Recent Books on My Shelf #3

I am still not sure if numbering this 'Recent Books on My Shelf' posts is a good idea or not, nevertheless I will continue doing so until I am convinced otherwise :D Hope the last sentence was not too confusing ( yea, TH told that long sentences are too bad).

I am facing some kind of disinterest in updating this blog even though I have a few interesting books to write about. So let me write about those ones..

The Loving Spirit by Daphne Du Maurier was picked after my fantastic encounter with Rebecca. Click to find my review of Rebecca. I found this book slightly boring initially but then this complex and twisted story of a family spread over four generations was quite engrossing. But then this book was nowhere near Rebecca.

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti was an impulsive pick from the library too as I have heard a lot about the award winning book 'A Case of Exploding Mangoes' and it is also true that one copy of that book is sitting right on my book shelf. This is a very interesting read and I could not figure out the significance of the Sacred Heart on the book cover till I finished the book. And the ending left me with a weird feeling. I will write a review when I can pinpoint what was really weird.

I am currently reading 'The Burgess Boys' from Pulitzer Prize winner Olive Kitteridge. Though I am almost half way through the book, I am still not sure if I liked it or not.

There are a few more kindle books on my Galaxy tab which I intend to take up as soon as The Burgess Boys are over.

Keeping House by Margaret Kim Peterson - Book Review

Genre: Christian Non-fiction

Why should woman keep house for her family or anyone at all? Should they clean the house one morning to find that it has become dirty by the end of the day? Who in the family is responsible for cooking, feeding  good food and clothing family members with clean and ironed clothes? Why should anyone do all those never ending household chores?

I know none of this questions or answers make much sense. But it will all make sense when the act of Keeping House is looked upon with a Christian angle. OK, this book is about linking keeping house and being a good Christian. It is about the need to take the household chores seriously as opportunities to serve others, providing your family with a great environment and in return nurture good relationships with your family and God Himself.

Why should anyone put effort in doing household chores especially in modern times when everything should happen with the least effort? Should people spend their after work hours cooking, cleaning and washing clothes. Isn't take away food enough? Isn't it OK if the house was not cleaned so frequently? What happens when all the household responsibilities are dumped on one single person? What are the ways in which responsibilities can be shared?

Margaret Kim Peterson comes up with some good answers to all these questions by her own. I would confess that I found some of her ideas as awesome, but there were few points which I could not agree at all. But overall she made me think about my thoughts towards household chores and how I do them.

Doing household chores as ways to serve others and God,creating a happy environment for our families is the basic theme of the book. After all proper food, shelter and proper clothing are our basic needs. 

Overall, I found the book to be encouraging especially at times when I am too tired to finish all the chores while taking care of a one year old baby. As I wrote before, this book helps to take out a few frustrations of being a working mother with very little time. It also helps you to understand the importance of the stability created in our families by performing these repetitive chores.

Giving a biblical angle for everything was something I didn't like in this book. I felt like the author is thinking too much or giving more importance to certain aspects based on her own interpretations of the Bible.

Verdict: Recommended for all Christian men and women especially married people.

Recent Books on My Shelf #2

These are the recent books that I read or plan to read in the near future.

Margaret Fuller and One Step Too Far are kindle books. Click on the book title to read my reviews.

Margaret Fuller: A New American Life   - I found this book interesting initially and went again and again back to the book. Later I found this book very slow and decided to abandon my efforts. 

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis    This was a very good novel with lots of suspense intertwined. Very good book for a debut novel.

The next two books are paperbacks - one from Justbooks library and another a personal copy which I bought from a book exhibition in office. The Curious Incident was interesting, but not too great a read.

An Atlas of Impossible Longing was a great read. I bought this book after reading high praises about the book. The book is well written with all the emotions in a good mixture; though the story makes you feel sad, it is not depressing. I will recommend this book to anyone who is interested in some serious read by Indian authors.

The next 4 books are kindle books that I intend to take up as soon as I have finished with The Little Way of Ruthie Leming by Rod Dreher. I am currently hooked to the book and I am so happy that I picked it up even though I questioned myself about reading some random biographies.

Did anyone of you read any of these books? Do let me know your thoughts through the comments.

PS: This happens to be my 150th post on this blog :D Long long way to go.

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan - Book Review

For all those praises I showered on Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, Amsterdam was a big disappointment. I could not connect to any of the characters or the story line or the theme of the story.
Nothing in the book made sense, not even the prose or the writing style of McEwan.

Yea. The red circle on the book cover says 'Winner of the Booker Prize'. So sad that I don't get along with most of the award winning books.

Verdict: Mostly disappointing.

Other books by Ian McEwan:

On Chesil Beach
Atonment