Wars are brutal. Often the common people bear the brunt of it for no fault of theirs. People are killed, women are raped. All the light we cannot see, portrays all this and more. The title itself portrays the fact that one doesn't often see the true picture.
Marie Laurie is a blind girl. She lives in France with her father. Her father is a locksmith in the Natural History museum.
Wesner is an orphan who has a sister named Jutta, lives in Germany. He is a bright boy, keen learner who takes a lot of interest in radios, its components and signals. He gets recruited in the army.
Although Werner is  German, he still comes to rescue a French girl Marie.
All war stories are usually heart rending.  Two struggling youngsters meet due to radio transmissions.
I commiserate with the character Frederick. A person with so much knowledge about birds get bullied to such an extent that he ends up with a  memory loss.
This book is a must read.

Power, powerful, powerless. If one has power and is oblivious of the power, its fine. But when one has power and ones own power is used by someone else, that is something nobody can stand.

An easy read, gripping fantasy novel. Part one of the Shadow and bone trilogy. I am awed by the imaginativeness of Leigh.

Alina and Mal are orphans. Alina grows up to be a cartographer while Mal becomes a tracker. She has the power of creating luminance, or so called the sun summoner.

The book is about Alinas struggle with her power, its use and its misuse, once she realises her potential.

When I started reading this story, it felt like Hansel and Gratel. This story was so different and so intriguing. Simply Fantastic!

When one gets caught between opposing views and one is confused about choosing sides, its very difficult.
In this book, Peri in particular is caught between the the conflicting views of her parents.
The discussions and the arguments during and after her student life are captivating. I think Peri becomes an agnostic.During all the  debates I could empathise with Peri as she was caught between the turmoil at home and arguements between her friends Shirin and Mona. I found the professor to be a very strong character who doesn't get perturbed in any situation.
Peri as a mom, her talk with her teenage daughter, her fight with a robber/rapist, her getting bored at hoity-toity party, her wanting to talk politics or the current issues rather than gossip like other ladies makes her a lady with a mind of her own.
The narrative runs back and forth between her past and present.
Shirin, Mona and Peri are the three girls; also called the sinner, the believer and the confused; who are students of the Philosophy professor Azur. The three of them have different views about religion and God.

That was a very sad story. I felt bad when the three of them were living alone, ostracised almost. Then towards the end it is heart wrenching.

Although a few of their neighbours try to encourage them to mingle with other people, I feel they needed more encouragement.
I wish Mrs Clarke could have visited them more often and engaged them in some way or another!!
Children suffer the most when there are deaths in a family, particularly when they lose their parents!

I feel Merricat had some mental illness due to which she poisoned almost the whole of her family. She adored her sister Constance. But it was evident that she did not want her sister to talk, meet or see anybody. She gets chills when her sister says she would like to go to the market with her. She hates it when the neighbours talk to Constance. She also hated her cousin Charles for getting close to Constance. She buries coins and marbles. She is very happy in the end when she has Constance all to herself and says that they are living happily on the moon.

Its an easy read. The story is Merricat's perspective of all the events that happen in their life.

A very compelling memoir. The book talks about the life of this author/professor, Azar Nafisi  and her seven devoted female students, all of whom love to read.

Though there is unrest and chaos among the  common people, due to the revolution, Azar sees to it that her students still read and analyse various books of English literature. The best part about the narrative is the parallels she draws between classics and the society they were. Even if there are books one hasn't read, the way the books are dissected makes one want to read them. She analysis Madame Bovary, Pride and Prejudice, Nabokovs  Lolita & Invitation to a beheading, Books like Daisy Miller, Washington Square by Henry James.
I thought that Great Gatsby was not a book worthy of a discussion during the revolution, probably because I did not appreciate Great Gatsby as much.

She is a wonderful professor who tries to involve every student into the discussion, while scrutinising various points from the books.
She makes us question about the way we look at various books. I want to reread a few books in order to understand them better and look at it from a few points mentioned in this book.
It is heart-rending to read about all the difficulties faced by women. She and a few others leave their country to settle in USA or Canada.

It is a well researched book on how Indian women are raised to be a quiet, non existing human being. The author qoutes various examples from real life, talking about what happens when girls have been raised to be quiet and have been asked to adjust to just about anything. It not only impacts them psychologically but makes them nonexistent. A lady who adjusts to her abusive husband and tolerates every harm inflicted upon her is rendered inanimate, like a piece of furniture.
The way to change this is to raise our children giving them equal opportunities, be it knowledge, sports or voicing their opinions. It's the duty of both the parents to consciously imbibe these values so that girls are as outspoken as boys.
The book talks about jealousy among women. I feel jealously is a trait present in Men and in women. It just gets reflected in different ways.
I strongly feel:

Klara is an AF (Artificial Friend) who is understanding, empathetic, and courteous. She has an eye for detail, she has faith and prays to the sun. She gets nourishment from the sun and constantly refers to sunlight as nourishment, which I found very adorable. Directly or indirectly human beings get nourishment from the sun.

Well written, Easy read. Positive. Though one feels bad about Eleanor's past, it's nice to see her come out as a strong person. Inspite of having a very traumatic childhood, Eleanor studies well, picks up a decent job and even gets promoted. Though she is not very good at social skills, she understands what makes her happy when she helps old people. She also understands herself better in the company of Raymond. Overall a very good read!

Why can't people be colorless or like a chameleon change according to the surroundings. I suppose no matter what, there will be differences among people.
I wished with all my heart that the twins could finish their education. I wanted them to be together for ever. I don't know what the course of the story would have been then.
The story about the twins Desiree and Stella is poignant, simple read.
I enjoyed the fact that the main characters are all females in The Vanishing half.
It has love, hate, identity crisis, betrayal, affection empathy and treachery.
It portrays relationships, sisters, mother-daughter and grandmother- granddaughter.
I recommend it to everyone. It's a lovely read.