How to Review Book

What Is Review?

A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can consist of books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion, restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms.

This would fascinate book lovers. Some people feel, after reading a book that it was not worth all the time they spent on reading it. Thus book reviews enable people to buy and read the right books. But book reviewing is not an easy job for the reviewer for he has to read the whole book (no matter if it's interesting or boring). So here are some tips for reviewing a book.

1) Do the Research

Read the book, take notes and compare and contrast with other class materials. Locate reviews of the book in the professional literature and read them. 

2) Introduce the subject, scope, and type of book

Identify the book by author, title, and publishing information.

Include some background to enable readers to place the book into context. Describe the general problem the book addresses or earlier work the author or others have done. In framing your review, you should provide some information on the author. What are her relevant qualifications and background (or lack thereof) for writing on this subject? What were his reasons for writing this book? (Often the preface contains such information.)

3)  Summarize the content

A: Body Paragraph 1—Plot

1. Main idea of the story/book

2. Where does the story take place?

3. When does the story take place?

4. Something unique about the time/place in which the story takes place and

      5. How it affects the characters?

B: Body Paragraph 1—Characters

1.      Main characters of the story/book:

2.      What are the relationships like between characters in the story/book:

3.      Does something important or meaningful to the story happen to a or between

4.      Characters? Describe it in one sentence:

4) Analysis and evaluation of the book

The critical analysis is one of the main ingredients in a book review. This section should talk about one’s learning’s from the book and whether it holds an important or interesting message that caught your attention. What I like to do is add in my personal book review format is about two paragraphs on what I liked best about the book and what I didn’t like. If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book under review remains in the spotlight.

5)  Final Verdict

This is another key section of a good book review format. A lot of people don’t have the time to read your whole review so for all those skimmers out there; this is like a short bullet point summary that says Yes or No!

Also in case you know where one can get this book at the best possible price, then do it! There’s no harm in telling your readers where to go and buy it from.

Tips

·         Do not reveal too much of the plot.

·         Do not reveal the climax of the book

Happy Diwali......

Earlier this year I moved into my new residence and the levels of enthusiasm were running high. Diwali had to be a very elaborate affair this year complete with lanterns, rangoli, diyas, etc. Since I made the lantern myself , I decided to make a kundan rangoli and floating diyas myself.  The necessary raw material were  sourced from  thane. I  assembled all the articles required to make a kundan rangoli, and lo behold ! the result…..

The Step by step method is as under :

Material needed for Kundan Rangoli and Floating diya.

In addition to kundan rangoli , I also drew an elaborate pattern based on Sanskaar Bharati , in the lobby area and filled it with bright colours . Since this was my very first attempt , I educated myself on the net , downloaded the desired pattern and then went ahead with it. 

The Diwali,  the festival of lights would be incomplete without diyas , so the next step naturally be would be floating diyas .

Happy Diwali !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Festive Lantern...

Come Diwali and there is flurry of activity to clean the house and get it ship shape before the festival. Diwali the festival of lights is incomplete without the traditional lantern. There were days when lanterns were made of bamboo sticks and colour papers. However, it’s different now. Shops are usually crowded with people buying readymade lanterns.
Consequently, the younger generation has not learnt the art of making lanterns from cloth and colour papers. Earlier, members of the family, big and small, came together to make lanterns, and this in itself was a big celebration.So this year , I decided to make my own lantern on  Diwali.

Things Required to make lantern:
1. Cardboard
2. Kite paper
3. Gelatin paper
4. Fevicol
5. Scissor

Method:

1. Make a frame with cardboard . To make this frame make two rings with cardboard of forty cm diameter and join these with 4  long strips of thirty cm length.Cover the entire frame work with gelatin paper from inside. Your frame should resemble the figure given below:

2. Cut out 8 panels from kite paper to resemble the figure below:

3. Roll the panels and stick one end as given below:

4. Start sticking the panels on  cardboard frame. By now your lantern should look like this.

5. After having stuck the panels, you can highlights the edges by sticking some golden coloured  paper .

6. To complete your lantern cut long strips of kite paper and stick it on the end of the lantern. Your colourful paper lantern is complete . 

