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The help

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Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women, mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends, view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

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The Indian Summer

Book lovers

Intriguing account of India’s Independence and Partion

This book gives an insight to the freedom

Excerpts from the book:

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE TWO NATIONS. ONE WAS A vast, mighty and magnificent empire, brilliantly organized and culturally unified, which dominated a massive swathe of the earth. The other was an undeveloped, semi-feudal realm, riven by religious factionalism and barely able to feed its illiterate, diseased and stinking masses. The first nation was India. The second was England.” 
― Alex von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

Whatever may be said about Mountbatten’s tactics or the machinations of Patel, their achievement remains remarkable. Between them, and in less than a year, it may be argued that these two men achieved a larger India, more closely integrated, than had 90 years of the British raj, 180 years of the Mughal Empire, or 130 years of…

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The Indian Summer

Intriguing account of India’s Independence and Partion

This book gives an insight to the freedom

Excerpts from the book:

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE TWO NATIONS. ONE WAS A vast, mighty and magnificent empire, brilliantly organized and culturally unified, which dominated a massive swathe of the earth. The other was an undeveloped, semi-feudal realm, riven by religious factionalism and barely able to feed its illiterate, diseased and stinking masses. The first nation was India. The second was England.” 
― Alex von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

Whatever may be said about Mountbatten’s tactics or the machinations of Patel, their achievement remains remarkable. Between them, and in less than a year, it may be argued that these two men achieved a larger India, more closely integrated, than had 90 years of the British raj, 180 years of the Mughal Empire, or 130 years of Asoka and the Maurya rulers.” 
― Alex von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire


The Wife

The Wife is the story of the long and stormy marriage between a world-famous novelist, Joe Castleman, and his wife Joan, and the secret they’ve kept for decades. The novel opens just as Joe is about to receive a prestigious international award, The Helsinki Prize, to honor his career as one of America’s preeminent novelists. Joan, who has spent forty years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, finally decides to stop.

Important and ambitious, The Wife is a sharp-eyed and compulsively readable story about a woman forced to confront the sacrifices she’s made in order to achieve the life she thought she wanted. “A rollicking, perfectly pitched triumph…Wolitzer’s talent for comedy of manners reaches a heady high” (Los Angeles Times), in this wise and candid look at the choices all men and women make—in marriage, work, and life.

The Garden of Burning Sand

This book depicts the troubled conditions in Zambia. Corruption at its helm. Child abuse due to superstitious believe that AIDS can be cured by a child still exists. There is lack of medical facilities. Rich and powerful go to full lengths to hamper the judicial system. But also due to the sheer dedication of certain honest officers and judges things are beginning to change.

An accomplished young human rights lawyer, Zoe Fleming has made a life for herself in Zambia, far from her estranged father—a business mogul with presidential aspirations—and the devastating betrayals of her past.

When a girl with Down syndrome is sexually assaulted in a Lusaka slum, Zoe demands justice. Determined to see the case through, she joins Zambian police officer Joseph Zabuta in investigating the rape. Piecing together clues from the victim’s past, they discover a violent connection between the girl— Kuyeya—and a powerful Zambian family that will stop at nothing to bury the truth.

As Zoe and Joseph are drawn deeper into the complex web of characters behind this sinister crime, they forge a bond of friendship that slowly transforms into love. Thwarted at every turn, they find themselves caught in a great clash between the forces of justice and power. To vindicate Kuyeya and build a future with Joseph, Zoe must risk her life and her heart and confront the past she thought she left behind.

Desiree’

If you are interested in historical fiction, this book is for you. I am thoroughly enjoying this book. Worth reading it.

The stunning, massively bestselling story of Napoleon’s first fiancé

First published in 1953, this riveting true-life tale comes to life in diary form, giving readers an inside glimpse at the young Napoleon and his family. De’siree’ is enchanted by the young officer, and he asks her to marry him. But he must leave for Paris, where he meets his eventual wife Josephine. A heartbroken De’siree’ is unsure she’ll ever find anyone again. A love story, but so much more, De’siree’ is the tale of a simple merchant’s daughter who ends up with a kind of royalty she never expected: an unforgettable story just waiting to be reborn.

You can purchase this at your local bookstore, library or at Amazon.in, Amazon.com

How create love for books in young children….

From my personal experience I learnt even a baby as young as 3 months gets fascinated by books. Little picture books full of colours always increases the curiosity of a young child. Early reading habits grow into a life long habit. The best gift a child can get is love for reading.

As a child I would spend all my pocket money on books. And book shops fascinated me, seeing the same excitement in my children gives me a reason to be contented. Often my kids ask me ” mama you never say no for buying a book, why?” My answer has always been,” you are adding to a treasure chest.”

One thing I learnt is that never tell a young child not to buy a particular book, rather let them buy any book of their choice maybe even a colouring book and then quietly get a book of your choice and say that ” I think we should take this too because it looks interesting.” Believe me any child will be glad to get a little extra thing from the market. Once you are back home the child might not initially touch the book you got but after a while maybe a day or so out of curiosity will definitely open it. This is a tried and tested formula.

In today’s world kids are exposed to artificial recreation that a good hobby like reading is forgotten. My advice to parents is don’t compel your child to read rather gently introduce the habit of reading. Kids are always fascinated by stories and bedtime story is the best way of introducing reading.

Here are some books for young kids:-