My 2015 Reads

Hey Everyone,
It's been a while (oops, hehe). I was busy focusing on college and now that I have a better handle on that, I am back with a bang! I'm sorry to have been away for so long, but I have been really
good and have been reading constantly.
There are *LOTS* of reviews coming your way in the next few weeks! Just to give you a sneak peak, I figured I'll list the books I'm going to review. This year has been the best book related year for me. I found so many fascinating books and discovered amazing new authors. I cannot wait to share everything from this year with you all.
I will be writing a review for each of these books, so look out for those!

The books I read this year so far (in no particular order) are -

1. All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
2. The Inconvenient Indian - Thomas King
3. Make Your Home Among Strangers - Jennine Capo Crucet
4. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
5. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
6. The Ocean at the End of The Lane - Neil Gaiman 
7. The Giver Series - Lois Lowry
8. No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July
9. Adultery - Paulo Coelho
10. The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
11. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
12. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
13. A.D: New Orleans After the Deluge - Josh Neufeld 

So as you can see, I've been pretty good!
I'm currently reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and boy, it's an amazing read.
If any of you have read any of the books listed above, please let me know what you thought of them! And as always if you'd like me to review a book, let me know in the comments below.

I'll be back with a review VERY soon. So keep a lookout for new posts.
Till then, keep reading!

Lolita - A Mid Review

Hello!
So I've been sleeping/writing/eating and enjoying big cups of chai, while the weather where I am currently living is literally perfect, and all this while reading Lolita.
What a great book! It is definitely so far sooo good. The authors style of writing is absolutely enthralling all while staying true to the inner conflicts he is constantly facing. He explores conflicts and resolutions bit by bit always keeping the audience in the loop. His thought process is brought out rather jarringly and paradoxically.
At one end he is conflicted and at the other he is convinced but the beauty of the book is how well he balances the two. The books subject is no doubt very disturbing.His fascinations, as one is made aware of right from the start, continue to engage you yet disgust you.
This book challenges your notions of 'correct' and 'incorrect' societal norms and so far, even though my stance is clear my argument wavers with the authors amazing story telling.
I would have have tagged it as an 'easy' read, however the internal battles that this book enables, I think this book, though quite short, is a rather fulfilling read.
That is all about Lolita so far.
I'll keep up updated soon enough!
Till then, don't forget to tell me what you've been reading!

50 Shades of Grey - Final Verdict

These Shades of Grey are more exciting than The Book ever will be. 

 “I gasp, and I’m Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he is the serpent, and I cannot resist.”

If I were to quote every sorry excuse for an analogy from this book, I’d probably be left with only 2 pages worth of a book, both pages containing vivid details of sadistic love making. I read  the first 250 pages in misery and the rest in pure agony, there is only so much bad writing I can take and with this book my quota of bad writing is full.This book was a total downer for me. This is a short and to the point book review and  I’ve broken it up into categories for you. Take what I say with a pinch of salt for my style and preference in, and for a book may be totally different from yours. However, give the review a read and see what I have to say!

Here goes:

1.     Writing Style And Story Pace

The writing style is one I never comment on, for everyone’s style is unique. Just so that you know this authors style is informal and to the point.

One thing the books that was bang on was pacing. The story was evenly paced and kept abreast throughout the cruel 300 something pages of wasted paper.

2.     The Plot

Wait. Plot? What is that? Is it a new kind of food? In short, there is no plot. The characters shallow, the places boring, and the sex unappealing (who knew that was possible, right?). The sex comes off as exciting to begin with, as it presented in segments, but in retrospect the sex is nothing unheard of, or unusual. There are no twists nor turns and unfortunately (but expectantly) the book is super predictable and boring.The male and female protagonists alternate between half hearted conflicts and 'rough' contract based sex. 

3.     Characters

The characters are straight up shallow. There is no depth of character. There is a hint at a moral conflict within the protagonist, but that conflict is never explored making the reader feel disconnected from the character and her thoughts. Actually none of the characters have any kind of connection with the reader. I can say this without a doubt that Winnie the Pooh had more depth in him.

 There are no dilemmas, frustrations, conflicts, nothing. They lack an identity except that she’s a 21 year old virgin, and he’s a 26(?) year old billionaire. There has been no ‘showing’(except for the raunchy sex scenes) of the personalities in the book, it’s only barking at you.

