Once upon the tracks of Mumbai - [Book review]

Reading books and writing reviews is becoming my daily routine now :) How good it will be, if my job is only to read books and review them :p (of course i should get paid for it :))

Book details:
Title : Once upon the tracks of Mumbai
Author : Rishi Vohra
Publisher : Jaico
Source: Review copy from author

I have been reading many books in recent times and this particular one is like a fresh sea breeze :) Have been reading lot of fiction and thrillers. But, this is a casual story with mumbai backdrop. Babloo is autistic and so, has difficulty in understanding few things, he is slow in learning things, but very good at heart. Because of his autistic characterstic, his family (father, a clerk in railway office, mother, a house wife and brother Raghu, working in a stock broker office) always ignore him and never make him feel like a family member. Babloo has a split personality too, the other person always encourage and give confidence to Babloo in all matters. Babloo loves Vandana, who also stays in railway colony and doesn't treat babloo like a retarded person, but talks to him like a normal friend. There comes a twist in the story when Babloo decides to do something to save people in need of help in the form of 'Railman'. Rail man is like an another split personality of Babloo whose purpose is only to provide justice by fighting with bad people. What happens to Babloo at the end? Will the Railman be acquitted from court ? Will he marry Vandana? All these questions will be answered in the climax.
Pretty simple story, isn't it? Characterization is good, especially typical middle class bride groom mentality shown through Raghu, cunning Sikander who takes advantage of women, Responsible father Sekhar gupta, typical gossipy house wife Sudha etc., Writing style is simple and it is as if someone is telling story sitting before you.. I didn't feel bored anywhere while reading this book. As i don't know much about Mumbai, this book gave me a real point of view on Mumbai as if i went there and saw with my eyes.

What is not good?
At some places, descriptions about surroundings are lengthy and boring. Climax is not very convincing and realistic. I feel, connection points are missing at few places like how Babloo changed to Railman very quick and how a smart girl like Vandana fell for Sikander even after he lost her trust once. 

My stars :)
It is simple easy going novel, good for reading during journeys. If you like Mumbai and know it very well, you may love this book. My rating is 3/5.
Refer the below site for more info on book and the author
http://rishivohra.com/

Until next time,

Salvation of a Saint - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Salvation of a Saint
Author: Keigo Higashino
Source: Blogadda book review program

This book is a kind of crime thriller, from a Japanese author. You might have heard about best seller novel 'Devotion of suspect X'. This is from the same author. I haven't read the other book, but i think, now iam interested to read that too. :)

Story starts with the death of a rich married person Mr. Mashiba. His wife Ayena Mashiba goes to her mother's place just 2 days before the murder, posing a strong alibi. Mr. Mashiba is found dead by Hiromi who is a student in the patchwork class conducted by Ayena. It will be found by homicide department that death was caused by poisoned coffee, but no one knows how someone entered into the house which is locked from inside and escaped. Detectives Kusangi, Utsumi and professor Yukawa play a main role in investigating the perfectly planned murder of Mr Mashiba. There is not much suspense about the killer as all investigations and interrogations point to Ayena as killer, but only thing that police wait is for a clue to prove that she is the murderer.

Detectives find poison 'arsenic acid' residuals in water filter system attached to tap. Another interesting find is that this poison is added through filter one year ago and it was never used. Who can plan a murder that advance and wait for such a long time to execute? Even if they do, how can they take care that no one else use this tap water and die instead of Mr.Mashiba? This makes the crime a perfectly planned one without leaving any traces. This plot and timing seems un-believable. 

I don't want to reveal much about the story line as it may spoil the interest of new readers. Overall, this is a page turner and i couldn't leave this book in the middle. I don't feel it is a perfect crime thriller, as the way murder is planned is un-believable without leaving any clue/ trace.

