Nick of Time by Komal Mehta

Title : Nick of Time
Author : Komal Mehta
Genre : Fiction / Romantic Comedy
Publisher : Penguin Metro Reads
Pages : 248
My Rating : 6.5/10
Reviewed For : Author / Debut Indian Writers Month 2013

Blurb:

Alehya is back in Chandigarh after ten years to attend her childhood friend, Shagun’s wedding. However, her plans are rudely interrupted when she finds out about the man Shagun is going to marry.

Vicky, is a sorted guy who knows exactly what he wants in life. His decision of marrying Shagun has the approval of everyone who means a lot to him—everyone, except Shagun’s best friend, Alehya.

Shagun is excited about getting married to Vicky. This fulfils her childhood dream of marriage. But with her best friend and future husband being childhood frenemies, will things go by without a hitch?

As the wedding draws near, Shagun, Vicky and Alehya grapple with issues of love, confusion and guilt to discover what their heart truly desires. They have to make life altering decisions, in the Nick of Time, before time runs out on them and the life of their dreams!

My Review:

 

The plot of Nick of Time by Komal Mehta is based on the theme of love, friendship & The Big Fat-Indian Wedding. Obviously, it has all the ingredients for a complete masala read & is entertaining to the fullest!! This book revolves around the lives of three childhood friends – Aleyha, Vicky & Shagun who are coming together after a period of 10 years for a marriage that invokes a lot more complications & confusions rather than the happiness associated with it. Because amidst the wedding chaos, Aleyha, Shagun & Vicky tumble headlong into life altering consequences where they discover what their heart truly covets.

The story kick-starts with Alehya quitting her frustrating job & just as she’s celebrating her freedom she receives a call from Shagun inviting Aleyha to Chandigarh for her marriage. A gleeful Alehya looks forward to a fun-filled time (which will be definitely liberating from the humdrum of corporate life) in Chandigarh for Shagun’s marriage. However, all her plans for merriment go for a toss when she meets “The Groom”. It’s none other than her childhood frenemy – Vicky with whom she has had a history of unsolved issues. Alehya hates Vicky with as much fervour as she loves Shagun. Needless to say, there is friction between Aleyha & Vicky from the word go and sparks fly when they meet. But herein comes the twist in the tale where Shagun is hell bent on playing the peacemaker between the two & schemes to put them together so that they get over with their juvenile banter & start seeing each other for what they really are. Though for Vicky & Alehya, their last chapter didn’t end on an altogether good note, they decide to put it past them & start afresh for the sake of Shagun. What follows is a roller-coaster of a ride where Shagun, Aleyha & Vicky find love in the most unexpected places & have to decide between the right, the wrong & their heart.

What makes this read interesting is the narrative point of view. The author has put forth the story through the point-of-view of Aleyha, Vicky & Shagun & we get a glimpse into the confusion that reigns between their minds & hearts. However, this is essentially Aleyha ’s story – she has always been the consummate good girl but that is until she comes to Chandigarh for Shagun’s marriage. Coming back she discovers an entire a new side to her which she never even thought that existed. Bollywood movie buffs will love this book since this read follows the distinctive romantic comedy storyline & a very clichéd path with its typical twists & turns. A few mushy moments, toe-curling romance, naivety of first love, the reality check, dilemmas, heartbreak & a miraculous happy ending – you have it all in here. However, in spite of the predictable story line there is a refreshing factor in the author’s narration that makes this read delightful as well as easy on the senses.

Coming to the drawbacks, honestly, I did not like the cover page. For a read like this, one might expect the cover to be glossy but this one seems dull. Also, while it was necessary to include the typical Chandigarh slang to create a relatable background, the overt use of Hindi dialogues was a tad bit extra which might put some readers off. The plot is fast paced but after the initial build-up, I felt that the story dragged a little bit in the middle before picking up momentum towards the end.

Having said that, this novel is a sweet, quick read that portrays the balance between love & friendship. The author wonderfully brings forth the point that there are always two sides to every story. Pick it up on a weekend if you want to have an indulgent time & you will breeze through it.

