A Babbling Booktrovert

Book Title : Make Me  Author : Lee Child Genre : Suspense Thriller  ISBN : 9780857502896 Publisher : Bantam Press Publication : 2015 Pages : 492 Binding : Paperback Plot : “Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.  Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins e

In my quest to search and cook new things for hubby, I stumbled upon this wonderful group - Chef At Large (CAL). The wonderful people, cooking wonderful dishes inspired me to no end. I had bought a kg of baby potatoes to try my hand at 'dhaniye ke aloo', inspired by my mum in law and my bua saas. That my friends, was a failed first attempt. I will need to go back to those wonderful cooks to learn that recipe properly. So I had these left over baby potatoes and a husband who kept mentioning dum aloo and how he is going to cook the dish one of these days. Being inspired by the group, I fired up my laptop, searched the internet for a recipe, found one - altered and tweaked it a bit to my taste and voila - I had the perfect Kashmiri Dum Aloo! And the real happiness comes when after the first bite husband says - bahut badhiya... oh the joy that filled me! So here's my altered recipe... Difficulty Level : ☆ ☆ Time Required :            Preparation - 3

So this was a piece I was working on a long time ago... I showed it to the husband, he loved it and wanted more of it. I promise to continue abs finish this piece. So, it's our story that I was writing. He came up with a brilliant idea that since whatever I was writing was my perspective, he would write his own and then we could have a book from both ends - meeting up in the center. But then, of course, busy schedules catch up on you and things just remain in the pipeline... but I have decided to give it one more try - at least finishing up with my part of the book.  So, here goes... CHAPTER 1 ----- LOVE STORIES ---------------------------- This is my story - scratch that - this is my 'love' story. Every one has a love story - some start in school days and end when we change schools or we grow up and go to different colleges. While others start in college and see their end with college life. Sometimes, relationships end because of family pressure, society, r

Many people live with a mask on their faces, hiding their true faces from the world, for reasons known to them. This poem is about one such person... Who am I, Why am I, No one knows I will follow which road! An organ lying below my lung Makes direct contact with my tongue And holds me back From reading books of my life, lying on the rack. My heart is a well of secrets Keeping secrets there I don't regret; From what I feel To whom with I deal Is not known to a single soul Not even my dear mom! So much lying in that muscular space No one knows I'm running in which race, No one, mean No One Has ever guessed what I feel for anyone Even if they tried They never got the answer right, Though I've friends whom I trust I tell them many things, but not every crust! Some bitter experiences of the past Left me alone in a ground which was vast To collect all alone, my belongings And then I decided - never again will I b

Book Title : Rise of Kali (Ajaya II) Author : Anand Neelakantan  Genre : Mythological Fiction ISBN : 9789381576045 Publisher : Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd.  Publication : 2015 Pages : 530 Binding : Paperback Plot : THE DARK AGE OF KALI IS RISING and every man and woman must choose between duty and conscience, honor and shame, life and death…  The Pandavas, banished to the forest following the disastrous games of dice, return to Hastinapura. Draupadi has vowed not to bind her hair till she washes it in the blood of the Kauravas. Karna must choose between loyalty and gratitude, friend and Guru. Aswathama undertakes a perilous mission to the mountains of Gandhara, in search of the Evil One. Kunti must decide between her firstborn and her other sons. Guru Drona has to stand with either his favorite disciple or his beloved son. Balarama, having failed to convince his brother about the adharma of violence, walks the streets of Bharatavarsha, spreading

Book Name : Ajaya : Roll of the Dice (Epic of the Kaurava Clan #1) Author : Anand Neelakantan Genre : Mythological Fiction ISBN Code : 9789381576038 Publisher : Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Publication : 2013 Pages : 455 Binding : Paperback Plot : THE MAHABHARATA ENDURES AS THE GREAT EPIC OF INDIA. But while Jaya is the story of the Pandavas, told from the perspective of the victors of Kurukshetra; Ajaya is the narrative of the 'unconquerable' Kauravas, who were decimated to the last man. At the heart of India's most powerful empire, a revolution is brewing. Bhishma, the noble patriarch of Hastinapura, is struggling to maintain the unity of his empire. On the throne sits Dhritarashtra, the blind King, and his foreign-born Queen Gandhari. In the shadow of the throne stands Kunti, the Dowager-Queen, burning with ambition to see her firstborn become the ruler, acknowledged by all. And in the wings: Parashurama, the enigmatic Guru of the powerful

Book Title : 61 Hours Author : Lee Child Genre : Suspense Thriller ISBN : 9780553825565 Publisher : Random House  Publication : 2010 Pages : 492 Binding : Paperback Plot : HOUR SIXTY-ONE  Icy winter in South Dakota. A bus skids and crashes in a gathering storm. On the back seat: Jack Reacher, hitching a ride to nowhere. A life without baggage has many advantages. And disadvantages too, like facing the arctic cold without a coat. HOUR THIRTY-ONE  A small town is threatened by sinister forces. One brave woman is standing up for justice.If she's going to live to testify, she'll need help from a man like Reacher. Because there's a killer coming for her. HOUR ZERO Has Reacher finally met his match? He doesn't want to put the world to rights. He just doesn't like people who put it to wrongs. My Rating : ☆☆☆☆ Review : Jack Reacher is the modern times hero, a believable hero at that - not Uber rich, nor drop dead gorgeous

