abhijeet's Books > Book reviews by abhijeet

Isabel Dalhousie

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 11:56 (A review of The Careful Use of Compliments: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel)

Clearly inspired by the style of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries, the book has a very likable heroine with her constant inner dialogue and is sprinkled with surprising humor and wit. Alexander McCall Smith gives as much importance to the characters and their as he does the resolution of the central mystery of the book. The book starts out a little slow but it really grows on you.

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Required reading

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 11:53 (A review of The World Without Us)

This should be required reading for every human on this planet. It's not just environmentalist sabre rattling, it's a well thought out as well as thought provoking book.

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Speaks for itself

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 11:52 (A review of Speaker for the Dead)

Rarely does a sequel to a path breaking book reach the same heights. Pleasantly enough, this book is an excellent sequel to Ender's Game. It is only nominally related to the original and explores completely different ideas and characters, linked only by Ender Wiggin himself. Science fiction at it's best.

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Compassion

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 11:51 (A review of Ender's Game)

I've heard tons of praise for this book and it didn't disappoint in the least. Above all, it's a tale of human compassion. After all, compassion is one of the most human of all our qualities.

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The Foundation will never fail

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 10:08 (A review of Second Foundation (The Foundation Series))

My favourite book of Asimov's Foundation trilogy. His inventiveness and excellent plotting keep giving you surprises till the end. The climax is brilliant and I don't want to give it away. Suffice to say, the location of the other end of the galaxy is more figurative than literal.

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Faith

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 09:37 (A review of Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West)

You can't give someone faith, they must find it for themselves. However, some special people can light the way for others. This book contains the poetry of a few such special people. I like some of them better than others and some speak to me while others don't.

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The apogee of the Rowling's writing

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 09:33 (A review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4))

J K Rowling's writing and story telling are at their finest in the fourth Harry Potter book. She weaves all the plot elements together very skillfully. I loved her first four books because, at their heart, they were tales of mystery and adventure and this one was the best of them. After this one, the series went into a different direction, one more concerned with telling the history of Voldemort and Harry and bringing the tale to it's conclusion. This book remains Rowling's best.

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Sincerity and truth

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 08:45 (A review of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl)

The diary of an ordinary teenage girl living through extraordinary times. No embellishments, just her life and thoughts. It's amazing to see her grow into an amazing person during the three years she keeps the diary. Sincerity and truth are always powerful and moving.

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Fascinating and surprising

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 08:39 (A review of The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature)

Matt Ridley takes on the onerous task of explaining why sex even exists in the whole grand scheme of evolution of species. He then goes on to explain it's consequences, among other things. He explains the science without getting heavy handed with jargon and a dash of wit. My favourite book about evolution and genetics, so far. Totally, utterly, fascinating.

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The great divide of life and everything

Posted : 10 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 February 2008 04:20 (A review of Asterix and the Great Divide (Asterix Comic))

Possibly my favourite Asterix book. I love how they divide the village into the 'Left side' and 'Right side'. It wasn't till years after I first read it did I realise the it represented left & right wing politics, the cold war, the struggle between democracy & autocracy..... the parallels to real life could go on. The most prominent message of the book is how unscrupulous people exploit and widen the divides between people. Brilliant storytelling.

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