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A Year of Wednesdays
A flight from New Delhi to New York. Two strangers, seat 7A and seat 7B, who have nothing in common. Absolutely nothing. Except they are both hoping the seat next to theirs remains empty.
It doesn't. Mid-flight turbulence and infant incontinence forces them to interact, the cool Wall Street guy and the mom with the drool-stained sweater and ordinary aspirations. Blistering wit, opposing views, and some unexpectedly poignant admissions keep them addictive, engaged, and hopelessly sleep deprived through the fifteen-hour journey.
Touch down ... and they leave the cabin without a backward glance, jumping right back into their dramatically different lives. Never to meet again. But somehow they continue to travel together, interlocked forever through an inexplicable connectedness. Can one meeting change everything forever? The Japanese have a term for it: ichi-go ichi-e. One time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime.
It doesn't. Mid-flight turbulence and infant incontinence forces them to interact, the cool Wall Street guy and the mom with the drool-stained sweater and ordinary aspirations. Blistering wit, opposing views, and some unexpectedly poignant admissions keep them addictive, engaged, and hopelessly sleep deprived through the fifteen-hour journey.
Touch down ... and they leave the cabin without a backward glance, jumping right back into their dramatically different lives. Never to meet again. But somehow they continue to travel together, interlocked forever through an inexplicable connectedness. Can one meeting change everything forever? The Japanese have a term for it: ichi-go ichi-e. One time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime.
280 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2019
20 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
Sonia Bahl
2 books34 followersBorn and raised in Kolkata, Sonia has lived and worked in Jakarta, Miami, Brussels, Johannesburg and Singapore. With home being everywhere and nowhere, her belief in the power of the moment became a religion. An affirmation that unexpected and undeniable human connections are everything—reflected in some way or the other in all her writing.
She spent a huge chunk of her life, her days, and sleepless nights, in advertising—writing ads for all things from coffee and cars to condoms and candy—while dreaming of morphing 30-second commercials to full-length feature films. Not surprisingly, she threw caution, and her full-time job as a Creative Director to the winds and embarked on a riveting, rejection-filled screenwriting journey in the US.
Happily, her day job now entails writing movies. In a delightful plot twist, her debut novel, The Spectacular Miss, was optioned by RSVP, a Bollywood studio and she was commissioned to write the screenplay.
Her second novel, A Year of Wednesdays was sold out within two weeks of its launch.
Sonia writes and re-writes in Singapore where she lives with her menagerie: gorgeous itinerant daughter, honorary proofreader husband, and her made-for-the-movies golden retriever, Ari Gold.
Say hello to Sonia on Twitter: soniabahl
or Instagram: soniabahl.ink
She spent a huge chunk of her life, her days, and sleepless nights, in advertising—writing ads for all things from coffee and cars to condoms and candy—while dreaming of morphing 30-second commercials to full-length feature films. Not surprisingly, she threw caution, and her full-time job as a Creative Director to the winds and embarked on a riveting, rejection-filled screenwriting journey in the US.
Happily, her day job now entails writing movies. In a delightful plot twist, her debut novel, The Spectacular Miss, was optioned by RSVP, a Bollywood studio and she was commissioned to write the screenplay.
Her second novel, A Year of Wednesdays was sold out within two weeks of its launch.
Sonia writes and re-writes in Singapore where she lives with her menagerie: gorgeous itinerant daughter, honorary proofreader husband, and her made-for-the-movies golden retriever, Ari Gold.
Say hello to Sonia on Twitter: soniabahl
or Instagram: soniabahl.ink
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 88 reviews
June 28, 2019
Each day is a new one which brings a new reason for the change. It brings along a multitude of hopes and colors with us. A day is different in the way it twists and turns to shape our lives. We look forward to each day with anticipation of getting something new or perhaps, getting rid of baggage. However, amongst the seven colors of the rainbow, we hardly pay any attention to the middle one – Wednesday – which seems pale and trivial but get into this book, and with each flipping page, you’d love it more than anything.
It’s not the start of the week. It’s not a flamboyant Friday. It’s not the revered weekend. And yet, this humble mid-week day has this halo around it. I feel like nothing bad can ever happen on a Wednesday.
Two people who are poles apart in their ideologies and behavior bump into each other on their 15-hour long flight. Their chance meeting turns into an important part of their respective lives as they walk their ways after the journey. Time and again, for an entire year, the Wednesday reminds them of each other. The Wall Street guy who lives for money and the Environment lover mommy who strikes the young man with philosophical questions recall their conversations that bring about a wave of change in their already dynamic lives. And so we come to realize, a meeting can last a lifetime.
In the witty and crisp writing style, the author weaves a compelling narrative brimming with the emotions on high but balanced with a sigh of humor and pinches of sarcastic conversational style. The book consists of opposing viewpoints of two people who influence each other in just a meeting of 15 hours. The beauty of their story leaves an indelible mark on its readers. How a meeting rests with us in our hearts!
With wonderfully etched characters and meticulously developed storyline, the pace of the book kept me glued to it. Though at points, I seem to lose my enthusiasm due to the inclusion of references to movies and shows which were foreign to me, the book does hold a beauty which unfolds as you go further in its journey. Replete with mindful dialogues between the characters served in delightful style, the story makes you feel multiple emotions. A Wednesday of colors, shimmer, and everything nice.
A Year Of Wednesdays has a woman happy with her small family who extorts dormant emotions out of money minting mechanistic man. The transformation in him which manifests itself slowly and transcends the boundaries with that last note made something break inside of me. Seat 7A was truly my favorite in this book. A man of the hard exterior but utterly softcore. This is definitely my recommendation to everyone who wishes to get the taste of life with a bit of humor.
It’s not the start of the week. It’s not a flamboyant Friday. It’s not the revered weekend. And yet, this humble mid-week day has this halo around it. I feel like nothing bad can ever happen on a Wednesday.
Two people who are poles apart in their ideologies and behavior bump into each other on their 15-hour long flight. Their chance meeting turns into an important part of their respective lives as they walk their ways after the journey. Time and again, for an entire year, the Wednesday reminds them of each other. The Wall Street guy who lives for money and the Environment lover mommy who strikes the young man with philosophical questions recall their conversations that bring about a wave of change in their already dynamic lives. And so we come to realize, a meeting can last a lifetime.
In the witty and crisp writing style, the author weaves a compelling narrative brimming with the emotions on high but balanced with a sigh of humor and pinches of sarcastic conversational style. The book consists of opposing viewpoints of two people who influence each other in just a meeting of 15 hours. The beauty of their story leaves an indelible mark on its readers. How a meeting rests with us in our hearts!
With wonderfully etched characters and meticulously developed storyline, the pace of the book kept me glued to it. Though at points, I seem to lose my enthusiasm due to the inclusion of references to movies and shows which were foreign to me, the book does hold a beauty which unfolds as you go further in its journey. Replete with mindful dialogues between the characters served in delightful style, the story makes you feel multiple emotions. A Wednesday of colors, shimmer, and everything nice.
A Year Of Wednesdays has a woman happy with her small family who extorts dormant emotions out of money minting mechanistic man. The transformation in him which manifests itself slowly and transcends the boundaries with that last note made something break inside of me. Seat 7A was truly my favorite in this book. A man of the hard exterior but utterly softcore. This is definitely my recommendation to everyone who wishes to get the taste of life with a bit of humor.
June 20, 2019
Title: A Year Of Wednesdays
Author: Sonia Bahl
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Fingerprint! Publishing
Language - English
Format - Paperback
✈️COVER & TITLE :- The cover of the book is simple but quite attractive. It is rightly said, "simplicity is the purest beauty of the attraction." The title of the book also good suits with the storyline & theme of the book.
✈️PLOT :- The main two protagonists met each other in a flight journey New Delhi to New Jersey. They both occupied seats 7A and 7B for the tirdy hectic long journey.
Seat 7A occupied by a fascinating man. He is an influencer of money and love to live in a luxurious manner. He is a very straight forward man and movie lover.
Seat 7B occupied by a working mother with her two small kids Azad & Azaan. She is a humble & hard working lady. She is an environmentalist & dedicated her life for plants trees & environment. But she hates when people called her stereotypical mother. From the beginning, they have different opinions in each and every prospect of life. The book completely based on the power of communication and conversation and how to view the point of peoples different from each other. You met many persons in life but only a few can imprint their impressions in your heart. The most unexpected part of the book is until the end of the story both of them couldn't able to know each other's name.
✈️ WRITING & LANGUAGE:- The writing style of the book is very much impressive & heart touching. Some parts of the book are quite significant to read for a book lover. The language used also good but in some parts, it is a little bit more sophisticated but it's used in a smart way. Overall the language and writing of the book significant and impressive.
💔The only -ve part is the book is slowly paced and in some parts, I felt really bored to read as the story stopped somewhere not moving forward.
"A MUST READ BOOK FOR EVERYONE TO JOIN THE BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY FROM NEW DELHI TO NEW JERSEY"
MY RATING :-
Cover - 4/5
Title - 4/5
Plot - 4.2/5
Writing - 4/5
Language - 4.1/5
Overall - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
♥️GIST :- "Two strangers met each other in a journey and secede from each other after the journey as if don't know each other."
Author: Sonia Bahl
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Fingerprint! Publishing
Language - English
Format - Paperback
✈️COVER & TITLE :- The cover of the book is simple but quite attractive. It is rightly said, "simplicity is the purest beauty of the attraction." The title of the book also good suits with the storyline & theme of the book.
✈️PLOT :- The main two protagonists met each other in a flight journey New Delhi to New Jersey. They both occupied seats 7A and 7B for the tirdy hectic long journey.
Seat 7A occupied by a fascinating man. He is an influencer of money and love to live in a luxurious manner. He is a very straight forward man and movie lover.
Seat 7B occupied by a working mother with her two small kids Azad & Azaan. She is a humble & hard working lady. She is an environmentalist & dedicated her life for plants trees & environment. But she hates when people called her stereotypical mother. From the beginning, they have different opinions in each and every prospect of life. The book completely based on the power of communication and conversation and how to view the point of peoples different from each other. You met many persons in life but only a few can imprint their impressions in your heart. The most unexpected part of the book is until the end of the story both of them couldn't able to know each other's name.
✈️ WRITING & LANGUAGE:- The writing style of the book is very much impressive & heart touching. Some parts of the book are quite significant to read for a book lover. The language used also good but in some parts, it is a little bit more sophisticated but it's used in a smart way. Overall the language and writing of the book significant and impressive.
💔The only -ve part is the book is slowly paced and in some parts, I felt really bored to read as the story stopped somewhere not moving forward.
"A MUST READ BOOK FOR EVERYONE TO JOIN THE BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY FROM NEW DELHI TO NEW JERSEY"
MY RATING :-
Cover - 4/5
Title - 4/5
Plot - 4.2/5
Writing - 4/5
Language - 4.1/5
Overall - 🌟🌟🌟🌟
♥️GIST :- "Two strangers met each other in a journey and secede from each other after the journey as if don't know each other."
December 2, 2019
A Year of Wednesdays is about how one conversation can stay with someone for an entire lifetime. It's a beautifully platonic love story about two polar opposites striking up a conversation filled with verbal jabs and poignant admissions while sleep-deprived on a 15-hour-long flight. I completely enjoyed reading it and recommend it to anyone who loves literary fiction, idealistic main characters, and platonic love stories.
Read my entire review on This is Lit.
Read my entire review on This is Lit.
November 30, 2019
A year of Wednesdays – By Sonia Bahl
Here’s my review for what I read and what I learned and why this book needs to be on your bookshelves!!
