That's In My Library!

This book is beautifully written, and at a peaceful pace. Nevertheless, it takes your heart for a wild roller coaster ride. If you're able to relate to any of the characters, or even if you're not, you will definitely be left asking for more in the end. Also, the story is left at such a point, I had to check up online to see if there is a sequel. (P.S.- There is.) Like all old traditional Indian stories, Chitra B. Divakaruni writes about unfulfilled desires and sacrificial love in an emotionally charged flowery prose. The story is about two sisters, Anju and Sudha. They are cousins, although there is a little discrepancy there, born on the same day in the same house in Calcutta (now Kolkata). The very same day their mothers come to know that both their fathers have died in an accident. The sisters grow up as best friends, more like soul mates. They have completely different personalities shaped due to the ideas that society imposes on them. Sudha is made to believe that h

I happened to come across this book at a bookstore sometime back and the first thing that caught my eyes was the stick figures along with big fonts that mimicked handwriting. I knew it was for kids, but picked it up anyway (the cover does play a role at times!). And the book is pure pleasure! Greg Heffley, the protagonist, is a kid in middle school who is subjected to bullying at home by his elder brother and at school by his peers. He is the typical weakling, the middle in a family of three kids and a coward with a lack of perseverance. So throughout the books, he tries to become someone who can't be bullied. In the process, he tries for shortcuts to success; takes advantage of his best friend’s simplicity, bullies his own younger brother, lies to his parents and teachers to name a few. He is not a character everyone would like, but you definitely end up empathizing with him. Also, the book is meant for kids and hence, the good part is it retains the goodness when all o