Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Jodi Picoult GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: March 5, 2007 RATING: 3.75 stars. Has it ever happened that you have been spellbound by a book, only to be terribly let down by its ending?  I took up this Jodi Picoult with a lot of expectations, and of the almost 600 pages, I really enjoyed the first 570! Not a bit of reduction in pace and an optimum interest level maintained by the parallel past-present storyline.  But the last chapter seemed in such a hurry to bring everything to a satisfactory close! It was like an art film had turned into a Bollywood potboiler.  I mean, there are PLOT twists, and there are plot TWISTS! This was definitely in the second category.  Anyone else who has read this and shared a similar feeling? I am still making up my mind about what rating to give the book. PS: This is the second time this is happening to me with a Jodi Picoult book, the first being the popular "My Sister's Keeper".

AUTHOR: Paul Kalanithi GENRE: Memoir PUBLICATION DATE: January 12, 2016 RATING: 4 stars. When you think of a doctor, you picture a strong, stoic, scientific person, one who works hard and works wonders. You assume that the doctor won't be religiously inclined because... well... science and religion are like oil and water. But when your assumptions are turned on their head, they cause a revolution in your mind. Paul Kalanithi was a brilliant final-year neurosurgical resident, on his way to graduation and a successful career when he was diagnosed with lung cancer at the young age of 35. The diagnosis killed his hopes for his career trajectory, which had been shining brightly till then. As such, he used his last few months to fulfil another lifelong dream: that of penning a book. I expected "When Breath becomes Air" to be a morbid book about a man facing death and his struggle accepting this twist of fate. But this book is so much more. You can't help but be impressed by...

AUTHOR: Trevor Noah GENRE: Memoir PUBLICATION DATE: November 15, 2016 RATING: 3.25 stars. Sometimes, when you pick up a well-reviewed book, you feel so much of an impatience to read it that you tend to miss out on an important element of the book - its title. 🤦🏻♀️ I took up Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime" with a fluttering of excitement in my heart. After all, I'm a big fan of his work on The Daily Show ( more so, his 'Between the Scenes' segment ). I knew this book would be truthful yet humorously entertaining. But now that I'm done with it, I feel like there's something missing.  The book has a lot less of his life than I was expecting to read. I wanted to know his initial struggles to becoming a successful mixed-race performer. I wanted to know his journey to America and life as host of an immensely popular daily programme. While pondering this dissatisfaction, I was staring at the cover and suddenly saw the tagline of the book: "Stories from a ...

AUTHOR: Madeline Miller GENRE: Greek Mythology Retelling. PUBLICATION DATE: September 20, 2011 RATING: 4.5 stars. If I tell you that I read a book named "The Song of Achilles", you might think it's a story containing Greek Mythology and/or Kings & Gods and/or Fighting for Honour and/or a great mythological storyline. Well, you're right; the book does have all these. But above all, The Song of Achilles is the story of true love. As the title suggests, the story is built around the famous Greek warrior, Achilles. However, the perspective that reveals Achilles to us is that of Patroclus, the narrator. ( I shan't speak much more on this because I don't wish to reveal any spoiler here. ) Patroclus' narrative style partly reminded me of Shams of Tabriz from "The Forty Rules of Love" . His love is real but not blind. His narrative stays loyal and yet doesn't hide Achilles' flaws. Madeline Miller uses the story of Achilles and the infamous Tr...

AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman ILLUSTRATOR: Chris Riddell GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: July 2, 2002 RATING: 4.75 stars. When you are as silly as me to end up reading a Neil Gaiman book at night, there can be only two possible outcomes: 1. You are either too scared or too curious to close the book without completing it. 2. Your adrenalin has jumped over the roof with excitement and you MUST complete the whole story in one go. Either way, the outcome is the same. You can't sleep without finishing the book. Sometimes though, both the above outcomes can occur simultaneously. So here I am at 2am, having just completed this brilliant book and not an ounce of sleep in my eyes. Thank God it was a comparatively thin book, else I might have had to pull off an all-nighter. 😁 I am not much of a horror reader ( reason being the combination of an unnaturally wild imagination and an extremely cowardly heart! 😂😂) But when my 11 year old read and loved Coraline, it was almost like a challe...