Review
1) Source and book recommendation:
Purchased this book form Amazon Great India festival at great discount – 100 bucks only!! That’s right. That’s what sales are for us, isn’t it.. good books at affordable prices… Cheers to #booksales and #amazon. And with this looking forward to Christmas and new year’s :-D
2) Plot:
Now talking about the plot, you can easily consider this as a fiction book with non-fiction characteristics associated with it. Why do I say that, because this book can have you go through a journey that may not be real but is very close to real, the typical life that we live.
Now without much delay, lets straight way tell you why am in high regard of this book:
Two strangers, with nothing in common sat next to each other for 15 hours in a flight from New Delhi to New York and walked right back into their own shells without a backward glance. Nothing new, happens to everybody.. but just this time their thoughts got interlocked for a forever journey with one-another.
As the blurb rightly says: One time, one encounter lasts a lifetime
In Japanese we say that “Ichi-go ichi-e”
Seat 7A and Seat 7B the protagonists, are stuck with each other on a 15 hour flight, but are they really stuck? We always say we should make the most out of any situation.. and they really did!! They talked, shared, laughed, learned, mourned and had a time of their life in those freaking 15 hours.
Apart from the fact that they had conflict of interests in their every conversation or almost every.
The book takes you through the life of Seat 7A and 7B, and how their lives are totally different, the way they perceive things, how they overlook a situation and they come out of it-all of this with a continuous mental banter with each other.
It gives you a wide perspective of what you want in life and how you want to get it and at what cost. Whether you wanna be Seat 7A or 7B. The very common two types that we must have seen- extremely content with their lifestyle.
Character and their characteristics:
Seat 7A, being the quintessential Wall Street guy, with confidence oozing out from each inch of his body. The one who is not here to take shit and can resolve anything from money. Yes, seems to be brat, a bit insensitive too.
But no he is not, he has got his own story to support his life-mantra.
And no he is surely not insensitive, specially if you are ok holding a toddler whose mother is changing his diapers whom you have met barely 15 mins ago.
He is the one who finds competitiveness to be the gist of one’s survival
He is in awe of his life and all that he is achieving and not just from sheer luck but working his ass off.
But is all what he is gushing at actually that important? To work in a place where you can be forgotten within few hours not even days even worth the precedence that you give over your personal life.
These are some of the questions he tries to find answer to in this journey with the help of seat 7B always in his head.
Seat 7B, stark opposite to Seat 7A, in every way possible. Yes, she is more homely, but that doesn’t mean she is all into homely chores and all. Infact she struggles being the perfect household lady- considering she has a kid who is too sensitive which is fine but not in the eyes of the so called “perfect mommies” claiming that being sensitive is somehow not macho, another kid with profound love to honey singh’s song whose source is the nanny they have hired along with a husband who finds it difficult to say no to anyone, which is sometimes pleasing, sometimes not.
She has a heart for saving environment, winning arguments and asking questions to strangers on flights :-P
She values emotions, not coming from some thing you bought or some party you attended but sleeping on a bed with 2 kids, her husband and a dog.
The book makes you live a journey where you ask yourself who you are seat 7A or seat 7B, and its fine to be anyone of those.
Writing:
The book starts with their flight journey of 15 hours, setting up the context for the following chapters to come. What follows are extracts from each of their lives where they remember their conversation which is somehow related to their current situation and try to figure out what would the other person have done.
Sometimes this may lag some pace, becomes a bit slow so just need to hang in especially for the readers who take long time to finish a book (like me!!).
Also, keep a dictionary handy, as the writing is slightly uphill.
Conclude:
Its a go- go for both fiction and non-fiction lovers
This book will be with you for a very long time and surely benefiting you the most.
It almost made me cry in the end, so beware of that.
Go give this one a try!!
Here’s my review for what I read and what I learned and why this book needs to be on your bookshelves!!
Review
1) Source and book recommendation:
Purchased this book form Amazon Great India festival at great discount – 100 bucks only!! That’s right. That’s what sales are for us, isn’t it.. good books at affordable prices… Cheers to #booksales and #amazon. And with this looking forward to Christmas and new year’s :-D
2) Plot:
Now talking about the plot, you can easily consider this as a fiction book with non-fiction characteristics associated with it. Why do I say that, because this book can have you go through a journey that may not be real but is very close to real, the typical life that we live.
Now without much delay, lets straight way tell you why am in high regard of this book:
Two strangers, with nothing in common sat next to each other for 15 hours in a flight from New Delhi to New York and walked right back into their own shells without a backward glance. Nothing new, happens to everybody.. but just this time their thoughts got interlocked for a forever journey with one-another.
As the blurb rightly says: One time, one encounter lasts a lifetime
In Japanese we say that “Ichi-go ichi-e”
Seat 7A and Seat 7B the protagonists, are stuck with each other on a 15 hour flight, but are they really stuck? We always say we should make the most out of any situation.. and they really did!! They talked, shared, laughed, learned, mourned and had a time of their life in those freaking 15 hours.
Apart from the fact that they had conflict of interests in their every conversation or almost every.
The book takes you through the life of Seat 7A and 7B, and how their lives are totally different, the way they perceive things, how they overlook a situation and they come out of it-all of this with a continuous mental banter with each other.
It gives you a wide perspective of what you want in life and how you want to get it and at what cost. Whether you wanna be Seat 7A or 7B. The very common two types that we must have seen- extremely content with their lifestyle.
Character and their characteristics:
Seat 7A, being the quintessential Wall Street guy, with confidence oozing out from each inch of his body. The one who is not here to take shit and can resolve anything from money. Yes, seems to be brat, a bit insensitive too.
But no he is not, he has got his own story to support his life-mantra.
And no he is surely not insensitive, specially if you are ok holding a toddler whose mother is changing his diapers whom you have met barely 15 mins ago.
He is the one who finds competitiveness to be the gist of one’s survival
He is in awe of his life and all that he is achieving and not just from sheer luck but working his ass off.
But is all what he is gushing at actually that important? To work in a place where you can be forgotten within few hours not even days even worth the precedence that you give over your personal life.
These are some of the questions he tries to find answer to in this journey with the help of seat 7B always in his head.
Seat 7B, stark opposite to Seat 7A, in every way possible. Yes, she is more homely, but that doesn’t mean she is all into homely chores and all. Infact she struggles being the perfect household lady- considering she has a kid who is too sensitive which is fine but not in the eyes of the so called “perfect mommies” claiming that being sensitive is somehow not macho, another kid with profound love to honey singh’s song whose source is the nanny they have hired along with a husband who finds it difficult to say no to anyone, which is sometimes pleasing, sometimes not.
She has a heart for saving environment, winning arguments and asking questions to strangers on flights :-P
She values emotions, not coming from some thing you bought or some party you attended but sleeping on a bed with 2 kids, her husband and a dog.
The book makes you live a journey where you ask yourself who you are seat 7A or seat 7B, and its fine to be anyone of those.
Writing:
The book starts with their flight journey of 15 hours, setting up the context for the following chapters to come. What follows are extracts from each of their lives where they remember their conversation which is somehow related to their current situation and try to figure out what would the other person have done.
Sometimes this may lag some pace, becomes a bit slow so just need to hang in especially for the readers who take long time to finish a book (like me!!).
Also, keep a dictionary handy, as the writing is slightly uphill.
Conclude:
Its a go- go for both fiction and non-fiction lovers
This book will be with you for a very long time and surely benefiting you the most.
It almost made me cry in the end, so beware of that.
Go give this one a try!!
December 19, 2019
A Year of Wednesdays is a work of Contemporary-Fiction, written with exceptional brilliancy and I’m not even exaggerating. The book felt more like an impromptu journey than a perfect plotted story. It’s a first-person point of view narration of two strangers connected through their first and only encounter. I found it wittiest that how these characters present their point of view to each other and even in their own minds. And oh, I can’t even describe how well the writing style is, like A++ minus─ (minus), eventually A+++. It is absolutely brilliant, the author Sonia Bahl enlightens us with insights on the planet & its population, climate change, lefties, a lot of movies and quotes.
You would ask what all so good about A Year of Wednesdays, I will say ‘EVERYTHING’. As you start reading the book, you start laughing out loud. Like, the analogies and the comparisons the author has used are hilarious sometimes. Moving forward, you get used to the fun and joyful moments. A Year of Wednesdays is full of references─ quotes, movies, pop-culture and what not. Yes, Harry Potter is also a part of this, whose 39th birthday was the last Wednesday of July. There are life-changing and life-saving insights that made me wonder only, how didn’t I know this before. That adorable couple parenting two little boys. With that, emotions take over you─ love, compassion, care and warmth. Then comes the feelings of sorrow and loss. But that humour, insights and arguments never fade away. In the end, the book leaves you filled with emotions yet numb. You get so used to with those impactful and captivating characters that you would not want to leave them because that means giving up those ever-lasting Wednesdays.
Check out the full review on my blog - http://bit.ly/2LYftkz
You would ask what all so good about A Year of Wednesdays, I will say ‘EVERYTHING’. As you start reading the book, you start laughing out loud. Like, the analogies and the comparisons the author has used are hilarious sometimes. Moving forward, you get used to the fun and joyful moments. A Year of Wednesdays is full of references─ quotes, movies, pop-culture and what not. Yes, Harry Potter is also a part of this, whose 39th birthday was the last Wednesday of July. There are life-changing and life-saving insights that made me wonder only, how didn’t I know this before. That adorable couple parenting two little boys. With that, emotions take over you─ love, compassion, care and warmth. Then comes the feelings of sorrow and loss. But that humour, insights and arguments never fade away. In the end, the book leaves you filled with emotions yet numb. You get so used to with those impactful and captivating characters that you would not want to leave them because that means giving up those ever-lasting Wednesdays.
Check out the full review on my blog - http://bit.ly/2LYftkz
May 31, 2019
I have known the author of this book, Sonia Bahl, ever since I read her debut novel 'The Spectacular Miss' years ago. She is so sweet that she read and reviewed my e-book when it came out, and I'm really grateful to her for that. I had liked her previous book, and when I recently got to know about this new book of hers, I bought it immediately.
The story is about two completely opposite strangers who meet in a flight from Delhi to New York and how their interaction influences their lives thereafter.
The story is intriguing, and I felt it was better than the first book, especially the beautiful, bittersweet ending that almost brought tears to my eyes, something that the first book hadn't even come close to doing. Her powerful narrative kept me hooked right until the last page.
Like her first book, she once again references a lot of movies, personalities, songs, books, etc. in her prose, which would be a treat for people who have watched/read them (I especially loved the Pablo Escobar joke as I had thankfully watched Narcos recently) but for those who haven't, they wouldn't understand the joke or punchline (which happened to me many times, leaving me feeling a bit bored, so probably she could reduce them a bit, just a thought). As far as the humor element goes, I got the same feeling as I had while reading her last book, and thus I quote from my review, "Although I never laughed out loud, some witty lines did bring a smile to my face."
The characters are wonderfully etched just like her first book. However, unfortunately, in this book, I ended up liking one character more than the other. Despite his cocky attitude and his ruthlessness, I really came to like Seat 7A. Probably that was because there was something to look forward to in his storyline—what will happen to his friend Jason, his relationship with Natasha, etc. I also ended up loving his kind, in-need-of-care, emotional core that he always tries to hide but which manifests itself more frequently than he expects.
On the contrary, I strangely couldn't quite relate to Seat 7B. Although she is said to be kind, emotional, etc. several times in the book, I found her quite cold and rude, right from the moment she refuses to share her contact details to poor 7A at the end of the flight. Although some of her insights were inspirational and thought-provoking, I found many of her reactions to situations and her opinion on certain things a bit annoying. Perhaps another reason why I didn't quite enjoy her part of the story was that there was nothing much happening in her life, apart from daily chores in a very settled family and her nice, comfortable job.
