The Oath of the Vayuputras by Amish Tripathi

The Oath of the Vayuputras by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Utterly Disappointed !!!!!!!

I cant believe this book was written by the same author as the other two books in the series. Everything that was good in the previous instalments of the series suddenly disappears. I was very excited to read this book and despite the fact that it is more than 550 pages , I was confident to complete it in a day or two but it took me more than a week . The reason why I disliked this book are as under.

1. The book was way lengthier than it should have been. There was a lot of detailing of the infrastructures , cities , gardens , science , philosophy , war strategies and what not. The author went on pages describing un-necessary things making the pace of the book dead slow and boring. we get it , the civilisation back then was very developed but boasting too much on there great infrastructure and science make it unrealistic. At least 200 pages could have easily been trimmed.

2. Too Dramatic. This book suddenly turned from being a brilliant story and script to a typically Bollywood movie. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I just wanted to get it over with . I don't want to put in any spoiler here but the readers will definitely understand what I am referring to .

3. The entire point of maintaining truth and dharma was compromised. Wasn't that the foundation of the plot, to be true and to fight injustice. To keep up to the dharma. How in the world did the climax justify this.

I will just quote few lines from the first book

" What if Lord Shiva was not a figment of a rich imagination , but a person of flesh and blood? Like you and me. A man who rose to become god like because of his karma."

I guess the author forgot this.

I rate this book as 1* . Don't waste your time on this even if you are done with the other two. Imagine the end of your own , I bet it will be definitely better then the actual one.

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The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi

The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading the first book of the trilogy , my hopes were high for the second instalment and it lived up to its expectations . Amaish have already created the image of the Meluha Empire in his first book and now was the time to describe the rest of India and how it differed from Meluha. This was done with utter perfection.

Throughout the plot there was a sense of suspense which will not let one lay down the book. The pace of the book was really good as always. The plot that Amish have started to build in the first book will be finally shaped and a clear picture would start to emerged at the end and yet will keep the readers curious on what happens next .

The link between the real word and the world created by the Author is very strong. Amish have used the real places and many legends in his story that allows the readers to connect easily. One can actually understand the voyage taken by Shiva and his entourage and not get confused as a lot of time and pages are spent on describing the journey .

Overall I will definitely recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it . I just have one thing to say here is that I liked the first book better than this , but it could be only because of the high expectation I had for this. Eagerly waiting for the next and the final book in the Trilogy .

I rate this book a strong 4 * and a must read.

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ESS (Empty Sun Street) by Barsha Sahoo

ESS by Barsha Sahoo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started this book for light reading after checking the synopses. I was amassed how quickly I was absorbed in it. This was a story of a teenage girl and her life around her best friend/love of her life. Although the story revolves around an imaginary american town, writer is actually from India. I am not particularly a fan of teen adult books from Indian writer , as I feel it gets somewhat creepy and cringe most of the times, but not this one.

I liked how the thoughts of the protagonist was shows in different phases of her life. When she was a teen , the narration was like coming from a tanager and when she grew up so did the writing . the author played beautifully with the timeline of the plot jumping from past to present . Many times we see that these things get confusing, but Barsha have done a splendid work here. She was successfully able to manage to keep the hold of the plot. in the later part I sometimes was lost but the climax makes the picture crystal clear . The hint of suspense added a right amount of excitement and was not over done.

I would definitely recommend this book for others. The writing style is also very fresh and new. I really enjoyed reading it.

I rate this book a 4*.

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The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi

The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was one of the most recommended book that I ever came across , and now I understand why . There are two types of comments for this book. People either loved it or hated it. There were no mixed reactions .I too was not very sure about how the Indian mythological fantasy will be represented, and how will it stand when compared to that of the classic fantasies like Lord of the Rings. But it did a splendid job. I am glad I read it , and I loved it. It took me some time to get registered with the personification of lord Shiva, but after getting used to it , I thoroughly enjoyed the plot.