"Jack of all trades and king of none" How bad is it, to be good at a lot of things? Is it totally necessary to be an expert at something? What is then better - to be the jack or the king? So, this thought had been gnawing at me, since I sat down to create this blog. I knew what this blog would be about, but coming up with a name for this one was pretty difficult. Me and the husband labored around for half an hour before finalizing on the name. If you don't know already, this blog is a compilation blog. I had a number of blogs for different things - food blog, book review blog, poetry blog, personal experiences blog and photography blog. It was getting pretty unmanageable. Thus I decided to create one blog which would contain everything I wanted to share and thus we played around with the word passion. But then recently I came across lots of blogs which were specialized blogs for photography or book and/or movie reviews or personal blogs - making them a king in

Book Title : Room Author : Emma Donoghue Genre : Novel ISBN : 9780330519021 Publisher : Picador USA Publication : 2011 Pages : 400 Binding : Paperback Plot: Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don't have the key. Jack and Ma are prisoners. My Rating :  ☆☆☆☆☆ Review : A book I picked out of my mother in law's shelf - what intrigued me was the synopsis at the back cover - "Jack is five. He lives in a single, locked room with his Ma." This two line synopsis was the shortest and most powerful one I had read till now. This book is narrated by the male protagonist Jack, who we know from the synopsis, is a five year old kid - thus the grammar is imperfect, as it should be for a five year old - this simple fact, being taken care of by the author, lends a kind of sincerity to the narration. Apart from the synopsis, when I started reading the book, what attracted me most was the description of mother and s

Book Title : Scion of Ikshvaku (Ram Chandra Series #1) Author : Amish Tripathi Genre : Mythological Fiction ISBN : 9789385152146 Publisher : Westland Limited Publication : 2015 Pages : 354 Binding : Hardbound Plot : Ram Rajya. The Perfect Land. But perfection has a price. He paid that price. 3400 BCE. INDIA Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know. A tortured and ostracized prince. A prince they tried to break. A prince called Ram. He loves his country, even when his countrymen torment him. He stands alone for the law. His band of brothers, his Sita, and he, against the d

So, going home for a long vacation surely has its perks - one of them being - you learn new recipes... these recipes are no normal recipes, because these ones are passed on from one generation to the next... So here's sharing, something I learned over the only month long holiday I got in my two year long PG program (oh well, that didn't need to be part of this). Gobhi Manchurian, one of the many food demands, that the husband and the sister-in-law, make sure is fulfilled. The husband loves it so much, that I decided to learn it this time around and it surely wasn't a bad first attempt, in fact it was a fairly good attempt - that is so, because the mothers (in-laws) are the best teachers and the recipe is that simple As my mum-in-law taught me, its a simple 3+(3+3)recipe - 3 ingredients for the manchurian and 3+3 for the sauce. So here's your recipe... Difficulty Level : ☆ ☆ Time Required :            Preparation - 10 minutes           Cooking

The Day You Walked Away, is a poem about two lovers who had to part ways because of some unavoidable circumstances. Both of them hated doing it, but it was the demand of the time... Puppets of fate, they part ways, with heavy hearts, but being able to do nothing about it... I can't forget that night when You were there standing beside me, Saying that you have got something That you want to tell me... The words were so very harsh You knew it would hurt me... But we had to face the truth Although it was difficult for you and for me! You looked at me And I looked at you We wanted to say something to ease the pain But that was what we couldn't do... We walked our last walk together On that deserted road Our hearts were aching There was too much of the load! I took your hand in mine And you turned towards me You saw the fear in my eyes Tears too you could see! We both cried for hours And sat holding each other And remembered th

Book Title : The Book of Tomorrow Author : Cecelia Ahern Genre : Young Adult ISBN : 9780007361625 Publisher : Harper Collins Publication : 2009 Pages : 320 Binding : Paperback Plot : Tamara Goodwin has always got everything she's ever wanted. Born into a family of wealth, she grew up in a mansion with its own private beach, a wardrobe full of designer clothes and all that a girl could ever wish for. She's always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow. But then suddenly her dad is gone and life for Tamara and her mother changes forever. Left with a mountain of debt, they have no choice but to sell everything they own and move to the country. Nestled next to Kilsaney Castle, their gatehouse is a world away from Tamara's childhood. With her mother shut away with grief, and her aunt busy tending to her, Tamara is lonely and bored and longs to return to Dublin. When a travelling library passes through Kilsaney Demesne, Tama