Category: From My Bookshelf

There are lots of books stacked on my bookshelf. When I pick one of them, I dive into the amazing world created by an author as soon as I open the cover. However, there is always “the end” written on the last page of the book. Have you ever felt that you are in the same world with those characters? Witnessing those scenes written on pages in your hand, hearing voices of characters speaking dialogues scripted for them? There are a few books which have taken me in their world. And I must say, they are magnificent. Valentia created by Rajamayyoor Sharma is on top of my head as far as Indian fiction is concerned while James Clavel has taken me to mediaeval Japan. I have roamed around London with Sherlock and Poirot.

And yet, the journey in those realms, started from the cover page, has its end marked. The author takes the characters by hand and takes them to their destination by the end of the book. They fulfil their destiny. If a writer chooses to give happy moments at the end, we enjoy them. If it’s a tragedy, characters at least get closure at the end. Many times, I wish to ask the author if he or she has forgotten to write something for me? What about my destiny at the end? What about my share of the closure? Haven’t you thought about me as an uninvited traveller on this journey when you wrote a book?

Here you will find my reflections on my readings. Hope you will also enjoy these stories as much as I did.

  • Book Review – Age of Azmoq: The Valentian Imperium

    As soon as I opened the package containing the book, the cover caught my sight with its beautifully blending colors and the magnificent design of a keep at the center of the cover. The blurb on the back did the trick which it is supposed to do. It enticed me to dive in the book immediately. The mysterious Azmoqian weapons and unearthing of an old forgotten legend are all that you need to get yourself immersed in the book.

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    I have always felt envious about fantasy writers who can create the entire new universe with all the complexities like geography, society, culture, economics and add a dash of mysteries to it like a cherry on top. When I realized that Age of Azmoq is Rajamayyoor Sharma’s debut novel, I got extremely jealous. Now as you know about my jealousy about his talent, you must have got some idea about the fabulous world he has created in this book. The book is a story of a Villasboro lad who is out on the quest of getting the justice for his loved ones. But as the title says, “Age of Azmoq, Book 1: The Valentian Imperium’, this is just the first book of the series. We are in for a long journey through this fantasy world containing rarest and most coveted metal, Azmoq. Though I am not much of a book series fan, I am very excited for the next one.

    The way Sharma open up the secrets throughout the book is the most fascinating part. You are told only those things which you need to understand the events described in next few pages. Small nuggets of knowledge about mysteries and legends from past are revealed on a ‘need to know’ basis. Along with these nuggets, you get the staple doses of wisdom. It’s not unique to find such small bits of wisdom in a fantasy, we have had the wisdom of General Iroh in Avatar: the last airbender. Rajamayyor has mastered the same perfect blend. I like the contrast between the protagonist’s optimistic nature who wants to put everything to the good use in spite of the whole world is busy in the power struggle and putting the Azmoq in use only for its destructive powers.

    I am very thankful to Rajamayyor that he did the amazing thing of self-publishing the book. I have few suggestions for the printing and font. The small font makes it bit tough to read but thanks to the captivating plot, I didn’t even think of leaving it halfway. Being a mapmaker by profession, I am very much aware of the difficulties in designing a cool map even of the known world. However, illustrators had done a great job of producing a map of a fantasy world. It would have been great and more easy to understand the geography if the map could be printed in a larger size. Other illustrations in the book are as cool as the map.

    I am glad that even after doing MBA from IIM Bangalore and engineering from a prestigious BITS Pilani, Rajamayyor has not walked on the set path of writing same old ‘on-off college romance’ novels. Instead, he came up with this amazing idea of creating a series of novels which will be a tale of Azmoqian legends and mysteries which can make you most powerful in the world if you wield it. All in all, It’s a wonderful enticing read. Go grab your copy from nearest bookstores or hit on the links below.

