A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

 

A Walk to Remember is my second book by Nicholas Sparks the first  being  the Notebook . The book is about two teenagers who fall in love with each other in-spite of different  of personalities. 

The book helps you realize so much about life. Jamie Sullivan the daughter of the pastor Herbert.
No one really likes Jamie at school they think she is not "normal" she is very quite a sweet to            everyone no matter how or what they say to her.She is very religious. She helps everyone in need.
Landon young man who attends the same school as Jamie he never talks to her. But the day comes when he has class with her and even asked her to the dance. After all the laughs he got from his friends for asking her he was ashamed he didn't even want to talk to her anymore.
A play Jamie was doing was coming up she asked Landon if he would play the main part of the play, Landon didn't want to but he owed her an apologie from the other night when she was very sweet.
He did the play and during spending time with Jamie he fell in love with her. He told her how he felt but Jamie told them that he could like her.He was confused. later on he found out she has Lukima. He was scared of losing Jamie. This was a test for him. He saw how she went through so much pain but he was always beside her.  Landon and Jamie got married, but after a few moths she passed away it was hurtful to Landon.He learned to love her even though she wasn't there by his side.It is a quick read that will have you smiling and in tears all at the same time.

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The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Title:Namesake
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Paperback: 291 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books; First edition (September 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618485228
ISBN-13: 978-0618485222


Synopsis:
Ashoke and Ashima natives of Calcutta move to United States after their arranged marriage in India.Ashoke is a PhD student at MIT , soon after Ashima gives birth to a son .They are undecided about theirs child’s name , ultimately relying on a postal letter from Ashima’s  grandmother but letter is lost somewhere in transition, and they are forced to choose  a name for their son before his release from Hospital. Ashoke decides to name his son “Gogol” after Russian Author  Nikolai Gogol and in memory of a tragic train accident of his past.
The Novel revolves around the life of Ashoke , Ashima and their son Gogol .The cultural differences and the generation gap between parents and kids. Gogol’s struggle in search of his own identity and his embarrassment that surrounds his name. Ashima's loneliness in a new country and how she adjusts and make it home.
About the Author: Born in London to Bengali parents, Jhumpa Lahiri currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and two children. Her debut work of fiction, a collection of short stories entitled Interpreter of Maladies, won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She is currently a member of the U.S. President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Her novel The Namesake was also made into a 2007 film
My Thoughts on the Book: I picked up this on the thought that I would like reading it and was not least bit disappointed. Lahiri’s writing is poetic and descriptive she is able to very well describe the lives of Ashoke , Ashima and their family as Immigrants in USA although a bit slow at times.The book is also made into a movie which I had seen many years ago before reading it.I liked the movie as much I had liked the book. All in all the book is expectedly excellent and a must read.

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Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Title :Memoirs of a Geisha 

Author : Arthur Golden

Paperback: 434 pages

Page Numbers Source ISBN: B002LAYWEC 

Publisher: Vintage; Vintage contemporaries ed edition (November 9, 1999) 

Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc

Language: English

Synopsis : Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is a book about Geisha ( Japanese women entertainer ) who sing, dance , talk and keep men company in order to entertain them.Chiyo (Who is known as Sayuri when she becomes Geisha )  is sold to a Geisha house in Gion after her mother's  death , she does odd jobs there like cleaning and house chores .Later on she is enrolled in  geisha school where she learns singing , dancing and more .An elder Geisha  Hatsumomo is jealous of Sayuri and so her hope of becoming a Geisha comes to a stop until she meets a elder Geisha Mameha who eventually trains her to become Geisha and a successful one at that . Sayuri's life changes after second world war when the man she has always loved becomes her Danna ( A wealthy man, sometimes married, who had the means to support the very large expenses related to a geisha's traditional training and other costs.).