However, I loved her husband, Riz, who was quite a beautiful character.
Her writing had impressed me even in the first book. She has an excellent command of the language, an exceptional vocabulary, and a flair that I have rarely seen in other modern authors. The best thing about her writing in this book is how she has improved since her first book, which was anyway very good. The reduced usage of big words is admirable, so is the perfect execution of the show-don't-tell rule, both of which were minor complaints of mine in her first book. And just like her first book, the grammar and punctuation are flawless.
In my opinion, the overall experience was slightly better than her first book. So I give this book 4 stars. I still feel she can do better and produce a literary masterpiece, although this was quite close to one.
On a side note, I'm very happy that this good-intentioned book is doing well on Amazon and is a bestseller. Classy authors like Sonia Bahl need to occupy those spots instead of the average books ruling the market. Best wishes to the author. Keep writing!
The story is about two completely opposite strangers who meet in a flight from Delhi to New York and how their interaction influences their lives thereafter.
The story is intriguing, and I felt it was better than the first book, especially the beautiful, bittersweet ending that almost brought tears to my eyes, something that the first book hadn't even come close to doing. Her powerful narrative kept me hooked right until the last page.
Like her first book, she once again references a lot of movies, personalities, songs, books, etc. in her prose, which would be a treat for people who have watched/read them (I especially loved the Pablo Escobar joke as I had thankfully watched Narcos recently) but for those who haven't, they wouldn't understand the joke or punchline (which happened to me many times, leaving me feeling a bit bored, so probably she could reduce them a bit, just a thought). As far as the humor element goes, I got the same feeling as I had while reading her last book, and thus I quote from my review, "Although I never laughed out loud, some witty lines did bring a smile to my face."
The characters are wonderfully etched just like her first book. However, unfortunately, in this book, I ended up liking one character more than the other. Despite his cocky attitude and his ruthlessness, I really came to like Seat 7A. Probably that was because there was something to look forward to in his storyline—what will happen to his friend Jason, his relationship with Natasha, etc. I also ended up loving his kind, in-need-of-care, emotional core that he always tries to hide but which manifests itself more frequently than he expects.
On the contrary, I strangely couldn't quite relate to Seat 7B. Although she is said to be kind, emotional, etc. several times in the book, I found her quite cold and rude, right from the moment she refuses to share her contact details to poor 7A at the end of the flight. Although some of her insights were inspirational and thought-provoking, I found many of her reactions to situations and her opinion on certain things a bit annoying. Perhaps another reason why I didn't quite enjoy her part of the story was that there was nothing much happening in her life, apart from daily chores in a very settled family and her nice, comfortable job.
However, I loved her husband, Riz, who was quite a beautiful character.
Her writing had impressed me even in the first book. She has an excellent command of the language, an exceptional vocabulary, and a flair that I have rarely seen in other modern authors. The best thing about her writing in this book is how she has improved since her first book, which was anyway very good. The reduced usage of big words is admirable, so is the perfect execution of the show-don't-tell rule, both of which were minor complaints of mine in her first book. And just like her first book, the grammar and punctuation are flawless.
In my opinion, the overall experience was slightly better than her first book. So I give this book 4 stars. I still feel she can do better and produce a literary masterpiece, although this was quite close to one.
On a side note, I'm very happy that this good-intentioned book is doing well on Amazon and is a bestseller. Classy authors like Sonia Bahl need to occupy those spots instead of the average books ruling the market. Best wishes to the author. Keep writing!
April 25, 2019
A Year of Wednesdays by Sonia Bahl is a humorous but touching story. I know it sounds like a oxymoron, but it is the kind of unique read that you don’t forget easily. It will always remain with you. And probably you’ll end up reminiscing its references sometime during you daily hustle bustle.
Let me start with a summary and then get down to a more detailed review.
Summary
Two strangers meet in an airplane when travelling from India to the US. Seat 7A is this wall street hotshot, who knows how to live the high life and that’s exactly what he aspires to do for the rest of his life. Seat 7B, with a toddler in hand, likes to believe in the simplicity of life and adjust-ability that comes with it. Both start a conversation that lasts the entire journey. At their destination they part, not knowing their names or any other details but still feel like they have known each other for a lifetime.
What I Liked
The book is a poignant story that explores the layers of human emotions. The narrative was casually modern and humorous.
I loved the language used by the author. Very impressed. She has experience in writing and that clearly shows throughout the book. It is but commendable how she has expressed herself.
The characters were as real as could be. Sophisticated and domineering in their own unique ways, the path the characters take in the story is rather interesting.
The ending was short but perfect, in my opinion. A nice little twist to the undeviating story line.
What I Did Not Like
There was this place towards the end where I felt a slight (and I mean slight) drag in the pace of the story. Otherwise, it was all good.
Other Details
The author, Sonia Bahl, has been into writing ads, movies etc., and as mentioned earlier, it shows in the flamboyant language used by her.
Would I Recommend It?
Definitely. If you’re bored with your usual reads, then pick this up. It is something quite different.
Let me start with a summary and then get down to a more detailed review.
Summary
Two strangers meet in an airplane when travelling from India to the US. Seat 7A is this wall street hotshot, who knows how to live the high life and that’s exactly what he aspires to do for the rest of his life. Seat 7B, with a toddler in hand, likes to believe in the simplicity of life and adjust-ability that comes with it. Both start a conversation that lasts the entire journey. At their destination they part, not knowing their names or any other details but still feel like they have known each other for a lifetime.
What I Liked
The book is a poignant story that explores the layers of human emotions. The narrative was casually modern and humorous.
I loved the language used by the author. Very impressed. She has experience in writing and that clearly shows throughout the book. It is but commendable how she has expressed herself.
The characters were as real as could be. Sophisticated and domineering in their own unique ways, the path the characters take in the story is rather interesting.
The ending was short but perfect, in my opinion. A nice little twist to the undeviating story line.
What I Did Not Like
There was this place towards the end where I felt a slight (and I mean slight) drag in the pace of the story. Otherwise, it was all good.
Other Details
The author, Sonia Bahl, has been into writing ads, movies etc., and as mentioned earlier, it shows in the flamboyant language used by her.
Would I Recommend It?
Definitely. If you’re bored with your usual reads, then pick this up. It is something quite different.
October 15, 2020
Absolutely recommended as a light humourous read, filled with fusion of good healthy sarcastic bantering between Seat 7A and Seat 7B, emotional exchange of subconscious conversation in parralel time being in the same city. Ends with the guy loosing his guard down, and the female character following one of her sayings, "It's me: meaning I'll be there for you." Honestly it's a cute read with both characters virtually meeting through his phone having a huge note to the female character, who turned down a coffee date a year ago, the first time they met, on a plane.
June 4, 2024
I generally like stories that have a good flow, i.e., if I skip reading a page, I do not understand the story that follows. But in this book, even if I skip chapters, it will not matter. There was no link or continuity to the previous or the next chapter. You just need to read the first one and then read others randomly. This is what I thought about the book till I read about 70% of it, and suddenly the dots started connecting. The ending was unpredictable and beautiful, but in a painful way. If a story makes you cry in the end, that means it has touched you deep inside. Yes, that made me change my rating from 2.5 to 4. The book does get monotonous in between, when I even felt like putting it down. My perseverance helped me cruise through it when I realized it was worth reading all of it. Had it not been for the ending, I would have given a 2.5 to this one. But kudos to the writer for providing a lovely closure!
August 19, 2019
14th Book of 2019
Quote from the Book I Liked - 'How we are never more than a moment. a sentence, sometimes just a word away from becoming a completely different person. Once they leave our lips, words seem to chart their course along invisible cartographic pathways, carrying with us to different places. And sometimes to entirely unexpected destinations from where we may, quite possibly never return.' (Page 25)
Rating - 3.5 Stars
Plot Summary - A flight from New Delhi to New York. Two strangers, seat 7A and seat 7B, who have nothing in common. Absolutely nothing. Except they are both hoping the seat next to theirs remains empty. It doesn't. Mid-flight turbulence and infant incontinence force them to interact—the cool wall Street guy and the mom-with-the-drool-stained-sweater-and-ordinary-aspirations. Blistering wit, opposing views, and some unexpectedly poignant admissions keep them addictive engaged and hopelessly sleep deprived through the fifteen-hour journey. Touch down... And they leave the cabin without a backward Glance, jumping right back into their dramatically different lives. Never to meet again. But somehow they continue to travel together—interlocked forever through an inexplicable connectedness. Can one meeting change everything forever? The Japanese have a term for it: Ichi-go Ichi-e. One time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime.
My Review - (Let me remind you, it's not a love story, Don't keep that in mind while reading it. It may seem from the blurb or from my review to be like that but it isn't. Because people always confuse 2 stranger meeting on a plane is a love story.)
2 Strangers on a plane journey from New Delhi to New York. One, Nature Saviour, with her Infant baby and another, Stock Broker of The Wall Street. Both wanted to have their adjacent seat on the flight to be vacant but life made them seated together. On a 15 hour long journey, how much can 2 stranger talk about? That's what this book tells us. On their 15 hours long journey they talk in lengths about all the given topics one can talk about and when they leave, they were destined to never meet again in their life yet they traveled in each other's life. They are in each other thought, competing on every situation, on every topic, in everything they think of. They talk to one another as if they are fictional characters, makeup from the mind itself. How does this thing work? Go read and know it for yourself.
The book is (I suppose) divided into 52 chapters, each representing A Wednesday, making the title and the book as 'A Year of Wednesdays'. This concept of the title and the chapters is one of the unique qualities of this book which made me appreciate the approach. Along with the beautiful cover, depicting the changing colors of the leaves as in resemblance with changing season throughout the year. Both the character development throughout the book by remembering and imaginary talking to each other makes total sense and the core of the book as said in the blurb - 'Can one meeting change everything forever?' Yes, it does. Everyone we meet in life may it be just for a few hours or for a few minutes, can change our lives. Take on every interaction in life as inspiration as if they have crossed paths with your life to either teach you something or you to teach them something. This approach of life depicted through this book is wonderful. The only thing I kind of disliked about this book is that while hovering over it, at some places the story got a bit sluggish but that can be ignored as it got to pace very soon. I enjoyed reading this elegant work which does teach us that the people we meet in our life can change it in many miraculous ways.
Conclusion - Teaches us that people we meet in our lives even for just one time, do leave their marks on us (in a good way).
Full Review on Blog.
Link to Blog - The Tales of Fugitive Biker
Quote from the Book I Liked - 'How we are never more than a moment. a sentence, sometimes just a word away from becoming a completely different person. Once they leave our lips, words seem to chart their course along invisible cartographic pathways, carrying with us to different places. And sometimes to entirely unexpected destinations from where we may, quite possibly never return.' (Page 25)
Rating - 3.5 Stars
Plot Summary - A flight from New Delhi to New York. Two strangers, seat 7A and seat 7B, who have nothing in common. Absolutely nothing. Except they are both hoping the seat next to theirs remains empty. It doesn't. Mid-flight turbulence and infant incontinence force them to interact—the cool wall Street guy and the mom-with-the-drool-stained-sweater-and-ordinary-aspirations. Blistering wit, opposing views, and some unexpectedly poignant admissions keep them addictive engaged and hopelessly sleep deprived through the fifteen-hour journey. Touch down... And they leave the cabin without a backward Glance, jumping right back into their dramatically different lives. Never to meet again. But somehow they continue to travel together—interlocked forever through an inexplicable connectedness. Can one meeting change everything forever? The Japanese have a term for it: Ichi-go Ichi-e. One time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime.
My Review - (Let me remind you, it's not a love story, Don't keep that in mind while reading it. It may seem from the blurb or from my review to be like that but it isn't. Because people always confuse 2 stranger meeting on a plane is a love story.)
