Just Books

Today me n N dropped into this new book library 'Just books' on IndraNagar 12th Main road on our way back from the team outing. I should say this place is awesome and their idea is just so cool... As I write even I am wondering what makes them so cool, they are just a library.

I have not seen (m)any good libraries in Indra nagar area in the last 5 years. This one is really a blessing for people like me who need some motivation like a big collection of books to read. They have some rare collection of books. I was sweetly surprised to see the English version of Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan there. The staff were so friendly and kind enough to take requests for books unlike the other famous big ones in the city. They have a cool sensor based book checkout to bypass the long queues and waiting for someone to make an entry. To top it all is the various membership options -- they have a basic plan where one can take 2 books + one magazine at a time, pay Rs.175 as montly fee and 250 as registration. There is a 1000 bucks refundable deposit. They have other options too but I found this one perfect for a slow reader like me. Ooops, i forgot they even deliver books to home. I am just waiting to take pv there to get ourselves registered.

I am so damn excited to get back to reading...

BTW, that remind me I am currently reading "Making It". I will post the review once I am done.
The more I see such places, the more I get enthused about giving life to my own ideas :-)

The Gift

Book - The Gift
Author - Cecelia Ahern from Ireland
Challenge - Orbis Terrarum





My review

If miracles had chemical equations then everybody would believe

One of my favorite lines in the book. This one is truly a gift. Read it if you want to know the value of time. The story is about Lou who always wants to be at two places, who thinks of office while having dinner with family, who though is very successful keeps running to be on top of things at work and hardly finds the need and time to spend with his family. There are vivid descriptions of Lou's state of mind, the endless confusions that he battles against to prioritize work and family. Each character is depicted so well that you don't feel it is a piece of fiction. The essence of the story is 'Time can't given. But it can be shared.'


I am so happy that I completed the first book for the challenge. I am not an expert in writing reviews but I want to give it a shot so that I will soon get the hang of it. I am not sure if the review did any justice to the book.

My next book - Train to Pakistan

Back to books

I came across the 'Orbis Terrarum' challenge in Ramya's blog recently. I found it very interesting and am planning to take it up. The best part of this challenge is it has simple rules. All you gotto do is choose 10 different books, written by 10 different authors, from 10 different countries and read them in 10 months. The challenge begins this month and ends in December.

My theme - Select books written by authors who are from the countries I want to visit in my lifetime
I've picked up 2 books to begin with ...

The Gift by Cecelia Ahern from Ireland
Train to Pakistan by Kushwant Singh from India

Send in your fav set of books to help me select the rest 8.
Just waiting to get started and njoi the ride.

The White Tiger

I wanted to start this year by reading a good book. I had my eye on 'The white tiger' for some now. However I hesitated many times before picking this one from the store. The last time I tried reading the booker prize winner 'Inheritance of loss', I almost concluded that the booker prize winners are more for people who are fond of literature. The story moved at such a slow pace that a leaf falling from the tree would be so awesomely described in two pages. I understand from the view point of the author that she was trying to put in all creativity in describing it but for a reader like me - I lost patience. I could hardly reach 50 pages. This time, as PV also wanted to read it, I managed to break through all my assumptions of how this booker winner would be and took it to the counter for billing.

I don't want to tell the story as it is a true pleasure reading this book. Aravind Adiga has truly captured the economic divide in the Indian society through his fictional story characters of Balram who turns to become Ashok. All through the story, the author has picturised the state of the country from the eyes of the poor who always lives in the dark and thrives to see the light. The sarcasm in the narration has added a totally different flavor to the narration.

A few times, I got so angry at Adiga for continuously talking about the undeveloped India and leaving across the so many achievements or developments the country is witnessing. Going beyond my angst, I could see the majority of us today are lost in the developments and the developing developments that we fail to see the other side. There are many a people and things I notice today as I go on the road which I have not previously. He makes us confront the issues that are there in India today.

There is no place where you can see Adiga exaggerating the economic divide or under-playing the facts. This makes me wonder the extent of his research before writing this book. He must have spent a lot of time talking to people from different stratas of the society, observing them, their actions to understand what is going in their mind.

Sarcasm well wound in words, narrated as a fictional story bringing to light the not so good looking parts of India which we always try to hide or hide from. I neither know nor have read the other contenders for the Booker prize but there is no doubt, this one deserves it.