BOOK REVIEW – Asha Ke Pankh By Neelam Saxena Chandra

Title:              ASHA KE PANKH

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Language:    HINDI

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Author:           NEELAM SAXENA CHANDRA

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Publisher:       AIRAVAT PUBLISHING HOUSE

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Pages:             108

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Release :         2015

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Price:              INR 150

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Genre:          POETRY

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Neelam Saxena Chandra is an engineer by profession. She works as an officer with Indian Railways. Writing poetry and fiction is her passion. Neelam has been nominated in the list of 100 most well known authors in India by Forbes for the year 2014.More than six hundred of her stories/poems have been published in various leading Indian as well as international magazines/journals/anthologies. She has published seventeen books..Neelam is a record holder in the India Book of Records for being the author with highest number of publications in a year. She has won several awards including an award in a poetry contest by American Embassy, Premchand award by Ministry of Railways, Rabindranath Tagore international poetry award, Freedom award by Radio city for her lyrics.

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

The book is all about keeping the hopes intact while sailing through the storms of life.Optimistic approach gives all the strength to believe in the beauty of dreams and follow them relentlessly.The emotions from day to day life are picked up in a prolific manner and are put in black and white quite creatively in the form of poems. Along with a few poems from guest authors, Neelam Chandra Saxena has given a chance to some of the budding authors to get their work published in her book( one of those lucky amateur writer being me ,Geeta Suri),though the theme remains the same ie. HOPE.

 

The poems entwines the nature as the true Guru which  enlightens us through tough terrains of life.Every element of nature gives a message of Hope , happiness and hardiness .

 

POSITIVES

Book Cover :  Book cover is one of the paintings of the author herself. The vivacious colors are intelligently chosen depicting a new dawn with a girl on the swing of Hope amidst nature.

Book Title   : The title of the book has its own beauty which incites you to lay your hands on the book.

Title of the poems :  The title of every poem is well thought of  to be different and unique in its own way.

Language : The poems are easy to be understood by all age groups .. though the reader will have to drill oneself if S/he is not so well versed in Hindi Literature.The reader will of course add some beautiful words in her/his vocabulary bank.

 

NEGATIVES

The essence which piques the interest with every flipping page  was somewhere missing down the line. Few of the poems infact did not even touched the theme . The author has been quite imaginative in weaving the words  but as a reader I could not find the WOW factor in the book.

 All in all it makes a good read. “Lamhen” and ” Amaltash ke phool ”  touched my heart.

RATING

3.5 /5

P.S  My heartfelt thanks to the author Neelam Saxena Chandra for sending her book to review and above all ,keeping all the patience as I took too long to publish it. I apologize for the delay.

 

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BOOK REVIEW- BUSINESS DOCTORS by SAMEER KAMAT

Title:            BUSINESS DOCTORS : MANAGEMENT CONSULTING GONE WILD

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Author:        SAMEER KAMAT

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Publisher:     BOOKSOARUS

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Pages:           240  PAPERBACK

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Release :       2014

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Price:            INR 250

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Genre:         Fiction (Thriller)

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About the author

Sameer Kamat is the founder of MBA Crystal Ball and Booksoarus. His first book, Beyond The MBA Hype published by HarperCollins, is currently in the third reprint. Business Doctors – Management Consulting Gone Wild is his second book.

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My views

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MANAGEMENT – MAFIA; Irrelevant relevancy indeed. This extraordinary concept rolled in a bit of humor makes you believe that a Management consultant can nurture ANY business that challenges him. Here the challenge was a bit weird because the business which was under a financial crunch taking its last few breaths and was desperately in need of a revival strategy was a mafia owned business of gambling, porn and drugs.

This Ivy League educated management consultant Michael Schneider, at the same time, was losing his existing clientele as a result of economic downturn in the consulting business of the corporate sector.

Stephen Woody, the mafia boss could not understand more than that he is desperately in need of someone who could instil life to his infirm business. Who other than a doctor for his business could do it better? This was actually explained to him by his wife Angie. 