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A Short Affair Called Life by Rohit Kumar Singh Jadon

Title : A Short Affair Called Life
Author : Rohit Kumar Singh Jadon (RKSJ)
Genre : Fiction
Publisher : Leadstart Publishing
Pages : 195
My Rating : 6/10
Reviewed For : Author

Blurb:

 

Every now and then each one of us thinks of running away. Running away from everything, but we just cannot do it; Darsh goes for it. Though once, secure in his comfort zone, leading a very normal life, working with a multinational company, with a reputable position, and a perfect relationship with his college sweet heart. Yet, the usual, unanswered question, in his mind haunts him, What is the purpose of his life? He gives up everything and everyone to find a meaning to his life.
He finds out strangers are not so strange after all; they are like everyone else, mean and selfish, who will hurt you like everyone else. He discovers religion and spirituality the hard way, through his experiences. Finally, he understands the only divine way is to let live the human in you. He feels the pain of those in suffering and travels around unknown places, only to discover the already known truth of life.

My Review:

A Short Affair Called Life is a thought-provoking novel about self-discovery. In this read, the author has created a fictional yet relatable character – Darsh who is the quintessential & contemporary urban individual with a well-off & comfortable upbringing, a well-established career and a perfect relationship. Yet he is unsatiated with his perfect & normal life & is in perpetual search of that one elusive thing that will complete him, except that he doesn’t know what that thing is!! And hence he takes a  journey to figure out the intricate questions about life and mysteries surrounding it.

The book starts in the present day where Darsh is on a sabbatical, living into oblivion - trying to figure out the where his life is headed & what exactly does he want from life. The plot then moves back into Darsh’s past – his troubled childhood, the after effects, his love life & a special encounter with a spiritual person. These events have a major effect in moulding Darsh and his ideas about life and people. We then return back to the present where Darsh is still in a state of perpetual confusion but then a chance encounter with a stranger (Topi) triggers off Darsh in search of his answers to different locations.

Thus starts Darsh’s journey where he lives as a nomad & learns a new thing about life with each passing day through the hard way. The plot deals with almost every aspect about human life – love, family, friendship, pain, spirituality & ultimately happiness. The major highlight of this novel is that Darsh as the protagonist is very relatable. The first line of the blurb itself will strike a chord & will have many of us nodding their heads. There must have been times in each one of our lives when we have considered running away as an option to unresolved situations, confusion at crossroads or when faced with problems in life. And I am pretty sure that as the reader will proceed with the read, many of us will find a part of ourselves in Darsh. The author has chosen travelling as the medium to tell his the story. As Darsh travels from one location to another, he discovers new avenues & finds answers to his questions one by one. Another highlight of this read was Darsh’s experience at the Kumbh Mela. For someone who has never been to Kumbh (like me!), the description of Kumbh Mela & everything surrounding it was enlightening as well as interesting.

This novel is, without any doubt, the author’s work of introspection as the author’s thoughts leap out from the pages. Though the book starts on a promising note, there are a few places in the read where the plot seemed to move ahead in a random way & hence seemed disconnected. Also, the novel could have done with better editing which would have ultimately made the read a crispier one. There were a lot of spelling and grammatical errors which frankly, just hampers the joy of reading. Having said that, if you’re looking for a contemplative novel that you’ll breeze through, then this one will do.

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The Homing Pigeons by Sid Bahri

Title : The Homing Pigeons
Author : Sid Bahri
Genre : Fiction
Publisher : Shristi Publication
Pages : 328
My Rating : 7.5/10
Reviewed For : The Reader Cosmos Book Review Program / South Asian Challenge 2013

Blurb:

 

In the middle of the catastrophic 2008 recession, Aditya, a jobless, penniless man meets an attractive stranger in a bar, little does he know that his life will change forever…..
When Radhika, a young, rich widow, marries off her stepdaughter, little does she know that the freedom that she has yearned for is not exactly how she had envisioned it…..
They say Homing Pigeons always come back to their mate, no matter where you leave them on the face of this earth. Homing Pigeons is the story of love between these two unsuspecting characters as it is of lust, greed, separations, prejudices and crumbling spines.

