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.