Book Reviews

Code to Zero

2008-12-29T15:21:00.004+05:30

Code to Zero is a wonderful book by Ken follet. Certainly a nice read. With lot of action, suspense, betrayal and all. This is a combination of everything. Though the story is based around the CIA spy work and the story time is during the early days of cold war, it has almost all the necessities to grab a reader's attention.
And till the end, we will feel the thrill of a real spy story. Though it's a fiction work, there are striking resemblances with the real world.

Five Point Someone

2008-11-24T17:21:00.000+05:30

After all the hype I've heard about this book by Chetan Bhagat, I wanted to try it out. I must say, it was worth a read. A pure entertainment, full of fun. I guess, each page in the book would make you smile. I don't know what serious readers say about the book, but personally I liked the book. I love my own campus life and the memories are just sweet. To read something similar is certainly worth a ride back into your life, isn't it. Well, so, it's definitely a must read from my part.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

2008-11-05T21:34:00.003+05:30

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's this book was a really good one. It's all detective stories and good one too. Though there are a few boring ones, most of the stories are really interesting with a good way of mysteries. I cannot say mystery that cannot be solved, we may be able to guess what's going on. But, he was able to devise these stories brilliantly. Each one is entirely different one from the other. A good read, if you like detective stories.

Spouse

2008-10-06T18:41:00.003+05:30

Shobha De's first book that I have read. Sorry to say, couldn't complete it. Tips and tricks in marriage. How married couple should be. These kinds of things are mentioned in this book. It's a book about marriage from her perspective. How things work out between couples, what are the dos and don'ts in a marriage. Well, anyone preparing to get married may benefit from this.

Friends in Small places

2008-09-30T20:46:00.001+05:30

This book was an enjoyable read. I like to read about real people and real experiences and if one can put it all together in an interesting way, there is a good book. So, that is exactly Ruskin Bond's friends in small places. is an Indian author of British descent. 'N it's all about his life experiences in India. This book is arranged in various small chapters some of which is extracted from his other books. Conclusion? Good book, if you like real stories.

French Lover

2008-09-25T20:15:00.004+05:30

French Lover is a novel by Taslima Nazrin. It's the first time that I am reading a novel by a feminist. Well, to be frank, the novel, although not boring, is nothing but ravings against male domination. Some of the situations mentioned in the novel is hard to believe. To popularize the novel, enough sex is there, with good description.
It's a nice experience to read about the views of different people.

Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA

2008-09-19T16:30:00.003+05:30

This book by Peter Robinson is a really enjoyable read. It's all about the author's experience as an MBA student in one of the best business schools. All the tight schedule he had went through, the difficulty in understanding the classes, He was able to depict it beautifully. Right from the first page to the last, the book is an interesting, funny experience.

The Prodigal Daughter!!

2008-08-11T22:11:00.000+05:30

This is a novel by Jeffrey Archer. It is interesting for almost half. But when the same type of incidents come over and over, it's a bit boring. it's all about a girls dream to become the president and her life from the time she's born till she finally becomes the president. Ofcourse, Archer has written in a beautiful way depicting the real incidents of the time including the World War II. Lot of detailed description of political processes and stuff like that.If you ask my opinion, I won't recommend the book 'coz I felt the story dragging and I skipped a lot at the end to complete reading it.

The Count of Monte Cristo

2008-08-04T22:11:00.007+05:30

This one is considered to be a classic by Alexandre Dumas. I tried some books which are considered to be classics and never liked anyone. Some was just horrible to complete or too boring. But, I should say this one is really interesting. Good story and narration. You won't regret after reading it.

Although lot of french names and characters appears all of a sudden, the way the story goes is interesting.

The Cradle will Fall

2008-07-16T18:37:00.003+05:30

This one is by Mary Higgins Clark, it's about a doctor who is well known for artificial fertilization trying to hide his faults by killing his patients. Not interesting, but not boring :)

Portrait of a Killer / Jack The Ripper / Case Closed

2008-07-05T20:09:00.000+05:30

Patricia Cornwell's book is based on the well known ripper case that happened a long time back in London. She tries to investigate and find the real culprit. She gives all the clues to proove that , what she believes is leading to the right criminal who's the ripper. The books interesting in the beginning but later just repeat what's said earlier and couldn't complete this one either.

Judgement in Death

2008-07-04T16:30:00.002+05:30

This one is a crime novel by Nora Roberts or known by her pen name JD ROBB. its about the murder of a series of police officers. Not a good novel, in my opinion, not boring though. The suspense and all is not that good.

Angels and Demons

2008-07-01T17:35:00.001+05:30

Another best selling novel by Dan Brown. This one also deals with cryptographic things, which we can find in most of his books. Anyway this one is a really good entertainer. You won't regret reading it. But again a bit too religious things come here too.

Living to tell the tale

2008-06-30T22:24:00.001+05:30

This one by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was so well publicized, so I did give it a try. Needless to say, I couldn't complete it. It's so slow and boring, that's what I felt. May be, you may have a different opinion. I couldn't even complete more than 50 pages.