What Amish have done exceptionally well, is to create the Meluha Empire. The Picture of the people, the culture , the cities was all in front of my eyes as if I was watching a movie. The bits of historical reference and places incorporated with the plot added the extra enthusiasm as it felt like a part of actual history. Amish played very smoothly between Myth , History and Hindu religious beliefs giving importance to each of them and also respecting the credibility.

The plot itself was very engaging. It was utterly impossible to lay down the book. The pace of the book was very stable , nothing was hurried or stretched. It had right amount of innocence, emotions , adventure ,romance and excitement . The wars chapters were also very well written . It had all the ingredients of a perfect fantasy.

The book ended in a very dramatic situation and I cannot wait to start the second book.

Overall I will certainly recommend this book and my rating is 4.5 *

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Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the most popular books that I have read . I had high expectations from this book and it have lived up to it. I really enjoyed my time reading it . Though it was written as early as 1818, almost 200 years from now but the language was not very different from what we have today (unlike some other older books). There were few words every now and then that we don't use now a days , but there frequency was really low.

What really impressed me was of course the writing style . Mary Shelley is an absolute genius when it comes to convey emotions . The story revolves around the protagonist 'Victor' who had many ups and downs throughout the plot of the book . Shelly will make you feel the same way Victor felt in every situation. As a reader you will instantly connect with Victor and will want things to go well for him.You will feel his pain and grief. How Shelley have done this, playing with words is really magical.

This book is generally depicted as horror, and that's why I haven't read it for so long. I am not a big fan of this genre, but I am glad I did now . This was nothing like the other horror novels. It had the right amount of everything. Science-fiction, romance , emotions , tragedy and each aspect was portrayed so perfectly that in no point of time you with feel that things are getting lingered.

The monster here is not the convention one that we see in other horror stories. It will make you feel pity for him and in the same time disguised and angry. The author have done great job to make you see the world in the eyes of the monster and provide a reason for things he did(although not justifying it). His story also holds a big part of the plot.

Shelly drafted this when she was only 18. She wrote this masterpiece as a teenager with such precision and perfection. This is really remarkable. I will recommend everyone to read this book, you will not regret it.

This is now my personal favourite .

I rate this book a full 5 *

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The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Roald Dahl....Not a new name for the books lovers. I haven't read his books earlier but have spent all my childhood watching movies inspired by his stories. I have picked a book set of all the books written by Dahl but was having second thought if I would like reading them as they were for children. I was astonished how much I enjoyed reading it. This is a small book with a simple story. Epic elements of personification of three animals and an enthusiastic kid.

The most significant thing is that it took me back to my childhood days. I had a smile the whole I was reading it. This is a must read for all the children but also adults can enjoy it. I wish I could have read it during my school days .

The way of writing was really good . Fantasy books have a tough work to create a imaginary world for you and have you believe in it. Dahl have done this very effectively . one will easily be transported to another universe where the animals taking was not a big deal.

There was not much of a story , with any twist and turns but this book is for children. We cant expect this to be super exciting . The language was also very basic suitable for a 9 yrs old which servers the intention.

Overall I rate this book a 4*.

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Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book that I have read written by the great scientist Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam . The first book Wings of fire introduced us to an aspiring Scientist and the challenges he faced . His hard work, his love for the country and the dedication for the development of the nation. The technical victory he had with all his team , putting India in the world map. His contribution towards building a strong and determined India. But that was not all.

Turning points showed us that Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was not just a scientist , he was also a visionary. He dreamt of a successful nation. Not just technically developed but overall development which included easy access to basics amenities and all the fundamentals services provided to all without any difficulties.

This book describes the tenure of his presidency and how he Aimed and worked for the plan of a developed nation by the year 2020. He was a great man , no doubt of it but this book made me respect him more for the ideologies he had and how important was the country and the people of India was for him.

This book took a little time for me to read. It is very well written but i think the Wings of fire was a bit more interesting than this.