Characterization is very good and writing style is simple and excellent. Mrs. Ayena Mashiba is shown as a brave and confident individual, she never shows her regret or fear about the murder during investigation until last minute. Character of Mr.Mashiba is also very peculiar. Professor Yukawa is excellent with his power of reasoning and driving the other detectives to the point. We love Kusangi's character by the end of the book as he continues his investigation in different angles and provides important evidence, even though he has a soft corner on Ayena. Utsumi is another such interesting character who is very sharp in observing the feelings of the person they are investigating. She brings out women thinking perspective for the investigation, which helps Kusangi a lot. Book is interesting throughout. Logical reasoning of the detectives and their investigation is very good. Since it's on Japanese background, remembering character names is quite difficult. One negative point is that i didn't feel title is very apt for the book, even though they gave some explanation, it is not very convincing. I would surely recommend this book for crime thriller lovers.

My rating: 3/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Until next time,

Tantra - [Book Review]

Book Details:
Title: Tantra
Author : Adi
Publisher: Apeejay STYA
Source: blogadda.com book review program

Guys.. This is review time again! It's a supernatural thriller this time. Never read books on Vampires, though watched many movies :)

Story:
This book starts of with protagonist 'Anu Agarwal', a guardian who fights against vampires in New york coming to Delhi to take revenge on the person/ Vampire who killed her boy friend 'Brian'. Seems very unrealistic na.. While searching for his boy friend's murderer, she comes across a person 'Senaka' who claims to be a spiritual guru and does all evil practices like killing children for some ceremonies using black magic 'tantra'. So, she has to use her abilities to learn satvik 'astras' through concentration(saadhana) to fight against 'Tantra' and stop him from killing many innocent children. Will she be able to leave her search for Brian's murderer and fight against Senaka? Will she be able to get away from her attraction towards 'Gaurav' and concentrate on 'astra'? This forms the remaining story.

My thoughts:
First few chapters are not very interesting as no story takes place other than introduction of characters. Story seems to make sense when author introduces us to 'Tantra' (Black magic). In India, we cannot believe of any story involving vampires, but stories about black magic are common here. Author talks about meditation concepts, satvik, yoga etc.,A parallel thread, Anu agarwal's arranged marriage proposals and formal meeting ceremony with to be bride groom makes us laugh and correlate ourselves to Indian arranged marriage system :)

There are few things which i didn't understand properly like concept of shift, how guardians are trained and chosen etc., as book doesn't elaborate much about them other than using the terms directly. Book explains mediation and satvik concepts well. Author is able to make us understand the struggle that Anu goes through to keep her family safe and away from Vampires and Senaka's followers, her attraction towards Gaurav, her determination to learn and use astras in less time to win over evil.

What i liked -
Characterization of Anu, her zeal to learn astra, her concentration and her positive attitude overall. 

What i didn't like -
Felt story is not gripping enough to be a thriller. We cannot say it is an on-the-edge thriller. Seeing the cover, i expected it to be a horrific haunting story, but it disappointed me completely. At some places, i felt descriptions are very boring that i was unsure if i could complete the book. I couldn't pinpoint what was missing in the book, but just it couldn't meet my expectation of a super natural thriller.

Author's writing style -
Writing style is smooth and easy to follow. In some places, it gets boring.  Characterization, analysis on tantra etc., show author's research work and knowledge about the concepts.

Overall -
Not an on-the-edge, gripping thriller. But, good for one time read to avoid boredom. 
Rating - 2/5

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Table 21

                              Ragging is not a joke, it is a CRIME

This is the message from the movie 'Table 21',loud and clear. Don't know how many watched this movie, but some sites have written that this movie is critically acclaimed and worth watching after 'Special 26' of Akshay kumar.
Even though i don't feel Table 21 is a great movie, i liked the message. 

Spoiler alert.. please don't read ahead if you are planning to watch the movie :)

Movie is about a couple going to Fiji on a holiday package from a lottery win/ some prize. They participate in an online live game show, which comes to their life/ death question. Game has only 2 rules - All questions to be answered with 'Yes' or 'No' and those who lie will die. Prize money is 21 fiji dollars. After each question the couple is assigned a task related to the question. They have to complete 8 such questions and tasks to get the prize money. 

