JoV's Book Pyramid

Charles Ryder, a lonely student at Oxford, is captivated by the outrageous and decadent Sebastian Flyte. Invited to Brideshead, Sebastian’s magnificent family home. Charles welcomes the attentions of its eccentric artistic inhabitants of Marchmains, becoming infatuated with them and the life of privilege they inhabit – with Sebastian’s remote sister, Julia (Although Charles infatuation for … Continue reading →

Sometimes it takes a colleague who insisted or a friend who encouraged you to read something new. Truth be told I read all of Harry Potters, Hunger Games, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, No. 1 Ladies Detective, the Twilight Series books and movies and I don’t own any of it. It’s with scepticism that … Continue reading →

Do you always suspect there is something wrong with you but you can’t put a name or a finger on it? Do you feel inadequate when you are in a large crowd and don’t quite know how to blend in? Do you feel the need to be alone to recharge after being around people for … Continue reading →

They say behind every successful man there is a woman (so is his downfall!). This woman that I’m reading about is successful in her own rights but faced many of the same dilemma women with children often feel, between their career and family, between self-fulfilment and also fulfilling the duty and love to their children. Except Michelle Obama, born Robinson, was born not with a silver spoon nor a head start in life, but was born into the impoverished South Side of Chicago. She held on to her ambition and dream, with the support of her parents, mentors and husband, emerged at the pinnacle of the eyes of the world as the First Lady of the United State (FLOTUS). Continue reading →

What if I tell you I have read one of the most important book of my life? What if I tell you I have read decades of self improvement books and many are full of waffling and rambling to make up the pages but you take away a few things that you think may help … Continue reading →

I am one person who doesn’t need to worry about my weight, until now. Working 9 to 5, watching two pre-teens boy and house chores left very little time for anything else. Walking and commuting is no longer part of my daily routine, so naturally fat is going to pile on. I am also a … Continue reading →

My Name is Red has been sitting on my shelf since late 2009, the year I bought many of my first novels into my collections in the UK. 7.5 years…… Sometimes that’s how long a book sat on the shelf of book lovers before it is being picked up and read cover to cover. Every … Continue reading →

After 18 months of hiatus, I have forgotten how to write a proper review. I probably forgotten how to post a review on WordPress. Would anyone wants to read a long, anecdotal, passage quoting review in the time when social media tools have sprung up more than it had 2 years ago? Would short reviews … Continue reading →

‘Pamuk has created a work concerning romantic love worthy to stand in the company of Lolita, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina.’ –Financial Times Not sure what happened but the calling to pull out this chunkster of 728 pages calls to me on one weekend after a stressful week at work and I sat down to … Continue reading →

The comparison to Gone Girl made me picked up this book. So I have fallen prey to the marketing gimmick of referring a book to a sensational best seller. Is it any better than Gone Girl? Here’s what I think, but first a little intro about the book. The book is separated by chapters narrated by … Continue reading →

Six months since my last post and 4 months since I finished a book. What have changed? WordPress revamped all its features and gave me a dumb-down version of writing a post. I am not accustomed to it because I can’t seem to find my normal widgets and settings. I discovered that there are still … Continue reading →

Tóibín’s depiction of the most famous mother of all. The Testament of Mary is a sceptical account of Mary witnessing the miracle and the eventual Crucifixion of her son. This wasn’t the first time I read about unsympathetic Mother Mary to her son’s cause, the first disturbing account I read was from Naomi Alderman’s The Liar’s Gospel. … Continue reading →

If you have been following my blog for the past few years, you would know that I am a big fan of Haruki Murakami. Who isn’t? Under my A to Z Review Index you can see a string of Murakami’s books reviewed under M. “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” sold more than one million … Continue reading →

I flip opened the newspaper yesterday and came to know of the shortlist announced by the Man Booker Prize this year. I must say a lot of the books on the longlist and shortlist, pique me with a renewed interest than I could possibly have for Man Booker Prize. I have 4 out of the … Continue reading →

The Man Booker Prize Longlist is announced on the 23 July 2014. I can’t say that I am a big fan of the Man Booker Prize as many of them seems arid and uninteresting; so for many years I have not attempt to read the shortlists nor the winners. 2014 is the first year of … Continue reading →

How are you getting on? The last time I posted a review was April. Work, house hunting and battling with summer allergies have taken a good chunk of my time and a toll of me. It’s been three months I haven’t posted anything. Time really flies… I am still reading, in my own snail pace. … Continue reading →

Before I started this blog, I read all of Jhumpa Lahiri’s book and is a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri. I have read all of her books, the short stories and a novel “The Namesake”. I thought Lahiri is superb in short stories but I wasn’t sure if her novel would live up to my expectations. … Continue reading →

There were three books that I read before this that I’d like to share with you but since this book is on the Bailey’s shortlist, I think it’s good to talk about it now. When I first read the blurb, I was intrigued. Murderess, Iceland, death row? Wow! It’s a story about Agnes Magnusdottir. Agnes … Continue reading →

I am still following the progress of the Women’s Prize for fiction. I have had some tasters to a few longlisted novels: Almost English, The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, Eleven Days; I only finished Almost English by Charlotte Mendelsson and I like it but there is no love, unfortunately. The shortlist has been announced last … Continue reading →

Rubbernecking is the act of gawking at something of interest. The term rubbernecking refers to the craning of a person’s neck in order to get a better view. Rubbernecking has also been described as a human trait that is associated with morbid curiosity. This is my first novel by Belinda Bauer, and the fourth for Bauer. It talks about … Continue reading →

Every time I read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels, I savour and wanted it not to end. There is something about how she writes. She writes honestly, blatantly, without frills, without fear. With enough satire to keep me on my toes. I have read everything Adichie’s has written, except The Purple Hibiscus. Yes, I am biased. I … Continue reading →