I say again, lest my last post failed to register with the ‘deaf futtbucker’ demographic hiding amongst you: The Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 is about to get underway.

There are Lit Fests and there are Lit Fests. This one, though, is not your average overdose of book readings and (equally lackluster) panel discussions. The authors will not brood and the audience will not snooze.

For one, it’s a free festival.

So you see..? It is a chance for bottom feeders (like you) to approach Salman Rushdie, sip coffee with Michael Ondaatje, rub shoulders with Amish Tripathi, or admire Fatima Bhutto in toto for her, er, literary excellence.

Choosing what events to attend may be the only stress of the day for your cheap derriere. You’ll pay nothing to get in; then mull difficult session choices over a free lunch.

The atmosphere will be informal, interdisciplinary, and infectious. Actors, directors, fashion designers, economists, travellers, politicians, scientists, students, bloggers and all manner of urban hipsters will congregate in the gardens of an old and intimate Rajasthani palace to spend 5 days “in conversation”.

At night, the wine will flow. Expect the stage to come alive with the Dionysian revelry that typically follows a literary salon.

But there’s a catch.

Thanks to a rise in the number of programmes (and an ever increasing attendance) over the years, the venue is straining to breaking point and the nature of the event is changing. Last year, J.M. Coetzee had to clamber over hundreds of people squeezed next to speakers, crouched next to seats, or sitting on folded newspapers on the churned-up grass.

To reach the stage.

Those who have experienced the intimacy of earlier editions of the JLF lament that it is now impossible to have conversations with their favourite writers. The authors, too, may bemoan the festival’s increasingly unwieldy size.

Junot Diaz, a witty and thoughtful commentator on the lot of migrants in America, used one session to blame capitalism for encouraging writers to pursue their work not because they have something important to say, but for the sake of getting approval from the largest possible audience. “We know that we need less applause and more conversation,” he told a packed room.

Promptly—inevitably—the audience clapped.

One can certainly nitpick, and criticism has always been a blood sport in India. My money, though, is still on Dalrymple (co-Director of the event) to put up a great show. The self-confessed “Indophile” has always had an acute understanding of the way things work (or don’t work) in India (a fact amply demonstrated in his books). Vikram Seth may well buy George Herbert’s house and own an umbrella but he won’t ever really be ‘British’; while one may safely proclaim Dalrymple is more ‘Indian’ now than when he first came here (as a backpacker in 1989), and less of an anglophile than a lot of us.

Ergo: Mister William aage badho, hum tumhaare saath hain.

SIDNEY SHELDON

(February 11, 1917 – January 30, 2007)

Source: www.openlibrary.org

Academy Award winning and best selling author Sidney Sheldon was born Sidney Schechtel in Chicago to parents of Russian Jewish ancestry. He was first published at the age of 10, when his father submitted one of his poems to the Wee Wisdom magazine. He earned a princely five dollars for that. Thereafter he submitted several stories to newspapers but faced constant rejection. Sheldon suffered from bipolar disorder and was on the verge of committing suicide at the age of 17, when his father walked in and stopped him.

During the Depression Sheldon worked numerous jobs, including one as an usher at a movie theatre. He decided that he could write better scripts than what he saw and in 1937, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked on many B grade movies. During the Second World War, Sheldon enlisted as a pilot but his unit was disbanded before he could see any action. He moved on to New York to write musicals for Broadway and became an instant hit.  A decade after he first arrived in Hollywood, Sheldon won the Academy award for Best original Screenplay for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

The lure of making money drew him to television and after a few successful shows he went on to write the extremely popular I Dream of Jeanie. . It was in his last year of I Dream of Jeanie that Sheldon began to write his first novel. In fact, he did not write, he dictated his novels and books soon became his favourite medium of writing. In 1962 he made his debut with The Naked Face. The book was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the Best First Novel category. His subsequent novels went on to become New York Times best sellers and several were made into movies or television series.

Sheldon died at the age of 90 due to complications arising from pneumonia.

Sheldon’s novels are filled with suspense and usually centre around a strong female protagonist. When asked about it, he once said, “Some of the most flattering fan mail I get are from women who want to know how I can understand and write like a woman, and that pleases me very much because I love women.”

Popular Sheldon novels include

Master of the Game

Memories of Midnight

If Tomorrow Comes

Rage of Angels

Bloodline

The Other Side of me - biography

Buy Rent popular Sidney Sheldon novels from INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore. Register now!

“Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.”

