Book Blitz Pack - Fate's Design by Subhashish Dey

About the Book:

When a kidnapper redeems his lost conscience and finds himself unable to murder the girl he has kidnapped, what does he do? Fate is cruel to him, and good intentions are never enough. 

At the same time, a woman dissatisfied with her existence flees from her home, not knowing what lies ahead of her. But all things come at a price, and she has a hard path ahead through storms and fire.   

Watch how fate has entwined these lives together, into a song through struggles of conscience and identity, through the deepest lows and greatest highs, and through the flame of madness and the stings of survival.     





Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon

Feedback for the Book:

5 Stars “An extremely well written thriller by an amazing fourteen-year-old. Written at an age when most teenagers find their boats floundering in the sea of words, Subhashish had not only managed to keep a grip on the plot, taking the reader along the journey of his well-drawn out characters, he had also shown a rare maturity in his choice of words. His insights are at times startling, coming from someone of his age.” ~ Supratim Kar on Amazon

5 Stars – “An impressive first novel. The author is still in his teens, but the narrative voice is one of maturity and experience. The story unfolds like a Russian romance novel, in a modern setting. The plot is complex and suspenseful and keeps one turning the pages until the climax.” ~ T.N.Badri on Amazon

“A thoroughly interesting read, Fate’s Design, plays out as a struggle to live, survive and not merely exist. There are flaws, which in any case, are there in every piece of writing, but, the author’s abilities to weave a story, which does not make you, cringe or question its validity, make it an interesting work worth going over more than once.” ~ Soumyabrata Gupta

About the Author:

Subhashish is a 14-year-old student of Chinmaya Vidyalaya Anna Nagar. He has been regularly contributing short stories to his school magazine. An avid reader, Subhashish believes that books open the doors to some wonderful insights in life. A brilliant student, Subhashish loves to explore different places and spends time trying to understand the culture of the people there. 

Subhashish lives in Chennai along with his parents and grandmother. This is his first attempt at writing a novel. Subhashish is passionate about music and loves singing and playing his piano. Incidentally, music forms the backbone of the story of his novel. 

Book blitz - Then The Door Bell Rang by Capri Jalota

About the Book:

One fine morning, Jane wakes up and stands upon the ledge of her 18th floor flat in Dubai Marina. Till a few years back, she was everything that would make anyone jealous – beautiful, rich and successful. But then the wheels of time turned. Today, she is miserable and lonely. Would she get over a deception? Can she forgive herself for deserting a friend? Would she ever find true love? Will karma get the better of her or will life give her another chance to correct the wrongs?

Then the Doorbell Rang is about Jane’s roller-coaster journey as she explores the mystical phenomenon called Life.




Book Links:
Goodreads * Amazon


Fun Facts about the Author:

• The plot of his novel came in Dubai when a friend randomly pointed at a balcony and said "That is the balcony from which the lady jumped" - referring to an incident which had happened few days back
• Demonetization made this book a reality: Capri had left his job with a view of becoming an entrepreneur. He wrote part-time initially as he had been working on this plot for more than 2 years. But with demonetization happening within few months of his leaving the job, he decided to shift his focus to full-time writing and that's how this book became a reality
• Capri is an avid coin collector and has over 1200 coins in his collection from over 100 countries
• Capri loves to take up new challenges and explore new cities and cultures: During his professional career spanning 12 years, Capri has worked with three organizations, stayed in 7 different cities across three countries
• Capri loves snakes - he wishes to own a snake farm one day. In fact, one of his goals before he turns 50 is get trained as a professional snake catcher
• Capri was never into writing - he was so bad at writing that once his boss made him write an email repeatedly as he didn't find it good enough - it wasn't accepted even after 10 drafts. It hurt Capri so bad deep within that he almost made his life goal to be good at writing

About the Author:

In July 2016, when Capri's career was at an all-time high, he quit his job and decided to pursue one of his under-40 goals and that was to pen a novel. His first novel - "Then the doorbell rang", which is in fiction genre, has been published by Leadstart Publishing. His book has been released on Amazon and has received great responses.
Capri's philosophy in life is simple - Plan your life rather than follow a plan. Whilst this might sound contradictory, if you re-read the statement you would be able to understand the subtle difference. Planning is a continuous process whilst a plan is a static one. At different points in one's life, one must be able to revisit his life and re-sync it with life's changed priorities and circumstances.
And to be successful, it is very important to be passionate about what you do. "Passion is elixir for the soul" is something he truly believes in. This coupled with the right mentoring leads to an assured success.
Capri is keen to share his perspectives with the world through his writings and talks.

