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7:29:00 pm

books

Book Review – ‘I’m Not Twenty Four…I’ve been Nineteen for Five Years’

4:14:00 pm

This review is of the latest book that I reviewed as part of BlogAdda’s Book Review Program.

Title: I’m Not Twenty Four…I’ve Been Nineteen for Five Years

Author: Sachin Garg

Plot: Saumya Kapoor is a pretty, mall hopping, shoe loving, twenty four year old on the lookout for lasting love. However, cursed with a unisexual name, she finds herself in a not-very-ideal scenario when her company messes up her employment papers and sends her off to a remote village in Karnataka. Stuck in a place where a simple walk in the park brings on the stares, Saumya has to deal with some really tough situations that would set any strong person on edge. She is placed in a job she has no idea about, and has some gruesome first hand experiences at her new company. Needless to say, the hunk of her dreams remains elusive, as she battles it out in this new terrain and tries to overcome her inner demons. The story goes on to bring out the developments in Saumya’s character as she encounters one harrowing incident after another.

Review: On the whole, the book is a light read and not at all boring. It’s a decent page turner, with the author keeping the reader guessing as to what Saumya might encounter next in her new job. The description of places is quite good, and makes the reader feel like he/she has actually been there. The accident parts are also well written, with an edge-of-the-seat thriller feel to it. The humor is light and might resonate more with women.

On the downside, the editing of the book could have been much better. There are quite a few grammatical and spelling mistakes, especially in the latter half of the book.

Although, the plot does indicate that this is no heavy duty literature, you still feel like the book lacks depth somewhere. Some of the humor seems forced, and sometimes it just pops up at strange places. There is also a shift in focus throughout. I’m still not sure what the central theme was supposed to be – her search for love or her tenacity and will to stick to her job, difficulties notwithstanding? The author tries to make it about the protagonist’s search for a proper relationship, but you lose track of it midway, only to find it popping up towards the end.

The title, though catchy does not completely capture the essence of the book. If it was supposed to depict the protagonist’s maturing process, well, that is a bit confusing. The love angle part reiterates the fact that she hasn’t grown up and is still as impulsive as a nineteen year old, yet her job experiences appear to be leading to a development in maturity.

Certain incidents in Saumya’s life occur for no particular reason, and you are left wondering, “Why did that have to happen? What good did that do?”

Saumya’s character is more or less well defined, but the other axillary characters are left halfway in the lurch. However, Shubhro’s character development is quite good and he leaves more of an impact than Saumya’s does. His life is certainly more intriguing than Saumya’s.

Overall, a nice, light read. It is best to read it with minimal expectations, and you won’t be greatly disappointed.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Links

Link List - October

5:25:00 pm

Personal

Half Century!! Yay!!

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Fashion

Red n Gold!

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Fashion, Personal

DIY Experiments!

7:10:00 pm

Had a pretty blah weekend, the downside being that Cub was a little under the weather. He’s at home now, enjoying Tiny TV, which he would otherwise miss, being at playschool at that time. Tiny TV has suddenly rekindled a whole new love for Noddy ,with Noddy’s car being the number one item on his current wish list (yes, even he has a wish list :-)). He already has Noddy’s train set with two other characters, but for some reason, only Noddy is permitted to drive the engine :-)).

Tough Luck, guys!!Only I get to drive!!

Image Courtesy: comparestoreprices

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to do some crafting for a while now, and when I came across some ideas from two enormously talented crafters, I decided to give it a try.

The first one I attempted was a statement necklace done by Amie of Kitty Cats and Airplanes.

I am a huge fan of Amie, she’s extremely talented, very sweet and oh-so-funny!! Her blog just brims with positive energy and it is hard for anyone to remain sullen after reading her posts. To know the story behind her blog name, you’ll have to go ahead and read it!!

So, I started out just like she explained in her tutorial, but since my stupid, stupid glue didn’t work at all, I ended up sewing all the supposed-to-be-stuck parts. And that was very tiring, not to mention that the end product wasn’t half as good as Amie’s :-(.