My Review:

From the outset, The Homing Pigeons is an engaging read. As the tagline says - "Not all love stories are perfect but then, neither are people” - this is the story of two imperfect people coming together and making an equally imperfect love story. Having said that, let me assure you that this read is not the mushy romance that is generally associated with love stories.

                                                                               

The story starts with Aditya who falls victim to recession & hence loses his job. Almost a year of unemployment, desperate & fruitless efforts to find a stable job in the sinking recession-hit market & a loveless marriage drive him to the edge of frustration. Totally broke and running out of options, Aditya finds himself in a bar, spending the last batch of his savings & drinking himself to numbness when an attractive stranger takes a seat next to him. An initial round of drinks and a bizarre business proposition later, Aditya ’s life takes a complete 360° turn which he hadn’t imagined even in his wildest of dreams.

Anticipation of a moment is much bigger and alluring than the moment itself. Radhika learns this the hard way where the freedom that she has been craving for so much from a tiresome marriage & an equally tiresome life is not as gratifying as she had envisioned it. Young & rich yet lonely, Radhika tries to seek out the one thing that will inject some colors into her otherwise dreary life. This is the story of Radhika & Aditya, story of their life – together & separated yet connected to each other.

On first impressions, the two protagonists – Aditya & Radhika seem completely different from each other like the two ends of a diameter. As a result, when the story starts, the reader might get the illusion of two parallel stories running together. But as the story progresses and oscillates between the past & the present, the readers get a glimpse of their romantic entanglements. The major highlight of this read is its unique narration where the point of view keeps alternating between Aditya & Radhika with each chapter. It is indeed a great effort by the author in deviating from the normal pattern of narration and giving the reader an insight of both the protagonists’ views without being repetitive.

However, for me the best part of this read was the character development. Aditya & Radhika are both flawed & complex characters with many layers to them. At the start of the read both might seem spiteful, shallow even. However, as the story unfolds, these various layers are slowly peeled off and with each flashback the readers get a glimpse into their real world, their insecurities, their regrets and vulnerabilities. Aditya & Radhika - both get hurt throughout the course of their life, sometimes by others and sometimes by each other. Initially, they try to shield each other from the pain by playing the sacrificial lamb but when even that doesn’t work, they start shielding themselves from the pain further by hurting each other. As the plot progresses, the characters grow and transform from being hated to someone being empathized. Another highlight of this novel was the wonderful manner in which their paths kept intersecting in spite of them running away from each other.

The plot has its own tides and ebbs making it  gripping at times and slightly drab at others. The constant oscillation between the past & the present is at times a bit confusing. However, for a major part of the read, the reader remains hooked. The author has sketched real & relatable characters and that too helps in making this read riveting. All in all, this is a thought provoking read which will keep the reader engrossed.

Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title : Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes
Author : Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Genre : Chicklit / Mystery
Publisher : TKA Distribution (Kindle Book)
Pages : 203
My Rating : 8/10
Reviewed For : Chicklit Club

Blurb:

Underachiever Minette "Mini" Monroe has long dreamt of how much better life would be if only she were in charge of the world, said world being the independent bookstore in Westport, CT, where she's worked for the past half dozen years. After her beloved boss Colin Quimby is murdered, Mini gets her wish and also gets a chance to solve the case, aided by hot young Officer Michael "Mickey" Maus. Despite his unfortunate nickname - would any woman really voluntarily become part of Mini and Mickey Maus? - Mini takes a shine to him, but there's no real time for romance, not when Mini has her hands full dealing with Colin's viper's nest full of ex-wives, offspring, former business partners and current business rivals, all of whom had good reason to want to see Colin dead. Who will turn out to be the guilty party? The only way to find out is to read WAITING FOR DEAD MEN'S SHOES, a madcap comedic novel that proves that the Shakespeare Unabridged Globe and the Oxford English Dictionary are still a girl's best weapons.

My Review:

What happens when you find your boss murdered one fine day? While for many of us, a dead boss might be a Godsend reply to our unanswered prayers, for Minnie it spells something quite opposite!!

