Girls of Riyadh (Banat al-Riyadh)

Author: Rajaa Alsanea
Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir/Contemporary/Novel based on a true story
Publisher: Penguin Press
My Rating: 4/5 (Worth a read; gives a good insight into the Saudi culture)




Raaja Alsanea boldy chose to expose the hidden world of Saudi women through her book Banat al Riyadh (in Arabic) which is actually a collection of emails. The book caused a sensation in Saudi Arabia and it was immediately banned there but the English translations of the same book was made available from Jan 2008...


Girls of Riyadh is a story about 4 young women who are the best of friends and are from upper-class Saudi families. They study in universities and medical schools in Riyadh/San Fransisco/Chicago but eventually return back to Riyadh. Even though they are exposed to the modern outlook, they still cannot escape the deep-rooted oppresive traditions of the religiously-dominated-and-conservative Saudi society. Yet they fall in love, have affairs, lost opportunities and broken hearts just like any other girl in other parts of the world..


The book is very fast paced, engaging and quite similar to the 'Sex and the City' type drama, So I won't get into the details of the plot; am sure you already have got an idea of it :) Some of the reviews say that the life of the Saudi girls represented in the book is way too far from the reality. Nevertheless, it does give a big picture of the life out there and it is un-imaginable! Every time I read a book about middle east, I always thank my stars that I was born here in India and I am so glad that I live my life on my own terms and I have my freedom of speech, thought and expression!


Though the novel cannot be regarded as a good literary piece, the small peek into the fascinating culture of the Arab world is definitely worth a read!

The Devil Wears Prada

I am back after a long hibernation! Tons of things kept me busy with absolutely no time to read. Hope to keep this space updated more often now :)

While I was extremely busy in the last 3 months, I did manage to read this one book. I laid my hands on it by chance while travelling, due to lack of options. It had never been on my TBR list at all. However I did enjoy reading it a lot!


If you have read the book am sure you will agree with me that it is very cliched. It was no different than Bridget Jones' Diary and the like. Yet these chick-lit novels are quite entertaining and light. They are good to read when you don't want to work your brain much and want to have a relaxed time.....

About the book:
Set against the backdrop of the fashion world in New York city, Andrea Sachs a just out of college graduate, lands into a job with Runway magazine, which seems like a dream job to her. However, the editor of the magazine, Miranda Priestly who is also a major fashion icon, is a living hell to work with. As much as she hates Miranda, Andrea still continues to do her job continuing to hope that it will one day land her an entry into The New York Times...

Andrea as a character is quite interesting as you see her struggling to fit into a world which is completely strange to her as well as maintain her sanity while working with a highly demanding and eccentric boss. However, the plot gets very stale early on as you see that there is nothing new happening in every page that you read. Everyday of Andrea is quite the same as her previous one...the only thing that might hold you on is your interest to know what she might do at the end of it all...

One thing which was strikingly annoying in the book was the fact that Miranda Priestly's character was portrayed in a very uni-dimensional way. As an overbearing boss, she was shown to be absurd to the extreme which didn't seem real. And of course, not to forget the gossip part of the fashion world which seems to get a little overboard.

Waiting to watch the movie now!

Almost Single

Author: Advaita Kala
Pages: 284

Publisher: Harper Collins

Genre: Chick-lit

Rating: 4/5

After reading a heavy and depressing book like Black Friday, I wanted something really light and funny to read and this chick-lit novel served the purpose.

'Almost Single' a debut novel of Advaita Kala, is a book about single women nearing thirtees. I found it to be very similar to Bridget Jones's Diary. I would say this one is an Indian Avatar of the former. I am definitely not going to do a comparison between the two because that's going to be unfair to either of them! It's obvious that emotions, feelings, friendships, relationships remain the same irrespective of different cultural contexts! So they are good in their own ways.

I completely enjoyed reading the book. It's a very light read and you can just snuggle up in bed and finish it up in one sitting. The story is about Aisha Bhatia, a 29yr old single woman working in the hospitality industry. It seems like lady luck is never on her side and more often than not, ends up in a 'foot in the mouth' situation. She has 2 close friends, one of whom is single and the other is divorced and you get to know a lot about their lives too and how they form an integral part of Aisha's life. There are definitely a lot of cliches, no doubt, but it's a chick-lit and that's how it is going to be! :)

The characters are very identifiable and you feel like a dear friend of yours is actually narrating a story of her life to you. Also, her description of smaller details adds to the quality of the book and it appealed to me. At some places the book becomes very predictable and I kinda rushed through a few pages. But overall it has a good feel and the ending surprised me as well..

So if you are looking for something light and fun to read, then I recommed you pick this up! You'll definitely laugh out loud and it will cheer you up...