The Help - Kathryn Stockett

One of those books that are as good as the hype. Kathryn Stockett takes us through America's south - particularly Mississippi during the 60's. In a no holds barred plot that is divided into chapters from the point of view of each of the main characters, the story unfolds. Of the black household help and their white mistresses.
Skeeter, a tall, socially awkward white college graduate fumbles through her painful life while documenting the good and the bad points of a black helps life. She recruits secretly and painfully many of the towns domestic help who tell her stories, most of which involve the closest of her friends. It is so real and sometimes so painful, you have to put the book down for a few moments. Telling it as it is, the story of women divided by racism. I could see traces of similarity between the story and our very own caste divisions. A must read.

PS: Another book I picked up because it was being made into a movie.

8/10

The Blue Girl -Charles de Lint

Fantasy is one of my guilty pleasures, especially children/teenage fantasy. This book covered those criteria and I wasn't too disappointed. A girl brought up by hippies but now living with a single mother and brother in a new town and has enrolled in a new school. She finds a close friend in Maxine and disturbingly in an imaginary childhood friend Pelly. Then there is a ghost adrian, naughty house spirits, eveil fairys etc etc. All the parents are cool and nobody bats an eyelid when confronted by these supernatural creatures and occurrences. All in all, not the best of the genre, but a good read.

6/10

The Titian Committee -Iain Pears

No gore, no unnecessary action, just real people solving a crime in Italy. The heroine Flavia is extremely relatable, no dark, mysterious pasts or anything. She is part of the struggling Art Theft squad in Rome, headed by a wily Bottando. A member of the prestigious Titian committee that documents the artists work has been killed in Venice. She is sent to assist the crime squad on any art related details. Labelled a mugging gone bad, the case is quickly covered but Flavia has her doubts. Assisted by Argyll, an English art buyer, she sets out (not so determinedly) to find the killer while never giving up on sleep or culinary pleasures. A character after my own heart. Soon the plots twists around Argyll's latest client, the members of the committee and ancient artist lives.

Venice as the setting works very well and even though I have no clue about Italian paintings or painters, I followed the story eagerly.

6/10

Susanna's seven husbands -Ruskin Bond

I love Ruskin Bond and the original Susanna's seven husbands is a good read with potential for a film. His novella of the same name is a little forced, after all he wrote it after Vishal Bharadwaj decided to make a movie out of it. Exciting and filled with so many possibilities, but I heard the movie is horrible. I haven't seen it yet because I like the snob appeal of reading a book before watching the movie. I think it was bad because he took the easy way out. Just ran with it superficially. Great for a Ruskin Bond read but not great for a movie.

4/10

Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie

Whatever the world says, Salman Rushdie is a great storyteller. I remember the excitement and awe when I first read Midnights Children. He has not lost his touch for magical nonsensical yet greatly readable stories. Haroun begins with a journey where Haroun and his mega storyteller father are taken to a meeting where his father's stories stop all of a sudden. Traveling to the land of stories to find out why, Haroun discovers an evil villain is polluting the sea of stories. Princess's, talking fish, a flying bus and a mad gardener all make this adventure worth a read.If you do not like kooky flights of fancy, give it a miss.

7/10

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People - Farahad Zama

As the name says, the novel is about an old couple retired and bored Mr Ali and his wife who begin a marriage bureau for upper middle class clients out of their front porch. A poor girl Aruna is hired to help him out. The plot proceeds languidly like the lives of the old couple with interesting clients that have even more interesting demands. Mr. Ali and Aruna's lives also take a slow turn. For Mr. Ali's its due to his son, the rebel and for Aruna when a new yet frightening opportunity opens up. Set in Hyderabad, it captures that quaint and timeless quality of great unhurried storytelling that depends on the characters.

Mr. Ali's essay extracts at the end and a great recipe to finish off are great touches.

6.5/10

Serious Men - Manu Joseph.

Bought this book after The Hindu Literary Prize was announced. (So awards do have an impact on book sales.) Was a little apprehensive, since Hindu is not exactly a masthead for cutting edge style or big on experimentation etc. I was pleasantly surprised. The book is bitter, but funny bitter. The characters, you have met. The story plausible but imaginative and with backgrounds that you can almost taste and smell. Nothing is left out, science, relationships, poverty,class, ambitions and love is split open, turned inside out for inspection with a jaded, pessimistic attitude. But somehow it works.

Ayyan Mani works for Arvind Acharya an eminent scientist. He is married and has a kid Adi for whom he has astronomical ambitions. In the backdrop of Ayyan's bleak, barely held together apartment complex and the hypocritical lives of squabbling, scheming scientists, he comes up with an ingenious plan to ensure his rather average son has a bright future. Is it class revenge or a father ambition, we oscillate through the plot that reveals itself in careful layers.

7/10