AUTHOR: Yuval Noah Harari GENRE: Nonfiction. PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2011 RATING: 3.25 stars. Assume that you are a huge coffee lover, and you are served a cup of tea. You refuse at first, but are then informed by all and sundry that it is no ordinary tea, but a delightful masala chai, exotic and exquisite, innovatively prepared like never before... All these raring compliments convince you to give it a try. Still slightly wary, you take a tentative sip. "Well, it does seem pretty good for tea", you think, and end up drinking the whole cup. You relish the flavour and appreciate the chai-maker for converting something mundane into something so pleasing to your senses. You feel like complimenting him for not following the typical tried-and-tested recipe but taking a different approach towards instilling new flavours in the brew. However, a teeny tiny part of your heart is still not satisfied. Just because it was tea and not coffee. "Sapiens" to me is that brilli...

AUTHOR: Norton Juster GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy. PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 1961 RATING: 5 stars! Life works in such mysterious ways. There was this book that used to keep popping up as "Recommended for you" in my Amazon app. But as it was being advocated as a children's book ( which I already own a ton of! ) and it was a bit expensive, I was dilly-dallying about whether to buy it, in spite of the great reviews it had. Just a few weeks of indecision later, I was conducting my usual inspection of the local secondhand bookshop and its treasures, when suddenly, my eyes landed on this very book that Amazon was convincing me to buy! Obviously, the price was just peanuts. So I just threw my uncertainty away and bought it. Today, I am so tremendously happy that I followed my heart. Though "The Phantom Tollbooth" is a children's fantasy adventure novel, it is so fabulously written that every adult who is a child at heart will be able to enjoy this. Choc-a-bloc w...

AUTHOR: Fredrik Backman TRANSLATOR: Henning Koch GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: July 15, 2014 RATING: 4.5 stars. Like I had mentioned in my Eleanor Oliphant review , books that come highly recommended tend to be read with higher expectations, and more often than not, you end up disappointed. But I can't believe I have been lucky enough twice in the same year to find a book that doesn't just match the expectations I had but goes well beyond it. If you want a detailed analysis of "A Man Called Ove", there are many brilliant reviews of the same and I anyway won't be able to match that standard. What I can only do is pour out my heart about the book. This is the first book since "Wonder" that made me live the emotions rather than read them mechanically. I rarely laugh out loud or cry with books, but in this case, I found myself not just doing the above but even snorting a couple of times (and I am certainly not a snorter!) The book unfolds lik...

AUTHOR: Marjane Satrapi SERIES: Persepolis #1-4 GENRE: Graphic Memoir PUBLICATION DATE: October 30, 2007 RATING: 4.5 stars. The first thing that comes to my mind when you say "graphic novel" is that it's a fancy word for a comic book. The first thing that comes to my mind when you say "Iran" is oppression. I might still be right about the second word association but I was sorely mistaken about the first. Persepolis is not a comic, and is no way meant for children. Thanks to a friend who had posted a series of superb lines from Persepolis on our Facebook group, I was absolutely itching to read the famed book asap, though I have never ever read a graphic novel before. And now that I have read it, the itch isn't satisfied, for it has left me with a zillion thoughts. Marjane Satrapi, the author of the novel, narrates the story of her life in Iran, Europe and Iran again. The truth with which she relates every instance, even in the cases where she goofs up in her ...