2 Strangers on a plane journey from New Delhi to New York. One, Nature Saviour, with her Infant baby and another, Stock Broker of The Wall Street. Both wanted to have their adjacent seat on the flight to be vacant but life made them seated together. On a 15 hour long journey, how much can 2 stranger talk about? That's what this book tells us. On their 15 hours long journey they talk in lengths about all the given topics one can talk about and when they leave, they were destined to never meet again in their life yet they traveled in each other's life. They are in each other thought, competing on every situation, on every topic, in everything they think of. They talk to one another as if they are fictional characters, makeup from the mind itself. How does this thing work? Go read and know it for yourself.
The book is (I suppose) divided into 52 chapters, each representing A Wednesday, making the title and the book as 'A Year of Wednesdays'. This concept of the title and the chapters is one of the unique qualities of this book which made me appreciate the approach. Along with the beautiful cover, depicting the changing colors of the leaves as in resemblance with changing season throughout the year. Both the character development throughout the book by remembering and imaginary talking to each other makes total sense and the core of the book as said in the blurb - 'Can one meeting change everything forever?' Yes, it does. Everyone we meet in life may it be just for a few hours or for a few minutes, can change our lives. Take on every interaction in life as inspiration as if they have crossed paths with your life to either teach you something or you to teach them something. This approach of life depicted through this book is wonderful. The only thing I kind of disliked about this book is that while hovering over it, at some places the story got a bit sluggish but that can be ignored as it got to pace very soon. I enjoyed reading this elegant work which does teach us that the people we meet in our life can change it in many miraculous ways.
Conclusion - Teaches us that people we meet in our lives even for just one time, do leave their marks on us (in a good way).
Full Review on Blog.
Link to Blog - The Tales of Fugitive Biker
December 6, 2020
Through a book of retrospection, lamenting and principle wars Sonia Bahl makes you retrospect, lament and cheer on the fight of principles between two characters that the book does not bestow a name upon. The book starts with an unlikely conversation between two passengers flying from DEL to JFK exchanging lines after lines on their views on topics regarding fortune, self surrender, sacrifice, interesting it seems but sometimes gets to the territory of “I want a government owned alien occupied space territory looking jacket” up in the airs, it gets too deep. Nobody asks “What is your favourite day of the week?” without a) wanting to stir the conversation, b) making painful small talks or c) just being an as*hole. A suspenseful book that reads as clever all throughout does not manage to put a diamond on it but a crystal, it certainly does not read as a trashy novel but Bahl sometimes comes off as trying too hard to sound cerebrally skilled with her principle wars and the lamenting that it unfolds eventually. The main characters do not have any name but both refer each others as Seat 7A and Seat 7B.
The book starts strong with lines that qualify for philosophical genius;
In the brief moments of silence that follow, I am reminded of the precarious balance of things: how we are never more than a moment, a sentence, sometimes just a word away from becoming completely different people. Once they leave our lips, words seem to chart their course along invisible cartographic pathways, carrying us to different places. And sometimes to entirely unexpected destinations from where we may, quite possibly never return.
Bahl is flexing here, she is showing the readers that she’s good writer and good is she, words do make us, they change us, a single “Yes” can change your whole life to the better or worse, it can land you an experience of a lifetime shaping you forever. In the mean time, try calling your mother a bit*h, this also certifies the comradery between you guys going down south for a good fraction in time unless you use words like “sorry” or “forgive me” but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
The book reads as a back and forth of small talks between two Non Resident Indians; Seat 7A is a male who is so well built, looks like a diversity hire for a Tom Fort fashion show and has teeth that would nail a call back for an Oral B Turbo electric toothbrush advert, the ad that is aired once Oral B decides to seriously tackle the Indian market of course, the ad that would replace a smiling white man to a good looking brown upper caste looking man who promises happiness through a vibrating bristle block attacked to a battery powered block. Seat 7A is macho, he likes to quote pop culture references and works at Wall Street, he is a poster boy for rampant consumption and is proud of it, the environment can wait, he needs to have fun come what may, this, of course is not what humans are made up of, it’s just so good to be true, there needs to be an insecure chap behind this and Bahl of course delivers this in an intimate manner as the book progresses. The way of building up characters as unlikeable and showcasing their humanizing side makes Bahl a whip smart writer.
Seat 7B is polar opposite to 7A, she believes in self-surrender, showing love through service for others, sacrifice, saving the environment for the future generations and not being a walking show off. She reads as an NRI who believes in signs from the universe, she is persuasive, even though she qualifies for a high paying desk job, she chooses to give it back by working at a firm that saves the world, one environment issue at a time, she is whip smart and she will cut you up if she wants to. The readers do not have to wait too long to find her heart warming stories, she is painted as a loving human being even from the start, she does not ring any bell in rampant mass media characterization as she does not hug trees, she also does not believe in throwing paint on people who wear fur, Bahl chooses to depict her this way it seems to bank away from stereotype, she makes a very convincing genuinely nice person. Even though she is so likeable, the closest thing to a name that she gets is being called “Bella” by Attilio, an Italian espresso shop owner who “makes the best espresso in the known universe”, I would be tempted to think that her name is Bella of course but I’ve watched enough Hollywood movies to know that a stereotypical smooth talking Italian man would even call foundation and mascara wearing, forgotten to shave me “Bella” which is a term of endearment for a beautiful woman.
Bahl wants the readers to be invested in an aura of suspense which is well kept all throughout the book. Everyone gets a name but the two main characters, even the annoying parent from Azaan’s (Seat 7B’s son) school, the trophy wife super moms of old money New York City gets a name. This however gets a bit too tiring; you want to know more about the characters and their names at least. All their depth are built from a dairy style narrative and then a look back on what the other character has said, this, in Balh’s head would really be up to something but it reads as tiring and obstruction to the flow of the plot. This obstruction was clear as day while Seat 7B came back from a successful pitch at a school in Queens, NYC, it supposedly reads as a sub-plot that will thicken making it a blissful read, I wanted to know how Seat 7B traverses the cut throat world of environmental awareness however the plot falls off the tracks with one of the many wails birthed from Seat 7A’s opposing opinion clouding her mind. Seat 7B has very interesting co-workers, Jose and Max who rarely get indicted in Seat 7B’s endless train of thought but prove to be thoroughly enjoyable every time they populate any page of the book. I would exuberantly enjoy any of their story arch rather than Seat 7A’s unlikeable facade.
A Year of Wednesdays takes you into the life of the two main characters and their experience every Wednesday of a year and some, some Wednesdays are sour and some are sweet, Bahl is immensely gifted in her ability to strike your introspection wheel, make you detest a person and then eventually root for them. I’m sure it was just me but I imagined Bahl smirking while I was overwhelmed with emotions in the last pages of the book, I also imagined her saying “You thought you were so smart didn’t you? Now tell me who’s a good writer?” to which I replied, “You, you’re a good writer mama”.
The book starts strong with lines that qualify for philosophical genius;
In the brief moments of silence that follow, I am reminded of the precarious balance of things: how we are never more than a moment, a sentence, sometimes just a word away from becoming completely different people. Once they leave our lips, words seem to chart their course along invisible cartographic pathways, carrying us to different places. And sometimes to entirely unexpected destinations from where we may, quite possibly never return.
Bahl is flexing here, she is showing the readers that she’s good writer and good is she, words do make us, they change us, a single “Yes” can change your whole life to the better or worse, it can land you an experience of a lifetime shaping you forever. In the mean time, try calling your mother a bit*h, this also certifies the comradery between you guys going down south for a good fraction in time unless you use words like “sorry” or “forgive me” but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
The book reads as a back and forth of small talks between two Non Resident Indians; Seat 7A is a male who is so well built, looks like a diversity hire for a Tom Fort fashion show and has teeth that would nail a call back for an Oral B Turbo electric toothbrush advert, the ad that is aired once Oral B decides to seriously tackle the Indian market of course, the ad that would replace a smiling white man to a good looking brown upper caste looking man who promises happiness through a vibrating bristle block attacked to a battery powered block. Seat 7A is macho, he likes to quote pop culture references and works at Wall Street, he is a poster boy for rampant consumption and is proud of it, the environment can wait, he needs to have fun come what may, this, of course is not what humans are made up of, it’s just so good to be true, there needs to be an insecure chap behind this and Bahl of course delivers this in an intimate manner as the book progresses. The way of building up characters as unlikeable and showcasing their humanizing side makes Bahl a whip smart writer.
Seat 7B is polar opposite to 7A, she believes in self-surrender, showing love through service for others, sacrifice, saving the environment for the future generations and not being a walking show off. She reads as an NRI who believes in signs from the universe, she is persuasive, even though she qualifies for a high paying desk job, she chooses to give it back by working at a firm that saves the world, one environment issue at a time, she is whip smart and she will cut you up if she wants to. The readers do not have to wait too long to find her heart warming stories, she is painted as a loving human being even from the start, she does not ring any bell in rampant mass media characterization as she does not hug trees, she also does not believe in throwing paint on people who wear fur, Bahl chooses to depict her this way it seems to bank away from stereotype, she makes a very convincing genuinely nice person. Even though she is so likeable, the closest thing to a name that she gets is being called “Bella” by Attilio, an Italian espresso shop owner who “makes the best espresso in the known universe”, I would be tempted to think that her name is Bella of course but I’ve watched enough Hollywood movies to know that a stereotypical smooth talking Italian man would even call foundation and mascara wearing, forgotten to shave me “Bella” which is a term of endearment for a beautiful woman.
Bahl wants the readers to be invested in an aura of suspense which is well kept all throughout the book. Everyone gets a name but the two main characters, even the annoying parent from Azaan’s (Seat 7B’s son) school, the trophy wife super moms of old money New York City gets a name. This however gets a bit too tiring; you want to know more about the characters and their names at least. All their depth are built from a dairy style narrative and then a look back on what the other character has said, this, in Balh’s head would really be up to something but it reads as tiring and obstruction to the flow of the plot. This obstruction was clear as day while Seat 7B came back from a successful pitch at a school in Queens, NYC, it supposedly reads as a sub-plot that will thicken making it a blissful read, I wanted to know how Seat 7B traverses the cut throat world of environmental awareness however the plot falls off the tracks with one of the many wails birthed from Seat 7A’s opposing opinion clouding her mind. Seat 7B has very interesting co-workers, Jose and Max who rarely get indicted in Seat 7B’s endless train of thought but prove to be thoroughly enjoyable every time they populate any page of the book. I would exuberantly enjoy any of their story arch rather than Seat 7A’s unlikeable facade.
A Year of Wednesdays takes you into the life of the two main characters and their experience every Wednesday of a year and some, some Wednesdays are sour and some are sweet, Bahl is immensely gifted in her ability to strike your introspection wheel, make you detest a person and then eventually root for them. I’m sure it was just me but I imagined Bahl smirking while I was overwhelmed with emotions in the last pages of the book, I also imagined her saying “You thought you were so smart didn’t you? Now tell me who’s a good writer?” to which I replied, “You, you’re a good writer mama”.
December 24, 2023
‘A Year Of Wednesdays’ by ‘Sonia Bahl’, is the story of two passengers Seat 7A and Seat 7B who met in a long-hauled flight from New Delhi to New York to never meet again. However, their lives continue to be interlaced. Seat 7A is a Wall Street Guy and Seat 7B is a mother of two who was travelling with her younger son, a fourteen-month old. The story explores into the inexplicable yet cognate bond between the Wall Street Guy and pernickety mom.
The end of each chapter is with one person saying their current situations to the other and expecting how the other person would have replied/reacted in the given situation, following with the discussions that happened between the two through the fifteen-hour long journey.
