So on to the books...
The Goldfinch
My Rating : 3.5/5 stars
So, I finished this book in February, but I started it way back in December. Yes, it took me that long to read it. Warning : this book is long, parts of this book are really slow and boring. But at the end of it all, I thought that the ending made it worth it.
Oh, and it does get a tad bit depressing at time cause there are deaths in the book, but there is also love and friendship, so they balance each other out. In an effort not to give too much away, let me try and let you a bit about the story. Its really long because it follows the main character from his grade school days to adulthood. There are a lot of details (some which could be left out, in my personal opinion) and lots of story lines and plots, if you look at it like multiple short stories in one novel, it might make it easier to read.
And according to Amazon,
"Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love--and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.
The Goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate."
This One is Mine
My Rating : 3/5 stars
I started this book because I absolutely loved Maria Semple's second book, Where'd you go Bernadette?. But honestly it wasn't as good, probably cause it wasn't my usual type of book. It has a lot more love-dovy stuff that I don't really read about, similar to the reason why I can't get past the first chapter of a Nicholas Spark book (but I will try till I can!)
This book has the bored stay at mom that gave up her career, her successful husband and his sister, whose lives although seem to be on separate tracks all come together and intertwine by the end of the book. It is a quick read took me a couple of days only. Probably cause I just wanted to get to the end of it!
And according to Amazon,
"Violet Parry is living the quintessential life of luxury in the Hollywood Hills with David, her rock-and-roll manager husband, and her darling toddler, Dot. She has the perfect life--except that she's deeply unhappy. David expects the world of Violet but gives little of himself in return. When she meets Teddy, a roguish small-time bass player, Violet comes alive, and soon she's risking everything for the chance to find herself again. Also in the picture are David's hilariously high-strung sister, Sally, on the prowl for a successful husband, and Jeremy, the ESPN sportscaster savant who falls into her trap. For all their recklessness, Violet and Sally will discover that David and Jeremy have a few surprises of their own. THIS ONE IS MINE is a compassionate and wickedly funny satire about our need for more--and the often disastrous choices we make in the name of happiness."
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
My Rating : 5/5 stars
This book was hilarious! So we all know that they internet is creepy, and this book was recommended to me by either Amazon or Facebook after it figured out that I watch Mindy's show "The Mindy Project". And this book is just as hilarious as her show. I'm kinda glad that I came across it from the internet's creepiness. While I was reading the book, I could actually imagine her saying some of the stuff.
This again is not one of my usual reads, its not really a story, more like a memoir, kinda. What ever it is, its hilarious and you need to read it!! Also start watching her show!! Like NOW!
And according to Amazon,
"Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka."
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?
My Rating : 5/5 stars
This again is not one of my usual reads, its not really a story, more like a memoir, kinda. What ever it is, its hilarious and you need to read it!! Also start watching her show!! Like NOW!
And according to Amazon,
"Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka."
A Golden Age
My Rating : 5/5 stars
This is the type of book I read, I just surprised that I have not come across it earlier. I really need to make review more books on amazon and at the library to get a better recommendations. Did I ever tell you how Amazon wanted to get me to read 50 shades of grey, by recommending it to me after I finished reading the Hunger games series. Eww... to the 50 shade books and OMG to Amazon for such a bad recommendation.
Back to this book, if you like Jhumpa Lahiri and Khaled Hosseini then there is a 99% likelihood that you will like this book. It is based in the 1970's, during the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. Coming from an army background, I have heard multiple stories about the war from different angles and views, but it was a completely different experience reading about it. I'm so glad that I found this book and I really recommend you reading it!
And according to Amazon,
This is a sequel to the previously reviewed book, A Golden Age. The first book ends of with the end of the war, and this picks up in the aftermaths. I really loved reading about the way war defines characters and how months, years and lifetimes later the effect of war remain.
This book follows the same characters from the first novel, along the paths that choose, and the decisions that they make as they continue to live in a country that they fought for. If you read A Golden Age, then continue on to this ones, it is just as good. I really hope that there is another one to follow.
And according to Amazon,
"From prizewinning Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam comes her deeply moving second novel about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh, seen through the intimate lens of a family.
My Rating : 5/5 stars
This is the type of book I read, I just surprised that I have not come across it earlier. I really need to make review more books on amazon and at the library to get a better recommendations. Did I ever tell you how Amazon wanted to get me to read 50 shades of grey, by recommending it to me after I finished reading the Hunger games series. Eww... to the 50 shade books and OMG to Amazon for such a bad recommendation.
Back to this book, if you like Jhumpa Lahiri and Khaled Hosseini then there is a 99% likelihood that you will like this book. It is based in the 1970's, during the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. Coming from an army background, I have heard multiple stories about the war from different angles and views, but it was a completely different experience reading about it. I'm so glad that I found this book and I really recommend you reading it!
And according to Amazon,
"Rehana Haque, a young widow, blissfully prepares for the party she will host for her son and daughter. But this is 1971 in East Pakistan, and change is in the air.
Set against the backdrop of the Bangladesh War of Independence, A Golden Age is a story of passion and revolution; of hope, faith, and unexpected heroism in the midst of chaos—and of one woman's heartbreaking struggle to keep her family safe."
The Good Muslim: A Novel
My Rating : 5/5 starsThis is a sequel to the previously reviewed book, A Golden Age. The first book ends of with the end of the war, and this picks up in the aftermaths. I really loved reading about the way war defines characters and how months, years and lifetimes later the effect of war remain.
This book follows the same characters from the first novel, along the paths that choose, and the decisions that they make as they continue to live in a country that they fought for. If you read A Golden Age, then continue on to this ones, it is just as good. I really hope that there is another one to follow.
And according to Amazon,
"From prizewinning Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam comes her deeply moving second novel about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh, seen through the intimate lens of a family.
Pankaj Mishra praised A Golden Age, Tahmima Anam's debut novel, as a "startlingly accomplished and gripping novel that describes not only the tumult of a great historical event . . . but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals living in the shadow of revolution and war." In her new novel, The Good Muslim, Anam again deftly weaves the personal and the political, evoking with great skill and urgency the lasting ravages of war and the competing loyalties of love and belief.
In the dying days of a brutal civil war, Sohail Haque stumbles upon an abandoned building. Inside he finds a young woman whose story will haunt him for a lifetime to come. . . . Almost a decade later, Sohail's sister, Maya, returns home after a long absence to find her beloved brother transformed. While Maya has stuck to her revolutionary ideals, Sohail has shunned his old life to become a charismatic religious leader. And when Sohail decides to send his son to a madrasa, the conflict between brother and sister comes to a devastating climax. Set in Bangladesh at a time when religious fundamentalism is on the rise."
Happy Reading!
Farhana
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