Tag: Should read

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck – Mark Manson
Book Review · books

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck – Mark Manson

Stuti GuptaLeave a comment

📍Genre- Self-Help, Non-Fiction

📍Recommendation- Should Read🧡

🔆What the book is about?

This book deals with various aspects of life when we think too much or give too much importance to things we don’t need to, in short, deciding what to give a fuck about and what not to. The book talks about struggles, problems, life lessons and a lot of relatable stuff. 

🔆My Opinion- The very first thing that made me like the book’s savageness was the contents page. It was so negatively written, I loved it! (sounds crazy but trust me it’s funny).

I am not very much into non-fiction, although I am starting to get a taste for it. So for a self help book I thought it would be pretty boring but I enjoyed this book very much and learned a lot. Mark talks about life in such a way, everyone can relate to it and it gives you such new perspectives towards life. I especially liked the part about struggles and problems and I think it’s gonna remain with me.

At a lot of points I didn’t agree with Mark and I think not being able to argue with a book about it kinda made me frustrated. Also, I felt like the book talks about repetitive things under different name heads. This made the book a little boring.

What made me give this book a Should Read and not a Can Read is the fact that it’s really funny and if not from the whole book, you will get some good life lessons from some parts.

❇️This book deserves a read. I believe you will learn at least one thing that you can apply in your life. Also, it’s funny. I like funny books.

Mom’s Perfect Boyfriend – Crystal Hemmingway
Book Review · books

Mom’s Perfect Boyfriend – Crystal Hemmingway

Stuti GuptaLeave a comment
📍Genre- Romantic Comedy
📍Recommendation- Should Read🧡
👉Publication Date- 16th July 2019

🔆Storyline-

Crystal’s life is going on perfect. She has a job, a fiancee, a beautiful apartment and is writing a book. Although the only tension in her life is her mother. She loves her and finds it really hard to say no to her, which is also creating problems in her relationship but she has a decided to limit interaction with her and she’s sure it’ll work out.

But then she loses her job, her fiancee, her apartment and, well, she’s pretty skeptical about her book too. Now she’s forced to live with the person she was trying to avoid, her lonely mother. It’s impossible now, to focus on her book or do anything for herself. So she comes up with a perfect plan; get an Android to be her Mom’s Perfect Boyfriend.

How far will she be able to pull this off? What will happen when her mother finds out? And what about her own love life?

🔆My Opinion-

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This book is written so differently. It’s not just a regular story with a simple narration, this is a story narrated with texts, journal entries and emails. Yes, you read it right! I have never thought that a book written this way can be so much fun to read.

As I opened the book I was confused because I saw text messages, journal entries and emails. And I was like, “is this a story or what?”. So I was honestly a little skeptical if I am going to enjoy it or not. Turns out, I did. In fact, this whole setup gave the story a touch of suspense as well. After a text or an entry you don’t know what happened at a certain event (I can’t give spoilers) so for a few pages you are left there hanging and you’re dying with excitement to know what happened. But then a text conversation or something comes up and you feel relieved to know.

I started with the author’s note and it won me over right away. At that point I knew that I was going to enjoy her humor. Yes, it was a little confusing for me in the start to understand what’s happening because of the different format of writing but after a few pages I caught the rhythm and wasn’t able to put the book down.

You know there is so much additional short stories in this book? It’s like a book within a book. I mean,  crystal was writing a modern fairytale story in the book and it’s excerpts are also given. There’s one more story and I’m not gonna say anything about it because I want it to be a surprise when you read it…wink wink.

This book leaves all the judgement to you. It doesn’t impose on you how you should feel about a certain situation. You are free to determine it for yourself. I really liked this about it.

Apart from the fun part, the book is based upon mother-daughter relationship. The way it is depicted, everyone can relate to it on some level. It gives a message that mother and daughter is the purest relationship. No matter how much you fight, no matter how much you try to avoid each other, the love and care always remains.

❇️This book was a fun read. I enjoyed it so much and I recommend everyone to read it. It comes out on 16th July 2019. Make sure to grab it as soon as it comes out.

Bestseller – Ahmed Faiyaz
Book Review

Bestseller – Ahmed Faiyaz

Stuti Gupta1 Comment

📍Genre- Fiction, Satire

📍Recommendation- Should Read

🔆Storyline:- (Copied) Akshay Mathur, an out of work editor of a defunct literary magazine in the UK, is told to move to India for a year to help shore up the value of Kalim, an ailing Indian publisher. Angus Lee, the new owner of Thomson Lee Books, wants at least five bestsellers in the coming year, failing which Kalim would be wound up.

He has to find a way of making a success out of books he would never publish or would never even read. To complicate things further, he has to contend with motley crew of has-beens and misfits as well as wannabe writers, dealing with their follies and derisive tactics, and battle his own affections for Zorah Kalim, the impulsive daughter of his former boss.

Will he succeed in bringing out that one ‘bestseller’ from his publishing house? And what about his own life and love in office?

