book blogger Tag

07 Jun

Posted at 07:25h in fiction
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The book is by the author who had many best sellers in her kitty like The Forest of Enchantments and Palace of Illusions. She is not only an author but also an activist and a teacher of writing. Her work has been published widely, in magazines and anthologies. Plus, her books have been translated into 29 languages. So now let’s get into the plot of the book! PLOT HIGHLIGHT: The book is all about Rani Jindan’s journey from her teens to her demise. The book is a work of fiction through the characters in the book are real! The plot is divided into the time when Jindan Kaur comes to Lahore with her father and brother, her marriage to the king, then she becoming the Queen, and finally her demise! Her father being the kennel keeper of Maharaja Ranjit Singh never expected his daughter to be not only the king’s consort but also his favorite. We see in the book how she has to face the wrath of the King’s eldest wife and how most of the courtiers cannot accept her because she is not of the royal bloodline. Each section of the book not only shows the events in the life of Rani Jindan but also the emotional turmoil that she has to go through. The book describes really well the weight that a Queen has to carry when she also wants a life of a regular human being! REVIEW: The book is truly remarkable and it is quite an interesting read. Though...

07 Jun

Posted at 07:16h in fiction
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  Being an Agatha Christie book, we all know what to expect, yes you have guessed it right, it is a crime thriller! And this one of her Jane Marple series! The Hercule Poirot series is far more interesting than the Jane Marple series! So I would usually suggest that if you are a beginner in Agatha Christie's books, do take the Hercule Poirot series. PLOT HIGHLIGHT We have the main character Jane Marple, an old lady who loves or let's say gets involved in crime mysteries most of the time. She lives in a small town called St. Mary Mead. She gets a curious letter from the lawyers (Mr. Broadribb and Mr. Schuster) of one Mr. Rafiel who had recently passed away! When she visits them, there is a strange request from the late Mr. Rafiel of her going for a tour with Famous Houses and Gardens of Great Britain. It is at the tour she meets a few of her fellow passengers and as fate would have it one of them dies! Now Jane Marple gets into a fix as she realizes as one of them who is traveling with her could be the killer and then the investigation is on! REVIEW: Quite frankly if you miss out on this one, no hell will break loose! A typical crime thriller and most probably if you are a regular reader of Agatha Christie you may realize why the murder has been committed! The writing skill is to perfection as I have nothing to say there....

12 Sep

Posted at 09:25h in non fiction
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Do you believe in Arranged or Love marriage, or in marriage itself? I would love to get your feedback on this! Before we dive into the review, let me thank the author for sending me this book via email and saying that my review is honest and unbiased! The author, Meryl Elizabeth Mathew, a master’s graduate in Global Business and a content writer, is also a freelance writer with Times -Kuwait since 2018 and Bazaar Magazine since 2019. To top it all, she also teaches creative writing to kids in Kuwait since 2020. A truly zealous person! Now let’s get into the review of the book. Just as the name suggests, the stories are short and simple. The main highlight of the book is that we get to read true stories! The author did change the names of the people whose stories we read to respect their privacy. The main subject is Arranged Marriage which is quite controversial among the millennials. Arranged or Love Marriage has its advantages and disadvantages. When we read this book we get to know the events that take place when a family decides their son or daughter should go for an arranged marriage. The book has 12 amazing stories that can cheer you up! Some are truly hilarious and some are worth using your grey cells! Living in the 21st century doesn’t mean we have to forget our age-old traditions and sometimes we find true love via matrimonial websites! The book is only 75 pages and it is...

