BOOK REVIEW: The Romance of Salt by Anil Dharker
Food is barely palatable without the addition of salt. Certain chemical reactions require salt for them to take place. So how does salt form and where does it come from? What's the history of salt? These and many more will be answered in this book written by Anil Dharker.
Salt is another four-letter word for life. We take it for granted, dismiss it as a mere flavor-enhancer, but without it, we couldn't exist. In many cultures, they believe churning of the salty sea gave birth to the world.
This book takes you on a fascinating journey through history featuring this magical substance. You will never look at a salt shaker in the same way again.
However, I was mildly disappointed that almost 3/4 of the book revolves around the story of salt in India with a focus on how Tata Company introduced salt and its CSR activities. Part 1 of the book was also purely on the Salt March of Dandi led by Gandhi. I do get the significance but it was bordering on an almost biographical relation to Gandhi rather than salt. I strongly believe that if the book's focus was on relating salt in a general context to provide readers facts on it, then it should have been written.
The subject of Tata Company and Gandhi could have been two separate books in my opinion. The rest of the facts were just skimmed by on the surface leaving me hankering for more facts on the crystalline substance we call salt.
However, it is a good read if you want to know something on salt or if you were curious on what the Salt March of Dandi was. Happy Reading!
BOOK REVIEW: Forever by Judy Blume
Sex education is one of the leading forms of education in the US, due to the high exposure of teens to the bodily world as well as faster puberty rates. This novel by Judy Blume talks of sex in a manner acceptable by teens.
Katherine and Michael meet at a party. The attraction is instant and pretty soon they're going out and making out.
Katherine is a virgin, but as their relationship grows deeper and more intense they both want more. This is love, and love is forever - right?
But love isn't simple - and when Katherine's parents make them spend the summer apart, forever begins to feel like an awfully long time...
This is a book on first love, first sex and first heartbreak. But it's not porn or close to it. It's a teen lifebuoy to real life: teenage angst, friendship, teen pregnancy and other teen issues faced today. Written simple for better understanding, it's a book to read if you are on the loveboat in your teen years.
BOOK REVIEW: Autopsy - The Memoirs of the World's Greatest Medical Detective by Milton Helpern M.D.,Bernard Knight M.D. and Professor Keith Simpson M.D.
Autopsy is a gruesome and heart-wrenching profession. It is not for the faint-hearted, with facing corpses of all types: murders, rape and the macabre. Medico-legal field could not have been more interesting after reading this book.
Acknowledged by his peers as the greatest criminal pathologist of our time, Milton Helpern's long and successful career makes riveting reading.
Much of his working life was spent dissecting the tragic remains and analysing the ghoulish outcome of violent death. In court his brilliantly presented forensic evidence could sway many an undecided juror.
The tiniest detail, whether extracted from a blood-spattered pillow or taken from a decomposed corpse, proved the innocence of some - and sent many more to their own untimely death.
With around 6 pages of black and white photographs related to the medico-legal faction, this makes for an immersive read. It really makes me wish I had been a forensic scientist, with all the action in the gruesome details.
BOOK REVIEW: Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody by Michael Gerber
WARNING: If you are a major Harry Potter fan, a devotee of J. K. Rowling, and can't take a hit at the world-famous series, please do not pick up this book. I repeat DO NOT PICK UP THIS BOOK!! A parody and humorous poke at Harry Potter-dom, this book is going to elicit a load of laughs from those not too sensitive.
The Hogwash School for Wizards is the most famous school in the wizarding world and Barry Trotter is its most famous pupil. It's been that way ever since J. G. Rollins' Barry Trotter and the Philosopher's Scone (released in the USA as Barry Trotter and the Magic Biscuit) broke publishing records worldwide.
So important has Barry become to the school's reputation - not to say finances - that it has been agreed that he can stay at Hogwash for as long as he likes. Barry Trotter is 22.
Life is good for the perpetual student. He doesn't have to do any work and the wizard pipe he bought in London's Catty Corner leads him the air of mystery and maturity required to impress girls (well, Muddle girls...well, stupid ones).
But now disaster looms. The movie Barry Trotter and the Inevitable Attempt to Cash-in has gone into final production and the marketing machine at Wagner Bros. is going into overdrive. Hogwash is going to be submerged under a tide of souvenir-crazed Muddle fans, torn apart and sold on eBuy, stone by mossy stone.
The movie must be stopped. Barry, Ermine Cringer and Lon Measly must find a way to defeat the most powerful force of grasping sleazoids the world has ever known: Hollywood.
I personally found this book a light set of laughs, without taking the references to the original Harry Potter to heart. Do give this book a read if you are able to stomach laughs on the magic world's favourite hero.
BOOK REVIEW: Tucked In by Meredith Gaston
Quirky illustrations, pastel colours and soft drawings are mainstays as far as attractive books go. I was pulled by this book's charm just by looking at the front cover. Being all about the art of sleeping and all things bed and comfort-related, its no wonder that the book has to warm the cockles of one's heart.
Bed needn't be a place just for sleeping. Whether you are young or old, nimble or wobbly, tucked into bed on the doctor's orders or on your very own whim, you can use your time in bed to explore your creativity and heal your soul.
The author, who is an artist and passionate lover of all things bed, encourages us to discover that our tucked-in time can be as creative as it is restorative, enriching our days and bringing joy to our lives.
We learn how to analyse our dreams and find out what our sleeping positions reveal about our personalities, as well as creating our own tucked-in haiku poetry, comfort foods and dream catchers.
Simply snuggle back, relax, and be guided through a world of tea cup cosies, shadow puppets, favourite bed socks and eclectic sleepy facts.
The perfect gift for the bedbound or balm for the world-weary, this book is sure to uplift, soothe and inspire. Even throughout the book, the author's drawings are sure to put a smile on your face. I'm sure you'll love this book as much as I did.
BOOK REVIEW: A Map of Days - The Fourth Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Recently I have been reading plenty of fantasy books that have bent the norms and given me a tornado of thoughts. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is one of those series that will leave you spellbound in no time. This fourth book in the installment is no different.
Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida. Except now Miss Peregrine, Emma and their peculiar friends are with him, and doing their best to blend in.
But carefree days of beach visits and normalling lessons are soon interrupted by a discovery - a subterranean bunker that belonged to Jacob's grandfather, Abe.
Clues to Abe's double life as a peculiar operative start to emerge, and Jacob begins to learn about the dangerous legacy he has inherited - truths that were part of him long before he walked into Miss Peregrine's time loop.
Now the stakes are higher than ever as Jacob and his friends are thrust into the untamed landscape of an American peculiardom - a world with a few ymbrynes, or rules - that none of them yet understand.
Their story is again illustrated throughout by haunting vintage photographs, but with a striking addition for this new adventure - full colour.
Wonderfully absorbing, I found this YA very much ahead of its generation. It's no wonder this series is such a sought-after addition to any reader's shelves. Keep reading and enjoy the wonderful world of fantasy and the escape it gives.