Now he intends to hire Schneider associates to inflate his almost dead business. Though Michael was a bit reluctant at the first step, but afterwards reconsidered his offer for the sake of getting hefty returns which could surely keep his consultancy firm in good health.

Business Doctors : Management Consulting Gone Wild  – While reading this book was completely an enthralling experience, too many consulting jargon will surely put you off if you are a non-MBA. The flow of the story was overall good but it slows down a bit in between and becomes boring . However the plot is engaging, inappropriate paragraph breaks and alignment of the text puts you off track.

 All in all, the humor punches at right places makes it an enjoyable read.Go grab your copy.

RATING      ***/5

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It is an author requested review.

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Contact Sameer Kamat  :

Website | www.sameerkamat.com

Email | info at booksoarus dot com

Connect with him on Twitter @KamatSameer

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DISCLAIMER : All the Book Reviews, Author’s Interviews , Articles written on this blog are unpaid assignments. Authors/Writers are not earning even a single penny for publishing them on their blog, neither in the present nor in the future.

 

Book Review – RISE OF THE SUN PRINCE

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Title:              RISE OF THE SUN PRINCE (BOOK 1)

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Series:           RAMAYANA : THE GAME OF LIFE

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Author:           SHUBHA VILAS

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Publisher:       JAICO PUBLISHING HOSE

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Pages:             217  PAPERBACK

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Release :         2014

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Price:              INR 250

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Genre:            MYTHOLOGY

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Shubha Vilas  – a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with specialization in Patent Law. His leadership seminars are popular with top-level management in corporate houses. He also helps individuals deal with modern-life situations by applying the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and other dharmic traditions.

ABOUT THE BOOK 

The first book of the six volume series THE RISE OF THE SUN PRINCE  is essentially about the Baal Kanda of Ramayana by Sage Valmiki garnished with some anecdotes from  Kamba Ramayana. The sojourn of the engrossing description of the fable amalgamated with the provocative teachings through the footnotes distinctly declares it to be a page turner.

Retelling an old literary masterpiece is rather difficult than penning down a fresh new story,but the author has done this job with great perfection. The originality of the epic is intact, but “Jeevan Sutras” in every chapter nourishes the mind with the proper potion of wisdom to deal with the conundrums of life and inspires to follow the path of optimism, even during times of failures. It stands out of the various other modern interpretations as it has been restated as a spellbinding multifaceted tale with the narration being so captivating that you are hooked up to it till the end.

Magical words make the description so mesmerizing that you truly transmit yourself into that era, but still are able to connect with the present life’s quest. Simple yet lucid and convincing narration has been the highlight throughout. The drama and action in the saga is being unfolded skillfully in an alluring manner.

The various laws like law of sharing, law of dependence, etc. elucidates how these could be applied into all our relationships  for a smooth landing in every aspect of life.

The Book cover is quite appealing and is good enough to stimulate the intellectual tier and perk up your interest  to immediately lay hands on the book. No matter what age group you fall into, this book has the potential to guide you through life’s complexities.

I strongly recommend this book who enjoys reading Indian Mythology.

Rating  4/5.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

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DISCLAIMER : All the Book Reviews, Author’s Interviews , Articles written on this blog are unpaid assignments. Authors/Writers are not earning even a single penny for publishing them on their blog, neither in the present nor in the future.

Book Review – Baramulla Bomber

Title:              Baramulla Bomber

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Series:           Swastik Trilogy #1 (EKa)

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Author:          Clark Prasad

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Publisher:      Niyogi Books

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Pages:            316 Paperback

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Release :        Aug 2013

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Price:             INR 395

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Genre:            Science Fiction Thriller

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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 Clark Prasad, alter ego of Suraj Prasad, could be called a mixed citizen. Born in a leap year in Lagos, Nigeria he lived most of his life in New Delhi and had his education in Lagos, Delhi, Mangalore and Kozhikode. His family background is from the town where George Orwell, author of 1984 (a dystopian fiction) was born, and where Mahatma Gandhi had re-ignited India’s freedom movement – Motihari.

