Book Review: Bella by Steve Piacente

Photo taken from Goodreads

 Book Info

Title:  Bella 

Author:  Steve Piacente
Publisher:  CreateSpace

Language: English

Format:  Paperback

Pages:  266 pages

ISBN-10:  1451571615

ISBN-13:  978-1451571615

Source:  Won from the author

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Website

Summary

From Goodreads:

"A striking widow intent on proving the military lied about her husband's death lures a Washington journalist into the investigation. Working together, they discover the power of temptation, the futility of revenge, and the consequences of yielding to either."

Review

This book is my first-ever book giveaway win.  And you know what?  It definitely is an epic win!

Bella by Steve Piacente is about a woman's struggle to find out the truth about her soldier husband's death, and to reveal the truth to the whole nation.  Helping her win her cause is cocky and jaded newspaper reporter Dan Patragno whose life may have been tainted by this beautiful widow's entrance into his life.

At its core, Bella is not just a book that solves a mystery, nor is it only to document a woman's search for truth.  Like its title character, Bella is a complex story that will lure, tease, taunt, and leave you wanting for more.  Told through the eyes of Dan, the voice is bitter yet fascinated by this extraordinary woman.  But as much as it is about Bella's charm, struggles, frustrations, and complexities, it is also Dan's own as he is shown dealing with his problems that may or may not be caused by the appearance of Bella in his life.  Reading through his account, the reader cannot help but be torn between Dan's own opinions and Bella's demonstrated behavior.  The different aspects of Bella's multi-dimensional personality that is written in the book contradicts with each other, as we witness her transform from angry woman to aggrieved widow to charming temptress.  It is easy enough to agree with everything Dan tells us about this woman, yet we could not help but be caught off guard by the actual Bella gracing the pages of this book who appears so unpredictably predictable.

The premise of the story also holds its own as it compels the readers to immediately pick up this book as soon as one reads the blurb and synopsis.  Who can resist mysteries?  And then once the pages are turned, readers would be pleasantly surprised to realize that the story has a lot more to offer than the gratification of solving a mysterious case.  Actually, the purported mystery in this novel is solved early that leaves more room to explore Bella's character herself, which appears to be the main focus for this book - quite naturally since this is a book entitled Bella, right?

I would like to congratulate the author in crafting such a creative and emotional masterpiece that would surely beguile every reader's book desires and lure and trap them as Bella unconsciously did to Dan Patragno but unlike the latter, the reader would learn a very valuable lesson without getting too beaten up to appreciate it.

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice 

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.

Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions.  

Book Review: Evolution of Insanity by Haresh Daswani

Photo taken from Goodreads

 Book Info

 
Title:  Evolution of Insanity 

Author:  Haresh Daswani
Publisher:  CreateSpace
Publication Date:  January 27, 2011
Language: English

Format:  Advanced Digital Copy

Pages:  158 pages

Source:  From the Author

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Summary

From Goodreads: 

"An author having a conversation with his fictional character, or losing control of his character, mind numbing points leading one twists and turns spinning the mind of the reader with hallucinogenic colors, concepts, and eurekas. The short stories begin simplified, and walks together with the author as he takes a personal journey deep within the universe of his own consciousness, dwelling, prodding, dissecting, and creating... This book is a play on different writing styles uniquely conjured by the writer from random inspiration and experimentation with poetry as prior experience. This is a chronological anthology spanning the imagination and sanity of the writer. This book is a collection of humour, satire, and philosophy, with the most unique writing style and twists. This books evolves as one reads, from basic and simple stories of humor, to deeper and more profound satire best savored twice"

Review

First of all, I would like to thank the author of this book, Mr. Haresh Daswani, for giving me a copy of this book, and the opportunity to read it and give my thoughts about it.

And now, for the review.  Obviously, I would not be thanking the author as publicly if I had not enjoyed this book.  It is witty, entertaining, filled with crackling anecdotes, and hilarious commentary.  Best of all, it is fraught with intelligent observations of how we humans live.

Let me go so far as to say that this book is best read when you are in your most intellectual mood, as it would dare you to think beyond the words of what is written and delve into the author's mind about how he views things.  In a way, I felt that this was not just a book created from the author's imagination, but a reflection of how the author views the world.  One would laugh at the humor-filled statements, the comic scenes and settings, but once one understood the essence of such remarks, one could not help but nod and say, "Yes, that is quite true.  Why did I not think of that myself?"  Or maybe even add one's own ideas, maybe disagree with what has been said?  Either way, one is challenged to agree or refute the author's ideology and rationalize one's own beliefs.

Reading through Daswani's book, I could not help but be reminded of those times in Philosophy class in college.  His writing makes the reader think that they are having a conversation with someone else, probably a very favorite teacher, a smart friend, or better yet, the author himself.  Which reminded me of those times when we studied Socrates and how he conducted his discussions with his students.  Now I am not saying that Daswani is a modern-day Socrates, but what he talked about in this book could spark a lively debate in any Philosophy class and if I were still in college right now, I'd probably bring Evolution of Insanity to school and make our professor torture the whole class with intense conversations about the things talked about in this book.   

Which is not to say that this book is only good for super-intelligent conversations or musings.  You can also read this solely for its entertainment value, and probably use a few lines from this book as your new joke or ice breakers.  The possibilities are endless.

His writing style is also one for the books.  In one chapter, he would go all narrative-like and describe in witty detail a funny story and in another, he would abandon all thought for story-telling and write ideas, observations in prose - straightforward and directly addressing readers, oftentimes even issuing a challenge.

Simply put, this book is a good one to have on your shelf to read during moments of boredom, moments of severe bursts of intellect, moments of good conversations, and practically any moment that you would prefer to read.  Which, in my case, is very often.

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice 

I received this book free of charge from the author, Haresh Daswani, in exchange for an honest and truthful review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.
 
Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions.