Atleast You're In Tuscany by Jennifer Criswell - Book Review

I am more inclined to travel books these days and I had picked up 'Under theTuscan Sun' for the same reason. But that attempt failed miserably when I started nodding off reading the first few pages of the book. Since then the book has kind of occupied an undisturbed corner of my bookshelf and I silently moved it from my currently-reading list to to-read list. ( Hey, I didn't abandon the book...I just left it to pick it up later...Promise)

'Atleast You're in Tuscany', that term made me slightly curious since it is a pretty unusual name for a book title. Later I realized that it is the term that the Jennifer Criswell used to tell herself whenever she had second thoughts about her decision to move to Italy from New York. It certainly reminded me of 'All's Well' term used in Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots movie.

'A Somewhat Disastrous Quest for the Sweet Life' is the second part of the title, which is the clear indication about what the book is all about. Jennifer dreamed about a wonderful life in Tuscany, enjoying everything about Italy and Italians.But her quest for sweet life becomes a distant dream when she finds that she is not even able to land a stable job owing to the Italian laws regarding immigrants. And there seems to be no easy or quick way out.

I liked every bit of this book though the reasons for shifting to Italy was never convincing. There is something very honest about Jennifer's writing that I liked very much. I just loved reading about her mundane existence in the first few months in Italy. And there were lot of desperate yet funny moments which she has managed to narrate well.

Atleast You're in Tuscany is not a travelogue in a strict sense. It is a story about finding yourself in a strange land in unexpected situations which are miles away from what you dreamed about. And this book is all about human relationships and friendships. You never know when you meet your next close friend. It could be in a shopping mall, or in a bakery or even in a bank.

I was very happy when Jennifer's disastrous quest concluded and it looked like she may not have to return to New York accepting defeat. And I should say that I am certainly curious to know what happened next :) More than that I admire Jennifer's courage to leave a comfortable life to follow her dream of living in Tuscany.

Rating: 4/5
First Release: September 28th 2012
Publisher: Gemelli Press LLC

Note: This is a review copy I received from publisher through netgalley in return for my honest opinion.

The Caretaker by A .X. Ahmad - Book Review

First thing - Did you guys take a better look at the cover art? I wasn't much impressed initially, but I was definitely impressed when I was almost half way through the book. Probably that is when I really understood the title and the cover art.

Now over to the book. The book has a very surprising theme. Yes, I started reading this book without any clue that it is going to be about India and Indian army and that too with a backdrop of a very sensitive topic - the Kargil area which causse a lot of tension between India and Pakistan.

Story

Ranjit Singh is an ex-Indian army captain living illegally in USA along with his wife Preetam and daughter Shanti. He earns his livelihood by doing small scale landscaping works in Martha's Vineyard and considers himself lucky when he lands the job of caretaker for a few houses during the winter season.What was supposed to be a simple job turns out to be a life-threatening mission and Ranjith has to run to save his own life and the lives of his wife and daughter. Ranjit also realizes that whatever danger from which he fled India with his family can catch up with him and destroy them forever.

Review

A X Ahmad has done a great job for a debut novel and he has definitely done his share of homework before telling the story of an immigrant sikh Indian. This is a book which creates a lot of suspense that I found myself picking up the book again and again until I finished it.

I loved the way the author revealed the incident on the Siachen glacier bit by bit. Probably the Indian army mission was the best written part of the book. The Caretaker has a lot of twists, flashbacks, suspense and let me mention that there is some sex too involved though the author has taken care not to dwell too much on the object.

There are flaws, there are imperfections, but overall I was very happy with this suspense thriller and the way the story was set in different places was quite beautiful.

Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Suspense, Mystery Thriller
Published: May 21st 2013 by Minotaur Books

Note: This is a review copy I received from publisher through netgalley in return for my honest opinion.

Waiting Eagerly For ...

Image Source: Author website

Finally I could not resist any more. So I just went ahead and ordered a  hard copy of 'And the Mountains Echoed' today morning. I can always buy a kindle version, but I really really want a physical copy of this book. And right now I am just praying that Khaled Hosseini will not let me down...I do have too much expectations from the author of the awesome book  'The Kite Runner'. I loved it so much that I recommend it to any stranger who has picked it up from a shelf in a book shop. And it is the first book I think about for gifting purposes.

Flipkart let me down on this book. It suggested a shipping price of 50 bucks + 389 bucks for the

book. So I am putting my trust on Homeshop18.com to deliver it is 4-5 days. Guess Flipkart has increased their shipping charges. Nevertheless I have added the affiliate link below for all those people who trust flipkart for their book deliveries.

Affiliate link: Amazon

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.