The Encyclopaedia of Earth - A Complete Visual Guide: by Michael Allaby and John O'Byrne.John O'Byrne.

Even an a cursory glance at the book prior to purchase is impressive enough ( -hence the purchase in the first place!) - what with the part illustrating solar system and its planets and other fascinating objects before going on to Earth, our own planet. Then there is the geophysical parts and other about Earth. All in all a must in a home aspiring for well educated family, especially with growing children. In a school library, needless to say, it is indispensable.

As a matter of fact one might as well have children familiar with it when young, before they are corrupted by the peer cynicism against knowledge so very prevalent in some of the richer nations where being well informed gets a child bullied in school and a football jock or anyone capable of bullying is the object of worship, and tobacco-alcohol-and-co seem cool, partying a must and study merely a painful requisite for sat unless one has a cool career in hand such as a garage mechanic or a sport scholarship to push one through college all the way without any reading skills.

In parts of the world where knowledge and information are still valued, this book is a valuable addition to any home, any library.

Heart of Asia: by Nicholas Roerich.

Whereas one might expect lyrical descriptions of the sublime beauty - or thrilling tales of travails thereof - of the travels through Himaalaya and trans Himaalayan regions, from Darjeeling to Kashmir to Ladakh to Mongolia via Gobi desert, to Tibet and return to India through Sikkim, such descriptions are only summed up in the art work of the Roerich family, and here one gets tales providing unexpected insights into times the travel took place in. Whether these impressions are due to bias on part of the author and his group, or merely reflection of time then, is not easy to determine. They could be the other side of the facts usually not publicised.

Avenger: by Frederick Forsyth.

Very good, especially the finale. Very satisfying, after the horror of the details of the two wars. And the horror of the philosophy of the agencies, mitigated only by the honesty and loyalty of the individuals.

The Sins of The Father; by Jeffrey Archer.

It has taken long since the publication of the first part and one needs to be reminded of the story so far, but even independently it is worth reading. The anxiety to read the next part which takes long, by which time one has forgotten somewhat, takes a toll, but still -

The uncertainty of the ending is the third time Archer has used it, once in UK and once in US based story, both with the equal opposite and once with twins too.

One finds satisfaction in the end a bad guy comes to, but wishes it were not paid for by his victim being beaten up before and dying later. Also, it would have been all right if the mother were to marry a wealthy suitor who cares about her as well, and the otherwise satisfactory marriage she chooses of necessity of heart and mind could have come just a tad earlier.

The dilemma at the end remains the same as at end of part one, and one wishes there were a satisfactory solution in writing if not in life.

Too many works - one at least of Archer, one of Cookson - have been about the dilemma of a brother and sister falling in love due to the excruciatingly bad behaviour of the father of the two and part of his family. One wonders what basis there was in reality for this fascination - but it does serves to remind males to not endanger their own progeny by such behaviour, and acknowledge progeny rather than attempt to deny, or even better, behave well in the first place with the mother of the progeny.

Revolution 2020: by Chetan Bhagat.

Just when one gets past the Readers' Digest type sentence construction - nothing wrong with the digest, but they do condense originals, and the greatness of originals is not in the condensation - and the screenplay type writing (oh, try reading this author, any book of his, without a film or a television series unfolding before one's mind's eye!), and begins to think he might after all be getting over his tripe and getting towards better writing, he hits one on the head with the trashy climax of the protagonist questioning his self and sacrificing his love, quite as per melo-melodramatic style diktat of the films he seems to be unable to get over.

Until then, good at least, great in some few points. The pathos of a poor father bringing up a son and hoping he might get out of the dire circumstances the uncle has cheated them into, the pathos of the son who is good but lacks the take-off level to do well in competitive fields and is ignored, looked down on and so forth, until a politician realises his potential and sets him off on path to be able to do not only well but do good; the pathos of this politician being not smart enough to play the game with safety nets and taking a fall but setting up the protagonist to do well nevertheless with a paternal sentiment in spite of no lack of his own progeny; the pathos of the protagonist never quite feeling equal to his friends who were brought up in better circumstances and feeling guilty enough about his resentment of their togetherness to give up just when he could have had his dream life - if only the author had overcome his normal shortcomings to make this one better, skipped the sacrifice falsehood and thought of a better solution, ....

Did he simply visit the two towns he describes and write them into his work (did they come pleading with him?) or does he really know them, good question.

Hope this work does not get bracketed with the worthy anti corruption fight of the saintly and good of the country! They deserve better.