Title: The Palace of Illusions
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Paperback: 360 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (May 12th 2008)
Genre: Mythology (Indian)
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
A reimagining of the world-famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat—told from the point of view of an amazing woman.

Relevant to today’s war-torn world, The Palace of Illusions takes us back to a time that is half history, half myth, and wholly magical. Narrated by Panchaali, the wife of the legendary Pandavas brothers in the Mahabharat, the novel gives us a new interpretation of this ancient tale.

The novel traces the princess Panchaali’s life, beginning with her birth in fire and following her spirited balancing act as a woman with five husbands who have been cheated out of their father’s kingdom. Panchaali is swept into their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war involving all the important kings of India. Meanwhile, we never lose sight of her strategic duels with her mother-in-law, her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna, or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands’ most dangerous enemy. Panchaali is a fiery female redefining for us a world of warriors, gods, and the ever-manipulating hands of fate.

Review:

I heard of ‘The Palace of Illusions’ first from my husband Che during a discussion about perpectives and how what we think of history may not be the only way it happened.

I have read the Amar Chitra Katha version of the Mahabharata and even watched the TV serials avidly but all of these were from Vayasa’s viewpoint. Somehow that was the Mahabharata for me, I’d never thought that Draupadi or a woman’s point of view to the whole battle maybe different. Thats why I read this book.

And it didn’t let me down. It is a journey worth taking to see the battle with a different pair of eyes. ‘The Palace of Illusions’ is the same old Mahabharata but as seen by Draupadi. Chitra does a good job of letting us peek into the heart and mind of a woman. Her turmoil at trying to be more that just a woman in the harem of kings and her quest to learn more, be more. How she struggles to accept her fate that was sealed the day she stepped out of the fire. Her love for one unattainable man and her duty to another five.

Chitra makes Draupadi just like any other woman with her issues and reconciliation with her mother-in-law. Her sense of pride and honour and the lengths she would go to to revenge them. A woman we can relate to and yet she stands apart with the role she plays in the story.

This book is a must read if you’re into Hindu Mythology and Lore, and even if you’re not, this is a must read for the different perpective to history and lore.

Title: Death by Facebook
Author: Everett Peacock
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (March 4th 2011)
Genre: Mystery
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)
A vacationing soldier in Hawaii…
Earth’s most active volcano, anxious to repeat itself…
Two murders involving love, madness, friendship, hippies, tsunamis, and the great hereafter…

DEATH BY FACEBOOK by Everett Peacock
Be careful what you say online

Review:

The story plays out in Hawaii where James and Janet have gone for a vacation before he gets deployed to Afghanistan. Janet murders James and the book is about why she did that and the consequences of the murder on the island like a butterfly effect but much closer.

Death by Facebook has a lot of characters but each adds to the story. I found myself relating and feeling for each one of the many characters on the island.

Other than the murder Everett Peacock describes a volcano eruption and its impact on the people on the island. The mix of the kind of people he chooses to tell the story are varied – from a hippie to the police and scientists. The views and reactions of people in crisis fascinated me.

When I picked up this book I thought it would be all about Facebook and a murder but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Facebook played only a small part in the large story. There was so much more happening. The book is written well and grabs the reader. The pace of the story is good with a lot of action.

The book got me thinking about Facebook and just how powerful it could be both to do good and evil. Just how far reaching its messages are and its impact on people.

It also questioned good and evil. Janet starts her journey through the book as an evil person who murders her fiancé but as I went along with the story getting to know her better, I started to question if it was she who was evil or her situation.

I’d recommend this book to all who are looking for something different to read that is still enjoyable.

Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen Johnson
Paperback: 319 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (October 1st 2006)
Genre: YA
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
Summary: (GoodReads)When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn’t know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

Title: The Last Little Blue Envelope
Author: Maureen Johnson
Paperback: 282 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen (April 26th 2011)
Genre: YA
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads)Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny’s backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he’s found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

Review:

These two books from Maureen are about Ginny who receives 13 envelopes from her Aunt who has passed away a short while back. Her Aunt is an adventurous spirit and the letters set Ginny off on an adventure that will change the way she sees the world.

There are questions that raise themselves as you read – the fact that Ginny’s parents allow her to embark on this journey, especially since Ginny is not allowed to carry a phone or any travel books. The trusting way that Ginny accepts the challenge of the trip even though she isn’t the adventurous type then.

But all that said the books are interesting and if you are a travel person you will relate to the books. Ginny’s adventures are fun and she learns some life lesson’s from her travels. Maureen describes the places and the people well; I could see Ginny walk down many of the lanes described. Ginny doesn’t travel to the only to touristy sites, she also goes to many hidden away parts of the cities she travels too. Kudos to Maureen for the research and travel involved.

I did find a few catches though, like – in book 2, Ginny is travelling in a two door car but at some points in the book Maureen writes as if it is a 4 door.

The characters are described well and I related to them. Guess I’ve met people like them while travelling myself. The heroes Keith and Oliver are very real and I liked and felt for them both.

I liked the second book more than the first. That’s one of those rare things

The books are a quick read and worth reading!

Title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Author: Rebecca Skloot
Paperback: 370 pages
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (February 2nd, 2010)
Genre: Non-fiction, Science
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
Summary: (GoodReads) Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Review:

This book has been on my reading-list for a while but I just kept putting it off. I’m glad I got down to it.

The book is about the woman behind the HeLa cells. HeLa cells are the most used cells in research and have contributed hugely to science. They helped with vaccines like polio and research like the method of freezing cells. HeLa was the first cluster of cells to survive and grow in a laboratory; it grew so successfully it is mass-produced. The interesting thing about HeLa cells is that they are cancerous!
These cells and their history is interesting. You can read more here – HeLa on Wikipedia

HeLa cells being interesting as they are I found the story of the person behind the cells and her family more moving. The pathos, the struggle, the love and the bigness they show is heart warming.

The opposites are striking. On one hand HeLa cells get famous and a lot of companies make money. On the other Henrietta’s family don’t even have health care. They don’t know for years how much their mother has contributed to science. They didn’t get their due credit.

Reading the book its clear that Rebecca has spent ages in research. The book is scientific and you’re going to walk away knowing a lot more about cells and cell research but its going to be an interesting read. There is no point at which you get bored. Rebecca has balanced the medical and personal well. I enjoyed the book.

A must read!

Author: Cyrus Broacha
Paperback: 246 pages
Publisher: Random House,India (Nov. 25th, 2011)
Genre: Indian Humour (for want of something better)
Read: Paperback(Library)
Stars: ***/5
Summary: (Flipkart) Name: Average Indian Male; Latin name: manush, purush, aam aadmi, Bunty.

Cyrus is back. And this time as agony aunt and master critic as he sets out to deconstruct a subject we re all familiar with the average Indian male. The mama s boy, the groin scratcher, the man who holds hands with another man, Cyrus tackles these and many other quirks and shortcomings of Indian men in his inimitable style and unfailing logic. Join India s best known funny man as he takes you on this laugh riot like never before.

Review:

I saw the book at the Library and considering it was Cyrus and the blurb said laugh riot, I picked it up.

The book is a fast read and humourous in places too. I DIDN’T laugh loud once through the book though I did smile sometimes but those were rare and in-between.

Cyrus’s quirky humour shows up in places and I wish there was more of it through the book. At some places I did think of some of the men I know and their habits and bonded with the book.

Over-all – OK! Cyrus could have been much better and more himself. Definitely not worth a second read!