Phyllis A. Whitney

(September 9, 1903 – February 8, 2008)

Source: www.phyllisawhitney.com

Born in Yokohama, Japan to American parents, Phyllis Ayame Whitney is often regarded as the Grand Master of Suspense novels. In a writing career spanning over 80 years, she wrote 70 novels, both for adults and young adults. Though Whitney started writing her first stories during her teenage years in the Orient, dancing was her true love and she wanted to be a dancer. Her mother encouraged her and for a time Whitney also worked as a dance instructor. At the age of 15, she went to America and she wrote and printed several short stories. It was only after her graduation in 1924  that Whitney began to take her writing more seriously. In 1941 she published her first book for young adults and in 1943, her first suspense novel. In 1961 and in 1964 she won the Edgar Award for the Best Children’s Mystery and in 1975 she became the President of the Mystery Writers’ of America. After recieving many Lifetime Achievement Awards, Whitney passed away in 2008 at the age of 104. Some of her popular works include:

Amethyst Dreams

Spindrift

Star Flight

Buy/ Rent these and other popular Phyllis Whitney novels from INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library cum Bookstore. Register Now! Plans start @ just Rs 150 per month.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

(4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822)

Everyone poetry lover is familiar with the romantic lyricism of Shelley. However, this English poet, who has inspired many including Browning,  Rabindranath Tagore, Karl Marx and M.K. Gandhi, did not, during his lifetime,  earn more than 40 pounds through his writings. His uncompromising idealism, his atheism and political beliefs did not have an audience till well after his death. Shelley was, an unconventional man. He preached non violence, was a vegetarian and an atheist. Though he was educated at Oxford, according to legend, he attended only one lecture. Instead, he preferred to spend his time reading. Mary Shelley, who wrote the famous Frankenstein, was his second wife.

Shelley drowned just one month before his 30th birthday. Rumours about his death abound and everything from suicide to political murder has been suspected.

Dennis Lehane

Born on August 4, 1965, to a family of Irish immigrants, Dennis Lehane is an American author best known for his award winning novel Mystic River, which was later adapted into a film. Lehane currently lives in Boston which provides the setting for most of his novels. Many of his works, including t Shutter Island have been adapted into movies.

Robert Hayden

(4 August 1913 – 25 February 1980)

An American Baha’i poet, Hayden was born Asa Bundy Sheffey in Detroit, Michigan. As his parents separated before his birth, he was raised by his neighbours and had a traumatic childhood. Hayden’s eye problems also led to social ostracism and he turned to reading. He went on to be appointed the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)

Pulitzer and Nobel prize winning American author, Ernest Hemingway is known for his great characterisation and simple prose style. After graduating from high school in 1917, Hemingway worked briefly as a reporter. He then became an ambulance driver during the first world war. His experiences during these days became the basis for his classic novel, A Farewell to Arms. His first novel however was the Sun also rises, written in 1924.

Hemingway was married four times before he finally committed suicide in 1961.

Other popular titles by Hemingway include

For whom the Bell Tolls

The Old man and the Sea

Islands in the Stream

Snows of Kilimanjaro

Rent, purchase all time classics by Ernest Hemingway from INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore

MICHAEL CONNELLY

Born in Philadelphia on July 21, 1956, Michael Connelly decided to become a writer when he read the works of Raymond Chandler during his college years. The love for mystery novels and crime fiction was however, instilled by his mother, who was an avid reader. Connelly went on to become the crime reporter for Los Angeles Times. Three years into his beat, he began writing his first novel starring LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. His debut novel won an Edgar award for the Best First novel and since then he has received a series of awards. Between 2003 and 2004 he was the President of the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly’s books have been translated into 35 languages.

Some of his best selling award winning books include:

The Narrows

Crime Beat

The Poet

Lost Light

rent, purchase best selling crime fiction by Michael Connelly from INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library cum Bookstore. Plans start at just Rs 150 per month. Join Now.

MARSHALL McLUHAN

(July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980)

“The Medium is the Message.”  How often have we heard this expression? Today is the birth anniversary of teh Canadian educator and professor of English literature who coined this phrase. Marshall McLuhan is also credited with the term “global village,” and continues to influence media discourse even three decades after his death.

Rent The Medium is the Massage from INDIAreads Online Book rental Library

A half Brit New York Times reporter desperate to save his kidnapped wife, a cabal of fanatics, an age old prophecy and series of murders. This in essence is the plot of Guardian reporter Jonathan Freedland’s debut thriller novel, written under the pseudonym Sam Bourne.