03 Sep

Posted at 05:58h in non fiction
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Before we delve into the review of the book, we must talk about the author Manu S. Pillai. He is been my favorite author from the time I read this book. He is truly a gem in this era in the field of historical non-fiction novels. There are also many webinars that he takes part in and his knowledge about Indian History is mind-blowing. He has an Instagram account @waatcoconut where he posts most of his recent work and also historical paintings which is a delight for both his fans and followers. This is his first book and his two other marvelous books that is equally spellbinding. Now, let us start with a review of the book. The book is divided into 20 chapters: A Painter Prince The Queen of the Kupakas Three Consorts The Second Favorite Her Highness The Maharajah A Christian Minister Malice Domestique Tea and Troubles The Boudoir Dewan Black Magic In Letters of Gold Mother and Son La Revanche A Real Little Grande Dame A Palace Coup The Ultimate Eclipse The Villain of the Piece Rivers of Blood The Reluctant Princess Once I Had a Kingdom Each chapter is more interesting than the next one! Each page is wound into a wonderful marvel, too exotic to be true! The author has done absolute justice in the retelling of the extraordinary life of the last and forgotten queen of the house of Royal Travancore. The Kings and Queens of the Royal Travancore House is the epitome of class! So different...

02 Sep

Posted at 08:49h in fiction
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'Hercule Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that old sins leave long shadows.' Welcome to yet another review of Hercule Poirot's decoding of crime. As you already know the author of the book is none other than my favorite Agatha Christie. Now without further adieu let's jump directly into the review. As the title suggests let me break the bubble that this book has no elephants in it but an old memory surfaces and just like an elephant, certain memories stay etched in our minds. When Mrs. Oliver( a writer I presume) goes to a luncheon that had invited all the great literary artists of the time, she meets with one Mrs. Burton Cox. This lady approaches Mrs. Oliver with no particular warning and starts bombarding questions about her goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft who is going to marry her son. The talks about her Goddaughter brought her a special warmth but all that vanished when Mrs. Burton Cox asked if Celia's mother killed her father or vice versa! This left Mrs. Oliver completely speechless and said she has no clue about this matter whatsoever. But even after the luncheon, this did not leave her mind and at once she went to visit her dear friend, our Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The events that follow after this is so twisted as it's quite impossible to believe how can true love be a reason for a horrible crime.The book is good but not good enough compared to other Hercule Poirot books. With that said I would like to add that...

01 Sep

Posted at 12:55h in fiction
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Before we go into the review of the book, I would like to explain a bit about who is Hanuman. Hanuman is a revered Hindu God(usually known as the Monkey-God). He is one of the central characters in the epic Ramayana. He is the Divine companion of Rama. Rama is the main character in the epic Ramayana. Not only this, but he is also the son of the Wind God, Vayu. He is believed to be the ideal combination of strength and compassion. He is also believed to be an eternal celibate. Now since we have a little knowledge about who Hanuman is let's get into the review of this book. This is the first book that I am reading of the author Shubha Vilas and I may get his best selling series soon- Ramayana: the game of life. The author is a motivational speaker, lifestyle coach, and a storyteller. His leadership seminars are popular among top-level management corporate houses. The book has four main chapters or let's call them units which are VEDIC TALES HANUMAN FOLKTALES HANUMAN TEMPLES HANUMAN PRAYERS As the name suggests, each unit has wonderful stories of Hanuman's childhood to his journey with Rama. The stories behind the majestic Hanuman temples in India are also quite interesting! The famous tale of Hanuman as a child where he swallowed the sun mistaking it to be a fruit and how the entire universe became a dark entity is the star story in the book! There are many stories similar to this one and a few of my favorite are...

17 May

Posted at 08:05h in fiction
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Review in one word, AWESOME! I am a sucker for crime and psychology thrillers but this book just won my heart overnight. Truth to be told I just took this book to read only a day back and I have completed it. The book is truly in every sense a perfect thriller and I am glad that I brought this book. The author, Alex Michaelides is also a screenwriter and it quite unbelievable that it's his first novel. Let's go into the plot of the story. We have two main characters in this book: Alicia Berenson who has committed an unimaginable murder. Theo Faber who is a psychotherapist who assumes that he can make a difference in her life. Alicia who loves her husband Gabriel blindly. But one fine day she decided to murder him cold blood, shot him! Being a passionate artist, she paints her final picture and name it Alcestis. Alcestis is a Princess in Greek mythology who is known for her love for her husband. The tragedy is how she dies and saves his life.When Alicia doesn't speak in front of the court, everyone thinks she is in trauma. She remained silent not just for days but years together. Theo believed he could make her speak and save her.He comes to her rescue at the Groove where she is placed in high sedative condition as she is suicidal. But the question arises if Theo is really ready to hear her and listen to what happened that night? Now the review, I'm crazy about the book...