So far, movie seems interesting, even though it is very slow paced, we will be thinking of the objective or motive of the game till the last question. We will be thinking, what Paresh Rawal wants actually from the game. At-last, from last question and task, the couple will remember their college times, how they ragged their junior mercilessly which made him mentally retarded. By the way, Paresh rawal is the father of that victim(junior).

Iam fortunate, as i never faced ragging in our college and there were strict rules to avoid ragging. Ragging is more prevalent in hostels than colleges. Asking names, assigning silly tasks, making fun looks good in ragging. But, if it goes beyond some point, where   physical/ sexual / verbal abuse takes place, it is not at all good. Ragging affects in many ways - death, suicide, injury, mental health etc., When some student goes to his dream college by working hard in entrance exams or paying huge sums as fee, he doesnt want to leave the college or stop going in fear of ragging. But, when it becomes too much to handle, tension arises and it effects him badly.

By the way, this movie title is based on 'Article 21' which is Right to Live. The game played in the movie snatches that right from them. Hope this movie makes some impact on this generation students to avoid ragging.

Until next time,

Women and Gold

Most of the women love jewellery, especially Gold jewellery, right? When we think of jewellery, we used to refer to only Gold or silver earlier, now, we have platinum, diamond and imitation jewellery. However, Gold has a special place in our society, that too these days, where its price is sky rocketing. Earlier, as women doesn't have equal rights on father's property, they used to get gold from mother, whereas, sons used to get property from parents. Now, things changed. Still, the tradition of passing on Gold to generations didn't change.

Got this chart from Internet, interesting right, how Gold price changed so fast?

Because of this trend, people are thinking of Gold as an investment. But, it is a very risky investment, we cannot predict the rise/ fall of gold price for the next 4 to 5 years. Good thing, is to buy small chunks of Gold and save. Almost all jewellery shops/brands introduced different gold saving schemes. Some schemes allow online transfer, some allow saving fixed amount every month and some allow variable amount. Some give a bonus on total amount while closing the scheme and some give a complete off on making charges. 


We love Gold so much that we cannot think of it as an investment. There is some emotional attachment to jewellery that we buy - it might have been bought for marriage or for any festival, or brought by husband or parents or boy friend for any specific occasion that we wish to cherish for life time. In this case, thinking of Gold as an object and selling it off for profit, doesn't seem well. Selling off Gold for any medical emergency is fine, but how can someone sell jewellery which has many wonderful moments associated to it? What do you think?

Until next time,

Image courtesy: indiatvnews.com, apnaplan.com

Collection of some random snaps

Place: Ramappa lake in the evening, Warangal

Ramappa lake seems excellent at the time of sunset. This photo was taken when we were on boat ride.

Place: Mainland China, Hyderabad 

Liked this decoration in the restaurant. See.. how beautiful this flower is made only with vegetables :)

Place: Princeton, USA. Next day after snow storm

Watching snowfall and playing with snow is great, but the next day after snowfall is also wonderful. See.. how bright sun is competing with snow to brighten the place :)

Place: Niagara, USA

Watching Niagara falls is the most un-forgettable experience. Watching water this much nearer from the park will make you crazy. 

Place: Gandipet Lake in the evening, Hyderabad

Gandipet lake is a peaceful place to go, especially if you are interested in long drives on wonderful evenings to the outskirts of the city 

Hope you liked these random clicks :)

Until next time,

Another trip to Shirdi

Hey! All set for another trip to shirdi :)
I hope, everything goes by plan.

