CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? - Sophie Kinsella

-

Before I start, I would like to point out that I'm not a huge fan of chick-lit. So, I don't really remember why I picked up this book to read. Probably I was getting bored that day and this was the closest thing. Anyhow, I'm pretty glad I picked it up. This book has all the elements a fun light comedy should have. A great plot and amazing humour, and not the one where you smile or think 'that's funny', but the one where you snort and choke and literally roll on the floor laughing.

 Emma Corrigan, the lead, isn't a twit, but she does have a tendency to fall into awkward situations, mostly because her insecurities rule her personal roost. There are a few unrealistic but predictable coincidences, like the person Emma tells all her secrets to turns out to be her boss and the fact that he actually hears the drunken ramblings of a fellow passenger on an airplane. But her funny secrets, and her reactions in equally funny situations, make you want to read the story in one go. Emma is a regular girl who desperately wants a promotion at her job, has some enjoyable and irritable characters as family and friends, and a boyfriend who's alright, but not right for her. Enters her boss, who likes her for reasons unknown (as the story is written in first person by Emma) and wants to help her in every imaginable way. Thus results a series of twists and turns which make for a very pleasurable read. Most of the book is solid 5-star material. There's humour, romance, drama along with some of the most outrageously hilarious characters and scenes.

 However, the negative was the ending. It lacked closure and felt pretty unsatisfactory. There were also other parts in the book where the dumbness was a little too much or too predictable for my taste.

 In my opinion, if you enjoy comedy and light reading, this book will not let you down. Even otherwise, you should read it to have a hearty laugh!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

JAYA - Devdutt Pattanaik

-
Image
JAYA An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata There's something about the biggest epic of the world that makes people come back to it time and again. Mahabharata is probably the most retold story in the world; and deservedly so. Of all the stories I've read of the characters of this legendary epic, this version by Devdutt Pattanaik has got to be one of the most detailed and thought-out ones. There's been neither the humanizing of the demigods of the tale, nor any attempt to make the story more realistic. He has presented the same story in all its beauty, keeping all its strengths and flaws alike. Almost everyone is familiar with the story of the Mahabharata. This book is written as a flashback; as Astika, king of the Nagas and Vaisampayana, guardian of Vyasa's great tale, tell Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, the grandson of the Pandava, Arjun, the story of his forefathers just before he was about to perform the Sarpa Sattra, a sacrificial ritual...
Read more

THE SONGSEEKERS -Saswati Sengupta

-
Image
With its  subversive feminist thrust and persistent questioning of what constitutes religion, tradition and  culture, Saswati Sengupta's debut novel  The Song Seekers is sure to strike a chord. It is a poignant exploration of the lives of women in Indian society transcending time and space. Weaved around mystery and laced with beautiful poems throughout, this makes for a perfect unputdownable read.  Set in the turbulent 1960s in Bengal, the novel revolves around the life of newly wed Uma, an  English Literature graduate from Miranda House, as she steps into the threshold of her marital home  Kailash, the ancestral mansion of the highly reputed Chattopadhyay family of Calcutta. Even as she  tries to find her footing in a new, unfamiliar world, Uma is intrigued by the shadows that seem to  linger in the sprawling mansion; her husband’s silence about his mother’s death, the presence of the  enigmatic green-eyed Pishi, a few old letters ...
Read more

BORN A CRIME - Trevor Noah

-
Image
BORN A CRIME Stories from a South African Childhood Born A Crime is Trevor Noah narrating his own story- about his life in South Africa under apartheid to the country’s lurching entry into a post-apartheid era in the 1990s. In essence, the book is a lesson of the inequities of the past and a warning for what is still possible to happen again in our world. But it isn’t heavy-handed; it’s fun, insightful, and very compelling. Not contrary to his Daily Show monologues, the book is filled with humor and biting social commentary. The title of the book was the first thing that intrigued me. For those also curious, he explains early on in the book-  “On February 20, 1984, my mother checked into Hillbrow Hospital for a scheduled C-section delivery. Estranged from her family, pregnant by a man she could not be seen with in public, she was alone. The doctors took her up to the delivery room, cut open her belly, and reached in and pulled out a half-white, half-black child...
Read more