December 28, 2006

Book Hook

The Godmother by Carrie Adams
Granted it is rather miserable and depressing at times. This is not the best pick me up. Written by a mother, who had single friends seeking out her fairy tale life, it tries to emphasise that there is a lot after "happily ever after". Brings out the debatable truth that you can enjoy/ indulge children, be popular with them, if they are not your own. And yes, there are some pertinent questions it raises.


For example- "Do you want to have a baby? Or do you wish to be a parent? One is selfish, the other selfless. One is biological, the other need not be." I found that pretty thought provoking. We are not born mothers, we grow and learn to parent our young. We make mistakes, some of us do well at it and some of us do not.

It also challenges how we stereotype single women. At work, the notion exists that single women are free to be laden with late nights and tours. They have a past- a shady one at that. They are frustrated. They are house breakers- at any age. And so on. . .

You can read the first chapter here. It may help you decide if you would like to read the book or not.

The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne

Sure you hear the familiar ring- Sam Bourne- Dan Brown. The author openly declares that it is a pseudonym! Then why have it at all. Beats me. He is an award-winning journalist who writes weekly columns in The Guardian.


On to the book. All of you who disliked Da Vinci Code, stay away. Loaded with various codes and conundrums and a good amount of Jewish culture, to me it was a credible conspiracy novel, with a rather predictable turn at the end ( given my Bollywood exposure). Amidst all the ungenerous reviews that it has got, I would still rate this book a 7 on 10.

Discovered a great book review blog, in case you do not already know.

9 comments:

iz said...

Ah. loved Da Vinci code. am big on baseless theories!

Itchingtowrite said...

great to read the 1st chapter of godmother. seems to be interesting. definitely in must read list

Artnavy said...

then each of you will like the book that corresponds to your liking

karmic said...

I love conspiracy theories in books.
I might read the godmother since we are considering adoption.

By Deepa and Supriya said...

Will definitely look for the Godmother...I am not adventurous when it comes to books, would rather read pre-recommended books.

KK said...

nice reviews ArtNavy... :)

Fuzzylogic said...

The first chapter makes a interesting read so will certainly look for the book and the subject is pretty intriguing.Regarding the other one I liked da vinci code so I might pick that one too!thanks for the reviews!!

Artnavy said...

glad some of you found the review useful

Doli said...

Ha - I read the book - 'The Godmother' and didnt like it much. It was just okay! :)