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Showing posts from October, 2017

Book Review: From Yesterday

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Title: From Yesterday Author: Anupam Dasgupta Genre: Fiction, Romance Pages: 224 Publisher: Frog Books Rating: 3.5/5 From Yesterday  by Anupam Dasgupta is a tale about romance, heartbreak and sacrifice. Although I wouldn't say I am excited about the book, but it does have instances which capture the melancholy of love lives in a subtle manner. Adi falls in love with Anita almost immediately after they meet for the first time. What started off as a casual online chat, develops into a sweet, caring relationship. But Anita comes with a lot of baggage from her past. Having suffered with relationships and the fact that she is much older than Adi, doesn't make it easy for her to commit wholeheartedly to a fulfilling relationship. When she breaks up with Adi for the very same reason, he is torn apart. Years later, he is in Chicago and meets Christina who seems to have fallen in love with him. But when he sees a reflection of Anita on The Bean, he is c

Spotlight: Beyond Secrets by Alka Dimri Saklani

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BEYOND SECRETS by Alka Dimri Saklani Blurb Noel is a counsellor, risking his career for volunteering in an orphanage. Nidhi is an engineering student on the surface, but deep down a broken girl in search of some unanswered questions. Appu is a sweet little orphan, unaware of the cruelties of the world. Despite being miles apart their stories interweave in “Aashiyana”, the orphanage. Their little journey together changes their lives in ways they never imagined. One recurring nightmare, one unexpected phone call, one stolen diary, many lies and secrets, and a calling from the past are just the highlights. And when they depart, they are not the same anymore. They didn’t hurt each other, it was a game of destiny. Will they ever be able to rediscover themselves and more importantly, will their paths ever cross again? Beyond Secrets is a novel with layers of suspense and different nuances of relationships. And one question that can’t have

Book Review: Kaash Kashmir - A Play on Love and Loss in the Valley of Fear

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Title: Kaash Kashmir: A Play on Love and Loss in the Valley of Fear Author: Rajesh Talwar Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction Pages: 218 Rating: 3.2/5 KAASH KASHMIR   by Rajesh Talwar is basically a retelling of the purging of the Hindu Kashmiri Pundits in the year 1990. The book is set in Srinagar and is in the form of a play. It has been long since I read one but I love reading plays as, in my opinion, they get straight to the point and also work up one's imagination in a different, albeit interesting way. The play begins as Rohan, the son of a Hindu Pundit expresses his love for Ayesha, the daughter of a Muslim, on the sprawling lawn of Rohan's ancestral Kashmiri house. Rohan's and Ayesha's families are close friends and have been neighbors for many years. As the play progresses, the setting shifts from Srinagar to Pakistan where a plot is being hatched to remove all Kashmiri Pundits from the area so that Pakistan can claim Kashmir a

Book Review: The Haunting of Barry's Lodge

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Title: The Haunting of Barry's Lodge Author: Annie Walters Genre: Fiction, Horror, Thriller Pages: 218 Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform Rating: 3.5/5 The Haunting of Barry's Lodge   by Annie Walters is a quick, engaging horror/thriller with settings that are very typical and anticipated. A quintessential ghost story to curl up with would rather describe it perfectly. Alfred is an aspiring author who has been trying to write a book since years. But due to his familial responsibilities, he ends up doing odd jobs without making any real progress with his book. When his father in law suggests that Alfred spend a week at the isolated motel, Barry's Lodge, he jumps at the opportunity. A week without disturbances should be enough to come up with a draft. But little does Alfred know that Barry's Lodge has a disturbing past and he realizes it soon as it doesn't allow him a moment's peace. Amidst zero connectivity, st

Book Review: Retrograde

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Title: Retrograde Author: Peter Cawdron Genre: Fiction, Sci Fi Pages: 259 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Rating: 4/5 Retrograde   by Peter Cawdron is a science fiction based on the lives and events surrounding the scientists in Mars. It is unlike what I have ever read before (because I usually don't go for science fiction), but after the movie/book The Martian , I guess interest levels have piqued regarding the subject and that's exactly the reason why I agreed to review this book. So, here goes. The story is set in the future. A hundred and twenty experts, from various fields and countries, have been deployed on Mars by NASA. When there is an attack on Earth, discrepancies arise among them, not knowing whom to trust. Everyone thinks they are safe in their respective modules but when information is found tampered, all hell breaks loose. The summary seems very short than what I would normally give out but I am doing that on purpose. The

Book Review: Origin (Robert Langdon #5)

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Title: Origin Author: Dan Brown Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Pages: 544 Publisher: Bantam Press (Penguin Random House) Rating: 4/5 Although I wasn't the first ones to pre order this book, I had   Origin   on the top of my TBR since I knew of its publishing date. I got it on time and the sight of the large hardcover stirred up my reader's appetite and before I knew  it, I was head on into its exciting, deep labyrinth. Robert Langdon is back to what he does best. Solving a mystery. Only this time, it doesn't involve religious symbols or codes. Langdon is invited to an event in Bilbao by Edmond Kirsch, a friend and former student, where shocking discoveries would be revealed by him. Edmond claims that these discoveries would change the course of mankind and especially affect the religious institutions all over the world. People from all over the world watch as the presentation goes live, when Edmond is shot dead just before he reveals his disco

Author Interview: Alistair Cross

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Hello readers!  Today I have with me Alistair Cross , the author of the recently released Mystery/thriller book,  Sleep Savannah Sleep . The book is a well narrated and equally well written mystery which touches the horror/occult genre, sure to give you the goosebumps!  Here is Alistair Cross , talking about his new book. Book Vue: Congratulations on the release of Sleep Savannah Sleep. From where did the idea for the book originate? Alistair Cross: Thank you. The idea for this book came to me late one night when I couldn’t sleep. I’d just finished my previous novel, The Angel Alejandro, and I knew it was time to start thinking about the next book. I began asking myself about the worst possible thing I could put my next main character through … and from those terrible imaginings, Sleep Savannah Sleep was born. BV: Is there anything new that you have incorporated in this book? AC: Yes, there are a couple of things. For one, this is the first book I’ve ever written

Guest Post by author De.B. Dubois

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Hello all!  Today, I have a guest post by De.B. Dubois , the author of  OTHERNESS: SOULS OF BROWN WOMEN . The recently released book touches a prominent social issue and I do hope it encourages to change our point of views towards brown women. I sincerely thank the author for providing such an in depth opinion with her book and her guest post here. How can thoughts and beliefs be changed for the brown woman to be accepted equally with others? The main issue that brown women face in todays society is the structured structure of the Indian& other “brown” societies, where patriarchy and fanaticism being the structuring structure has prepared the non-brown to generalise against the brown-women: breeding, docile, submissive, honour of the family, deity – basically the brown woman is that creature who has been put up on a pedestal;a pedestal that is completely of the society’s making, only to benefit men and to guard their position within our society. A pedestal

Cover Reveal: 25 Days of Christmas

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Blurb 25 Days of Christmas; a Holiday Romance Anthology In the run up to Christmas instead of opening your advent calendar each day, Why not read a short holiday themed story? 25 short romances from a variety of romance authors, all set on making your holiday season sassy, sweet and saucy. Author 's included: Hanleigh Bradley Anna Edwards Serena Kearney Aleisha Maree Skye McKinnon Shelly Strickler Ines Vieira Grace Risata Lisette Kristensen Sheritta Bitikofer Sarah Stein Gloria Herrmann Meg Anne Chrissy Shafanda Lashanta Charles Cathy Johns Janet Mota Jeannette Keats Amy Allen Hallmark Rae B. Lake