The Blog of Small Things

Name :  All your perfects Author : Colleen Hoover Year of Publication : 2018 Genre : Fiction, Novel Rating : ** ( Two stars out of 5) The author addresses the important topic of how a couple comes to terms with infertility and the non-linear structure of past and present with the finale seamlessly interconnecting both shows why the author churns out NY Times bestsellers. Unfortunately, the plot is not buttressed by fresh dialogues and cheesiness is marketed as eternal love. A decent story with a message but this is no literature.

  Name :   Wrist Assured Author : Gundappa Vishwanath with R.Kaushik Year of Publication : 2022 Genre : Non- Fiction, Cricket Rating : *** ( Three stars out of 5) The wristy genius Gundappa Vishwanath pens an autobiography that is a throwback to times when Indian cricket teams went without playing international matches for nearly 2 years. The ghost writer R.Kaushik ensures that the self-deprecating humour and the cricketing nous of Gundappa shine through. The book steers clear of controvery and sticks to faithful regurgitation of cricketing scores and techniques. Despite being a genius, Gundappa ended up with only a decent test average of 41.9. The book mirrors the author's cricketing record by being merely good with some flourishes of greatness.

  Name :   1971 : The Beginning of India's Cricketing Greatness Author : Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya Year of Publication : 2022 Genre : Non- Fiction, Cricket Rating : ** ( Two stars out of 5) 1971 was the first annus mirabilis of Indian cricket much before Kapil's Devils happened. This book tries to effectively document the drama of the series victories in England and West Indies but fails because the authors don the hat of court poets rather than historians. Too many pages are spent on silly BCCI politics and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar's magical Oval spell, which alone deserves an entire chapter, is reduced to few pages. Boria Majumdar's privilege and contacts have allowed him access to every great Indian cricketer but he is yet to get access to the heart of an Indian cricket fan.

  Name :  Not Just Cricket Author : Pradeep Magazine Year of Publication : 2022 Genre : Non- Fiction, Memoir, Cricket Rating : *** ( Three stars out of 5) The author has had a ringside view of the happenings in Indian cricket for more than four decades and in a country which breathes cricket, the memoir of such a journalist wil naturally make for engaging reading. Invoking the CLR James maxim "What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?", the author covers the upheavals in Indian society and politics, in parallel. The biggest takeaways from the book in these turbulent times are that being a Kashmiri Pandit, the author underlines the tense yet peaceful co-existence between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the 90s and how neighbor Muslims strived to help Pandit families in distress. Bliss is Cricket and Indian society through the lens of an old-fashioned Nehruvian.

Name :  Honey nee matume en ulagam illai Author : Araathu Year of Publication : 2022 Genre : Non-Fiction, Relationships Rating : * 1/2 ( One and a half stars out of 5) The author is a self-professed expert on man-woman relationship issues and tries to write a cheap Tamil version of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". While the John Gray classic is based on empirical research, Araathu's book is restricted to his own experiences with friends of both genders. Sweeping generalizations and excoriations of women are uncalled for but whether this reviewer wrote this paragraph keeping in mind that his wife may read the same is a moot question.