he deserved to love her and be loved by her in return, too. I must say the first 200 pages cover these perverts' perspectives so amazingly, and Irving Wallace even convinced me, the reader, that no crime is being committed, and it will all turn out to be good as expected in the first place by club members. Especially the way they plan and execute the kidnapping, all of their involvement and the final outcome were seriously thrilling. But the situation turns from bad to worse when, after the kidnapping, one of them decides that since they have kidnapped her, they might as well force themselves on her till she gives up and accepts them for the next two weeks that they planned to keep her in the place. Rest of the story is a game of cat and mouse chase as one thing leads to another and Sharon has to handle them in a way where she survives the ordeal and also that she plans to take a revenge from all of them in such a way that they pay a very heavy price for their deeds, how she does it and how it all leads to the shocking ending is the rest of the novel. Although it was 530+ pages, it was a page turner and totally unputdownable for me. Barring the detailed sexcapades of all four in their own ways, it was a fantastic read, as the author describes their lusts in great detail, not too much to my liking in those great details, at one point in time. Also, I must mention, our own Mr Satyajit Ray, too, gets a mention in this one as it revolves around Hollywood, the capital of the movie world. 

 

Do let me know if you have read this one, as unfortunately, even after selling the book rights for a movie decades ago, this still hasn’t been adapted by anyone yet. Also, let me know if you have a personal Irving Wallace favourite. I have read quite a few from him, but none of them is as memorable as this one turned out to be for me. 

 

 

The Vegetarian - Han Kang (Book).

Book 58/52

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

My Rating: 3/5

I have watched a lot of Korean movies in the past, and I must say I enjoyed them too for their bizarre ways and on your face acts, they literally do not shy away from showing what they actually want the audience to see, just don't care if it goes beyond the digestion level of audience and thats why it makes them a unique experience. Also, I have read quite a few Murakami books in the last few years, so I am kind of prepared not to understand a book, and again well prepared for no ending, as it happens in most of his books, and Japan and Korea are not that far apart when it comes to movies and books both. So, this was my first experience of reading a Korean book, that too an acclaimed one, which ended up winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. After reading quite a few reviews which came with stern warnings that this one isn't for faint hearted, I still took a plunge as I got it in my little gem of a library last week. I must say this turned out to be the best Mind F*** that I have ever read in the history of my reading. A very simple story of one very unremarkable run-of-the-mill woman(as per her husband) who, overnight, decides to become a vegetarian because of a dream that she had. How her life turns upside down, and all hell breaks loose in her family, is the story all about. And of course, as I mentioned, this is a Korean story, so they had to multiply it all ten times before serving it to me, the faint-hearted reader (who didn’t sleep a few nights after reading The Shining). How is her good-for-nothing husband, who had a crush on his sister-in-law in the first place, letting her family take care of her whims, on top of that, her father actually beats her up and tries to force-feed meat to her (unbelievable). The entire family is insane, as the same sister-in-law’s husband has a crush on her, who happens to be some kind of artist who is dependent on her wife’s income to survive. What he does with this woman, as her husband abandons her, is the second part of the story. Like the entire story is so bizzare and unbelievable yet pretty engaging to read as the curios reader in me wanted to know where it is going and how it all will end, in my heart I am always ready for a shock, but to know if it did gave me a shock you need to read this one and decide for yourself if it works or not. 

Even after finishing the book, I am still in awe of it and undecided if I liked it or not, because the way the entire story turns out, especially the ease with which the main characters do what they do, was something that was hard to digest but not totally unbelievable. For example, the brother-in-law who falls for the protagonist and decides to make her a model for his artwork and takes it gradually to the next level was totally shocking (in the name of art), even knowing that he is going to screw up his own life with a wife and a young kid. It was heart-touching to see her sister coming to her rescue when everybody abandoned her, but the outcome left me again with a lot of confusion and made me scratch my head. What did I just read? Is this really it? Or did my copy of the book miss a few pages? There is no dearth of nudity, sex, marital rape and even a sort of pornography in the book; how the author doesn't shy away from showing what she actually wanted to portray in the most sublime on your face way and on top of that, she ends up winning the highest accolade for her book was beyond me. I am now really curious to pick a few from other Korean writers to check if that's how it is in their part of the world, or if Han Kang is a unique writer. 