      4.     Story Line

Rich billionaire brat with issues, falls for a middle class college going 21 year old virgin with lesser issues. At first it's for sex and then he falls for her innocence.  Her conscious calls her a ‘ho’ (that is her deepest level of conflict) every so often and every time it does, she goes and sleeps with her billionaire boyfriend/master again. That is pretty much it. 

Of course, this sounds rather brutal, and some of you may disagree. I, however, have endured enough of the book and have plenty ammunition to combat your best defenses.

This is coming from someone who values plot, character, and story line very heavily. If you couldn’t care a rat’s hoof about any of that, you might like the book! Who knows? I know 100 million people did.

My final verdict: 50 Shades of Grey gets a 1 out of 5 in my books. (See what I did there?)

50 Shades of Grey - Review Part 1

Hello Everybody,

Firstly please bear in mind that this book review might not be suitable for children. It may have explicit words or connotations. 

That being said I've been reading 50 Shades of Grey and 169 pages into it, I can honestly say, I'm not charmed. I get the whole-  ultra rich unattainable gorgeous guy who falls for a poor okay-ish, never been touched 21-year-old American virgin. I get the appeal of it. You know how a lot of us would like a hot rich dude to fall for us and  look at us like the sun shines out of us and etc, etc but there is a lot more that can get a book moving and or juices flowing. There is so much more that could have been done with it! Character given depths, stronger plots and sub plots, better, more apt, more colorful characters, vivid scenery, some office politics, but nope, it’s a good old straight up mills and boons with added sexual ammunition.  

I don't care about the sexual content in the sense that it doesn’t bother me. The author wrote a book filled with sex, okay well then. Who doesn't like explicit, brash, unsophisticated, raw sex that seems to be written by a 17-year-old high on sexual fantasies ? Well I don't but doesn't mean you shouldn't. What I do have an issue with is the style of writing with the lack of character depth or plots or sub plots or actually anything at all. The author seems to have made  NO effort what so ever to give the characters depths. We know their traits and that one questions too much and the other takes good photos and that's it, but who are they? What are their stories? Why are they relevant to the plot, or the book or to the protagonist? We have no idea. Where does she live? What does it look like? Is the wind too strong? Is her coffee to dark? Something so small that just a mere sentence could have sufficed and yet so important that it would’ve given the reader the full picture. She goes straight from sex, no sex, sex, email, bad email, sex. I mean you get the point.

So far, I must say it's an utter disappointment. If, however you couldn't care less about writing style then this books isn't atrocious.

Let's see what else this book has in store for me. 

On the good end of all of this, I picked up a good ol' P.G Wodehouse! So I'm not in tremendous literary pain. 

More when I finish the book! 

Till then, keep right, read loads!

NEW UPDATED READING LIST!

Hello everyone!

So I have a confession to make. I might have tweaked my reading list..maybe.. 

Oh! I couldn’t stand the fact that I might be reading books that I have no interest in. Of course, every book deserves a change but I really don’t want to compel myself to read what I don’t want to.

That being said my tweaked version of my summer list is now ready.

ARE YOU READY? ARE YOU SURE?

Okay here goes:

1.        1. Bourne Supremacy (Yup it stays. Wohoo!)
              2. The Fault in our Stars (Aww yeah)
                   3.       Lolita (Ah well..)
                               4.  50 Shades of Grey                   5.The Way to Dusty Death (Well it’s daddy’s recommendation)                                                         6.         Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (I needed a P.G Wodehouse!)

     Let’s see how these 6 go and then add more if time permits! 

Why I Write

My relationship with writing is a tumultuous one.  Sharing one minute, hiding the next. 

Writing is a release and an escape, it's a compulsion, it's a habit, but most of all, it's a seeker. Seeking the deepest emotion I sought to hide. The conniving clever ways in which it cajoles me and convinces me to dwell upon and dive into it. To let go of inhibitions and pen down my guarded secrets.

Writing is not a hobby, it's a way of life, an expression of who we are, where we stand and what we wish the world to know. It's an art, undertaken by many, accomplished by few.  It is a fire that warms you and the same fire that consumes you. Writing is not just words, it's  a process, to provide meaning from those sentences and touch upon hearts while doing so, to be able to form a picture every time it is read, to be so unique that no two pictures are the same, though  the same words are. 

A writers true achievement in not in communicating, but in deriving, not in telling, but showing. When a reader can derive meaning from writing, when the words mesh so beautifully that they flow seamlessly, when the words are no more mere words but emotions and sensations to be felt, that is when an author has succeeded.

It is towards that goal, towards that sensation, towards that understanding that I strive and for that I write. 

And so it starts! Bring it summer!