Sonia has clearly depicted the dichotomy between the two passengers who, despite being strangers and without knowing or having a contact and identity of each other still remained in the life of each other. The dissonance between the two is expressed perfectly.
The idea and the theme are incredible. However, I felt a loss of connection at many occasions. The story is slow-paced and contains too many esoteric metaphors, making the reader lose interest due to lack of connection. The book involves unfathomable references which are baffling and hard to be understood.
Read the full review on:
https://bit.ly/2x0qkAZ
The end of each chapter is with one person saying their current situations to the other and expecting how the other person would have replied/reacted in the given situation, following with the discussions that happened between the two through the fifteen-hour long journey.
Sonia has clearly depicted the dichotomy between the two passengers who, despite being strangers and without knowing or having a contact and identity of each other still remained in the life of each other. The dissonance between the two is expressed perfectly.
The idea and the theme are incredible. However, I felt a loss of connection at many occasions. The story is slow-paced and contains too many esoteric metaphors, making the reader lose interest due to lack of connection. The book involves unfathomable references which are baffling and hard to be understood.
Read the full review on:
https://bit.ly/2x0qkAZ
October 23, 2019
" Ichi go ichi e' - One time one encounter lasts a lifetime.
🍁🍁🍁
This story is based on the fact that we do meet a lot of random people in our lives. But few mark their places in our hearts so deep that we carry even their shortest presence in the long span of our entire lives.So true right?I believe time is not much big of a factor as much the influence created is.The story starts with two people , the female protagonist is very serious person , no nonsense headed ,more melancholic with her baby in her lap, deep inside she is poignant but very compassionate towards nature and people and believes we all have to find love.On the other hand the neighbor passenger to her is the man who is almost a male fashionista , party lover , happy go lucky person with attractive looks.Together they enter into conversations for the 15 hour journey which later bind them into a connection that even after never looking back after departing for once changes both of their lives in a big way.
.
.
The plot is beautiful.Now my thoughts are character development was done taking time.Narration is smooth.All the other characters side by side the female protagonist portray how she remembers their meeting,the time spent and how the man made almost a wrong first impression.But slowly her views change with her own introspection with time and she decides to meet him somehow again,but as the story turns into the last pages the big twist comes up. At times the length was pretty heavy for me as I felt it could have been kept shorter but this again this story is meant to make you giggle too so I understand the flow.The twist was unexpected,heart wrenching and definitely emotionally engaging.Quirky chapter names,check my blog for them.The language used is mostly based on how new generation friends casually talk with few slangs here and there which could have been avoided sometimes but I think they were added to show the traits of the characters.The cover looks pretty,minimal.The page quality of Fingerprint published books are always one of the finest.Thanks to author for sending this book .
🍁🍁🍁
This story is based on the fact that we do meet a lot of random people in our lives. But few mark their places in our hearts so deep that we carry even their shortest presence in the long span of our entire lives.So true right?I believe time is not much big of a factor as much the influence created is.The story starts with two people , the female protagonist is very serious person , no nonsense headed ,more melancholic with her baby in her lap, deep inside she is poignant but very compassionate towards nature and people and believes we all have to find love.On the other hand the neighbor passenger to her is the man who is almost a male fashionista , party lover , happy go lucky person with attractive looks.Together they enter into conversations for the 15 hour journey which later bind them into a connection that even after never looking back after departing for once changes both of their lives in a big way.
.
.
The plot is beautiful.Now my thoughts are character development was done taking time.Narration is smooth.All the other characters side by side the female protagonist portray how she remembers their meeting,the time spent and how the man made almost a wrong first impression.But slowly her views change with her own introspection with time and she decides to meet him somehow again,but as the story turns into the last pages the big twist comes up. At times the length was pretty heavy for me as I felt it could have been kept shorter but this again this story is meant to make you giggle too so I understand the flow.The twist was unexpected,heart wrenching and definitely emotionally engaging.Quirky chapter names,check my blog for them.The language used is mostly based on how new generation friends casually talk with few slangs here and there which could have been avoided sometimes but I think they were added to show the traits of the characters.The cover looks pretty,minimal.The page quality of Fingerprint published books are always one of the finest.Thanks to author for sending this book .
June 12, 2019
“Can one meeting change everything forever?
The Japanese have a term for it: Ichi-go ichi-e. One Time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime.”
A Year of Wednesdays is based on this Japanese term. The book opens with 2 people flying from Delhi to New York, two people who have nothing in common, polar opposites, sitting in Seat 7A and 7B. On 7A we have a cool Wall-Street guy, and on 7B is sitting a mom of two kids, who is happy that the toddler is sleeping peacefully. Over the 15 hours of flight, these polar opposites discuss their life with wit, debate and sarcastic comments. Cut to New York, 7A invites 7B for a cup of expresso at the best coffee place in New York, an invitation that 7B declines curtly.
And this is where the story begins. Over the course of one year since this meeting, the conversations unfold. The story moves with each Wednesday of the year, alternating with the life of seat 7A & 7B. Be it a trading success party of 7A or a play at the son of 7B, both of them reflect upon the conversation in the flight, affecting them and their life in some manner. Starting off as polar opposites, over the course of the year, we see that they are much more alike. With the life of 7A seeming perfect-perfect job, perfect lifestyle, perfect fiancé, successful and 7B being a successful mom, juggling a career as an environmentalist and a home maker, it is their conversations that start affecting their decisions. When 7A suffers a terrible loss, he starts taking those conversations a bit more seriously and we see a sudden change in his life. We don’t see much change in the life of 7A, except when she sees the news and rushes to the coffee shop that 7B had suggested and her life takes a turn.
The book is wonderfully written and the alternating chapters on the happenings in the life of the two protagonists is seamless. Sonia has created the characters at the polar ends, hence relating with both of them at times is but natural. The conversations are motivating at times and sometimes funny to the core. They met only once but in their lives, they interacted daily, in their heads but changing each other, bit by bit. The characters are relateable and the storyline is crisp. It has humour as well as witty charm.
The ending of the story is truly unexpected and amazing. The chapter is aptly named and written beautifully. The entire story gets summarized in that chapter, that moment.
I would rate the book 4/5.
The Japanese have a term for it: Ichi-go ichi-e. One Time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime.”
A Year of Wednesdays is based on this Japanese term. The book opens with 2 people flying from Delhi to New York, two people who have nothing in common, polar opposites, sitting in Seat 7A and 7B. On 7A we have a cool Wall-Street guy, and on 7B is sitting a mom of two kids, who is happy that the toddler is sleeping peacefully. Over the 15 hours of flight, these polar opposites discuss their life with wit, debate and sarcastic comments. Cut to New York, 7A invites 7B for a cup of expresso at the best coffee place in New York, an invitation that 7B declines curtly.
And this is where the story begins. Over the course of one year since this meeting, the conversations unfold. The story moves with each Wednesday of the year, alternating with the life of seat 7A & 7B. Be it a trading success party of 7A or a play at the son of 7B, both of them reflect upon the conversation in the flight, affecting them and their life in some manner. Starting off as polar opposites, over the course of the year, we see that they are much more alike. With the life of 7A seeming perfect-perfect job, perfect lifestyle, perfect fiancé, successful and 7B being a successful mom, juggling a career as an environmentalist and a home maker, it is their conversations that start affecting their decisions. When 7A suffers a terrible loss, he starts taking those conversations a bit more seriously and we see a sudden change in his life. We don’t see much change in the life of 7A, except when she sees the news and rushes to the coffee shop that 7B had suggested and her life takes a turn.
The book is wonderfully written and the alternating chapters on the happenings in the life of the two protagonists is seamless. Sonia has created the characters at the polar ends, hence relating with both of them at times is but natural. The conversations are motivating at times and sometimes funny to the core. They met only once but in their lives, they interacted daily, in their heads but changing each other, bit by bit. The characters are relateable and the storyline is crisp. It has humour as well as witty charm.
The ending of the story is truly unexpected and amazing. The chapter is aptly named and written beautifully. The entire story gets summarized in that chapter, that moment.
I would rate the book 4/5.
December 30, 2020
Can a sole convo with a stranger change lives? No, this is not any monotonous love story- a story that is better read than stated. Misapprehending this read for a love story will be a felony. As the author references in the blurb- “Ichigoichie’ – One time one encounter lasts a lifetime.
Well, the author’s script elegance is so enchanting right from the way she started with the gratitude note. The story starts with a plane ride and changing baby’s diaper mid-flight- the author sets the tenor for what to come later.
The book is full of droll allure. I would not endorse this book to novices as the plot is intricate and the language used is not unpretentious. Sonia delivers the art with class and this makes this book to stand out making this an exceptional and colorful read.
More interesting is the trail of these well-developed characters having diverse spheres of lives.
Check this quick abstract
Axel Brandt is German but didn’t get the
national memo on efficiency-his desk is a
minefield of papers and used food containers
so old, he can start an exotic epidemic at will.
A gorgeous cover, perhaps one of the best cover designs with an elegant golden author name makes this stunning book to be picked right. The blurb is indeed crisp and right to the theme to get more inquisitive. Go ahead and pick this if you are bored of routine books with routine plot. This book may be a bit slothful read in some places but if you stay- you will not repent picking this book.
Overall, this is a great attempt to tell a not-normal story with full justice and will undeniably keep you in the edge of curiosity island.
Well, the author’s script elegance is so enchanting right from the way she started with the gratitude note. The story starts with a plane ride and changing baby’s diaper mid-flight- the author sets the tenor for what to come later.
The book is full of droll allure. I would not endorse this book to novices as the plot is intricate and the language used is not unpretentious. Sonia delivers the art with class and this makes this book to stand out making this an exceptional and colorful read.
More interesting is the trail of these well-developed characters having diverse spheres of lives.
Check this quick abstract
Axel Brandt is German but didn’t get the
national memo on efficiency-his desk is a
minefield of papers and used food containers
so old, he can start an exotic epidemic at will.
A gorgeous cover, perhaps one of the best cover designs with an elegant golden author name makes this stunning book to be picked right. The blurb is indeed crisp and right to the theme to get more inquisitive. Go ahead and pick this if you are bored of routine books with routine plot. This book may be a bit slothful read in some places but if you stay- you will not repent picking this book.
Overall, this is a great attempt to tell a not-normal story with full justice and will undeniably keep you in the edge of curiosity island.
June 23, 2019
A Year of Wednesdays
Sonia Bahl
Fingerprint
INR 299/
This is the sort of book that looks like a rom com but aha! It isn’t. Two people meet on a long flight, a weary mother with a baby and a lean mean Wall Street machine of a man. Seat 7A and 7B as they are referred to spend the 15 hours they have together exchanging uneasy notes about life philosophy in between changing diapers. She is an environmentalist with an optimistic outlook on life and philosophy. He is a materialist in every sense of the word. For him the parties always have to be happening. He has to drink the best Espresso from a special shop in a New York alleyway and he will not stop to airplane coffee even though he is dying for a cup. To him she seems to be straight out of a Hallmark card with her ordinary every day philosophies while she thinks he’s straight out of the movie Wall Street, superficial and shallow.
Both, incidentally, are global Indians, though he has a not so happening corner store background and a stepmother which he’s trying to overcome. They part and she refuses to exchange names or numbers but for the longest time they cannot get each other out of their heads. Sonia Bahl charts this tale through a series of deftly named Wednesdays, a whole year of them and has the reader wondering whether 7A and 7B are destined to end up together despite the fact that she is happily married to Riz and has two sons and an eternally absconding nanny who listens to Yo Yo Honey Singh.
