That Coffee Girl

How much are you willing to pay for something that was once considered sacred? What is the price? A topic like no other. A book about surrogacy, about power, class and caste. A book about the server and the master. Till what length will you go for money? Will you go all the way? These questions are what this book highlights. The Farm, aptly titled is a place of paradise, with every amenity, all comforts taken care of for you. The only catch, you are pregnant and the baby is not yours. You would simply brush it off as a book about surrogacy, I would say, wait, read the title again. What does it say? The Farm. It is a farm, or more like a ranch except the babies here are human. Pregnant women, referred to as hosts throughout the book, sign away 9 months of their life to be constantly monitored in a comfortable facility designed with all possible luxuries to deliver the perfect kid for their high-profile clients. A lot of times, these hosts don't even know whose baby t

You know it is a good book when it ends up schooling you. I am too old to read high school drama anymore but seeing people rave about Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda and Leah On The Offbeat, I finally gave LOTO a try. And boy am I glad. Initially sceptical, because the writing style is aimed at teenagers, the first few chapters were a bit difficult to get through. I found the language exceedingly plain, it was overall too kiddish.  It was when the characters developed in the next few chapters, that I was hooked. I have yet to read such great character development in a high school book.  Let's start off with Leah. She is your average protagonist -  angry at the world, a broken family, overthinking things, overweight, smart, the only difference, she isn't lonely. She has a lot of friends. Oh and the fact that she is bi, secretly. As we delve further into the book, her layers peel off. She is in love with a girl who is dating her best friend who happens to be a guy.

The book, written by Nikita Singh, released on 14th February, was supposed to be this year's love story. *Summary* Siddhant meets Akriti during their medical residency in Delhi. Their connection is instant, blossoming from the many similarities between them. So, when Akriti faces a devastating loss, she leans on Siddhant for support. In the heat of an emotional moment, the two decide that this must be love. But as Akriti's depression begins to take a stronger hold over her, she spirals out of control, sinking deeper into an abyss of fear, insecurity and rage. And while Siddhant struggles to help her, it seems like everything he does is only making things worse. Meanwhile, Siddhant's life gets further complicated when Maahi, his ex-girlfriend whom he never stopped loving, re-enters his life. __ I shall try to write an unbiased review here but I will be honest, it is hard. I won't rate the book because honestly, this is not one of my favourite genres wh

'It's true what they say - it's not we who control money, it's the money that controls us. When there's only a little, it behaves meekly; when it grows, it becomes brash and has its way with us.' - in the blurb and also my favourite 2 lines from the book. *Blurb* From a cramped, ant-infested house to a spacious bungalow, a family finds itself making a transition in many ways. The narrator, a sensitive young man, is numbed by the swirl around him. All he can do is flee every day to an old-world cafe, where he seeks solace from an oracular waiter. As members of the family realign their equations and desires, new strands are knotted, others come apart, and conflict brews dangerously in the background. Masterfully translated from the Kannada by Srinath Perur, Ghachar Ghochar is a suspenseful, playful and ultimately menacing story about the shifting consequences of success. This book was originally written in Kannada by Vivek Shanbagh and it has

A typical story of an Indian girl post-college, almost a decade ago. Let me first talk about the book and then my take on the story and the setting. Despite my unusual disdain towards Indian authors, I fell in love with this book, will tell you the why later. Summary: Naina is back from America, after four years of living on her own. A natural rebel, she has had some fairly life-altering experiences which Mum and Dad would not approve of at all if they get to know. But will her spirit and her stand be enough to fight the forces of parental pressure and heckling aunties baying for her nuptials? Back in the bosom of her conservative family, Naina cannot even begin to imagine the turn her life is going to take. It's wedding season, and she must now be married. Because every self-respecting upper-middle-class family in India do that, right? Marriage at the 'right age' to the 'right family'.whether she likes it or not. Naina's worst nightmares are about to