Gautami's Finishes Challenge!

I finished reading all 5 books for the challenge. Here are the links.

The Namesake by Jumpa Lahiri

The Thorn Birds by colleen McCullough

So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl--Gautami's Review

Title: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Author: Roald Dahl
ISBN: 0-141-31990-9
Publisher: Puffin/2005
First published: 1964
Pages:190
Genre: Children’s Fiction (9-12)

Another book I re-read for my nephew. This book is a pure classic of imagination, magic and fantasy, telling the story from Charlie Bucket's point of view. Charlie, who lives with his four very old grandparents and his mother in a one-room house, can only dream about his future, since his family has barely enough money to survive. He is so poor he gets only one chocolate bar a year, a combined present from his parents and grandparents. To make matters worse, he lives in the same town as Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.

One day, Willy Wonka announces that he will open his factory to five lucky kids.

Read the rest here...

I chose from Holly's list. Here is what she says about the book:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
I'm sure I'm not alone on this one - who could resist a lifetime supply of chocolate? Or the strange, magical, consequential world where good and evil were divided so wickedly and well? My brother used to read Roald Dahl to me when I was little - in fact, I can still recite, to perfection, the plight of Goldie Pinklesweet (an Oompa Loompa song from The Great Glass Elevator). If being a writer could produce such brilliance, then that's what I wanted to do.

The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough--Gautami's Review

Title: The Thorn Birds
Author: Colleen McCullough
ISBN: 0060129565 / 9780060129569
Publication: Harpercollins (1977)
Hardcover, 533 pages

The book opens with the famous legend of the thorn bird. A bird that searches all his life for a thorn bush. Finally, when he finds it, he impales himself on the thorn. While doing so, the thorn bird sings the most beautiful of songs.

‘The Thorn birds’ is the story of the Cleary family, and their journey from their humble roots in New Zealand where they worked as sheep shearers, to the huge Australian sheep farm Drogheda, owned by Paddy Cleary’s autocratic sister. The family being Irish, the land is in their blood and from the time they arrive on Drogheda, the land plays a definite part in their fortunes and destinies. The story covers three generations from Paddy Cleary and his wife Fiona, their sons and only daughter Meggie and the Catholic priest Ralph De Bricassart, to Meggie’s children - the actress Justine and priest Dane. Though the story is about all the Cleary family, it mainly dwells on Meggie and her relationships with her parents, brothers, Father Ralph and children.

The three extraordinary generations of Cleary's live through joy and sadness, defeat and triumph, determined by their dreams, sustained by great strength of character, torn apart by dark passions, violence and forbidden love between an extraordinary woman and an ambitious priest.

To read more, click here...

I chose it from Andrea's list. She says----(my first real book, inspiring me to seek far away lands)

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult----Gautami's Review

Title: My Sister’s Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
ISBN: 13: 9781416549148
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre/Pages: Fiction/500
Rating: 4.5/5



Very surprising that I had not read any Jodi Picoult before this. I have heard of her but somehow missed reading her books. I picked two of her books yesterday and started reading ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ as soon as I got home. It kept me hooked until the end.

Anna was conceived meticulously with a genetic match for her sister Kate, who is diagnosed with APL, a fatal kind of leukaemia. By the time she is thirteen, she has undergone numerous surgeries, transfusion etc for her older sister. She had no say in those. Now, she questions her parents’ decision and wants to lead a normal life apart from her sister. She goes and hires a lawyer, Campbell Alexander to represent her.

From there starts the conflict. Her decision affects her family, her mother Sara, father Brian, Brother Jesse and of course her sister Kate. In a way, Anna is defined in terms of Kate. All are torn apart. Brian somewhat understands her predicament but Sara cannot see beyond Kate. Jesse has been ignored for as long as he remembers.

For a complete review click My Sister's Keeper..

Trish's thoughts: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult - Picoult always shows all sides to every story, and this one I could especially relate to as my younger sister had a kidney transplant 5 years ago (when she was 18). Although I wasn't in exactly the same circumstances, I could relate to Kate's siblings.

So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson--Gautami's review

Title: So Many Books, So Little Time
Author: Sara Nelson
ISBN: 0425198197
Publisher: Berkeley Books
Pages: 242
Genre: Non-fiction
Rating: 3.5/5


This was one book I started to read right away, because I liked the title and fell in love with the cover. Sara Nelson is a publishing columnist. She is a compulsive reader of books. Here she has described her booking habits, adventures and quirks along with her relationship wit her husband, son and books. She tries to make her husband read without much success.

For one who reads like mad, this book connects instantly. Reading habits are very personal. Some of the books interest us the instant we lay our eyes on those. Some we pick up never to read. A few we start and never finish. Then there are books we want to show off to the world and in our privacy we might be reading chick lit or some such light stuff. Sara Nelson has written all about that. For those reason, I think her book is an instant hit with lovers of books.

To read more, click here....

Vasilly said that author Sara Nelson "is one of my heroes." she appreciated what Nelson wrote about how books fit into her life and the joy that reading brings.

To read more reviews, click My Own Little Reading Room.

Gautami's Review of 'The Namesake'

Title: The Namesake
Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
ISBN: 0618485228
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company/2004
Pages: 291
Rating: **1/2



The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world.

For More, Click here....


This is what Heidijane writes about this book:

"I found this book, about the clash of cultures between Bengali and American very funny, very entertaining and very moving. As a German-born half British girl now living in the UK, I could relate to some of the identity crises, although obviously the cultures from one European culture to another are not as different as cross-continental cultures."

Gautami's list: Time to post it

I know it is the last day to post. I had my list but did not get around posting. I am posting here both the lists.

The following list contains some part or the other ( by the way, I am a teacher) about myself:

1) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

2) To Sir With Love by E R Wraithwaite

3) Identity by Milan Kundera

4) The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder

5) The Places In Between By Rory Stewart


Here is list of books, I chose from other's lists:

1) The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri from HeidiJane's list

2) The Thorn birds by Colleen McCullough from Andrea's list

3) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini from SheReads (Diane's) list

4) So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson from Vassily's list

5) Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham from Athena's list

6) My sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult from Trish's list

7) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl from Holly's list

There are some other books that I would like to read. I will add those to this list if I get around to those.

Do check out my blog, My Own Little Reading Room.