The second one was a recycled magazine pendant by Craftstylish. This is a lot easier and turns out better too, though I doubt if I would actually wear it. It, however, makes a great activity for kids in the age group 4 – 12, especially girls.

Beware, this is addictive. Look, I made another one!! (Sorry for the crappy pic, twas taken on my phone)

Well, I am loving the crafty new me!!! I have some more DIY stuff lined up, which I hope will turn out better than my previous attempts ;-).

Are you interested in making your own clothes or jewellery?? Do post your DIY links in the comments section!!

Food

Recipe for the Week - Pizza

5:06:00 pm

I have tried a pizza before, but as I have mentioned here about my era of baking disasters, it was a failure. But since I have a new found interest in baking, and a few of my current attempts have been successful, I decided to give pizza a try.

This is a non veg pizza, though I think it would taste pretty good even without the sausages.

What you’ll need: (for 2 pizzas – 4 servings)

Pizza Base:

250 g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

100 ml warm water

1 tsp olive oil

Topping (per pizza):

Ready Made Pizza/Pasta Sauce – 3 tbsp

Sliced Sausages – 70 g

Sliced Capsicum/Green Bell Pepper – 1/2

Sliced Mushrooms – 100 g

Sliced Olives – 30 g

Grated Mozzarella Cheese – 75 g

Grated Cheddar Cheese – 50 g

Oregano – 1 tbsp

Red Chilli Flakes – 1 tbsp

Salt & Pepper – to taste

What you’re going to do:

1. Dissolve the sugar and yeast in warm water and keep in a warm place for about 15 minutes. NOTE: the water should be just warm, not too hot. The mixture should foam up like below:

2. Mix the yeast mixture along with the flour and salt and knead it well.

3. Add olive oil and knead again. It has to be really pliable and elastic, so add more warm water if necessary. Knead for about 10 minutes. NOTE: If the dough isn’t smooth and elastic enough, it won’t rise.

3. Place the dough into a large bowl and cover with a damp muslin cloth. Leave to rise for about an hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 200˚ C.

5. When the dough has risen to double the volume (sorry, should’ve taken a pic here), knead it again knocking out the air from it, for about 7 minutes. If you have time, cover and leave again for another hour, else continue.

6. Divide the dough into two sections. Use a rolling pin to flatten each section into a disc of the size of your baking tin. It should be approximately ½” thick. Place it into the baking tin and leave to rise for 10 minutes.

7. Divide each of the toppings into two parts, one part for each pizza.

8. Prick the pizza base all over and spread about 3 tbsp sauce all over it. Arrange half the toppings except the cheese over this.

9. Sprinkle some pepper and salt (if needed. The sausages, mushrooms and cheese had enough salt in them, so I used just a pinch).

10. Spread the grated cheeses over the toppings and then sprinkle chilli flakes and oregano. Here’s how mine looked before popping it into the oven:

11. Place the tin in the oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes, till the cheese is completely melted and the crust is golden.

12. Remove from pan, slice and enjoy!!

Stretchy cheese and crunchy capsicum and soft sausage. Mmmm.!!!!

This pizza turned out ok, in my opinion, but it certainly wasn’t perfect. For one, I wish I had kept the dough to rise for longer, to get a fluffier crust. I also wish I had used some cheese with more flavor and I would have liked some more color. Regarding the health factor, the refined flour base is the problem. You can use more cheese if you like it that way, but I was happy with this amount. That’s the thing about pizza, you can twist the toppings any which way you want!

I also plan to try the following:

1. Wholewheat base

2. Paneer and onion on the topping

3. Seafood topping

So, that was quite an enjoyable dinner :-). Do any of you have a never-fail pizza recipe? Do share!!

Newer Posts

Older Posts

Lust List - November

Book Review – ‘I’m Not Twenty Four…I’ve been Nineteen for Five Years’

Link List - October

Half Century!! Yay!!

Red n Gold!

DIY Experiments!

Recipe for the Week - Pizza

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