🔆My Opinion:- The book was hilarious! I smiled all the way through. It is so real. I mean I could totally relate to Akshay Mathur. I could feel the guy reading his inner thoughts written after every dialogue because I do it all the time and I’m sure a lot of us do it too. That’s what makes the book so likeable.

To be honest, I didn’t laugh as such but I did smile all the time while reading it. It was such a fun read that I finished the book in around a week (I’m a slow reader!).

The books unravels how publishing business works and what it takes to be successful in this business. It’s not as easy as one might think. I got to know a lot about it and I was impressed by the amount of detail given. It shows the amount of research and planning that must have been done by the author.

What’s more is that there is a love story on the sidelines and that too has a funny touch in it. It’s not like a boring, repetitive romance. It was equally enjoyable. And how can I forget, the suspicious plan by Akshay Mathur to make it work. It was really genius and gave the book a touch of suspense as well!!

I loved this book. It is a fun read, I totally enjoyed it and it’s just 196 pages long. Do you even have to think before picking it up? No! You should totally read this book.

Deception – Andrew Bryson
Book Review

Deception – Andrew Bryson

Stuti GuptaLeave a comment

📍Genre- Crime Thriller, Espionage

📍Recommendation- Should Read

🔆Storyline- (Copied) Nothing is as it seems. The assassination of the brother of US President Thomas Webb sparks a seemingly unrelated chain of events. These include the kidnapping of Maya Borovkova and the poisoning of Russian general, Alexei Lukyanov.

Maya’s boyfriend, Sean Peters, embarks on a dangerous mission to save her and is drawn into a world of lies and deceit. He uncovers a plot to plunge Russia and Ukraine into a needless war. As he closes in on Maya, Sean realizes that no one is who they appear to be, including Maya.

🔆My Opinion:- I totally loved this book. The book keeps you hooked from start to end. In some chapters you might feel a little bored when the politics is talked about. And that’s the only reason I haven’t called this one a must read (also because I received this one as an eBook and I hate eBooks)

The twists in the story are mind blowing. The books shows that the author has done good research and put in a lot of efforts. There is nothing you can guess in here.

I was being a smarty-pants, for I have read so many thrillers,  and I predicted the ending and the twists but the author was one step ahead and proved me wrong, every single time, which left me open-mouthed. You just don’t know what will happen next.

One thing that I was so impressed by was the last chapter. I just thought it would be a pack up but the author came up with yet another surprise. I wanted to get to the end yet I didn’t want the book to be over.

There is so much in this book that can’t be missed. This is a fast-paced thriller ready to blow your mind. And the best part is; all this in just 192 pages! You can’t get a better deal than this. This book deserved to be a hit. It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel.

Digital Fortress – Dan Brown
Book Review

Digital Fortress – Dan Brown

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📍Genre- Suspense, Thriller

📍Recommendation- Should Read🧡

🔆Storyline:- National Security Agency (NSA), US, has been cracking codes and helping save terror attacks by simply accessing other people’s messages and calls. It has become even more efficient with the building of this new machine called TRANSLTR, which can break any code in a matter of few seconds. There is no code that the TRANSLTR cannot break. One day, TRANSLTR encounters this really complicated code which it cannot break. The most brilliant minds of NSA Cryptography department are trying to resolve the issue but they don’t know that this is going to destroy their everything.

🔆My Opinion:- I liked this book; it is simple, straight-forward and it has a good story with a great suspense. The thing with Dan Brown is that the prologues he gives are very gripping and they really motivate you to read the whole story and know what happened. This book also had a good prologue but when the actual story starts, it can be a little boring because the writer is making you comfortable with the working and background of NSA and it’s cryptography department. For non-techno people like me, it seems never-ending.

As the book progresses, story starts to get interesting and the suspense is just amazing! The whole story is like a treasure hunt, only the finder is going on with is life in his hand. At the very end when the book is about to finish, you just can’t stop reading it because until to you know what happened, you can’t breathe. Yes that’s how good the suspense is!! Last part was really the best and it was so smart. It’s like solving puzzles and it’s so much fun.

❇️You should read this book. The plot, the suspense, the story and the characters are all awesome.

Reckless – Sidney Sheldon
Book Review

Reckless – Sidney Sheldon

Stuti Gupta1 Comment

📍Genre- Crime, Thriller

📍Recommendation- Should Read

🔆Storyline:- Tracy Schmidt is living a happy life with her son in Colorado when suddenly her whole life falls apart. Tracy Schmidt then turns back to Tracy Whitney and she will leave no stone unturned to get her revenge.

Group 99, who claims to be modern day Robin Hood, has turned violent and is out on a killing spree. Someone has to stop them but it’s not going to be easy. So many dirty truths will unravel.

My Opinion:- I just love Sidney Sheldon’s books. I have read around 4 of his books and I haven’t been disappointed in any of them. In every book there is unique plot, different characters and a mind-blowing story. The story goes in a way that you think you know what’s coming next but you are proved wrong, not once, not twice, but throughout the book. This book is actually quite engaging throughout, there are no instances where you feel bored. The mystery in this book is not that big of a deal but the way it is presented to you won’t allow you put the book down.