A pharmacist with a management degree who believes in conspiracy theories, Baramulla Bomber is his first book. His first education on the mysteries of the universe came via Carl Sagans Cosmos, and since then he never looked back on reading, watching and discussing about the universe. Currently he is a healthcare management consultant, based out of Bengaluru, Planet Earth.

REVIEW

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The cover of the book is intriguing.The eyes have some mystery to unfold . It really heightens your temptation to catch hold of  the book.

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Baramulla Bomber is a Science fiction Espionage thriller – an entirely different genre with the concoction of  Science, mythology,terrorism, cricket,the Vedas,technology,religion ,politics.

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The story moves around the globe from India to U.S to Sweden to China adding in even more thrill and suspense giving you goosebumps and adrenaline rushes.The thrill quotient is kept intact till the end and most of the credit goes to it’s real time narration.

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Baramulla Bomber is the first book of Svastik Triology.

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Mansur Haider,a God fearing aspiring cricketer who undergoes a transformation to Baramulla Bomber,Agastya Rathore ,the home minister who is trying to find the way to have peace in the nation,Ahana Yajurvedi ,Mansur’s girlfriend who is trying to locate her missing mountaineering team who vanished, after earthquake struck the Shaksgam valley and the one who is investigating Mansur as well as the Shaksgam valley incident, Adolf Silfverskiold, a Sweedish intelligence officer ,are  some of the major characters of the story.

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With the plot being so intense and all the characters being intricately woven with strong portrayal of each one , the book comes out to be a page turner, though at times the reader is  miffed when he is  left with questions unanswered,at times he is irritated with the length of the book and at times with the loopholes here and there.

Rating  7/10

All in all it makes a good read.Go,grab your copy

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

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DISCLAIMER :  All the Book Reviews, Author’s Interviews , Articles written on this blog are unpaid assignments. Authors/Writers are not earning even a single penny for publishing them on their blog, neither in the present nor in the future.

BOOK REVIEW – ENGLISH BITES BY MANISH GUPTA

Book :                   English Bites!

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Author:                 Manish Gupta

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Publisher:             Penguin

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Publication Year:  2012

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Language :          English

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Pages:                 334

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Price:                 INR 250( INR 145- Flipkart)

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About the Author

Manish Gupta is a banking professional. When not crunching numbers he is busy engaging with and examining the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of the English language. He also likes trivia, travelling, adventure sports, delving into human psychology, and giving professorial discourses to colleagues, family and friends, and practically anyone who can give him a patient hearing. An engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, he lives in Mumbai with his wife Deepali, a medical professional, and daughters Tamanna and Prakriti.

About the Book

As soon as you hold the book, you noodle around to comprehend the title -“English Bites! ” , to know whether the language bites you or you have some crunchy and crispy bites of English language served in the platter, to relish .

The book is an amazing potpourri of the bumpy hilarious ride of the author to gain mastery over the English language along with the expansion of  your vocabulary bank.

The author tells his own story of juggling his grey and white matters ,struggling with the appropriate usage of the vocabulary along with  developing new learning techniques ,sharing the triumphant moments of conquering over his fears and weaknesses with respect to the language ,aptly wrapped  with the anecdotes and witty remarks which  keeps you engrossed till the end.

The smooth flow of  narration, the informal tone sprinkled with humour makes it all the more endearing as it spares you from the monotonous self-help book feel. Author’s joyful ride of self learning has been weaved into the book quite interestingly.

Positives

The highlight of the book is an effortless effort to intersperse the entire range of new  words in between the  story which makes them much easier to remember and recall when needed and thereby enhances your verbal ability.

The unique proposition of adding the footnotes explaining the meanings of difficult words, their origin  and emphasizing on the nuances of the language makes the read even more enticing.

Negatives

What might put you off would be, the story getting  wishy-washy somewhere in the starting,making it difficult to drag along the pages, but later of course , it takes its own pace. Few things you might feel are not pretty much required which unnecessarily increases the length of the book.

RATING  8/10

I thoroughly loved this book and  crave for another bonanza of even more delightful English Bites garnished with a little more fun element.

