A Waiting Game

As days pass, I can think of more and more reasons why I am leaning closer to e-books.
Just yesterday, I came across this article
http://designtaxi.com/news/352828/Perfume-That-Lets-You-Smell-Like-Books/
Now we, book lovers, can't play our "Oh I like to smell my books" card, can we?
Another, bigger reason, is the seemingly endless wait for a book to arrive. Yes, yes, I know I can always buy books directly from the store, but recently I was longing to read a book that has been out of print for a long time and only a few copies of which exist. Obviously this book does not yet exist in an e-book version, otherwise a click would have saved me a lot of heartache.
I also do not like buying used books online. Buying them in person is preferable. So the only place I ended up finding a 'new' copy was at Amazon. I gave in and also signed up for  "Amazon Prime" to have it shipped to me as soon as possible.
What did I get?
'Free' shipping by a company named Lasership (!?), a sense of euphoria, after my two day shipping turned into a one day shipping (which at one point I thought was completely misleading) and then there I was at the end of the workday still waiting for my book. And it was almost time to go home......
So, you can only imagine the speed with which I leapt out of my chair when the email pop-up from the front-desk notified me that my package had arrived. I did not even bother to read it's contents, the title was enough!
 And so presenting my latest read..

Now I only hope it is as good as the reviews make it out to be!

Review: What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz

What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by Daniel Chamovitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I cannot say I simply loved this book. It reminded me too much of a botany textbook, despite the author's best attempts to make it interesting. I understand that the author could not put a lot of the theory in layman's terms, but if even someone like me who is moderately familiar with botany found it dull in parts, then it definitely is not a book for someone with no previous background in botany. That said, it was very informative, extremely well written and I hope most of the information will be stored in my long-term memory, like that in a flax seedling(!).
It is a relatively short e-book at 129 pages, only 94 of which contain the actual material, the rest being acknowledgements and notes. The book is divided into six parts, based on the 4 main senses (vision, olfaction, auditory, somatosensory), sense of location and memory, that plants may or may not share with humans and animals. Each chapter begins with an interesting fact about the similarities in one of the above mentioned senses between plants and humans. The most famous example quoted several times in the book is obviously the enigmatic Venus Fly-trap that intrigues children and adults alike and every botanist's favorite, Arabidopsis. The chapter on how several people carried out experiments to prove that plants preferred a certain genre of music was informative and hilarious at the same time. It reminded me of a page in a childhood encyclopedia, called "The Big Book of Amazing Facts" with the title "Why do some people sing to their plants?" It depicted a large woman in an 'opera singer' sort of stance singing to her plant. I do not remember the conclusion in that chapter, but I think it was something to the effect that it was because people thought you could induce plants to grow faster if you spoke to them or even better, sang to them. Considering that my encyclopedia is from the eighties, it is not a surprise that research has since debunked that myth.
But apart from the fact that plants lack the auditory sense(spoiler alert!), the knowledge that plants possess rudimentary forms of the remaining senses was slightly unnerving to me. I mean, I always knew plants were living beings (duh!), but understanding the extent of their 'life' makes me, a life-long vegetarian, ponder my non-existent options for non-violent means of obtaining food. Maybe one day humans will learn how to make their own food with just air, water and sunshine!
As for the rating for this book, I gave it 3 stars because I only just 'liked it'(as opposed to 'really liked' or found it simply 'amazing'), but in terms of information, this book would be well worth five.
All I know is that I'll never look at Felicis, my bamboo plant that sits on my office desk, the same way again!

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Review: The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

