Auguries Review: Idaho by Emily Ruskavich

A word of caution- Idaho is not a psycho murder mystery thriller. Keep that in mind before you start reading this book.

Idaho begins with Anna, the wife of Wade, who tries to make sense of a tragedy that befell Wade's life which changed everything as a result of which Wade's ex-wife ends up in jail, his elder daughter disappears and younger daughter murdered.

The book is a tragic prose told from different shifting perspectives and many voices. The narration keeps on switching between present past and future, not in chronological order. The book spans across 1973 to 2025; the tragedy, which is central to the plot happened in 1997. The story progresses at a slow pace with information trickling even more slowly, a bit here another there. At times one is tempted to stop reading the book altogether but the creative writing and rich language keeps one compelled to read further. There are a lot of things which the reader will find hard to comprehend but by the time one will have reached the end one will be satiated.

This is a very brilliant debut novel and in a scale of 20 we give it a 19.25. 

Auguries Review: This Is Your Brain on Parasites by Kathleen McAuliffe

If you have ever wondered why we humans do what we do even if what we do seems irrational, then this book is for you in that it will help you frame your own new hypothesis and make you feel quenched and satiated.

Kathleen McAuliffe, a brilliant science writer has packed this book with loads of knowledge regarding a hitherto lesser known relatively new science of Neuroparasytology.  It tells us of the role played by parasites, bacteria, virus and all sorts of pathogens and the reader will be surprised at how they are manipulating the hosts. Inn fact at a point one comes to wonder whether we are real hosts or we, who  are merely a 10% in our body and they the bulk of 90% are parasites in a body of them.

A remarkably wonderful work, in a scale of 20 we give it a 19.25. Don't miss this one.

Auguries Review: Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

Close in the heels of The Girl On The Train which was made into a movie, Paula Hawkins has yet again presented an equally succulent novel, if not more, which grips you and makes you keep on guessing till the end.

A brilliant plot which begins when a single mother's dead body surfaces from the river as her sister, Jules comes to attend to her funeral and thus follows an unsettling relationship between Jules  and the Lena, the 15 year old daughter of the deceased as Jules probes into the death and also into her past relationship with her sister.

The novel is in no way an echo of The Girl On The Train and has a wide cast of diverse characters in perfect interplay all pegging into a past from where the long arm casts its pall of gloom.

In a scale of 20 we give it 18.75. Don't miss this suspense thriller.

Auguries Review: Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders

America is into civil war when Abraham Lincoln's son Willie dies. George Saunders takes it from here and takes us from real circumstances and conditions prevailing at that time with real people and excerpts from newspapers to unreal and imaginary people with distinct and diverse stories all wound up together ultimately leading into emancipation.

This long awaited first novel from well known writer George Saunders is a brilliant work unlike anything ever published. In a scale of 20 we give it a 19.25. 

Auguries review: The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

A very funny and engrossing debut novel, the book is the story of a 14 year old boy who is not good in studies and thus has to go through all the vagaries of school life - a life comprising failure in academics and a mother who sees the world in the child. The story begins with the boy plotting to obtain an adult magazine with his two close friends. In the process he gets connected to the daughter of the store owner who turns out to match his own interest in computer. As the story progresses ahead, one feels compelled to read on and on as events unfold into a climax in a fast paced book involving a bit of romance and robbery.

In a scale of 20 we give it 18.75. Definitely a must read.

Auguries review: Everything you want me to be by Mindy Mejia

This brilliant novel is a story of a young girl who was found dead and revolves around one year interwoven with her English teacher, her friends and the sheriff who investigates the crime.
The novel is powerful and keeps you guessing till the end. Told in three different voices, this book is a must read.
In a scale of 20 we give it 18.75.

Auguries review: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

A young Saeed meets a young Nadia in a city about to explode into civil war and starting from a relationship inside a classroom without even as much as speaking to each other. As the violence increases and an independent minded Nadia living away from her own disowned parents, yet wearing her head to foot gowns, to be secure against sexual advances, moves over to live with Saeed and his father.  Eventually they are forced to flee from one place to another through a magic door. In the process Mohsin Hamid, the writer, has brought about very minute details of relationship building and deteriorating and again building after their separation as the plot shifts between future, past and present. In the end we have an old Nadia meeting an old Saeed.

This is a very powerful work on relationships amidst changing circumstances and a must read.

In a scale of 20 we give it a clean 19.25.