The Serpentine Scrolls by Alcatraz Dey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The author, Alcatraz Dey, (pseudonym for Ajay Kumar), a science graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi has a passion for deep research in religions and human behavior. His effort to elicit the relationship between human behavior with respect to the wisdom gained and interpreted over ages did not seem to have taken off well enough, through this book.

Storyline: The first of the sequel, The Colossal Adventure Series, this book is written with complete passion over snakes and their ability to carry eternal wisdom for ages together through their progeny. The entire story revolves around two King Cobras domesticated by a God’s messenger named Hannah and their adventure in seeking, retaining and passing over of the wisdom and knowledge gained by them across the world, right from the times of Emperor Akbar to present times. The plot culminates on the day when Pakistan terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jihad, plans to destroy Bangalore city completely through latest weaponry and biological suicide bombers, after twenty years of meticulous planning. A RAW intelligence official named Viswanath discovers the plot and tries to stop the events with the help of Ihsin, a progeny of Hannah. Meanwhile LeJ’s chief Shahid meticulously plans and executes part of his plan through his prime associate Jebbar, who also happens to be a progeny of Hannah, but with a different understanding of Jihad. Both Ihsin and Jebbar have snake like features embedded inside their bodies and are gifted with huge reserves of wisdom and knowledge. The story ends with Ihsin and Vishwanath finding Hannah at a village called Manchale, near the banks of River Tungabahadra in Andhra Pradesh who gives them insights about how he was waiting for Ihsin to get back his lost snakes, by decoding the strange tattoos on Ishin’s body. The two colossal snakes having lived over hundreds of years along with Hannah, get liberated from this earth through Hannah and their son In human form takes over the job of preserving the wisdom gained by these snakes for future generations. All three set out to save Bangalore from being destroyed forever by the terrorists….but alas…only to be continued in the next book – a big disappointment.

Pros: The author brought out the fact of snakes and human beings being linked through wisdom. This according to the author seems to have originated right from the creation of Adam-Eve, till the present days. The creator seems to have chosen snakes to transfer the knowledge gained by humans and send messengers like Jesus, Prophet Mohammad, Buddha, Mahavir etc to Earth from time to time. Good insights into some links to the origin of the scientific name of King Cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah) and human being (Homo Sapiens).

Cons: Somewhere the author has faltered in bridging the terror story with story of the wisdom of a God’s messenger and his pet snakes. The reader is lost in between as there seems to be a complete different version of snakes being a part of acquiring knowledge along with humans and communicating the same to the Creator. Neither realistic nor convincing! The story is quite confusing at times and the author failed to bring a clean flow to the story and partially failed to explain the true reasons behind the characters portrayed versus the underlying truth. Sudden ending to the story without much of inference is a big negative point to the book. Must wait and see how he handles the second part of the sequel.

My rating is 2 out of 5


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President Barack Obama: The Kindle Singles Interview by David Blum
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is an exclusive interview by David Blum, an old time friend of the President, which took place in a warehouse.

The honesty and commitment of President Barack Obama to take USA to the next level of life style filled with values and technology, in order to lead the world into the future, is highly commendable. The President’s aim of creating good jobs, rebuild the country’s manufacturing base, and develop the best education system possible which is affordable for an ordinary family are quite realistic and strategic criteria to take the country forward.

Barack Obama’s humble and modest lifestyle before occupying the White House, lays the strong foundation towards his welfare oriented thinking and action plans that could propel USA to a much higher living standards that the entire world could one day be enviable about. His testimony about how his wife Michelle and his two daughters Malia & Sasha have been groomed to adopt a hard-earned lifestyle is the true test of his great personality.

It’s surprising to learn that he is the only President to have his credit card declined! That’s Obama…May his dream of having people who are self starters instead of pulling their weight on the government to spoon feed them success, be fulfilled in the near future.

My rating is 2 out of 5


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Candide by Voltaire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a French Classic book of optimism, written by one of the greatest philosophers of France, Voltaire. This great classic is said to have been written in just three days in 1759. But it never lost the vigor and charm that lie embedded in the story.

