Book Reviews: I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

When Poppy Wyatt loses her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill she goes into a state of panic. After all, who wouldn’t? That’s the one thing you’re really not supposed to lose, especially when it’s been in your fiancé’s family for three generations! To add insult to injury, in the panic that follows the loss of her ring, her phone is stolen. As she paces around the hotel lobby in a state of borderline hysteria, Poppy chances upon a phone in a trash can. After a quick internal debate, she picks the phone up and passes the “new” number around to the hotel staff and…gets a call. From the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, who isn’t amused that she has “stolen” his PA’s phone. Somehow, Poppy manages to convince him to let her keep the phone just until she finds her ring, and promises to forward all messages and emails that come on that phone to him at once. But sharing a phone isn’t easy, as both of them soon find out.

This is my first Sophie Kinsella novel and I must say I enjoyed it. Poppy’s character is brilliant. She’s like this lost babe in the woods with a heart of gold who couldn’t bear to hurt a fly. And if this sounds really clichéd, just trust me when I say this – you will end up falling in love with her. Guaranteed! Sam is diametrically her opposite – a hard-nosed businessman who seems to have no time for friends and family. He sends one-word responses to emails and ignores most of his correspondence – something that drives poor Poppy totally bonkers. In fact, all of the characters in this book are properly three-dimensional, not cardboard cut-outs or “stock characters”.

Also, if you think chick lit is nothing but mushy romance, this novel will put that thought to rest. There are a lot of subtle underlying messages through the book. One is our dependence on technology. When Poppy loses her phone, she feels like she’s lost a part of herself, like an arm or a leg. Then, as she starts reading through Sam’s emails while forwarding them (after all, it’s difficult not to give in to curiosity and read an email when you’re opening it to forward it on, isn’t it?) she forms an image of him as a hard-nosed businessman who has no time for friends or family. But that turns out to be incorrect, as she finds out to her utter humiliation. Kinsella also warns against meddling in other people’s affairs, as Poppy makes one blunder after the next, all in an effort to – as she sees it – help Sam. Then there’s Poppy’s unwillingness to confront people, which Sam points out to her when he goes through her messages. After all, if you remember, the phone does belong to him! Quite a tangle, wouldn’t you agree? The development of their romance is gradual, making you believe that their love is meant to last as they both balance each other perfectly.

Kinsella is now on my list of go-to authors for a relaxed holiday read, just behind Mave Binchy. If you’re looking for a light-hearted read, I would heartily recommend this book.

Book review: The Family Corleone by Ed Falco

From the back cover:

“New York, 1933. The city and the nation are in the depths of the Great Depression. The crime families of New York have prospered in this time, but with the coming end of Prohibition, a battle is looming that will determine which organizations will rise and which will face a violent end.
For Vito Corleone, nothing is more important that his family’s future. While his youngest children, Michael, Fredo, and Connie, are in school, unaware of their father’s true occupation, and his adopted son Tom Hagen is a college student, he worries most about Sonny, his eldest child. Vito pushes Sonny to be a businessman, but Sonny-17 years-old, impatient and reckless-wants something else: To follow in his father’s footsteps and become a part of the real family business.”

Just reading the back cover make me excited about getting my hands on this book. I had read The Godfather about 10 years ago, and returning to those unforgettable characters was a treat.

“Make him an offer he can’t refuse” and movie producer Jack Woltz waking up to find his favorite horse’s severed head in his bed are images that are seared onto the minds of Godfather fans. The characters of Don Corleone and Sonny, of Luca Brasi and Tom Haegen are well-known and well-loved. But how did Vito Corelone become Don Corleone? Was Sonny always a hot-head? What makes Luca Brasi so formidable and so devoted to the Don? If you’ve ever wondered about these back stories, this book will give you the answers.

Cover of The Godfather

The novel starts in 1933 as Vito (and other mafia families) is plotting his move from controlling gambling and numbers in the Bronx to expanding the business following the end of Prohibition. And although he is firmly entrenched in this life, he doesn’t want his sons to follow in his footsteps. So he encourages Michael to focus on his studies, sends Tom Haegen to Columbia to study law and sets Sonny up in a garage, hoping that he will eventually make a name for himself in the automobile business. But Sonny wants nothing more than to join his father’s business, and takes his first steps into that world as the head of a gang of 17-year old hijackers. By staying in the background when the deals for the hooch he hijacks are struck, he ensures that his father knows nothing about his extra-curricular activities. Michael, meanwhile, is immersed in his studies, while Connie and Fredo are pretty much in the background.

The really interesting part of the novel, though, is Luca Brasi, who gets a starring role in The Family Corleone. Falco paints him as a dark character known as El diablo (the devil), who strikes fear in the hearts of all the mafioso. No one wants to cross the brutal Brasi, as stories abound about his legendary strength, death-defying feats and brutality. Falco explores the origins of his brutal nature as Brasi goes from being an independent gang leader to becoming Don Corleone’s most faithful enforcer.