P.S  My heartfelt thanks to the author Mr. Manish Gupta for approaching me to review his book and above all, for having all the patience since I took too long to publish it .I apologize for the delay .

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DISCLAIMER :  All the Book Reviews, Author’s Interviews , Articles written on this blog are unpaid assignments. Authors/Writers are not earning even a single penny for publishing them on their blog, neither in the present nor in the future.

Book Review- Maverick heart between love and life By Ravindra Shukla

Title                             : Maverick heart between love and life 

Author                         : Ravindra Shukla

Publisher                      : Frog Books

Year of Publication       : 2013 No of Pages                 : 383       Language                     : English Type                             : Fiction Price                             : INR 195 ( Flipkart  INR 135)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

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Ravindra Shukla is an engineering graduate from IIT Bombay. He has been working in emerging technology and business analytics in IT software technology. His professional experience includes working with consulting firms – PWC and IBM in USA for 15+ years. He is a member of the Film Writers Association, Mumbai.

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Overview

Adding few more spices , garnishing and serving an already cooked dish in a bit different way was an overall impact of the book.But anyhow sometimes you even like such dishes. Don’t you ?

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The character setting , the institute , the life of the characters seems to be quite similar to CB’s Five Point Someone or three idiots.

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A mixed bag of feelings of friendship,care, love, hatred, jealousy, passion ,sacrifice n all sorts of complexities lies in it but the story does not focus on the  same old love triangles ,instead how every character chases his /her passions dreams by  choosing their own paths ,setting their own goals, with of course a dash of melodrama  added to keep the readers engrossed ..

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The energy ,the vibrancy,the dreams ,the vision  of young hearts and minds had been the highlight of the story. The game of one’s heart vs one’s own mind had been depicted quite interestingly.

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Storyline

It’s very difficult to choose to follow one’s heart when there is a clear call to mint millions by joining the rat race but that’s what Rahul ,the male lead character did – He sacrificed the glamour of millions, decided to work for the society and joined an NGO.

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A modern,intelligent ,proactive, clear headed girl with Indian values – Richita ,the female lead character of the story.Walking through ups and downs , she ultimately meets Rahul in the IIT campus and finds a comfort level with him to share her feelings and the intimacy between the two grows with time .But how did it happened that he got married to a typical corporate guy ,Deepak? Was she under some family pressure?

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Rahul’s best buddy, caring ,intelligent,having a practical approach towards life – Neerav,another main character of the story.He hails from an affluent business family, highly focussed towards his goals and always aimed to enter the corporate world .

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Did the life of these three friends took turn according to them or they had to listen to the life’s call? Chasing their dreams they all took different paths  but were they able to unite again ?

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For more you will have to read the book ..

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Positives

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The best part of the book are the discussions among the friends,the dialogues are raw and straight from the heart.The social issues are highlighted brilliantly. The flow is good.

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Negatives

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Of course the book is too lengthy and needs better editing. Parts of the book does not require detailed narration .Moreover switching from first person to third person and vice versa sometimes creates confusion.

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A suggested read . You will enjoy it.

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Rating  3/5

This book review is a part of “The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program”. To get free books log on to thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com.

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DISCLAIMER :  All the Book Reviews, Author’s Interviews , Articles written on this blog are unpaid assignments. Authors/Writers are not earning even a single penny for publishing them on their blog, neither in the present nor in the future.

Book Review -The Homing Pigeons

Title            The Homing Pigeons                          

Author        Sid Bahri

Publisher    Srishti Publications

Language    English

Genre          Fiction

Binding       paperback

Price           Rs  150(Flipkart-RS 108)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A hotelier by education, an ex-banker and a senior executive in the outsourcing industry, Sid gave up a plush career in the outsourcing industry to follow his passions. Based out of Ranikhet, he is not a struggling entrepreneur and a happy writer. A self-proclaimed eccentric, he is an avid blogger who loves to read and cook. Cooking stories however is his passion.

