Harry Potter, Runaway Jury, To kill a Mockingbird

To begin with I have read just three books in the past two months and that seems kind of distressing for an avid book reader like me…But I guess commitments on both the professional and the personal front seem to have pushed "hobbies" to the back seat... writing blogs being the other...


The latest and the last narrative from the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows) was personally a big let down...I was not really impressed by the ending…And the story seemed to drag in some places...The end of the previous book promised a brilliant and dramatic ending to the series...To sum it up in few words "JKR fails to deliver"...I was very disappointed by Snape's story as well :(..

The second book was relatively alright…This one being "the Runaway Jury" by
John Grisham... I have watched this movie earlier and liked it so, decided to
take up the book...It’s the usual Grisham tale about lawyers, juries and trials...This one being about tobacco litigations and fixing of juries by the tobacco companies…And the strangely behaving jury that protests at every chance it gets, etc...Probably since I have watched the movie the ending sort of lost its surprise element…

And finally a book that seems to have held my interest for more than a day :)...This one being the all time classic "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee…I have heard a lot of positive reviews about this book and I must tell you that its well worth all the time you would spend reading it... This book told from the point of view of a small girl called Jean Louise Finch (better known as Scout) deals with racial prejudice in the American south and the impact that racial hatred can create in the simple and playful lives of two kids when their father is assigned the case of a black man raping a white woman…But what really stands out in this book is the brilliant characterization…

Harry Potter

• The Harry Potter season is here again with all its hype and hoopla....
  HARRY POTTER seems to be the topic of most conversations...kids to adults; everyone's jumping in the bandwagon...
  Be it television, radio or the newsprint everyone wants a piece of the action...bookstores are making a bumper, what with the books selling like hot cakes (with or without the discounts)...

Suddenly all everyone's talking about is either the Harry Potter movie being released or the latest Harry Potter book being unveiled...
People speculating as to how the series is going to end...

• Is Harry going to survive the ordeal of meeting Voldemort once again?
  
• Will Voldemort die? (Good always triumphs, doesn’t it?)
  
• Is Snape the good guy or the bad guy and why did Dumbledore trust him so much?
  
• Will Dumbledore come back from the dead to help Harry?
  
• Will Ron and Hermione get together? What about Harry and Ginny?
  

Have you observed how conventional this marketing strategy is?
First rumors about the contents of the latest book... then the statements made by the author as to how dear the characters have become and how deeply saddened she is, by the step she has to take and finish off the main characters since the script demands it...
Then the speculations...and for months together unto the date of the release the rumours spread until it becomes a frenzy...rumors about the leaking of the book's contents…the heightened security around the books...and the number of copies being booked in advance (setting record of sorts)...
But this form of marketing actually works like a charm since, who wouldn’t want to buy the book with such hype being created?

I agree the Harry potter series as such is really well written and makes for a very interesting read…
I would also like to say that to me, Tolkien is still the master, where the fantasy genre is concerned and Ms.Rowling has borrowed heavily from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy...
But all said and done I am still a big Potter fan and I can’t wait to read the last book to see how Ms Rowling is planning to conclude this spectacular series…

I have been veering off short stories for a long time now...
I seriously don’t know where I developed this deep aversion to trying out short stories...and being a book lover who can digest just about any genre of writing, I feel I have missed out on some really great reads by keeping off this particular facet of English literature...
I guess it was mainly due to starting off with Agatha Christie...no offense but even though I am one of her biggest fans, I feel her short stories are less than awe inspiring...I have absolutely no complains against her mysteries though, they are marvelous, especially Hercule Poirot...
Then following a suggestion by a friend, I finally decided to settle on a book called "A Quiver Full of Arrows" by Jeffery Archer...
Its an absolute treat...its humorous and serious at the same time... the stories are well constructed with twists in between (that's probably Archer's signature)... and he conveys his feelings convincingly... I have read most of his books and I can say with certainty it ranks amongst his best...
There’s one story I liked in particular… its called "Old Love"...a really nice love story...really inspiring and well written...
I feel this book’s going to put me back into the "reading short stories" track...