Flaco stays close to Puzo’s writing style, and the extensive glossary of Italian words at the end of the book really bring the mafia world alive. Based on a screenplay by Mario Puzo, The Family Corleone is a rip-roaring page turner that should make fans of The Godfather happy.

Disclaimer: I got a copy of this book from Random House India, but the review and opinions expressed are my own.

A Reading Challenge for 2013

So apparently the world decided to chug along into 2013, leaving all the doomsday prophecies biting the dust. And seeing how we’ve been given a new lease of life – as those doomsday soothsayers would say – it makes sense to make the most of it!

Now, if you’re wondering if I was one of the naive innocents who bought into that prophecy, perish the thought! I just figured this would be a great way to start this post.

Why? Because I’m setting myself a few challenges this year.

Número uno on the list is my very first reading challenge!

I generally read as the whim strikes me. I hate being tied down to a genre or region or author. But this challenge sounds interesting, seeing as I get to set the number of books I will read as part of the challenge.

Considering that I read over 60 books last year, I’m guessing 10 is a good number for the Indian Quills Reading Challenge (IQR), hosted by The Tales Pensieve.

With the explosion of Indian writers, I'm hoping I'll be able to find 10 books by Indian authors that will rock my world!

What about you! Have you set yourself a reading – or any other – challenge for the year?

Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 5 books of 2012

2012 was a stellar year for me in terms of reading and all things book-related. I read over 60 books this year, across a variety of genres. I came across some brilliant writers, and some not so brilliant ones. I was approached by Random House India to participate in their book bloggers program, under which they send me books to read and review. And I joined a cool Twitter book-chat – TSBC.

So, what better way to kick-off this year-end wrap-up than by sharing with you my 10 favorite reads from the year? Without further ado, here they are!

Nobody Can Love You More by Mayank Austin Soofi
If you want to read just one book this year, make it this one. It’s a poignant look at the lives of Delhi’s sex workers. Set in GB Road (Delhi’s red light district), written after Soofi spent over three years visiting the area and the kothas to get an insight into their life, the book is almost like reading his personal diary with his thoughts, dialogue, and his drive to know more about the women who live here. From the first word, this book will hook you, draw you into the world of GB Road, and make you care about the lives and troubles that the women of these kothas face.

Cover via Amazon

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
In a year marked by 60 books, this one stands out for its novel format. After all, not too many books are written in the form of letters – of course, there is the excellent 84 Charring Cross Road. But this book, I think, has a slight edge. Why? Because it’s difficult to write an entire novel in the form of fictional letters and still explore some of the darker aspects of war and the horrors of concentration camps, and to create characters that you come to love and understand. (You can read the full review here)

Cover of The Feast of Roses: A Novel

Feast of Roses by Indu Suderasan
Set in Mughal India, this is the story of Emperor Jahangir’s love for his twentieth wife, Mehrunnisa (better known as Empress Nur Jahan). From the time she enters his harem, she fits none of the established norms of womanhood in seventeenth-century India. She is the first woman the emperor marries for love, eventually transferring his powers of sovereignty to her. She goes on to gain much more power than any Empress before or after her, and all of it despite remaining behind the veil. It is a compelling read as it brings to life an unexplored period in fiction, with a lot of attention paid to period details and descriptions of various cultural ceremonies that distinguished court life in royal India.

Cover of The Shadow of the Wind

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I think it’s fitting that in a list of top 10 books features one where a bookstore and library play a central role in the narrative. Specifically, it’s the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, from where young Daniel Sempere picks up a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. He stays up all night reading the book, completely engrossed, and then tries to find other books by the same author. But there are none. All he uncovers are stories of a strange man calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil, who has been buying Carax’s books for decades only to burn them. As he works to uncover the puzzle, he unravels a beautiful, doomed love story that has been buried in the depths of oblivion. What makes this book a must-read is Zafon’s masterful plotting, the slow unwinding of the mystery and his extraordinary control over language.

The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy
I think I can safely say that this is the best book I’ve read that is told not from the perspective of humans, but from that of cats! In this stunning, richly imagined debut, Roy weaves a yarn about the trials and travails of Nizzamuddin’s street cats. The entire novel is written from their perspective, in their voice and language, is done so well done that you’d be forgiven for thinking that a cat learnt how to write and spun this yarn for us humans! (You can read the full review here)

Now, it’s your turn. Which were your favorite books this year?

