Saturday, February 07, 2009

[Book Review] It was supposed to be one, but it turned out like this...

I don't know how I seem to manage it, but this is the 3rd consecutive book that I have read in the last month. Now this is no mean feat if you have a 10-month-old toddler to take care of too.

Bah! you say? Sample this - My typical day goes something like this: My little bub is an early riser; by that I mean somewhere around 4:30-5:00 a.m and by rising early, he doesn't simply wake up and smile about. He wails. Now I have to rush down, get some warm milk (at the exact temp, else there go some precious minutes in trying to cool it), and then sleepy feed him. Care has to be taken so he remains calm yet doesn't get too entertained that he loses his sleep, and I don't want to get into telling about a grumpy baby!

From then on it's baby breakfast time (cereal first, appropriate fruit and then a little warm water), baby bath time (get his little pool ready, baby oil, clothes, shampoo), baby medicine time (gripe water, iron/vitamin drops), and then he is ready for a short nap before his lunch. Now babies don't open their mouth, ask to be fed, and burp easily. They cry and fuss around even when they are hungry. And once they are fed, burped, and happy, they want to crawl, climb, pull, push, tap, and poke things which are NOT their toys. Surround them with all the colorful toys in the world and yet their eyes will search for the TV remote, glass flower vases, mobiles, heavy keys, pens. Not to mention the number of diapers one got to change in between. Whew! So there's my point. It's exhausting and a 24/7 job.

Despite all this, the fun of being with your baby is incomparable. When he starts to understand little things you say - like when you say FAN, and he looks up, or when you say No-No, and he shakes his head too, and when you hide, and he seeks you out with a gummy grin it simply warms every damn cockle of your heart.

This has turned out to be the opposite of a book review from what I actually had in mind.

Anyways, after Wicked Women of the Raj, The Memory Keeper's Daughter and a Collected SPOOK Stories by E.F Benson, I have read this book called - Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon. A very enjoyable, unputdownable, delightful summer read.

Here's a short description - Helen, the main protagonist, has been having an affair with her boss Matthew for the past four years. After one exasperating day, he leaves his wife and children to move in with Helen. This seems like what Helen had always wanted - to have her own man, but soon she realizes that she doesn't want Matthew anymore. She sees things that she never saw before: his nose hairs, his old man sweaters, and his intolerable & resentful pre-teen daughters. Helen starts trying all methods to drive Matthew out.

Anyway, I won't tell anymore... It's unarguably funny, some places very insightful into human nature, and if u can get your hands on it, read it.

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