Young New York Times reporter Will Monroe strikes gold when he makes it to the page one of the newspaper with his debut crime story. As he moves around the country, trying to discover the “face behind a crime statistic,” he realizes that good men are being murdered. Suddenly Will must find out why because his wife, Beth, has been kidnapped by a religious cult and the way to his missing wife lies “in his work.” What follows is a series of fabulous twists and turns, of fast paced action, laced with more murders, as Will teams up with his ex-girlfriend TC to rescue the woman he loves. While formulaic, especially in the post Dan Brown age, what distinguishes Bourne’s work is its pace. The reader has no time to sit back and pause. And keeping the book down till you reach the end is near impossible. What the book lacks in novelty, it makes up for in sheer speed. Each page seems to hold a new clue, the promise of unravelling the mystery and yet at least till the end of the first half, you keep coming up with dead ends.

Freedland has made good use of his Jewish background. The book is full of information – most of which the author claims is true and verifiable- on Jewish customs and religious beliefs. Therein lies the book’s other strength. So little is known about Judaism that the insights provided by Freedland are both intriguing and absorbing. Some may claim that the author overdoes the explanations, and yet the novel never seems to be dragging. Not even when you finish one chapter after the other but find yourself no closer to solving the mystery than Will, simply because of your lack of theological knowledge. The lure of ancient mysticism is too strong. After the first half the big picture begins to emerge and you start making educated guesses about the good guys and the bad guys, but till the very end, you have to keep wondering if you are on track. And that keeps you hooked.

Freedland’s years as a newspaper journalist have taught him how to hold his audience’s attention and hold it well. The book may not be a stellar piece of writing, but it is easy to read. Freedland’s one big weakness, however – and this may again be attributed to his journalistic writing skills which concentrate on the story, not on the characters – is the lack of depth in his characters. People come and go in the novel, but you never get to really meet or understand any of them, not even the main protagonist. As such it is difficult to experience their emotions or feel for them even as one tragedy after another befalls them. And the main protagonist is no super hero; not even a brainy intellect “whose mind works faster than the speed of computer.” No Will Monroe is a regular ambitious guy who just happens to find the right people to decipher the clues for him. Some might find this endearing – it makes the character more human;  others might wish for a more inspiring “hero.”

The Righteous Men found itself in mired in controversy,not because of its cultural stereotypes, but because The Guardian refused to publish a critical review of the book. Instead, the review appeared in The Times and the book made headlines. Bourne is often compared to Brown and The Righteous men has been labelled by many as the Jewish Da Vinci Code. Yet, this is not the case. Brown’s cryptographic thrillers often carry powerful political message – be it the DA Vinci Code (an organised attempt to use religion to dislodge women from the mainstream) or the Digital Fortress (who will protect us from the protectors? The Big Brother mentality). there are no such burning political or current issues hidden in The Righteous Men. But there is an important moral message articulated by a Jewish rabbi, “So goodness is not about rules. Or wearing a hair shirt. Or praying hard. Or knowing every word in the Bible. It’s about how we treat each other. Bein adam v’adam. Between man and man. That is where goodness, even divinity resides. Not in the heavens, but right here on earth. In our relations with each other….” The other intriguing concept is that of the tzaddikim, but therein lies the key to the mystery of The Righteous Men and it can’t be discussed without spoiling the book.

So if you are looking for a racy thriller to relax with on a lazy Sunday afternoon, pick up The Righteous Men. It may not be a memorable book, it is enjoyable while it lasts.

Rent, purchase The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne from INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library cum Bookstore. Join Now! Registration is free!!!

If you like this book, you may also want to look at

Hermann Hesse

German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in1946. His Siddhartha is one of the most popular Western novels set in India. A Hermann Hesse Society of India has also been formed. It aims to bring out authentic translations of Siddhartha in all Indian languages, including a Sanskrit translation of the book .

Some of his famous books are:

Demian (1919)

Siddhartha (1922)

Steppenwolf (1927)

The Glass Bead Game (1943)

Matthew John “Matty” Reilly

Australian action thriller writer, his novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action. Published in over 20 countries, over 3.5 million copies of his books have been sold around the world. Some of his works have been optioned by film studios for series and feature production.

His well known works include:

Contest (1996)

Ice Station (1998)

Seven Ancient Wonders (2004)

The Five Greatest Warriors (2009)

Craig Shaw Gardner

American author best known for producing fantasy parodies. While most of his early novels are humorous fantasy, the majority of his short stories have been sold to original horror anthologies such as Shadows, Midnight and  Doom City. His novelization of Batman spentalmost 13 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Some of his famous works are:

A Malady of Magicks (1986)

The Changeling War (1999)

Batman (1989)

Dark Whispers (2005)

To Kill A Mockingbird : This Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Harper Lee celebrates its 50^th anniversary in print this year. A coming-of-age tale set in a land poisoned by virulent prejudice, the multi-layered story of South Alabama during the Great Depression in the 1930s dissects the white and black communities of the American South. Told with gentle humor, it focuses on religious turpitude and the ambivalence of adult morality. It has sold more than thirty million copies worldwide and also served as the basis of an enormously popular motion picture.

