*FLASH BOOK REVIEW: The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama*

This book is lofty and not in a bad way. Obama's characteristic optimism is front and centre in this book as he shares his thoughts on politics, race, education, employment, health care & foreign policy as a senator. Obama attempts to find a middle ground in contentious issues while running the risk of appearing to be fence-sitting or long-winded. Although he doesn't do it with clinical forthrightness, it can't be denied that his writing cuts the ice in addressing political stalemates.

Flash book review: A pleasant kind of heavy by Aranyani (4/5)

I picked up this book when I read this line in a book review: "So often erotica is restricted to the briefest moments in the bedroom when in fact, it is everywhere where there is life" <1/n> This book held the promise of pushing the boundaries of erotica as a genre and how! It manages to cut across gender, class and sexuality by relaying erotic stories of Tamil housewives and maids in 'Stolen', sexually frustrated Tamil woman in 'A nice polite girl', and so on. <2/n>

Have only read 1 chapter of "Escape" by Manjula Padmanabhan but, boy, is it promising!

Is this going to be a story rivaling Rosemary's baby or The Stepford wives which uses horror as a medium for social commentary on the role of women in society? Well, it was a great premise, I must admit. The characters, too, were powerful. But it falters quite a bit in execution as it suffers from bad pacing and a flat climax. It reclaims itself a little bit towards the very end but not enough. (3 out of 5)