Book Review: The Crossover Year by Bhargavi Balachandran

Introduction

· ISBN – 9788180460883

· Genre: Fiction

· Publishers: Alchemy Publishers

· Price: Rs. 150/-

"Meet Sri Anuprabha, aka Anu, a twenty-nine year-old banker who is terrified of entering her thirties. She dreams of quitting her job at the bank, sporting yoga pants and traipsing around the world. Her world turns upside down when things go awry and she is faced with the prospect of spending her days watching Tamil serials. She comes up with a five-point plan for reclaiming her life back before she hits the big 30.

But things are never as simple as drawing up a flowchart in real life, are they? Especially with a ghastly recession rearing its ugly head. Anu bumbles through the corridors of domesticity and travels on a fun-filled roller coaster ride in a bid to discover her passion in life. Along the way, she meets new people, experiences crazy things and learns some hard lessons in marriage, friendship, parenting and life."

Behind The book

Source: Google Images

About the author

I had the privilege of interacting with the author and interviewing her, you can read the full interview HERE

Me thinks

Off late I have been getting some very heavy books for review and reading. Owing to my health I didn’t want to take any such undue pressure and was looking for something really light and breezy when I came across this book. The author had approached me after reading my blog to read this and the blurb was definitely an eye grabber for sure.

What I loved the most about this chicklit if I had to tell in one word then it would be it’s simplicity in terms of the narrative ; which left a lot of ease for the reader to do nothing else but just enjoy the story as the character Anu goes through her own share of ups and downs in life.

Completely relatable and I could really find myself nodding to many of those things there as Anu was observing LIFE just the way we do at times and wonder if LIFE is seriously making us go through all this!

An out and out highly recommended read, for all beautiful women out there who need a good laugh at their own lives and also feel good that they are not alone in this never ending battle called LIFE.

Foodie Verdict

This book is like flavoured popcorn - utterly delicious!

Source: Google Images

Book Review: Desiccated Land by David Lepeska

ISBN: 978-9395481205 Genre: Non-fiction Publisher: Vishwakarma Publications Bringing together his experiences as a journalist and a keen observer, David Lepeska writes a raw and gut-wrenching book on Kashmir. Part memoir, part travelogue, and part reportage, Desiccated Land is a page-turner. The book starts by tracing the history of the region along with his own history, as a student who was dimly aware of the history of Kashmir and the turmoil it has been causing for centuries between India and Pakistan. Lepenska takes us to Nilamata Purana ( likely written in the 7th century ) which tells us the story leading to the birth of this region. He also shares an alternate possibility of the word being derived from a lake ‘Mira’ named after Vedic Sage Kashyapa. His first visit to Kashmir closely followed by his second (and much longer) visit as a journalist working for the Kashmir Observer after the 9/11 attacks, make for an interesting read. Lepeska had questions, a lot of them. An

From there to here to where

From this blog in 2011 to Barnes and Noble website, my reviewing journey has been full of surprises. I am working on an essay tracing it and realized that I started reviewing books in 2001 (Yes! I am old) for a small library next to my house. Needless to add, my payment was in the books. The library owner also happened to be the first person who taught me how to write a book review and what to focus on. And that is where I learned why reviews matter. Cut to 2016 when my book review was taught in a Literary Criticism class held by British Library. A relative happened to attend that class and the news spread like wildfire in the family. That is the moment when my family knew this much more than just a hobby.

Book Review: Never Mind Yaar by K Mathur

Introduction · ISBN - 978-0-473-17480-4 · Genre: Fiction · Publishers: Southpac Publishers · Price: Rs. 350/- ( I got this book from Blog Adda for a review ) The title is an attitude - our tendency to feel defeated by the scale and nature of certain problems. Rather than meet them head on, we circumvent them with a sigh and a consoling “never mind, yaar”. When long time friends Binaifer Desai and Louella D’Costa meet Shalini Dayal at Gyan Shakti College, a true friendship that transcends cultural and religious backgrounds is born. Louella is a Christian, Binaifer, a Parsi and Shalini, a Hindu. The novel’s main plotline surrounds Shalini who has fallen for an impetuous student activist, Bhagu. Where does his desire to help the less fortunate lead him? The challenges are many - Shalini’s tradition bound family, the couple’s youth and inexperience and the travails of life in Mumbai, a city the girls love but know, is fraug

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