THE SILENT PATIENT BY ALEX MICHAELIDES

The Silent Patient ,this story is in the backdrop of England, where Alicia Berenson (a famous artist) kills her husband (a photographer for fashion magazines) Gabriel. The couple were prominent, wealthy, known for their love, married for seven years. Their friends and family never suspected anything wrong between them. What happened that drove Alicia to shot her husband several times in the face.  The gunshots were heard by their neighbour, who called the police. When the police arrived, Alicia didn't speak a word in her defence.  Before her trial, she never slept nor ate; she only painted her last masterpiece, "Alcestis". Her enduing silence generated a lot of speculation among the media and the public. 

Alicia is kept in a psychiatric ward. After the murder, she never spoke. The storyline shifts to Theo, a psychotherapist who gets an offer at the "Grove " medical facility. The same one where Alicia is kept. Theo considers this an opportunity to get Alicia to talk about the murder and increase his medical endeavour. 

The question is will Theo succeed in getting Alicia to talk? What exactly happened? To know this, you should read the book "Silent Killer". This book is hard to keep down, and the end plot twist is exciting. 

The Tatooist Of Aushwitz : Heather Morris

 

The Tattooist Of Auschwitz is a story based on the holocaust. This story has bones of the past, friendship and love. Holocaust during World War II was the Jewish, Romani and Poles genocide. The Nazi and their allies set up concentration camp across Europe to wipe out the inferior race. The holocaust stories are disturbing and a crucial testimony of humanity. The tattooist of Auschwitz is the story of a holocaust survivor. 

The story starts when Nazi Germany takes over Czechoslovakia, present-day Slovakia. The Slovakian government gives notice to the Jewish Community that they should send at least one family member to the camp to save other members. That's when the main protagonist comes into the story, "Ludwig",, Lale a Slovakian Jew. A fierce young Slovakian soldier who takes pride in his nationality than his religion and is let down by his own country. Nevertheless, to save his family, he willingly goes to the camp.

 Ludwig is taken into Auschwitz - Birkenau Camp; he is horrified and disturbed by the conditions in the camp. Men and women are forced to wear prisoner uniform, shave their heads and work from the morning dawn to sunset. Many die from starvation and exhaustion. There is a fine line between life and death in the camp. He vows to get out of the camp alive. His willpower to fight through the brutality of the concentration camp is inspiring. His resilience and survival instincts are commendable—more than that, his larger than life personality. There is a quote by him, "If you wake up in the morning, you are alive, and that's a blessing, which he used, to cheer his campmates. Moreover, you'll learn forgiveness and mercy from him. The story is genuinely intriguing and definitely, a must-read.

A RIVER IN DARKNESS : MASAJI ISHIKAWA

 

"A river in darkness", this book is about Masaji Ishikawa, who fled North Korea, his lifetime experience of North Korea, the worse conditions that a human has to go through beyond imagination. "NORTH KOREA" is a country located in the Korean Peninsula, an independent socialist country often considered a hermit and an isolated country. There are many media reports about its human rights violation, speculation about the life of North Koreans. 

                    Firstly, Masaji, a half Korean and half Japanese, born in Japan and then his family moves to North Korea, promised to be a fruitful land. 

                 The family's expectations are short-lived when they find the living conditions in North Korea far worst than their life in Japan, and to their agony, they have to go through brutal inferior treatment as a returnee. Despite all the hardships, Masaki studies hard and dreams of going to college to study physics but is cut short when he is not allowed. As a returnee, he can follow only certain professions. After that, there are further ups and downs in his life. But things go worst with the plague. There is a shortage of food. People were starving to the extent that they were cases of men eating their family members. Looking at the unbearable condition of his family members, Masaji decides to escape North Korea and save his family from the catastrophe. 

                  This book is a must-read as it will give you an idea about the horrifying living conditions in North Korea and make you count your blessings.  

