Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

This week’s theme is very (!!!) easy Find the actual word ‘Very’

VERY

My THURSDAY THEME for VERY is here. I found mine pretty quickly and I hope you have fun finding this week’s theme.

“This is very strange,” Lafite said.

[and one more snippet...]

“Very well, if you insist.” Fig sighed.

Taken from “Naughty in Nice” By Rhys Bowen

Leave a comment here with a link to your post. Do make sure to visit and comment on other Theme Thursdays.

Source for ‘The Book’ section : From Goodreads
Press 1 for technical support.
Press 2 for broken hearts.
Press 3 if your life has totally crashed. . . .

Six friends work nights at a call center in India, providing technical support for a major U.S. appliance corporation. Skilled in patience–and accent management–they help American consumers keep their lives running. Yet behind the headsets, everybody’s heart is on the line.

Shyam (Sam to his callers) has lost his self-confidence after being dumped by the girl who just so happens to be sitting next to him. Priyanka’s domineering mother has arranged for her daughter’s upscale marriage to an Indian man in Seattle. Esha longs to be a model but discovers it’s a horizontal romp to the runway. Lost, dissatisfied Vroom has high ideals, but compromises them by talking on the phone to idiots each night. Traditional Radhika has just found out that her husband is sleeping with his secretary. And Military Uncle (nobody knows his real name) sits alone working the online chat.

They all try to make it through their shifts–and maintain their sanity–under the eagle eye of a boss whose ego rivals his incompetence. But tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight is Thanksgiving in America: Appliances are going haywire, and the phones are ringing off their hooks. Then one call, from one very special caller, changes everything.

Chetan Bhagat’s delicious romantic comedy takes us inside the world of the international call center, where cultural cross-wires come together with perfect pathos, hilarity, and spice.

The View:

I have been meaning to read a Chetan Bhagat novel after watching the Indian movie ’3 idiots’ based on his other work ‘Five Point Someone’. I enjoyed the movie tremendously and added a few of his books to my TBR pile. This week I finally got to one of them.

The story as the title suggests revolves around six call center agents who spend a single night at work. They all have their unique life problems starting from broken relationships, mother-in-law inconveniences, aspiring career dreams and even marriage plans. Apart from their individual problems they also have a bigger problem at work in the name of Bakshi – a shrewd and disgusting manager. On this fateful night they decide to break a call center rule causing them to get the life changing call from God Himself.

The read was definitely interesting and I finished the book quicker than anticipated. The characters were all charming and told their stories fairly well. Their problems were very similar to what we would see in our day-to-day interactions with friends and family in India and I could relate to all of them. Bakshi was a disaster and yet added a lot of interest to the plot. I think the entire episode would not have turned out as genuinely as it did if it had not been for him.

The writing was mediocre but the story-telling was excellent. I felt that there was a lot of stereotyping when it came to some of the characters specially the women and did not like it one bit. Also Vroom’s comments on the life that the call center folks live in India did not go down too well with me. The comments on Americans and the general view on America does not depict an entire nation’s thoughts and for that reason should have been handled in a more subtle fashion. Rated a 3 on 5.

My Teaser:

“No. It doesn’t mean that at all, but I have to be honest. I love you but I’m not in love with you.”
Taken from Secret Obsession By Kimberla Lawson Roby

My next week’s reads are:

Jenny Greenley is a junior at the Clayton High School in Indiana. She is everyone’s best friend and is liked by all. She is also the columnist for the school’s newspaper and writes the ‘Ask Annie’ column. When Luke, a Hollywood superstar wants to experience high school, the school authorities naturally entrust Jen with this big secret. Everything is going fine until Luke Striker accidentally reveals his identity causing all the teenage girls to go crazy about his presence.

Unable to continue his undercover experience anymore he decides to go back to his lifestyle but not before he reminds Jen of the power she could have. He also invites her to accompany him to the dance and she gladly accepts. Is there going to be a romance between the two of them or are they just good friends?

The View:

I love reading young adult fiction though I rarely do it these days. I was excited to start reading ‘Teen Idol’ as it has been on my TBR for a long time now. I enjoyed this book greatly. The writing was simple, the characters pleasant and the plot unexpected.

