Good Books Lift You!

Good Books Lift You!

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Review: For Better and Worse

For Better and Worse For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Will and Natalie meet in law school, and later get married. After a few years, and a son Charlie, life seems to enter a phase where their relation seems to be losing its shine. Their life comes under severe strain when Charlie’s principal is accused of molesting a child. Will and Natalie have known him well and are not sure what the truth is. The student who has made the accusation has had problems in the past.

Very quickly Will and Natalie find themselves getting involved more deeply. They are concerned on the impact all this will have on Charlie. Natalie especially is determined that she will do anything to keep her son safe. Very soon Will and Natalie find themselves in a very complex situation and possibly on the wrong side of the law. Will has a few things to hide which complicates things further. It is tough to add anything more to the story without introducing spoilers, and hence I stop here.

This is an extremely well written book – a strong storyline, great characterization and very fast paced. Highly recommended!

I received a free ebook from Netgalley for an honest review.

My rating: 4.5 / 5

View all my reviews

Review: Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow: A gripping new thriller for 2018 with killer twists and turns

Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow: A gripping new thriller for 2018 with killer twists and turns Sidney Sheldon’s The Silent Widow: A gripping new thriller for 2018 with killer twists and turns by Sidney Sheldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tilly Bagshawe continues Sidney Sheldon’s legacy, and does a decent job of it. A strong woman character – this time in Nikki Roberts who is a psychologist. One of her patients is brutally murdered, and her assistant at work meets the same fate soon after. Nikki is just picking up the pieces of her life, being widowed less than a year back, with her husband passing away in a car accident.

It looks like she is the person a killer is after. Very unsure of whether the police are taking the threat seriously, she hires a private detective Derek Williams. The case takes Derek back to over a decade earlier when an American au-pair Charlotte Clancy disappears in Mexico. Just when Derek makes progress, he is forced to leave Mexico abruptly. He soon realises he is against a very powerful adversary – a cartel of drug dealers. Nikki is left confused on who she can trust, and there are some secrets associated with her ex-husband as well.

The story provides a good amount of twists and turns. However, there are far too many characters and incidents which need to be tied together at the end. While Tilly Bagshawe does do it – it comes across unnecessarily complicated. There is also very little real novelty in the story except for the connection to incidents in the past.

This is however, a good book to relax with – and an easy and fast moving read.


View all my reviews

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Review: Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker

Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker by Pavan K. Varma
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While exact details of the period Adi Shankaracharya lived are not entirely known, the impact of his philosophy and commentary is immense. He was certainly one of the greatest philosophers the world has seen. Joseph Campbell wrote many years later on how we need to see beyond the literal in religious traditions, myths and ancient texts. Adi Shankaracharya did just that – writing impactful commentaries and establishing traditions based on his deep knowledge, analysis and understanding of the Vedas, Upanishads and other ancient texts.

The most striking aspect of this was his unambiguous assertion that all is one – Brahman is the all-pervading connection between everything in the universe. He points out that if this is true, there is no basis for any discrimination (by caste / gender / other life forms or any other basis) which must have been a well-entrenched practice at that time.

Pavan Varma’s book has a very good flow. It starts with some context on what we known of Adi Shankaracharya’s life and work. It then follows with three broad sections:
- His travel to the places where Adi Shankara stayed or visited and current knowledge and practices of the local residents
- Impact of Adi Shankara’s philosophy and relevance in modern times, including alignment with scientific knowledge
- Excerpts from some of Adi Shankara’s work

As it turns out, Adi Shankaracharya’s commentary on Advaita Vedanta has stood the test of time including scientific scrutiny. While the section on latest scientific advances is a little too long, the point is made that this is a philosophy which is practical, fair and very meaningful. While he died very young in his early thirties, his achievements were staggering – traversing a large country largely by foot, engaging in debates, and establishing four mathas to preserve tradition and serve as source of knowledge to explain the philosophy. Just maybe, if he had lived longer, he could have turned around a lot of the discriminatory practices which caused pain to so many.

The book is backed by research and has good narration of the personal experiences of the author’s visit to many places across the country. As he points out, a far better job needs to be done to maintain many of the places and sites which are of great historical importance. The section on the advances in science, could have been compressed a little though.

This is a great book to read if the subject is of interest.


View all my reviews

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Review: The Silent Sister

The Silent Sister The Silent Sister by Shalini Boland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the second book I have read of Shalini Boland (after “The Child Next Door”). The Silent Sister keeps up an excellent pace right throughout (unlike “The Child Next Door” which slackened in the middle). There is good suspense and multiple twists/revelations in the end.

Lizzy Beresford works at a store and has what seems to be a contented life with a steady boyfriend since 5 years. However, she has not been on talking terms with her sister for many years now, and meetings at their mother’s place are painful. All of a sudden, Lizzy starts receiving short & terse threatening letters. The police are informed, but with very little to go on, do not make much headway. She confides in her neighbours, hoping someone will see something. The threats take a serious turn with an attempt on her life.