A Promised Land by Khadija Mastoor

 

The 1947 Indo-Pakistan Partition, divided not just a piece of land, but two similar culture and people. Being an Indian, we know our side of the story, movies, books, or sometimes our own relatives. But do you know the other side of the story, for a Pakistani to leave his ancestral Indian land to this pure land of "Pakistan" and that too from a woman's point of view? 

 A 90's woman whose world is only confined to her household and her family, you might wonder how much of a difference would it make for someone whose only concern is household. Well, this story will surely prove you wrong, refugee camps, starting over from scratch, uncertainty, betrayal, tense family relations, this story portrays all. 

It's slow yet a  beautiful story of Sajidah who leaves her life in India for their own land of Pakistan, living in a refugee camp where everything is helter-skelter, her hope for a better future is shortlived by her father's death. She is taken in by another family, her personal relationship with each member. Sajidah's life in Pakistan in their pure and promise land. This book written by Khadija Mastoor, a celebrated and highly regarded writer in Urdu literature, a classic on its own is definitely a must-read.                    

The Godfather : Mario Puzo

"Behind every crime great fortune there is a crime"

            -- BALZA

 The Godfather written by Mario Puzo is a crime novel published in 1969 , often considered as a classic bestseller. This novel  is based on the lives of fictional mafia family in New York portraying the 1940's criminal underworld. 

When youngest son of the mafia family , Michael reluctant and recluse towards the family business but finds himself drawn towards the mafia world as duty calls when his father is brutally murdered. Unbeknownst to Michael, he carries all the qualities to serve as the "Don". Michael's journey from reluctance to racketeer is one of a blood saga. 

The author's magical writing and his tyrant world of murder, deception, revenge, and ruthless crime will surely baffle you. Without a doubt, this classic is a must. 

Behind Her Eyes :- Sarah Pinborough

 Behind Her Eyes:- Sarah Pinborough  is a thriller novel by English author Sarah Pinborough who is a New York Times bestselling and Sunday Times Number one  and Internationally bestselling author. 

This book is a thriller , physiological mystery and a suspense  novel. The novel is based on the lives of David (a psychiatrist ) , Louise (a single mother) and Adele(David's wife). Louise runs into David in a bar and kisses him , unbeknownst that he is her boss more so over that he is married . The two rub it off at the moment , but can't keep apart eventually . Things get further complicated when Louise runs into Adele and the two become friends but Louise is Adele's only friend . 

Inadvertently Louise finds herself drawn into the lives of Adele and David . She senses something suspicious  with them individually and their marriage . The more she entangles herself out of their lives  the more she finds tangled to it. 

The characters are dreary and enigmatic , when you think you know where the plot is heading  , it proves you wrong . The storyline is full of twists and turns . Each and every chapter of the book is a puzzle within itself . This book will surely keep you hooked . The end will certainly defy you. 

The Code Of The Extraordinary Mind By Vishen Lakhiani

The code of The Extraordinary Mind 

By reading the title , I believe most of you might have realized that it's a self help book. Now , I am going to be a bit honest with you , am not really a fan of self help books because many times I believe things written in those books are easier said then done and many of those books are written by gurus with embezzled portfolio of over achievements who haven't even experienced or (maybe they have but don't talk about it ) mundane failures which personally have pushed me into a space of disappointment .

For those of you , who kind of agree with me The Code Of The Extraordinary Mind is none of those typical self help books . It is written by Vishen Lakhiani a motivational speaker , founder and CEO of Mindvalley .The author blatantly talks about his struggles , I felt a sense of relief when I read a person of that certain aura as that of Vishen Lakhiani talking about those mundane struggles brushed off majorly  by everyone .

"Rules imposed by the society which need to be broken off ?" quite a famous ideology right ! fashionably coined by the author as "brules" , he lists those brules and abashes them . This book is definitely a game changer with self development ideology , it is going to mess with your definitions of life and throw you in a space where you will definitely ponder on some things. Yes, this self help book is worth the shot.