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Book Review- Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

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“Perfect Match” is a “perfect” book that engrossed me in the 400 pages read for a night. It was worth it. And no, it is not a love story! The story begins when a career-driven assistant district attorney, Nina Frost, and her husband, Caleb, find that their five-year-old son, Nathaniel, is traumatised by a sexual assault. With deep rage and a sense of helplessness in the face of a futile justice system, the couple navigates through the justice system. But the tale is not simple. This novel also explores the themes of family conflict, individual inner turmoil and guilt, personal and professional conflict, and vengeance. Judi Picoult has once again been amazed by her emotion-filled story. It is a must-read if one is looking for drama and a page-turner. A few of the quotes from the book- “You build a wall to keep something unwanted out … or to hold something precious in.” “We have been naive enough to believe that we were invincible, that we could run blindly through the hairpi
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Book review- Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris

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“She is just surviving, Cilka has often thought. There is no one way to do it.” This other read from Heather Morris is the testimony of a classic combination of fiction based on actual events in the lives of the liberated prisoners aka Holocaust survivors. This novel is a kind of sequel to the author's first book titled The Tattooist of Auschwitz . The book begins with the end of Cilka Klein’s liberation after her dreadful stay at Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. This momentary freedom turned into an event of horror, because of her “relationship” with the Nazi leader; the Russian government tries Cilka, who was found guilty of collaboration with Nazis and sent to Vortuka in Siberia to a work camp. The book details the challenges faced by her compelling fight to stay alive and endure all tortures, humiliation, disgust, and abuse. Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly given, equals survival. The “good times” begin when she is taken under the wing of a fe
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Book Review- Life Is Short And So Is This Book by Peter Atkins

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A human lifespan is less than 30,000 days, yet we all tend to consider ourselves immortal and live as if we have forever. This recent read reminded me to prioritise my life and act accordingly. Like life, this book is short. (50pages!!) This Book talks about searching for true potential and living up to it till time permits. The ideas Peter Atkins presents in the books are the ones he has used to live a more fulfilled life. A wake-up call for him was when a co-worker died from cancer at a young age. It reminded Atkins how precious life is and why making every day of life count is vital. There is nothing new in this book, but we all need to be reminded of these things- 1. Create space. 2. Try not to worry. 3. Don't do dumb things. 4. Build character and make friends. 5. Care for yourself and others. 6. Laugh. 7. Do what you love. 8. Embrace change. 9. Learn from experience. 10. Have dreams and work towards them. Overall, this self-help book is not bad, not great. It is b
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Book Review- Surrounded by Idiots - Thomas Erikson

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Wow, do not waste your time with this book!! The first thing that drew me to read this book was the title, “Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot Be Understood),” and a bit of colourful cover. At first, I thought that even if it didn't present anything new, at least it could end up being an enriching read.  IT WAS NOT. The book is laid on the traditional and one of the famous personality traits, the DISC Model (Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance), which has been colourfully used and termed into four “colourful” types of people personalities- Red , Yellow , Blue and Green . Erikson rehashes the personalities into four temperament zones and tries to prove that human behaviour can be deciphered into the four types and, thus, accordingly they can be handled or rather managed by others at the workplace. Sadly, no room was given to human behaviour complexities and other variable factors like relations
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Book Review- Swallowing the Sun: A Novel by Lakshmi Puri

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With its beautiful cover and an equally exquisite story, this book is the latest read, titled Swallowing the Sun. I got the chance to attend the book launch event (my first ever!!) of this book and briefly met the author, Lakshmi Puri. "Swallowing the Sun" is not the mythology story of Hanuman, who eats the sun, considering it the ladoo . This historical fiction is an imaginative, compelling tell about the epic feat of progressive thinking of a father, the saga of bold and beautiful girls woven into the fabric of India's fight for Independence, and the various social issues offering a gripping and authentic portrayal of the struggle and its impact on individuals and families. The story is majorly told through the eyes of its feisty young heroine, Malati. As a young girl, Malati fights and defeats the school bully at her village school in Maharashtra. From then onwards, backed by her progressive father, she and her sister Kamala push the boundaries constantly.
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Book Review- Untamed by Glennon Doyle

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The book is a rollercoaster of emotions and requires a robust, strong-minded reader-ship . Spiralling my thoughts and feelings from positive to negative…from good to bad… from hope to faith. The book, in short, is all about following intuition, living each emotion (be it sadness or happiness) and being authentic and raw to our inner callings. This novel (rather an autobiography) told by Glennon Doyle is her life story which tells us  learning to be brave — not just in the workplace but as a partner, parent, friend, and woman trying to navigate a world that doesn't always welcome a female perspective. The book is about her family, friends, her struggles and finding herself.  The book talks about how society defines a woman…how one woman describes another woman...how sometimes our voices are not reached to another ears, and the at last it showcases the urgency to required to know ourselves . My learnings from the books- more we understand ourselves, we begin to trust ou
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Leading From The Back: To Achieve The Impossible Book by Harry Paul and Ravi Kant

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In this world of organisations with fast-moving marketing strategies, a rush of adrenaline to do something big and a hurry to be a winner… companies are paving their mark on the treadmill of profit without giving cognisance and due credit to human effort or emotions. All the business talk about "Leading from the Front and “Walk the Talk” has left numbness in the humane domain of the organisation, leading to burnt-out employees. This book took the courage to talk about leading from the back. The leadership model, “Leading From The Back”, looks simple, uncomplicated, easy to use and understand and promises impressive results. The results are not directly related to short-term wins and profit, but look forward to long-term commitments and bonding. The methods described in the book are simple to read. The book tells the leadership mantra, which is simple but seeks constant practice from those readers who are consciously committed to working on their leadership skills to be
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