Waiting for Dead Men's Shoes kick-starts with a particular "Black Friday" night when our protagonist Minette Monroe's boss Colin is knifed to death. Minnie is the unfortunate one to discover his body. The plot then moves back into the past to chronicle the day's events when Colin encounters a threat from almost everyone. Starting from his ex-wife to his present one, his former business partner, his own employee and his daughter, Colin manages to piss off each and every person on the day he is killed - giving them all a motive to murder him. Adding to the hotness quotient of the murder mystery is the smart and smoking' hot young police officer Michael "Mickey" Maus who assists Minnie on the killer hunt.

When you sit down with one of Lauren's book, you know, without any doubt, that it is going to be a side-splitter. When I started reading this one, I thought that as a murder mystery it might be a bit somber but as it proceeded I realised that Lauren has once again delivered the laughs that are her trademark. The only thing that may hamper your read is that this novel has a lot of characters that you need to keep track of since each is a suspect.

F?@k Knows by Shailendra Singh

Title : F?@k Knows
Author : Shailendra Singh
Genre : Non-Fiction / Self-Help
Publisher : Rupa Publications
Pages : 256
My Rating : 6/10
Reviewed For : Blogadda

Blurb:

 

Funny and candid, yet rich in insights on how to really live life on your own terms, this unconventional self-help manual is unlike any book around.

What do you want from life? Are you on the right track? Are you truly happy?
If your answer to these questions is F?@k knows!, then this book is for you.

Find the answers to life’s most important questions with the help of uber-successful entrepreneur, Shailendra Singh, co-founder of Percept and inceptor of Sunburn. Told with sparkling, flavourful and in-your-face humour, this book will advise you on how to:

• Find yourself (Because you’re probably lost. Admit it.)
• Follow your heart (Because if you don’t then you’ll die unhappy, you stupid f?@ker.)
• Achieve your goals (You know you want to.)
• Live life like you give a f?@k (Because...why not?)

Candid and thoughtful, F?@k Knows will show you how to really live life on your own terms, to do what you want to do and not what you have to do just because your father said so!

My Review:

So I have a confession to make & it is that, consciously I never ever pick up a self-help book. I rarely read them & less so follow them. My brief tryst with this genre started with “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” & ended with “The Alchemist”. In came along this read from Blogadda and I decided to give it a try & guess what?? I was not disappointed!! What sets this book apart from the others of its genre is that instead of being the usual boring & loaded with complex concepts, this a light and breezy read.

F?@K Knows has been written by Shailendra Singh, who has B.T.D.T. Been there. Done that. A sports marketing guru, an advertising whiz, a Bollywood producer, a shrewd dealmaker, founder of Percept Advertising – on first glance, one may think that he has it all sorted out. However, when twin tragedies strike in the form of his father’s death & his own near escape from death, the author suddenly finds himself asking some the most basic questions about his life. He then realized that he had been living it all wrong and did not want others to repeat the mistakes that he did. Hence, this book was born, where in 73 short chapters he talks about life’s lessons with humorous and interesting anecdotes.

The cover in all its bright yellow glory gets your attention where a man’s head surrounded by a multitude of choices is depicted. As you read the book, you realize that this cover is as apt as it can be since it’s all about the confusions faced by the youth of today. Happy or unhappy, lost or found, heart or mind – what does one follow when given a choice?? Well, I will leave that for you to discover as you read this book.

From the outset, this is a sort-of autobiographical book where the author has used his own experiences from personal &  professional life to give us lessons on life. The chapters are short, very random and that I think is the key to their effectiveness. The author does not use complex or flowery language, neither has he made an attempt to be preachy. He just narrates an anecdote from his life in each chapter in simple, lucid language & then goes on to point what he could have done & what he did instead. He had used everyday situations that all of us face from time-to-time & has effectively driven home the hard hitting facts about life. Though the writing is peppered with humor and the author makes light of every situation, this read will definitely make you stop & think about your own life.

The writer’s writing style is casual, humorous & witty. Thought provoking ideas are put across such that they are easy to grasp. The target audience here is the young crowd & people facing mid-life crisis. However, there is an overuse of the work “Fuck” & the read is laced with sexual anecdotes at some points. Needless to say, it might not go down well with some readers causing them to skip the entire read, terming it as fickle.