Also, this book reminded me (rather disgusted me to the extent) of Lolita and Lord of the Flies level. Have you read The Vegetarian and liked it? Do let me know if it has worked for you or if you have a favourite Han Kang book to suggest. I am looking forward to reading a few from her counterparts for sure in the very near future. 

 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky (Book)

Book 57/52

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

My Rating: 2.5/5

This book had been jumping on me ever since I joined this gem of a library sometime last year, and I’ve been ignoring it so long; last week, out of some whim, I picked it up out of sheer curiosity or more because it had Emma Watson on its cover. Turns out, I was right in not picking it up, as it actually is a weird book. Written from the perspective of a teenager (15-16 year old) who is writing letters to a stranger, whom he believes to be a good guy, there is an instance when this stranger could have made out with a girl, but rather offers her a sympathetic shoulder to lean on. He writes to him about everything from his school friends, to his lost aunt, to his family, cousins and whatnot, even gets philosophical too while talking (I mean writing). Initially, it was good, but after some 50-odd pages, as his dated letters come to no end, and he keeps talking about daily life, it started to get boring. I kept on ploughing in the hope of reading the return letter from this stranger whom the kid himself doesn’t tell about himself too much, thinking he might come to know who he is actually :( How strange that is. On top of that, the kid has some medical condition too, so I was preparing myself for a setback at any point in time. I am not surprised by the way the author has shown the typical American culture by showing teenagers going through high school drama, and new friends, sex, drugs, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as American growing up (taken from book cover). The only good part about this whole book was the ending (that I can’t tell you), and that the author himself has adapted it into a movie, which I have yet to watch, as it isn’t available on any platforms right now. Barely 200 pages, but it felt a little too long for my taste, I somehow finished it, and now I will be more careful of my selections in future. Maybe it didn’t work for me, as in our part of the world, life is totally different, and we do not have those challenges that our counterparts from the West faced a decade or two back. Now our country too is in the same rut, and our teenagers are going through these things in real life too, making this book pretty relevant for them in today’s time. 

Have you read The Perks of Being a Wallflower or seen the movie? Do let know if you liked any of the versions. I will certainly give the movie a try only for Emma Watson :). 

 

Casino Royale - Ian Fleming (Book)

Book 56/52
Casino Royale - Ian Fleming

My Rating: 3/5

Sometimes it happens that the most anticipated books that I presume I am going to love do not work, at least not the way that I expected them to work in the first place. This was the first addition to that list in recent times. I am totally heartbroken by the way this book hasn’t worked for me at all, still, I cannot go below rating it a generous 3/5 for loving the James Bond character since I was first introduced to him by my dad, who too was a big fan of the man. I said that because after Sean Connery stopped playing the character in the movies, my dad just couldn’t like Pierce Brosnan, and for much of his annoyance, he actually hated Daniel Craig in the character. I loved Brosnan more than Craig, but even I feel that Sean Connery was the best Bond ever. Now this is the first book which started it all for us and in style but now that I read it for the first time, it turns out to be a very simple story of a spy at her Majesty's service who is more human than his screen counterpart who is a super human with his gadgets, money, suave and some amazing hot women to seduce. James Bond, code 007, gets an assignment to visit France and beat a Russian spy in a poker game with stakes as high as 40 million pounds, in the year 1953. The same money was supposed to fund a terrorist attack. Bond, being Bond, is paired with an intelligent and beautiful MI6 agent who has a dark secret. Now the book should have been a high-octane Poker game, Car chases and explosive actions, but I guess it hasn’t aged well since its been 70 odd years ago that it was written. I believe it was hard for me to accept James Bond as a human character who commits mistakes and even falls for someone that early, which didn’t work in its favour, but undoubtedly I enjoyed the story to an extent. Ian Fleming served in British Naval Intelligence during WWII. His experiences from his wartime services and later on in his career as a journalist, along with his wild imagination, created the much-loved character. We eagerly look forward to one more outing, which I believe is to come in the year 2026 on the big screen. 

I am definitely going to get at least two more from him before giving up if in case they too do not work for me. Do let me know if you have read this one or any other from the original creator, or if you have a favourite from him. I would love to give it a try myself.