Amodini's Book Reviews

Book Reviews and Recommendations

2012 ARC Reading Challenge

Written By: amodini - Jan• 19•12

Since I read lots of ARCs last year, this Challenge is a must-do for me. This is hosted by So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. I’m going for the Silver Level – read and review 24 ARCs! Here are the ARCs in my list so far (the first 3 I’ve read/currently reading – the remaining 7 are on my TBR pile) :

 

1. Pure by Juliana Baggott (Read)
2. How it all Began by Penelope Lively (Reviewed here)
3. The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal (Currently reading)
4. Last Chance Beauty Queen by Hope Ramsay
5. Memoirs of a non-enemy combatant by Alex Gilvarry
6. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the year Vol 6 by Jonathan Strahan
7. The Lilac House by Anita Nair
8. The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J.Rose
9. Murder of the Bride by C.S.Chalinor
10. Drifting House by Kris Lee

Book Review : How It All Began

Written By: amodini - Jan• 12•12
[amazon_link id=”0670023442″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]How It All Began: A Novel[/amazon_link]Title : How It All Began
Author : Penelope Lively
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Publisher : Viking
Pages : 229
Source : Publisher ARC
Rating : 4.5/5

Dame Penelope Lively’s “How it all began” starts off with a violent mugging. A frail old schoolteacher Charlotte Rainsford is pushed to the pavement, while her assailant makes off with her bag. Charlotte is left with a not-too-serious hip injury, but the incident also has repercussions for people around her. She is invited to convalesce at her middle-aged daughter Rose’s home. Rose is thus unable to travel to a conference with her quirky, historian employer Lord Henry Peters, requiring that he call in help from his niece Marion Clark. Marion, having to accompany dear old moneybags uncle Henry, calls off her assignation with married lover Jeremy Dalton, with a quick text message. The text is seen by the wrong pair of eyes. Meanwhile much married Rose gets to meet Anton, a student of her mother’s, and is attracted to him; her husband, by comparison, seems stolid.

Yes, the boat – it is a-rocking! One must, one HAS TO read on!

Knowing of Lively’s previous work, I had expected a good book. What I got was an absolute gem, a pleasure to read and savor. Lively pens a great story, but it is the telling which has me spell-bound. This is a tumultuous story, with it’s ups and downs, and it’s hell-breaking-loose moments, but the author tells it comfortingly, with wit and wisdom and that rare panache of making even the more serious events look amusing. Her characters are sketched with a deep and intimate understanding, and Lively festoons them with their peculiar quirks and eccentricities by and by.

Old age is not for wimps. Broken hip is definitely not for wimps. We are crutch-mobile now. Up and down the ward. Ouch. Sessions with delightful six-foot New Zealand physiotherapist. Seriously Ouch.

Of course before the hip there was the knee, and the back, but that was mere degeneration, not malign interference. The knee. The back. And the cataracts. And those twinges in the left shoulder and the varicose veins and the phlebitis and having to get up at least once every night to pee and the fits of irritation at people who leave inaudible messages on the answer phone. Time was, long ago, pain occasionally struck – toothache, ear infection, cricked neck – and one made a great fuss, affronted. For years now, pain has been a constant companion, cozily there in bed with one in the morning, keeping pace all day, coyly retreating perhaps for a while only to come romping back : here I am, remember me ?

This book is told simply, but her use of certain words is quite unexpected and mirrors her mirth; the author’s very own private nudge-nudge, wink-wink to her readers (I am laughing out loud as I read) :

She [Marion] respects him, too, he is something of a grand old man, no question; she has not been above dropping his name from time to time. If only he would let her do something about the Landsdale Gardens house; every time she goes there she shudders at that fearful old chintz sofa, those leather armchairs, the murky brown velvet curtains. As for the kitchen . . .But Henry dismisses the least proposal of change; Marion has not been able to infiltrate so much as a cushion.

Her pace, even when she is describing events of immediacy, is deceptively moderate. There is always action happening, but it is interspersed with philosophical musings on a variety of life’s situations – age, love, passion, money, hurt, shame, the need for approval. Lively writes in the third person, and we get to hear of other characters via their voices and experiences. Characters ponder and act and we can hear them think.