I rate this book a 4.5 star



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Your Dreams Are Mine Now by Ravinder Singh

Your Dreams Are Mine Now by Ravinder Singh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have read a couple of books by Ravinder Singh and have understood that this writer is greatly influenced by Bollywood Drama. Even with this book I had the same issue, at many times the situation was over dramatized.

I picked up this book for light reading and to see if the writer have grown mature in his writing , but alas. The pace of the book was good but it lacked a good plot. The buildup was also very poor . The first few pages left me with seriously disappointment.It was utterly unnecessary to try to grow curiosity among the readers as it came out to be really negative. The image of a college portrayed was very superficial, rather then being a practical one.The lead characters were too good to be true.The hint of innocence would have done good but too much of anything mess things around. How ever there were some less annoying thing in this book than 'Can Love happens twice(The last book I read of this author)'.

1. The use of Hindi phrases were reduced , although still present.
2. The romance was not cheep and felt cute at times.
3 .There was No Ravinder Singh to remind us how he was a author of a National best selling novel .

I felt the problem was , there was too much of every thing and because of that a lot of things happened too fast. There was no proper build up for the incidents to happen. The love story was quite amateur and I feel the social issue and the resemblance to the Delhi Rape case was just added for things to go in favor of the book. One can sense the lack of intent easily. The ending was also very sudden. The whole tempo of the book was in a hurry.

I understand that this book was targeted for only Indian audience , as it doesn't stand up to the International standards. But today's India is mature enough to leave behind typical Bollywood formulas and is looking forward to have some fresh content. This is the reason this book have got so many negative ratings. The writers have to understand this.

I rate this book with a 2*

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Wings of Fire: An Autobiography by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Wings of Fire: An Autobiography by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is not just a book; it’s an Institution of Inspirations. This book is the autobiography about one of the gems born in this country. There were three ambitious programs in India till date.
1. The Space Program
2. The Missile Program
3. The Nuclear Program
A.P.J Abdul Kalam was on all these programs. What he have achieved in his lifetime, much of the people won’t able to archive in multiple lives. I can keep going on appreciating his achievements but let us talk about this book. This is a must read for those who see Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam as an Idol  and for those who closely follow the Space and Missile Program of India (I Being the Both). Knowing about something doesn’t have the same impact as reliving the incidents. With This book one can relive the life of a genius yet an ordinary person he was. The book did a splendid work in holding up the curiosity to keep going. The flow is strictly limited to all important events not only the success but also failures. It helps to keep the zeal to know how the things turned out to be in their favor.

As already a lot is known about A.P.J Abdul Kalam , This book help to makes one understands him as a person. We come to know how highly he regarded his teachers. He was obliged by the care and faith of many other scientist specially Dr. Sarabhai and DR.Satish Dhawan. He was a humble human being. He had a great knowledge of literature and many more details.

As today’s youth, we have seen India as an establish Nation, an economic power Where we have resources for technical advancement. We do have both manpower and finance to support them. This book will make one picture how with limited resource dedicated scientist worked days and night to make the Space Program and the Missile Program a success. It will make you proud to be an Indian.

Can't Wait to read his next book "Turning Points : A Journey Through Challanges: A Journey Through Challenges"

I rate this Book A full 5*


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Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was one of the oldest published Book I have ever read. Literature changes in every decade. This book was written as early as 1873 , around 150 years earlier. I thought that the style of writing will be different and may be at some point of time I may face difficulties with the pace of the story or with the plot. After all the world back in 1873 was very different than what we have it today. As I progressed I only proved myself wrong. The book keeps up with the pace excellently and excite the readers on what is next to come.

The writer have done an wonderful job in bring the picture of the world in the late 19th century. For history lover like me , this was a gem. One will be travelling back in time to experience the day to day life, the machinery people used, the way the people traveled the way they see the world and this was the main attraction of the book .