About The Author : Arthur Golden  is an American writer born on December 6, 1956) .Golden was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, grew up on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, He spent his middle and high school years at the Baylor School  in Chattanooga, graduating in 1974. He attended Harvard University and received a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art. In 1980, he earned an M.A. in Japanese history at Columbia University, and also learned Mandarin Chinese. He currently lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
The novel Memoirs of a Geisha was written over a 6-year period during which Golden rewrote the entire novel three times, changing the point of view before finally settling on the first person viewpoint of Sayuri. Interviews with a number of geisha, including  Mineko Iwaski  provided background information about the world of the geisha. It has sold more than four million copies in English and has been translated into thirty-two languages around the world.

My Thoughts on the Book:This novel is an amazing read that brings to life, vivid and colorful characters. Being narrated in the first person, the reader feels a sense of reality to the story. Golden’s ability to create clear imagery makes the novel all the more spectacular. The novel uses many different jokes and situations that will make the reader laugh and cry. It also broadens the view of society on geisha and ancient tradition. Being informative, hilarious, and inspirational, Memoirs of a Geisha is a well written book and It's one of my favorite.

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help  is an amazing first  book by Kathryn Stockett , it was quite engrossing , I loved reading it till the end as the story developed.
The book is about black maids in  Jackson, MS in the early 1960s where the Civil Rights movement was getting  heated.Skeeter Phelan, is a young white woman just graduated from college and wishes to write. She wants to create a novel based on interviews with the black maids .No one wants to cooperate because it's an extremely dangerous task. Soon, Aibileen and Minny,  maids of Jackson, come together to help Skeeter with her project. It turns into something so much bigger than any of them expected.  
This book is one of my favorites and I recommend everyone read it as its  It's complex, deep, entertaining, funny, depressing,  inspirational and well written.Kathryn Stockett manages to make characters come to life with her descriptions.

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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This is a truly magnificent book.One of the very best stories I have ever read,it is so beautifully written.It takes place during the last thirty years of  history in Afghanistan, and deals with a family and their love for each other and for their country.

The book centers on two children: Amir, son of a prosperous Kabul businessman and Hassan son of his longtime servant. The two boys grow up together , constant companions despite their differences  and become very close friends. because of some ugly event their friendships breaks off.

Winds of change blew over Afghanistan because of which Amir and his father had to leave their homeland and settle in America in an Afghan community.Memories of their homeland keeps on haunting them one day after many years Amir gets a call from his homeland and a truth about his family is revealed.

A few statements from the book which got etched in my mind.

•     “Sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime...”
•     “Children aren't coloring books. You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors.”
•     "Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is   

               pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it.” -- I am truly moved by this statement.

•     “It always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.”
•     "There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood."
•      "For you, a thousand times over."

This a well written novel about error , courage , loyalty and forgiveness , a mix of all human emotions.I would definitely recommend  this book.

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The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

I had picked up the Da Vinci Code few years back but left it in between,last week I decided to reread it again and I completed it this time.

The book is based on Christianity and its belief , it talks about a Holy Grail an alternative reality of Jesus Christ .The books starts with a murder of Louvre  museum curator "Jacques Saunière" in Paris, Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist, along with granddaughter of Jacques Saunière, Sophie Neveu gets caught up in his murder investigation.Jacques Saunière leaves clues for his granddaughter to know reality about her family which she considered to be dead long back in an accident.

Eventually in this search she gets to know about lot of things like Secret societies, Templar kings and much more.

The day I started the book I couldn't wait to see the movie, hence I saw it  midst of reading the book.I found the book to be better as its very informative at many instances and the ending of book and movie are quite different .I just don't want to break its suspense here :)

Undoubtedly Dan Brown has done amazing jobs to his book "The Da Vinci Code". The story is powerful and magnificent. Mixing with a lot of traceable truth and facts, he made his novel sound extremely convincing and  entertaining.

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The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

This is one of favorite love story. It shows what true soul mates are. I think that you can love someone like ally did the lawyer, but only true love with your soul mate like with Noah. This book is simple yet heart rendering love story. It will make you smile and cry often. It is about the belief that true love never dies or dims, it remains with you through the thick and thins of life. 


A few of my favorite quotes from the book: 


"I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough." 


"We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking."

I've uploaded the pdf version of this book here 
http://www.mediafire.com/?ague28elonbl9n5

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