Meethe Gulgule...

Tea time snacks

On returning home one evening I saw my co-sister getting together ingredients to prepare sweet dumplings . The children were hungry and clamouring for a teatime snack . She quickly made some sweet dumplings to satiate the hungry appetites . Biting in to one along with my steaming hot cup of tea I discovered very healthy and flavorsome snack. I discovered that this was prepared by mixing all required ingredients such as a small measure  wheat flour with jaggery , mashed bananas, ghee  and water . To add to the flavour  jeera, cardamom powder were also added to the mixture. The whole thing was set aside for 4 – 5 hours and allowed to ferment. The sticky dough  is formed into dumplings and put into hot oil and fried till crisp brown in colour. I was thoroughly intrigued as I had tasted something similar at a Keralite friends . On doing a quick research I found that this popular sweet is made across India, albeit under different names,  it is known as appam down south , Gulgule in north , and also prepared in my native place which is small fishing village by the name Satpathi on the western coast of Maharashtra.

Ingredients:

3 cups wheat flour 

170 gms jaggery

1 tsp. roasted n crushed jeera

1 tsp. ghee

1 riped banana

2 cups water 

a pinch salt

Method:

1. Mix whole-wheat flour, jaggery,ghee and rest all ingredients, add water slowly as needed to make the thick consistency batter.

2. Slowly drop 1 teaspoon of batter at a time in to the oil. Don’t over crowd the frying pan.

3. Fry the Gulgules golden brown all sides, turning them occasionally. It will take 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Remove the gulgulas and place over a paper towel so the excess oil is absorbed.

Tips

If oil is not hot enough gulgulas will stick to the bottom of the frying pan.

Bong Delicacy

Tickling the Sweet Tooth with Rossogollas

With the festival season fast approaching, we always need to stock up on sweets and savouries to entertain visitors.  I definitely wanted to add something new to my usual repertoire Of laddoos, Khopra Paks, Puran polis, etc, and finally decided to try some Bengali delicacies. The Fact that my initial attempt was disappointing didn’t daunt me and I decided to give it another try. It was Bang on the second time round and am sharing the same with you.

Ingredients:

Milk – 1.5 Litre

Sugar –  450 gms

Whey – Small Bowl

Rawa – 1 tsp.

Powdered Sugar – 1 tsp.

 Method:

1. Boil Milk, stirring continuously

2. After the milk boils. Switch off the flame and add a small quantity of whey

                      to curdle the milk.

 3. Curdled milk

4. Strain the same through a fine muslin cloth.

5. Remove all water

  6. Place a weight to drain out excess water.

7. Knead paneer for 10 minutes to form soft, smooth dough.

8. Add one tsp. rawa and one tsp. powdered sugar to this dough

9. And knead Again for a while till it binds together . 

10. Roll the same on your palms to form small balls. Ensure that there are no cracks

 11.Pour 4 glasses of water in the pressure cooker, add 120 gms sugar and bring it to a  boil. Add the paneer balls after it boils. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and cook on high flame till one whistle. Lower the flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from flame .

12. Do not remove the lid and let it cool for an hour. Remove rasogollas from the syrup and set aside. Add 330 gms of the remaining sugar to the syrup, bring it to a boil. Let it cool 

and add rosogollas to the same

 Tasty rosogollas are ready to be served. It can be refrigerated after 12 hours.

Managers and Leaders

We have plenty of managerial strength in our country. Hundreds of managers graduate from our Management schools every year and are absorbed by the industry. These Management schools teach all aspects of Management, be it communication skills, Conflict Management, Organisational Behaviour and so on. They also teach Leadership and its various aspects.

