Indian Readers discussion

Life, Love, Laughter: Celebrating Your Existence-Osho- 4/5

Nice read- very simply put but hits the point. Can be re-read

Mansee, kahan thee??
Nice to see you here :)

I remember u had started this.. what a decade ago? :D

I agree..Osho Rajneesh knew exactly where to hit!
U can re-read it or read another of his -- all have touch ups of all.

i just love the title of this thread..

@ Parikhit- Thks Parikhit! I was very much here but my reading had gone downhill so opened the thread now
@Tarun- Yep- quite a long while back...and now I've loved it so much that my colleagues are on a waiting list to read this!
@ Kunal- the book is also amazing...

@Mansee, what with my workload nowadays, my reading too has gone downhill.

@ Smitha -- :( u r our inspiration Col so Im sure u will hit back with a vengenance!

Lessons in Forgetting - Anita Nair- 3/5

A good read...though the starting few pages ....made me rethink my decision of reading the book...coz they were not interesting enuf...but nevertheless, I continued and it became more poignant as the story developed....the lead characters were well defined..and some aspects of the marriages brought out well...I was dissapointed by the end though....esp. for one of the characters..Overall a decent read- I would nt recommend buying though- I read it as it was available in the office library!

3. Timepass- Protima Bedi- 2/5

Average read. I mean some of it was total crap but liked the way she has evolved as an individual- from the rebel kid to the hot model to the liberal person to the dancer to the sanyasan...

4. Not a Nice Man to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh- Khushwant Singh- 2/5

Liked some articles - esp. the one he has written about Mother Teressa. otherwise, quite ok

would love to read Protima Bedi, but am a bit wary as you have given only 2 stars (you being a 3 star girl and what:D)

@ Smitha - it was not a bad read but some part of it was getting repetitive -- what with her multiple affairs with married men...so it put me off but generally as i said in my review- it was nice to see her evolve as an individual from the rebel kid to finally a sanyasan.

Difficult Daughters - Manju Kapur- 3/5

(Smitha- there u go :P)

:P I have Custody by Manju Kapur waiting to be read.

6. The Virgin Syndrome - R. Dharker- 2/5

Average read- I liked her second book- Arunimaa much better

7. My Big Idea: 30 Successful Entrepreneurs Reveal How They Found Inspiration - Rachel Bridge- 2/5

Pretty average

I have Arunimaa with me, not started yet, though

Mansee! Like even more reading? I wish I could keep up to a fraction of what you people read. Seriously!

@ Smitha- Arunimaa was a good read.
@ Rosun- My reading had gone seriously downhill in Nov- Dec, thus the pledge

8. Yuganta: The End of an Epoch - Irawati Karve- 3/5

I liked some bits of it....but otherwise it was quite ok...I mean -- the author manages to make most of the stories-- non stories or says that "this might not have happened". It happened so many times that u end up more confused then b4 :P

Paulo Coelho - Juan Arias - 3/5

I would have loved to give this book a 4 but somehow...I was wanting to know more of the author....i didnt feel like I know him well after reading the biography -- which according to me is a good sign for a well written one.

But for Paulo Coelho fans, it's a good read!

10. The Last American Man- Elizabeth Gilbert-- 3/5

I loved some parts of the book...almost motivating me to give it a 4....but I dont know why the author was more interested in the romantic side of Mr. Conway -- thus loosing the essence of this book in the latter half....neverthless a wonderful read and it really made me rethik how we live our lives...a definite recommend!

11. India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation's Remaking - Anand Giridharadas-- 4/5

Intelligent, partly witty but more then that...manages to make one reflect on practices that we normally take for granted

All in all, a good read!

12. Chanakya's Chant - Ashwin Sanghi - 4/5

Was a good read. Actually deserves a 3.5 but since we dont have the option, did nt have the heart of giving it a 3 -- thus 4 :P

The author has taken the story of Chanakya and has created a fiction story of Gangasagar in the current context of politics. It is interesting that he describes both the stories in alternate chapters.

Def a good read!

13. Mr And Mrs Dutt Memories Of Our Parents - Namrata Dutt Kumar- 3/5

Lovingly written by Namrata -- it is the description of the love shared between their parents and gives a glimpse of the kind of people that they are. It is not actually a biography though

I personally respect Sunil Dutt a lot but through this book also fell in love with his wife. She was an extraordinarily woman herself.

The pics were a welcome bonus!