This has been my 5th or 6th trip to Shirdi, i didn't remember exactly. Iam fortunate enough to visit Shirdi around early 2000's. It was not at all like this earlier. Not much crowd,  no good provisions for stay and no Andhra hotels. But, darshan used to be very peaceful and pleasant experience. It was like a normal temple, only crowded during aarti times 4 times a day. No queue at all except for aarti times. There used to be only one train per week from Hyderabad to Shirdi. So, we used to go through Hyderabad whenever we travel to Shirdi. Roaming in Hyderabad till evening, to pass time before catching the train was a very good memory. Visiting Birla mandir was always on the list! 

We used to get down in Manmad through Manmad express and go by bus to Shirdi from there. Later, we found that Nagarsol is the nearest station and from next trip onwards, we used to go through Nagarsol. Bhakta Nivas is the complex with all amenities like food and stay provided by Shirdi sai sansthan at minimal rates. Now, they have built few more complexes for devotees like 'Dwarawati'.

There are may interesting tourist places around Shirdi, So, spending a good 4 day holiday will be wonderful there. Shani singanapur, Ajanta, Ellora caves, Nasik, Triambakeshwar, Bhimashankar etc., are some of the places good for one day trips. I have been to all places and it was wonderful family time always :)

Shirdi sai sansthan has a website now to book accommodation, darshan and aarti. Isn't it easy now to plan a trip? Here are the website details: https://www.shrisaibabasansthan.org/INDEX.HTML

Ok then, see you all after the trip.. 
Until next time,

Cut Like Wound - [Book Review]

Book details:

Title: Cut like Wound

Author: Anita Nair

Hardcover: 358 pages

Publisher: Harper Collins

Source: A free copy from Book lovers book review program

This is my first novel of Anita Nair’s. I love reading Indian authors, but never got a chance to read a gripping thriller from them. This is the first psycho thriller that I read from an Indian author and I loved it.

Plot is about the investigation of similar serial crimes in Bangalore by an experienced inspector Gowda. Though Gowda is not young and dynamic, he is the hero of our story with his small imperfections.

Story starts with a burnt body of young male prostitute in Ramzan month and series of murders of random men on every Friday with peculiar ligature strangulation on neck. Author introduces us to corporator Ravi’s life in parallel. What is the relation between murders and Corporator? How Gowda finds the pattern in the killings? Remaining story is about the clues and findings of Gowda. Gowda’s problems in his family life, affair with his ex-girlfriend etc., also form a part of the story. Climax is good and unexpected.

What I liked?

Story seems to be intriguing till the end. It is a medium paced psycho thriller. It met my expectation for sure. Characterization and writing style are impressive. Climax is good, Reader will be sure of the murderer from the middle of the story, but suddenly realizes that it is not that person.

What I didn't like..

Motive of the crime doesn't look very convincing. Sometimes, We feel , story is dragging and going no where, but, from the middle of the novel it picks the proper pace.

My overall rating: 4/5

So, pick the book and read if you can! Happy reading :) 
Here is the discounted price from flipkart.com.

Until next time,

Kriti - Want to sponsor education for a child?

Many people are interested in giving back to the community they live in, but they may not have an idea from where to start. Many are concerned that their donation may not go to the proper person who is in need. Many will not get time to contribute for social service even though they have kind heart. Even, iam one of those, i want to donate money only if iam 100% sure that it will go to the needy and not to someone else.

 

As part of a community involvement program from our organization, i came across an NGO called 'Kriti', which is in Tolichowki, Hyderabad. Basically, that NGO concentrates on educating children, improving awareness on cleanliness and economic independence for women in slum areas. Met many women who regularly come to that NGO to learn stitching, embroidery and make excellent handi crafts, which will be marketed and sold by NGO. These women will also get paid for their work. NGO collects donation from interested people and sponsor education for the children of these woman. This NGO contacts different schools to admit these children and also talks to Principals and teachers regularly about their progress. If children continuously fail, they are counselled to know the reason behind it. As i personally met and understood all these details, iam satisfied of the good work they do.