The Palace of Illusions: A Novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this book in one of the last Borders bookstores and it was on sale for only five dollars!I bought this book and 'The Grand Design' together last January, but I haven't read the latter yet.
One of my biggest fascination with the story of Mahabharata is because of a lesser known twist to the tale and so I was absolutely thrilled that 'The Palace of Illusions' promised to talk about it.
'The Palace of Illusions' refers to the ephemeral palatial home of the Pandavas from whose balcony, Draupadi mocks the 'villain' Duryodhana and sets into motion the cascade of events culminating in the great War at Kurukshetra.
Draupadi, the enigmatic heroine in Mahabharata and her brother Drupad, were children born out of a sacrificial offering performed by King Drupad. He burned with anger at being humiliated by Guru Drona, who was the official teacher of the princes of Hastinapura and prayed for a son who'd avenge him. In addition to the son he desired, the gods bestow upon him a beautiful daughter as well.
Draupadi, in a previous birth, greedily prays to Lord Shiva for a husband who would be just, skilled, strong, handsome and gentle(who can blame her for wanting everything?). But God, being who He is, pulls a fast one on her. In her next birth (as Draupadi), she ends up being married to five brothers, each of who embodies one of the traits mentioned above.
The original Mahabharata, narrated by Sage Vyasa, only glosses over the travails of the hapless princess who must share her conjugal life with five husbands. In Banerjee's book, Draupadi gets a voice of her own.
And with her voice, spill her secrets.
Banerjee takes a few liberties with the story. With Draupadi at the forefront, her husbands, the Pandavas are reduced to the background as mere props, except at the end, where she allows Bhima a somewhat three dimensional character. Banerjee's description of her as a child-woman needing her 'Dhai Ma' at the beginning of the story was a little confusing to me. Technically she should have appeared as a full-grown woman  in the sacrificial fire, considering her father had already been humiliated by the Pandavas before she was 'born'.
I absolutely loved the relationship portrayed between her and Karna (my most favorite character in the epic). Who can resist a tall, dark, brooding hero? But my subsequent read, 'Mrityunjaya, The Death Conqueror: The Story Of Karna', in which Karna is portrayed as ever faithful and ever loving to his wife Vrishali, left me very conflicted. There is an anecdote which tells the story of how Krishna reveals to Draupadi that she would have been better off if she had not rejected Karna at her Swayamvara, because he alone had all five qualities that she desired for in her husband. Considering the fact that it was he who initially prevented her from marrying Karna, this must have been a big *facepalm* moment for Draupadi. Of course, all of these stories are just wishful writing by the authors, but I sure love the theories!
Another change from the original is the fact that Banerjee writes about Draupadi witnessing the War like Sanjay(i.e. with the minds eye) but the War itself is relegated to just a few pages. There was so much potential here!
In all, the book is a lovely short read, but by no means a literary classic. I liked Banerjee's writing and wish she would have written a much more comprehensive book rather than just protraying one of the bravest (and notably arrogant) heroines in Hindu mythology as a mere whimsical woman.


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Review: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I want to live..like animals, careless and free..
I want to live..I want to run through the jungle..
the wind in my hair and the sand at feet!
- Savage Garden

I recently started loving running and so when a friend rated this book on Goodreads, I was drawn immediately to its name. I am not a runner at all. A couple of years ago I couldn't run five minutes without a stitch in my side and my lungs ready to explode. Then thanks to a corporate 5K race in 2010, that I signed up for, I ran the entire distance in 43 minutes (and was the last one from my company to cross the finish line!). However, I was left with a sharp pain in my right knee which recurs frequently to this day (especially if I run after I have been lazy for a few days). As I kept slowly pushing myself, I was able to run a distance of 5Km in 21 odd minutes by last October! No pain, no stitch, just plenty of endorphins.
'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall begins with him facing a very similar problem and his quest to find out why he was not suited to run despite being in good health. During this time, he learned about the Tarahumara tribe, Mexico's Copper Canyon dwellers, who are known to run for days with no adverse effects on their knees or feet. Although, how the author intended to solve his problem by learning more about the ways of this tribe is beyond me.
Instead, McDougall ended up compiling an enormous amount of information about superathletes (I honestly do not remember any of their names, except for one) who look like and live among us, but can run hundreds of miles at a stretch. I loved the story of Ann Trason, who started jogging 9 miles to and from work each way (18 miles a day, people!), between twenty-five to thirty miles on weekends to unwind, and eventually competing in and setting the women's record for the Leadville ultramarathon. Her time? 100 miles in a little more than 18 hours! Yay woman-power!
Apart from Ann, McDougall intersperses the story of several ultra-runners who run with as much ease as the Tarahumara tribe, against the backdrop of an ultra-marathon, the Leadville 100.He also describes how companies that make running shoes are actually fooling people with their claims of making shoes that 'cushion' your feet as you run. Human feet which evolved from the fins of some primordial aquatic being, says McDougall, are the only part of a human body which did not evolve as well as the human brain or fingers. So we are stuck with feet that cannot adapt well to the ground if cushioned in shoes (It would be akin to blinding someone and making them paint intricate art. And we all know it takes some very, very strong will-power and perseverance to achieve that, and that it is not something just about anyone is capable of.) The solution? Bare-feet running! However, I don't think the book convinced me to try it after all. No matter what the benefits are, I cannot subject my poor feet to the filth outside.
Some of the first few anecdotes were interesting to me, but I quickly started losing interest with the numerous names thrown into the book and to me most people started to seem the same. They were normal, until they started running marathons, and then ultra-marathons.
The book is definitely an extensive account of people who simply love running. So if you really enjoy the book, you've got to be (or might turn into) one of the people who run just for the sake of it-not for weight loss, not just for good heart health-but just to be in one of the most primal states of mind.