Definitely not ground-breaking but overall it is an entertaining read, about introspection, being lost, the road less travelled & self-discovery. Kudos to the author for the outright bold yet thought provoking debut effort.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books!

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Men On My Mind by Radha Thomas

Title : Men On My Mind
Author : Radha Thomas
Genre : Fiction / ChickLit
Publisher : Rupa Publications
Pages : 270
My Rating : 6.5/10
Reviewed For : Storizen TV

Blurb:

A hugely entertaining novel about love, sex and adventure.

You’re a girl from the land of the Kamasutra. And everyone expects your love skills to comprise the acrobatic, the inventive, the superlative. You try, of course, to game- ly meet the baffling requirements of the men who walk in and out of your life. But how much can you really do, when your investments yield minimum returns and maximum weirdness? When your mothers words keep ringing in your head: You need at least five men to fulfil you, sweetie. Remember Draupadi?
From starry-eyed crushes to lustful longings, from Catholic convents to raucous nightclubs, from boarding-school bloomers to the Open Butterfly g-string, from lov- ers to stalkers to philanderers Radha Thomas takes you on a crazy ride through Mumbai, Delhi, Beijing, Rotorua and New York, in the age-old quest for The One. A wickedly funny and flirtatious book about that mysterious thing called love, Men on My Mind is a delicious mix of sex, adventure and discovery that you must not resist.

My Review:

The search for the “Elusive Mr. Right” has provided quite some fodder for a few delightfully dishy reads in Chick Lit and has proven to be a successful formula for many a RomComs. As the name suggests, ‘Men on my Mind’ is quintessentially the journey of a young, innocent 7-year old who has her moment of epiphany when she eavesdrops on a conversation between her mom & her aunt. Wherein, her mom explains to her aunt that every woman needs at least five men to fulfill her & goes on to describe each man & his usefulness in detail. Armed with this knowledge, our girl starts off the journey of finding her Mr. Right from this tender age. What follows is a series of humorous/embarrassing/painful incidents as she experiments with a series of men from possessive loonies to pathetic kissers to drug addicts to two timers. But she never loses hope, takes it all in her stride and shinnies her way through the dangerous minefield of BFFs & boyfriend to ultimately find The One who would eventually makes her toes curl & nose tingle over just a smouldering stare!! The fact that India is the land of Kama sutra & Draupadi who needed five men to fulfil her is used expended & employed by the author to elaborate on our heroine’s various shades of grey.

The cover depicts pair of legs with shoes in one foot & heels in another which perhaps depict the transition of the protagonist as she globe trots from the chaste environment at a nun-dictated boarding to across the seven seas in search of True Love. This and the other elements on the cover page (guitar, martinis and so on) give a kaleidoscope view of her social life & her various sexcapades.

Men on my Mind is a frank yet unblushing chronology of our protagonist’s experiments with men where she only has knowledge that is borrowed from BFFs or read in M&Bs or drawn from fantasies or learnt from her own past experiences. Although she studies in the celibate environment of a convent, it leaves her lusting more than ever & describes the various perils that she undergoes to start her voyage with boys. After her schooling, her family shifts from Mumbai to Delhi & she has her brush with men in the capital city. Yet “The One” remains elusive. Finally she is packed off to the States to live with her aunt & do something in her life other than finding boys who would be ready to deflower her virginity. Initially, the debauchery might be a little too much to take but as the book progresses, you develop a sense of solidarity with the heroine as she juggles with more than one relationship at a time, loses her BFFs as easily as her men and has one night stands without any regrets.

When I started with the first chapter I thought that it was a memoir of sorts. However, as the novel progressed, I found it to be a well paced, candidly penned story. In addition to the character of the protagonist, the secondary characters (or more accurately – the various men in her life) are all well developed. However, there was an overload of men that tended to seem a bit of a drag towards the end. The ending, too, seemed a bit abrupt as if rounded off hastily which may leave the reader unsatiated. Of course, after following our heroine’s journey tediously from one loser to another the reader would always want a full blown account of the elusive happy ending at the end. But, since this is the first part of a trilogy, I guess the author has purposely kept it a secret & built up the suspense for the second book. All in all, this is a light, funny read which can be breezed through in a single sitting.