Storyline

Enticed by the comely cover page and the heart touching tagline, this book had been  on my priority list .And woah!! Within few days I received an email from Nimi Vashi from THE READERS COSMOS ,to read and review this book.. This was like a wish come true.

Mid pleasures and palaces ,though we may roam

Be it ever so humble there is no place like home

The sojourn through the story  had been  riveting and all the more refreshing with the tinkle of a novel thought of structuring it in a different way. Aditya and Radhika,the two main protagonists narrate their stories by juggling  them alternately between  their respective point of view and time frame which had been distinctly put on paper and is made noticeable.

The formation of the intricate patterns  in their life had been sketched with a different appeal which keeps the reader absorbed.

Aditya, who’d been hit hard and harder by the destiny,his bread and butter was under the clutches of the  repercussions  of  the recession period ,even the last of the coins bid goodbye to his pocket making him penniless,another lash on his life was his marriage which was on the verge of failure..Above all his habits put him into the worst of the conditions to survive being a Gigolo.

Radhika ,young ,worth a million widow, had been desperate   for the  freedom she had been imagining since his husband expired but that would cost her a few more days till her step daughter’s marriage is over as per her husband’s will.

Aditya and Radhika had been best friends since high school and were secretly in love too. Their saga of love with some spicy garnishes unfolds bit by bit which keeps the reader glued .

So how did their life take turns towards the messed up road? Why they had to be apart from each other ? Was Radhika actually happy to have her sky of freedom? Did destiny made some provisions for them to meet somewhere during their lives?Did their saga of love had an happy ending ?

Aah!! So many questions popping up in the heads .. Along with getting the answers ,relish the spicy romantic read  sprinkled with the unique style of narration during this weekend. Go grab a  copy of the book.

Though at times the reader is miffed  and have to detour to be in the story,at times its kinda too Bolly-wood-ish too and it still had a scope of a bit more editing..But the author’s style of writing piques the interest with every flipping pages.

Rating   7/10

This book review is a part of “The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program”. To get free books log on to thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com.

BOOK REVIEW-ONCE UPON THE TRACKS OF MUMBAI

Title            Once upon the tracks of Mumbai

Author        Rishi Vohra

Publisher    Jaico publishing house

Language    English

Genre          Fiction

Binding       paperback

Price           Rs  175

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rishi Vohra relocated back to Mumbai after completing a Green MBA.He has been a guest columnist for various newspapers in India and currently writes for Delwine and is a certified specialist of Wine.It’s his debut novel

STORY

The main protagonist Balwant Shrivastava ,nickname  Babloo ,doesn’t fit into the family frame quite well as he has his own ways to perceive and penetrate through situations.Burdened with the tags like “different” , “Schizophrenic”,  “autistic” ,”psychotic”  this young guy pushes his life amidst the local train tracks in a railway colony of dream city Mumbai .It was very difficult for him to catch up with the high pace of spoken words, still he could manage to complete his studies,but sadly could not find any job and position  among the sane heads  .Some incidents took place and he met a rather stronger person within himself .The society started identifying this “Babloo ” as  RAIL MAN. 

Another character of the story, Sikander ,Who use to play off with Babloo’s emotions just for the sake of entertainment.The colony girls were being  cajoled coaxed and finally dumped  for his mere physical pleasure.

Vandana ,an independent girl with Neoteric vision, audacious attitude, big dreams to fly high, pretty  face,strong of character and soft at heart, she was the only one with whom Babloo use to be, as he is . With time Babloo had a secret affection for her and dreamt Vandana to be her life partner . Sikandar promised Babloo to convey his(Babloo’s) feelings to Vandana but his(Sikandar’s) sickening intentions were of playing a game to entrap her in his web.

Babloo’s younger brother Raghu , arrogant by nature, overvalued  and considered to be the big gun of the family as he  excelled in his studies and grabbed a respectable job in the stock market.Parents wanted him to be in a wedlock with Vandana.

Did Sikander succeed in his iniquitous motive ? Was Babloo able to express his feelings to Vandana ?How did Babloo became a real life hero? What incidents took place in Raghu’s life?With whom did Vandana tied a knot? Did the story ended on a happy note or a sad one?