Here are the details, if anyone of you are interested in sponsoring a child's education. The minimum amount for sponsoring one child is 7200/- per year.  Complete amount to be paid at once.  This amount is the average fees among all the schools in the area across all classes.

Address:

Kriti Social Initiatives First Floor, 8-1-346/32/3, Sabza Colony Shaikpet Nala, Toli Chowki, Hyderabad - 500 008, India

I don't want to give contact phone numbers/ emails in this post to avoid spam. So, please leave a comment if you want to contribute, so that i can contact you back and provide detailed information.

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Google images

Lazy sundays - Then and Now

I love sundays :) who doesn't?
But, did anything change with time? How do you spend your sundays now when compared to 10/ 20 years ago?

For me, many things have changed. Whoever said 'Change is the only constant in the world' is 100% correct!

Then(1980's) :

Sunday used to start with 'Rangoli' on DD national channel with good hindi songs. By 10 Am, cartoons used to start, cannot forget uncle scrooge, his nephews and their adventures in Duck tales, Alice in the wonderland, Mahabharat and Ramayan, a serial called 'Stone boy' etc., Everyone used to wait for the regional movie aired in the evening. We used to wait for months for a telugu movie. More time dedicated to games and sleep :)

Now(2013) :
Day starts with checking mails, fb updates from mobile. Latest songs are available everywhere in all music channels, in ipods, mobiles, fm in mobile, several apps like saavan and personal play lists. Hundreds of channels air many movies, that it is difficult to decide on which movie to watch. But, we just ignore everything and try to get tickets for the latest movie in imax or any theatre where minimum ticket price is Rs.150. Story doesn't end there, food in those so called posh theaters will cost huge amount. Who cares to cook on weekends :) There is another time pass available - shopping! :) Many shopping malls decorated with different themes attract us with different deals. With all these, our sunday will end making us tired and sleepy. Next day starts with the feeling - Oh GOD! it's again monday, i would have got one more day for rest :)

What do you say?

Until next time,

Happy Sankranthi/ Pongal - Post in telugu

సంక్రాంతి తెలుగు వాళ్ళ పెద్ద పండుగ. ఈ సంవత్సరం మొదటి బ్లాగ్ పోస్ట్ తెలుగులో రాయడం ఆనందంగా ఉంది.

సంక్రాంతి అంటే భోగి పళ్ళు , భోగి మంటలు, హరిదాసు కీర్తనలు, గంగిరెద్దు నాట్యాలు, చుక్కల ముగ్గులు, పిండివంటలు, కొత్త అల్లుళ్ళు , అంతా సందడే మరి :)

సూర్యుడు మకర రాశి లో ప్రవేశించే  సందర్భంగా జరుపుకునే ఈ పండుగ మీ అందరికీ మంచి ఆరోగ్యం, సిరి సంపదలు తీసుకురావాలని కోరుకుంటూ..

సంక్రాంతి శుభాకాంక్షలు :)

ఇట్లు,
మహతీ రమ్య 

ఇమేజ్ కర్టసీ: ychittaranjan.wordpress.com, tollycircle.com

Bye bye 2012, Welcome 2013!

Bye 2012.. You have given us many wonderful moments in life and also some sad moments . Now its time to bid you a good bye and welcome new year :)

Hope is such a great thing in everyone's life! We always hope that coming year will be lot better than 2012 and give us more happiness, success and health. 

Bidding the new year with big green teddy bear :) How is it? By the way, this snap was taken in Vermont, USA in a teddy bear factory.



People.. Are you busy thinking of new year resolutions? I never took any resolution all these years, as i basically believe that we don't need a good time to start any good thing. What do you say? If we want to do some good to others or for ourselves, why wait till Jan 1st? Time is always good for good. 

Welcome new year with bang :) I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year 2013.

PS: My last post in 2012.

Until next year,

Second image: http://www.hdwallpapersarena.com/

My first Snowfall!

