Some pacy books are formulaic, and this one is one of them.Prince must marry Princess – it’s a political alliance. Prince and Princess hate each other; they have all kinds […]
Asylum
For once, the amount of time I’ve taken to read this says nothing about the book. I remember reading Bloom of Youth. I was faintly unhappy with it. I then somehow […]
The Pursuit of Happyness
Yes, I know I ought to have watched this long ago. Yes, I know that practically everyone has already watched this. But it moved me to tears, and I cannot […]
The Haunting of Hiram
Yesterday, when MJ Shubhra asked me to recommend books at the ‘Book Club’ show, I was tongue-tied, somehow. I could think of nothing. On my desk lay an Eva Ibbotson, […]
Surprise Interview
I never have call waiting turned on. Yesterday, somehow I did. An unknown number was calling me as I spoke to a very dear friend – a landline number. At […]
Monsters University
When humour, action, plot, story, character and setting are all rolled into one, how can I not leave the cinema hall smiling like I have a tummy full of food […]
The Lost Years
When I first read Mary Higgins Clark, I remember how amazed I was. All Around the Town remains one of the most powerful books of all time in my memory. Yet, when […]
Stormswift
Madeleine Brent, ah, Madeleine Brent. So many of your books are based on the same thing – an English girl in a foreign land, falling in love with an Englishman […]
Walkabout
Unbelievably moving. Two English children in the middle of the Australian desert – what are their chances of survival? But they come across a bush boy. A naked dark-skinned Aborigine. […]
The Moneylender’s Daughter
I often shy away from thick books. I’m not quite sure why because I have read (more than once) and enjoyed (tremendously) books like Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre […]
Magical Mail
‘Dear Sir or Madam,My name is Thor. I would like to work for the council recycling department. I think I would be good at this as I have lightning for […]
The Poison Garden
I finally finished reading The Poison Garden only because I forced myself to. I turned page after deliberate page, skipping sections, skimming over larger sections and wondering who would read […]
The Harry Potter Phenomenon
“You must read Harry Potter,” a friend of mine told me when I was in the eighth standard. I glanced at the book lying on her desk and nodded. The book […]
The Great Gatsby
Is it fair to compare a book with a movie? Especially a book with such a strong narrative voice? I was a little put-off by the idea of Nick talking […]
Faerie Heart
Incredible. As a child, I did not like novels that were not divided into chapters. I have no idea why. The only exception was Mary Poppins. I somehow think this […]
Oranges in No Man’s Land
I find that so may writers seem to have a compulsion to write long, complex, layered work. So many new books are thick paperbacks, full of things happening on every […]
Apricots at Midnight
Many would say that Apricots at Midnight is an outdated book: old-fashioned and preachy. Yet, the simple childlike stories made it altogether loveable. Imagine a patchwork quilt, in which each little bit […]
Reflex
If I don’t read, I can’t write. It’s as simple as that. My mother introduced me to Dick Francis years ago, and I never imagined I would like more than […]
The Ant Colony
Books that I’ve loved and re-read time and time again have nearly always emphasised character over plot. Take, for example, Anne, Emily, Little Lord Fauntleroy and the little princess. There’s […]
My Name is Rose
I could say that Smarties Gold Medal winning author Sally Grindley’s book is about a Romanian gypsy being integrated into a dysfunctional recomposed English family. Orphaned during a road accident, […]