14. The Choice - Nicholas Sparks- 3/5

After some heavy books...wanted a light read and this book was just the one. Nicholas Sparks has this ability to write in a way which makes the book unputdownable and so was the case with this..

Fell in love with the two lead characters. Hope this one has / would be made into a movie as well

15. Bombay Duck Is A Fish -- Kanika Dhillon- - 3/5

Avg read. The only thing that appealed to me about the book was that the progtagonist is an Asst. diretor working in a film in Mumbai. It was nice to read about what happens behind the golden screen!

I have half read it - did not find very appealing

yeah -- as I said -- what appealed to me is the behind the film scenes aspect...

16. Tea for two and a piece of cake- Preeti Shenoy- 3/5

Nice, breezy read....i mean if u r looking for a life changing book with great vocabulary, great sense of humour, intellect or great writing style then dont read this

But if u r in one of those phases where u just need some breezy read to help u stay in that chilled out zone, go for it!

17. Lucknow Boy: A Memoir - Vinod Mehta - 3/5

All of us usually have lot of opinions on the Media ...so it was interesting to read about the workings of the Media from the point of view of an Editor.

Its a biography -- and besides the personality and working pattern of the editor, it was also intersting to read about few famous personalities aka Politicians, writers, Industrialists etc.

Overall, a good read!

Yeah after hearing him speak about it at the JLF, I was suspecting this; that it would read worse than it sounded.

Um, were the chapters (or bits) on the writers more interesting than the 3/5 overall rating? I guess he talks about Naipaul and Rushdie, doesn't he? Because if they are, then I might still buy it, just for those bits. And of course, I would need to BUY it. Not everyone has an office library, you know.

Well he speaks very highly of Naipaul...Rushdie-- hmm just about ok. Since he has interacted with them personally as a co-writer/ friend -- it was sort of interesting to read about what he felt about them -- but then again -- it is WHAT HE FELT about them so figure that :P If you are planning to just buy the book for these two writers, I would say think again coz it is just 2 pages each so you might just be dissapointed. I did borrow it from the office library (Confessions from a sheepish me)

Urban Shots-- Paritosh Uttam - 2.5

I can give it 2.5 stars though GR does not give that option -- It was an avg read. Some of the stories were good but others, pretty average.

19. Diana: Her New Life - Andrew Morton- 2.5

Reading about her experience was painful but somehow the writing style was such that it did not hold interest. The author could have done a better job

both the books are off my list, then.

Definitely Smitha-- there are great books which have to be finished -- why waste times for 2.5/ 2 stars?

20. The Immortals of Meluha - Amish Tripathi -- 3.5/5

I fell in love with Shiva -- he is such a dude !! I mean leave the physical description aside, he came across as simple, witty person....hmmm GOD :P

The description of the fighting scenes had this strange effect of me imagining the scenes !

All in all, a good read!

21. The Secret of the Nagas -- Amish Tripathi -- 3.5/5

I continued to love Shiva and fell in love with Sati and Ganesha too! esp. Ganesha -- just makes you bring a smile to your face.

Now Im waiting eagerly for the last book of the triology!

have the books gathering dust in my shelf. Somehow I couldnot complete the first one, though I liked it. Twice I started on The Immortals, and something or the other came up which made me forget the book

hmmm... Maybe u can give it a try once again. They were light reads

Hi I find your collections interesting. I loved one book I read recently. IF you had loved immortals of Meluha, definitely you might love this Asura- Tale of The Vanquished. An alternative to Ramayana- Ravana's Ramayana that is Asura for you. A fast paced read

Thanks Prakash. Looks interesting-- have added to my to- read list!

22. The Romantics - Pankaj Mishra - 3/5

It was a "go with the flow" kind of book...melancholy at times, happy at times...depressing at times but nevertheless just showed some offbeat characters-- both Indians and Westerners in "Beneras". Also reflects to a certain extent the "cluelessness" of ppl...the "mystery" of people. At the end you might not learn anything new so if you dont mind reading a "go with the flow" kind of a book, you can read or else u can skip it!

23. The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin S. Sharma - 3/5

Typical Robin Sharma- youve read one, you hv read them all

24. Love and Marriage - Bill Cosby - 2/5

Passable

25. Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It - Marshall Goldsmith- 2/5

Avg read. Few points were good

26. Pay It Forward - Catherine Ryan Hyde- 4/5

Though Ive seen the moive before, the concept is so damn good that I loved it all over again.

"Pay it forward"- the extraordinary story of a perfect idea. Lovely!