Watching first snow fall was like a life time memorable experience. I don't know how others react, but i was just clapping my hands and curious like a child when i saw snow falling like white flowers. :) It was wonderful.

I was in office on that day, everyone were worried about the snow storm coming by, but i was praying God to see snow fall and the day has come :) It started in the afternoon, snow falling like white flowers over trees and melting slowly. I was a bit disappointed thinking it wont be a heavy snow. But No.. It increased slowly. My heart was not on work at all, i was peeping through glass windows regularly and waiting to leave office soon, while my colleagues were teasing and giving me latest updates on weather.

Initial snow

slowly, green lawn turned white!

Atlast, time has come to start from office. but, storm became severe. While getting into the car, snow was almost falling on our faces that it was difficult to open our eyes. Thanks to our colleague, who drove us safely to hotel in almost negligible visibility :)
In just 2 hours, there was 1 inch snow and see how it looked

Trees leaning down due to snow

Next morning, whole place seemed bright as snow is shining in sun light. All roads were looking as if they were covered with snow carpet.

Roads with snow blanket

Hope you liked the photos :)

Until next time,

The Lost Girl - [Book Review]

Book details:
Title: The Lost Girl
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Publisher: Random house India
Genre: Young fiction

Plot: There is a place called Loom in this book, where weavers create echos. Echos are like human beings with life, but not with soul. People who think they cannot live after their loved ones die, order weavers to make echos of respective person they love. Echos will exactly look like the respective person they love and they get all the information about that person, through journals, photos and videos. Echos mimic their behavior, their thoughts and they are destined to live the other's life. When the other dies, their echo is supposed to replace their place. If these echos cannot satisfy the people who ordered them, they will be given a "sleep order", which means they will be un-stiched back and destroyed.

My Thoughts:
I know the story is unrealistic. Anyway, it's fiction. But, the characters and their behavior are very much nearer to real life. Story is about an echo like this. She is an echo of a girl in India called Amarra. She names herselves as Eva. Eva has her own dreams and interests, but is forced to think and behave like Amarra. She doesnt have any option other than this, as she will be destroyed if she cannot do the same. Story is about conflicts in her heart between her life and Amarra's life and how she struggles a lot to replace Amarra. 

What i liked?
Story is an exact definition to word 'fiction'. It has enough twists and turns to attract the reader. Style of writing is impressive and easy to follow.

What i didn't like?
It just couldn't meet my expectations. I was expecting a far better thriller seeing the name and cover. But it is more emotional than a thriller. Story seems to be very slow paced in the beginning  which makes it difficult to continue reading.

My rating:
3/5

Until next time,

Image courtesy: booktopia.com
Note: Received this free copy of book from 'Random house, India' for review and this review is my personal opinion.

Yay! holiday season :)

Yay! Holiday season started and holidays are coming on Tuesdays :)

So, taking leave for one day will give a long weekend of 4 days. Isn't that a good news? Both Christmas and New year are falling on Tuesdays  So, go ahead and plan the weekends now :) 

                  For children, it's a fun season except the preparation for Half yearly exams in Jan. 2 reasons to enjoy - Christmas holidays in this month and Pongal holidays next month. I used to love this season as a kid. Since i studied in a christian missionary school, we used to get holidays for 15 days for Christmas and Pongal as well :) Christmas celebration used to be very good in school with many dance performances, Christmas carols, chocolates distribution from Santa, decorated Christmas tree and daily visits to church in school.

                 I enjoy this season even after joining work. In my earlier firm, we used to celebrate Christmas season with 'chrisma chris child' game. If you have never heard of this game, here is my earlier post on this game. In brief, it is a celebration by giving and receiving gifts. In my current firm too, we play 'Secret Santa'. How do you celebrate Christmas in your organization? Please do share your experience in comments.

