The Seaside Library

Author: Clare Pooley Acquired in: July 2021 courtesy Amazon.in Once a famous artist, Julian Jessop feels lonely and forgotten in his old age despite living in a paradoxically bustling London suburb. The drudgery of living in a house with only his memories and art for company compels him to write a brief chronicle of his life in a little green book. Hoping that his story would inspire someone else to live a better life, he leaves the book in a café, unaware of the owner's watchful eye. This story could have ended when the shop owner, Monica, knocks on Julian's door with good intentions, but fate ensures that the book is already affecting many other people. What could happen when these virtual strangers turn up in one place, guided only by the stories they wrote? Julian, Monica and the others are not purely fictional characters; they represent you and me! How often do you feel disconnected from your friends and loved ones, even in this era of enhanced connectivity? I experienced ...

Author: Abbi Waxman Acquired in: April 2021 I feel I have finally met my book persona in Nina Hill, the namesake of Abbi Waxman’s utterly satisfying book. Apart from the flaming red hair, I would say that I just met a probable adult version of me. If I'm going to end up like Nina, I beg your pardon while I wipe away a happy tear or two.  Rather than giving an impersonal review of this book, I would like to give you an insight into how the story resonated with me. From her partiality to beautiful book covers to “She enjoyed people—she really did—she just needed to take them in homoeopathic doses; a little of the poison was the cure”- this is the closest likeness you will ever find of me. There might be hundreds of people out there who felt the same after reading this book and I feel at peace thinking that there are others like me. Her love story with books is maybe how it is with readers everywhere. Not obsessive, but a happy friendship; something steady to draw strength from. Nina’...

Author: Markus Zusak Acquired in: April 2018 A little girl once caught Death's attention. Since he liked how her story went, he decided to share it with us.  And when Death tells a story, you really have to listen.  9-year-old Liesel and her brother Werner travel to Munich with their mother, to meet their new foster parents. Their mother would soon leave them, just like how Father did long ago, because of 'Kommunist', a word she doesn't know the meaning of and is too afraid to ask. Aboard the cold train, the ill little boy dies. With Werner's soul in his arms, Death watches Liesel pick up a black book forgotten by a gravedigger and hold it close, something to remind her of her brother. At that moment, the Book Thief is born. In Liesel's life, the appearance of books is often followed by death, though she doesn't notice this sinister pattern, because well, it's World War 2. The Book Thief is the second book about the Holocaust and WW2 I've read writte...

Author: Graeme Simsion Acquired in: February 2021 Finally! I've finished the Rosie Trilogy, though I should try to read books of a particular series in chronological order in the future. It spoils the suspense when you already know that someone's going to die in an accident or get stabbed by a bayonet when you're reading any series in an irregular pattern. Regrets aside, let's get to the book. After a finale that can belong in a rom-com flick, the second book takes us to New York, where Don and Rosie are settling in their highly academic roles; Don's an assistant professor at Columbia while Rosie pursues a PhD while attending medical school. How hardcore is that? Well, as unbelievable as it is, their work-life balance gets thrown off completely when Rosie reveals that she is pregnant. And Don? He has an inward meltdown and gets away as fast as he can. For a person who could never recognise emotional cues, he had a hard time realising his feelings for Rosie. Having o...

Author: Jenny Han Acquired in: August 2019 Some people say that books are better than movie reprisals. I'm one of those people too, but I beg to differ regarding this book. The sequel to the popular Netflix film To All The Boys I've Loved Before, this book by Jenny Han felt a little empty when compared to the movie of the same name. Oh, Lara Jean, why do you make me say this?  After the events of the first book, Korean-American Lara Jean Covey is now preparing to attend college. She's even set her eyes on  the  place: the University of Virginia (UVA) which she and Peter Kavinsky dream of attending together. But amidst wedding preparations for her dad, final exams, bidding farewell to school and trying to diffuse sister-stepmother tension, her college plans don't go exactly the way she planned. Slowly, she realises (with a bit of help) that denying herself opportunities to grow to save a relationship isn't going to help her or Peter.  It was quite a lacklustre read a...

Author: Graeme Simsion Acquired in: December 2019 It's been a long time since I have posted something here, but I have a good excuse; exams! Online exams are no mean feat and I was so glad to see the last of it. Never mind the next one hurling towards me this time next month. So after a break, we're back and today's post is about the book caught in a series mashup- The Rosie Result. For those who have no idea of what I'm referring to, please check out the post titled The Rosie Project . The final book of the Rosie Trilogy involves Don, Rosie and a new character, their son Hudson, all settled in Melbourne. The story is centred on Hudson's life, that is his problematic school life and his aversion to change. His behaviour then leads to many thinking that he may be autistic. Don resigned his job as a genetics professor in the US after a fiasco at one of his lectures where he was accused of being racist. It's not entirely his fault too, his mannerisms, now well-kn...

Author: Nicola Yoon Acquired in: 2020 Nicola Yoon's debut novel is a bit relatable; the main character Madeline or Maddy has been living in her house, with no outside contact, just like how the entire world has been since the beginning of 2020. But Maddy's situation is a bit complex, rather than an impartial virus chasing people, she is trying to avoid the world to save her life. Maddy has only known the walls of her specially modified and sterilised house her whole life. She has been told that she suffers from SCID, a disorder which renders her immune system vulnerable to the millions of pathogens present in the air. Her whole life is akin to what we experience now: no friends of her age, attends classes online, sanitised from head to toe and reads books and plays board games to while away time. The next part is rather predictable; a boy moves in next door and becomes her ticket to the forbidden world. While the rest of the story flies by as if in a typical Young Adu...