Something Borrowed | Emily Giffin‏

Something Borrowed ~ Emily Giffin‏

By: Varsha Naik

Blogs: baarishbo.blogspot.com / baarish.instablogs.com

Rachel, diligent and hard-working lawyer, finds her world turned upside down when wakes up in the arms of Dex, charming and handsome, also a lawyer, a friend from law school, and fiancé to her childhood chum Darcy, the happy-go-lucky PR princess, who always gets things her way

As the story progresses and characters develop, Rachel has to make a decision, does she want to hold on to Darcy, who has always sidelined Rachel and made herself more important, that she must let go of the man she’s come to love. Or, does she want Dex for herself, the only man she can imagine being with, enough to risk losing Darcy’s lifetime of friendship.

At some point in our lives, we have all wanted something that didn’t belong to us. Sometimes they are things that belonged to our best friend, our soul mate, the one person we couldn’t live without. The question is how far is far enough to get what you want.

Personal Opinion: While reading the book, I found myself identifying with certain incidents, nuances of characters and situations. The story is told in a very simple manner, mostly with Rachel as the narrator as she takes you through the daily grind and events as they happen.

A great read to just kick back and enjoy, and for a change, say out loud, “I’m glad I’m not in her shoes.” While the book works as a great stress-buster with a feel-good factor, it helps bring to surface a very basic question. Should you always do the clichéd ‘right thing’, or is it worth, sometimes, to risk crossing the line to fight for something you truly believe in.

Pull out of the melodrama of our own life as you dive into the rough seas of Rachel’s emotions as she tries to make sense of it all - friendship, love and destiny.

My rating: 8/10

I recommend this book to anyone who’s been in love, who’s lost in love, and who’s looking for love. It will warm your heart and make you want to keep trying.

Change of Heart | Jodi Picoult

Change of Heart ~ Jodi Picoult

By: Kitten

Blog: Hallucinations of a Kitten

The story is set about a mother (June) who lost her first husband in a car accident then married a police officer, Kurt, who raised Elizabeth, the first husband's daughter. Kurt and Elizabeth get killed by Shay, the house's carpenter.

The mystery surrounding the character Shay and his attitude struck me and I had to figure out what he truly was. He was sentenced to death and after waiting 11 years in prison for his fate, things become exceedingly interesting for truth reveals it self eventually. Once inside the prison, Shay was somehow responsible of turning water into wine, bringing back a bird from dead, healing an inmate from AIDs completely, multiplying food from one item. This whole drama caused people outside the prison and inside to mistake him for Jesus or a Messiah.

Meanwhile, Shay claimed nothing about himself of that sort that Micheal, a saint and a member of Shay's jury who convicted him years ago, struggles to heal the inmate's soul. Shay then fascinates Micheal by quoting some of Jesus' sayings that is not written in any gospels of Bible but on the mysterious gospel of Thomas, written two thousand years ago.

Father Micheal doubted that Shay would have read such a rare book given his condition of having difficulty in speaking, writing and reading. Shay all the while insisted on donating his heart after his death to Claire, Elizabeth's sister and June's daughter from Kurt. An attorney, Maggie, fights alongside Shay and Micheal to make Shay's final wish happen by insisting on taking an alternative manner of death sentence which is none other than hanging since it only causes brain-death and keeps the heart functioning.

At this point Picoult captivates her readers by a thought-provoking situation when June, the mother, decides on either forgoing the past or accepting Shay's heart that will somehow ensures her daughter's Claire transplant and would give her years to live.

The ending sparks endless questions on my mind so I wouldn't ruin it for you, except that if I ever got the change of asking Picoult anything it would be these;

What is Shay exactly? How could he revive the dead and do other miracles?
How can he insist on going to jail instead of someone else?
How did he know things of other people's lives?
When and why did he steal Micheal's grandfather's picture?

Personal Opinion: Philosophy and religions were mentioned a lot in this book that I would have skipped some pages if it weren't for the thought-provoking storyline and to admit that this book kept my insominac for three long nights isn't an exaggeration for it deserves more than just this.

My rating: 8/10, Picoult continues to amaze me.

I recommend it to whoever's interested in knowing how's it like to be in prison, and how to make up your mind on the hardest decisions. If you're interested in the philosophy of religions and faiths with an unfolding social event then this is the right book for you. Give it a try, you won't regret it.

War and Peace | Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace ~ Leo Tolstoy

By Noor

Blog: Spreading My Wings

I picked it up thinking I wouldn't understand anything, but I simply felt it was now or never. I read in the introduction somewhere it had over 500 characters, and that scared me more, because I was already scared of how huge the book was, and how heavy!

At first, I didn't get much and I was mixing up characters and I wasn't constant with my reading. When I got a little less than 200 pages, I decided that I had to give it its due, and if it didn't work out then at least I could say I tried. Suddenly, it got more interesting. I was interacting with the book and it felt good.

Bit by bit as I got more into the book I started loving it, truly loving it. The characters held me captive, though I disliked them at times. I had to read more. At night I wouldn't want to sleep because there was more to be read, and more yet to unfold.

A novel, though Tolstoy doesn't consider it as a novel, as big as War and Peace where everything is relevant yet when you look back at certain events that took place a few pages back they look so insignificant compared to how everything worked out and how things were being shaped at that certain moment. Tolstoy keeps you hoping for a certain thing to happen, so you wait and you wait some more. He’s so good at his writing that just before that certain event happens, you no longer care if will take place or not, you’re only left wanting to know what happens next. Most of the time I felt I was being told a story of people that actually happened. They truly feel so real, that you’re simply left observing the course of their lives without judgment over how it turns out, you’re only studying these characters and you’re thinking them over.

Tolstoy was very concerned with history, and if you look at the title; War and Peace, it’ll tell you everything you should be expecting. It’s Tolstoy’s attempt at making us see things that actually happened in his reasoning. He wants us to know what actually happened, who was to blame and how people lived at that time. He truly wants you to understand history, and would take the trouble to dedicate chapters to relate this history and what historians said about the events he’s describing. I actually thought that was the fun part for him, while for me to be honest it was tedious work. I have never read history, and I don’t want to. I didn’t understand much of the ‘pure’ history parts, and I didn’t bother most of the time to concentrate on it. I simply read it to get to the good parts with the actual characters of the novel.

Coming to the characters, they were superb. Each one of them has something special and Tolstoy took the time to give each character life. All of the leading characters left an impression on me, though I have to speak of one certain character and that is Pierre. He is absolutely one of my favorite characters if not my all time favorite. He is amazing. His soul has such depth, that it’s impossible not to relate to him in everything he does or thinks of. I simply love him, and although he isn’t as charming as other characters in the novel, he possessed something that made me dwell much on him and on everything he did and thought. I can’t explain it by words but this character became very close to my heart after the time I spend with it, which was quite lengthy.

Personal opinion: I will conclude by saying, it is a great novel and you must have the patience to understand what the author is trying to tell you to get the full enjoyment of it. I am grateful for having picked up the book at that certain moment defying my fears of it. Now I can proudly say I’ve read War and Peace, and I’ve enjoyed it.

My Rating: 10/10

I recommend it to all classic lovers out there who love to get lost in that beautiful era and enjoy a bit of history.