Amogh

TL;DR – Great book, great set of characters. Suspense builds towards the end.

I remember picking this book up a year or so ago, but I never really got around to reading it – not because it was boring or anything, but because I'd totally forgotten about the book. I came across the eBook on my Kindle shelf while searching for a PDF document a couple of days ago, and I had made it a point to read the book soon.

The perfect opportunity arose a couple of days ago. It's currently the rainy season here, and it's been raining quite heavily – which does mean I can't go out and socialise when I'm free. I picked up the book on a bleak, gloomy, and overcast morning, and figured I'd be done before the end of the day.

The start is really good. Just about enough mystery about the entire situation to keep your curiosity piqued, and when that starts to fade, Stewart peppers the story with puzzles and riddles to keep your attention from waning.

The book has a great set of characters. The world building isn't as much evident – probably because it's still set in the 2000s of our current world – but how the author seemed to constrict the world to just two places while merely referencing the greater world in passing is brilliant. It helps keep the attention of the young readers on just the happenings on Nomansan Island and the mainland.

As the story progresses, the suspense increases gradually, and towards the end, it becomes more like a thriller and suspense novel than a mystery or fantasy novel. But that's not so bad. The author has a gift in capturing the readers' imagination and holding it for a long while after.

If you were looking for a quick read, but still something you want to remember down the lane, then The Mysterious Benedict Society is just for you! It might be a children's story, but as an adult, I had no issues enjoying the book thoroughly.

I didn't have great expectations when I first came across this book. I was searching for fantasy titles for my friend to read and Goodreads recommended me this.

I'm not new to fantasy novels, per se; I have read many titles over the past few years when I finished the Harry Potter series and most of them were excellent.

The Alchemyst gave off the wrong vibe. The description sounded mature and I was happy that I had actually found a serious fantasy book to read. Alas! The happiness was short lived to say the least.

The twins in the book aggravated me to no end and even some of the Mary Sue's I come across in Harry Potter FanFiction seemed like heaven compared to these two. Scott's characterisation is very weak. While he may have a talent for writing excellent scripts for movies, I reckon he should stay away from writing further books.

I was on my couch, e-reader in hand, reading a book, when my Dad announced, “Your J.K. Rowling has written a new book. I hear it's an adult book.” I was curious. Of course I was. Harry Potter was a part of my childhood and I highly anticipated a new novel from my favorite childhood author. I held off from buying the book immediately though. I went through a few Goodreads reviews from people who had completed the book, and I made my decision.

The book starts off slow. I'm a sucker for small town stories, and if you threw a British one at that, I was all ears. Anyway, the small town of Pagford in England is the primary location of this novel. I was a few pages into the book and just when I felt it was pretty good, I came upon ‘flirt'. I was shell-shocked. I mean, I wasn't a stranger to cuss words, much less this being a term I heard used everyday. Hell! It was a term even I used. But when it came from the pen of the woman who was a major part of my childhood, I was pretty shaken up. The story telling is typical of JKR. Slow and steady; with just the ample amount of description to kick your imagination into high gear.

When I heard JKR was writing an adult book, I wasn't really convinced. Then, when I got the book in my hands and started reading it, I knew it was true. She uses a lot of cuss words...liberally. I couldn't go through a page without coming across half a dozen swear words. While she discusses the matter of sexuality pretty openly, she does fail at using the appropriate cuss words.

Apparently, JKR has a problem with the c-word; she uses it liberally and she hasn't perfected its use. I haven't come across a single person using it as liberally as I have across JKR using it. In a book, no less. Oh, I have come across them using it in erotic novels, but then, if they weren't, would it even be considered an erotic novel these days?

JKR takes up the same issue she took up in the Harry Potter series - the fight between good and evil. It's a constant source of new books and most of them tell you the same thing in between two thick cardboard bounds and 700 pages of words; good wins, evil loses. I'm not saying it's the same, obviously it's not. But, it's the same content and people have to realize that. Now more so than ever.

The rich and the poor fight. The town dwellers look down upon the slum dwellers. All common, right? Yeah. Absolutely! Rowling is pointing out the reality of the situation here! If most of these people had bothered reading through the entire book, it does tell a good story; a story with a moral. A moral everyone should follow.

I won't tell you what it is. You should read it and find it out for yourselves. Think of it as a quest.

At the end of the day, when all is said and done, and you're getting ready for bed, just think: “Would it do for me to think of people who have the same money as me as my equal and look down upon those with less money as my lesser?” Think about it and tell me what you honestly think.

If politics is your forte, then this book is for you. JKR has already shown us how manipulative she can be in her Harry Potter series. She shows a bit of that here too, in the form of court-room politics. Politics is all over the place. It's the second thing that suffocates you about the book, after the cuss words. Personally, it has been really well executed by Rowling and I have to take my hat off to her for that. The book has an amazing plot, though not as amazing that it should span seven books, but amazing enough to proclaim proudly that, “Yes, I have a right to be voted for in the Goodreads Choice Awards!” So what are you waiting for? Read it and vote for it!

I remember the first time I ever read this book. I was young, foolish, stupid and thought I was cool. Zoom forward a few years later, and much of that is still true, except that I have seen and done a few things since then, and know a thing or two about life.

I remember my feelings when I finished this book originally. I was a bit sad, and a little bit teary eyed because I'd just finished what I thought was the greatest biography I'd ever read (and it probably is) and the feelings are the same this time around as well...

Ayers takes Osbourne's myriad of takes and knits it together in the form of a neat little book. While he does this, he still keeps Osbourne's voice from shining through the words, and that kind of sucks everyone into the tale. There are all kinds of tales on this book too! Band politics, alcoholic adventures, drug tales, stories of meeting other stoned or pissed rock ‘n' rollers... You name it, you'll find it here.

Osbourne captivates us with tale after tale of his drunken debaucheries, regaling the various encounters he's had with his father-in-law, the good times he's had with Bill, Geezer and Tony and later on, with Randy Rhoades... I'll be lying if I said that I never once cried while reading the book.

Because, all through the funny anecdotes, Osbourne also shines out as a brutally honest person and he has some brutally honest things to tell us as well. The stories of the passing of his mum and dad, the story of his split up with Thelma, his ex-wife, and not to mention the least, the story of Sharon fighting cancer and surviving.

Throughout the course of the book, you'll soon come to realise that there's probably not a single drug that Osbourne has not tried. Toward the closing of the book, Osbourne questions himself, asking how the fuck he lived through it all with hardly anything going wrong with him, health wise. Being a drug junkie and an alcoholic, Osbourne recounts how he overcame both and has been on a clean slate ever since... I applaud you, John!

The thing that really tore me up though, were the photos towards the end. Just seeing them there... I don't know, they made me realise that the book was now done and that I had to go on with reading other stuff.

But I shall read the book again, and yet again, I shall come and edit this review to reflect my feelings then.

Please do read this book even if you've never heard of Black Sabbath or Ozzy Osbourne before. Honestly, this book is more like a chicken soup for the soul than anything else.

This is the second book in The Clifton Chronicles series. It follows the story of Harry Clifton impersonating Tom Bradshaw and the main plot is moved away from Boston, London. Set in America, it shows the life in an American prison, which I didn't expect to be much different from Archer's Prison Diaries. Where this book excels though, is the way Archer has depicted the second World War, though not as much in detail as he has in Kane and Abel. I expected this series to end with this book, but in an unexpected twist, Archer has extended the series for another book, most probably. The book is well written, but the plot seems to be dragging too much.