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Review: Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Heidi by Johanna Spyri
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read 'Heidi' when I was in the 6th or 7th standard and fell in love with the beautiful descriptions of sunshine on mountain slopes, primroses and wildflowers, forget-me-not blue skies, fresh goat-milk, cheese, warm bread, cozy beds of hay and soft white rolls.
Heidi is a sweet little girl who is abandoned by her aunt at her grandfather's hut in the Alps, after her mother's death. Unfazed by her circumstances, Heidi revels in her new surroundings, thaws her surly grandfather and makes friends with a goat-keeper named Peter, his mother and grandmother.
Three years pass and everything is perfect in Heidi's life until her Aunt Dete arrives to take her to Frankfurt as a companion to a rich but invalid girl. Claustrophobic in her new life, Heidi longs for the freedom of her mountain life and her loving grandfather and endeavors to get back.
I recently realized that Johanna Spyri wrote this book in 1880 and I was extremely surprised at how old the book was. Even more so when I started re-reading it. Most of the translation was really bad, and some names did not seem familiar (e.g. A village woman's name as I remember was Barbel, but is Barbie in this new book. Clara is Klara and Aunt Dete is 'Detie'). Miss Rottenmeier (in this edition) was referred to as 'Fraulein' in my old copy which is how I came to learn that word as a kid. I also realized that Heidi was mostly preachy and too good to be true. It is interesting how I never understood these nuances earlier. Oh wait, I was a kid too!  To make things worse, I also read somewhere recently that Johanna Spyri could have ripped off this story from a relatively unknown author, Adam Von Kamp, who wrote a similar story some 50 years before Heidi was published. Sigh!
I am not sure I want to re-read my childhood books for nostalgia anymore. I'd rather leave my memories unsullied. However, despite all the tarnishing that I perceived as an adult, I consoled myself with the fact that 'Heidi' to me was mostly about the soft white rolls! But wait for it.....

The biggest dampener on my childhood imagination was brought about by my realization that 'soft white rolls' are actually

and not as I always imagined them in my naivety as...

Thanks Google, adulthood and reality!

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Review: Ex-Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had not heard of Anne Fadiman and did not even pick this book because it was written by her. It came as a recommendation after I had read some other book. But after reading her work, there is no denying that I'll continue to pick out her books because they have been written by her.
This book is a collection of 18 essays, in which she describes the love for books and literature that runs in her family and close friends. I wish I could discuss each and every one of them with someone who has read this book too, but alas! Maybe soon.
Beginning with her first essay in which she describes how she and her husband "married" their libraries, Anne Fadiman, goes on to describe the competitive literary games played by 'Team Fadiman' consisting of her parents, brother and herself and her penchant for proof-reading EVERYTHING! My most favorite part was when she described how her family believed in carnal love for books and not the usual reverential sort that most book-lovers believe in. That her father would tear off finished chapters of the book he was reading to 'lighten' his luggage on a trip, or that her husband would read books in a sauna, made me cringe with pain. I think her friends,the one who would not use a thick bookmark in case it left marks upon the pages, or the one who would follow around his mother-in-law until she replaced his book, are someone whom I'd be more comfortable lending my books to.
Her essay (My Ancestral Castles) where she touches upon the idea that children's taste for reading stemming from their parents reading habits, was also one that I enjoyed. My parents never hesitated to buy us encyclopedias, children's books and fairy tales. But if I and my sister had not seen my parents read (even if they were just reading the newspaper, a Marathi book or religious texts), we would probably not have had the same love or respect for reading.
Fadiman's command on the written word is unquestionable, but what is even more surprising, is that her essays keep you interested no matter what they are about. She can write about pens, or mail order catalogues and still be funny and enthralling. It is a high feat indeed if instead of finding her slightly narcissistic tone annoying, you find yourself relishing it.
I'll be definitely going back to her essays, because despite their quirks, I really liked the Fadiman family and I am sure I'll find these essays as interesting as the first time around. I also intend to find the meaning of all the words she mentions in her essay (The Joy of Sesquipedalians) and quiz some poor, unsuspecting soul one day! Maybe her love for proof-reading rubbed off on me, but page 78 and 88 of my e-book had some very noticeable typos (which I blame solely on the e-book publisher). I'll leave you to find them for yourself!

