Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

 Mrs Dalloway (1925) By Virginia Woolf  216 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Rating 4/5  This is my second reading of this book. Like all Woolf's works I have read so far, the message in this story is subtly and intricately placed. It is not immediately identified. The characters are richly developed - more psychological than a physical or intellectual picturing.  Mrs Dalloway is Clarissa, a woman of 50ish years,married to a senator. She is giving a party on that particular evening. She is getting things ready and preparing herself for the event. Septimus, an older man who worked in the army and turned schizophrenic possibly after his friend died in the army and he stops feeling anything psychologically. He throws himself out of the window and kills himself that very day to escape the onslaught of a psychiatrist. How are these two events connected? How does Clarissa react to hearing it? Is his act an act of defiance and freedom really?  Then there are ...

 The Complete Book Of Yoga  By Swami Vivekananda  Every single page is dripping and bristling with lot of wisdom. Here are some of my notes as I navigated through these waters of divine wisdom. Karma Yoga - Notes  Character of any man - aggregate of his tendencies, total of the bent of his mind. It is formed through experiences of both good and bad .. the bad playing a more dominant role in shaping of a character.  To assess a great character,  look not how behaves in most challenging occasions. But look at his most common and everyday activities. Those who stick to great character in all actions and at all times is to be considered a great character. Not only during challenging times.  Knowledge is all present within the mind/soul. As we discover it, we are only peeling off a layer of ignorance which is covering it. As we progress in the uncovering,  we say we are progressing in the knowledge/learning.  Everything we do - physica...

The Help   By kathryn Stockett  Rating  : 5/5  Genres : Historical Fiction Enjoyed it but also learned a lot from this book!! The last few pages is whew .. it's hope alternating nervousness and apprehension! The times of 1960s as the black women who are domestic helps and housekeepers for white women saw it through their eyes. Very riveting!  This book has transported me to the time  of early 1960s to Jackson, Mississippi where colored(black) people are the servants and housekeepers in white people's homes. Those were the times when thee were rules of segregation between the white and black people. Those were also the times when changes are slowly seeping in - through the courageous actions of Martin Luther king and others across America - allowing black people to share the same libraries, buses with white people.   The main characters in the book are a bunch of white and black women and how their daily lives are impacted when a w...

The Searcher (2020) By Tana French  388 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Rating 4/5  Genres : Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Defective, Noir, 2023-read  The author transports the reader into the world of a fictitious town in Ireland through the eyes of a retired American cop Cal Hooper .. makes us walk in his shoes ..  see the things he sees, feel the things he feels .. it is grand! She also takes time to build the people in the story into proper characters with their own personalities, eccentricities and natures .. so when they do something, it doesn't raise eyebrows coming from them.  This story mainly revolves around : A missing boy. A creature that is attacking at night and mutilating the bodies of sheep and ewes. Few people trying to figure out a mystery. Few others warning them off and knowing more than they let on. Its good! A cop with Chicago P.D. takes voluntary retirement and moves to a small rural area in Ireland to settle into an unchalle...

 The House of Silk (2011) by Anthony Horowitz  (400 pages) Paperback  Rating : 5/5  Genre : Mystery, Fiction, Suspense  This book is awesome!! Every notable character we meet in the plot is a major game changer and as Holmes puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, it brings a chill and reflects well on the amazing mastermind that created this story - Anthony Horowitz! I am totally willing to uncover more of his works to see what more cool stuff he has got going for us readers.  A paintings and art dealer pays a visit to Holmes and Dr. Watson and requests for their assistance in getting him out of a inescapable situation. He is being stalked by an American gangster and he is suspected to have committed a break in robbery at the dealer's house. This thread of narrative soon branches off into a new direction with a young boy's murder. The boy is a street urchin in Sherlock's employ. Holmes directly or indirectly becomes responsible for the deat...

A Feast For Crows (#4 in GOT Series)  By George R.R.Martin Rating :5/5  Genres : Fantasy,thriller,fiction  Like all the previous books in this series, this one too is wildly entertaining and very captivating. A few old, noteworthy characters are gone and new ones introduced - the absence of Tyrion and Danearys is deeply felt. After the last book ( a storm of swords) which was a wild ride with so many twists and turns happening, this one is more slower and tepid in action. Despite everything, still very riveting .. a special skill of the author, no doubt! 

 Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell  by Sussanah Clarke  Rating 5/5 😀😀😀 Just finished the book and my head is spinning. What a eerie and strange story. Deeply unsettling and thoroughly seeped in  magic! How wonderful is this book with such good prose. There is not a bit of boredom or languishing in the narrative which unapologetically plodded along painting a tale transporting me to a distant place and time. A time and place where the happenings of the day have no logical explanation than being perpetuated by magic which only two magicians in England could have understood. Yes! They are the two titular characters - Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norell.  Mr. Norell destroys the chance of every other English man from learning and practicing magic. He is a bit of a negative character who wants to revive and bring back old glory to practical magic but wants to be the one doing it. His sources of magic are the books in his library which he has gone to great p...

The Kite Runner  By Khaled Hosseini  Genre : Afghanistan, classics,good-prose ,2023-read, Historical Fiction  Rating 5/5  This story spans the time period from 1975 to 2002 threading its way through Afghanistan and America. The story sees the country of Afghanistan peaceful in the early to late 1970s, struggling and haggling under the tyranny of Russia through 1980s and stifling under the overtake and rule of the Taliban. This is one of those countries where going back to a peaceful past is no longer possible. Even those who were acquainted with that period are running in short supply. May God help and provide for the still suffering. There is little that we as spectators know of these countries and the plight of such people unless books such as these - although fiction - are written and Khaled Hosseini is a crusader for their cause!! This book has proved to be a challenge for finishing in one read. I remember vividly the number of times I gave it a ...

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022) Winner of 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction   503 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Genre : Fiction, Fantasy, Afterlife, Philosophy, LGBT. Rating : 5/5  Mr. Shehan weaved a mesmerizing tale that is simply superb and awesome. I was half way through the book and already making plans to read it one more time!!  He lifted the stigma and heaviness attached to the most gorical elements of war, death, loss and injustice. I didn't cringe or feel obnoxious reading through the numerous homosexual relationships Maali has. This story makes one reconsider their notions of what makes life worth while and wholesome. Why should we waste a life that is blessed to be had by indulging in wastefulness of war and power craving.  Loved it through and through!!  He paints a scary picture of Sri Lanka with race / faction wars in which innocent people are ruthlessly, mindlessly sacrificed. The government tortu...