A Breath of Fresh Air

A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi is the story of Anjali and her journey from naive, silly young woman to a mature and courageous person. It is also a story of selfish and chauvinist Prakash, caring and understanding Sandeep, and sweet Amar. The novel starts with the Bhopal gas tragedy and proceeds through indicating how it affected Anjali - both emotionally and physically.

The style and story reminded me of Yaddanapudi - typical emotional roller coaster of life full of drama.

Good and breezy read for a lazy afternoon.

Silkworm

Silkworm, pseudonymously written by J K Rowling as Robert Galbraith, is a riveting murder mystery. This is her second book featuring Cormoran Strike as a burly ex-army, highly methodological, single-legged private detective, and his eager and attractive assistant Robin. The first book, called The Cuckoo's Calling, is good too. But I liked this better.

The murder in Silkworm is elaborate and grotesque. The very nature of it piques one's interest despite making one shudder at the thought of it. The story revolves around writers, and their eccentrics. Rowling weaves an intriguing plot with doses of elements including gore, hermaphrodites, literary symbolism, passion, and revenge.

A definite unputdownable reading for mystery lovers.

Athadu Adavini Jayinchadu

This Sahitya Academy Award winner by Dr. Kesava Reddy is an absolute gem. It's a very short book - a novella. It's about an old man and his attempt to bring back his beloved pig from the cruel forest where it gets stranded for the night. The whole story starts at sunset and ends by the next sunrise. When I first heard about the story line, I found it very unattractive and was almost sure that it would not be an easy read given the fact that it's an award winner. But I couldn't be too wrong about it.The narration is gripping and there's never a dull moment as we go along with the old man through the night. It's a very captivating story. It's full of spirit, courage, loyalty, love, and duty. This one is not to be missed. Personally for me, reading it had been such a pleasure - beyond words can describe.

Tanhayi

Apple has beautifully captured the essence of this novel and reviewed it very well on her blog. I'm sure it's futile for me even to attempt to surpass or at least reach its detail and style. So, I urge the readers to check it out here. I've picked up this book after reading this review and I second it completely. Tanhayi is a modern-day novel that almost anyone can relate to. It's about the inner struggle of a man and a woman who find themselves in love out of their marriages. It gives much food for thought. The point was not to judge or preach. Life never seems as smooth as we would like it to be. It throws surprises at us, when we are least prepared. For Kalhaara and Koushik, it was true love under wrong circumstances.