Fiction

Sudhi Kannan: An Elephantic Adventure

Sudhi Kannan: An Elephantic Adventure | Krishna | Book Review

PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 Any frequent reader who regularly goes to a bookstore to buy books has an instinct for whether a story is good or not. After all, they only get to see the blurb and the cover, and at best, the first few pages to …

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The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries | Meg Cabot | Book Review

PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5 Meg Cabot is a highly celebrated author. There is no doubt about that. Her books are a big-time hit in the US, UK and other countries, but just how relevant is her flagship series, The Princess Diaries, to the Indian psyche? To find …

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sorry you are not my type sudeep nagarkar

Sorry, You’re Not My Type | Sudeep Nagarkar | Book Review

Sorry, You’re Not My Type is one of Sudeep Nagarkar’s best works PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5 Sorry, You’re Not My Type is my first Sudeep Nagarkar book and having read his work now, I must say that the author’s reputation indeed precedes his work. In our lives, we …

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Gone with the Vindaloo | Vikram Nair | Book Review

PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 3.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 One of the challenges that an author faces when he or she is writing a book is to bring the story alive to the readers. It is not always easy and is a talent that is perhaps not seen too often in today’s …

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Private India by Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson

Private India | Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson | Book Review

PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 3/5 WRITING STYLE: 3/5 CLIMAX: 2/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 2.5/5 It is a dream collaboration – James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi. One is a master of crime writing, and the other is a master in weaving mystery. So when they co-author a book, it ought to be a classic; it ought to be …

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The Namesake

The Namesake | Jhumpa Lahiri | Book Review

PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 I am particularly hesitant about reading books by renowned authors; authors who bag Nobels and Pulitzers and Man Bookers. It is not that I haven’t tried. Most of what they write, though beautiful, go way over my head. I would rather prefer reading …

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Newton's Law Reversed by Howard Roark

Newton’s Law Reversed | Howard Roark | Book Review

PLOT: 3/5 CHARACTERS: 3.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5 The basic premise of most love stories, either it is a tragedy or a happy one, is the same. There are certain indispensable fundamentals which, at their core, do not change much; two people in love, cheesy romantic scenes, fights and quarrels, certain …

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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini | Book Review

PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 If you are a devoted follower of fiction novels, and you still haven’t read A Thousand Splendid Suns, it is a point worth pondering over. This is one of the best books I have come across in a long time. The author, as …

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Lajja by Taslima Nasrin

Lajja: Shame | Taslima Nasrin | Book Review

PLOT: 5/5 RESEARCH: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 History teaches us that religion has been one of the most compelling reasons behind many of the great wars, and a consequence of most religious wars is an exodus of natives who have been conquered. The exodus of Israelis from Egypt as mentioned in …

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The Song of King Gesar by Alai

The Song of King Gesar | Alai | Book Review

PLOT: 3.5/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CULTURAL/HISTORICAL QUOTIENT: 5/5 Being an Indian, I am always curious about our neighbouring countries. We have a number of countries bordering us along all the sides, but it is the North-Eastern border that specially allures me. Having read the “The King’s Harvest” by Chetan Raj Shrestha, I fell …

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Just Kidding Yours Destiny Anirban Das

Just Kidding… Yours, Destiny | Anirban Das | Book Review

PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5 CLIMAX: 4/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5 The greatest prankster in the world is destiny or fate or karma. It always teases us, and never lets anything go according to plan; it is the greatest devotee of Murphy’s Law. When things seem to be going smooth and comfortably, destiny gets …

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The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe | Douglas Adams | Book Review

PLOT: 5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 5/5 CLIMAX: 5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5 When it comes to books, I’m largely a fantasy-oriented guy. I haven’t read too many science-fiction books but Douglas Adam’s comic sci-fi series, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, seems more a parody of science-fiction as a literary genre than science-fiction itself. I read …

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