Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird

TYPE:    Classic

RATING:    9/10

REVIEW:

This is one classic which had me addicted to it from the moment I started reading it. I especially liked the way the authoress used a small girl to be the narrator in the story.

It is amazing how she managed to get in the skin of the little girl and progressed the story through.

The book is also a great example of all the prejudices that people have against each other. It acts as an eye-opener, even at this point of time, when most of the matters that are discussed here have been taken care of to a lot of extent.

DESCRIPTION:

‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’

A lawyer’s advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this enchanting classic – a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.

Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irritationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties.

The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man’s struggle for justice.

But the weight of history will only tolerate so much …

Sidney Sheldon – The Naked Face

TYPE: Mystery, Thriller

RATING: 8/10

REVIEW:

It had been a while since I’d read a real-good page turner, and this one for some reason, fit the bill.

Though the fact still remains, that I am not a big fan of his work and find most of his stories having a very common thread, this one was certainly un-put-down-able.

The story has Dr. Judd Stevens, a psychoanalyst, who treats few very well known patients. Amongst them is a paranoid patient who thinks everyone is out to kill him. After judging the patient to be an incurable paranoid, Dr. Stevens is surprised to find himself suffering from the same kind of delusions.

Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol

TYPE: Factual Fiction

RATING: 8/10

REVIEW:

As with any other Brown book, this one does not fail to catch your attention after reading a few pages. Langdon is back to reading Masonic symbols in yet another page-turner.

Peter Solomon is a thirty-third degree Mason, the highest level of achievement in Masonry. His sister, Katherine Solomon, is a now renowned name in the obscure field of Noetic Sciences. She has made some startling discoveries which if true will lead to a great revelation and will help humanity achieve the pinnacle of all desires.

Orson Scott Card – Treason

TYPE: Science Fiction

RATING: 8/10

REVIEW:

The second book of Card that I am reading right now, the first one being Tales of Alvin Maker (Vol. 2- Red Prophet). Comparing the previous one and this one, I have to say that there is a lot of difference between both ways of his thinking. I also find that this one corresponds more to my view of the sci-fi genre than the previous one.

The Mueller family is known for its genetic advancements and their regenerative skills. However, when the son of one of the most prominent Muellers sprouts parts that are not part of him, he becomes a shame of the family as a ‘radical-regenerative’ and is sent away to ‘spy’ on the Nkumai, who seem to be getting a big share of Iron, considered the most important commodity of all, from the Ambassador.

Sidney Sheldon – Master of the Game

TYPE: Thriller

RATING: 7/10

REVIEW:

This was a book that was recommended to me as a must-read and since he read a lot too, I didn’t hesitate taking it up. Well, turns out that it wasn’t that great a choice at all.

The only book of Sheldon that I have ever liked is The Doomsday Conspiracy, which appealed to my sci-fi sense.

Master of the Game takes you through the life of Kate Blackwell, with a brief history of her father, who made it rich though it had been considered by few as ill-gotten gains. Using the diamonds that he got, he built a successful empire around him.

Kate’s childhood is spent in loving her father’s assistant, whom she has planned to marry. But things don’t go out exactly as she has planned, and from then does she start a life which involves passion, deceit, and a good amount of blackmail.

The story seems too much of a rip-off of Jeffrey Archer’s works. It stays true to my belief that all Sheldon’s novels are pretty much similar and predictable. The book seems similar to a couple of his own novels including Bloodline and The Stars Shine Down.

Though die-hard fans of Sheldon consider it as one of his greatest works, it fails to hold my attention.

DESCRIPTION:

Kate Blackwell is one of the world’s most powerful women and the daughter of a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams.

The extravagant celebrations of her ninetieth birthday include toasts from a Supreme Court judge and a telegram from the White House. But for Kate there are ghosts. Ghosts of absent friends and absent enemies. Ghosts from a life of blackmail, deceit and murder. Ghosts from an empire spawned by naked ambition.