Though Management education is a necessity in today’s world and managers are necessary to keep a company or an organisation going, it is different from Leadership. Leaders are the people who direct and show the way. They are examples to others. Others follow them. Examples of leaders are Gandhiji, Nelson Mandela, Indira Nooyi, and ChandaKochhar. These are people who shaped and guided their countries’ and companys’ growth and path

Managers just manage people and the work so that it is done in an efficient way and meets the targets and other requirements. To inspire people and to decide on the path forward, Leaders are required. If a company has to diversify or find new ways to compete, leaders are required.

Managers manage and get work done, Leaders show the way and inspire.

Book Review

Title :    The 80 / 20 Principle: The Secret to Success By Achieving More with Less work.

Author:      Richard Koch

Publisher: A currency Book

Cost:          Rs 295/-

Pages:        278

ISBN:          0-385-49174-3

About the Book

In The 80/20 Principle, Richard Koch thoroughly examines Pareto’s Law – the observation that, in any given context, “a minority of causes, inputs, or effort usually leads to a majority of the results, outputs, or rewards.” This inherent nonlinearity is present in all aspects of life, and by paying attention to your efforts and results, you can identify major opportunities for improvement in every aspect of your life and business.

How anyone can be more effective with less effort by learning how to identify and leverage the 80/20 principle--the well-known, unpublicized secret that 80 percent of all our results in business and in life stem from a mere 20 percent of our efforts.

Working very hard for very little reward? Stop it, says Koch. Focus your attention on the things you do well which come easily to you, take the least time and see the best results, and your achievement and income will soar. Sounds simple, right?

Koch examines in detail how the 80/20 Principle can be applied to business but also how it can be used more personally to create happiness and ‘evolve your ideal lifestyle’. His suggested daily happiness habits are nothing really new but useful to remember and put into practice (eg: ‘exercise’, ‘mental stimulation’, ‘doing a good turn’) and his mission to convince everyone to work less, earn and enjoy more gets no arguments from me.

By identifying the critical 20% of causes and focusing time and resources on optimizing them, it is possible to realize enormous gains in productivity in relatively short order. While Pareto’s Law is typically used for sales, customer, or inventory analysis, The 80/20 Principle examines personal and management applications as well, including priority setting and work/life balance.

Focusing on the 20% of efforts that create 80% of results isn’t always easy, but it can revolutionize business and the quality of our life.

Safety Tips For Using a Public Computer

Using a public computer to check your e-mail, bank accounts and travel arrangements may be more convenient than lugging around a laptop. But it's also more risky. PCs are conveniently located at Internet cafes, airports, hotel business centers and other public places. Unfortunately, unscrupulous people target them in an attempt to hijack your sensitive information. To reduce your risk, consider these safety tips:

1. Don't let the computer save your login information.

Some operating systems can save your user name and password. Click "No" if a pop-up box offers this option. Some web browsers record this information anyway, so before you start surfing, disable this feature.

2. Erase your tracks

Internet Explorer also keeps a record of your passwords and every page you visit, even after you’ve closed them and logged out.

a. Disable this feature that stores passwords

Before you go to the Web, turn off the Internet Explorer feature that “remembers” your passwords.


b. Delete your temporary Internet files and your history

When you finish your use of a public computer, you can help protect your private information by deleting your temporary Internet files. For information on how to delete temporary Internet files on Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8, see Delete temporary Internet files.

3 .  Scope out the snoops.

Look around to see if anyone is watching you. This is particularly important if you are accessing a password-protected account. Someone could be observing and recording your access code.

4. Be wary of accessing your private data.

Doing online banking, stock trades and other financial transactions is not a good idea. so keep in mind that an industrious thief might have installed sophisticated software on the public computer that records every keystroke and then emails that information back to the thief. Then it doesn't matter if you haven't saved your information or if you've erased your tracks. They still have access to this information.

If you really want to be safe, avoid typing your credit card number or any other financial or otherwise sensitive information into any public computer.

5. Consider fellow surfers.

Avoid opening suspicious e-mail attachments or downloading software. Don't do anything that may potentially infect the computer and cause problems for the next user.