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The Harvard Bookstore-so different, yet so familiar

I never knew how different bookstores could be! Instead of going to my usual Barnes and Noble store at the Prudential mall, I checked out a small store (although a giant in its own way) called the Harvard Book store and found it as different from Barnes and Noble as chalk from cheese (pardon the cliche!).
Titles I had never heard of, stared at me and books I love were available in every edition possible, something that is horribly amiss at Barnes and Noble with its more commercial culture (by which I mean every random 'best-seller' taking preference over really good books).
In the 'used' book section, I was taken back to my school days when nearly every Sunday morning I and my sister would ask our dad to take us to the curbside bookseller who sold cheap, used paperbacks. The more we bought, the faster they'd all be read. But the brat in me always wished for more.
I was distracted by a woman and her five or six year old, who seemed hesitant at being in the used books section. I heard the mother quietly explain to her daughter that it was a good practice to buy used books until you could afford the new, crisp ones and that way she could have as many as she wanted! I couldn't help feeling slightly ashamed at not being as understanding as the little girl, who promptly started picking out books. That was one of the reasons that made me put back  a beautiful, illustrated and annotated hardbound edition of 'The Hobbit' in its place and instead come away with two really inexpensive titles that cost me a total of 10$. It was not because I could not afford to, it was more to check myself from spending money just because I could afford to.
Anyhow, the following is the article that attracted me to the bookstore, (which I had not entered despite passing it by twice every day to and from work). Check out the article AND the bookstore!

Picture Courtesy: www.forbes.com/2005/12/14/cx_sb_1215featslide.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/philjohnson/2012/05/10/the-man-who-took-on-amazon-and-saved-a-bookstore/

Review: The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was as effortlessly attracted to this book by its description as a moth to the yellow light of the bookshop. Written by someone who seems to love books immensely enough to make a career as a bookseller, this book is an ode to books. The opening few paragraphs ring very true with anyone who finds hours of wandering in a bookstore liberating and as exciting as walking through the wardrobe into the land of Narnia. Every sentence made me think how I had done and felt the exact same thing every time I was at the local bookstore. I think the very essence of a bookshop is its coziness. The smell of crisp paper intermingled with the almost over-powering odor of brewing coffee, college kids sprawled between book shelves poring over a tome or the latest YA paperback, and kids being introduced to their very first book by an obvious book lover of a parent.
The author describes a classic case of an atheist turned believer, as he discovered Steinbeck and began respecting books, a far cry from someone who shoplifted a book from a local book store a year earlier. He writes about his first few years at the bookstore called 'The Upstart Crow', the eventual move to a larger one called 'Printers Inc.' and his subsequent transformation into a book salesman with great nostalgia and hits upon a problem that I face in real life myself. The problem with libraries, where in two weeks, he'd have to load up the bike and return the books he had borrowed with a heavy heart. This is why I prefer bookstores over libraries anyday, never mind the hole in my pocket!
Buzbee intersperses his memoirs with a history of books, book-selling, and libraries where, despite adding in a number of interesting anecdotes, he seems to be glossing over a really broad topic very halfheartedly. The numbers thrown around for statistics are ones that are perpetually changing with times and I found it hard to believe that those were actual figures. I'd have even preferred if he had just stuck to his memoirs and written an entirely different book on the history (with perhaps more in-depth research).
I loved the titular chapter of the book where he talks about going to the bookstore with his daughter,buying books for everyone in the family and leaving the store just in time to be able to read in bed. Doesn't that make you want to curl up in bed with your favorite book right now?
I think Buzbee does a good job of describing his love for bookstores and the feel and beauty of paper based books, but a poor one at predictions. Way back in 2006 when this book was published, he prophesied that e-books were not going to be big in publishing. So imagine my confusion when I got to this point, and thought to myself, "But, I am reading this book on my e-reader!" It was then that I saw my copy had an afterword by the author where he extolled the beauty of an e-reader and eventually retracted his words. The resistance towards e-books is waning slowly, because that which does not evolve, might eventually die of obsolescence . And like the author says, who knows someone might soon come up with an e-reader that can be scrolled up like a piece of parchment! After all why should you care about the format if it is ultimately the words that are important to you?  I did, however vacillate a bit when the author asked " How do you press a wildflower into the pages of an e-book?" And then I remembered, I don't really care about such things! I try to keep my books in pristine condition, in an almost virginal sort of way and e-books ensure that.
One of my favorite quotes-"What I have learned about a good many things of the world, both trivial and profound, often started with the back of a book, a sentence read there that led to another book that led to even more books"! This book led me to another, "Ex Libris-Confessions of a common reader" by Anne Fadiman and I am loving every word of it! It is definitely looking like a five-star read! Stay tuned.

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