Teacher Man

Author: Frank McCourt

Frank McCourt is the author of the bestseller "Angela's Ashes" and "Teacher Man" is a book in the same vein as the former. It is an autobiography and talks about his life as a teacher. I didn't find anything spectacular about the book but there are times when I find him [as a teacher] very creative. He comes up with unique ways, depending on his students' background, to make them understand the concepts. At times he's a very untraditional teacher and it would've been good to know whether his maverick ways of teaching led to successful students or not. Alas, one doesn't come to know of that. In general one also gets to know the life and plight of a teacher. While reading the book, I could relate his annoyances towards his profession with what I've heard from my aunt who's also a teacher (in India).

Bottomline: It's ok.

More from the "Shopaholic" series by Sophie Kinsella

I bought this 3-in-1 volume on the Shopaholic series; one of these I'd already reviewed. The other two are:

• Shopaholic takes Manhattan
• Shopaholic ties the knot

In STM, as you can very well guess from the title that this time Becky goes under debt in Manhattan. The guiding principle that takes her there is "The more you invest, the more you get back". In her case, the investment becomes clothes and accessories; because she's is mass communications she justifies that by buying good clothes,etc. she's investing in her career. The most interesting snippet in this book was: her financial position is ridiculed by the media and becomes a public humiliation for her. Of course, her parents also come to know of it. However, when she talks to them her dad says: "if such a big country (USA) can be in debt and still run fine; then I'm sure you can". Parents can never see a flaw in their child!! :)

In STTK, Becky has other things along with debt to worry about. She's getting married and in TWO places! Luke's mother wants them to get married in New York where she's preparing for the most laving wedding in the city. On the other hand, Becky's parents are preparing for the wedding in their hometown in England. On one side is the wedding of her dreams and on the other side is her parents' dream. She, as we all know, is not so good as saying "no" :).

If you read too many in this series then of course you get the feeling that how come the same character commits the same mistake in every book. However, if you treat them orthoganlly, I think they're a pleasant read. Definitely, not much exercise for the brain :). It makes up for a nice light read!

Bottomline: A light, pleasant read.

Pray for the end; not for the means

I don't know what you thought about my subject but when it came to my mind first it almost felt as if I'm saying "pray for your end" :). That is certainly not what I've in mind!

My subject wants to convey that we should pray for what is our ultimate goal in life and not the small little things that we think we need to add to our basket on the way. If all you want from your life is to be happy; then pray for that. Not something like: "God please give me X, Y and Z so that I'm happy".

Often we pray that I get X (where X could be an object or an intangible) or that Y would happen (where Y is an event). My question is: why do we that?

Isn't all that we want is for us and our family to be happy? Then why don't we simply pray that we be happy? Why do we add clauses to our prayers? If we're praying to the supreme one then that means we believe that he has the power to grant us. Then we must also believe that whatever he does is for our benefit.

I remember that when we were in high school, some students would pray to get good scores/marks/grades. So I asked myself that why don't they just pray to God that they be happy. The answer that I got back was maybe they're too young to understand that.

So I thought of people older than those students. People in that category are praying for a good job or a good house or some such thing. I asked myself the same question and couldn't explain why they do that except that they don't know what they want from life.

How can we be so sure that getting X would make us happy? Why not make our lives simpler (and His job too :)) by simply praying for the happiness of our family. Can you imagine the power of the prayers when everyone in your family prays for the same thing?!?!

I would love to hear what everybody thinks about this!

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Author: Kim Edwards

An extremely engrossing and well-written book - that's what it is! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it was always so hard putting it down!

The protagonist is referred to as "the memory keeper" in the title as he captures all his memories through photos. His wife delivers twins - a girl and a boy; but the girl is born with Down Syndrome so he asks his nurse to take away the newborn to a home, thinking that he can save his family from all the misery by being away from the daughter rather than being with her. However, pain and misery start knocking at his door in less than 24 hours of his daughter's departure. And this was just the beginning. The story revolves around how the lives of every member of his family gets a volte-face because of his one mistake!  

Bottomline: Excellent read!

otConfessions of a Shopaholic

Author: Sophie Kinsella

This is from the famous Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. I'd reviewed another book from the series earlier. It was the tone of that book which prompted me to read more in this series. Sophie's writing style is lovable. Her characters are so well-defined.

In this book, Rebecca Bloomwood (the shopaholic) plunges deep into debt and to reverse that she makes several resolutions, read books and what not; but nothing seems to be helping. Instead everything seems to be helping her get more into debt. Everybody around her seems to be getting successful and striking gold; except her. This and the haunting debtors depress her. She decides to take refuge at her parents' place for sometime. On going there she realizes that her frivolous advice to her neighbors robs them a huge amount! This turns out to her advantage.

There are times when I feel like tearing my hair looking at what Rebecca is buying and the way she's going about controlling her finance. There are so many times when I just can't stop laughing out loud!

The one take away message that I got from the book - (apart from obviously that one should be in control of one's finances) success will kiss your feet if you work whole-heartedly. However hard you may work but if doesn't come from your heart, it lacks the golden touch.

Bottomline: A very good read.

"The Lion's Game" and "The Night Fall"

Author: Nelson DeMille

Just so you don't mistake the title for the name of one book - these are two books. I went on a Nelson DeMille spree and ended up reading two books back-to-back by the same author even though I'd vowed not to do so. The reason I don't want to do such a thing is that I get bored of that author because each has a set pattern! However, I guess it was providence which led me to read these two.

Both these books are on the ATTF (Anti-terrorist Task Force); the hero is a part of the ATTF and the whole story is spun around his solving a terrorist attack.

"The Lion's Game" is centered around a terrorist attack which involves the life of hundreds of passengers on a trans-atlantic flight and the personal revenge of the terrorist. It was okay.

"The Night Fall" is again about a flight (which makes one wonder if flights are the only targets of terrorist attack?!) which drowned in the Atlantic. I liked this more because of the smart deductions by John (the hero).

Overall, both are not great but they're fine for a cafe-read.

Bottomline: ok read (and half a star more for Night Fall)

Peanut chikki/brittle

[Sorry, these are the last three pieces that were left.]

My DH and I, both are very fond of peanut chikki. So it made perfect sense to try making it at home. Not that this was the first time; we'd made it once before but that was so long ago that I'd forgotten how I made it. So I used the recipe from Chachi's kitchen.

I used 250 gms of jaggery and around 400 gms of peanuts. We had a packet of Trader Joe's Old fashioned blister peanuts (unsalted) which we used for making this chikki. If you haven't had these peanuts and are a peanut aficionado then let me tell you these are extra long and extra crisp virginia peanuts! One of the best I've tasted! So I put the jaggery into a pan and heated it on medium heat. Added 2-3 tsp oil. Kept stirring it till it changed color. We crushed the peanuts in the food processor. Mixed it into the melted jaggery and immediately spread the mixture on a greased plate (greased with oil). Flattened it with the help of a flat bottomed bowl (katori). Grease the bottom of the bowl so that the mixture doesn't stick to it. Let it cool. For us, it took a long time. Then cut it into pieces. It makes a boxful of chikki!