6. Logout.

If you've accessed a website that requires a login (for instance, your e-mail or bank account), make sure to log out by clicking the appropriate link (usually locate at the top right of the page)

7. Close the web browser.

For extra protection, close all browser windows and any other programs that may be running.

Book Review

Title Of Book: Quantity Food Production And Indian Cuisine

Author:      Parvinder Bali

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Cost:          Rs 325/-

Pages:        330

ISBN:          9780198068495

About the book

Yet another book by Parvinder Bali which is comprehensive textbook designed especially for the students of hotel management. The book covers the basics of volume cooking and Indian cuisine. The concepts are illustrated with the help of photographs, charts, layouts, etc. 

The first four chapters of the book introduce us to volume cookery and discuss the various types of volume catering establishments. The later portion of the book deals with the culinary diversity of India and the influence of history, geographical location, festivals and other factors on the various regional cuisines. Students will also learn about Indian sweets and street food, along with ancient cooking forms, such as dum and tandoor cooking. The book delves into the basics of planning, purchasing and indenting for volumes. It discusses the purchase systems, correct portion sizes for volume feeding, modifying recipes for volume caterings, optimum utilization of space for volume cooking, selection of equipment, staffing and resourcing. 

Key Features

• Concepts supported by suitable Photographs including 28 colour plates
• An appendix on internship training in hotels
• Accompanying CD containing 337 recipes
• Recipes of various Indian cuisines have been categorized on the basis of
• region (such as Kashmir, Maharashtra)
• tradition (such as Awadhi, Parsi)
• style (such as dum, tandoor)

About The Author

Parvinder S. Bali is Programme Manager—Culinary Services at Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD), Delhi. He is a certified hospitality educator (CHE) from American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), a certified professional chef from the Culinary Institute of America, and also a certified chef de cuisine from the American Culinary Federation.

Table Of Contents

• Preface
• Preface
• Preface
• List of Colour Plates
• 1. Introduction to Equipment Used in Volume Cookery
• 3. Purchasing and Indenting for Volumes
• 4. Planning for Volume Catering
• 5. Regional Cuisines of India
• 6. Dum Cooking
• 7. Tandoor Cooking
• 8. Rice Cooking
• 9. Introduction to Indian Sweets
• 10. Traditional Home-style Cooking
• Appendix: Internship Training in Hotels
• What to Observe in Professional
• Kitchens
• Food and Beverage Service
• What to Observe in Kitchens
• Index

The growing demand for food that tastes like it was cooked at home (ghar ka khana ) in hotels and restaurants is also addressed in detail. The book would be very useful to hotel management students and aspiring chefs in understanding the basics of kitchen operations and also their practical applications.

Book Review

Title Of Book: The Old Man & His God

Author: Sudha Murthy

Publisher: Penguin Books

Cost: Rs 150/-

Pages: 130

ISBN: 978-0-14-400101-9

About the book

Another slice-of-the-life  “The Old Man and His God” by Sudha Murty.  The book is far from a discourse, it is in fact a collection of short stories, a third in a series. This is a book that can change your entire perspective of looking at people. Sudha Murthy's sincere, down-to-earth, practical writing style and the sheer simplicity of characters, stories and incidents portrayed in this book are apparent in every single page, every single line that she pens. The stories are crisp and have an inherent lesson or moral, based on real incidences in Sudha Murthy's life and travels. .

As she goes about her work with the villagers, slumdwellers and the common men and women of India Sudha Murty, writer, social worker and teacher, listens to them and records what they have to say. Their accounts of the struggles and hardships which they have at times overcome, and at other times been overwhelmed by, are put together in this book. A blind old man in a little Shiva temple offers the author shelter and peace in the midst of a storm and emerges as the most generous, unselfish soul she has ever met. A little stone bench under a banyan tree in a village in Karnataka is the perfect place for travellers to rest and forget their burdens for a while as they chat with the man sitting there patiently listening to them, a better counsellor than one can find anywhere in the city.

The selflessness and selfishness, compassion and cruelty, knowledge and ignorance all are shown distinctly.
A must read for everyone.