Actually, this book is 3rd in Tracy Whitney series, 1st is If Tomorrow Comes and the 2nd is Chasing Tomorrow. I did not know that before, otherwise I would have read them in sequence because that’s what I like. Now that you know, I think you should read them in sequence.

I am totally gonna recommend this book. Just go, read it and have a good time. Try to read the first part first (which I couldn’t), but if you can’t, it’s totally okay because the book stands on its own.

Book Review

A Tale of two Cities – Charles Dickens

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📍 Genre- Classic, Romance

📍 Recommendation- Should Read 🧡

🔆Storyline:- The book is revolving around the French revolution. Two cities here are Paris and England.

Paris; where a man has been imprisoned for 18 years, is about to meet her daughter who he didn’t even know exists. At first he doesn’t even recognize her but eventually sees her mother in her. Mr Lorry, the man who is behind this reunion, and Lucy, the daughter, are bringing Mr Mannet, the prisoner, back to England.

England; where a man, Charles Darnay, is on trial for treason to British Crown meets Lucy for the first time and falls in love with her. But he is not the only one.

Now the french revolution is born and people are killing everyone who belongs to high class, innocent or not. Charles Darnay is also stuck in this drama.

Now a lot of things will be uncovered about him and Mr Mannet and someone will make an ultimate sacrifice for love.

🔆My Opinion:- So I wasn’t a fan of this book until towards the end. I think the problem for me was the language; classics are just so hard to read and understand. But as soon as I started to understand the story, I really liked it. Given that I’m not a fan of romance, this one melted my heart. The story actually highlights different kinds of love; father-daughter, husband-wife, patriotism and also one sided love.

Plus, the story is more than just romance. It brings you face to face with the struggle faced by people before and during the revolution. It was so rigorous. The story has pain, suffering, patience, love and sacrifice.

It is actually a book that deserves a shot. I won’t recommend it to a beginner because you will hate it. But for a person who is comfortable with classics, this is a must read. Also, just a heads up, this book can be a little boring but the story is wonderful.

Book Review

Elon Musk – Ashlee Vance

Stuti Gupta1 Comment

📍Genre-Non-fiction, Biography

📍 Recommendation- Should Read 🧡

🔆 What the book is about?

Getting Stuff Done! That’s what the book is about.

The book narrates the life story of the billionaire CEO Elon Musk. It starts with the writer telling you how she convinced Musk for writing this book and her views on his empire. The book goes on to tell you about his childhood, adulthood and where he is now. The focus, however, remains on the business aspect of Musk. It talks about how it all started for him and how he became what he became and what he aims at achieving.

🔆 My Opinion:- This book is very inspiring. I have been a fan of Elon Musk for a long time and I badly wanted to read this book. So, I had big expectations and happily, this book stood up to them. While starting the book I was a little skeptical about it but as it progressed it grabbed my interest.

I am not a fan of non-fiction books because I like a book with a story but I also wanted to read these biographies because they teach you a lot, give you insights about life and being successful.

I really liked the way Ashlee Vance has given the book a structure of a story which made it very interesting. As I mentioned I am a fan of Elon Musk, it was so fascinating to know the less-known facts about him and the kind of person he is. The book hasn’t missed the amount of hard work, struggle, pain that it takes to be where Musk is today. The book has touched upon every aspect and in great detail. Through this book, you get to see what it takes to be Elon Musk and it does not come the easy way. You have to be a risk-taker, a believer, a wild dreamer and be ready to lose everything if it comes to that. The commendable thing about the author is that she didn’t shy away from showing the negative aspects of the way Musk is. The book doesn’t show Musk as all goody goody, everyone has flaws and they are well accounted for in here. The book also has a touch of humour (which has to be there given that Musk has a great sense of humour) in it which make it all the more fun to read.

This is a must read book, especially for the people who want to change the world by their work, for the dreamers with crazy ideas! There’s so much to learn from this book; from Elon Musk. I loved it, it gave me a lot of insights.

The Best Laid Plans – Sidney Sheldon
Book Review

The Best Laid Plans – Sidney Sheldon

Stuti Gupta1 Comment

📍Genre- Suspense, Thriller

📍Recommendation- Should Read

🔆Storyline:- Oliver Russell is running for President and he comes to Leslie Stewart to run his campaign. They both fall for each other and decides to get married. However, Oliver ditches Leslie and marries his ex to become the president.

Leslie is shattered and she decides to take her revenge by destroying Oliver. She has a perfect plan and all is going well when suddenly tables are turned and she is the one questioning herself!

🔆My Opinion:- I just loved this book. Right from the start it is so engaging. You don’t know what’s gonna happen next. It keeps you hooked throughout. The best part about this book is its suspense. I mean you can never expect that, it was crazy.

There’s so many things in this book; dirty politics, heartbreaks, wars, crimes, betrayals etc. This book is so good that I finished 384 pages in less than a week (and I consider myself a slow reader). It is something that kept me up way past my bedtime and I kept turning for one more chapter which eventually ended up being, like, ten!

I am a fan of Sidney Sheldon, it feels like he doesn’t have any bad books. All of them are mind-blowing! You’ll have a great time reading this one too.