'Funny in Farsi' is somewhat funny and has very little Farsi. It's a series of small chapters loosely strung together describing the adventures of the author and her family after they move to America when she is seven. In many ways the descriptions are such that immigrants or children of immigrants will relate to immediately.

There are a few interesting characters like Uncle Nematollah that I would have liked to see more of. The author's father appears almost like a caricature, though it is clear that the relationship is very loving. There are also large chunks like the author's trip to Paris, her attempts to earn some cash as a teenager, and her experience of a California earthquake, that have absolutely nothing to do with being Iranian.

Dumas has a breezy writing style, and I thought of this book as a perfect 'bathroom book'. Five minute chapters that don't require you to remember what came before. Still, I would recommend this book as a gift to Iranians in America or perhaps for new immigrants who are in turns puzzled and mystified by things American.

A journalist from the Times in London remarks that this is the best debut novel he has read since Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things'. Indeed, this is a remarkable first novel by a 26 year author. Writing from the heart and no doubt using her experiences growing up in Nigeria, Adichie has produced a book that makes you intimately share every experience of Kambili, the narrator. You are enraged at the abuse she suffers from her father, a zealot who loves his children in his own twisted way while disowning his father for not converting to Catholicism. You feel the pangs of a first, forbidden love with her. You share her very existence as a girl who is perceived to be so rich and fortunate- but who cannot even linger to talk to friends at school or watch television or listen to pop music.

This is a beautiful novel. The characters are complex and thought-provoking. I could not figure out the father character, how he seems to genuinely love his wife and kids and even suffer along as he inflicts terrible pain and torture on them. In contrast are his sister, Aunty Ifeoma, and her lively kids who may want for material things but whose spirits soar. In the background is the turmoil of Nigeria- the corruption, the politics, the shortage of fuel, the power cuts, the unrest.

When I reached the end of the book, I found myself hoping for a sequel. What happens next to Kambili, Jaja and Aunty Ifeoma's family? Someone said that you know a book is good when you reach the end and feel you have lost a friend. I felt a bit like that on the last page. Highly recommended.

Lauren Weisberger has written a moderately entertaining novel- but the lady needs to learn to spell, write grammatically and inject some soul into her prose. Drum-role? Heroine-chic? Eek. How does someone get published by Doubleday with such horrendous typos?

For someone who claims to know nothing about fashion, Andrea Sachs, the protagonist, sure drops those designer names from the get-go. (more errrors: Bobbi Brown, the makeup guru, is re-christened Bobby). She tries hard to make us feel pity, or at least empathy for her suffering at the hands of hellish boss Miranda Priestly, but doesn't quite succeed. Andrea herself is too flawed- a bigot who thinks all southerners are rednecks, a self-centered person who'd rather flirt with the hot writer with his 'adorable curl' than spend some quality time with her boyfriend. Yes, her boss is quite an insufferable character. But Andrea knows from day one what her job will be like, and she is compensated accordingly, 'making out like a bandit' at the end. If Weisberger's intent is to tar and feather Miranda Priestley (based on Vogue's Anna Wintour, we are told), she succeeds to only a limited degree. And if Andrea's dreams of writing for the New Yorker are in fact, Lauren's, she has a long hard road ahead of her.

In its praise, the book is quite an entertaining read, if you are moderately interested in fashion and couture. The book definitely conveys the workings of the fashion world- everything from the anorexia and shallowness to the price of a Chanel gown to the frenetic pace of work at a magazine. For someone who scoffs at fashion and wears her declassé Ann Taylor shoes to work (to Miranda's great displeasure), Andrea succumbs to the whole thing too easily. When a desperate teenager writes to Miranda about how she hates her own body and craves Miranda's help, Andrea has the opportunity to give the girl a lesson in self-esteem, but fails. Ultimately it's a shallow book about shallow people. Don't buy the book if you can borrow it.

I had always thought of myself as a jazz purist until I listened to Verve Remixed. It sounded pretty good the first time and then better and better with each subsequent listening. It's important to view this as a contemporary effort- in no way a blasphemy towards the featured greats like Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Astrud Gilberto...fabulous, fabulous, each and every one.

I have the Verve Unmixed CD too, and it really depends on your mood which one you would choose to listen to on any given day. The sheer energy of 'Remixed' is great. And if this is a way to introduce new people to the jazz immortals, I say more power to the attempt!

Jhumpa Lahiri's debut novel is every bit as wonderful as her collection of short stories. Sensitively written with remarkable descriptive power, this book establishes Lahiri as one of the best young writers of our time.

Through the eyes of Gogol Ganguli and his parents, we see experience almost firsthand the Indian-American immigrant experience. As a young first generation Indian immigrant myself, I can vouch for the dazzling accuracy of Lahiri's descriptions. Page after page the prose is lyrical and the word-pictures brightly vivid. There is never a dull moment nor a superficial one. A beautiful and heartfelt book- I recommend it highly.

Bel Canto is indeed beautiful in places. But it strains credibility to the point that the spell of opera and wonderful human nature must, by force, be broken. The premise is that a motley bunch of people- a Japanese businessman, several diplomats representing different countries, the vice-president of the 'host' country, an opera singer, a translator and assorted terrorists are imprisoned for several months in the vice-president's mansion. A stalemate with so many important people for so many months? It just isn't believable, and yet it is necessary for the story to unfold. Most of the characters are poorly developed and leave you with mixed feelings for them. The terrorists with hearts of gold, the ardent accompanist to the diva, and even the stereotypical Mr. Hosokawa are as thin as cardboard. Yet you want to believe that human beings thrown together will grow to like each other instead of rushing to each other's throats. The descriptions of opera are brilliant and made me, a jazz lover, want to rush out and buy some CDs right away. The ending is appalling and grotesque- it feels like all the good sentiments generated during the story were somehow all flushed away. I kept wanting to turn the pages but felt curiously betrayed at the end. A bittersweet book.

When I first heard about this book, I was all agog- a murder mystery set in the art world! A murderer who stages death as art! But this book proved to be a disappointment. Santlofer shows flashes of brilliance- I thought the elaborate clues provided by the murderer were good, but after a point it was just tediously gory. Definitely a lack of character development and a lot of inconsistencies. Also an arbitrary ending- it seemed like the author found a character in the book and made him the murderer without sufficient background building. The end of a good murder mystery should make you nod in agreement and want to kick yourself for not figuring it out. This one just leaves you bewildered- it could as well have been Person B as Person A. If art is your thing, do read it, but keep your expectations low. And keep an art tome handy to look up the featured art!

This book is a wonderful resource for newbies and experienced e-Learning developers alike. Finally we have do's and dont's based on actual research and real-life users. For a relatively new and ever-changing field, some rules are critical, and this book does a great job of providing them. I would definitely recommend this book.