Bhavna

ready player one

Ready Player One | Ernest Cline | Book Review

PLOT: 4.5/5 CHARACTERS: 2.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 2/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 2.5/5 There is nothing quite as irksome as a promising book that fails to deliver. Despite its potential, Ernest Cline’s poorly executed science fiction/fantasy debut “Ready Player One” has too many glaring deficiencies. The two non-negotiable elements in producing top-notch fantasy are imagination and intensity. Cline’s imagination is …

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when breath becomes air

When Breath Becomes Air | Paul Kalanithi | Book Review

PLOT: 4.5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 “When Breath Becomes Air”, a posthumously published memoir is divided into two halves – the first half chronicles Paul Kalanithi’s early life and his life-altering career switch from English to medicine. His motives for doing so are deeply philosophical – to solve metaphysical …

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the ocean at the end of the lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane | Neil Gaiman | Book Review

PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 A little boy. An unnamed monster. Birds from an unnamed realm which feed on said unnamed monster. A woman so old that she witnessed the Big Bang. A girl who has been 11 years old for an uncertain period of time. A pond that is an ocean. These are just a few of the elements in The Ocean at the End of …

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a midsummer's equation

A Midsummer’s Equation | Keigo Higashino | Book Review

PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 3.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5 From the author behind the worldwide sensation, The Devotion of Suspect X comes another action-packed murder mystery. The third instalment in the Detective Galileo series, A Midsummer’s Equation has been translated from Japanese by Alexander O. Smith, the translator of most of Higashino’s works. This book reintroduces Dr. Yukawa, a physicist who moonlights as an off-the-record detective of the …

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running with scissors

Running with Scissors | Augusten Burroughs | Book Review

PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 Running with Scissors is a memoir recounting American author Burroughs’s outrageous adolescent life. As a child, Burroughs was a neat-freak, obsessive about keeping his hair, clothes and surroundings picture-perfect. His parents were constantly having violent fights and when they finally decided to divorce, Burroughs was sent …

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84 charing cross road

84, Charing Cross Road | Helene Hanff | Book Review

PLOT: 4/5CHARACTERS: 5/5WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5CLIMAX: 4/5ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 84, Charing Cross Road is a compilation of letters between author Helene Hanff and Frank Doel, a bookseller at 84, Charing Cross Road, London.  Hanff, a resident of New York City and a voracious reader constantly in search of rare classics to add to her collection, first wrote to Doel in 1949 to enquire about books she had long wanted which were either unavailable or unaffordable in New York.  Doel responded, agreeing to send the books across from his store …

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