If you are curious to know the answers to the above questions ,go and grab a copy ..It’s absolutely worth the read.

My Views

Quite an engrossing tale with twists into twists being interestingly amalgamated.Each character is so intricately woven with each other making the entire plot quite convincing.There is a genuine portrayal of the problems,the feelings,the thought process of an autistic person,in the story.Lucid style of writing. Elegant way to capture the flow of sentiments .Somehow one  finds that these events are happening just next door .One could relate to it so well. Somewhere in between one has to push oneself to turn the pages but soon the track is being caught hold which makes the journey of reading quite enjoyable. Conceptualization of the story is extraordinary and it becomes all the more enthralling by the author’s skill of putting it in a simple and honest way.

The author could have done away with the repetitions of raunchy bits of ‘C’ grade movies , and the exaggerations of the fight sequences of the RAIL MAN .A little less of Bollywood masala sprinkled would have given even more of the realistic feel.Nevertheless it was out and out an entertaining read.

RATING –  7.5/10

I really look forward to Rishi’s upcoming books …

It’s an author requested review .For further insight into the book kindly visit www.rishivohra.com

P.S    My heartfelt gratitude to the author Rishi Vohra for having sent me an autographed copy of his book for review. 

SALVATION OF A SAINT -BOOK REVIEW

Title      : Salvation of a Saint

Author     : Keigo Higashino

Genre      : Fiction, Suspense Thriller 

Publisher : Little Brown Book Group

Binding   : Paperback

Pages      : 384

Price       :Rs. 350 (buy from flipkart in Rs. 214 (39% off))

Murder mysteries,Crime thrillers ,Investigative reads – Aah!! For me, too hard to pick such books  .

Internationally acclaimed, award winning , Japanese author of the multi million copy bestseller THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X ,the title of the book and the blurb was an exceptional blend to stimulate me to flip through the pages of KEIGO HIGASHINO’s SALVATION OF A SAINT which undoubtedly had me beguiled right from the start to the end.

A classic murder mystery adorned with well constructed plot of suspense,few amazing twists and turns,riddles inside enigmas along with a bizarre murder technique .The murderer was introduced in the very first chapter and the story took pace turning through the pages leaving behind the major clue that death happened due to poison .

Yoshitaka,the president of an IT company,a typical male chauvinist, highly egoistic was running his marriage as per his declared terms and conditions ,which became null and void with sips of arsenic laced coffee.The prime suspect was his wife Ayane,a patchwork quilter whom he was cheating on just because she could not reproduce  even after one year of their marriage.Who else could be ?

WHODUNIT ? Who was the killer? Was it a combined conspiracy or Was she Hiromi ,an apprentice quilter of Ayane  whom  Yoshitaka has taken as a  mistress and she was the only person present when he died.

The team of detective Kusanagi churned their gray matter applying scientific theories one of which was the theory of elimination to finally reach the truth. The degree of complexity became higher when it was found that Ayane was physically thousands of miles away when this murder took place .

Detective Galileo ,an old friend of Kusangai was called to unravel this mystery .He racked his brain with all sorts of observations , interrogations , theories, possibilities and what not .. Apart from WHODUNIT, an  irksome question was HOWDUNIT?

A perfect murder it was .The tricks and tactics used to prepare the blueprint of murder which answers  the question HOWDUNIT was far more interesting than the flat simple answer of WHODUNIT.

The difficult part in the book –

1.To get acquainted with the characters easily as they had Japanese names and I had quite a tough time to recall and connect with them.

2.Initially the story  paced up but in between somewhere it fell flat and I had to manage somehow to maintain the interest.

Smooth narration.Language being simple and gripping.The writer has a unique and refreshing style .Out and out a decent thriller and if your gray matter chuckles around the murder mysteries then it’s a compulsive read for you.Enjoyable and fun read.

