Best Selling Books of 2018

The first book of Cormoran Strike Series, The Cuckoo’s Calling was published in 2013.

It is the first book of Coroman Strike, a private investigator, who has lost his leg in a land mine accident in Afghanistan. He is almost broke, has just one client and a huge line of creditors, when his fate changes when John Bristow, brother of legendary supermodel Lula Landry also known among her friends as “Cuckoo”  comes to him and tells him of his sister’s death.

A book where the rich and the famous meet the private detectives.

You can read the full review here: http://thereandtheir.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/the-cuckoos-calling-cormoran-strike-1-book-review/

[schema type=”book” name=”The Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)” author=”Robert Galbraith (Pseudonym), J.K. Rowling” publisher=”Little Brown and Company” pubdate=”2013-04-18″ isbn=”1408704005″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

Two Misfits, One Extra Ordinary Love!

Eleanor: A red haired, overweignt girl who wears weird clothes.

Park: Black Haired, lanky, and quiet guy who is half Korean.

Both misfits.

And when both share a ride to school there is awkward silences in the beginning, that leads to mutual sharing and friendship over music and comic books.

Both Eleanor and Park know that first loves almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to give it a shot.

The story is one of the cutest love stories ever, what makes it even more special is that the role of parents in a teenagers life is given as much of an importance as friends.

Check out the book review here: http://thereandtheir.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/eleanor-park-a-book-review/

[schema type=”book” name=”Eleanor and Park” author=”Rainbow Rowell” publisher=”St. Martin’s Press” pubdate=”2013-02-26″ edition=”Second” isbn=”1250012570″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

This Pulitzer Prize winning book, is the third book by Donna Tartt. Though it is quite heavy with 864 pages, it is so interesting, that it leaves the reader wanting more. Compared to the previous novels by the author, this book is simpler and more readable in terms of language. If you have not already read Donna Tartt before, this is a good book to start with as it is much more accessible and would acquaint you with her style, making it easier to read her previous works.

The book starts with Theodore “Theo” Decker, who finds himself in a hotel room in Amsterdam. Here, he spends his time cooped up in his room rarely venturing out, and mostly spends his time drinking or taking drugs.

The story then goes to when Theo was thirteen living happily with his mother. This is when the story actually starts and then shows the reader what tragedy made this happy thirteen year old boy grow up to be the cooped up man in a strange Amsterdam hotel.

[schema type=”book” name=”The Goldfinch” author=”Donna Tartt” publisher=”Little, Brown and Company” pubdate=”2013-10-22″ isbn=”1408704951″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

This is the third stand alone book by Khaled Hosseini.Unlike his previous books which were written from first person narrative, this book is written in form of short stories from each person’s perspectives. There are nine main chapters, each chapter is written from the point of view of different characters.

The story takes place in Afghanistan, San Francisco, Paris and Greece. It’s based on the lives of a family who decides to sell their three year old daughter to a childless couple from Kabul. This impacts their lives, their ten year old son Abdullah’s life and the consequences are faced by the subsequent generations as well.

Read the complete review here: http://thereandtheir.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/and-the-mountains-echoed-book-review/

[schema type=”book” name=”And The Mountains Echoed” author=”Khaled Hosseini” publisher=”Bloomsbury” pubdate=”2013-05-23″ isbn=”9382951008″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” ]

This winner of Man Booker Prize 2013, the book has complex characterization and plot lines. With over twenty main characters, and each character having their own subplots, this book is about as complex as it gets.

The book is split into two parts, the first part starts with Walter Moody, who walks into a room with twelve men. Here he learns that these men have met to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. Moody gets intrigued by them, and soon joins them in their discussion.

What are they discussing?

A wealthy man has disappeared into thin air, leaving no trace behind, a prostitute had attempted suicide, and a vast amount of fortune is recovered from a drunk dead man.
The men in the room are discussing all the events that happened before they met in the room.

The second part deals with the events leading after the meeting as the people try to solve and find the answer to this mystery.

[schema type=”book” name=”The Luminaries” author=”Eleanor Catton” publisher=”Little, Brown and Company” pubdate=”2013-01-01″ isbn=”0316074314″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

This story of love, has two immigrant tales from Nigeria. The book starts with Ifemelu, a young Nigerian girl, who gets an opportunity to study at Princeton.

The book goes back and forth, to describe the love and the struggles of Ifemelu and her boyfriend Obinze. Both coming from middle class families, aspiring to move to America for a better future. Obinze did not get visa to migrate to the post 9/11 strictness of laws and ends up in London.

In the second part of the book, we see that both have achieved success in their chosen careers and decide to return to their homeland to be together. But on returning, find themselves having to take a toughest decision that could impact the rest of their lives.

[schema type=”book” name=”Americanah” author=”Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie” publisher=”Knopf” pubdate=”2013-05-14″ isbn=”0307271080″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

This is the fourth book in the Robert Langdon Series by Dan Brown. Though there is no particular order to read these books, so even if you have not picked up the previous books of this serious, you would have no problem whatsoever.

Robert Langdon is in a hospital with Amnesia, so obviously he has no idea how he got there. This time around, Robert finds himself in Italy with people trying to take his life. This book centers around Dante’s famous art: Inferno.

And to find the mystery behind Dante’s masterpiece, Robert finds himself trying to save the world while navigating secret passageways, decoding cryptic codes, going through classic art pieces while deciding who is trustworthy and who is not.

[schema type=”book” name=”Inferno” author=”Dan Brown” publisher=”Bantam Press” pubdate=”2013-01-01″ isbn=”0593072499″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

Sub Title: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened

Written by Blogger Allie Brosh, this book is part pictures and part writing. This book is an autobiography and also a self help book.

In this book Allie talks about the stories from her past, and the lessons that she has learnt from them, and how she has developed as a person.

She judges herself a little harshly, and is not afraid to share them with the world, which sums up to quite an interesting book.

In order to know what to expect, you could check out her blog (which is on the same lines as the book) here: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.in/

[schema type=”book” name=”Hyperbole And A Half” author=”Allie Brosh” publisher=”Touchstone” pubdate=”2013-10-29″ isbn=”1451666179″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

This book was shortlisted for Man Booker Prize, it is Lahiri’s second novel and fourth book.

The book is based in Calcutta, India, where two brothers Udayan and Subhash Mitra, who were really close and grew up together. After completing their school, both get admitted to different colleges, but as the colleges are near to their home, they continue to stay together.

But here their paths diverge. Udayan ends up as a part of the Naxalite group and becomes very passionate about the movement. But Subhash does not share his passion, and chooses to move to America for further studies.

The next part of the book deals with how Udayan’s extremism affected those around it, and how Subhash had to deal with the consequences of his brother’s choices.

[schema type=”book” name=”The Lowland” author=”Jhumpa Lahiri” publisher=”Knopf” pubdate=”2013-05-01″ isbn=”0307265749″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

This is the final book in the Divergent Series, and in order to fully comprehend and understand this book, it is important to read the first two books before this.

The factions that were once the basis of the society are now shattered. Each person is on their own in the power struggle that is based on loss and betrayal.

Tris, the protagonist, gets a chance to experience land beyond the fence, she gladly accepts, partly to escape and partly in a hope to find peace and be together with Tobias.

But, Tris soon discovers that the grass is always greener on the other side, and this new land is not all that wonderful as she had hoped it would be. And once again she finds herself facing the complex human nature.

This book gives a powerful and a fitting end to the best selling Divergent Series.

[schema type=”book” name=”Allegiant” author=”Veronica Roth” publisher=”HarperCollins Children’s Books” pubdate=”2013-10-23″ isbn=”0007524277″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]