I am not sure if Jules Verne had ever traveled the world but for sure he had the knowledge of Various places. The story have a detail picture of travelling in two vast countries , India and America accompanied by various other countries. As i am an Indian , I can tell that one cannot describe India the way the writer have done without visiting it. of course some of the names of the places were pronounced differently , and it was expected as we know how the British did that.

Not just for fun , the book also teaches us many thing . we can learn from the protagonist(Phileas Fogg) how to be calm in whatever situation we are in , he also teaches us determination. Passepartout teaches us how to be faithful and also Fix teaches us not to give up.

One can really enjoy reading the book . The only problem i had was that sometimes there was a little to much details on the travelling. I enjoyed it when they were in India but it annoyed me a little when it was for America. As I don't have much knowledge on the geography of the country.

I Rate this book 4.5 *


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Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh

Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very different then any other book I have read. There was a sense of mystery , curiosity , disgust and a lot of feelings while reading this book .

This book portrayed India during the partition time. It puts light on the lifestyle of the people , the difference between the educated and the illiterate mass and this has been done perfectly. Khushwant Singh wrote this book in 1956 , so he was well aware of the lifestyle of people in India during the partition era. He was successful in binding the readers with the story perfectly. The writing style is a masterpiece here. The story consists of many characters and hence there is very less space for each of them as the book is around 190 pages only but still each of them has there own impotence and non seems to be neglected.

The topic of the book as we all know is partition. That is something one cannot remember without having tears in there eyes. The massacre that took place was beyond imagination. Today it seems barbaric when we think about it but this book have done a wonderful job to explain (although it was wrong) how people turned against each other. How people were ready to brutally slaughter friends and neighbors with whom they fought for their freedom , with whom they stayed harmoniously for years. The love and affection was forgotten in seconds. Khushwant Singh also tried to show the scale of genocide that took place.

This book will take the readers to a roller coaster ride of emotions , anger and a sense of helplessness people felt during these dark time. For me this is a must read for all.

I rate the book as 4.5 *



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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a lot of time to complete reading this book, but it was not because it was not a good book. It is a great book, emotional and painful. It have shown the transformation of a paradise to hell.I will not be giving any spoiler here as you would really like to take things one at time for this book. It will keep you guessing.

This book have many small elements that will capture you for some time. As I already mentioned that this book took more time to complete as there were many incident in the book that will touch you. You may be a speed reader but things changes here. The plot of the book will keep you thinking on what happened next. It will urge you to continue reading but one part of you will stop for some time before you proceed ,to absorb what had happened. The intensity is to much to be overlooked.

This book although is one novel but have many phases, it shows us many aspect of life. Childhood , friendship , insecurity , faith , courage , and love.Love for people and love for the Country. It have shown how Afghanistan suffered under the Taliban rule. It will make you feel the pain of the people living there. You will realize how lucky it is to have freedom , to do what ever you want.

The writing style is awesome. I give it a 4 * . I would have given it five if the author would have cut some details. sometime I felt too much details have been discussed. This could have been avoided.

Overall I recommend to go for this book.

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Can Love Happen Twice !!!!

Can Love Happen Twice? by Ravinder Singh
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I expected this book to be really good but it went the other way round. The things i disliked are

1. The author pampered him a lot. So his first book was a national best seller , Big deal . He reminds us this thing almost in ever 5 to 10 pages. There are many books in India that are best seller , Its not something you keep your reader reminding off.

2. The language was very local. Not even the entire India can read this book because of the cheap language and use of Hindi And Punjabi Phrases . Please stop doing that.

3. The Romance was very on top. It could have been in a much better was.

4. The plot was also not very strong.

Overall i wont recommend people to read this if you are into good reading but if you are looking for some college fun reading then and only then you can go for it...

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The Mother I Never Knew: Two Novellas by Sudha Murty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book as it says is not a Novel but is a combination of Two Novellas . Its about the story of two man, living two different life but their stories have a common connection "Human Emotions". This book will take you to a roller coaster ride of Love,Happiness and sorrow. I am just done with this book and it took me some time to come out of the story . They are really heart touching .

