Tag Archives: actress

Book Review: P.S. from Paris by Mark Levy

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About the Book:

P.S. from Paris (UK edition)

They knew their friendship was going to be complicated, but love—and the City of Lights—just might find a way.

On the big screen, Mia plays a woman in love. But in real life, she’s an actress in need of a break from her real-life philandering husband—the megastar who plays her romantic interest in the movies. So she heads across the English Channel to hide in Paris behind a new haircut, fake eyeglasses, and a waitressing job at her best friend’s restaurant.

Paul is an American author hoping to recapture the fame of his first novel. When his best friend surreptitiously sets him up with Mia through a dating website, Paul and Mia’s relationship status is “complicated.”

Even though everything about Paris seems to be nudging them together, the two lonely ex-pats resist, concocting increasingly far-fetched strategies to stay “just friends.” A feat easier said than done, as fate has other plans in store. Is true love waiting for them in a postscript?

From Marc Levy, the most-read French author alive today, comes a modern-day love story between a famous actress hiding in Paris and a bestselling writer lying to himself.

My Thoughts:

I picked up this book mostly due to the connection to Paris. It is a city that I have come to love and I wanted to see how much of it I could connect with through the book.

The story follows Mia, an actress from UK as she gets away from the film industry, her husband and everything that is a part of her reel life. She needs a break and to re-assess what she wants from life. She ends up in Paris, at the doorstep of her best friend Daisy.

The reader is also introduced to Paul, an architect turned writer, who moves from the US to Paris to get away. He does this just after his first book was published as he doesn’t know how to deal with the fame. We also meet his best friend and the best friend’s wife, who are wonderful additions to the character ensemble.

The author takes us on a pleasant journey through the streets of Paris, from Montmartre, the artists square to the view from the top of the Opera. The locations are well described that for people who have been to Paris, it is a trip down memory lane, and for those who have not, it will spark the flame of discovery and the urge to visit this beautiful city.

The book deals with some important issues like self discovery and growth, trust and beyond all that love. Mia learns to open herself up to new experiences and possibilities. She takes a decision regarding her marriage and spends time working as a waitress at her friend’s restaurant. She happens to meet Paul by accident, through a date setup via a dating site. On Paul’s side, this is done by his friends as they think that he is not focusing on himself and his life. What turns starts off as a surprise and a joke, blossoms into a strong friendship between two people who want to experience more in their lives.

As we follow the two main characters on their journey of discovery, we travel a little with them as they deal with the consequences of their respective livelihoods. We also see love blossom as well as the uncertainty that follows it. The bonds between characters and the trust they have in their friends is something to learn from. The story is very well-written, it is fun, intriguing and is quite a pleasant read. I absolutely adored this book and recommend this to everyone.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

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About the Book:

Someday, Someday, Maybe

A charming and laugh-out-loud novel by Lauren Graham, beloved star of Parenthood and Gilmore Girls, about an aspiring actress trying to make it in mid-nineties New York City.

Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three-year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates – Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material – and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works.

Meanwhile, she dreams of doing “important” work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It’s hard to tell if she’ll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won’t call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job.

My Thoughts:

Someday,  Someday,  Maybe is a story of finding yourself amidst the glamourous world of acting (theater and films). Written in a fresh and quirky manner, this story will speak to the soul of every reader, ever dreamer and in general every person who reads it. Even though the setting is pretty specific (set in a world that the author understands best), it is easy to relate to the hopes, aspirations, heart break and search for love and meaning in life of the protagonist.

The title resonates throughout the story, reminding us that this thought has occurred to all of us at different times. Franny is an aspiring actress who is trying to find her place in the acting world. She believes in work that is fulfilling and meaningful. As she stumbles through with a particular deadline in mind, we follow her journey and her encounters with people, her decisions and the consequences of those. There is a lot to learn and as she starts to find her way, Franny realizes that the idea she had in her head of the acting world, might not coincide with the reality. Luckily she has friends and well wishers who support her along the way and teach her, helping her to find her place.

The author introduces us to the hard-work and dedication required to make it as an actor/actress as well as the number of people involved. It is an interesting and intriguing glimpse into the world of acting and the author handles the plot very well. The story is enjoyable and overall a wonderful read! The people we meet as the story progresses are well thought out and have crucial roles to play in this story. The author gives us so many points to take away from the story, with a fair amount of emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and ideals.