Two different lifestyles run parallel with both seats thinking about what the other said. There is an incredible amount of detailing of different aspects of everyday living and millennial burn out. Sometimes yes, this seems like too much of a good thing and the differences between the Wednesdays seem to shade into each other, but the ‘will they won’t they’ factor keeps the pace going. And yes, they will but wait for it – it isn’t quite what you might expect, shades of An Affair to Remember and all.
Sonia Bahl
Fingerprint
INR 299/
This is the sort of book that looks like a rom com but aha! It isn’t. Two people meet on a long flight, a weary mother with a baby and a lean mean Wall Street machine of a man. Seat 7A and 7B as they are referred to spend the 15 hours they have together exchanging uneasy notes about life philosophy in between changing diapers. She is an environmentalist with an optimistic outlook on life and philosophy. He is a materialist in every sense of the word. For him the parties always have to be happening. He has to drink the best Espresso from a special shop in a New York alleyway and he will not stop to airplane coffee even though he is dying for a cup. To him she seems to be straight out of a Hallmark card with her ordinary every day philosophies while she thinks he’s straight out of the movie Wall Street, superficial and shallow.
Both, incidentally, are global Indians, though he has a not so happening corner store background and a stepmother which he’s trying to overcome. They part and she refuses to exchange names or numbers but for the longest time they cannot get each other out of their heads. Sonia Bahl charts this tale through a series of deftly named Wednesdays, a whole year of them and has the reader wondering whether 7A and 7B are destined to end up together despite the fact that she is happily married to Riz and has two sons and an eternally absconding nanny who listens to Yo Yo Honey Singh.
Two different lifestyles run parallel with both seats thinking about what the other said. There is an incredible amount of detailing of different aspects of everyday living and millennial burn out. Sometimes yes, this seems like too much of a good thing and the differences between the Wednesdays seem to shade into each other, but the ‘will they won’t they’ factor keeps the pace going. And yes, they will but wait for it – it isn’t quite what you might expect, shades of An Affair to Remember and all.
May 22, 2019
My Take:
Strangers, we often share memories with them, mostly because we feel/ know that we might never meet with them. The very essence is what makes train/ flight or any journeys special. So many secrets which we might have never shared with anyone we share with them, because we know we might never meet. I always find this fact fascinating. I always wonder what happened next in their life story.
Human emotions and situations are explored beautifully. The journey between strangers who lead extremes end of lives when they meet , spend time and say bye they leave with other a slice of their lives, so much that when we go back they keep thinking about each other's values and visions in their present scenario. Sonia has captured their emotions well. They are away from each other yet are with each other. That's the connect they form and maintain.
The author has done justice to this unusual story line, has written the characters well, one emotional and one practical, the bond they form is beautiful. Not a love story yet nothing less than a love story. Who said love stories are for lovers? Love story happens also with people who meet, know each other and depart leaving a mark/ happy memory in he others life.
I would rate this 4/5 for the unusual story line and narration. More power to you Sonia.
Strangers, we often share memories with them, mostly because we feel/ know that we might never meet with them. The very essence is what makes train/ flight or any journeys special. So many secrets which we might have never shared with anyone we share with them, because we know we might never meet. I always find this fact fascinating. I always wonder what happened next in their life story.
Human emotions and situations are explored beautifully. The journey between strangers who lead extremes end of lives when they meet , spend time and say bye they leave with other a slice of their lives, so much that when we go back they keep thinking about each other's values and visions in their present scenario. Sonia has captured their emotions well. They are away from each other yet are with each other. That's the connect they form and maintain.
The author has done justice to this unusual story line, has written the characters well, one emotional and one practical, the bond they form is beautiful. Not a love story yet nothing less than a love story. Who said love stories are for lovers? Love story happens also with people who meet, know each other and depart leaving a mark/ happy memory in he others life.
I would rate this 4/5 for the unusual story line and narration. More power to you Sonia.
June 18, 2019
It's such a unique plot. Story, scenarios, charecterstics, appears to be real. Book cover goes well with the story.
Plot is two strangers meet on a plane journey from New Delhi to New York, a 15 hour journey flight. Both of them have complete different background and are in different phases of life.
In this brief period they cast profound impact on each other, cherished moments spent and long to meet again which never happens.
They are seat 7A and seat 7B, both hope to their adjacent seat to be empty but are initially disappointed. One is Nature Saviour traveling with her Infant baby and another is Stock broker in Wall Street. What they of others by attire, What they interact, what are their backgrounds /lives, what is the significance of Wednesday, how was their journey, how their lives changed after their journey ends, howthey try to meet each other again etc to know answers to the above and more read the book.
Good narration and humor is offbeat. A lot of references of english personalities, movies, books and serials are made in the book which makes plot interesting and entertaining. Book is readers delight and will leave a nice impression on readers mind.
Would recommend to all readers with good english proficiency.
Plot is two strangers meet on a plane journey from New Delhi to New York, a 15 hour journey flight. Both of them have complete different background and are in different phases of life.
In this brief period they cast profound impact on each other, cherished moments spent and long to meet again which never happens.
They are seat 7A and seat 7B, both hope to their adjacent seat to be empty but are initially disappointed. One is Nature Saviour traveling with her Infant baby and another is Stock broker in Wall Street. What they of others by attire, What they interact, what are their backgrounds /lives, what is the significance of Wednesday, how was their journey, how their lives changed after their journey ends, howthey try to meet each other again etc to know answers to the above and more read the book.
Good narration and humor is offbeat. A lot of references of english personalities, movies, books and serials are made in the book which makes plot interesting and entertaining. Book is readers delight and will leave a nice impression on readers mind.
Would recommend to all readers with good english proficiency.
July 4, 2019
A year of Wednesdays by sonial bhal is a unique contemporary novel featuring the life of these 2 strangers who meet on a flight from new Delhi to NYC.
I had a good time reading this book. Firstly the concept around which it revolves is very unique very diverse and its executed amazingly.
The writing style was good . There's a good use of vocabulary done in this book to enhance ones reading experience.
The narration was good but it could have been way better so as to keep ke engaged while reading this book.
The cover is designed sceptically keeping in mind the interest of a reader and the title is pretty innovative keeping in mind the curiosity of a reader.
The storyline was beautiful and indeed a thoughtful one.
The plot was fresh but it lost its strength in the between as the story takes a slow pace in the between.
The characters were very well developed. I could connect with them well. I however dint quite like female protagonists character because of obvious reasons but actually liked the male protagonists character!
Overall, this was an interesting and an innovative read. I'll recommend this if your looking out for some unique reads!
MY RATING: 3.5/5🌟
I had a good time reading this book. Firstly the concept around which it revolves is very unique very diverse and its executed amazingly.
The writing style was good . There's a good use of vocabulary done in this book to enhance ones reading experience.
The narration was good but it could have been way better so as to keep ke engaged while reading this book.
The cover is designed sceptically keeping in mind the interest of a reader and the title is pretty innovative keeping in mind the curiosity of a reader.
The storyline was beautiful and indeed a thoughtful one.
The plot was fresh but it lost its strength in the between as the story takes a slow pace in the between.
The characters were very well developed. I could connect with them well. I however dint quite like female protagonists character because of obvious reasons but actually liked the male protagonists character!
Overall, this was an interesting and an innovative read. I'll recommend this if your looking out for some unique reads!
MY RATING: 3.5/5🌟
June 3, 2022
We meet so many strangers and there’s little control we have over these meetings. One such meeting between two complete strangers with equally opposite views turned into this 280 page marvel.
A fast paced and a slow living person meet in a 15 hour long flight. Their contrasting thoughts on things, people, feelings and life are easily relatable. But their conversations didn’t end on that flight, even though they didn’t exchange their names or number. Both of them kept having unfinished arguments or conversations in their head throughout until the guy dies in a road accident. They never meet again, not in this lifetime at least and yet stayed close.
Extremely well written and unusual story :)
A fast paced and a slow living person meet in a 15 hour long flight. Their contrasting thoughts on things, people, feelings and life are easily relatable. But their conversations didn’t end on that flight, even though they didn’t exchange their names or number. Both of them kept having unfinished arguments or conversations in their head throughout until the guy dies in a road accident. They never meet again, not in this lifetime at least and yet stayed close.
Extremely well written and unusual story :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2020
The concept of a chance meeting of strangers has been done in so many rom-com movies and books that I honestly wondered what more could be written using this trope. But 'A Year Of Wednesdays' took me by surprise. The simple and relatable incidents lure you in. These two strangers could not have anything less in common but were also willing to talk about it, to think about it. Reading this book towards the end of a tumultuous year made me think of the small things in life that we take for granted, like an act of kindness by a stranger. The book does not follow a conventional idea of love, but rather the similarities in opposing views and contrasting planes of ambition and happiness.
August 31, 2019
Some people that you meet along the way sometimes leaves an indelible print on our lives that changes our lives forever, Well, the book clearly justifies the above saying.
A year of Wednesdays Is a story of two passengers on a plane who are complete strangers to each other one is the mother of a fourteen-month-old toddler and another is the cool stockbroker of the wall street and they have absolutely nothing in common except the fact that they both want the seats next to them to remain empty but that doesn't happen and they end up sitting together.
Not just they sit together but they also exchanged some things about books and movies along with some unusual conversations full of intelligent humor, opposing views expect they did not share their names.
Even after sitting together in a fifteen hour-long journey they left the cabin never to meet again, without saying goodbye to each other, oblivion of the plans of destiny.
💥 But who knew destiny had some different plans and they kept meeting somehow, traveling together so here the big question is that how did their lives changed after their meeting?
Talking about the writing style Although it was brilliant, if you are a beginner I would definitely not recommend it to you because it may pose a challenge for you if you have just started reading books because of the advanced words used and writing style which was tricky itself.
A year of Wednesdays Is a story of two passengers on a plane who are complete strangers to each other one is the mother of a fourteen-month-old toddler and another is the cool stockbroker of the wall street and they have absolutely nothing in common except the fact that they both want the seats next to them to remain empty but that doesn't happen and they end up sitting together.
Not just they sit together but they also exchanged some things about books and movies along with some unusual conversations full of intelligent humor, opposing views expect they did not share their names.
Even after sitting together in a fifteen hour-long journey they left the cabin never to meet again, without saying goodbye to each other, oblivion of the plans of destiny.
💥 But who knew destiny had some different plans and they kept meeting somehow, traveling together so here the big question is that how did their lives changed after their meeting?
Talking about the writing style Although it was brilliant, if you are a beginner I would definitely not recommend it to you because it may pose a challenge for you if you have just started reading books because of the advanced words used and writing style which was tricky itself.
June 6, 2019
Book- A Year Of Wednesdays
Author- Sonia Bahl
Pages- 280
.
.
.
.
A Year Of Wednesdays was an amazing read for me ! Such witty narration, humour that wouldn't just make you laugh, but would also make you wonder how gorgeous this journey is going to be ! This book is going to leave an everlasting impact on you. The characters were such that they'll carry you with them on their journey, their talks, emotions, past and present will make you feel as if they are your own, you'll laugh with them, you'll cry with them, take sides and miss them once the story is over, after you've read that last note. The note which would make you believe in 'ichi-go ichi-e', would make you want to hug the book and cry, would leave a feeling of longing in you wanting to live a little more with them, cherish the memories and give them a piece of your heart.
"They met on a Wednesday in November. And she believed Wednesday comes in a halo. Nothing bad can happen on Wednesday."
7B, that's her seat number and she desperately wished for seat number 7A to be unoccupied so that she could rest with her baby. But then came the occupant of 7A, a hotshot WallStreet guy. Too fresh for a post-midnight long-haul flight !
They talked through their 15 hours long journey that began with midflight turbulence and a baby in need of diaper change. Contrasting views, subtle sarcasm, secrets revealed, aspirations shared, comments passed, meaningless banter, everything changed forver and a year of Wednesdays.
