book world

Book review: Killer Heels by Rebecca Chance

A look into the fashion world and how!

Love reading the fashion glossies every month? Dying to work in a style magazine?

Well, here's a chance to get a sneak peek at the inner workings of a top notch magazine through the eyes of the protagonists. You get to see the competition, the power struggles, the ups and the downs of all that goes on in the publishing world. There is also the constant battle to fight age, look young and to stay relevant so that you are not usurped by someone ten years younger than you are. All this, set against the uber glam backdrop of a monthly glossy that is on par with the top magazines in the industry.

This promising note of the book and the way it begins, however remains just that - promising. In some ways, there is a sense of disappointment, because though the book does offer some insights into the world of fashion publishing, much of the time it is about the sexual lives of its main characters, namely Coco Raeburn and her ruthless boss Victoria Glossop who is the editor.

Also, it looks like after the success of books like Fifty Shades of Grey, authors are going all out to write books that bring in all kinds of strange sensual proclivities into their story line. The book is engrossing for those who love fashion and want to know about what goes on -- the fight for the top jobs in the industry, the control freaks who won't let go of their positions and the crazed hunger for power and wealth. But the unnecessary dwelling on the intimate goings on in their private lives gets far too tiresome. Killer Heels is more of a beach read, geared towards those who like their books laced with vast dollops of sensuality and hedonism.

Book review: Black Money

Book title: Black Money

Author: Brij Bhardwaj

Publisher: Har-Anand

Pages: 176

There has been much hue and cry in recent years about the black money. Most of the studies so far have been focused on how and where the illicit money is being stashed.

Brij Bhardwaj's book focuses on how black money is being generated. It points out how every citizen even the honest ones who while making day to day purchases help in generating black money by not insisting on a bill or cash memo.

The book also suggests that instead of killing the messenger let us attack the sources which help in generating black money. In this context it points out how counterfeit and smuggling are growing world-wide and are hurting national economies including India and in turn financing anti-national activities like terrorist activities, criminal gangs and Mafia.

Besides the author, the book includes contributions by several experts including P.C Jha, former chairman of Central Board for Excise and Customs, Deep Chand, special commissioner (retired),Delhi Police and Anil Raput, chairman, FICCI-CASCADE.

The book also speaks about how technology can help in checking the sale of counterfeit items toconsumers particularly in the field of medicines. How use of bar code on packaging can help consumers to check if the medicines he or she is buying are genuine or fake.

Book Review: Never Say Goodbye

Book title: Never Say Goodbye
Author: Rajiv Seth
Publisher: Srishti
Price: Rs 150
Pages: 220

At first glance, Never Say Goodbye by Rajiv Sethgives an impression of a writer adhering to the classic romantic stereotypes. But as one delves further into the book, it became clear that this is a rather peculiar story of eternal love intertwined with the world of genetics. The unbreakable bonds that make up the structure of the human gene have been used as a perfect metaphor for the imperishable bonds of pure love that were forged between the two central characters of the book.

The novel revolves around the lives of two devoted doctors, Anjali and Aakash. Anjali, a hardworking girl from a middle class family, fulfilled her family's ambitions by getting into the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and eventually goes on to become a successful doctor. But this was never Anjali's ambition. She had always been driven by a desire to achieve much more in her life—make the world a better place to live in. But when she got married into a business family with materialistic ambitions, her dreams begin to fall apart till she meets Aakash and their stormy relationship lays the foundation of the novel.

Seth has woven his story around ethical considerations surrounding genetics, more specifically theHuman Genome Project and blended it perfectly with the unshakable determination of Anjali, who does not want to upset the balance of nature and play God.

Never Say Goodbye pays tribute to the power of love and portrays magnificently how love can stir up the most unshakable beliefs and twist them beyond recognition—culminating into irrational acts of insanity. The book is an easy read and Seth as a debutant novelist has done a commendable job of weaving a story.

Book review: Danielle Steel's Friends Forever

Can you really be friends forever? Read this tragic tale to find out...

If you are following the life story of five friendsright from their days in kindergarten, you expect to be taken gently through their lives, as they face their ups and downs, first as children and later as adults. Whether you live vicariously through them in their successful moments or whether you empathize with them as they go through some hurtful circumstances, you imagine that the book will be a light hearted read, with some gems of wisdom thrown in. But what you don't expect is a book where you are swept from one tragedy to another, till you being to wonder if this is the saddest book in the world.

The story begins with five children joining Atwood School (which is like the Harvard and Yale of kindergarten). These kids are truly lucky because it is believed that those who graduate from Atwood are almost always accepted into the Ivy League colleges and other fine institutions. But in Steel's lexicon, getting a head start in life does not always guarantee success.

We meet the five protagonists, Gabby, Izzie, Sean, Andy and Billy, and after the initial introductions, we are then led into their growing up years, where life happens and they have to cope, whether it is parents divorcing, siblings misbehaving or facing exam pressures. And so, the story ambles along at a steady pace with a few curve balls thrown in.

But suddenly, like a tornado, a spate of tragedies begin and we are hurled right into the middle of one dismal scenario after another. If Steel thought this what was meant by writing an excitingnovel, she might need a rethink, because each twist in the book leaves the reader with little desire to read any further.

There are a few touching moments, but even these are few and far between. However, the one redeeming note in the book lies in the message -- of never taking people for granted, holding on to precious friendships, and understanding the sheer brevity of life.

Should you read the book? Yes, if you are fan of Danielle Steel, but no, if you are expecting it to be anything like some of her earliest books that kept you going back for more and more of her stories and never getting enough of them, no matter how many novels she wrote every year.

Book review: How I Braved Anu Aunty..

Book review: How I Braved Anu Aunty...

Book title: How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded a Million Dollar Company
Author: Varun Agarwal
Publisher: Rupa Publishers
Price: Rs 140

Here's a young writer who hopes to encourage budding entrepreneurs with his story.

For those who love Bangalore city, this book can prove to be a trip down nostalgia lane. Whether it is the courtyards of Bishop Cotton's school that flits back into your memory, the vagrant weather with its sudden spurts of rain, the memory of which stays with you or the dim confines of Noon Wines which you may or may not have visited... there is much in the book that comes back in a sudden flash of clarity to those who love the city.

And then, there is the boyish writing with its lavish use of swear words and the SMS lingo that young boys seem to consider a natural part of their vocabulary, which runs through the book like his signature touch.

The storyline, however, is simple. The book is about the 20-something protagonist (Varun, himself) who has entrepreneurial dreams. So he starts off a venture with his friends, only to be thwarted at any every stage by Anu Aunty, who in his own words is "one of those women who always poked her nose into everyone else's problems and sniffed for one when there was none." Varun and his friends, however are a determined lot and they put their pub hopping, Facebook stalking, generally loafing ways on the back burner and start a merchandise company that creates customized hoodies and T-shirts for the alumni of schools and colleges. Is it easy? Of course, it isn't. Not with Anu Aunty in the foreground and all the other glitches a budding entrepreneur faces in India.

The book is as light hearted as they come, written in a boyish (almost bordering on childish) style that could appeal to some or prove to be a turn off for others. But the writer, young though he is, manages to hold the interest of his reader right through.

Pick up this book if you are looking for something fresh, fun and maybe even informative for the weekend.