25 in 6 (books and beyond)

  Book 5:  Life of Pi Author : Yann Martel Genre:  Fiction or is it? Tone:   Philosophical Published: 2001 Why I chose this book:  Its year 2002. Personally a milestone year with the birth of my first child. I had picked up the book somewhere in 2012 or so based on several recommendations but I never got to finish it. In fact I never reached the part where Pi gets stranded in sea because ......the movie came about and we all watched it and then there was no novelty left in the book. So this time I picked it up to finish an unfulfilled promise. A Mann Booker Prize winning novel at No 38 on the amazon list. My Take: It is but inevitable, that if you happen to read this book after having watched the movie, the images that you see in front of your eyes are of Suraj Sharma (actor in the movie) and the magnificently beautiful Richard Parker. (The shiny, glorious Bengal Tiger). So if the extraordinary cinematography of the movie hampers your imagination, I wouldn't blame you, but it is in

Book 4: Skipping Christmas Author : John Grisham Genre:  Fiction Tone:   Comedy Published: 2001                                           Why I chose this book:  Its year 2001. Frankly speaking none of the books in the list appealed to me nor did they create a nostalgia or memory. I was pretty disappointed with myself. An interesting factor though was the number of motivational books by successful businessmen in that list. Looking back, I realized that it was year after Y2K. Businesses were booming and IT companies flourishing, I myself being a byproduct of such a boom. Anyways , my eyes flickered upon this book by Grisham at No.7 and my initial reaction was to dismiss it. I expected it to be another legal thriller from Grisham's stable, the likes of Pelican Brief. I must admit I am not a big fan of that genre and the only reason I watched the movie was for Julia Roberts(Eternal Fan). For lack of choice I read the prelude to the book and was intrigued about the context. On a hunch

Book 3:  Who Moved my Cheese? Author : Dr Spencer Johnson Genre:  Self-Help Tone:  Metaphorical/ Analogical motivation Published: 1998                                                    Why I chose this book: Its year 2000 and the Harry Potters are still ruling. Amidst them, a tiny book at number two caught my attention. In 2001 it climbs to number one with over twenty six million copies sold in thirty seven languages. Way back in the early 2000's My husband had given me this book to read and for some reason I never did. At that point of time it did not appeal to me. Again this book raised a tingle of nostalgia over lost opportunities. And yet again, I picked up something I had missed.  My Take: Who Moved My Cheese is a single , simple, short, metaphorical  story which could have easily been  a column in a Sunday edition of any newspaper. It is definitely the shortest book I have ever read ,under forty five minutes that is and that too because there is a prelude and an epilogue. I

Book 2: Memoirs of a Geisha Author : Arthur Golden Genre:  Historical Fiction Novel Tone: Autobiographical Published: 1997 Why I chose this book:  The best seller list on Amazon for 1999 is interesting.  The first three books on its list were from the Harry Potter Series !It definitely gave me perspective ; about my age and his! I must say I could not encourage myself to review a character that millions of people across the world acknowledge and love, he needs no review to be picked up, what grabbed my attention instead was this book about a geisha. My first encounter with Japanese culture was a Doordarshan Series called 'Oshin' . As a child, I did not comprehend a thing in that series but I was captivated by the pure richness of that culture. The silk kimonos, the pagodas, the cherry blossoms, the fluttering fans, the nimble feet attracted my curiosity and I saw them with unfettering devotion. This book cover reminded me of that series and I picked it up to fulfill a longing h

Book 1: Tuesdays With Morrie Author : Mitch Albom Genre: Memoir Tone: Inspiring Published: 1997 Why I chose this book: I had first come across this book in 2002.All of 26 , and heavily pregnant I neither had the maturity or the motivation to scan through what appeared at that point of time a bland conversation between a Teacher and his Student.  Cut to today, the title gave a sense of Deja Vu and the content promised a pacification. On the New York Best sellers list for 10 years at a stretch, this book had me captured even before I read it. My Take: Tuesdays With Morrie is a memoir written by Mitch about his sociology professor Morrie Schwartz. Mitch reconnects with his professor , whom he holds in high esteem after 20 long years only to find out that Morrie is dying of ALS . He meets his professor every Tuesday without fail and their conversations turn into whimsical teachings by his guru. Every Tuesday is a lesson on life ranging from emotions to relationship and even death. At the o

Let me start with an often used, hackneyed, and cliched quote: "Books are your best friends". Whoever said that, is a man or woman with profound insight and infinite wisdom. Whilst there are a hundred and many blogs on books, my page is merely a hundred and one that, if there is such a term. The idea of the review is not to set a tone or give an elaborate opinion but to simply review it in a more objective and concise manner. Sort of like tiny reads. You quickly glance through it and you quickly decide whether or not you want to read it. More like the description on the back page of a paperback. I wasn't quite sure what I should start with but then I just thought let me go through the top 10 best sellers. Then an idea struck me and I now have a pact that let's try 25 books in 6 months starting this June and let me do it with my fellow book worms. Worms that we are, we intend to crawl through 25 best sellers of the past 20 years or so.