Stella dithers. She is in a state of acute dither – no, terminal dither. She reads Jeremy’s card again, puts it into the waste bin, retrieves it, returns it to the dresser. She reads it once more, is going to tear it up this time, put a stop to this silliness; she reads again, twitches her head from side to side, does not tear it up.

Lively takes her time telling this tale. Events happen, but they don’t happen in isolation. We also are privy to the people and the happenings around that event – the lead-in, the aftermath and it’s repercussions. This careful construction gives the book depth – it is like being there and knowing these people intimately. Her descriptions give them personality; to me, immersed in this book, they are living-breathing, full-bodied people. The characters in this book are ordinary, everyday people and the tale is of common-place everyday happenings ; people get mugged everyday, hearts are broken, and infidelities bloom anew. But to take these characters and these happenings and tell a tale like this, is rare. “How it all began” is a rare and accomplished novel, by an author well-versed in the language of life.

I can compare my experience of reading the book to watching the sea come in gently on the high tide; there is no immediate rush (although you know it is coming), and it comes in with such grace and beauty that you watch mesmerized even as the water laps your toes.

“How it all began” is the near-perfect contemporary novel; it has all the elements which make a great book, in just the right quantities, and then some. So, pick your favorite spot on that cushy, well-worn, yet-handsome sofa, and settle in for a languorous read – this brilliant book awaits.

2012 Book Reading Challenges

Written By: amodini - Jan• 10•12

I have a new Kindle now, and LOVE it. Reading on the iPad is also fun – I use it on night mode, so that reduces the glare. But the Kindle is zero glare, very much like a book, and oh-so-light. Fits right in the palm of my hand (yes, I have a large palm 🙂 )! I like the fact that the Kindle is a dedicated eReader; with the iPad it is very easy to get distracted into checking my email/Twitter/Facebook . . . Plus I have the 6″ Kindle, which has a cumbersome touchscreen keyboard – this works great for me, since it dissuades me further from straying too far from my reading knowing that straying will mean laborious touch-screen typing on very small virtual keys.

Which means I am all set to read in 2012. I have signed up for 2 challenges so far  (I completed 2 in 2011):

1. GoodReads 2012 Reading Challenge : Goal of 20 books – you can see the book-tracking widget in my sidebar.

2. Workaday Reads 2012 Ebook Challenge : Goal to read at CD level, which means 10 ebooks.

 

2011 : The Year in Review

Written By: amodini - Jan• 05•12

2011 was the year of the ARC. I read more Advance Reviewer Copies than the previous years, so much so that I barely got to my own Reading List! I entered 2 Reading Challenges and got  started on the Sunday Salon Posts. I completed the GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge (Goal of 15 books) and Stainless Steel Droppings’s R.I.P. Challenge. To round off a great year of reading, here are 5 of my favorite reads for 2011 (note that 4 out of the 5 are ARCs) :

1. Q : A Novel by Evan Mandery

2. Children of Paranoia by Trevor Shane

3. Heartstone by C.J.Sansom

4. Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

5. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

I love the fact that these five favorites are all from different genres – romance/time-travel, dystopian sci-fi, historical mystery, literature and women’s lit/mystery – in that order. It reminds me that even for a picky reader such as myself there is a whole world of fabulous books out there. Here’s to more wonderful books in 2012!

Tejaswee Rao Blogging Awards announced . . .

Written By: amodini - Dec• 29•11

Tejaswee Rao Blogging Awards 2011I made a mention of these Awards here. The results were announced in 3 batches, and 4 of my posts won ! Yay! Here are the ones that did :

The Last Bastion
No Sex education for us. We’re Indian.
Of Ghar-jamai jokes and their side-effects
Indian television and women

Here are the other winners – a wonderful collection of well-writen posts from the Indian blogosphere – have fun reading!

