November 18, 2015

Book Review: Live-in with a ghost by Kritika Sharma

Live-in with a ghost
Author: Kritika Sharma
Publisher: Half Baked Beans
Rating: 3/5

Summary
Love is a sublime feeling that is intangible and can be felt and expressed. Probably ‘Live-in with a ghost’ also tries to prove this point. This story is one such mushy (clichéd) love tale that makes you behave like a dog with two tails. The story is about Jia and Jay, who fall in love during their out-of-body experience. Although both have extremely different personalities, they fall in love instantly. ‘Live-in with a ghost’ is an emotional journey of a human and a ghost. But the lingering question is- what if Jai forgets his love when he wakes up?
To know more click here.

Review copy: Courtesy HBB


Book Review: The great journey of discoveries by Eknoor Singh & Saksham Singhal

The Great Journey of Discoveries

Author: Eknoor Singh and Saksham Singhal
Publisher: Cyberwit.net
Rating: 3/5

Summary
Doesn’t it feel good to be lost in the right direction? Yes? Well, the children of today are always on the ball and have that urgent urge of unveiling the mysteries that lie before them. ‘The great journey of discoveries’ is one such journey of a ten year old kid, who decides, against all odds, to give his imagination, wings. He sets out on an adventurous journey. The theme of the story is the discovery of the ‘Obvious facts’ that were not so obvious or rather unknown to mankind then.

This is a children’s book that will suit the interest of the young kids. Grab your copies today to enjoy this expedition filled with fun, thrill, emotions and adventure.


My Opinion
It is really nice to see children penning down stories and poems that reflect the innocence and sincerity. The author duo has done a wonderful job in making the story interesting by not only making the narration expressive but also including the illustrations. Probably every child will love reading this book.

Coming to the technicalities of the book- the cover of the book is colorful and comical. The story goes in a flow and the presence of frequent rhyming words, makes it interesting. The title is suitable. The typeset, font (size, color) and the layout, is catchy. The presence of innocent punches will definitely make children laugh.

However, there are several grammatical and syntactical errors like wrong use of tenses, missing words, punctuation errors. The text is baffling and repetitive. The sentence formation is wrong (even in the blurb- which is more of author biography than the plot summary). The proofreading and editing is not refined and this can act as a negative factor if this is book is used for enforcing reading habit in the kids.

Overall, a great effort by the author duo (the wonder kids)! Best Wishes!

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Book Review: The story: inspiring the youth by Anuj Kumar

The Story- inspiring the youth

Author: Anuj Kumar
Publisher: Cyberwit.net
Rating: 2.5/5

Summary
‘You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it’. ‘The story’ is Atul’s story and throws light on the struggles he has faced or faces and how he chooses perseverance over giving up. Life is ironical. When you least expect, the happiness knocks your door and when you think that all the odds are in your favor, tables are suddenly turned, leaving you helpless and hopeless. This book is an inspirational journey, detailing about the essence of the family relations and the true meaning of success.

Dreaming about success is like having a bee in one’s bonnet and it takes effort and support, together, to reach the apex. The story is not that simple. Atul has a complicated life. But life is not a bed of roses, for temptations can lead you to a wrong path. How does Atul cope with the temptations? Does he achieve what he desires?

To know the answers, grab this book.


 My Opinion
‘He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none can pierce’. It is very important in life to stay focused and do nothing by halves. ‘The story’ is a simple story about the journey towards success. The title of the book is short and simple. The cover of the book is mesmerizing and the blurb is perfect. The typesetting and the font type used, is fine.

The narration is lucid and the dialogues are expressive. Even though the chapter numbers have not been included as the part of the book, the naming of the chapters does the trick. The flow of the story is fine. The proofreading is awful, with wrong punctuation and wrong tenses. Time and again one can come across ambiguous sentences which disrupt the flow of reading. Even the blurb has not been edited properly as there are spacing errors. There is a major blunder in the book related to the use of apostrophe- confusion between you’re and your.

However, the plot of the story is relatable and touches the heart. It is true that ‘opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell’ and it is also true that ‘about the only time losing if more fun than winning is when you are fighting temptation’. The story successfully portrays the strained relationship of father-son, bond between brother-sister and the selfless love of the mother.

Overall, good effort by the author. Best Wishes!


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November 17, 2015

Types of people you meet during Diwali shopping



By October, the Diwali virus is already in our systems. It takes less than a month, for the virus to multiply and show its true colors and that’s when the desire to shop and buy the whole market, is evoked. But I personally think that shopping in metropolitan cities is altogether a different experience as compared to the shopping done in smaller cities. Don’t you agree?

For an instance, if you roam in the streets of Delhi, the Delhites won’t miss a single chance to show-off their composed self. But that does not happen in the cities like Lucknow or Bareilly. Here, three days before the D-day, the traffic is stopped and only pedestrians are allowed in the main market area. Also, every corner of the city is lit up so brightly that even the sun might think twice of showing up the next day. But people here, reside in fool’s paradise, for the electricity cut off is the major problem. And once the electricity bids goodbye, without prior notice, the whole city turns pitch black for few seconds.

Anyhow, the enthusiasm of people is not interrupted even then, for you can spot millions of people walking up and down the road (God knows for what!). This Diwali, during my shopping spree, while my mother was busy buying the necessary essentials for the ‘Pooja’, I focussed my sincere attention on the types of people that can be found on such occasion. Here goes the list:

The side-kick aunty: This lady has a persistent problem with her leg. If she stops at any shop and if you happen to stand next to her, then beware, for (intentionally or unintentionally) her leg will move up and kick you. If you think you can push her back, then I am sorry, you can’t because you lack the skills.

