M is for Magic - Neil Gaiman

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 5/21/2013 2:01:00 PM

'I have a very soft corner for Neil Gaiman, largely because of Morpheus's spell. I knew this was a YA book and i still wanted to read it as i did enjoy the graveyard book and Coraline to a certain extent. This collection was for the most part mind blowingly awesome and i was a little irritated to see a story from the Graveyard book crop up here but otherwise it was a decent read. I have been having a really crazy month and hence reading these short stories, losing myself in their(...)'

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Responsible commitments

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 5/9/2013 6:25:00 PM

'Ownership, Responsibility, Commitment - call it whatever - the term suits the particular day and time and place but the theme remains the same. We are all responsible for something or the other. Every body alive has the responsibility to sustain the body that gives the thought and soul a form. Everyone has or tries to form bonds with other human beings. Bonds to which we have to inherently commit - even if not to a person but to the thought of forming a bond ( psychopaths excluded).(...)'

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Thoughts from a safe house on a rainy night

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 5/9/2013 6:01:00 PM

'In my recent book reviewing frenzy, I haven't written general gyan in a while. Bangalore had amazing showers today and I loved listening to it for the few minutes I had. The days have been pretty hot and I had been looking forward to the rain often while buying something nice to drink in the afternoons. I felt so peaceful until I realised that the clothes I had put out to dry were still up there in the terrace and i couldn't take them. It's all dripping wet. In a few sec(...)'

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Iron man 3 - he does it : again

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 5/2/2013 1:46:00 PM

'He is smart, has oodles of charisma, is rich, has awesome toys that can fly around with him and oh yes, he can single handedly outwit powerful enemies and save the world - again. Of course I am talking about iron man in the most recent edition iron man 3. The plot is not water tight but the screen play keeps a attention deficient viewer engaged. Downey jr just sweeps any body off their feet with his awesome charisma, so much more obvious in this movie as he spends most of the ti(...)'

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Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall Smith

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/29/2013 1:07:00 PM

'Book 3 of the No.1 Ladies detective agency. Though it does loop back to the previous books, it is not necessary to have read the same. In this book, Precious's fiance is depressed with life and she does not know how to care for him. The way depression is described as a disease and her love and concern is touching, but thats about it and the author does not revisit it in too much detail. The extremely efficient assistant detective takes up running the fiance's business and i(...)'

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Tears of a giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/20/2013 2:53:00 PM

'This book picks up right where the first one ended. Precious is happily engaged and by a strange twist of fate inherits two children.Before i go further with the review let me first state that this part rankled me for though she might be kind and understanding, I really don't understand how a woman can really be ok with a man thrusting two children on her without consulting her. I am all for adoption but I am all for equality and partnership in life too. The secretary gets p(...)'

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The no 1 ladies' detective agency - Alexander McCall Smith

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/20/2013 1:22:00 PM

'I love mysteries and I am a sucker for strong female characters as I usually don't see enough of them in books. :D. This book was my second tryst with Mr.Smith and his first book in this series. This ones about a lady detective in rural Botswana and I really liked her. She is gutsy, interesting, charming, patriotic and more than anything a survivor. Africa has been a country which has fascinated me and the best part about this book was my being able to read about it in a qui(...)'

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Snuff - Terry Pratchett

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/20/2013 12:47:00 PM

'Considering my Pratchett craze, I was more than happy to grab a paper back and read his new work. I was a little disappointed by the time I finished it. I've always liked Vimes and the fact that he was human has been the one thing that's made me adore his characterisation. Unfortunately he has been portrayed to be almost super human in this book and I couldn't somehow commend it. The plot follows the Vimes family go on what they hope is a nice vacation to the Ramkins c(...)'

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Dan Arielys inspiring TED talk

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/14/2013 4:13:00 PM

'As I contemplate over the innumerable things that are busy confusing me, this speech just made me sit up and applaud. Some of the thoughts he has written about in articles/books but hearing him deliver it was awesome. As I look at the many people around me, I choose to be more aware of how to make their lives marginally better through some things we all know but keep forgetting. Awesome speech Mr.Ariely - some day I hope to run into you.  http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what(...)'

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The eleventh commandment - Jeffrey Archer

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/14/2013 3:10:00 PM

'After being let down by the best kept secret, it was with some amount of doubt that I picked this one to read. Thankfully, Archer managed to put my doubts to rest and I had a very enjoyable time reading the book. I would not call it his best work but I am surprised that I have missed reading it for so long. The plot follows the life and times of Colin - one of the CIA's best kept secrets. He plays a huge role in changing the course of international politics and despite his d(...)'