Book review: Bartimaeus: Ring of Solomon – Jonathan Stroud

British versions of the Harry Potter series (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve developed a love for fantasy fiction. It started with JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which I read through college and into adulthood. After a long break from this genre, I returned to it with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, which was recommended to me by a colleague in the US. (I don’t understand the hysteria around these novels – after reading the first book I wanted to gag, but they did seem to get better. Or maybe I knew what to expect.) Then came Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass), the brilliant and complex Fire & Ice series by George RR Martin and Joanne Harris’ novels based on Norse mythology (Runemarks and Ruinlight), and I was firmly hooked onto the genre.

 

So when I got the opportunity to review Bartimaeus for RHI, I jumped at the chance.

 

The novel starts with one of King Solomon’s 17 magicians commanding the demon Bartimaeus to search “the known world for objects of beauty and power” at the behest of the king. But keeping charge of a demon is no easy task. You have to be sure that your commands are worded without any loopholes that can be exploited and that you are always within your pentacle, or the demon will be quick to kill you to gain its freedom.

 

“Rizim had put the other eye out on a rare occasion when our master had made a slight mistake with the words of his summoning. We’d additionally managed to scorch his backside once or twice, and there was a scar on his neck where I’d come close with a lucky ricochet, but despite a long career commanding more than a dozen formidable djinn, the magician remained vigorous and spry. He was a tough old bird.”

 

A feat that Bartimaeus accomplishes within the first few chapters of the novel. And that earns him the retribution of Solomon, who orders the magician Khaba to summon and enslave him. At the same time, he tasks Khaba with constructing a marvellous temple with a workforce comprising of a bunch of demons, including Bartimaeus. But true to form, Bartimaeus manages to irk King Solomon yet again, getting Khaba kicked off the temple project and sent to the desert to hunt bandits.

 

Meanwhile, in far away Sheba, the Queen receives a messenger from the King. Seeing as she has refused his offer of marriage multiple times, Solomon now orders her to pay him a tribute of frankenseince or see her city destroyed at the hands of an army of spirits. What makes Solomon’s threat so ominous is the ring that he discovered years ago, which allows him to summon an untold number of spirits and command the forbiddingly powerful Spirit of the Ring. The threat of this ring brings a number of magicians to Solomon’s court, whose summoned demons are used to build temples, maintain law and order and keep the peace. It’s a ring that everyone wants…but no one should have. Anyway, back to Sheba. To save her country, the queen sends Asmira, a loyal captain of her guard, to Jerusalem to kill the king and take his ring. And this is where the real fun of the novel begins.

 

Jonathan Stroud’s version of Jerusalem is peopled with monstrous djinnis, marids and afrits, all of whom are enslaved to a magician and must carry out their every command. He’s taken stories about King Solomon from the Old Testament and given them a magical spin, with Bartimaeus cooking up trouble, cracking humorous wisecracks and causing mayhem wherever he goes. The story has some interesting twists and turns, with evil getting its due reward (or rather, punishment) in the end.

The principal character of the novel is Bartimaeus, and he is absolutely delightful! He’s got this wicked sense of humour

 

“Then again, Solomon was human. And that meant he was flawed (Go on, take a look at yourself in the mirror. A good long look, if you can bear it. See? Flawed’s putting it mildly, isn’t it?)”

 

with a side of sarcasm

 

“It’s the same with spirit guises; show me a sweet little choirboy or a smiling mother and I’ll show you the hideous fanged strigoi it really is. (Not always. Just sometimes. *Your* mother is absolutely fine, for instance. Probably.)”

 

along with a healthy dose of boastfulness

 

“‘The Evasive Cartwheel’™ ©, etc., Bartimaeus of Uruk, circa 2800 BC. Often imitated, never surpassed. As famously memorialized in the New Kingdom tomb paintings of Rameses III – you can just see me in the background of The Dedication of the Royal Family Before Ra, wheeling out of sight behind the pharaoh.”

 

Jonathan has also taken care with his human characters. Asmira, for instance, goes from being convinced about her mission to kill Solomon, to feeling helpless and worthless, and finally finding her sense of purpose as the story unfolds. King Solomon too, despite being a known figure, has been given some rather interesting character twists.

 

Most of the chapters are narrated by Bartimaeus, and these include back stories and explanations of various magical (and other) terms – told in the form of footnotes – in his distinctive (read: witty and sarcastic) voice. Some of the chapters are narrated by Asmira and others are in third person – and all of these transitions are handled well.

 

What I enjoyed most about the book, though, was Bartimaeus and his wit! The Ring of Solomon is the prequel to the Bartimaeus trilogy, which I haven’t read. So, I can say with full confidence: if you haven’t read the trilogy and don’t think you want to get into one, read this one book – it works perfectly as a stand-alone novel. Me? I’m going to be reading the rest of the trilogy – I need to know what trouble Bartimaeus cooked up in modern day London!

Disclaimer: I got a copy of this book from Random House India, but the review and opinions expressed are my own.