Book Review : Three Day Town

Written By: amodini - Dec• 10•11

[amazon_link id=”0446555789″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Three-Day Town Book Review[/amazon_link]Title : Three Day Town
Author : Margaret Maron
Genre : Mystery
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Pages : 288
Source : NetGalley / Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5

Given my love for mysteries, I’ve had friends recommend Margaret Maron to me more than once. I’ve read one of her books “Boot-legger’s daughter” many years ago. While that was interesting, I didn’t happen to pick up other books in the Deborah Knott series. So, am delighted to find that this book, the 17th in the Knott series, is quite good.

Sigrid Harald and Deborah Knott both feature in their own series (the last Harald book was published in 1995), but in this book Maron brings them both together. Though there are hints to Harald’s and Knott’s past alluded to here, the references are slight and explained well enough for the purposes of this book. I’m always a little wary of reading books from the middle of a series, but am happy to report that “Three Day Town” works well as a stand-alone mystery.

Three Day Town is a little different from the other Knott books since in it Deborah and her husband Deputy Dwight (who has featured in the Knott series before) are away from her hometown of Colleton County where she is Judge. Both are on a slightly delayed honeymoon to New York city where Dwight’s sister-in-law has lent them her apartment for the weekend. Deborah also has an errand to run in the city – she needs to pass on a package to Sigrid Harald’s mother, who is a distant relative. Harald’s mother is out of town, but Harald who is a detective with the NYC police department, swings by to pick up the object. She happens to come by when Deborah and Dwight are attending a party at the apartment next door. Among swilling strangers, Deborah escorts Sigrid back to her apartment to find the front door cracked open and the parcel missing. Plus there’s a body in the apartment.

Sigrid immediately calls upon help from her fellow policemen. Debra also, despite herself is sucked into the hunt for the perpetrator. But as clues, thefts and the body count mounts it gets harder and harder to find the elusive killer.

This is an engrossing mystery and Maron engages us with interesting characters . Harald and Knott have very different personalities and deal with the investigation differently. Maron manages to flesh out both their characters by switching voices very effectively. Sigrid is detached and unemotional (we get a hint of a past tragedy), Deborah is charming and impulsive and Dwight is the supportive husband, complete with his penchant for culinary delights. Other minor characters in the book also come with quirks.

With plenty of red herrings and suspects, this fast-paced, well-told story is a good pick for mystery lovers.

Book Review : The Artist of Disappearance

Written By: amodini - Dec• 06•11

[amazon_link id=”0547577451″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Artist of Disappearance[/amazon_link]Title : The Artist of Disappearance
Author : Anita Desai
Pages : 176
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Rating : 3.5/5
Source : NetGalley / Publisher ARC

Anita Desai’s latest book “Artist of Disappearance” is composed of three novellas. Each is about art and the artist, and presents a problem or a predicament, and later it’s natural, life-worn resolution.

The first, “The Museum of Final Journeys”, is about a civil servant posted to a remote village where there are not many sources of entertainment. Bogged down in his day-to-day work, he retires almost somnolent with boredom each day. One day, however, an old man approaches him with a plea. A museum of treasures lies hidden in one of the large, decrepit homes in the village. The contents of the museum, for paucity of funds, and the diminishing fortunes of the owners, lack good care and will the Government of India assume ownership? Besides the treasures in the home, there is also one large treasure outside it – an elephant who’s upkeep is draining the remaining resources of the household.

The second, “Translator Translated”, is about an English teacher, Prema who harbors great love for her native tongue, Oriya. In a chance meeting with a former classmate Tara, now a publisher, Prema is afforded the opportunity of translating to English, the works of the Oriyan writer Suvarna Devi. Prema is very proud of herself and imagines an instant sisterhood with the writer who she will get to meet at a publisher sponsored event. The event does happen but the great meeting of the minds, as imagined by Prema, does not. Later when Prema is to translate another work of Suvarna Devi’s she finds her enthusiasm and appreciation waning, until she cannot resist making “beneficial” changes to the original work during translation. . .

The third, “The Artist of Disappearance”, is about a reclusive orphan Ravi who creates for his own pleasure. His work is secretly done, but his pleasure in his art is destroyed when his precious hand-crafted garden is discovered . . .