    My rating: 3.5/5

    Paperback
    Publisher: Self Published (2018)
    Language: English
    ISBN-10: 1976882087
    ISBN-13: 978-1976882081
    Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 2.8 x 20.3 cm

    Amazon 

     

  • 3 and a half murders – a review

    Name of the book: 3 and a Half Murders 41igaXTEreL._SX321_BO1,204,203,200_

    Author: Salil Desai

    My rating: 4.5/5

    While going through my Goodreads bookshelves, I stumbled upon Salil Desai’s latest novel from Inspector Saralkar Series. But, this discovery was really late, almost 10 months from the publication. I am kicking myself for not following this amazing author, who gave us our own mystery hunters duo, Senior Inspector Saralkar and PSI Motkar from Homicide Unit of Pune Police. I was fascinated by the first two books from the series and that lead me to pick his latest title instantaneously.

    Maintaining the track record of the earlier titles from series, Salil Desai has managed to keep the reader’s attention with him until he completes the story. This time story takes you to Kothrud, another part of Pune, to almost open and shut case; the murder-suicide of married couple Sanjay and Anushka Doshi. But as the story unfolds, mystery hunters duo’s attempt to answer ‘why’s behind the ghastly and spine-chilling murder-suicide, brings the puzzling facts about human behaviors.

    The plot takes many twists and turns leading inspectors to various cities and dive in the old case papers of Karnataka Police in for the unsolved murder in Banglore entangled with shady land deals, recruitment scams and many other irregularities related to Doshis.

    I have observed in Salil’s this series, he had tried to talk about human psychology and the social stigmas around various issues like sexuality and gender identity. He has developed the characters around these issues so that he can create the dialogue in the reader’s mind about these issues. This is the quality which makes you read through the last chapter where the criminal tries to explain his side of the story, and the end where protagonist put some key pieces of the puzzle on display for us.

    Senior Inspector Saralkars one-line punches and jibes to PSI Motkar add the spices to the story along with the development of their personal stories, as PSI Motkar is now an amateur actor in a play and Saralkar is trying to fight with the diagnosis of hypertension. The blurb of the book and the cover is so catchy that you can’t leave it until you dive deep into it. This is how the blurb goes:

    “Two corpses . . . a woman lying dead on her bed,
    a man hanging from the ceiling fan.
    A suicide note cum murder confession.
    And a name . . . Shaunak Sodhi.
    When the case comes their way, Senior Inspector Saralkar has just been diagnosed with hypertension and PSI Motkar is busy with rehearsals of an amateur play.
    What appears at first to be a commonplace crime by a debt-ridden, cuckolded husband, who has killed his unfaithful wife and then hung himself, soon begins to unfold as a baffling mystery. As clues point to a seven-year-old unsolved murder in Bangalore and other leads emerge closer home, Saralkar and Motkar find themselves investigating shady secrets, bitter grudges, fishy land deals, carnal desires, the dead woman Anushka Doshi’s sinister obsession with past life regression and her husband’s links to a suspicious, small-time god-man, Rangdev Baba.And then, suddenly, the murderer resurfaces and yet another life is in grave danger . . .
    Can Saralkar and Motkar get to the bottom of an unimaginably shocking motive and stop the malevolent killer from committing the fourth murder . . .?”

    Paperback: 328 pages

    Publisher: Fingerprint! Publishing (8 February 2017)

    Language: English

    ISBN-10: 8175994258

    ISBN-13: 978-8175994256

     

    Buy your copy at

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  • Search for Indian Mystery Writer ends…

    23119374Name of the book: Killing Ashish Karve

    Author: Salil Desai

    My rating: 4.5/5

    I like to indulge myself in finding background forces resulting in the particular event or incident. And that’s the main cause of getting my mind attracted to the crime novels. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, John Gresham, Jeffry Archer have been on my favorites list for many years. While screen shopping on Amazon Kindle store, my mind stuck on “Killing Ashish Karve” by Salil Desai. The reason was as simple as a familiarity of the surname in the title. As I flipped some pages of the preview available, I just couldn’t stop myself from choosing it as my next read.

    Salil Desai didn’t make me regret my choice. The story plot is set to happen in Pune, the city which is my home for past 7 years, I felt more engrossed about the plot. But even if it would have been set in any fictional city, his narration style is very remarkable and details in writings build a very realistic picture of locations, crime scenes. The plot revolves around the suspicious death of a businessman from city and everyone close to him have one or the other motive to get rid of him.