Happy Christmas and enjoy fun time with jingles all the way :) 

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Google images

My new phone - Sony xperia Arc Lt18a

Got a new phone recently - Sony Xperia Arc Lt18a. I was excited seeing my first smart phone, its features and wonderful apps. But, also pissed off by some battery and touch problems.
So, thought of sharing my experience, so that people who want to buy this piece will think twice before buying.

Look-wise: It's just perfect and stylish in white colour. No iphone/ Nokia Lumia can compete with this look and it's slim too. That's how i feel, others may have different opinion :) 

Touch screen experience and usability : Thumbs down :( Initially, touch was excellent. But gradually, i started downloading many apps (not more than 20 apps, though). After this, performance seemed to went down. Response time between touch and the action is more. Even to dial a number from call log, it took more time than usual. usability-wise, i can rate 3/5. It is easy to navigate, but it is not easy to search for few important features. 
 Ex: Messages option will show the recent conversation instead of showing the index of all messages, when a new message comes. I need to go back one level to see my recent message and the indication that we have a new message is not very much identifiable.
Some features about organizing the screen are awesome. Ex: If you dont want a short cut of any app in welcome screen, just hold it for a second and drag and drop in trash bin. 

Music: Since it is from best music brand 'Sony', it seems very good. No complaints on the quality of music and calls.

Camera: It has 8MP camera with HD. The best feature in my phone, i say! Image capture is excellent with Mobile BRAVIA engine (colour enhancement). You see perfect colours in the photos. Quality of photos is also good.

Battery: Now comes the worst part. Battery can stay for 2 days without data plan usage. It is an android phone, so Google maps and navigation come by default. Including these, if we have around 20 apps, say around 3 games like temple run, some apps like fb, gmail, whats app, instagram, temperature, torch, saavn, ever note etc., with data plan, battery will come only for one day. Sometimes, screen unnecessarily blinks and brightens when we are not using phone and so battery dries up soon. 

Price: When i bought it 2 months ago, it was $300(Rs.16,200) in amazon.com and now, it is around $350. In India, that specific model is not available. Arc S is available in India for around Rs.26500 in naaptol.com.

I will not recommend this phone to any one unless you need an excellent camera and you use phone only for calls and sms.

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Amazon.com  

I've got your number - [Book review]

Book details:
Title: I've got your number
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Random house group

This book is different from other books that i read in one aspect. Did you read any story based on sms and emails? that's the interesting thing in this novel! 

Plot: Our leading lady 'Poppy' is a physiotherapist running a private clinic in London with her friends. She is engaged to a handsome professor 'Magnus', whose parents are brainy nerds. Magnus presents a beautiful antique emerald ring while proposing to poppy. (It is a family ring). You know.. Poppy is intelligent, but careless easy going girl, so loses her ring just before she has to meet her future in-laws. Problems start in this lovey dovey story with loss of ring. Unfortunately, she also loses her mobile on the same day and grabs a mobile which she finds in a trash bin. She gives that number to police and others to keep her informed on the whereabouts of ring and so she decides to keep that mobile with her until she finds the ring. That mobile belongs a woman, who is secretary of a business man Sam Roxton of White globe consulting company. To keep the company mobile with her, she makes a deal with Sam that she will forward each and every email and message that comes to that mobile for their company. 

Poppy is a curious girl, so how can she simply forward messages and emails without even opening? Slowly, she reads all of them and story is about how it becomes part of her daily routine, how her friendship with Sam improves day by day and how her life becomes more entangled because of all these.

My thoughts:
I liked the way story is made interesting. Actually there aren't many twists in the story, it looks plain. If you love thrillers and mystery, definitely this book is not for you, as you feel bored. If you like reading easy going stories and read for time pass, you will definitely like this one! Second half of story is better, as it moves fast when compared to first half. Loved the way story is unfolded from emails and messages. The font of text in the book is good and easily readable.

Get the book from flip kart here, if you would love to read :)

My rating: 2/5

Until next time,

Note: Received this free copy of book from 'Random house, India' for review and this review is my personal opinion.
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