Goodreads * Amazon

In Association with Author's Channel

You Don't Know What Love Is by P. David Hornik

The Blurb:
Lou and Hettie and their three teenagers are on summer vacation at a lake in upstate New York. On the surface, a peaceful mountain paradise; beneath the surface, trouble brews. The couple has tried to bury the ghosts of past infidelities. But in the tranquil surroundings, old desires start to stir, old resentments begin to simmer. Treenie, 17, a sassy beauty, starts to unleash her own furies, hurling accusations at the others. Her twin, Ross, would prefer to just enjoy his affair with a girl he’s met in town. Alan, 15, is a gentle introvert who tries to put a lid on his sister’s anger. But that, too, is in vain.

. . . be there when the illusion of tranquility explodes in their faces
After night falls on one deceptively serene summer day, deeply depressed Hettie goes for a walk beside the lake, and there tragedy strikes. By the time dawn arrives, members of the family have to face the reality of a supposed paradise that is not merely lost, but completely shattered. You Don’t Know What Love Is is a novel of rare, dark power, one you will be unable to put down or forget.


What I Felt About The Book:
Honestly, It was difficult to get into the book and actually start feeling the story. But once there, it all made sense and it became a page turner.

It's a strange but surprisingly good book about a family which looks perfect to the outside world. But once inside the relations, they are all complicated. The talks give an impression that no one cares about anyone but then there is a reason behind a group of people being called a family!

There is a chapter which so beautifully captures the feeling when you gather the guts to talk to your ex only to find out that the other side has moved on. The most gorgeous part about it was that the author left the emotions to be felt by reader itself.

Then, there were few parts which I failed to understand and one such was related to the climax. I quickly went back and re-read the chapter which left me to my own thoughts for a while. Love sure is hard to understand...

The book can be brought from amazon at:

               Kindle Edition                                                                        Paperback
                                                                     

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

Wealth is in information...The problem is that information flies around the world at the speed of light.

"Rich Dad Poor Dad" talks about managing the financial information. The author Robert T. Kiyosaki is very clear in his thoughts and makes sure that he implements his principles – one of the most important being invest in assets instead of liabilities, at any cost.

"Rich Dad Poor Dad" was a book I had my eyes on for a long time. I finally got it on my kindle - thanks to the unlimited edition.

The author Robert T. Kiyosaki shares some of his experiences and offers advices on managing one's financial status by changing the way we look at our income and expenses. Robert was quite successful in explaining the difference in the way the three most popular financial categories (Rich, Middle Class and Poor) process their thoughts when it comes to money matters.

Pictures are best way to understand concepts and I am glad that the author used them quite well. Robert mentions:

Cash flow tells the story of how a person handles money. ...

Author used three diagrams of cash flow for rich, middle class and the poor:

 

Abbreviations are also a wonderful way to memories things. Here are two I can remember.

KISS principle—Keep It Simple, Stupid (or Keep It Super Simple)

FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Successful.

When I started with the book, I was extremely happy that I picked it up. I loved first two chapters. Full marks to chapter 1, not so good marks to chapter 2. But then I could see the frequent repetition. By the middle of chapter 3, I found myself skimming through and had to remind myself again and again to read properly.

Overall, it was a nice onetime read and about recommending, I might do it but with my feedback.

The book is full of one liners and quotes which might or might not be applicable to all. But at the end, they made their way in my notes. Here is the link to them;

Rich Dad Poor Dad Quotes

The book can be brought from Amazon:

Paperback                            Hardcover                        Kindle Edition     

                                        

Usborne Phonics Readers - Big Pig On A Dig by Phil Roxbee Cox

We received this picture book from our kid's school library for a week. The school tries and send a picture book time to time in order to encourage reading.
Now, my lifeline aka son is still getting the hang of reading (he loves it if he just has to listen and I read the books to him). But when the book is handed over to him by the school, he obviously takes it a bit seriously and know he should try reading it by himself.

The story goes like:
The big pig discovers a map and tries the fat cat to help him with digging. But the cat turns out to be a napping cat! What's in store for the big pig?


Here goes the efforts kiddo put in:

What the kiddo Loved:
1. More pictures - less text.
2. Easy rhyming text. The words were repeating cleverly. Surprisingly, the kiddo noticed that himself and tried recalling the words which he just read.
3. Fold-out pages - He just loved the pages which had a little mystery to be revealed.

The story is actually dumb and does not have a moral. But still, the kiddo loved his break from all preaching and teachings. He immediately went to his grandmother's room with a big laugh and told her that it's a funny story!

Get the book on amazon at:

How I Pick My Books

I stumbled upon this question on Quora - How do you decide which book to read? There are some more questions which requires same answer:

How do you decide which book(s) you want to read?

There are so many books in the world. How do you decide which book to read?

How do you determine which book to read next?

