Conviction - Richard North Patterson

Been spoilt by years of seeing the Practice, LA Law, Street Legal and such like. Each of these serials have had episodes on trying to save a death penalty victim in his last appeal.Efforts failed in each of them as it did here too. The process is interesting but leaves you tired at the end of it.

Well written but not racy and hence required time and effort to read through. Not very small either at 600 pages of high stress stuff.

Behind Closed Doors - Rinki Bhattacharya

An influential book on domestic violence by a victim who came out of the hell (as she says).

Apart from some research and analysis on the problem includes a dozen first person accounts of domestic violence and the responses of the society and the state.

Needless to say, it underlines the need for a more sensitized police and judicial system that believes in everybody's right to personal safety, that is not second to the need for a marriage - disharmonious as that may be.

For a cynic like me, a lot of the cases sounded like they began with poor judgement in choosing the partner and getting into the marriage in the first place. But i guess love can really make you blind....me haven't been blind for a day, so what do i know. That does not stop me from believing the need for safeguards for women who have got mired in such problems.

Must read for those interested in such topics.

False impression - jeffery archer

Total timepass but very readable. Not as good as not a penny more or even matter or honour for that matter, maybe because some of the moves here are rehashed versions from those books.

The plot - a banker, earmarks paintings he wants (obviously of the masters only), gets the owners to take loans that are iffy, then kills them to take the paintings. His new assistant is honest and not party to his plans and hence spoils the party.

9/11 is totally incidental..everybody could have thought the protagonist died in train crash when she on her way to drop of a cute babe and hence escaped death though her bogie and the restaurant car are totally smashed, just as well.

not for purists or even those wanting to use their brains to figure it out. IQ of 50 more than enough

A christmas thief - mary higgins clark and carol higgins clark

A guy steals stuff, converts to diamonds, puts them in a bottle/flask, hides it in a christmas tree where it would wait until he is released from jail 12 years later. And that very year, this very tree is to be cut and transported to New york and exhibited publicly - talk of coincidences.....

total time pass story with nobody making any real smart moves..i could think of a few turns that would have improved the plot drastically.

Each of them writing alone, does a better job than this joint effort..first i read.

public confessions of a middle aged woman - sue townsend

I loved Sue townsend's Adrian Mole series. so when i saw this and the weapons of mass destruction, i decided to try this. i will read WMD any way one day....

This is a collection of her weekly columns. funny, smart but not amazing. Very readable especially read a couple of columns at a time sitting you know where.

However, as columns go, not a patch on Art Buchwald my all time favourite collection.