Rating- 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
#bookreview #ayearofwednesdays #soniabahl #wednesdays #year #flight #7A #7B #onceinalifetime #lifetime #ichigoichie #ichigo #ichiie #emotions #witty #bookstagrammer
#bookstagramindia #bookstagramindia #bookstagramodisha
Author- Sonia Bahl
Pages- 280
.
.
.
.
A Year Of Wednesdays was an amazing read for me ! Such witty narration, humour that wouldn't just make you laugh, but would also make you wonder how gorgeous this journey is going to be ! This book is going to leave an everlasting impact on you. The characters were such that they'll carry you with them on their journey, their talks, emotions, past and present will make you feel as if they are your own, you'll laugh with them, you'll cry with them, take sides and miss them once the story is over, after you've read that last note. The note which would make you believe in 'ichi-go ichi-e', would make you want to hug the book and cry, would leave a feeling of longing in you wanting to live a little more with them, cherish the memories and give them a piece of your heart.
"They met on a Wednesday in November. And she believed Wednesday comes in a halo. Nothing bad can happen on Wednesday."
7B, that's her seat number and she desperately wished for seat number 7A to be unoccupied so that she could rest with her baby. But then came the occupant of 7A, a hotshot WallStreet guy. Too fresh for a post-midnight long-haul flight !
They talked through their 15 hours long journey that began with midflight turbulence and a baby in need of diaper change. Contrasting views, subtle sarcasm, secrets revealed, aspirations shared, comments passed, meaningless banter, everything changed forver and a year of Wednesdays.
Rating- 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
#bookreview #ayearofwednesdays #soniabahl #wednesdays #year #flight #7A #7B #onceinalifetime #lifetime #ichigoichie #ichigo #ichiie #emotions #witty #bookstagrammer
#bookstagramindia #bookstagramindia #bookstagramodisha
March 22, 2021
4.5 stars
"A Year Of Wednesdays" by Sonia Bahl is about a year in the lives of two people from very different spheres of life who meet on a flight from Delhi to New York. The story shows the profound effect left on them by each other in a journey of a few hours.
There is something magical about stories about strangers meeting and then become important to each other. Maybe we love books and movies like these because they show how the people we get to know, even if for a short time, leave their marks on us.
The two protagonists in the book refer to each other as Seat 7A and Seat 7B. The characters are wary of each other at first as they realize they are two completely different people. I was equally fascinated by both of them.
Through Seat 7B, we see the life of a working mom with two small kids. She is very down-to-earth and believes in appreciating the small moments in life. She is an environmentalist and aspires to teach kids the importance of protecting our nature. She hates when people categorize her as a stereotypical mother or a "tree-hugger." I really enjoyed reading about her interactions with her family, her husband Rizwaan and kids Azad and Azaan as well as her fond memories with her father.
Seat 7A was a career-driven Wall Street man. He believed in the power of money and enjoying the luxurious things in life. He didn't hesitate in saying what he wanted to. He hated being called shallow. He was also movie buff. It was very interesting to see him trying to understand Seat 7B's perspective in life. There was nothing about her views that made sense to him and yet, he was fascinated by her.
After they go their separate ways, the story continues about both of their daily lives. In each chapter, they would think about a piece of conversation with each other, mostly something they had different opinions on. I couldn't help but hope that they would meet again.
The book gets a bit boring in the middle as nothing really happens and the small chapters get annoying.
The author's writing style is one of the things that makes the book special. She uses lesser-known words, witty prose, many movie references and wraps them up in an elegant narration.
The cover is lovely. The title and the Wednesdays thing add charm to the book.
I held my breath in the last few chapters. I was scared of finishing the book, scared that the flight journey would be over. I desperately wanted the characters to meet again but there was something to be said by the fact that they both had each other stuck in their heads after meeting just once. It seemed by the end that the guy had learned more from the girl and I wish it was equal both ways. The ending was a little cliche but also emotional and beautiful.
A truly heartfelt book. It shows the power of moments. Of encounters. Of conversations. Of truths. Of experiencing life through a completely different perspective. One meeting or one conversation can change your life. People leave their marks on you and even a stranger can have an important place in your life. This book makes me wish that we would all learn to appreciate every minute of our lives.
This book will definitely stay with me.
Check out my book reviews, recommendations, and other content on Travelling Through Words and my bookstagram!
"A Year Of Wednesdays" by Sonia Bahl is about a year in the lives of two people from very different spheres of life who meet on a flight from Delhi to New York. The story shows the profound effect left on them by each other in a journey of a few hours.
There is something magical about stories about strangers meeting and then become important to each other. Maybe we love books and movies like these because they show how the people we get to know, even if for a short time, leave their marks on us.
The two protagonists in the book refer to each other as Seat 7A and Seat 7B. The characters are wary of each other at first as they realize they are two completely different people. I was equally fascinated by both of them.
Through Seat 7B, we see the life of a working mom with two small kids. She is very down-to-earth and believes in appreciating the small moments in life. She is an environmentalist and aspires to teach kids the importance of protecting our nature. She hates when people categorize her as a stereotypical mother or a "tree-hugger." I really enjoyed reading about her interactions with her family, her husband Rizwaan and kids Azad and Azaan as well as her fond memories with her father.
Seat 7A was a career-driven Wall Street man. He believed in the power of money and enjoying the luxurious things in life. He didn't hesitate in saying what he wanted to. He hated being called shallow. He was also movie buff. It was very interesting to see him trying to understand Seat 7B's perspective in life. There was nothing about her views that made sense to him and yet, he was fascinated by her.
After they go their separate ways, the story continues about both of their daily lives. In each chapter, they would think about a piece of conversation with each other, mostly something they had different opinions on. I couldn't help but hope that they would meet again.
The book gets a bit boring in the middle as nothing really happens and the small chapters get annoying.
The author's writing style is one of the things that makes the book special. She uses lesser-known words, witty prose, many movie references and wraps them up in an elegant narration.
The cover is lovely. The title and the Wednesdays thing add charm to the book.
I held my breath in the last few chapters. I was scared of finishing the book, scared that the flight journey would be over. I desperately wanted the characters to meet again but there was something to be said by the fact that they both had each other stuck in their heads after meeting just once. It seemed by the end that the guy had learned more from the girl and I wish it was equal both ways. The ending was a little cliche but also emotional and beautiful.
A truly heartfelt book. It shows the power of moments. Of encounters. Of conversations. Of truths. Of experiencing life through a completely different perspective. One meeting or one conversation can change your life. People leave their marks on you and even a stranger can have an important place in your life. This book makes me wish that we would all learn to appreciate every minute of our lives.
This book will definitely stay with me.
Check out my book reviews, recommendations, and other content on Travelling Through Words and my bookstagram!
November 1, 2019
A year of Wednesdays by Sonia Bahl
🌸 Genre- Contemporary Fiction
🌸 Pocket Pinch-₹299
🌸 Pages-280 pages.
🌸 Publishers-Fingerprint publishers
Blurb-
It begins when the protagonists find themselves in a 15 hour long flight from New Delhi to New York. And those 15 hours, that one meeting changed their life's, little by little, in the smallest way possible.
This isn't your normal Romance and definitely no cliche story.
This isn't a book I'd normally pick but I'm glad I did because when the characters developed, I changed with them.
Opinion-
Some stories stay with you, how long if you ask me? I'll tell forever.
.
The whole story is the compilation of Wednesdays each week alternating between the experiences of the two main characters.
When i begun reading the book, i expected a cheesy romance, you know where hero meets heroine and they fall in love. How wrong i was!!!
The story has surpassed all my expectations and surprised me. I'm so glad I picked this up.
The plot is amazing, i won't say unique because it is quite cliche but the narration was stellar and that added warmth and charm to the plot which made it different in its own way.
This story is an onion. Each chapters are a layer. Slowly, layer by layer, the bulb inside was revealed.
The characters are strong, like they are perfect. They have proper background story, they have a great development throughout the story. The side characters didn't feel like extras. I felt like i was right there with them during the story. I could visualise their experiences.
The climax, oh the climax, I won't say a word about it. But it's HUGE. Unexpected, completely took me by surprise and made me fall from the euphoria of the whole story. I was SPEECHLESS at the end and the only thought was what do i say about the book in the review?
The language is colloquial, meant to connect with the audience. The use of references from movies, and web series and books really got to me. That is how people talk in real life. Atleast, I do. There are so many small quotes which I want to quote right here but there's a word limit to keep in mind. I need to discuss this book, because there are so many things on which I need an opinion on, the intricacies that make up the story. It's like asking for a muffin and getting a cupcake with chocochips inside.
The cover is aesthetic. And the title perfect. At first I didn't quite get it, but that was resolved as soon as i was few chapters in.
The only thing that felt wrong was the slow pace, although the story was moving a week at a time, it dragged on at times.
It's true, the story will make you laugh, then smile, then cry, and hold your breath and wish you were there but then wish you weren't. This book is a feeling.
🌸 Genre- Contemporary Fiction
🌸 Pocket Pinch-₹299
🌸 Pages-280 pages.
🌸 Publishers-Fingerprint publishers
Blurb-
It begins when the protagonists find themselves in a 15 hour long flight from New Delhi to New York. And those 15 hours, that one meeting changed their life's, little by little, in the smallest way possible.
This isn't your normal Romance and definitely no cliche story.
This isn't a book I'd normally pick but I'm glad I did because when the characters developed, I changed with them.
Opinion-
Some stories stay with you, how long if you ask me? I'll tell forever.
.
The whole story is the compilation of Wednesdays each week alternating between the experiences of the two main characters.
When i begun reading the book, i expected a cheesy romance, you know where hero meets heroine and they fall in love. How wrong i was!!!
The story has surpassed all my expectations and surprised me. I'm so glad I picked this up.
The plot is amazing, i won't say unique because it is quite cliche but the narration was stellar and that added warmth and charm to the plot which made it different in its own way.
This story is an onion. Each chapters are a layer. Slowly, layer by layer, the bulb inside was revealed.
The characters are strong, like they are perfect. They have proper background story, they have a great development throughout the story. The side characters didn't feel like extras. I felt like i was right there with them during the story. I could visualise their experiences.
The climax, oh the climax, I won't say a word about it. But it's HUGE. Unexpected, completely took me by surprise and made me fall from the euphoria of the whole story. I was SPEECHLESS at the end and the only thought was what do i say about the book in the review?
The language is colloquial, meant to connect with the audience. The use of references from movies, and web series and books really got to me. That is how people talk in real life. Atleast, I do. There are so many small quotes which I want to quote right here but there's a word limit to keep in mind. I need to discuss this book, because there are so many things on which I need an opinion on, the intricacies that make up the story. It's like asking for a muffin and getting a cupcake with chocochips inside.
The cover is aesthetic. And the title perfect. At first I didn't quite get it, but that was resolved as soon as i was few chapters in.
The only thing that felt wrong was the slow pace, although the story was moving a week at a time, it dragged on at times.
It's true, the story will make you laugh, then smile, then cry, and hold your breath and wish you were there but then wish you weren't. This book is a feeling.
June 7, 2019
Where do I start? There were many things that enticed me enough to pick this book to read. Let's start with the title, 'A year of Wednesdays', it definitely does make you wonder what's so special about this random day right in the middle of the week.
Then comes in the story blurb, quite crisp and engaging that makes you want to know more about the main characters: Seat 7A - a Wall Street broker and Seat 7B - an environmentalist, a mother but most importantly someone who'll be defined by 'She Lived'.
Story Plot: Most of it takes place in the form of the dialogue that happened between seat 7A and 7B during their 15+ hour flight from Delhi to New York, and how they move on with their lives but somehow the conversations stay. Forever.