(The review copy has been provided by Storizen TV. This review is entirely my own personal & honest opinion. I do not receive any kind of payment or monetary gains for my review.)

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Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan

Title : Those Pricey Thakur Girls
Author : Anuja Chauhan
Genre : Fiction / RomCom
Publisher : Harper Collins
Pages : 400
My Rating : 8/10
Reviewed For : MySmartPrice / IQR

Blurb:

In a sprawling bungalow on New Delhi’s posh Hailey Road, Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur and his wife Mamta spend their days watching anxiously over their five beautiful (but troublesome) alphabetically named daughters.

Anjini, married but an incorrigible flirt; Binodini, very worried about her childrens hissa in the family property; Chandrakanta, who eloped with a foreigner on the eve of her wedding; Eshwari, who is just a little too popular at Modern School, Barakhamba Road; and the Judges favourite (though fathers shouldnt have favourites): the quietly fiery Debjani, champion of all the stray animals on Hailey Road, who reads the English news on DD and clashes constantly with crusading journalist Dylan Singh Shekhawat, he of shining professional credentials but tarnished personal reputation, crushingly dismissive of her state-sponsored propaganda, but always seeking her out with half-sarcastic, half-intrigued dark eyes.

Spot-on funny and toe-curlingly sexy, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is rom-com specialist Anuja Chauhan writing at her sparkling best.
 

My Review:

 

Having read the Zoya Factor & Battle for Bittora by Anuja Chauhan, you can be sure of two things – first one is that you know from the start that the story will follow predictable patterns and the protagonists are going to end up with each other. Yet even after knowing the foreseeable happy ending, the factor that keeps you hooked is the absolute laugh riot that Anuja’s novel promise to be. Secondly, you can be sure that you are in for some major drama which is peppered with some good old mushy romance & some solid Old Delhi masala. And with her latest release, Anuja Chauhan gives you just that.

 

Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur is blessed with 5 daughters, who are named alphabetically from A to E. However, each of them is as eccentric & as different from each other as the colours of rainbow. Amongst them, Debjani is the Judge’s favourite & the protagonist of our story. Debjani aka Dabbu is the quintessential fiery lassie with an absolute preoccupation for stray animals & losers. She has just started her career of being a newsreader at DD (not Door Darshan!! It’s DeshDarpan), landed up in trouble & is quite some damsel in distress courtesy our hero – yummy & delectable - Dylan Singh Shekhawat who is an investigative journalist. Obviously, we know that D-for-Dylan & D-for-Debjani are “The Couple” but what the reader really has to look forward to is the D-for-Dhamaal & Dhamaka that would be accompanying the plot!! Set in pre-liberalisation New Delhi, Those Pricey Thakur Girls is a typical love story with a few complexities, misunderstandings, clichés and a potpourri of characters each displaying varying levels of bizarreness.

For those who have read Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, Those Pricey Thakur Girls will bear a striking resemblance to the classic albeit with the backdrop of Delhi in 1980s. However, Anuja has given her own unique, hilarious spin to the classic elements & has churned out a desi laugh out loud encore. Undoubtedly, the most enjoyable part of this read is its narration which was brisk with equal parts of romance, sarcasm & drollness. Perhaps the best part about Anuja Chauhan’s writing is that she develops the secondary characters as good as the protagonists. The characters are very well etched & each has a distinctive voice of their own. However, I found the story a bit of a drag in few parts. The plot would have been a bit more crispier sans 30-40 pages. But since this is an absolutely witty & funny romp, you will breeze by the bulk of the book a lot more easily. Go ahead, reserve this weekend for this read!!!

P.S. Here’s some good news for fans of Chauhan - Coming soon is the second part in the series – The House That BJ Built...looks promising!!


(The review copy has been provided by MySmartPrice. This review is entirely my own personal & honest opinion. I do not receive any kind of payment or monetary gains for my review.)

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