Book Reviews

As a reader I have never really understood why someone needs a long-winded book review. Probably all I want to know is whether the book is good or bad. A small paragraph with about 100 to 150 words is all that is needed before a reader makes up his/her mind. Most reviews recap the story in such great detail making me wonder if we really need to know so much before we actually read the book?

At our library EasyLib.com, we ask people to write positive reviews only. This has taken some criticism but honestly, when a reader walks into the library they are looking to see what to read and not necessarily what not to read!

Easy Library, Bangalore - Imagining India

I will not go into what Nandan Nilekani's much publicised new book is all about. However, what strikes me as odd is, a book that is not a biography having the author's full blown photo on the cover. When Shobha De did it for her book 'Superstar India', i.e., splash her picture on the cover, the criticisms were severe. How come what is not right for the goose is right for the gander?

Easy Library, Bangalore, Chicklit

When I created a section called 'Chicklit' (may be four years ago) at our online library EasyLib.com, I was looked at with a lot of disdain by all those serious readers, especially women. However, Chicklit is now an accepted genre that is enjoying a fairly large readership. Chicklit is supposed to be about women like you and me. Not too young and certainly not too great in anything we do but nonetheless, get by. Men in our protagonist's life are almost like our own men - not the 'rough on the outside but very caring' Mills & Boon types. Some queen bees of the Chicklit writing are Sophie Kinsella, Sue Grafton, Jane Green with her brilliant 'The other woman', Jane Moore and my all time favourite Janet Evanovich. Marian Keyes is a 'brainy chicklit' writer and so is Melissa Bank with her "Girls guide to hunting and fishing”

One basic requirement for a Chicklit, for me at least, is that they should not be sexed up , should not be too mushy, should not have love and lust as the main theme of the novel, and they have to be light, fluffy, and out right funny. Sadly, many recent Chicklits are turning out to be regular romance novels but with an overweight or a bespectacled heroine. Jemma Havey, Jackie Rose have been disappointing not because they are bad writers but because what they have churned out are not really Chicklits but love stories.

Easy Library, Bangalore, Chidlren's books

For any new children's books at the online library http://www.easylib.com/, that I run in Bangalore, my nine year old daughter who happens to be a voracious reader is my guinea pig to test the readability of the books. As she devours western writers, she really plods on with Indian Writing. When she almost did not even get to complete the book by Swapna Mirashi, 'The Adventures in Moneypur', I picked it up to see what the reluctance was all about. The plot was good and the adventure was exciting but the amount of detail was a bit too much.

Then I picked up an 'Encyclopedia Brown', which children at the library simply can't have enough of. The first thing that struck me was how there were absolutely no long-winded descriptions and the mystery started right away. Anita Nair, once answering an audience question at the library had said that being descriptive is in the Indian blood - whether Kalidasa or Bhasa or the modern day Indian writers! However, at least writers aiming to grab the attention of the young, definitely need to cut down the narrative.

When I started EasyLib.com, aka Easy Library, the first question I was asked was 'Why did you start Easy Library?', followed by 'How did you start it?' . The 'How' was easier to tackle but the 'why' truly needed some sould searching. A cushy job at IBM San Jose, husband at Oracle, the sights and sounds of the Bay Area - so why did I need this library in Bangalore? Three reasons - A life long addiction to books, The joy of web surfing, and the love of web designing!


The biggest satisfaction till date is when appreciated for the books and the service. "Browse books at will (http://www.easylib.com/) and we will deliver them to your doorstep" - is the concept that changed into reality. 'How did you get all these wonderful books?' is a very welcome question for me. India is a great source for any book collector. You get the best in the world - the best of UK, the US, and India. If I stumble upon a good book, more or less it is quite readily available.



The blog is incomplete if I don't talk about the very elite Indian readership. When the book 'The curious Incident of the dog in the night time' was just released in the US, I bought a copy of it for myself. But it was lapped up with such zeal at the library, it left me speechless! This is before the book reched its iconic status. Recently I bought 'The Prestige' by Christopher Priest, which was being discussed in a couple of the online reading clubs. Bingo, more than ten people wanting to read it already.



Lots more to say but will promise to be less verbose!