I am Moving !!!




Ever since I started blogging again ,I have been facing many glitches with Blogger , so I thought of moving to Wordpress and surprisingly it didn't take much time or effort . Hope it goes smoothly over there. Please update ur blog roll or bookmarks..

Hope to see you at Shona's Book Shelves . (http://shonasbookshelves.wordpress.com)
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The Goose Girl (The Books Of Bayern 1)


Book : Goose Girl (Books Of Bayern 1)
Author : Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Category: Young Adult , Fantasy
My Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis (From Good Reads):

She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste.

is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, AniAni eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny.

From the Grimm’s fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.

Review:
Fairy tales are for little girls. Right? Not always. Sometimes , adults like me happen to take up these stories and thoroughly enjoy them. Shannon Hale's take on Grimm's Goose Girl makes a delightful read.We all know the Goose Girl story but here it's presented in a more believable way with realistic touches to turn of events.

Ani's development from a quite child to girl who knows her mind and does what is right is one of the best character development I have seen. It took me a while to get in to the story and also to understand Ani but the tightly woven plot kept me gripped.

A talent of animal speech is not a requirement for the post of a queen . It's is something you would rather not have. But Ani can't help it as she is gifted with it. It is this gift of hers that keep her away from her rightful authority over the throne and makes her politically very intelligent mother to send her off as the bride to crown prince of Bayern. Little does Ani know the journey she is embarking on is the one that will bring her face to face with some of the best and worst kind of people and in the process moulding her in to a person , her mother would have wanted to have as a queen.

Affection, love , friendship, betrayal and loyalty are well sown in to the book which made me want to finish it in one sitting. While reading it I was wanting good things for Ani, wanting her to have a life she so much deserves , feeling how long will it be until justice is done. Such is the impact of the book that you get totally involved in it.

This was my first Shannon Hale book and I know it won't be the last as I have Enna Burning waiting on my book shelf.
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Cover Attractions

This fun meme is hosted by Marcia.

Here are my cover attractions for the week.

Synopsis:

Haunted by an ancestor’s tale of near death on a distant battlefield, James Carl Nelson set out in pursuit of the scraps of memory of his grandfather’s small infantry unit. Years of travel across the world led to the retrieval of unpublished personal papers, obscure memoirs, and communications from numerous Doughboys as well as original interviews of the descendents of his grandfather’s comrades in arms. The result is a compelling tale of battle rooted in new primary sources, and one man’s search for his grandfather’s legacy in a horrifying maelstrom that is today poorly understood and nearly forgotten.

The Remains of Company D follows the members of Company D, 28th Infantry Regiment, United States First Division, from enlistment to combat to the effort to recover their remains, focusing on the three major battles at Cantigny, Soissons, and in the Meuse-Argonne and the effect these horrific battles had on the men.

This is an important and powerful tale of the different destinies, personalities, and motivations of the men in Company D and a timeless portrayal of men at war.

Synopsis:

What really happened to Anastasia Romanov?

Anastasia Romanov thought she would never feel more alone than when the gunfire started and her family began to fall around her. Surely the bullets would come for her next. But they didn't. Instead, two gnarled old hands reached for her. When she wakes up she discovers that she is in the ancient hut of the witch Baba Yaga, and that some things are worse than being dead.

In modern-day Chicago, Anne doesn't know much about Russian history. She is more concerned about getting into a good college—until the dreams start. She is somewhere else. She is someone else. And she is sharing a small room with a very old woman. The vivid dreams startle her, but not until a handsome stranger offers to explain them does she realize her life is going to change forever. She is the only one who can save Anastasia. But, Anastasia is having her own dreams...


These are my favorites for the week..Do tell yours ...
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2 States -The Story Of My Marriage


Book : 2 States- The Story Of My Marriage
Author : Chetan Bhagat
Publisher : Rupa & Co.
ISBN:8129115301
ISBN-13:9788129115300 ,978-8129115300

Synopsis :

Love marriages around the world are simple:

Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it? From the author of blockbusters Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center and The 3 Mistakes of My Life, comes another witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern india.

Review :

I have been a Chetan Bhagat fan ever since I had randomly picked up Five Point Someone authored by him at a book exhibition. It might not have been a modern day classic but it got me hooked to this new age Indian writer whose works have sincerity and simplicity which goes straight to the heart. One Night At The Call Center and The Three Mistakes Of My Life were read my me within a week of their release , so I just couldn't resist getting hold of 2 States upon its arrival at my local book store. I must say I wasn't disappointed.

Krish and Ananya , the protagonists are so much like thousands of other modern Indian couples who find out that convincing their respective parents for an inter caste marriage is a much tougher job than cracking an IIT entrance or getting admission into top management institute.
The best of the book is Krish 's interaction with his would be in laws . His frustration ,disappointment has been presented in a very honest manner and that's praise worthy.

Chetan Bhagat has put in right amount of masala(spices), to keep the readers hooked on to it. The plot looks cinematic sometimes but by experience 75 % of people know that these kind of situations do arise in India. Modern India is yet to warm up towards inter caste inter state marriages and this is portrayed wonderfully in the book. A laugh riot at places and a few really emotional moments make it a great read.

I know I am praising this book too highly and some of them might just call it a run of the mill love story but the point is that, the way it is presented is really really good. It reminded me of some incidents that happened in my family when my cousin , a Maharashtrian got married to a Punjabi. For the record it took 1 and half year to convince both the set of parents :) and another 5 months for deciding on the marriage rituals :)

If you get a chance to read this book do not miss out.
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