Book Review of The Coffee and The Cola

The Coffee and The Cola by Kapil Muzumdar is a type of book that adds new flavourism in your life. The way the author has juggled with first person and third person narrative is exceptional. The concepts of Coffee and The Cola makes it appreciable.

The cover of the book is average and has some artistic spots of brown coffee as if someone splashed the coffee or a water colour paint similar to coffee. The cover is related to the title but doesnt gives us any clue about the thought process of the author.

The title is unique and a person like me whose addicted to coffee is instantly in love with it. We surely some clue about it. As slowly the title and cover starts making sense to me.

The book has two plots which gets merged in the end. This concept of main plot and sub plot is slightly tricky as at times things get against the author but kuddos to the author as everything falls at right place. The story has a narrator who is author himself but he narrates about a dear one, protagonist, Rahul and about his life. Radha’s character has traits of coffee while Nora’s character has traits of Cola. All these combined together makes an interesting combination. Surely, the readers get bit confused with these cola and coffee concept but as you start reading you fell in love with the book. I must suggest that do grab a coffee while reading it.eh!

The characters are equally intriguing and binds the interest of the readers. The way the narrator talks about Rahul and his life story is impeccable. Rahul’s character is complex as he seems confused while deciding like what he wants in life. Radha or Nora? Both seems perfect. If Radha believes in eternal love then Nora believes in intimacy, physical love. Rahul is seen juggling between the two types of love. Whom he choose is the rest of the story and you better grab this book to know about it.

Radha is categorised as Coffee and Nora is categorised as Cola. Both serve as a foil to each other. THey both have their set of stories with Rahul and Rahul is the lead which links them to each other somewhere. Radha is ambitious and career oriented while the latter believes in enjoying life, partying and making love. These contrasting characters makes the plot construction strong.

The style of writing is poignant. The use of backstory, flashback and flash forward makes the book glow inceredibly. The author has even included himself in the story which makes sense when the author uses first person narrative blended with third person narrative style. The descriptions remain impersonal. The use of epistolar concept can also be noticed. The unique concept of stating the behaviour of coffee and cola in every chapter at the start. Also, some of the questions dance in my mind.

Was this story an account of author’s encounter or was it solely focussed on Rahul? And the question might sound spoiler so I will keep it preserved. I can generalise by saying that Meera’s character was mysterious. Although, the cover made sense according to its motive but I feel it could have been more better which might have attracted quick attention. I would surely recommend this book to the readers who are looking for unique concepts of writing.

Grab your copies from : http://www.amazon.in/Coffee-Cola-Ordinary-Narrative-Extraordinary/dp/1946048917/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484288596&sr=8-1&keywords=the+coffee+and+the+cola

 

Book Review of Lemons and Lemonades

Lemons and Lemonades : My Midlife Dabble in Online Romance by David H Mathews is a non fiction book on relationships and dating. This book has humor and can even be categorized as a memoir.

The cover of the book is just perfect as per its idea. The cover has a keyboard and a heart is their. This gives us an idea about the thought process of the book. For a person who judge by a cover, will surely find it luring.

The title of the book is tricky an the author has used his smartness in it. Lemons and Lemonades surely grabs the attention of the readers and it doesn’t match with the cover. So, to know more about it, one can pick this book.

“What you are about to read is frequently salty, occasionally convoluted, and in all ways, very personal. These true and sometimes ribald tales did actually occur during my online dating dabble between wife number two and wife number three…”

Neither a primer on online dating, nor a gender-biased lament on love gone wrong, David H. Mathews’ memoir, Lemons and Lemonade explores the connections and disconnections he made while searching the .com world for romance.

After subscribing to a dating site, David struggles to concoct a suitably provocative profile, stumbles and falls with several mismatched matches, then finally connects with, and promptly marries Clare, the love of his life. Actual email exchanges chronicle their blurringly fast courtship.