Gandhi- An Autobiograpy

2008-06-29T12:41:00.001+05:30

No need for an introduction to this book, I think. it's the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. I read a translated version of it in Malayalam and couldn't complete it. But I read most of it about his chilhood until his young age. You'll be surprised to learn a lot about him. Lot of unimaginable things we never expect him to do. we may find it unbelievable, but really great for a man like him to tell all those things about him which no one would dare to tell.

Lord of the Rings

2008-06-28T22:42:00.003+05:30

An excellent fiction by J.R.R Tolkien, a really good one with lots of description about all the strange people and the world in which they exist, a really interesting read similar to HP books. A lot of adventure, magic,action.... you name it. I wonder how he come up with such a great and long story and that even long way back.
Hats off, great work!!

Rich Dad Poor Dad

2008-06-27T16:30:00.001+05:30

An excellent book by Robert T. Kiyosaki. A must read for all people since it deals with creating wealth. How to become rich and how to maintain your wealth. Lot of really good points mentioned by the author and I certianly liked it. It tells us that having a job is not the path to financial stability. This one should be a must read in my list.

The Monk who sold his Ferrari

2008-06-26T19:20:00.001+05:30

This one by Robin Sharma is a book on motivation, inspiration and all. As posted earlier, since I don't like such books, I didn't like this one too.

The Testament

2008-06-25T18:26:00.002+05:30

A typical John Grisham style book. it's about an old man, a billionaire, who doesn't want to leave his wealth to his legal children because of their character and he leaves most of his wealth to his illegitimate daughter, who, nobody knows lives where.

Twelve Red Herrings

2008-06-24T18:46:00.001+05:30

Its a collection of twelve stories by Jeffrey Archer, some of which the author claims to be true incidents. I must say that it's a really interesting read, not all but most of it. We could feel the personal experience the author felt.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2008-06-23T17:30:00.001+05:30

Another good one by Khaled Hosseini. it's also about Afghanistan, about the women there, their life and troubles they face. He has depicted it really beautifully. Another good read, but I found his first book ("The Kite Runner") more interesting.

Vadakakkoru Hridayam

2008-06-22T22:00:00.001+05:30

Yet another malayalam book, this one by Padmarajan. I don't know what to say. A typical mallu style book. That's it. Not much. About the story of different personalities in a village. Sad story, but not boring.

The Alchemist

2008-06-20T21:17:00.001+05:30

Well, I generally don't like any inspirational or motivational books. So, this is one of it. I read it because I heard a lot about it, but after reading it I understood that, it's not my type. Well, if you are a person who needs a bit of inspiration or motivation or need a word of help just to pursue your dreams, this book's for you.

The Terminal Man

2008-06-19T21:24:00.001+05:30

It's a Cyborg type book by Michael Chrichton. Well, planting chip in to one's brain and all the things following the implantation due to the failure in the process. Not boring, but not a good read.

The God Father.

2008-06-18T20:54:00.002+05:30

Honestly speaking, I didn't like the book at all. Well it was a classic some time back, but may be because a lot of similar stories came by later and I read this too late. The book is not boring, but .....

The Da Vinci Code

2008-06-17T15:34:00.002+05:30

This book is really a different type, lot of controversial ideas, facts and fiction combined so well by Dan Brown. Really a good read. Suspense, action and everything's here. Another must read I would like to say. Anybody seriously interested in reading should read this one. Since it's a bit deep into religious things, I would suggest people who are too religious not to read it. You may find it hurting your beliefs.

Paralokam

2008-06-16T12:24:00.002+05:30

I tried to experiment with some books in my native tongue, rather than English which I normally prefer.The first one is Paralokam by P. Kunjabdullah. Well, don't know what to say about the book. Ofcourse, it was'nt my taste. I didn't like the book at all. Anyways, the foreword for the book by Zacharia (I'm not sure) was really interesting. Now I'm planning to give one more try to read a malayalam book.

The kite runner

2008-06-13T19:31:00.003+05:30

A must read book I would say, the author has presented the book, in a way that makes us really sentimental. The book tells us about friendship, Afghanistan, its culture and its past. We'll know what a country it was and what it is now. Although the story happens mostly in Afghanistan, it's mainly about friendship, about a loyal friend. Friendship is something, regardless of age, people would like and since the story's centered on it, almost all will like this. Even after completing the book, the characters in the story will be in our mind, for sure.

The Harry Potter Series

2008-06-12T19:06:00.006+05:30

I really liked all the 7 books. By reading right from the first one itself, we are becoming part of harry's life. We are brought to the school with harry himself, and with each and every event in the school, we are also becoming a part of the story and when we finish the first book itself, we'll find that we want to be either Ron or hermoine who are the best friends of harry. It would like to suggest this series as a must read for every book lovers. Just give it a try and you'll certainly like it.