Candide, a young gentleman in the castle of Westphalia, somewhere in Germany, falls in love with the Baron’s daughter Miss Cunegonde. Having been discovered, Candide gets banished from the castle by the Baron. This book is all about how he and his philosopher Pangloss, a professor in metaphysico-theologico-cosmolo-nigology, who always believed in “Always, everything happens for the best and there is no effect without cause”, happen to travel across the globe to various nations of Europe and South America to discover the different kinds of injustice that can happen to the good and the beautiful people, with no mercy. Candide till the end, was in search of his true love, Miss Cunegonde, who was incessantly molested by different kings and generals after having been taken as a slave by foreign invaders. But Candide never lost his love for her, and ultimately re-unites with her and takes her as his wife even though she lost all her riches and beauty.

Pros: The book reveals many philosophical ideas and thought processes of optimistic thinking in a comical fashion. One gets to understand that everything happens as per fate and no event is under anyone’s control. The heights of optimism displayed in the characters of Candide, Pangloss and Martin, are the real highlights of the story. Some hard facts of how Kings and their ladies were treated after having been captured by enemy kingdoms was narrated in comedy. The book reveals the existence of best of good and bad in the world, side by side, in those days. It is quite relevant to the present days too.

Cons: The way in which the description of how ladies from defeated royal families were ravished and treated as slaves seem to have been a little exaggerated. Very few are left in today’s world with such optimism in mind. Who knows…the opposite would have taken over the world today.

My favorite quotes in the book
“Fools admire everything in an author of reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like only that which serves my purpose - Martin”
“A modest woman may be ravished once, but her virtue is strengthened by it”

My rating is 3 out of 5


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Bought: Destitute Yet Defiant by Sarah Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One more modern love story, among the millions of them thronging the market place, from Mills and Boon series.

Storyline: Jesse, a girl who spent her childhood in the shoddy downtown areas along with her brother Joe and his friend Silvio, grows up to be a singer in a cheap bar. She lives a debt-ridden life, after the death of her brother, until she meets Silvio after many years. Silvio had grown up to become a billionaire and comes back for his childhood crush Jessie, only to realize that she is leading a tough life. Jessie, though initially mistakes Silvio for having been responsible for his brother’s death, later, realizes that he was actually supporting him then and her, now. Similarly, Silvio also mistakes Jessie to have resorted to prostitution, to earn money, but later discovers that she only uses her voice but not her body. Meanwhile, Silvio introduces Jessie to his rich lifestyle and finally makes her a big star singer. Jessie, who didn’t want to be a hindrance to Silvio’s extravagant life, leaves him only to be followed by him afterwards to confess his love to her. They marry and live happily ever after.

Pros: Another soft love story from the author which takes the reader through like a cool sail on pristine waters. Jessie’s poverty and her simplicity seem to have made Silvio to love her rather than her outward beauty. This is the best part of the love story as the author made it a point to ascertain once again that True Love simply does not arise out of just physical features.

Cons: Somehow I always felt that Mills and Boon series always tends to show the women in their story mentally strong initially but ultimately become weak and fall for the men whom they love. Here, I felt that Silvio had made a clever investment in Jessie, as a businessman rather than a true lover. The question still remains as to whether Silvio would have married Jessie, if she was not gifted with her golden voice. I see this kind of love more of a business deal and than anything else.

My rating is 3 out of 5


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Self Discipline: The Ultimate Self Discipline Guide - How To Build Good Habits, Develop Self Control, Beat Procrastination & Achieve Personal Goals by Richard Carroll
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A booklet of how to build good habits, develop self control, beat procrastination and achieve personal goals. Many useful steps to achieve both professional and personal goals have been briefly suggested. Some of my favorite tips that I personally found might be useful are 1) taking a pause to re-channel or refocus energy when something goes wrong 2)Getting good amount of sleep after stressful moments and 3)stop procrastinating in order to achieve what one wants in targeted time periods.

The author should have included some live examples to make the book more interesting. Nothing new in the tips suggested. Could have been better.

My favorite quote in the book

“Resting is taking a break after a few days of work, while procrastinating is not doing anything even before the work started”

My rating is 2 out of 5


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