David shares his honest-to-God interactions with honest-to-God women in the voice of a plain-speaking Indiana farm boy who spent his youth playing basketball, fondling cheerleaders, baling hay, and shoveling manure.

The book talks about the situations and the experiences of the author in his marriages. This is a personal book and the way he delineates his view points is hilarious. The concept of burlesque can be seen in this book. The author talks about online dating and the way he struggles to update the details in it. These interactions surely makes you laugh your heart out. Further, we find self mockery element in it.

The style of writing is quite cool and it attracts the attention of the readers. The descriptions are subtle and the narration is personal. The book surely has wit, humor, sarcasm and some of the dialogues makes us laugh too. It is a light book to read and one doesn’t get bored while reading. Honestly speaking, this is just an average book for me as I could find editing errors in it. This was a bit turn off and at times I found the thoughts are exaggerated.

Grab your copies from :

http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/1612967639/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_in-21&linkCode=as2&camp=3626&creative=24790

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=1612967639&clickid=yiAUc0UbQUowRe0zup0-dRVlUkkSIvVtdVeQ000&cm_mmc=aff-_-ir-_-64613-_-77416&ref=imprad64613&afn_sr=impact

Book Review of Finding Juliet

Finding Juliet by Toffee is a romantic fiction which was first online on Juggernaut books and later on it was published as a paperback version by Strishti Publishers.

The cover of the book is intriguing as it features a nerdy guy and some random colour schemes that makes it stand out. The cover surely says that the story is about an average guy who is in search of love.

The title is fantastic and one just falls for the choice of the author. Finding Juliet reminds us of another Finding Juliet by Frank Sennett which is modern day story of Shakespeare in love. But this book is nowhere related to that book.

An incredibly nice guy turns into an irresistible flirt and learns the fine art of seducing women. A hilarious and heart-warming novel with some surprising nuggets of wisdom.

The plot is strong, crisp and binds the readers till the end. This is Arjun’s story. Two months ago, he moved from Hyderabad to Bangalore. Other than Anjali, Krish is the only good friend he has in the new city. One day, after noticing that Arjun is upset, Krish takes him to a pub and Arjun tells him his entire love story and the book moves into flashback.

He talks about his childhood in Hyderabad, about Anjali, who has been his friend since the first day at school. He talks about getting into an engineering college, about making friends with Amit and Rohan, about falling for Shraddha, the first girl he loved, about his love for cricket. He then goes on to talk about getting rejected by Neha in college. All through Anjali egged him on, motivated him. He then talks about landing up a job in Hyderabad, and meeting Saakshi, Amit’s friend, who comes to Hyderabad from Vizag with whom he decides to part ways due to their disparities.

Krish gets him a makeover and helps Arjun come out of the depression and find his mate.

How does he do it? Read on to find out.

The author has introduced wide range of characters which might confuse the readers. Especially the female characters which surely gives us a tough fight to guess whose the protagonist. As we reach the end, we come to know who plays the main lead and stays throughout. I find Arjun’s character really interesting. The way he changes from a completely dumbass to a casanova is mind blowing. His character makes us laugh, cry and lament at the same time. Whereas Krish has been a confidante to Arjun. The way he explains him the girl’s philosophy is really interesting.

There many things covered in this book. The relationships, lust, marriage, family, friendship. It can be called shades of life. We can notice almost all the segments one experiences in his life.

The style of writing is eloquent. The way the author has used his words and sentences carefully makes it more meaningful. The witty dialogues, lyrical language makes it more rememberable. The poetic diction along with epistolary technique adds sense to it. Furthermore, the way the twists and turns are shown along with different set of side stories is the icing on the cake. This book is a must read if you want to read something simple and light. I am sure this book can be converted into a romantic comedy.

Grab your copies from : http://www.amazon.in/Finding-Juliet-Toffee/dp/9382665854/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1483121279&sr=8-1&keywords=Finding+Juliet+by+Toffee