Tag: humor

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Sunday Problem: Recommending Books

Disclaimer: If you’re easily offended, or take life too seriously, please don’t read this. Really. Stop reading.

When you read a lot of books, people who know you always ask for recommendations about what to read. Since you have some idea about your friends and family, it is natural to tell them about books that you think might interest them. So, when you start a bookstagram account and a blog about books, it is but natural for everyone to ask you for your recommendations.

Friends and family who used to ask for themselves, now tag you in anything that has the word book in it. I really don’t mind. I love telling people what to do and what to avoid. It is why I started writing this blog in the first place. What I don’t like is when people don’t like the books that I recommend. I mean, how can you not like them? How dare you? You should be aware that I’m a superior recommender of books. People should bow down to me in all things bookish!

How excited I get when I command, er, suggest what the other person should read, is evident by the fact that I never show any false modesty and haw and hem about what they like! It is but natural that everyone should want to read what I want to read. There are no two opinions about it.

I know people who take out time to ask the other person about their likes and dislikes, about what genres they might be interested in. Not me. I just assume that the other person will like what I tell them to like. And as far as assumptions go, it’s not that wrong an assumption! I mean, look at my HUGE fan following! Why, I have almost 25 followers on my blog and more than 700 on Instagram! If that is not achievement, I don’t know what is!

There was once a poor girl, who made the mistake of asking for some good thriller recommendations on Facebook. Some kindhearted person, knowing how she needs my help, tagged me on the post. I thought, “Why is this girl only reading thrillers? She needs to expand her horizons!” So, I insisted that she read Nicholas Sparks, Elif Shafak, Judith McNaught, John Green, and pretty much all romantic and philosophical writers, in two languages. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that being interested in one genre is a sin!

So, when I’m this considerate and accommodating, it really hurts when people tell me they didn’t like what I told them to read. It breaks my heart to see people remain ignorant and lost. However, the goodness of my heart doesn’t let me be deterred by so small a setback. I persist with my recommendations, in the hope that the other person might see the light some day. Yes, I know. I’m generous like that.

I feel that the purpose of my existence on this earth is to tell people which book to pick up next. I always tell my kids what they should read, but they’re ungrateful. Of course, it’s hard to value someone great when they live in your own house. Doesn’t matter. The ungrateful kids will learn one day. In the meanwhile, I’m most happy to unleash my recommending prowess on the world. No matter what you want to read, I have a book for you that I want you to read. You’re welcome.

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Review: American Gods

Rating: 4.5 Stars

This review has been a long time coming, considering I finished this book more than a week back, and have already written a review for a book that I read after this. The thing is, that I haven’t been able to gather my thoughts into something coherent. There are a lot of things that make me like American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and I want to be able to put them all into words.

Gaiman has a knack of creating memorable characters. From Richard Mayhew, Door and Marquis De Carabas from Neverwhere, to Shadow, Wednesday and Mr. Nancy from American Gods, Gaiman’s characters have a magnetic pull to them that makes you want to go on an adventure with them. They are endearing, exasperating, irritating and funny all at the same time. And they are working on two levels.

American Gods is a very interesting book even if you read it on a superficial level, without assigning any hidden meanings to it. It is the story of Shadow, who is released from prison after three years, only to find that his wife has died one day before his release. He is recruited by a shady man called Wednesday, who has some equally dodgy friends. What ensues is a roller coaster ride which is reminiscent of Percy Jackson, but for adults. In the middle of all this, is the abundance of mythology from all over the world. Reading it made me wish I knew more mythologies than just the basic knowledge about some gods.

As the events move towards an epic war between the gods, we are introduced to the two sides, the Modern and the Ancient, both fighting for survival and relevancy. And the battleground is the United States of America. It is this country that all powers want to dominate, and are willing to do everything to achieve this end.

If you read this book with an open mind, you soon realize that everything is not as it seems. When you first realize who Wednesday really is, you are compelled to go back and look at the story from the beginning, with new understanding and clarity. As the story progresses, it is evident that this book is also a commentary on present day United States, and how materialism and technology are rapidly taking over the society. Materialism had become the new religion, and as a result, faith in things like gods and divine beings has taken a back seat.

In American Gods, you see these forgotten deities and gods trying to fight to stay alive in the hearts of people. That they do it while being crazy and funny, is what the beauty of this book is. I have to admit, I am a sucker for madcap characters and this book has them by the dozen!

For me, American Gods is a winner, but it is not for everyone. It has mythological creatures and different gods, and for anyone not comfortable with reading about these, this book is not the way to go. If you’re offended by the thought of these mythological beings, then please stay away from this book!

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Review: The Keeper of Lost Things

Rating: 4 Stars

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan is a sweet book. It is a story of love and loss, and of lost things and people. As I write this, I realize that the simpler the story, the more difficult it is to write a review. Not because the story has nothing in it, but because it is a simple tale with no hidden meanings or life lessons.

Anthony Peardew collects lost things, not for himself, but in the hope that one day he can restore them to their real owners. So he goes about collecting objects he finds in different places; things like hair bobbles, jigsaw puzzle pieces, bracelets, and a biscuit tin containing some dead person’s ashes. All these things are kept safe in his study, duly labelled with the time and place of their discovery. But Anthony is growing old, and he needs to leave his collection with someone who will love it the same way he does, and who will work towards restoring the objects to their rightful owners.

Laura is Anthony’s assistant and as lost as one of Anthony’s things. When she finds out what Anthony has left her, she is overwhelmed by the task in front of her. With the help of a handsome gardener, a girl with Down Syndrome, a mangy dog, and a crazy ghost, Laura sets out to restore the lost things to their rightful owners, finding her own way in the process, and putting an end to the restlessness caused by a particular chain of events forty years ago.