AUTHORS: Gary Chapman & Ross Campbell SERIES: The 5 Love Languages GENRE: Parenting, Self-help PUBLICATION DATE: June 1, 1997 RATING: 4.25 stars. If you follow the Nas Daily page on Facebook, you might have seen a video he recently posted on various love languages. Unfortunately, the source of his idea was this book which he only showed for barely a second on the screen and didn't even mention by name. I very rarely read self-help books. I can't digest the platitudes being thrown around. One big exception to this rule has been the 'The Five Love Languages' series. Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell have worked a simple idea in such a brilliant way, I wonder why this book is not more popularly known. I have read The Five Love Languages of Children, and am now midway through the first book, 'The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts'. ( Yeah, I know, I'm going the other way around: pehle bacchhe, phir patidev! 😆) The Five Love Languages of Child...

AUTHOR: Mark Miodownik GENRE: Science PUBLICATION DATE: March 6, 2014 RATING: 4.75 stars. Take a look around you. You might see a television set, a smartphone, your sofa set, a glass coffee table, maybe some plant pots, a newspaper, the walls of your room, some paintings,.... This list can go on and on, simple routine things in our day-to-day lives that we just take for granted. Ever stopped to ponder what makes these things the way they are? Why is a steel razor blade sharp and yet a spoon made from the same material totally harmless? How can you eat chocolate, and also drink it? How does a seemingly dull powder such as cement result in such sturdy skyscrapers and bridges? If you ever consider the "what has gone into this" for all things around you, you will realise the impact that materials have had on our lives. And one of the best possible ways of knowing more about this in an absolutely enjoyable way is this book. When I had purchased it, I was in two minds, and once it ...

AUTHOR: Ashlee Vance GENRE: Biography PUBLICATION DATE: May 19, 2015 RATING: 4.75 stars. Think Elon Musk and the first few words that would come to mind would be brilliant, innovative, passionate, successful, rich, famous, and so on. But hardly anyone would think eccentric or rude or arrogant. "Elon Musk: SpaceX, Tesla and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" reveals the true Elon Musk like nothing else. I've admired Elon Musk since a long time, for his brains and lateral ideas vis-à-vis his plans for Mars travel and electric cars. Thus it was not a difficult decision to go for this book. And what an enjoyable ride it has been! I'm more in awe of the man now, though I have also come to realise that I could never work under a boss such as him. "Elon Musk: SpaceX, Tesla and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" covers the extraordinary life of this talented inventor-cum-businessman in great detail. From his childhood pains to his troubled marriages, from his early ve...

AUTHOR: Anthony Doerr GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 6, 2014 RATING: 3.25 stars. The word "opera" can conduce so many feelings in people. Some find opera inspiring, some find it soporific, yet others might find it bewildering while some simply find it incomprehensible. That doesn't take away anything from opera. It just proves that every person has different tastes and likings and we are all not made to fit in one mould. This same analogy is applicable to books too. Anthony Doeer's "All the Light We Cannot See" to me is opera, but not of the "inspiring" kind. Others may have enjoyed it but I'm still trying to figure out why I stand where where I stand. A fabulously written book, a very atypical storyline, and well-developed characters, and in spite of this all, it still left me feeling meh through most of the read. The book starts slowly and does build up to a crescendo, but staying on course becomes tricky with the multiple pa...

AUTHOR: Nick Vujicic GENRE: Autobiography PUBLICATION DATE: October 26, 2010 RATING: 3.75 stars. Almost every single thing you do involves the use of your limbs. So can you imagine living a life without a single arm or leg? Nick Vujicic, through his incredible life story, teaches us how blessed we are. He was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs. The book chronicles his journey from being a determined baby and a depressed teen earlier to the strong motivational speaker of today. He also highlights the role of his parents and God in helping him be what he is today. This book is certainly not among the best books I've read; it seems to go rather back and forth sometimes in its narrative and is a bit too religious for my comfort. In spite of these (minor) shortcomings, I found myself hooked on to the story of this man. It does cause you to question the severity of your life problems when faced with a person living his life to t...

