Book Review #58: A Different Life By Alice Taft

Title: A Different Life

Author: Alice Taft

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

ISBN: 9781849639064

Genre: Autobiography

Pages: 210

Source: Review Copy from Publishers

There is always a tough situation when you are reviewing an autobiography book. You can’t really judge the person and their story by merely reading 200 odd pages. It appears to be too judgmental when you sort of rate an autobiography. This becomes even more difficult when the autobiography you are reading is not a famous personality. That’s the exact situation I felt when I offered to review this book “A Different Life” by the publishers. This book is the story of a woman and her household and her entire journey from the age of 7 till the age of 60 plus.

The person, whom this book talks about, is a person who is living right next to our door. They might not be a celebrity, yet they make their life memorable in a way Alice Taft has made her life. I did really enjoy reading this book. She explained her simple life in a more simplistic way without hyping anything of that sort. She is not a big shot or a big business tycoon or even a TV personality. She is a woman that led a different life. Hence the title “A Different Life”

So, what makes the story of Alice Taft a different one? Well, to speak of everything, one must read this book to understand it better. Born in a bigger family with 11 odd siblings, for sure, she didn't have the best of the childhood that we can talk off. She faced numerous hurdles as early as possible. With such a large family, she and her other few siblings were forced to move to different houses where they could get a proper childhood. She survived her childhood in many houses. She worked in most of the unusual circumstances and yet she didn't let go of her spirit. In all these events, she made sure that, she kept in contact with her siblings, no matter where they stayed for the rest of their lives.

As she narrates her story in subsequent chapters, she did numerous odd jobs to stay alive. She worked as a cook; she worked as a baby sitter, etc… I think her life took a leap when she started to work in Royal Household of England. She made a career for herself by working in Royal Kitchen. She explained her tryst with cooking in the Royal Household in a greater detail. She explained the numerous occasions where she saw and interacted with the queen and appreciations she received from queen, etc…. She also didn't forget to mention her love interests and her date with few men who had taken interest in Alice.

She did mention her marriage, her loving husband and her charming kids etc… as far as her story is concerned, her husband Tony Taft has been a great support for her. Without his constant encouragement and support, she wouldn't have been able to build her career. She also mentions about her great friendship and talks good about her colleagues and her neighbors.  

Overall, I feel this book is a good read and you will come to know about Alice Taft. She is such a fine lady and I believe she lead a happy different life. Rating this book is somewhat injustice according to me. She is one in a million who lived and retired without becoming famous. But, this book gives a glimpse of Royal Kitchen and the food preferences of the Royal Household, and more than that, this book gives us firsthand information.

Book Review #57: The Second Coming: A Love Story By Scott Pinsker

Title: The Second Coming - A Love Story
Author: Scott Pinsker
Publisher: Scott Pinsker Publishing
ISBN: 1500167215
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 238
Source: Review Copy


I was approached by the author Scott Pinsker to review his new book - The Second Coming - A love story.

My initial thought about this book is "This is a strange book!!” Yet, it keeps you hooked till the end. The language is simple and the writing style is more lucid and engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I was also skeptical when I saw the cover image of book, it resembles Jesus Christ. And, I thought, is this a religion based story? Since, I really didn't want to read and review a religion based book and throw in my feedback that could actually upset or offend somebody. But, I was proved wrong. :-D

This book actually speaks off 2 demigods (I use the term demigods, since; both of the protagonists are claiming to be the second coming of Jesus himself). I am quite not sure why the author had decided to name his protagonists as "Israel" and "Joe"!! Anyways, these 2 demigods claim that they are the second coming of Jesus Christ and they would try their best reasons to back it and win the hearts of the people of United States of America.

While doing so, both Joe and Israel wins some serious believers. Joe gets his true follower, a lawyer, Ms. Margareta Magdala. And, Israel gets his loyal follower, an ex-speechwriter, a gay man, David Shepherd. Followers in both the groups try to win the hearts of people by campaigning for their respective second coming of Jesus Christ. This sort of becomes a cult system, where half of the country on Joe's side and other half following Israel's side.

