It was the day the dongle limit would be reset and in true Indian fashion, I was determined to wring every last bit out of it. I was surfing the net to download books - technical, scientific, historical - in short, anything interesting. I hadn't stumbled onto podcasts at that time. But I did stumble onto a virtual treasure trove of books by well-known authors - Agatha Christie, Mario Puzo, P.G. Wodehouse, to name a few - somewhere on Google drive. And so I kept on downloading till the dongle flashed the message that I have used my quota.
Since then I have devoured 4 books. The first one was 'For One More Day' by Mitch Albom. This is the story of Chick Benetto - a guy who has given up on life so much that he tries to end it all. And then, he sees his mother - who has passed away. Chick cannot quite wrap his head around this but he tags along as his mother goes about her daily chores. He is able to talk to her, eat the food cooked by her and above all, apologize to her for not being there when she needed him the most, for not standing up for her when it mattered. Chick gets an opportunity which many people will gladly give anything to have - a chance to spend some moments with their loved one who has passed away. As I was reading it I kept on thinking about a dear friend who lost her mother about two years back. So a word of caution - don't read it if your mom isn't around anymore. It might be too painful. Just make sure you spend time with those who matter to you. Nothing is worth the regret that will come later if you don't.
The next novel was from my favorite author - Agatha Christie! Death On The Nile. I have always wanted to visit Egypt but recent events there have made me shelve my plans time and again. :-( Be that as it may. This is a story of a rich girl who has always got what she wanted in life, who has got beauty, brains and money and who ends up falling in love with the fiance of her best friend. Needless to say, she gets what she wants this time as well. Then the newlywed couple decides to go to Egypt for their honeymoon and the wife is found dead one fine morning. Before this mystery can be solved two more murders follow and everyone on the cruise becomes a suspect. It's an absolute delight to read how Hercule Poirot makes sense of it all to get to the bottom of the mystery and finds out 'whodunit'.
I followed this up with Wodehouse's 'Jeeves Takes Charge'. This is where Reginald Jeeves enters the life of Bertie Wooster and gets him out of trouble for the very first time. Need I say more? :-)
Time for another Christie novel - Third Girl. Norma Restarick comes from a wealthy family but she is an only child of a broken home. Brought up by her bitter mother after her father left with another woman, she comes across as someone who can only be described as 'scatty'. The father is back with a new younger wife but Norma is packed off to London to a job and shared accommodation with two more girls after her stepmom is hospitalized following a mysterious sudden illness. Then one day she turns up at Poirot's doorstep claiming, in that vague fashion of hers, that she might have committed a murder. Yet, Poirot's investigations fail to turn up any information about any murder. Is Norma Restarick mad? Was there a murder? Whose? Where? And why? As always, we suspect everyone as Christie goes about weaving the web of suspicion masterfully. I was able to piece together one or two threads towards the end but nonetheless was surprised when all was revealed.
Since then I have devoured 4 books. The first one was 'For One More Day' by Mitch Albom. This is the story of Chick Benetto - a guy who has given up on life so much that he tries to end it all. And then, he sees his mother - who has passed away. Chick cannot quite wrap his head around this but he tags along as his mother goes about her daily chores. He is able to talk to her, eat the food cooked by her and above all, apologize to her for not being there when she needed him the most, for not standing up for her when it mattered. Chick gets an opportunity which many people will gladly give anything to have - a chance to spend some moments with their loved one who has passed away. As I was reading it I kept on thinking about a dear friend who lost her mother about two years back. So a word of caution - don't read it if your mom isn't around anymore. It might be too painful. Just make sure you spend time with those who matter to you. Nothing is worth the regret that will come later if you don't.
The next novel was from my favorite author - Agatha Christie! Death On The Nile. I have always wanted to visit Egypt but recent events there have made me shelve my plans time and again. :-( Be that as it may. This is a story of a rich girl who has always got what she wanted in life, who has got beauty, brains and money and who ends up falling in love with the fiance of her best friend. Needless to say, she gets what she wants this time as well. Then the newlywed couple decides to go to Egypt for their honeymoon and the wife is found dead one fine morning. Before this mystery can be solved two more murders follow and everyone on the cruise becomes a suspect. It's an absolute delight to read how Hercule Poirot makes sense of it all to get to the bottom of the mystery and finds out 'whodunit'.
I followed this up with Wodehouse's 'Jeeves Takes Charge'. This is where Reginald Jeeves enters the life of Bertie Wooster and gets him out of trouble for the very first time. Need I say more? :-)
Time for another Christie novel - Third Girl. Norma Restarick comes from a wealthy family but she is an only child of a broken home. Brought up by her bitter mother after her father left with another woman, she comes across as someone who can only be described as 'scatty'. The father is back with a new younger wife but Norma is packed off to London to a job and shared accommodation with two more girls after her stepmom is hospitalized following a mysterious sudden illness. Then one day she turns up at Poirot's doorstep claiming, in that vague fashion of hers, that she might have committed a murder. Yet, Poirot's investigations fail to turn up any information about any murder. Is Norma Restarick mad? Was there a murder? Whose? Where? And why? As always, we suspect everyone as Christie goes about weaving the web of suspicion masterfully. I was able to piece together one or two threads towards the end but nonetheless was surprised when all was revealed.
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