See you there!

P.S. Don’t get confused. We have worked hard to keep the same look there also.

Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9788129117847
Pages: 349
Price: 295.00

‘Along The Way’ by TGC Prasad is a novel about Software Engineers by a Software Engineer. With strong vibes of TCS and its work culture reflected in a surreal way in the novel, this Software Engineer reviewer also found it equally enticing and interesting, to say the least. FYI, even the company being the same, no wonder the review also is going to be in a positive note. No kidding. :)

When Rupa Publications takes up a book, which is supposed to be like any other chick-lit novel, you know some undercurrent must be there and you become restless to find out the actual reason of the same. With a brilliant publishing and printing cover to cover, this book did not have any marketing gimmick related to it, unlike our mass-popular writers like Chetan Bhagats and Durjoy Dattas. The novel made it a point to stay mainstream with quality writing and a gripping storyline, and did exactly the same. We, as readers, loved this approach. And hope more and more writers also think this way. If you ask for examples, go through the works of Grey Oak Publications. They have the same theory as their work-ethic as well, seemingly.

‘Along The Way’ has way too many protagonists. And the writer did a good job to handle each of them with utmost care. Like the mother of seven who does not want even one of them to grow up to be a spoilt brat. Among all, Venkat or VSAT and Raj (obviously) stands out as the action heroes of popular Bollywood flicks. And how!
As is the norm with BTL (well, not always though), we save the readers from being divulged the story from before. So, this post contains no such disclaimers, as you may have already noticed. This discussion is more relative to the entire phenomenon that ‘Along The Way’ is. Am going to inform my boss at TCS that I have gone through this book and have shown myself the audacity to discuss about the pros and cons of the author. No kidding, again.

The author puts up an insider’s view of the Software Industry like many other authors previously tried but could not manage to. May be the seniority helped, with which comes the maturity (wisdom) to know (realize) where to stop or pull the brakes. You don’t go overboard with something as security-panicky as the Software Industry scenario in our country and readers with the same background realizes the author’s effort about the same.

About the Author: TGC Prasad offers – Strategic consulting, HR advisory and senior executive coaching to – start-ups, SMEs, Indian and MNC companies. He has worked as Country Manager, Global Vice President for Misys Plc and was on the board of Misys, India. Prior to that he worked with companies such as Wipro, Coopers & Lybrand, PWC, IBM, MindTree, and Alcatel-Lucent in various senior management roles globally and is currently on advisory boards of several companies. He is the author of the best selling books, “Unusual People Do Things Differently” (Portfolio, Penguin) and “Along the Way” (Rupa, Fiction).

He conducts intensive five day “Writing workshops” at quiet mountain retreats and if interested to attend the workshop, you can contact him on tgcprasad@gmail.com.
[Courtesy: http://tgcblogs.wordpress.com/about/]

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

More Details:
The author on Facebook: TGC Prasad
The novel on Facebook: ‘Along The Way’
Author’s website: http://tgcblogs.wordpress.com/

In case you want to buy the book, all you have to do is to follow the link given below:

To get more book review and author interview updates from ‘Between The Lines‘, the must visit place? It’s Facebook page: Between The Lines. Visit, ‘like’, explore!

Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9789380349404
Pages: 205
Price: 100.00

In one line, there can’t been a funnier novel. The sense of humor is just perfect and enough to crack a laughter riot. This novel is a sequel to the author’s previous book, and hence one stays unsure to go through this one unless the previous one has been devoured already. I started anyway. After initial hiccups, I was tuned along. The natural writing style with a guy next door appeal worked. There is nothing seemingly plastic or made up and the narration is racy enough to keep one hooked to the book till the last page. The novel had many subtle teachings, about alcoholism and smoking addictions. It’s great to find young writers taking up the hull on their shoulders to include social messages in their novels.

