Review: Pines

Pines by Blake Crouch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Candles on The Ganges

Candles on The Ganges by Peter E. Upton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a deeply spiritual and moving book. This is true account of how the urge to communicate with his son (who passed away tragically very early at the age of 7), keeps the author, Peter, going.

The loss of a child, and at such a young age is a painful tragedy like no other. I have seen how immensely traumatic this is for people who have faced this. Peter is a cab driver in London, and senses that he has a gift as a potential medium himself. He approaches many mediums at the church and also at some other places subsequent to his son Michael’s passing. He receives several messages from his son and feels good that his presence in their lives continues – Peter and his wife also have another daughter. Peter himself is able to convey messages to other people from their loved ones who have passed on. He also takes up a course in astrology. At some point, he feels he should make a trip to India to deepen his spiritual practices.

His travels in India – Delhi, Haridwar and then Rajasthan are very well narrated. Peter runs into a number of instances where he is cheated, but at the same time meets many wise & helpful people as well. Much of his experiences makes for very interesting reading (except a very silly narration of an episode on a train where a doctor asserts that eating chappatis is making Indians foolish and weak). His keen interest, respect for and observation of the meditation practices of some of the gurus in Haridwar, helps him reach the silence within him which he has longed for. An overview of Vedanta would have helped Peter better tie up the concepts, temples, practices and rituals which he observed though.

This is a book which should be widely read – it is very honest, deep and meaningful. Very strongly recommended.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.


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Review: The Autoimmune Solution: Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases

The Autoimmune Solution: Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases by Amy Myers
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is the third health related book I have read and reviewed in the past few months (the others being ‘Brain Food’ by Lisa Mosconi and ‘How not to die’ by Michael Greger). It can be difficult to reconcile the advice offered – as there are contradictions. And yet some conclusions are clear – we severely underestimate the role the food we eat plays in our health and the benefits of consulting a good dietitian. My interest in reading this book was because of some prevalent autoimmune conditions in people close to me. As I read on, I found I have an autoimmune condition myself.

This book makes an interesting start – it delves on the various types of autoimmune diseases ranging from allergies, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and others. The first section of the book details how the immune system mistakenly attacks inflammatory agents it encounters. The key principles of addressing this includes: healing the gut, reducing intake of inflammatory foods, limiting exposure to toxins and managing stress. This is referred to as ‘The Myers Way’ – a phrase which repeats multiple times on each page. The author talks about how conventional medicine does not help much – progressively requiring more medication, compounded by the fact that people with one autoimmune condition are at high risk of developing others. I cannot agree more that better solutions are needed to treat autoimmune disorders.

Amy details the foods we should strictly avoid – gluten, grains, dairy and legumes. She explains how she ate largely vegetarian food herself but changed her diet to come out of her autoimmune condition. She states that vegetarians & vegans have no way to improve their autoimmune condition. While this view came across as disappointing to me – I also know this to be incorrect as I personally know a few people who have improved their autoimmune condition with a strictly vegetarian diet. Also, a lot of her diet recommendation contradicts studies on people living long and healthy lives. So, assuming ‘The Myers Way’ does work for limiting autoimmune conditions in the short term, what about the longer term? Unlike the other two books I have referred at the start of this review, this book refers to almost no research.

There is detailed discussion on inflammatory foods, especially gluten, grains, dairy & eggs and the harm they cause us – even people without a current autoimmune condition can progress towards one. The book includes a detailed 30-day diet plan and recipes of many of the dishes mentioned. The author claims that people taking up this diet will feel better in a week, and are most likely to significantly limit their symptoms in a month.

If people are able to take up this diet, I suppose there cannot be any harm in trying this for a short period (after all the author says the difference should be noticeable in a month). I would be very wary of adopting something like for the long term.

I considered my review and rating carefully to see to what extent I am allowing my personal values & diet habits to influence it. This book suffers from an egotistical tone, repeating material, non-evidence based conclusions and almost no references to credible research. So, not guilty.


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Review: The Stranger's Wife

The Stranger's Wife by Anna-Lou Weatherley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my first book by the author. It has a decent story and good pace. A story about two women – Beth and Cath who are struggling with marital issues, and the stories converge well at the end.

Beth is married to Evan who is wealthy, but there seems to be little else to the marriage. She wants to move in with Nick, but it is not going to be easy and there is her young daughter Lily to consider. Cath is married to Saul, who is addicted to drugs and indulges in violent abuse. The scenes describing the abuse make for difficult & depressing reading but are very well written. Beth & Cath meet unexpectedly on the train and are struck by the similarities of their pains.

A violent crime brings Dan into the fray, who tries to piece together the sequence of event and the motive.

The book makes for engrossing reading - only the last few chapters could have been much better.

My rating: 3.5 / 5.


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Review: The Girl in the Spider's Web

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been late in getting to this considering that two more books in the series are out. I loved the characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist in the Millenium series (The girl with the dragon tattoo, The girl who played with fire and The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest) created by Stieg Larsson. Lisbeth’s character is especially unique – with her strong sense of purpose and the strength she draws upon from within, after a difficult childhood.

The Millenium magazine is in financial distress and new investors are seeking changes. At this time, Blomkvist receives a desperate call from Frans Balder asking to meet him urgently. As Blomkvist rushes to meet him, he lands up a scene of murder. Balder’s autistic son August was also on the scene.

Salander enters the scene – and she is not a stickler for the rules. She will show no mercy to the bad & cruel guys. And in this case, it is a child’s life at stake.

I liked the plot and pace. Salander enters the scene a little late though, and I would have liked it otherwise. David Lagercrantz does a good job of continuing the series, where he does retain the essential personalities of Blomkvist and Salander.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.



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