As the book progresses, both sides campaign restlessly and struggles to pass on the message to the masses. In this due course, Margaret Magdala finds many big shots that least interested in her campaign and more interested in the beauty and charm. As expected, this resulted in the negative publicizing of Margaret. Even her own people started doubting her. She was getting enough monetary support from some of the bigwigs in exchange of bodily pleasures with her. This includes a famous radio broadcaster, an industrialist, etc… On the other side, David, the true campaigner of Israel, wins the monetary benefits of a big Arab business tycoon at the cost of his boyfriend Michael. Michael and David were in a gay relationship for quite a long time. Their relationship were short lived in this novel due to the differences between them in this cult worshipping.

As the novel approaches towards a logical end, a stage will be set up in public for both of these second comings claimers. Both Joe and Israel were well prepared to woo their followers. The entire debate was headed by a third person who devised a calculated time frame for each of them to talk which was followed by a QA session.

Well, the real crux of the novel is in the last chapter. Author had written some exceptional arguments about what is god, who is god etc... In a more matured philosophical way. It is indeed the philosophical thoughts that Joe and Israel exchange between them whilst they're proving themselves. I did really enjoy this part of the book.

The burning question of who was actually the second coming of Jesus Christ? Is it Joe or was it Israel? Were they able to prove to their followers? The answer lies in the book. It’s a very great attempt by the author to write this kind of fiction. For sure, those who read the book will find themselves witnessing some answers that they are searching for all their lives!!

Conclusively, it’s a different book. It is thought provoking and with full of amazing quotes. I would definitely ask the readers to read more such books and encourage the author.

My Rating:
4/5

Book Review #56: Everett By Jenifer Ruff

Title: Everett

Author: Jenifer Ruff

Publisher: World Castle Publishing LLC

eISBN: 9781629891439

Genre: Psychological Fiction

Pages: 237

Source: Review Copy

There are few books that take its readers like free flowing water. This exceptionally awesome book Everett by the author Jenifer Ruff is beyond your expectation. I actually felt like I am watching a suspense filled psychological movie by sitting at the edge of my seat. I am not exaggerating here, but, I really loved this novel.  After reading many psychological based stories, this book has kept me hooked till the end.

The plot of the novel looks very simple at the beginning. Everett is the name of the college where our protagonist Brooke is studying. Author had done a great job by introducing Brooke's character to the readers slowly. Brooke is a very silent, nerdy and a fitness freak girl. She enjoyed her regular fitness classes as much as she enjoyed her college classes. In fact Brooke was one of the fitness instructors from Everett. Brooke had a boyfriend called Ethan that had relatively a lesser role to play in this novel except on few occasions. Brooke had fewer or no friends at all except for Ethan; this was due to her tight schedule that was filled up with college classes and her fitness classes.

Brooke had a very strange and unusual characteristic that will be revealed slowly in each chapter. I really appreciate the author to write such an unusual introduction to the dark side of a protagonist!! Brooke was one of a kind, and she never feared for something to experiment on her own. She expressed her interest of going to medical school and become a surgeon with Ethan. During one of her meeting with Ethan, Brooke slowly opened up herself and explained how she wanted to become a surgeon and explained the story behind it. It was one of the awful experiences for Ethan, since; Brooke was actually explaining about her surgical tryst with a dead cat!!! May be this incident lets the reader know about the dark side of Brooke.

Brooke's unusual style of looking at things was not new. During her childhood she had dissected enough animals to know it better. But all these events made her a pure psychotic. Brooke's one of the weird wishes was to dissect a person to check out their heart and study them. Her psycho activities were witnessed when she drove her dorm mate Jessica's car and vandalized without having a second thought.

The climax of the novel is very surprising. The ending is where the pure psychological traits of Brooke will be revealed. Brooke actually commits a murder of someone that is very close to her and instead of getting scared she was so elated to dissect the dead body in an isolated place. But due to heavy storm and snow fall outside, she had no option but to dispose the dead body. But will Brooke get caught? Will she get punished for her crime? What was her thoughts after committing all these crimes? Will her college authorities ever discover about Brooke's real character? The answer lies in the book. I am highly recommending this novel to all who wants to read a marvelous psychological story.

This book will not be the end of Brooke's story. Author had written a sequel for Everett and its called Rothaker which will be out soon.


Buy this book from Amazon

My Rating:
5/5