Nagasravika's Book Reviews Blog

 The Lincoln Lawyer (2005) By Michael Connelly  Rating : 3.5/5  Genre : Court Room Drama, Detective, Mystery,Fiction. Very suspenseful and gripping. As it got closer to the trial in the case, it became all the more heart thumping because the client the Lincoln lawyer is trying to save is the culprit. We don't want him to get out and we see no way he could be sent in! Its a very novel situation the lawyer finds himself in. He is implicated in a murder investigation that he didn't commit. He has to defend a client who is not innocent and who was responsible for putting away another client of his for life!  Michael Haller is a defence attorney in Los Angeles. Most of his cases are defending drug dealers and prostitutes who are usually caught doing the wrong thing. He gets their punishment reduced or cuts short their stay in the jail houses. He also sometimes does cases where the victim is accused of murder and one such case was against Jesus Menendez. He was accused of ...

Old Man's War (2005) By John Scalzi  My Rating: 4/5 🥴🥴🥴 Genre : Space Opera, Science Fiction, Military, War, Future. I liked this book well.   I liked the different variants of alien creatures and their capabilities envisioned by the author. I liked the idea of a continuing consciousness for humans who are old/dead and the ways of using it productively.  I thought the story/plot started on a very promising note and some hilarity even. As the story progressed, I found I could skip over several lines of the text and not miss much. There is a lacking of emotional connection and investment a reader makes as he gets involved in the fate of main character(s). The ruthlessness and the brutality on display as the different species try to win and invade is a bit troubling. What is there to enjoy in endless war,right?  Old people at a future point of time have the capability to reverse their age - in a way. Their consciousness is transferred into young and highly evolv...

Valley of the Dolls (1966)       by Jacqueline Susann 510 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Genres : Historical Fiction,  Romance, Philosophical, Psychological Fiction  Rating : 5/5 🥰🥰🥰 One of the best books I have ever read. :) Eerie, omnious and potent with nerve wracking energy. Cannot delineate this story into one subject - this is a concoction dealing with elements of love, romance, betrayal, loss, disillusionment, mental illness, mystery, cancer and deeply engaging,amazing writing talent of Susann.   It kept me hooked through out as I traveled in the shoes of three women who bond during their struggling years for fame and success and break apart once they have reached their pinnacles of success!  This story exposed the vacancy and the void felt even by the most coveted and successful people. The journey to the top is always a lonely journey and even more so when one reaches the spot.   The three women main characters - ...

Afterlives (2020) By Abdulrazak Gurnah (Nobel Prize Winner for Fiction) Genre : Historical Fiction, Drama, Colonization, Germany,  Africa. Rating : 5/5  This is my first book from this author and also covering the demography of Africa under German Colonization followed by British rule. Had some difficulty navigating through the terms initially but a little research eased the matters greatly.  Overall, Loved reading this book. :) Got to learn a lot of stuff about the schutztruppe of the Germans, askari of Africa and their practices, ruthlessness and unexposed/unfamiliar kindness of some of those Germans in control/power. This book has showed the positive side to the colonial occupation of German and British to Africa. Yes,the wars have resulted in lot of blood shed but here and there, there were kids,young boys who could vouch for the kindness of some german officers and lay their lives on line to pay back for it. :)  We see a couple of generations of Afri...

Too Much and Never Enough  By Mary L. Trump  Genre : Contemporary, non fiction,  psychology. Rating : 4/5 This is the story of Mary L. Trump who is the neice of Donald Trump. As daughter to the elder brother and first born son of Fred Trump,she gives an honest and first hand version of the events that took place during the formative years of the 45th USA president Donald Trump.  This is a good book - to tell the story of the life and unjustly treatment of Freddy Trump(her father) and his family by the family's patriarch Fred Trump and his four other children(including Donald). But as a portrait of the psychological make up of Donald Trump and the reasons that have crafted it - I feel it falls short. Most of the terms used to describe him - I thought I have heard them before. They were widely used many times by media personalities and anyone really with some sense of psychological analysis. Albeit having a real connection with Donald, she couldn't com...

Leviathan Wakes  By James S.A Corey  Rating 5/5  Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery, Noir, Horror  Splendid!! Absolutely 💯 amazing space science fiction stuff! Kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Things unravel fast. Ominous fear creeps in slow. Brain does several jumps and leaps before settling down into calmness. Wonderful, Wonderful,  Wonderful. Two protagonists. Both flawed and impulsive. One with his words and information. The other with his actions and intuition. Both find their redemption eventually and in the process save the whole of human race from becoming gooey food for an evolved alien race. 

Verity  By Colleen Hoover  Rating 4/5  Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller. Finished this with my heart in my mouth..sitting on the edge of my seat. Goosebumps on my arms and chills down my spine.  I was expecting that the answer to this mystery would be found in the villainification of the husband but it didn't. There is a twist or there isn't. Which version of Verity is to be believed and which is fake? Its a thoroughly knitted plot solid and hard core. Would highly recommend. I have taken off one point because like graphical abuse, too much of sexual descriptions and steamy scenes make me a bit uncomfortable. But they are obviously necessary to make the plot what it is. Interesting and gripping !! 

Shadow and Bone (#1) By Leigh Bardugo Rating 4/5  Genre : fantasy This book didn't feel like much when I started but it had a strange pull on me as it went on. This very morning, I opened my eyes and resumed reading the continuing chapter before doing anything else..  I was a bit confused about a few things which got only partly cleared towards the end. Like whats the difference between the Darkling wanting to put the collar of stag antlers around her neck versus her putting it. How can he have absolute control over her and then cease to have any control at all. Well, still intriguing to read .. Keep reading on. :)  Alina Strokov is an orphan cartographer with the King's army. She has a hidden talent of summoning light from her body whenever she wants. This power is so immense and useful to the King's second hand man the Darkling who looks to exploit it. But she learns of his plot in time and escapes. She is eventually caught, the Darkling's plans unfold ...

 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...