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Best kept secret - Jeffrey Archer

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/12/2013 4:23:00 PM

'I read Archer first when in school and was damn impressed. Then I found Forsyth and I did not really revisit him that much. I chanced upon this in a sale and decided to try the book. The plot initially seemed more like a recap of the first two books in the series and later like a prequel for the many to come. The book failed for me because I couldn't relate to the characters. Not even one of the many illustrious folks or the vindictive ones. I loved his Kane and Abel at school(...)'

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The Inimitable Jeeves - P.G.Wodehouse

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/12/2013 3:13:00 PM

'I love Wodehouse. He always manages to put a smile on my face. This one had enough of Bertie and Jeeves for me to laugh until i cried every ten pages. Add to it romantic and sentimental Bingo, the scary Aunt Agatha, the nutty twins and all the wonderful angels, the book was fun. Wodehouse is he king of humour and I am glad I picked this one out to add to my collection. When I get down to it, the plots predictable, Jeeves and Bertie's ego clashes ridiculous at times and the (...)'

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Ponder?

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/10/2013 8:50:00 PM

'Sometimes I think it's time to think Think if the race is worth it in the first place Think if you still want to keep running Think if you like the coach you are saddled with Think if who you are is no longer being defined by you Think and not do anything but that I know that such a time ought to come. I see it watching me From right around the corner. I look at all the tiny little ties And I wonder if strong enough they are to bind Strong enough to last the test (...)'

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Death in the stocks - Georgette Heyer

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/8/2013 6:36:00 PM

'I guess I'm going through this phase of discovering new authors. I'd heard of GH as a historical fiction author so had never really gotten around to reading the books as that's one genre I don't read usually. When I saw this book in time out, I decided to give it a try and I was glad. This is a murder mystery which follows an eccentric family whose head, the eldest brother is found dead in the stocks of the village he frequents in the weekends. His half(...)'

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Manuscript found in Accra

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/6/2013 4:41:00 PM

'Paulo Coehlo has been one of my favourite writers. I have read and liked most of his books. Alchemist was never in the list though. I read the preface and bought the book expecting a story but was sadly greeted by a collection of lectures. There was an over dose of philosophical nuggets and I guess I was not looking forward to so much of outright preaching. I prefer making my own inferences and think through a book. I should not have finished it in one sitting. This one I am go(...)'

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Friday - a wasted Saturday

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/6/2013 7:06:00 AM

'I like watching movies on Saturday mornings and decided to watch this as I hadn't watched anything in Malayalam for a long time. I was so irritated to say the least with the movie experience. The movie begins well with a few distantly infer related story lines but after sometime you get tired of waiting for something to happen. The movie has all the typical emotional exploiters - an about to be married girl, her struggling grand father, an expectant but barren mother, a mother(...)'

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The dog who came in from the cold - Alexander McCall Smith

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 4/6/2013 5:49:00 AM

'This is the first book of his I had read and I was not familiar with the characters. This is one of those books with multiple story lines connected by a theme, the theme in this case being the fact that all the characters live in Corduroy mansions or are related to characters living there in some way. We have William an ageing wine connoisseur/loving dog owner who is caught in the middle of possibly the most adventurous thing that has happened to him and is unsure about his next(...)'

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Silver linings play book

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 3/31/2013 6:28:00 PM

'I like Bradley cooper. I like off beat movies. I feel movies about the smallest incidents make a large impact at times. So I obviously had really high expectations for this movie in a lot of ways and it did not live up to it. The plot was interesting, I wasn't even against the pace which my fellow audience were complaining about but somehow I felt the movie lacked the soul. I did not care what happened to the characters. It's not because they are dealing with mental illn(...)'

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Death on the cape and other stories -Mary Higgins Clark

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 3/31/2013 5:30:00 PM

'I like Mary Higgins Clark and though id never rate her as high as Christie, I really enjoy every chance I get to read her books. She's the one that breaks my not reading phase usually. This was a decent short story collection. Not the best I've read and not a Poirot collection but a very engaging one. I did not expect the Alvirah Meehan ones in it as I had already read it in the lottery winner. I hate it when the sneak the news ones in with the old. This book has boosted m(...)'

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Angel of the dark - Sheldon/bagshawe

Author : Harini Padmanabhan      Blog : Dreams go on      Date : 3/31/2013 5:01:00 PM

'I was never a huge Sheldon fan even in high school but considering he's dead I thought I'd pick this book up and see if my opinion has changed. After billing I looked at the book closely and realised it was completed by a bagshawe. I was actually not biased and I really wish I'd been. The plots about a series of murders across the globe over a decade. The first one in the us begins with the death of an elderly man whose young wife is raped and rescued in time by a yo(...)'

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