The Catcher in the Rye : The ultimate novel for disaffected youth. The story of Holden Caulfield, a seventeen- year-old dropout has always remained relevant to readers of all ages. A novel whose interest and appeal comes from its observations rather than its plot intrigues, J.D. Salinger’s timeless classic deals with society, love, loss, and expectations without ever falling into the clutch of a cliché.

The Little Prince : A book with a story so short and simple, it is often placed alongside popular children’s books at bookstores. Told in barely a hundred pages or so, Antoine De Saint-Exupry presents a thought provoking allegory of the human condition with his tale about a lost little boy.

The Diary of a Young Girl : Anne Frank was just thirteen years old when her family went into hiding for two years to escape the Nazi occupation of Netherlands in 1942. Her diary which was later discovered after the family was apprehended, vividly describes her frustrations of living in confined quarters, the constant threat of discovery, and the hunger and tiredness she faced daily. After it was published in 1947, the book remains the single most poignant true-life story to emerge from the Second World War.

Animal Farm : Fueled by Orwell’s intense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, the dystopian, allegorical novella reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. A masterpiece, both as an engaging story and an allegory that actually works, the book symbolizes all the injustice that happens in name of an outside force and how simple minded people who do not educate themselves get taken advantage from.

These are just a selected few from among the classics. If you feel that there are other books which deserve to be added on this list, do leave us a comment below. All readers are welcome to recommend their favorite books.

Everyone who has read Eclipse, the third book in The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, knows the fate of Bree Tanner, a newborn vampire who is killed by the powerful Volturi. This is the tale recounting the last five days of her second life as a vampire.

In Eclipse, readers were introduced to Bree as a girl with negative character shades. She thirsts for Bella Swan’s blood, and is completely used to violence, death, and mass bloodshed. Besides the fact that she is a bloodthirsty newborn vampire named Bree, who does not want to die, readers do not know anything much about her. In this book, written from her perspective, readers will see how she lives, and find out why a Vampire Army is very difficult to sustain. This book takes a journey into her daily life to find out how she must have felt throughout the whole period of time.

Bree’s story is much different from Bella’s. Where Bella’s world always seemed muted because she was shielded from much of the violence throughout the series, Bree sees and experiences violence on a day-to-day basis. As far as the storytelling goes, the way the details of Bree’s conversion to the vampire life is revealed gradually throughout the first half of the story is both dramatic and engaging. Even the fact that Bree ended up trading her humanity for a cheeseburger, of all things provides a great sense of tragic irony to the story. A nice touch by Meyer is how the contemporary culture references in her books always act as a nice reality contrast to the more fantastical elements.

Meyer seems to finally get into her genre and fully explores her creation. We see that newborn vampires have absolutely no loyalty to each other, no self-control, and no qualms about sinking their teeth into their poor human food banks.  While it is difficult to give a more detailed review without adding a spoiler here and there, another nice touch is the inclusion of several new characters who add to the story quite interestingly. The characters of Fred and Diego in particular are sure to generate added interest for readers with their quirky abilities. Also seeing the Cullens from Bree’s point of view is quite fascinating.

However, a lot of possibilities seem to have been cut short, even though there are some memorable characters who seem to have the potential to take the story much further ahead as mentioned before. On the bright side, though short, the tale is somewhat bittersweet, and seems to  actually be a bit of a metaphor for how real life actually is. Bree’s life and even her roots are much more relatable than Bella’s ever were. Her circumstances are far from desirable, yet she works with the lot she was dealt . . .even until the bitter end.

Overall, this is a quick, yet very enjoyable read recommended to all Twilight fans. It will also change the way that readers view Newborn Vampires.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer is available for rent and purchase at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore. Members get to avail huge discounts and points on every purchase. Register now!

Other related titles:

Gayle Lynds

Award-winning American author and member of the U.S. Association for Intelligence Officers, she is known for being a bestselling novelist in the male-dominated genre of spy thrillers. Her books are published in more than twenty countries. She was also the first author to be featured by The Internet Book Database in June 2006.

Some of her famous books are:

The Hades Factor (2001)

The Paris Option (2002)

The Altman Code (2003)

The Book of Spies (2010)

Michael Shaara

American writer of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. Before establishing himself as a writer, Shaara was an amateur boxer and police officer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1975.

Some of his famous books are:

The Broken Place (1968)

The Killer Angels (1974)

Soldier Boy (1982)

For Love of the Game (1991)

More books by award winning and bestselling authors available at the INDIAreads library.