Plot Discussion: The protagonists are Kanav and his girlfriend. They are separated due to the girls tyrant mother who doesn’t want to see them together and hence sends her daughter to her uncle’s house in America. From there they still manage to be in contact but eventually, things get tougher. And at the same breath, the story gets better with all the twists and turns. That’s when our protagonist along with his awesome friends decide to write it all, write it as a novel and present it as a gift to his girlfriend when they would be meeting after a long time.
The story is intriguing, full of emotions, laughter, social messages, harsh reality, and the narration is just perfect to make it all look as if it could have happened with you or your closest friend. There is nothing like the regular IITian story where the protagonist is obsessed about his royal lineage of belonging to an IIT and the story is all about love and the trials it has to face.

The story ends on an incomplete note and author makes way for his third novel in the Trilogy. The last chapter titled from the next book is the most interesting one but I would suggest you not to read it since it would make you wait desperately for the next one. My suggestion or whatever, this marketing gimmick by the author brings him among the likes of Mr. Chetan Bhagat to take up interesting (and cliched) strategies to pave way to brilliant marketing of their books.

Verdict: While I order his previous one, just be assured that you can definitely order this one.

Overall Rating: 8/10

More Details:
The author on Facebook: Harsh Snehanshu
The novel on Facebook: ‘Ouch that hearts!’

In case you want to buy the book, all you have to do is to follow the link given below:

This review has been contributed by Nikhil Mukhija. Nikhil himself is a content developer, marketing script writer as well as an SEO specialist. While he is not busy with his Engineering studies, Nikhil contributes to various online writing platforms.

To get more book review and author interview updates from ‘Between The Lines‘, the must visit place? It’s Facebook page: Between The Lines. Visit, ‘like’, explore!

Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9788171670407
Pages: 247
Price: 95.00

When I read about Sachin Garg and his Credentials like ‘MTV Author Worth Checking Out’ and others from the likes of Times Of India and Red FM, I was Wondering if the hype is justified. It took me to check his blog to get convinced of the substance. The blog is incredible and the sense of humour, incomparable.
I hadn’t read Sachin Garg’s last novel ‘I Am Not Twenty four’ but I started this one first since it proclaimed that it’s the real story of his life. Naturally, I was more inclined as anyone else would have been.

Plot Discussion: The start to ‘It’s First Love’ makes it an interesting read and makes an impact on the reader. The very first chapter ‘Different People, Different answers’ defining different dimensions of love depicted depth and breadth of mature thinking. I started with a renewed interest as the story takes a good plot while holding my breath about how a love triangle forms. Soon it gets simplified, giving me a sigh of relief as if I was praying Sachin to get the girl he loved i.e. Kanika. Their love progresses but as in any story nothing is smooth and there are hiccups. This story goes even more gripping when one gets to know that Kanika’s mother caught AIDS due to drug addiction, and one contemplates about his lifestyle and is more resolved to stay away from such substances.
The story goes on a serious note from there and once again there are a lots of twists and turns. The sideline characters stay sideline and the protagonist gets back his love, for his emotions are visibly true. Gradually, everything starts to take a positive shape. A brilliant climax gets set, and soon enough, well that is for you to find out…

Writing: Undoubtedly a good read, the author makes you live the scenes yourself and that’s the connectivity one expects from a good novel. The humor was not too evident but that’s justified since the plot was on the serious side. Credit must be given if the author claims to disclose his real life on such a scale.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

More Details:
The author on Facebook: Sachin Garg
The novel on Facebook: ‘It’s First Love!’
Author’s website: www.sachingarg.me

In case you want to buy the book, all you have to do is to follow the link given below:

This review has been contributed by Nikhil Mukhija. Nikhil himself is a content developer, marketing script writer as well as an SEO specialist. While he is not busy with his Engineering studies, Nikhil contributes to various online writing platforms.

To get more book review and author interview updates from ‘Between The Lines‘, the must visit place? It’s Facebook page: Between The Lines. Visit, ‘like’, explore!

Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9788171670407
Pages: 247
Price: 95.00

‘The Inscrutable Americans’ by Anurag Mathur, as the very name suggests, is a story about Americans, where a talented (studious to be precise) student named Gopal goes to the West to pursue a Diploma in Chemical Engineering to carry forward his family business of hair oil. Despite all the Do’s and Don’ts that his family impose upon him, he is tempted by the culture there and tries to gel in, under the (able) guidance of friend Randy who takes a pledge to make him experience all the pleasures of an American lifestyle.
The letters Gopal writes back to his younger brother in India takes you on a laughter ride, where his interpretation leads to a deduction either he is too innocent or he is too dumb and one is more convinced that the latter category is more suitable for him.

While one travels through the plot Gopal puts forward his own way of thinking and conclude things about Americans and their lifestyle, which makes you wonder and re-think, whether they really deserve to be a coveted nation to settle in.

The novel puts forward a clearer view of an illusionistic promising world along with maintaining a steady balance in the juvenile tone of the novel.
Although one may complain of story being a bit slow or dull during the last 40 pages where Gopal is made to undergo a yearning to have the forbidden fruit.
But overall it is nice read, and the protagonist keeps the mood bouncing back to the regular frolic feeling.

Released in 1991, the novel still manage to keep the sales figure tickling at a rapid rate and that accounts to the wonderful narration and a unique plot which stands out of the regular shelves of similar novels.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

More Details:
The author on Facebook: Anurag Mathur
The novel on Facebook: ‘The Inscrutable Americans’

In case you want to buy the book, all you have to do is to follow the link given below:

This review has been contributed by Nikhil Mukhija. Nikhil himself is a content developer, marketing script writer as well as an SEO specialist. While he is not busy with his Engineering studies, Nikhil contributes to various online writing platforms.

To get more book review and author interview updates from ‘Between The Lines‘, the must visit place? It’s Facebook page: Between The Lines. Visit, ‘like’, explore!

Format: Paperback
Language: English
ISBN: 9780143414681
Pages: 210
Price: 150.00

‘Love on the Rocks’ by Ismita Tandon Dhankher is a novel that would take you on a different level of thoughts. The mystique element in the novel keeps you in a tight grip till you reach the last page and the climax ends it on an unexpected note. It is quite different from the chic-lit novels flooding the market and hence, promises to keep your grey cells tickling as the story progresses.

The title makes you think it would be just another story of a girl and a guy falling in love but here is exactly where you go wrong. It is a tale of murder, deceit, mystery and needless to say love as well, which stands a trial when there is fog all around in the relationship of Aaron and Sancha. The Plot has been crafted carefully by the author to give enough room to every character to make it more realistic. But somewhere the story goes complex during those Manna Journals in which the author goes back to the start and takes a character out of there to put forward his views, which seem irrelevant. If you ignore it, the story connects smoothly and keeps you hooked till the end.

Writing: The writing style is quite different from the regular Indian authors. The language is suave and has an aesthetic sense where nothing more and nothing less was felt. Overall quite a quality read.

About the Author: Ismita is the author of ‘Love on the Rocks’ published by Penguin India in March 2011. A romantic thriller that tests the bonds of love and marriage against a backdrop of suspense, intrigue and psychological undercurrents.

Overall Rating: 8/10

More Details:
The author on Twitter: @IsmitaTandon
The novel on Facebook: ‘Love On The Rocks’
Author’s website: http://applestrudle-dollz.blogspot.com/

In case you want to buy the book, all you have to do is to follow the link given below:

This review has been contributed by Nikhil Mukhija. Nikhil himself is a content developer, marketing script writer as well as an SEO specialist. While he is not busy with his Engineering studies, Nikhil contributes to various online writing platforms.

To get more book review and author interview updates from ‘Between The Lines‘, the must visit place? It’s Facebook page: Between The Lines. Visit, ‘like’, explore!