The fake accent girl:Bhaiya yeh kitthe ka hai”, “Bhaiya main especially Delhi se aayi hu ye lene”, etc- If you hear these lines from someone standing close by, don’t waste your time in stretching your neck and trying to have a look at the ‘smart face’ because this is the one, the one with the fake accent, who can go any limits to bend over backwards and end up with the best bargain.

The aimless walkers: This category of people can be seen walking in front of you, at a speed which will definitely indicate that they have some very important business. But you are made to jump out of your skin, when, while returning on the same or different road, you can spot the same group, walking faster than you (probably tending to some other business). Eventually, after spotting them for one more time you realize that they just prefer going for a night walk rather than the morning one!

The wildchild: This child has a packet of ‘aalubum’ in his pocket and the sudden adrenaline rush forces him to burst that bomb every now and then, irrespective of the surroundings or the people walking close by.

The push-everybody aunty: This lady never misses any chance to push aside the people around and be the first one in everything. It seems like there is a Rugby match going on and she is the hooker (don’t get me wrong, I am referring to the forward in Rugby) wanting to defeat everyone who comes in her way.

This is definitely not it. You can find more types of people but still the celebration of the festivities would be incomplete without this fun, right?

If you have met weird people too, then share in the comments!

Happy reading!


Book Review: King of hearts by Prassant Kevin


King of hearts

Author: Prassant Kevin
Publisher: Bookmozo Publishers
Rating: 2.5/5

Summary
‘No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.’ ‘King of hearts’ proves this right. This is a heart melting story of two best friends, who buckle down to get their dreams fulfilled. The protagonist of the story is Ayan, who is a writer by passion and is struggling in the world of literature. Amidst the dog-eat-dog attitude of the fellow competitors, Ayan works his fingers to the bone to survive. His stars change when his literary work is done and dusted and luck shines bright on him. His flair for words lures the readers, so much so, that they go gaga for him. ‘King of hearts’ is a quest of Ayan to find his lost friendship with Misha, a quest to rekindle the candle of love, a quest to prove the worth and to rule the hearts of millions. But wait, there is more in store for you, for this story is not that simple as it sounds.

Grab this book to know more about the lives of Ayan and Misha!


My opinion
‘King of hearts’ has a good plot with limited characters and appropriate characterization. The cover of the book seems messed up. The introductory lines could have been changed in order to make the title page attractive. The title of the book is fine. The font used for the blurb is crummy because it is not at all readable. Same is the problem with the other content printed on the back page.

Coming to the content of the book, the typesetting and editing is awful. Again, the font type is not appropriate (Book Antiqua, 12 would have been better). The alignment or rather the pattern followed for writing the title of the chapters, is not in coherence because some chapters have a title (the font size is again a problem here) and some don’t.
The setting and the narration is fine but the wrong use of tense and the presence of frequent grammatical and other syntactical errors make the text ambiguous. The use of ‘hairs’ and the short forms like 'coz', do not fail to annoy me more. At some places, the text is incomprehensible because of the mix-up with the genders of the characters.

Overall, with this book the author has set his foot in the door and there is still a long way to go. Best wishes!


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Review copy: Coutesy Author Paradise


November 15, 2015

Book Review: Diabolical by Supriya Parulekar


Diabolical

Author: Supriya Parulekar
Publisher: Gargi Publishers
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary
“The monster I run from is in me.” Diabolical is all about the strength and the courage that is required to fight the internal demons. The protagonist of the story is Sonya, who is haunted by the monster of her past, Vikram Uncle. Going through the whirlpool of emotions, Sonya somehow reaches the peak of her career but happiness is amiss. Why? Because the diabolical within takes its toll over the willpower to survive. On one hand is Ramola, the shrewd step mother, who can go any limits to earn indirectly, from her step daughter’s profession and on the other hand is Jay, who is considerate, caring and very patient. This story portrays many relationships and the loopholes in them- the bond between the step sisters, the compelled love of a mother for her step daughter, the selfless love of a lover and the strained relationship with the devil within!

Grab this book to have a sneak-peek into Sonya’s life and experience the trauma that she goes through every single day.


My Opinion
‘Your dragons are frightened parts of your personality, and you alone can experience and heal them’. Diabolical is a heart wrenching novella, with a twisted plot and a distressing climax. The cover of the book is nice (Credits: Amol Karambe), the title is very captivating and the typesetting and editing is fine.

It is not necessary that every story ends on a happy note because every story does not originate in cloud cuckoo land! Diabolical is one such story that can make you jump out of your skin. The plot is gripping and the lucid narration acts like a cherry on the cake. There are no lengthy descriptions and the use of vocabulary is splendid. The best and the most striking feature of the book is the ‘crisp and short chapters’ and the appalling (rather unexpected) climax.

Somehow I felt that the use of ‘babes’ spoilt the fun of reading. Secondly, the inclusion of some chapters seemed unnecessary.

Overall, Diabolical is strong, emotional and intelligent piece of fiction which will definitely touch your heart.


Drawbacks
The book lacks proofreading as time and again one can spot missing words, punctuation errors and other grammatical mistakes.


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