AUTHOR: Gail Honeyman GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 9, 2017 RATING: 4.75 stars. Every avid reader wants to read fabulous books. But the truth of the matter is that, more often than not, this is a constant struggle. Just because certain books are reviewed to be fabulous doesn't mean that YOU as a reader would find them fabulous. So when you take up a book that you know has received universal acclaim, you try desperately to keep your expectations in check and give it the opportunity it deserves. And if the book does end up matching your expectations, it's just thrilling! "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" has been reviewed in my Facebook group multiple times and every single review was not just positive but absolutely glowing. By the time the latest review was posted, I couldn't resist anymore and picked it up. And what a blast it has been! Eleanor is one of the best characters ever sketched in fiction. Such an amazing, intense woman! She face...

AUTHOR: Lisa Jewell GENRE: Mystery Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: April 25, 2017 RATING: 4.5 stars. As an avid reader, you'll might have seen me poke my nose in almost every book discussion. But the one genre where I consciously stay away from providing any input is suspense/mystery/thriller. I used to read books of this genre sporadically (say, a Gone Girl or a Primal Fear plus a few unmentionables). However, in the last few years, I had completely given up reading thrillers primarily for 2 reasons: 1. I can't keep thrillers down once I start. And being a mother of two young kids, I do not have the luxury of reading a book at the cost of everything else. 2. My usual reading time is bedtime. So if I pick up a thriller at say 9.30pm after the kids are asleep, then I will be up till 1am or so until I am done with the book. Then I can't get up for the morning tiffins. 😴😴😴😒 However, in the recent months, I have begun to feel the gap in my reading. And with this in mind, and wi...

AUTHOR: Debbie Macomber SERIES: Blossom Street, #5 GENRE: Women's Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 1, 2008 RATING: 4.5 stars. As readers, especially as women readers, we tend to take chick-lit for granted. It is an essential part of our lives, but as it is looked upon with disdain by "serious" readers, we don't really consider chick-lit as reading. By extension, we hardly ever post reviews of such books except in a few rare cases. So here's the change I'll make: I'll post about any and every good book I read, irrespective of genre. I now venture to clear my name and prove that I can and do enjoy chick-lit! 😜 By far, my favourite chick-lit author is Debbie Macomber. And just this week, I have read Twenty Wishes. This is part of the Blossom Street series, but I haven't read any other book from the series so far as each book is standalone. Twenty wishes has almost everything a reader ( or dare I say, a female reader ) could want in a book. It has not one b...

AUTHOR: Elif Shafak GENRE: Historical Fiction, Philosophy RATING: 3 stars. After so many had recommended it, I HAD to go for "The Forty Rules of Love" as my next read. Of course, I never expected to take a fortnight to complete it, a very rare instance for me. I just completed the book last night, and here I am, on a lazy Saturday morning, pondering over what I read and introspecting over the rules. Shams of Tabriz is a fascinating character - some of his decisions might seem questionable until you realize the thought behind it. His forty rules are quite a mixed bag in this day and age. But at least half of the rules seem like they must be remembered and applied in our lives. As far as the rest of the book goes, it didn't really "shake my world" the way I had expected it to. It's a great read, but I somehow just couldn't "feel" it. Maybe I haven't evolved yet as a person/reader. Overall, I would still recommend it as a book worth reading. W...

AUTHOR: Supriya Kelkar GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction, Indian. PUBLICATION DATE: August 5, 2018 RATING: 4.75 stars. My 12th grade Hindi teacher had once told us in class, "A great book begins at the end." I couldn't completely understand what she meant by that but over the years, I have come to realize the beauty of that sentiment. A good book is fun to read; A great book stays with you after it's over too. The characters get imprinted on your heart, the story gets fixated in your mind, and you ponder over the experience for days. The last time this happened to me was when I had read "Wonder". And today I have had the pleasure of experiencing yet another fabulous book. This is a book I had purchased as a birthday gift for my elder daughter, but as it worked out, I happened to read it first. We all have studied about our freedom struggle in school, but have we ever wondered what went through in the lives of the children living in those tumultuous days? Ahimsa is...