Desai’s wistful stories are framed around a decrepit, depressing India; apathetic civil servants are ineffectual in the face of decaying treasures, an English teacher, single and lonely yearns for a few scraps of appreciation in a world where smart girls finish first and dowdy spinsters cannot even form a bond with an esteemed idol, and an unwary artist, hidden away in a rural village, wants only the solitary pleasure of creation, but can’t have even that.

All three novellas are steeped in melancholy and seem to belong to a slow-moving, languorous world. In the first story I found myself almost transported to the sepia-colored world of a 70s Sanjeev Kumar film where the shawl-wrapped protagonist, spends his days in desultory work, and his evenings, listless and lethargic, in the creaky chairs of a remote circuit-house (old government lodging, generally of the British era). In these stories, hubbub is absent; if these stories were film, we would probably need background music. In these quiet worlds minor urges get magnified and minor reflections gain prominence. Desai’s characters think loftily, but lack conviction and will. They live life on the fringes, aspiring to be better and stronger but almost always failing.

The writing is exquisite; Desai creates unforgettable details, bringing out the hidden pathos in everyday lives. Her words and her long sentences reflect life quite realistically and bring out the incongruities that we would smile and shake our heads at; I can’t help laughing, picturing in my mind’s eye the helpless, tethered elephant and the worried caretaker. So also, there is the government babu, who with good breeding recognizes that he is talking down to an old man but is brusque anyway. There is Prema who might be better than Tara, but cannot bring herself to do, with wit and some stridence, what “smart” Tara can. Yes, it is an unjust world, and never more so than in this book.

In each novella Desai seems to highlight the frail human condition – a condition that we might a cry a river for, had we the time. Her stories tells us of the little sadnesses that break your heart, and it isn’t even anyone’s fault; that is just how it is. Even as I appreciate Desai’s skill, I recognize that these relatively plot-less stories are more about the telling, the experience, than the before and the after.

I was not immediately taken by this book, but the stories grow upon you with reflection. Beautifully written, this is an evocative, thoughtful read.

Book Review : Magebane

Written By: amodini - Dec• 02•11

[amazon_link id=”075640679X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Magebane Book Review[/amazon_link]Title : Magebane
Author : Lee Arthur Chane
Genre : Sci-fi / Steampunk
Publisher : DAW
Pages : 488 (ARC)
Source : Publisher ARC
Rating : 3/5

Magebane is a steampunk-meets magic-meets science kind of a book. I was fairly intrigued reading the preview material for it. The story is centered around the kingdom of Evrenfels and it’s inhabitants – the MageLords. The MageLords are a powerful magic wielding race, who have fled from their older kingdom in fear of the Magebane, a powerful enemy who is unaffected by their magic. They finally build the current MageWorld, and shelter it from the outside “Commoners” by two impermeable “barriers”. The kingdom has it’s own “magesun” and controlled environment and derives it’s power from the lode of Magic on which it is built. The MageLords live in relative wealth and comfort, believing themselves to be above the Commoners, and have little sympathy or consideration for their plight.

The head of the MageLords is the King, magically chosen amongst the MageLords by the passage of the “Keys”(a special magic possessed by the King) to a worthy successor. In reality, the MageKing is weak, a decorative head who busies himself with his own pleasures leaving the all-powerful Minister of Public Safety, Lord Falk, and the First Mage Tagaza, to run the kingdom as they see fit. The king’s son and Heir,  Prince Karl Everenfels finds himself rebelling against Lord Falk’s cruel and autocratic ways. When Karl finds out about a plan to bring down the Barriers which separate the MageLords from the Commoners, a plan which will potentially denigrate his own authority, he surprisingly finds himself siding with the weaker Commoners. But enemies abound, and when Karl faces some unpleasant and surprising truths, his goal gets that much harder to achieve . . .

This novel has a large cast of characters from both sides of the Barriers, and the book starts off by giving us a short crash course in the ways of the Mageborn, via Karl’s musings. Chane creates a whole new world of Mageborn folks; each of them possess some degree of Magic. There are the MageLords including Lord Falk and the twelve hereditary MageLords. There are also the powerful healers like the soft-magic wielding old crone Mother Northwind. Then there are the MageCorps, functionaries like Karl’s faithful bodyguard and friend Teran. The main protagonists in the novel are Falk, his ward Brenna, Karl, the King, and the Commoner rebels like Vinthor and Anton. More than one character has a detailed back-story and intricate motivations for siding one way or the other (for the MageLords or against them). I must applaud first-time author Chane for managing such a large canvas quite ably.