Language: There is elite wit and eloquent sarcasm, you'll have to be invested well enough in the book to understand everything. The references mentioned do go overboard at times, but are enjoyable.
Flow and Concept: Ichi-go ichi-e. This is what the book is based on, the flow is seamless, makes it easy to read the story in parts because you can effortlessly come back and carry on.
Overall: The book is good. Good enough to be read again. Will recommend this to people who are looking for something really different to read. And all this time I'm wondering, why isn't there much hype about this art?!
Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
Then comes in the story blurb, quite crisp and engaging that makes you want to know more about the main characters: Seat 7A - a Wall Street broker and Seat 7B - an environmentalist, a mother but most importantly someone who'll be defined by 'She Lived'.
Story Plot: Most of it takes place in the form of the dialogue that happened between seat 7A and 7B during their 15+ hour flight from Delhi to New York, and how they move on with their lives but somehow the conversations stay. Forever.
Language: There is elite wit and eloquent sarcasm, you'll have to be invested well enough in the book to understand everything. The references mentioned do go overboard at times, but are enjoyable.
Flow and Concept: Ichi-go ichi-e. This is what the book is based on, the flow is seamless, makes it easy to read the story in parts because you can effortlessly come back and carry on.
Overall: The book is good. Good enough to be read again. Will recommend this to people who are looking for something really different to read. And all this time I'm wondering, why isn't there much hype about this art?!
Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
July 10, 2020
I received a copy of this book from the author to read and review.
Have you ever met someone that had a big impact on you even though you didn't know them long?
This book was an experience. It was a story told almost completely in internal monologues which was definitely interesting but also a little tiring as I went through the book. Basically there's a guy who really likes money and a girl who says love is the answer to everything. And they meet on a 15-hour flight and have conversations on really bizarre topics like favorite numbers and favorite punctuation marks and the such. I didn't realize the entire book would be the characters replaying these conversations over the next year. And sure there were some entertaining conversations because these people are so different but 300 pages of verbal sparring are quite a bit. It also felt a little imbalanced. While one of the characters does come to understand a little of the other's POV, the other doesn't budge on her stance on anything. I don't get how this flight ride had much of an impact on her if she had nothing to take away from it?
Have you ever met someone that had a big impact on you even though you didn't know them long?
This book was an experience. It was a story told almost completely in internal monologues which was definitely interesting but also a little tiring as I went through the book. Basically there's a guy who really likes money and a girl who says love is the answer to everything. And they meet on a 15-hour flight and have conversations on really bizarre topics like favorite numbers and favorite punctuation marks and the such. I didn't realize the entire book would be the characters replaying these conversations over the next year. And sure there were some entertaining conversations because these people are so different but 300 pages of verbal sparring are quite a bit. It also felt a little imbalanced. While one of the characters does come to understand a little of the other's POV, the other doesn't budge on her stance on anything. I don't get how this flight ride had much of an impact on her if she had nothing to take away from it?
May 7, 2019
Sonia Bahl needs no introduction. She writes for movies and has also written for few ads. Her debut novel "The Spectacular Miss", was optioned by a leading Bollywood studio and she was commissioned to write the screenplay.
In this new novel "A Year Of Wednesdays", the author has shown her class by penning a novel which happens on Wednesdays throughout the year. I did search for the number of chapters and it was almost close - since a year usually has 52 weeks and presumably 52 Wednesdays whereas the novel has 46 chapters. So, I can say that this has justified the occurrence of the story over a period of a year.
Coming to the story. The story can be said in 2 lines. However the way it has been elaborated has made this novel, a real special one. As you could see, the renowned Ronnie Screwvala has said "This is a story which will make you smile, laugh, cry, think, and think again". Initially, I was skeptical about these claims but as and when I started reading the story, I was pretty much convinced that this novel certainly deserves all those praise.
The story coincides with the Japanese term Ichi-go ichi-e which stands for "One time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime".
What did I like the most?
The style of writing and expression. You usually wouldn't find a novel which uses a high level language. This book is one. That doesn't men you would have to search a dictionary to understand the meaning of a word/sentence.
Sequence. They are classic. It kind of reminded me those classical Hollywood movies which were received well just for being conversational.
Characters. The roles played by two protagonists who were seated next to each other on a fifteen and a half journey. They lived it. It gave me a surreal feeling that as if I am watching them LIVE.
Message. The novel touched upon various aspects like Love, Life, Achievement, Responsibility, Friendship etc to name a few. The book also had references to Michael Angelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Barack Obama,Kanye West,Lord Buddha to name a few.
Lord Buddha's Golden Words "If you love the life you have, you have everything you need" is pretty much apt for this story.
The story is about us. YES. You read it right. It has an instance where the protagonist was forced to be on family WhatsApp Group despite having 35 members. She was married to a Muslim man even though she was not born a Muslim. The book emphasize on the importance of being together which brings happiness - be it the celebration of Christmas, Diwali or Eid.
The wordings " I don't think it's my place to drill into my kids what religion, if any, to follow. I think it's my place to show them that the only way to live in this world is by not being suspicious of other people's choices" is very much apt for the present day scenario.
The journey which took the characters seated on seat 7A and 7B to their destination had a long lasting effect where they had to think about one another despite being busy in their own lives - one being a Investment Banker and the other one being a Mom of a toddler.
A MUST READ!!
In this new novel "A Year Of Wednesdays", the author has shown her class by penning a novel which happens on Wednesdays throughout the year. I did search for the number of chapters and it was almost close - since a year usually has 52 weeks and presumably 52 Wednesdays whereas the novel has 46 chapters. So, I can say that this has justified the occurrence of the story over a period of a year.
Coming to the story. The story can be said in 2 lines. However the way it has been elaborated has made this novel, a real special one. As you could see, the renowned Ronnie Screwvala has said "This is a story which will make you smile, laugh, cry, think, and think again". Initially, I was skeptical about these claims but as and when I started reading the story, I was pretty much convinced that this novel certainly deserves all those praise.
The story coincides with the Japanese term Ichi-go ichi-e which stands for "One time, one encounter, lasts a lifetime".
What did I like the most?
The style of writing and expression. You usually wouldn't find a novel which uses a high level language. This book is one. That doesn't men you would have to search a dictionary to understand the meaning of a word/sentence.
Sequence. They are classic. It kind of reminded me those classical Hollywood movies which were received well just for being conversational.
Characters. The roles played by two protagonists who were seated next to each other on a fifteen and a half journey. They lived it. It gave me a surreal feeling that as if I am watching them LIVE.
Message. The novel touched upon various aspects like Love, Life, Achievement, Responsibility, Friendship etc to name a few. The book also had references to Michael Angelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Barack Obama,Kanye West,Lord Buddha to name a few.
Lord Buddha's Golden Words "If you love the life you have, you have everything you need" is pretty much apt for this story.
The story is about us. YES. You read it right. It has an instance where the protagonist was forced to be on family WhatsApp Group despite having 35 members. She was married to a Muslim man even though she was not born a Muslim. The book emphasize on the importance of being together which brings happiness - be it the celebration of Christmas, Diwali or Eid.
The wordings " I don't think it's my place to drill into my kids what religion, if any, to follow. I think it's my place to show them that the only way to live in this world is by not being suspicious of other people's choices" is very much apt for the present day scenario.
The journey which took the characters seated on seat 7A and 7B to their destination had a long lasting effect where they had to think about one another despite being busy in their own lives - one being a Investment Banker and the other one being a Mom of a toddler.
A MUST READ!!
April 28, 2019
Content Trigger: Swear words
Age Recommendation: 17+
My Rating: 5/5 stars
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
*NOTE: I am extremely grateful to Fingerprint! Publishing for sending me this book. However, this does not at all hinder my honest opinions regarding the book. This is a spoiler-free review. All opinions are solely mine. Check out my blog for more reviews (https://thescribblingssite.wordpress.com).
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Seat 7A and Seat 7B in the flight from New Delhi to New York are occupied by two strangers- a mom of two with “drool-stained-sweater-and-ordinary-aspirations” and a guy from Wall Street who would prefer bathing in money over anything. Both are poles apart and do not have any desire to change that. Of course, this is evident from the endless discussions that they dive into during the fifteen hour journey. But, that’s it. On stepping out from the plane, neither one looks back or has any contact information of the other. Guess what? They don’t even know each others’ names. They were two strangers who met and talked and bounced back to their poles-apart lives. Or did they?
Even though meeting in person ever again does not cross their minds, they remain connected via some extraordinary line of connection. But, how and why? You need to read the book to know the beautiful story that will surely bind you but also set you free.
Written in first person with two perspectives, ‘A Year Of Wednesdays’ by Sonia Bahl is a very thought-provoking book that teaches you and enlightens you to such a high extent that you refuse to give this new-found perspective away. The feelings portrayed are so intricate and meaningful with the air of not-everything-needs-to-be-backed-up-with-evidence. It is an emotional read that empowers you, grows you, grows into you.
What I love the most about this book is that it focuses on the truest form of friendship and doesn’t try to meddle with the delicate boundary of it. All the characters are worth falling in love with. From Riz to Azad, each character is a bunch of beautiful experiences. The author has made use of vocabulary that brings out the emotions in their truest forms. If curse words are not a trigger for you, do pick it up!
The book does feel like it is dragging a bit towards the middle of it but, I consider it important for the huge impact that it has in the end.
I definitely recommend it to those who like to look at the stars and admire the moon, to those who like a flower but don’t pluck it, to those who like the air brush past them and have the rain embrace them. This is a book for all those who are looking forward to read something that is unique and beyond the clutches of the cliché.
This book has made me fall in love with Wednesdays and dashes.
Age Recommendation: 17+
My Rating: 5/5 stars
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
*NOTE: I am extremely grateful to Fingerprint! Publishing for sending me this book. However, this does not at all hinder my honest opinions regarding the book. This is a spoiler-free review. All opinions are solely mine. Check out my blog for more reviews (https://thescribblingssite.wordpress.com).
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Seat 7A and Seat 7B in the flight from New Delhi to New York are occupied by two strangers- a mom of two with “drool-stained-sweater-and-ordinary-aspirations” and a guy from Wall Street who would prefer bathing in money over anything. Both are poles apart and do not have any desire to change that. Of course, this is evident from the endless discussions that they dive into during the fifteen hour journey. But, that’s it. On stepping out from the plane, neither one looks back or has any contact information of the other. Guess what? They don’t even know each others’ names. They were two strangers who met and talked and bounced back to their poles-apart lives. Or did they?
Even though meeting in person ever again does not cross their minds, they remain connected via some extraordinary line of connection. But, how and why? You need to read the book to know the beautiful story that will surely bind you but also set you free.
Written in first person with two perspectives, ‘A Year Of Wednesdays’ by Sonia Bahl is a very thought-provoking book that teaches you and enlightens you to such a high extent that you refuse to give this new-found perspective away. The feelings portrayed are so intricate and meaningful with the air of not-everything-needs-to-be-backed-up-with-evidence. It is an emotional read that empowers you, grows you, grows into you.
What I love the most about this book is that it focuses on the truest form of friendship and doesn’t try to meddle with the delicate boundary of it. All the characters are worth falling in love with. From Riz to Azad, each character is a bunch of beautiful experiences. The author has made use of vocabulary that brings out the emotions in their truest forms. If curse words are not a trigger for you, do pick it up!
The book does feel like it is dragging a bit towards the middle of it but, I consider it important for the huge impact that it has in the end.
I definitely recommend it to those who like to look at the stars and admire the moon, to those who like a flower but don’t pluck it, to those who like the air brush past them and have the rain embrace them. This is a book for all those who are looking forward to read something that is unique and beyond the clutches of the cliché.
This book has made me fall in love with Wednesdays and dashes.
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