The book is heartwarming and funny. It keeps going back and forth in time, with two different narratives that merge into one over a time period of forty years. Both stories are equally poignant with some laugh-out-loud and some heartbreaking moments. It took me a few days to read because I was on a break and busy with other things, but once I really got into it, I finished it in one night.

Read this book if you want a change of pace and some light hearted, sweet fun. This was a four star read for me.

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Review: Neverwhere

Rating: 4.5 Stars

There are some books that I would never even have thought of buying if it hadn’t been for Instagram. This applies to Fantasy more than any other genre. I don’t know why that is, because I have read some fantastic books belonging to the genre during the last year or so. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is one of them.

Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew, who moves to London from a small Scottish town. At first overwhelmed in such a big city, he soon settles into a routine and his awe with London recedes. Then he meets Jessica, who is way out of his league and turns him into a scatter brain, and Richard finds himself engaged to a woman much more ambitious and determined than him.

One evening, when everything seems to be going wrong for Richard, he stumbles upon a bleeding girl on the street, and stops to help her. If things were bad before, they become unbearably worse after his decision to defy Jessica and help a fellow human in need. For the injured girl is the Lady Door from Neverwhere.

Neverwhere is the shadowy reflection of London which exists underneath the London known to man. It is a world with monsters and assassins, angels and demons, and everything that has ever slipped through the cracks of the real world into this underground world.

Richard is drawn unwillingly into this world when it seems that he has stopped existing in London Above. Now he has to stick to Door and her shady companions if he ever wants to go back to his former life. But the Lady Door is on a suicide mission to avenge the death of her family at the hands of the most gruesome and terrifying murderers that history has ever seen, and it seems likely that Richard will just be one of the casualties of this crazy quest.

As grave and serious as the story sounds, it is anything but. It is irreverant and witty, and I fell in love with most of the characters. While Richard is funny as the clueless man being taken on an adventure against his will, and Door is admirable in her quest to find out the truth, it is the Marquis de Carabas who steals the show! And yes, the Marquis is named after the fictional Marquis from the very famous fairy tale, Puss in Boots.

Neverwhere is a roller coaster ride of adventure, as the motley crew consisting of Richard, Door, de Carabas and Hunter, the bodyguard, dashes across London Above and Neverwhere to find the answers needed to solve their problems. The characters they meet on the way are no less remarkable. Whether it is Anaesthesia, the rat girl, the Earl from Earl’s Court or the Angel Islington, every character is tongue-in-cheek and batshit crazy!

It would be remiss of me if I don’t mention the two terrifying murderers who are after Door from the beginning of the book. They are the main villians, and as villainous as a villian can ever hope to be. Maybe even more. They are Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. They are filthy and disgusting, with terrible table manners and no sense of humour. And they are hilarious! Even when they are dismembering and torturing living things, their banter doesn’t stop.

At the end of the edition I was reading, is a bonus story about my favourite, Marquis de Carabas. And it was a bonus, because I have not had my fill of this wonderful, mad world called Neverwhere, and would love to visit it again some time. A fun read to take your mind off real world problems.

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Sunday Musings: Celebrating International Women’s Day

It was International Women’s Day on Thursday, and all I saw on social media were posts about empowering women and girl power etc. I wanted to post something profound too, and racked my brain for a good idea. Alas, all I could hear in my brain was cheap Bollywood songs (which I had been listening to all day Wednesday) and how I needed to fortify myself before my son’s friends showed up for their play date in the evening! My brain becomes a useless organ when I need it to function the most. So I just gave up the idea of being deep and profound.

Then I thought maybe I could post something funny and witty (my brain refused to help me there either) but I had to drop that idea too because making fun will only lead to people being offended and telling me that I’m an evil woman who doesn’t care for the suffering of her sisters. It is after all “THE” thing to do – get offended by others’ opinions, while citing “Freedom of Speech” for your own. Le sigh.

So here I was with nothing to say about the most important day in a woman’s life. It’s women like me who bring down other women, not sharing their enthusiasm about such a landmark day! Just the thought of this had me scrambling to write an apology to my fellow sisters for being insensitive and unfeeling. Again, this useless brian of mine! Every word I wrote seemed like it would be offensive to someone, and I couldn’t take the pressure. Also, I thought, no one likes an apologist any way, so I’d better come up with some other idea.

With no ideas forthcoming, I thought I’d better get on with the cooking and cleaning. But it was my day, and I’ll be damned if I cooked or cleaned on my day! No way! My kids should be bringing me flowers, and my husband should be taking me out to dinner! I knew realistically it won’t be possible; said children have school from which they come back in the evening, and said husband was out of town for his office work. Still, cooking and cleaning were out of question for today.

As I was thinking about all this, my cleaning woman came to do her work. Oh, how I wish I had agreed to a man coming to clean the house, when given the option. Then I could have made him work without feeling guilty. I never plan for the future! So, I thought I’d give the maid a day off for Women’s Day, but she looked at me like I was crazy and said that she would rather work since she was being paid hourly. This Women’s Day was turning out to be a nightmare for me!

All was not lost though. I could still refuse to cook. That would show my kids. They need to remember these days, after all! So, I put away everything that I had taken out, and sat down with my book and went on to enjoy the day like I deserved after working so hard.

My ungrateful kids, though! They came home (with friends, I might add), and asked what we were having for dinner. I told them I hadn’t cooked anything because it was a special day for me. “But you didn’t cook anything yesterday either, or the day before. So what’s so special about that?” Pesky little so-and-so’s. “Mom, it’s Thursday. You never cook on Thursdays. We were just asking about what to order in!” Have I mentioned how I hate my kids?

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