Ratings : 8/10

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in Osaka, he started writing novels while still working as an engineer at Nippon Denso Co. (Presently DENSO). He won the Edogawa Rampo Award, which is awarded annually to the unpublished finest mystery work, in 1985 for the novel Hōkago (After School) at age 27. Subsequently, he quit his job and started a career as a writer in Tokyo.

In 1999, he won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for the novel Naoko, which was translated into English by Kerim Yasar and published by Vertical Inc. in 2004. In 2006, he won the 134thNaoki Prize for The Devotion of Suspect X . His novels had been nominated five times before winning the award. The novel also won the 6th Honkaku Mystery Grand Prize and was ranked as the number-one novel by Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2006 and 2006 Honkaku Mystery Best 10, annual mystery fiction guide books published in Japan.

The English translation of The Devotion of Suspect X was nominated for the 2012 Edgar Award for Best Novel and the 2012 Barry Award for Best First Novel.

He writes not only mystery novels but also essays and story books for children. The style of writing differs from his novels, but basically he does not use as many characters as in his novels.

Last but not the least a big round of applause for  both Alexander O Smith and Elye J for  brilliantly translating this masterpiece from Japanese.

This book has been provided by Blogadda under the BookReviews Program.

Thank you so much Blogadda for giving me this opportunity

TANTRA BY ADI-BOOK REVIEW

Title : Tantra
Author : Adi
Publisher : Apeejay Stya Publishing
 Genre Fiction Thriller
Year : 2013
ISBN-10 : 8190863622
Pages : 344
Price : Rs. 195

Fiction Thriller ,Vampires ,Indian Author  !! Doesn’t the combo of all three sounds a bit offbeat , this being the only reason for me to grab this book.

THE BOOK COVER  – the blue color here is depicting the city to be in deep sleep  oblivious of the bloodsuckers risky business.The huntress on the cover holding two blood stained knives in a leather outfit , seems to be have trained legally for this job .The cover ,though ,doesn’t have much appeal, still  the reader is drawn towards  to pick it up  .

STORYLINE

Anu ,the protagonist is a trained Guardian(Vampire huntress) in New York .To Unravel the mystery  of her boyfriend, Brian’s murder ,compelled her to take a job transfer to Delhi.And now there were myriad threats exposed to face,right from change in environment,change of colleagues, to the change in the techniques on duty..The moods and behavioural pattern of Delhi vampires were typically different from those of New York.Her actual mission took a back league in front of the murder series involving innocent children ,which when investigated revealed a very different pattern of slaying ,based on tantric powers.Her biggest challenge now was to battle against that  Tantric -Baba Senaka,who sacrifices the humans to increase his powers.Now What will Anu do ? How  will she sharpen her weapon to fight against the Tantra ?

On the other hand Anu’s pure desi aunt is also on a hunt .She is busy finding a suitable match for Anu whereas Anu is miffed to be a part of this social drama of wedlock.The episodes of dekhan dikhai brings smiles and chuckles in between and takes the reader on a lighter note.Her personal life turns a new leaf  when Gaurav is introduced.Who is he? How does he play an important role in her life? To find the answers you will have to add this book in your kart.

POSITIVES

The thought of a  strong  female protagonist is quite refreshing.The narration is lucid  and keeps you tucked in.The language has a simplistic charm .The humoristic touch in between the lines  is another add on.The description of Sattvic and tantric energies has fine detailings which leaves a positive remark for the author to be a dedicated researcher.

NEGATIVES

The reader is in dilemma at times with lots of open ended questions. How was  the life of Anu in New York ? How she stood out to be one of the best guardians there? What does the author exactly means by  “shifts “? With such questions the readers  are left with their own interpretations.Some complexities in between and somewhere somehow the connection is lost at times and the reader feels to have a bumpy ride. Even With these few bounces the author has been able to make the read enjoyable and little engrossing.

The newbies for this genre, like me will have a tough time to turn the pages initially but if you are able to do so, it leaves you enthralling at the end.

The sequel of this book,  is for sure , being cooked up in the author’s mind.

Out and out a fun read with a nice blend of adventure, suspense, fortitude and wit . .Surely not to be missed to taste something new and refreshing this weekend Ratings   7/10

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