The language of the book is very simple yet the way the story is narrated is very good. It will make you stick to it , in no point of time you will feel that the story is getting stretched. One more thing that I liked in the book is the way relations are portrayed, they were very accurate. The mother - son relation , the father - daughter and in all other relations ,we can see there is originality in them and is not faked just to spice up the story. I wont be giving anything about the stories , its better you get it fresh .

There is one thing though I feel could have been avoided was the details of the places and localities. Both the stories revolved around Bangalore and the author have described a lot of places in the city, as I stay in Bangalore I was able to differentiate between those but for other this might get a little confusing . This could have been avoided

I rate it a good 4*. Looking foreword to read some more of Sudha Murty .


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The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari :

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny by Robin S. Sharma
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari By Robin Sharma.

This is a very decorated book in India, Its an International best seller and I had a lot of expectation from this book. Initially it kept up to the expectation, the story really build up very good and will keep the readers guessing on what will happen next. Also the title of the book will make you confuse 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' instead it should be 'A Guy who sold his Ferrari and became a monk'. I was expecting something more adventures but that didn't happen .

The book had no story, it was like a monologue for most of the part . It was like educating people the ancient technique of learning by stories like the older education system of India. This was kind of new for the outer world but for the Indians , we have heard these stories sometimes or the other in our life. In India, every morning you switch on the TV one can get the same educational monologue by different gurus in multiple channel. There was nothing new.

One more thing is the book have been portrayed as a life changing experience. One can follow them and can beat the worries and tensions of life. You can be a master of it but is it really possible to follow them is real world?

These are all my concerns. Many of the readers have loved the book but this was definitely not among my favorites. I rate it a 3* for the writing style. If you like spiritual book and religious book then go for it but if you are looking for some fun ride or adventure then you might pick something else.

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The Spy by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was not the best book that I have read but still this will be with me for a long time. This book was different . The narration of the book was done by letters. Mata Hari the protagonist of the book have written a letter to her daughter describing her journey of life . The second part is the letter written by the advocate friend to Mata Hari. I really loved the style of narration. It brings a freshness to the way a story is conveyed rather then the traditional way.

It was not a great book. At first it shows a young women intoxicated with beauty , fame and money telling her story . Her story although have a lot of aspect, feels some time very boring and predictable. The second half of the book however shows what the world thinks about her and what she actually is . Here one will get the interest of knowing what comes next and the book suddenly becomes very interesting , But the best part of the book is the Ending. Here it becomes really thrilling , exciting , emotional and one cannot put it down. Paulo have done a splendid work to portray Mata Hari and the world in early 20th century .

The bonus point for this book are the small ancient stories that comes every now and then. They were like the cherry on top of the cake. This book after Alchemist have inspired me on reading more work from Paulo Coelho.

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My Review on The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This Book took me a lot of time to complete. Now the question is why?

1. This is kind of an Anti India novel. The author tried to show the darker side of India but what really comes out to be like a NRI complaining against a country as it is not like its western counterparts. At some point of time it will annoy you the amount of negativity shown for India.

2. The pace of the story is really slow. Nothing much happens and the book continues with regular activity covering pages.

3. You come to know that there is a murder coming down the line in the story but after some time it is difficult to keep patience of when and why things turns so bad.

These reasons kept me stop reading a couple of times. I gave this book a 3* as it had some good points like

1 . The story telling by the point of view of an illiterate is very accurate. This is how an illiterate will see the world and will think about it.

2. Now this is a very important point why I like the book. At first i thought that the cause because of which a faithful servant murders his master is not enough, But then, that is what happens in real life. Money can drive anyone crazy , can make a faithful servant to betray his master to this highest level making him kill the person who he was so loyal to.

I would have loved this book if it had a little less pages to read and the bashing India could have been a little less.

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