My fourth book from Taylor Jenkins Reid and I have been reading them in reverse order of their publishing time. TJR has a charm in her smooth writing which propels the read to flip through the pages.

This book is about Hannah Martin, 29, who hasn’t figured out her life. She has been through many cities and jobs but does not have a place to call “home” yet and is running away from a disastrous relationship. She comes back to LA to her best friend, Gabby and finds herself meeting Ethan, her high school boyfriend. Will Hannah have a chance to rekindle their relationship?

How many times do we say , “What if?”. TJR chose this concept and wrote a book about the repercussions of alternating choices. Written in parallel universe with two alternating choices Hannah can make, this book focuses on how much a decision can influence her life. It could be confusing for some readers. but reading TJR books lately, it wasn’t a bad choice to play with the parallel universe. In fact, I liked the concept.

As always, the characters in this TJR book are so relatable and so are their conversations. I always end up learning about my strengths from her books. There is no wrong decision, you just have to live up to it. It is not a perfect book but it is so good to see how much TJR’s writing has evolved.

If you are looking for a quick piece to read on a Sunday afternoon, grab this one! Highly recommended.

The most anticipated read of 2019 and Goodreads Choice 2019 winner, Margaret Atwood’s The Testament picks up the story of The Handmaid’s Tale more than 15 years after Offred stepped into the unknown and left readers with a lots of questions unanswered. Does ‘The Testaments’ answer them all?

The Testaments is narrated from three female narrators:

1.  Aunt Lydia
2.  Daisy - raised outside Gilead
3.  Agnes - born and raised in Gilead

All three narrators describe their experiences in a stark contrasting manner and how Gilead and it’s tyranny affected their lives in the most brutal way possible. For me, The Testaments, not only answered what happened to Offred but also reflected on the story of how Aunts and the Handmaids are brought into Gilead. That was a real eye opener.

The Testaments is yet another feather to Margaret’s cap where she spoke about injustice and standing against the unacceptable. Written 34 years after its predecessor, this book has a touch to the modern #metoo movement where body objectification is strictly damned and women have equal rights to do what they want.

I devoured this book in two sittings and it was simply unputdownable for me. Aunt Lydia’s narration was my absolute favourite. This page-turner contains Margaret Atwood’s brilliant prose besides sharp and witty insights.

Highly recommended for those who love to read dystopia but reading The Handmaid’s Tale prior to this should be preferred.

I’ve only read one Agatha Christie before this one and I had been recommended this book a lot by Agatha Christie fans. This book has been rightly one of the World’s best selling books of all time, setting the standards of crime fiction.

The story involves around an island where ten random people from all walks of life are invited to stay in a solitary house on that island. They are murdered one after the another in a similar fashion described in a poem hanging in everyone’s room. If there is no one left on the island, who killed the last person? That’s the brilliance of Agatha Christie!

Christie didn’t need 500 pages novel to describe a murder. She described 10 murders in less than 300 pages. I could have never guessed the killer the whole time.

The settings of the island described in the book and twisted characters just show the brilliance of Agatha Christie. I would consider this book not only as a crime fiction but also a psychological thriller.

A highly recommended book for mystery and psychological thriller fans!

I am a huge fan of Shilpi’s writing. When I picked this up, I was expecting something similar to her previous two books which I loved to the core but this book surprised me. It has a completely different plot but in a beautiful way.

'The Shape Of A Family' is about the Olanders, a family who is closely knit together but when tragedy strikes, they fall apart. It is about how each member of the family expresses the grief in his or her own way and make us think how we as humans handle different situations in our lives differently even though we live under the same roof as a family.

Shilpi, as always, has done a brilliant job in developing different characters. They seem so relatable. The story is narrated from four different point of views and each character describes the love and grief they feel for other family members. I re-read some lines because they are so beautiful and make so much sense in our family lives.

Short chapters make this book easy to read and a page-turner. It is not a sad story but a beautiful story about grief stricken family which has some amazing lines to treasure for life. I felt emotionally connected to the Olanders family and this story is going to stay with me for a long time.

Highly recommended if you like reading about families , growing up with them and a sense of belonging.

I have read “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng earlier and it made me pick this one by her. I am not surprised at all to find her brilliance in portraying families exceptionally once again.

‘Everything I never told you’ is about an oriental family in the US, The Lees. Their daughter, aged 16, is found dead in the lake in the beginning and the whole story revolves around them as they try to find the reasons within themselves for their girl’s death.

Celeste’s prose is yet outstanding and her characters speak for themselves because they are so well portrayed. The dynamics between them is exceptional penned down, be it spouse relationship, father-son, father-daughter, mother-daughter, mother-son and siblings.

As the title of the book suggests, it is always about the things we never tell our families or they never get to hear which eat us up at some point. It is beyond my comprehension how Celeste Ng manages to write a book around that emotionally intricate subject with such a fascinating language.

The book also touches the subjects about sexism, racism and miscegenation without losing focus on the main subject of love and miscommunication between different members of the family.

I am always emotionally attached to the characters of Celeste’s books and I cannot wait for her next book to release. If you love reading family bonds and their resentments to each other, grab this one. Highly recommended!!!

I just happen to stumble upon this book at my library and I immediately picked it up after reading the blurb at the back cover only to find out that this book was one of the Book Of The Month (BOTM) selections and after reading it, I am not surprised why.

‘Sweet Little Lies’ is a debut novel by Caz Frear and it is about twenty-six year old Cat Kinsella who is a homicide detective in London and is working on a case of Maryanne Doyle who is murdered and is also linked to her past in a strange way.

This book is written in two timelines - First, when Maryanne is linked to Cat during her childhood and second being the present when Maryanne is found murdered and her murder is being investigated.

I am a sucker for thrillers and police procedurals crime novels and this book delivers the same. Caz Frear has a brilliant way of constructing a complex character like Cat who is neither weak nor strong all the time. All the scenes inside the police station are so aptly described and the characters look so realistic.

Caz’s sense of humour and wittiness also make this book an interesting read along with the grimness of the crime. The climax was so unexpected and I could not have guessed it correctly even after reading so many crime novels. Kudos to Coz!

If you are looking for a quick page-turner crime novel, this must be a great choice!