I found the book quite appealing because it pitted science against magic, and couldn’t help being drawn in by the detailed descriptions of this alternate magical reality – it’s spells, it’s inventions and it’s different life. Commoners have achieved through science which the MageLords do via Magic. Against this backdrop Chane has created well-fleshed out characters. He gives the reader a look-see into their minds, which was quite interesting. The story has many twists and turns and is quite unpredictable so it keeps one engaged and reading.

All that said, this book does lack finesse. While it was an engrossing book, it’s power was diluted by Chane’s propensity to “tell” us how it is, rather than have his characters act out the story. The characters, while varied and distinctly fleshed out, were simply too many, and it got a little complex keeping track of all of them. Each character had an obscure reason to do what he did, and it was hard to keep up with each one’s desires and motivations. A simpler, stronger set of characters might have worked better to strengthen the narrative. All the threads do tie up in the end (quite a task in itself) but they don’t tie up with as much spit and polish as I’d like. I’m hoping though that if Chane, as talented as he appears to be, comes up with other books after this one, I will have no cause to complain.

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish

Written By: amodini - Oct• 19•11

Here’s the link to Steve Jobs’ famous commencement speech (in case you haven’t read it already). A few excerpts :

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Book Review: Children of Paranoia

Written By: amodini - Oct• 11•11

[amazon_link id=”0525952373″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Children of Paranoia[/amazon_link]Title : Children of Paranoia
Author : Trevor Shane
Publisher : Dutton
Genre : Dystopian Thriller
Release Date : September 8, 2011
Source : Publisher ARC
Pages : 371
Rating : 4.5/5

There is a war on and Joseph is in the thick of it. It’s Us vs. Them with the Rules of War clearly laid out. Not obeying the Rules has harsh consequences, and those who dare to do so find themselves hunted by both sides. Joseph or Joe, is a good soldier, fighting the war which generations before him have fought. But, lately, he is beginning to wonder about his steadfastness to it. He is beginning to ask questions. And when he meets Maria, and falls in love with her, he must break the Rules anyway . . .

This is a dystopian novel. Joe’s world could be the one you and I inhabit. It looks the same for people outside the war. But if you are in it, you belong to one side or the other. And you have to be constantly on your toes, because “they” could be coming for you. The book itself is unusual one for me, since I hadn’t read a novel where the hero was an assassin. In the first chapter itself Joe kills a woman and the murder is described in quite a bit of detail. And while I’ve watched “assassin” films (a la Jason Bourne) and seen people kill each other on screen – plop! plop! Two sound-muted bullets! People drop dead! – reading about it is a whole new level of unsettling.

Joe then, starts off as a very unlikely hero. Still, the author manages to build him up as a sympathetic character, because he is beginning to question this mindless killing. The book is told in the first person from Joe’s point of view, and I quite liked that. The tone and narrative is that of a person recalling memories, and relating them. This is a really interesting technique, since it pulls the reader right into the book. It not only defines Joe’s character for us, but lets us get a look-see into his mind and innermost thoughts. When the action happens, we’re in it, blow by blow. And when Joe is plagued by doubt, we can feel his desperation, raw and unconcealed :

The following morning, I remember waking up with my eyes still closed. I just lay there for a few minutes. I didn’t want to be awake. I didn’t want the morning to come. With the morning came the payment of debts unpaid, the revealing of truths unspoken. I could hear you next to me. You were awake. I glanced through partially closed eyelids. You were sitting up in bed, the sheets wrapped around under your armpits for warmth. I could see the fear in your face – fear and determination. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

“Children of Paranoia” was a pretty intense read, and completely un-put-down-able once I had started on it. It moves fast, with unexpected twists and turns and you are hanging in there, just hoping for the best. This is an outstanding debut, and since this book has an ending which bodes well for a sequel (it is set to be a trilogy) I hope I can get my hands on it the moment it comes out! Highly recommended.