The Harry Potter Series

It is quiet easy to push away a Harry Potter book, with the excuse that it’s for children and for the immature or for the not grownups; but trust me, after you read the first book you will not know peace until you read the last paragraph of the 7th book. That’s precisely what happened to me – with nothing to do, I picked up my cousin’s copy of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and in a month’s time I had read all the 7 books.

The 7 books, written by JK Rowling, follow the story of a young wizard named Harry Potter, who has a special destiny. He lives in the magical world which coexists with our world. His parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldemort who believes that Harry is the last thing standing between him and absolute dominance and immortality. Lord Voldemort is unable to kill Harry and in the process of trying looses his mortal body. Harry is brought up by his mother’s sister and family – away from the magical world. On his 11th birthday Harry is given a surprise which brings him to the lovely world of magic.

Every book, except for the last one, is about a year Harry spends at Hogwards School of Witchcraft and Wizardary. All the books, except the last one, start off with Harry heading off to attend a year at Hogwards with his friends - Ronald Weasly and Hermione Granger - and ends with Harry returning back to his foster parents home to spend the summer holidays. During the time at school, Harry learns magic and also escapes several attempts on his life from Lord Voldemort.

Every book grows more sinister and darker, which is part of Harry growing up from the innocent 11 year old to the mature 17 year old wizard. This is one series you cant put down after starting. JK Rowlings crafty spins a world of magic around the reader and takes us for a joy ride.

Noddy - Character, Books by Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton's books have been such an important aspect of my growing up years. Those were the only books I read for a good number of years. She has the ability to carve out characters that are so lovable. I must thank her for bringing in me, the habit of reading!
Noddy was the first book I had read and he remains my favorite character till date. His childlike thinking and misunderstandings still amuses me.

Noddy is a little wooden boy who lives in his own house in Toyland. He is a kind and caring boy. Noddy has several adventures with his friends especially Big Ears, a brownie, and his pet Bumpy dog. Noddy drives a taxi around Toyland and every other toy in Toyland knows about his arrival by hearing the horn of his taxi or the jingle of the bells on his hat. Each book of the noddy series lists his adventures and as the series goes on, Noddy becomes wiser.  Every book has a charm that will linger with you even after you have finished reading the book.
As a child , I remember playing pretend games with an imaginary Noddy and me being Noddy's best friend. The bedroom used to be Toyland.

The books from the Noddy series are picture books, with wonderful illustrations of Noddy, his friends and Toyland. Later on Noddy was made into an animation series and was run on television. These television shows are popular with kids even to this day.  Now a days Noddy is being moved to different forms and is available as toys, games, stationary and there have been stage adaptations of this character also. He even has a website dedicated to him which is an online replica of Toyland. The website has wonderful games and other freebies like wallpapers and music makers.
I love the little wooden boy dressed in blue and red with the long blue jingling hat and nodding head.

The Immortals of Meluha - Book by Amish Tripathi

The Immortals of Meluha is the first among the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi. Shiva is a deity in Hindu mythology, but this story depicts him as a human being whose deeds give him the stature of God.
Though this story has many mythological aspects it is pure fiction and every event in the story is a work of the wonderful imagination of the author.

The Story starts off with the introduction of Shiva as a nomad living in Tibet. He is the ruler of his tribe and a man bound by duty. He and his tribe are invited to live in Meluha, which is a very prosperous and just kingdom created by Lord Ram centuries earlier. The Meluhans are facing hard times as their river, the Saraswati is drying out and they are also victims of  terrorist attacks from the people of their neighboring kingdom - Chandravanshis and the race of deformed humans with great martial arts skills - Nagas.

Sensing the prospect of a better life for his tribe, Shiva moves to Meluha. On their arrival at Meluha, they are administered the drug 'Somras' a chemical compound ensuring immortality.  As destiny would have it, Shiva gets a blue pigmentation on his throat on having the Somras and as per the Meluhan Legend, Shiva, the 'Neelkanth' (meaning 'blue throated'), is considered the Saviour of Meluha. Following his destiny and doing his duty, he also meets Sati whom he falls in love with.

The book is about Shiva's journey to discover his destiny and how as a human of virtues he meets with the different aspects of life faces the challenges life throws at him.

The book is a captivating read and a great adventure. The reader will find it very difficult to put the book down . The feeling of 'what will happen next' will keep you bound to the book, only to be disappointed at the very end where you have no choice but to wait for the next part!

Cleo - Book by Helen Brown

For a pet lover like me, books with animals as the main character brings a lot of memories of home sweet home and memories of those years when I would run behind cats carefree not worrying about wasting precious time. Ah! those were days, filled with fun,enthusiasm and action. 

When i saw the book 'Cleo- How a small black cat helped heal a family' by Helen brown on the shelf of a book store, I could not help but buy it. It is said that you should not judge a book by its cover but the black cat with those green eyes which sat on the cover touched a cord in my heart and I had to take the book!


A cat understands and acts as needed always. A cat enters a person's life at the right time, watching and acting as appropriate to help the situation. This is the base on which the story of Cleo is written .


Cleo is about the authors experiences in life and how she and her family, though not being cat people, added Cleo, a beautiful black cat, to their family. The story shows how Cleo became an integral part of the family and  saw the family through the various challenges in their life, helping them heal. Being a cat lover, I could not keep the book down . Everything written about the cat in the book brought back memories of a little playful kitten at my house. 


The book is written with warmth and compassion and is an enjoyable read for everyone, even for the non cat lovers. The book contains incidents and photographs from the authors life that will immediately connect with the reader and pull the reader to the world of the author where the cat plays a central role. 
Cleo is a wonderful book. if you are wondering about which book to read next, do pick up Cleo, you will not be disappointed!


Jean Cocteau rightly said:
"I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul."