Book review : Confessions of a Listmaniac- Life of Layla the ordinary

One of the first people to read Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s latest Confessions of a Listmaniac- Life of Layla the ordinary, was Manjulika Pramod. She won her copy, fresh off the press and autographed, when she made her award winning list for the FriendsOfBooks Listmania Competition.  She shares her review of the book:

Confessions of a Listmaniac by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

Well, it was a pleasure to have an autographed copy from the writer, seemed like a freshly baked cake with a cherry on top. The first impression – found the cover design appealing as well as interesting. In a few hours I was already wading in through the life of a 17 year old teenager, Layla. She is like any other girl living in our neighborhood who loves to shop, cribs over, fights with her brother, is curious about late night parties, hangs out with school friends, makes internet friends, can’t live without her best friend and is very confused about having a boyfriend.

The first thing that comes in mind as I put the book down is what a ‘cute refreshing treat’ it was. I enjoyed it thoroughly and it was an easy and breezy read. The book is fresh, bubbly and real. I am sure it will take you back to those wonderful, charming years-’teenage’ where things were actually so uncomplicated and fun. I was reminded of those petty issues which gave me sleepless nights but now seem so trivial compared to the other complexities in life.

The observations and confessions in this book have originality in plenty and relate perfectly to today’s teenagers. Layla, longs to be the centre of attraction in school but eventually realizes that there’s more fun in being an ‘Ordinary’ than ‘Extra-ordinary’. A lesson to be learnt!

This book urged me to go for List making. I have come to believe that List making can be turned into an art if you let it. Some advantages of list-making that I have realized:

1. It eases your work and highlights the concerns.
2. You rarely tend to forget anything.
3. Its way simpler than writing in paragraphs.
4. Also helps in time management.
5. Its simple, fast and easy to share.
6. Less wordy but conveys apt.
7. Helps to remember in sequence.
8. Keeps everything under control.
9. Makes reading interesting.

On another positive note, Lists help to preserve memories and if maintained on a daily basis helps to organize the day well. The aim should never be to have a long list but even when you complete half of the list; it gives a feeling of great accomplishment.

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Manjulika loves reading, reviewing and blogging. A telecom engineer, by profession she takes great interest in reading, writing drawing and painting. She likes to keep a tab on the latest books launches, book reviews and contests. Admires friendsofbooks and supports the cause of spreading ‘Reading Virus’.
You can read more about and from Manjulika at  http://totalgadha.com/tgtown/manjulika/

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