If not today, then, Someday, Someday, Maybe, it will indeed happen! Dreams do come true as long as we put in a fair amount of effort!

Book Review: Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

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About the Book:

Scrappy Little Nobody

A collection of humorous autobiographical essays by the Academy Award-nominated actress and star of Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect.

Even before she made a name for herself on the silver screen starring in films like Pitch Perfect, Up in the Air, Twilight, and Into the Woods, Anna Kendrick was unusually small, weird, and “10 percent defiant.”

At the ripe age of thirteen, she had already resolved to “keep the crazy inside my head where it belonged. Forever. But here’s the thing about crazy: It. Wants. Out.” In Scrappy Little Nobody, she invites readers inside her brain, sharing extraordinary and charmingly ordinary stories with candor and winningly wry observations.

With her razor-sharp wit, Anna recounts the absurdities she’s experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture as only she can—from her unusual path to the performing arts (Vanilla Ice and baggy neon pants may have played a role) to her double life as a middle-school student who also starred on Broadway to her initial “dating experiments” (including only liking boys who didn’t like her back) to reviewing a binder full of butt doubles to her struggle to live like an adult woman instead of a perpetual “man-child.”

Enter Anna’s world and follow her rise from “scrappy little nobody” to somebody who dazzles on the stage, the screen, and now the page—with an electric, singular voice, at once familiar and surprising, sharp and sweet, funny and serious (well, not that serious).

My Thoughts:

Anna Kendrick is honest and open about her thoughts and opinions. She refuses to hide what she thinks. She takes us into her mind and shows us the difficulty of trying to keep the crazy in! 😛

She highlights the journey towards becoming an actor and reaching where she is today. In her rather quirky, different way she gives us glimpses into various incidents in her life. She extols the world of cinema as well as theater and throws the doors open to us. She takes us into her world and shows us how that world is. It’s not all easy and she effortlessly brings out the differences to us.

From starting off with theater and auditioning for them to landing a role in small films and working her way up to larger films, Anna tells us what it was like to struggle and the determination and perseverance it took. I appreciate her humility and sincerity in openly stating that sometimes fame can get to the head or at times one may feel like giving up, but she keeps a photo of her 3 year old self as a reminder to trudge on.

Anna gives us a glimpse into the film fraternity and shares with us, through anecdotes and humorous thoughts, the behind the scenes. The feeling of walking down the red carpet, of presenting an award, of acting with some of the bigger stars. It’s all there for us to read. Throw in a few photographs of some life events and she has us hooked.

Without giving away too much about the content of this book, I think this is worth a read. It will open the eyes of the reader to some form of reality with respect to the film fraternity as well as leave us in splits.

Book Review: Mrs Funnybones by Twinkle Khanna

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About the Book:

Mrs Funnybones

Good morning, it’s 6 a.m. and I am wide awake because the man of the house has decided that he needs to perform a series of complex manoeuvres that involve him balancing on his left elbow. When I fell asleep last night, there was a baby lying next to me. Her smelly diaper is still wedged on my head but aside from this rather damp clue, I can’t seem to find her anywhere. I could ask my mother-in-law if she has seen the baby, but she may just tell me that I need to fast on alternate Mondays, and God will deliver the baby back to me . . . Full of wit and delicious observations, Mrs Funnybones captures the life of the modern Indian woman—a woman who organizes dinner each evening, even as she goes to work all day, who runs her own life but has to listen to her Mummyji, who worries about her weight and the state of the country. Based on Twinkle Khanna’s super-hit column, Mrs Funnybones marks the debut of one of our funniest, most original voices.

My Thoughts:

Oh my God! I definitely died of laughter!

This book will have you hooked and in splits from page 1. ‘She’s just like you and a lot like me,’ is the tagline mentioned on the cover of the book. I must admit that there is a lot in this book that I cannot relate to but have enjoyed due to the author’s self-deprecating humor, witty one liners and her colorful opinions on everything.

Each chapter, rather ingeniously labelled by a letter of the alphabet, talks about some aspect of the author’s life, her experiences, or the experiences of people around her. Narrated in her signature style, most of the incidents are mundane day to day activities. The author talks about her children, her life as a mother, the humor she derives behind the choice of her name, incidents at work among many other things. She also talks of how a person’s outlook of life changes once they have children but most of the points are based on her opinions.

An overall fun read, that can be finished in just one sitting as once started, there is definitely no putting this book down.