My first response to the questions above was – By Instinct. When I gave it a thought, below are the pointers which make me purchase a book or download it on my Kindle or read it:

1.   Goodreads – I take a look at my Goodreads home page and see that one of my friend has rated a book or marked it to his/her to-read list:

a.    Sometimes, I add it to my to-read list without even looking at the blurb. That’s when I like the cover or the title. I know they say that “never judge a book by it’s cover:” – but then, accept it or not, the cover does make a difference sometimes!

b.    If my friend has rated the book high and it belongs to the genre I read, I sometimes check it’s blurb and add it to my to-read list.

c.    Goodreads also recommends some books based on one’s read list.

2.   Book store – Now-a-days, there are two types of book stores – a store and a stall (I think both have existed ever since).

a.    I pass by a stall – Book stalls are a book lover jackpot points. Believe me, if you happen to cross one, do not ignore it. Carry your to-read list with you (it’s easy in present era – just an app in the mobile and show it to the seller. Chances are that the seller would have at-least one book from the list on sale! That’s what I do.

There are times, when I just ask for a recommendation from the sales person. Romance is the genre that comes to my mouth at this time.

b.    I spot a book store – I try and avoid entering a book store. Reason? I get lost in there! I love it, but my time does not. At a book store, I either just go and ask for any book that has been on my mind for some days.

I also browse the children section a lot and pick a book or two for my kids.

3.   Received for review – Some books on my shelf also belong to this category where either the author/PA/publisher/agent approached me for a review.

4.   My Book Shelf – I have a lot of books in my shelf which I seriously need to pick and read.  Many times, I just pick one of them when I am done with my current book.

I visited my to-read list on Goodreads and surprised myself when I saw I had a long list! Unfortunately, I am not able to show the complete list (Goodreads - widget bug), check out the list at the link:

Amita's to-read book montage

Amita Sehrawat's favorite books »

My Year 2017 in Books

Another year is coming to an end. Like always, by intention or by chance, we tend to ponder and look behind over the year we have spent. We all have our own moments – While some make us sad, there are others which make us smile out of nowhere. Through all the lenses, there is one which never fail to bend my lips upwards in to a smile – “My lifeline: the kiddos” and then “BOOKS”.

Talking about the lifeline, kiddos are growing fast. While the elder one is learning to read – believe or not, I can-not be more proud when he shows interest in reading, the little one is learning to speak.

When it comes to my year in books, Goodreads did the work for me and gave me a decent view:

Of all the books, I read in the year, I posted the review on this blog for some of them (I know I should have done for all). Below are the links for the same.

Click to read review

What I Liked About The Book:
1. Letters: The title made it impossible for me to pick it up.
2. Travel Story: The author has very easily managed to present life learning in form of a journey. All teachings were beautifully blended in the locations and their bearers.

Read the complete review here - 

The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin S. Sharma

Click to read review

I must mention that there is something about horses that almost all writer capture very easily. I could not help but imagine the "beautiful black stallion" at every mention.

I found the plot very crisp and the author did not took much pages to get to main scene. I could not stop reading ahead after that. The story has background of long long time back and thus I could very easily identify the generation gap in all areas - society, dressing up, studies, occupation and many other things.

Read the complete review here -
Book Review: Thicker than Water by Lexie Conyngham

Click to read review

The imaginary sarcastic conversation with regard to lawyers statement derived from his own marriage when he tries to prove that the old servant had physical relations with the teenage girl was hilarious. I cannot stop smiling with surprise every-time the concept comes to my mind...

Read the complete review here -
Book Review - The Killing of Aarushi and The Murder of Justice by Rajesh Talwar

Click to read review

What I Liked About The Book:
1. Short Book and thus short chapters having big font: Yes, the really like the books with font big enough to be read with naked eyes without much concentration. Full marks to the publishers for it.
2. Failure Scenarios: Generally, book like this skip the hardships people face while applying the underlying strategies or techniques. I really liked the part where Wes had trouble applying Whale Done Principles in his office. The detailing could have been better though.

Read the complete review here -
Whale Done!: The Power of Positive Relationships by Kenneth Blanchard Ph.D., Thad Lacinak, Chuck Tompkins and Jim Ballard

Click to read review

It was the title which attracted me to the book. I had no idea what "Pigeon Blood Red" meant until I found it's meaning in the book. The author has describe it in detail. It was only then I went to Google and searched for the precious Gem. According to WIKIPEDIA - "The brightest and most valuable shade of red called blood-red or pigeon blood, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality".

Read the complete review here -
Pigeon-Blood Red by Ed Duncan

Click to read review

I am absolutely clueless about the content of Vedas. Thus, for me it was a pure fiction without any reference to compare to.

Reading about an era much older than we ever know stories about was quite interesting. Even the custom of marriage was not formalised! It was fun to read the pros and cons. The human nature has always been the same and there are may instances in the story which although belong to very very old times, but so aptly fit even today.

