Second year anniversary

Yet again, I missed my blog's anniversary :) (like last year)

Blogging about books has really helped me a lot to think and formulate my thoughts. It's the one thing that I do just for my satisfaction. There is no pressure or need to excel. It helps me be me!

Breakfast with Buddha - Roland Merullo

This is my personal copy of the book. I don't recollect how I came to own this book :) I've been reading this book since few months. The reason for the long time for this book is because I really liked the story and wanted to absorb the lessons of the book. It is about Otto Ringling who is tricked into driving Volya Rinpoche,his sister's spiritual guru, across the country. So Otto has to drive Volya from New York to somewhere in mid west of US. The lessons that Rinpoche imparts to Otto while discussing normal things was very profound atleast to me. It was a simple book and I really liked it!

The Choice - Nicholas Sparks

I'm a romantic at heart and loveee these kind of novels. :D

The story is about Travis Parker and Gabby Holland. Gabby already has a boyfriend and has just moved into the neighborhood. She meets Travis her next door neighbor who falls in love with her. Slowly through his charm and wit, he wins over Gabby who is confused. Here is where the crux of the story lies - I thought the book was about the "choice" has to make between Travis and her boyfriend :) That is not the choice. Read the book to find out what the "choice" is all about! I loved the book. I've read 'The Notebook' once long time back and liked that too :)

The Dead Lie Down/The Other Half Lives - Sophie Hannah

The novel is all about Det. Sgt. Charlotte Charlie Zailer and Det. Constable Simon Waterhouse. Charlie and Simon are getting engaged and Charlie is worried about how their marriage will turn out to be. The story is about Ruth Bussey, who was violently attacked many years earlier, now is seeing a guy named Aidan Seed.
Aidan confesses to Ruth that he has killed a lady Mary Trelease. But Ruth knows that Mary is alive and tries to convince Aidan that she is alive.Ruth goes to Charlie and tells her about this and on the same day, Aidan goes to Simon to tell him that he has killed the lady Ruth many years back.

The story is so confusing in the beginning but you still don't want to keep the novel down. I had to finish it before sleeping and read it till quite late in the night :) I liked it but people might find the style of writing confusing since it keeps switching from different people's perspectives. Everything does tie together in the end though.

Actually both of these books are the same - The Dead Lie Down and The Other Half Lives. I realised this after reading the novel. I think it was released in the UK as 'The Dead Lie Down'.

Ladies Coupé - Anita Nair

It's been so long since I've updated the blog :) I've been so busy travelling to India and then my parents came by for a visit. I've been reading but had no time to update :D

I had wanted to read this novel from a long time since I heard quite a lot of reviews about it. I found it interesting. It is about the girl Akhila who get a one-way ticket and travels in the Ladies coupe to Kanyakumari. She meets five other women ( Janaki, Margaret Shanti, Prabha Devi, Sheela and Marikolanthu) and listens to each one's story about their life and problems.

How Akhila listens to their stories and comes to a conclusion about her life is the entire novel. I liked it because it gave interesting perspectives into the lives of different kinds of women. Akhila wants to know the answer to her question - Can a woman stay single and be happy, or does a woman need a man to feel complete? Interesting novel!

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

I really loved this book. After reading the book, I went to see whether the author has written any other books. It seems she has a hard time finding publishers to publish this book. I wonder why. It is really very good. It is a story about the colored help in Mississippi during the old times in USA and their white ladies. It details the story of Abileen (colored maid who takes care of Mae Mobley and Lil man), Minny - a strong colored maid - who is quite outspoken and Skeeter - a young white woman - who was taken care of by Constantine (colored maid). Skeeter talks to Aibileen and wants to write a book which involves interviewing all the colored maids in Jackson. This was a time during which colored people lived in a separate part of town and weren't treated quite as well as now. I really liked the view points of Minny and Skeeter the best. I've heard that this book is getting turned into a movie. That should be good. Hope it lives up to the book!

Honest Illusions - Nora Roberts

I did like this book. Max Nouvelle is a father who is a magician and has a daughter by name Roxanne. Lily is his partner and Max takes in Luke as a child when he runs away from an abused home. Roxanne falls for Luke and is unable to understand why Luke is not able to reciprocate. Luke leaves them and five years later comes back to make a deal with Roxanne.