When I started reading I expected the story to take a particular route of a high school girl meeting a successful handsome actor, their paths cross, one things leads to another and voila .. they are in love. I was gladly surprised when that did not happen and I so wanted Jen to finally reveal her feelings for Scott. The story had everything that one would expect from high school, a best friend who you disagree with, a bullied victim, a handsome yet intellectual school newspaper editor, school seniors, weird teachers and this one even had a doll. The addition of the Betty Ann plot was neat and I specifically liked how the story started off with that element.

Regarded the characters I started liking Jen right from page 1. There is really nothing to not like about her and it is no surprise that she is the most liked girl in school. Trina was not particularly my favorite but I was nevertheless glad when she changed for the better. If I had to choose between Scott or Luke I would have had a tough time. They are both handsome men with unique lovable traits. Scott and Jen make a great pair. The only pair that I did not like was of Luke and Geri … I so din’t like that girl.

Rated a 4 on 5. ‘Teen Idol’ is a great fun and quick read. Very light and refreshing as well.

Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s voice.

My Friday 56 is from “One Night at the Call Center” by Chetan Bhagat.

“Come, come, Sam, don’t worry. I believe in being an open-door manager,” Bakshi said.

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

Thanks all for your wishes last week. I am feeling much better and managed to do a lot of catching up with regards to my posts (ahem!!! read as back-dated posts ). This week’s theme is

COME (came, arrive, coming etc)

My THURSDAY THEME for COME is here. I thought this was an easy till I had to read almost 50 pages, maybe I just missed the ones that came before.

“Because they’re idiots. Now come on out.”
Cara came out.

[and one more snippet...]

I’d been sure that he wouldn’t be coming back. Sure of it.

Taken from “Teen Idol” By Meg Cabot

Leave a comment here with a link to your post. Do make sure to visit and comment on other Theme Thursdays.

Source for ‘The Book’ section : From Goodreads
For two years, Justice Turnbull has paced his room at Halo Valley Security Hospital, planning to escape. Justice has a mission—one that began with a vicious murder two decades ago. And there are so many others who must be sent back to the hell that spawned them. . .

Laura Adderley didn’t plan to get pregnant by her soon-to-be ex-husband, though she’ll do anything to protect her baby. But now reporter Harrison Frost is asking questions about the mysterious group of women who live at Siren Song lodge. Harrison hasn’t figured out Laura’s connection to the story yet. But Justice knows. And he is coming. . .

All her life, Laura has been able to sense approaching evil. But that won’t stop a psychopath bent on destroying her. Justice has been unleashed, and this time, there will be no place safe to hide. . .

The View:

I have read a number of books by Lisa Jackson and each is better than the previous one. I have not read Nancy Bush before and after reading ‘Wicked Lies’ I am eager to read more by this author. Both of them together have brought magic to this book. The character Justice is very unconventional and it surely takes a bold author to justify such craziness. I could literally hear him hissing ‘sisteerrssss’ each time it was mentioned.

The sisters he is referring too are his cousins who live in a colony. For some insane reason he hates them all and has taken it upon himself to kill each and every one of them. The sisters are unique in their individual ways (just like him but much saner) and each of them have a talent that we would otherwise crave for. Laura can talk to Justice in her mind (which is not always a good thing) or block him as needed and then there are other siblings who can see the future.

The main plot was very strong and did not by any means need additional plots, so the smaller unnecessary subplots sort of irritated me. The rich kids who named themselves after the seven deadly sins or the brothers craving for some attention were both just there and could have been avoided.

Laura and Harrison make an adorable pair and they are both extremely smart and sexy personalities. Her pregnancy was a needed element in the plot but she losing the baby was also handled well and completely justified to carry the story forward. Rated a 4 on 5 and though it is a lengthy read it is worth every minute spent.

My Teaser:

Most important of all, if you suspect he might be cheating, he probably is …. trust your gut.
Taken from page 102 – Teen Idol By Meg Cabot

For this week I have a few interesting reads