    Homicide inspectors from City Police find themselves chasing some eluding facts making any concrete progress difficult in this case. Salil wrote the story with such interesting twists and turns. Some misleading facts set them in wild goose chase, family members pull up non-cooperation card at a crucial time, are very common aspects of any murder mystery, but Salil made it a point of keeping them so interesting that reader feels them very important for the plot to move ahead. When we feel that case about to crack open and guilty will be apprehended, the story takes another turn with the murder of one of a key person. All pieces get linked almost at climax and inspectors make the arrest.

    After reading “Killing Ashish Karve” I can say confidently that my search for good Indian murder mystery writer stops at Salil Desai. I am very eager for reading his other works.

    Paperback: 260 pages

    Publisher: Fingerprint! Publishing (1 July 2014)

    Language: English

    ISBN-10: 8172345313

    ISBN-13: 978-8172345310

    Buy your copy at:

    Paperback on Amazon

    Kindle

    Or, a bookshop near you…

  • हे सर्व कोठून येते? – A Book Review

    If you are aware of the contemporary Marathi theatre scene, then one name will be very familiar to you: Vijay Tendulkar. He was a fantastic playwright with many milestones in Marathi theatre like Ghashiram Kotwal, Gidhade and Sakharam Bainder which are recorded in his name. He has also written stories for some amazing films, such as Ardhasatya, Akrosh and Nishant. On the other hand, he had written many short and long articles, essays on various occasions. “हे सर्व कोठून येते?” is a compilation book.

    While talking about this book in its prologue, he said “After observing people for so many years, I feel labelling them is pointless. They are very complex, we can only scrape the surface of one’s personality. We have to accept that every person has a whole different life other than one we have experienced. We should not make judgments about the ‘other part’ of life. If we do, then it should be for our own musing.”

    What more to expect from this!

    This book is all about people Vijay Tendulkar met, interacted and worked with in his long span of a career as a journalist; an editor of various periodicals, a writer and during his work under Nehru Fellowship. He came across various politicians as a journalist and editor. While writing he tried to present them differently trying to put some light on their unique facet. He had taken the interview of ex-CM of Maharashtra Vasantrao Naik, ex-CM of Gujarat Chimanbhai Patel and J P Naik but in this book he has written elaborately about them and his experience of meeting them for an interview.

    While working for Maratha, one of the old popular Marathi daily, he had witnessed a lot of different avatars of Pra. Ke. Atre, legendary writer, orator and owner of Maratha. He has been active in politics in those days and was famous for being blunt while putting his thoughts to words. He has dedicated some of the articles to his fellow writers, friends, and colleagues.

    But the last two articles from the book are really different from others. They talk about death, murders and the death penalty elaborately. These two articles have made me reschedule my today’s blog post for next week and write this review for you guys. I tell you, folks, I had never read anything so thought-provoking about somebody’s death or somebody’s act of murdering another human. I wasn’t able to speak about anything for almost 15 minutes after I finished the book on this note.

    My rating: – 4.5/5

    About the book

    • Name of the book: हे सर्व कोठून येते? by Vijay Tendulkar
    • Publisher: Rajhans Prakashan
    • Pages: 195
    • ISBN: 81-7434-317-2
    • ISBN13: 9788174343178

    My ratings

    Stories: 4.5/5
    Writing Style: 4.5/5
    Cover Design: 3/5

    Overall Rating: 4.5/5

    Where to get your copy

    Should you read it?

    Guys, I recommend that you grab a copy of the book at least for these two articles. I know, it’s a Marathi book but you feel free to ask me anything if the language is a barrier for you, I will be very happy to help you in this matter.

    I am taking my Alexa Rank to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa and #BlogChatter. Click here to read my other book reccos…

     

  • Absolute Khushwant – A Book Review

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    It has been a busy month so far. I just shifted to a new place and was busy in settling down in my new home. When I was putting my books on the shelf, I realised that I had piled up lots of half-read books in the past few months. So I put myself on a new mission to finish these books before I pick up any new book from my ‘yet TBR’ pile.