She cannot understand why anyone would do this. Is there a link to her sister, boyfriend or her neighbours?

There is a good buildup to the end with a series of events, and the story does not let up. There is a double twist & revelation at the end (quite unnecessary in my opinion as the story was great as it).

If psychological thriller novels interest you, this is a great book to read.

My rating: 4.5 / 5

I received a free uncorrected advanced review ecopy of this book from NetGalley for a review.


View all my reviews

Monday, June 18, 2018

Review: A Bride for Sunil

A Bride for Sunil A Bride for Sunil by Joyce Mackenzie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title aside, the central character of the book is Victoria Standford. She is a good looking Anglo-Indian girl who has seen very hard times. She gets taken in by a visiting Englishman who promises to marry her, but then disappears. She is now an unwed mother to a boy, struggling to meet ends meet. Her roommate grows to be very irate with her as well.

She then meets Sunil, who is visiting from England. He is very caring and once he learns of her difficulties, offer her a passage to England. Victoria takes up the offer without understanding fully what he has in mind for her. And her troubles continue even in England.....Will her relationship with Sunil sustain, or does she need to move on?

The book unfortunately lacks coherence. In a book which relies more on relationships and drama, more impactful incidents were called for to keep up the pace. However, as Victoria tumbles from one crisis to the next, you are left with an unsatisfying story and characterization.

I received a free ebook copy from Netgalley for an honest review.

View all my reviews

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Review: Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the shortest possible summary, let me start by saying that Behave is a stupendous book, and among the best science books I have read. While it is a book of science, and very detailed in parts at that – it is still highly recommended reading for everybody. After all, who is not curious about why we behave the way we do. This book is certainly a tribute to the remarkable progress science has made in understanding our brain and our behaviours. However, be warned that it is a big book, which has a lot of detail and you might be in for a slower read than many other books.

Robert Sapolsky invokes interest and curiosity right from the start - talking about how we are very conflicted in our beliefs – especially we condone many acts of violence, but do support others. I have to admit I have many conflicts I am unable to resolve myself – such as the fact that I find very impressive the progress that science has made as detailed in this book, and yet I am very pained that much of this has come with cruel experiments on animals.

The organisation of the book is very logical – it traces an action from when it happens, to moments before, months/years before and potentially several years earlier in cases. Experiments show that there are several markers in our brain which light up, before we take any action. So the big question (which the book Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari explores as well) – do we really have free will? Do we have the ability to stop when the natural instinct kicks in? As it turns out, much of how we act is a result of a multitude of factors – events which have happened at any time previously - sometimes well in the past, our genes, environment, and many others, some of it still to be determined. This has extremely important implications for law enforcement as well.

There are excellent examples: eg: when you compliment a child on good work, telling them they are clever vs telling them they are hardworking invokes very different responses. While we appreciate empathy – the ability to step into and feel the others experience, empathy stalls action. Compassion is more effective. The discussion around how the brain responds to meditation are alluded to – though I think it deserved far more coverage. There are also other interesting lessons around how judges and juries decide punishment based on a number of factors which logic says should have no bearing.

The issues of “Us” vs “Them” is discussed in detail, and deservedly so. Our brain instantly associates some faces as “Us” and some others as “Them”. We develop this categorisation over time and this association is very strong in adulthood and near impossible to get over. While this is true even in animals, our behaviours are more complex. The “Us” categorisation could be based on country, language, religion, colour, and others. The natural tendency is to think in terms of aggregate labels rather than as individuals, accounting for much of our biases.

This is a big book, and one for which I should have taken notes. But I did not. Since there is a wealth of important information, I expect I will have to revisit the book again – when I feel I am forgetting its contents.

The Appendix has information on Brain / Genes / Hormones which is worth taking a look at. This is an exceptional book, though certainly not light reading. Since it packs great amount of detail, it is a more difficult read than for instance “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari. However, I very strongly recommend this – for reading at the earliest possible


View all my reviews

Friday, May 25, 2018

Review: The Devil's Star

The Devil's Star The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good murder mystery - would have been better if more concise and focused.

A serial killer seems to be on the loose. It appears to start with a young woman being murdered in her flat. More murders follow - and they are all cruel and brutal, with a finger being severed in each case.

Harry Hole is in a slump - his marriage is in trouble, he has a severe drinking problem and has no interest in the police force. He is assigned the case along with Tom Waaler, whom he has accused of being (at least partly) guilty of being an accomplice in certain crimes. But he has little choice in the matter.

Harry does spot a pattern, and with that, it seems the case is almost over. The police now know where the next crime could occur and lie in wait. But twists are in store.

Overall, this is a good murder mystery. However, it struggles over several pages to develop the story. And yet, the theme of the story is a positive, making the book worth a read.

My rating: 3.5 / 5.

View all my reviews