Read the complete review here -

Book Review-AVISHI - VISHPALA OF RIG VEDA REIMAGINED by Saiswaroopa Iyer

Click to read review

I could also relate many instances of five-year-old Misry to my own kids. I could sense the pride of parents when they see their kids learning small things by themselves and the sad feeling when they realize that they are learning the lessons of life as well meaning, they are growing up.

Read the complete review here -
Book Review: Grow Up Messy by Paromita Goswami







Wait I am not done! The little one is not far behind from joining the book club. This is how he browse through the book shelf to choose the book he wants to see pictures in and then always settles on his – ‘tataa’ (Disney/Pixar Cars - "Mater's Tall Tales" and "Heavy Metal Mater and Other Tall Tales")

Book Review: Grow Up Messy by Paromita Goswami

About The Author:

Paromita Goswami is a storyteller and also the founder of reading club that enhances book reading habit in children. Follow her Official website to know more about her - Paromita Goswami

The Blurb Says: Childhood is considered to be the best time of one’s life. What if you get a chance to live it once more with a five-year-old? 
Misry, a naughty five-year-old girl, lives with her parents in a B.S.F border outpost near Indo-Bangladesh border. But with no schools and friends she feels very lonely. She tries to befriend some local village kids. But they find her incompetent in their rural antics. They nickname her Messy as most of the time she messes up their plan. Can Misry really be a part of the gang? 
Set in the early eighties, join Misry in the adventures of her life.

About the Cover:

I think that the cover page for a children book is crucial factor which might decide its fate to be landed in a kid’s hands. The Book studio has done a fairly good job in designing the cover page. A naughty little cute girl with equally mischievous friends in the back ground along with the army man did full justice to the story of the book. For a five year old, it gave enough reasons to peep inside or ask their parents to read it out to them.

About the Book:

This book got mixed reactions from me.

I loved it when I read it as a parent since it brought back many memories of my own childhood. The way Misry pretended to sleep till her mother fell asleep only to flee and play reminded of my own childhood afternoons. It was exactly the same scene at my house during my childhood.

I could also relate many instances of five-year-old Misry to my own kids. I could sense the pride of parents when they see their kids learning small things by themselves and the sad feeling when they realize that they are learning the lessons of life as well meaning, they are growing up.

At the same time, It was an average read considering a child inside the reader.  The children would obviously love the mischievous pranks, courage and presence of mind of little girl. But, I found it bit heavy in terms of language used and learnings embarked in for a child less than 10-year-old.

The story ended without a conclusion. Some sort of plot would have justice to the hours spent while taking the journey with Misry.

It’s not very good but not a bad attempt from the author. I do hope to read more of her work in future.

Buy the Kindle edition of  book from Amazon:

I knew you would be there

Sky was dark,

Without a ray.

Earth so big

like a directionless walkway.

Quivering with fear

I stepped ahead.

The road was bare,

I felt so unaided

to step back.

I stood still

In the middle of puzzle.

Wrapped in my own arms,

eyes wide open,

I looked nowhere.

Air became moist

As I blinked,

a droplet came down,

kissing my cheeks.

Suddenly the little drop stopped.

It was a pearl

Quiescent on a soft hand.

As I looked up,

I saw a smile.

"I knew you would be there...always".

Again sheathed in arms,

with a hug this time.

We walked the road,

to a new creation.

To a new Bearing...

PS- This was the first poem I posted on my long abandoned blog - Merry Subdued Happiness way back in August 2009. Posting it here again in response to IndiSpire Prompt

#BookBlast :Children's Classic Stories Volume I - Retold by Aniesha Brahma

About the Author:

Aniesha Brahma knew she wanted to be a writer since she was six years old. She was schooled in Dolna Day School and went on to pursue B.A., M.A., and M.Phil in Comparative Literature from Jadavpur Univeristy. She currently lives in Kolkata, with her family and five pet cats. She is the author of All Signs Lead Back to You, When Our Worlds Collide, The Guitar Girl and The Secret Proposal. She compiled and edited the 10 volumes series, 'Children's Classic Stories' with love and great efforts.

Website * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook









About the Book:

This gorgeous treasury of ten classic stories is guaranteed to delight and entertain young children, bringing the magic of traditional stories to the new generation of children. Aimed at 8-12 year olds, each favourite fairy tale or story has been sensitively retold for young readers.
The series 'Children's Classic Stories' contains total 100 stories in 10 volumes. The stories in this collection show the consequences of greed, pride, and vanity, but also tell of the love that grows from a kind heart and a cheerful nature.

Volume 1 includes the following stories:
01. Little Red Riding Hood
02. Cinderella
03. Hansel and Gretel
04. Sleeping Beauty
05. Snow White and Rose Red
06. The Emperor's New Clothes
07. Rumplestiltskin
08. The Wise Little Girl
09. Goldilocks and the Three Bears
10. Rip Van Winkle

Goodreads * Amazon