Aren’t you amazed at how the simplest of things can give you more pleasure than all the material wealth that you think is all important to enjoy life to the fullest [at least they do for me :)]...
Sometimes I am surprised at the happiness I derive from a simple thing like an early morning walk...the air's crisp and you can hear the birds singing [?]..And see the sunrise :)... absolutely fantastic...it actually gives me the goose bumps to see all of god's creations…
Then there are some smells that are an absolute treat to the senses - eucalyptus oil, smell of mud that arises with the first showers of rain, henna, amma's vengaaya sambaar, jasmine flowers and that distinct smell that you get when you hold babies [clean ones, I mean]...
A really neat beach with the white sand and the surf…the sea being a mix of green and blue [turquoise]...nature in all its glory... usually makes me want to go all wild :D...
Flowers, waterfalls, snow and greenery...nature in general... NGC being a favourite channel :)…
Couples in love...they always make me want to smile…all their blushes and shyness and those special smiles meant exclusively for their loved one to decipher...
Naughty kids...so much fun to hang out with, even if they actually drive their parents totally nuts with all that energy :D
Dads putting babies to sleep...I feel it makes the cutest picture ever…
Watching the sunset especially at some hill station or the other...
Getting dripping wet in the rain…
Eating ice lollies during summer holidays…
Getting hold of the next issue of your favourite comic book, you have been dying to read…
I am getting kind of nostalgic with summer holidays and the rest...I seriously miss those carefree days...just holidays and no worries…no deadlines to meet and no meetings to attend…
Ok!! I must stop this piece at this point; otherwise I will just bore you to death…if I haven’t done so already

I read an article on how to be annoying...a really funny piece...Here are some of them :D -

1) Leave your indicator on, for the complete duration of the ride.
2) Repeat everything someone says as a question.
3) Holler random numbers while someone is counting.
4) Invite lots of guests to other's parties.
5) Drum on every available surface.
6) Change channels 5 minutes before the end of the show.
7) Forget the punch line to a long joke but assure the listener it was a "good one".
8) Follow a few paces behind someone spraying everything they touch with room freshener.
9) Never make eye contact or never break eye contact.
10) Signal a conversation is over by clamping your hands over your ears.

This is the chapter of my life where I am extremely happy and where everything seems to be going just right on the personal as well as the professional fronts...there are so many things that I can actually write about, in my blog...but there still seems to me to be a dearth of ideas...I am seriously concerned as to whether I am losing the battle to stick on to a hobby for more than a month :(...

I have always wondered what inspires people into asking certain questions and saying certain things.
Here are some questions that annoy me to the core of my being-

Wassup??
How are you supposed to answer such a question?
There might be a million things going on in my life at the point, at which, this question is directed at me...am I supposed to give a summary to that effect?
Or am I supposed to just say a plain "nothing much" even though I know that’s a lie?
Or I ease up the situation by asking a silly question like "do you want me to say the sky or the ceiling?"
People actually laugh when I say that...
Sometimes I ask this question ( I mean “wassup??”) just to bug others, but I am surprised as to how I am the only one who seems to get irritated by this question...others just say "nothing much" and move on with the conversation...

Howz u doing??
Come on!! When you can say it in proper English with a simple "how are you doing?" why use some stupid "howz u"... as far as I know there is no word called "howz" in the English language? and please don’t say," I use it because it’s cute." It’s definitely not that...

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Or its variation like- what do you think your achievements would be, say 10 years from now?
I feel like bashing the person who asks me this question...
All I can do is grin and bear it and say," I am a person who takes life one day at a time. But, I want to be successful in whatever I do." how much more predictable can that get?
But what I really want to say is-" Why are you being so nosey? How on earth am I supposed to know where I will be in 10 years time? I can hardly predict what is going to happen tomorrow, and you expect data regarding the next 10 years of my life? I am sorry I am just too short sighted (literally and figuratively) to do justice to this question.
And why is it always 10 years? Why not 5 years or 15 years? Is it some kind of a lucky number or something?"
The person who directed this question would probably run away by the time I finish my tirade :)

Look at you; you are all grown up.
Do you want me to remain a dwarf throughout my life or something?
By the way I look at myself in the mirror everyday and you don’t have to particularly tell me to look at myself.

Wish your mom/dad/sister/brother/neighbour/dog/etc/etc/etc from my side.
Seriously how is it going to matter to the concerned person whether I wish them from your side or not?
They don’t even know you.