14 May

Posted at 07:13h in fiction
1 Like

This is the second book in the series of the Pataala Prophecy. Well without further introductions lets get directly involved in the review of the book. So the synopsis is the same as the previous one, whether Maya and Arjun can save the world from the wrath of the Sage Shukracharya. Will the end of Kalyug prove the end of the world? I have mentioned in the earlier post today that the plot seems to have a similarity with Harry potter. I could say its not done on purpose but once we are Harry Potter fans we tend to co-relate all the other fantasies with this. Few of them are as follows: starting with the main characters Arjun and Maya is the Hermoine and Harry. We have Kanakpratap who is the uncle of Arjun who is like Sirius Black. Then we have the Guru Satyavachana who trains Maya who is like a cute version of Dumbledore. We have the Agastya who is like Ron. The Gurukul is like Hogwarts, Shukracharya who is like Voldemort but the ultimate one is the Prophecy of how the one will end the villain of the plot! Just because there are a few similarities you shouldn't abandon the book. Though its a fictional creation there are many such incidents in the book that makes you think if these are true or not. Most of the mantras as a Hindu born I have recited in my childhood days with my mother and grandmother. The weight and the...

06 Apr

Posted at 08:03h in non fiction
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Before I talk about the book. let me give you a small idea about Patanjali. No, I am not talking about the Ayurveda company but the real Patanjali. He is the father of modern yoga and he is one of the 18 classical Tamil siddhars (sages and intellectuals). He distilled the essence of yoga into Yoga sutras. And we could rightly say that though he lived a thousand years ago his sutras were thousands of years ahead. Keeping this in mind though let’s move into the book review of LIVING THE SUTRAS -A GUIDE TO YOGA WISDOM BEYOND THE MAT compiled and written by KELLY DINARDO AND AMY PEARCE-HAYDEN The book offers an outlook to the yoga training for the mind and spirit by introducing a sutra or group of sutras on a related theme. If you think this book will explain in detail all the sutras of Patanjali then this is not for you. The book is divided into three parts; Samadhi Pada, Sadhana pada and Vibhuti Pada. The first part or Samadhi pada the authors introduce us to the awareness of self. Whether we truly understand what is our real need; materialistic or spiritual. The speciality of each chapter is that there is a section for reflection where we have to journal our thoughts on certain questions that the authors have asked us. To be frank it's not at all tedious because it is not necessary that we have to journal anything the first time. We could start once we...

24 Mar

Posted at 08:04h in fiction
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This book is part of my own collection and I got this one maybe a month back.  So, the story behind how I brought this book goes like this; I was looking at all the books on the fiction side of the Manorama Bookstores at Mall of Travancore, my favorite place to buy most of my books. I got a few (yes you read it right) and decided this was enough for my February purchase. But when I gave them to get billed, the sales person came up to me and I quote ‘Madam! You will like this book’! He gave me ‘Recursion’. I looked at its cover and let me be frank I did not like it even a bit. When I turned the book to read its synopsis, I was still not impressed but it was the first time the sales person in the bookstore actually came up to me and recommended a book. I thought to myself, its just a book and I will eventually read it. But the shocking part was I took this book first to read before any other that I had brought with this. Now let’s start with the author of this book. The man of the hour is Blake Crouch. He is a novelist and a screenwriter. He has a best seller in his bag ‘The Dark Matter’ and bestselling trilogy Wayward Pines that was converted into a television series for FOX entertainment. He has a website too and you could check that out if you...