    One of the books in that half-read pile was Absolute Khushwant. I had picked it up when I was traveling from Nashik to Pune as my ‘one for the road’ book. But I had barely managed to read very few pages; thanks to the bumpy ride of the under construction highway. As I reached Pune, the book got sidelined and joined the others in ‘half-read’ pile. I am fascinated by his way of writing so I decided to finish this book before any other book.

    This is my first book of Khushwant Singh. I have not read any of his works, not even his weekly columns which used to get published in some Indian newspapers. But the rawness with which he pens his thoughts just holds you till the last word. This simplicity and frankness always touch your heart even if you disagree with his views.

    In this book, this 96 old guy writes very frankly on almost all of the aspects of human life. He opens the dialogue, by telling us how he feels about being old. In the later pages, he opens up about his views on sex, love and marriages. He talks about his relationship with his wife Kaval and the rough patch in their marriage. He also writes about his worries, insecurities and much more.

    He then moves on to the people he came across in his life, few he liked, he respected and some whom he trashed with his pen. He had trashed the religious fundoos (his word for fundamentalists) from all the religions including his own with harsh strokes of his pen. He took a strong stand against Bhindranwale for which he was on their hit list for years. He shares his views about politics, terrorism and the riots of 1984.

    Even being agnostic himself, he writes elaborately on various religious scriptures and what he finds good in them. There is a long piece on Sikh community in the book along with one on the city of Delhi. Khushwant shares his love for Urdu language and especially for Urdu poetry, where he tells us how he enjoyed translating works of great poets in English and his favorites amongst those legends.

    As the book comes to an end, topics of his essays turn philosophical like destiny, luck, faith in humanity, etc. He aptly concludes the journey on the point of death. He shares how the death’s of his family members which he witnessed at a tender age affected him, and now at the age of 96 how he expects to put the full stop to his journey, and then he signs off with his remarks on himself.

    Overall a good read. I liked his style, the rawness of thoughts, no sugar coating and being straightforward. Now I am looking forward to reading more of his work. I would rate it 3.5/5. I would recommend you this book if you are interested in non-fiction short writings.

    Paperback: 200 pages

    Publisher: Penguin India (17 August 2010)

    Language: English

    ISBN-10: 0143068717

    ISBN-13: 978-0143068716

    Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 2.2 x 19.6 cm

    You can grab your copy at

  • Ruskin’s Rusty

    Ever since I took my first dive in English literature, Ruskin Bond has been my one of the favorite author. His stories have fascinated me since my first read. I don’t know how many times I have reread them. But for some reason, Ruskin’s Rusty always have dodged me. It’s not the case that I didn’t get a chance to buy it before or it was out of print. When your bestie is with you and you both are very crazy about books, some things just click. I know one should not judge a book by its cover but guys, this edition of “The room on the roof” is so irresistible with a fabulous watercolor cover which you can’t just ignore and move on. We both bought it. That day, I changed my topic for ‘R’ of this A to Z challenge. It can’t be anything other than “Ruskin’s Rusty”

    Just like any other Ruskin Bond book, it doesn’t let you leave the book without finishing the story. Or should I say, just like this book his all other stories hold you until you finish the reading? This is the first book Ruskin ever wrote. My copy being the special edition for the 60th anniversary of this award-winning book. It comes with a bonus of introduction by Tom Alter, and Ruskin’s special preface telling us the story covering the time past 60 years of this book. Eye catching water-color illustrations by Gunjan Ahlawat comes with the classic words of Ruskin as the special feature of this special edition.

    As this is the first novel in the Rusty series, It introduces us to an Anglo-Indian boy from his late teens living his unhappy life with his stern guardian, who elopes the house of his guardian to live among his friends from the town of Dehra. It is fascinating to read how life can take turns so dramatically without giving any signs for the same. One fine day, Rusty is with his friends enjoying the hustle of bazaar, enjoying baths on the common tank in the town, eating chaats with his buddies, and then one by one, his well-wisher walk on different paths of their lives. To know what happens when lonely Rusty takes decision to leave Dehra for England, you better grab your copy. I am sure you won’t leave it until you get the answer of this question.

    You can grab your copy at

    Amazon

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    And a bookstore near you

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    I am participating in A to Z challenge with Blogchatter and this is my take on day 18 challenge. “R is about Ruskin’s Rusty”

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