Book Vue

Title:  The Highway Man Author: J. Alchem Genre: Fiction, Literature, Short Stories Pages: 32 Rating: 4/5 Another one from the Short Stories genre,  The Highway Man  by J. Alchem is a collection of three stories that revolve around the human emotions and behavior.  Dr. Rusenvelt , a psychiatrist,receives a call that his favorite author needs help but when he goes to meet him, he is in for shock. The second story is about a couple madly in love with each other and since it is Women's Day, the husband wants to make his wife's day. The last story is about the Highway Man. A desolate father and son pair travel to Agra but their entire life changes when they agree to give a random guy on the highway, a lift. The narrations and the writing style is really commendable.  All the three stories highlight the human emotions, like I mentioned before. There are some shocks, some heart melting moments and some realizations happening in t...

Title:  The Nikah Author: Andaleeb Wajid Genre: Fiction, Romance Pages: 21 Publisher: Juggernaut Books Rating: 4/5 Juggernaut Books always have something interesting for us readers. I have always enjoyed reading books published by them in the past and still do. They have maintained their standards with their quality content as is the case with this book. The Nikah by Andaleeb Wajid is a short story but heart tugging, nevertheless. A married woman visits her hometown in Vellore for a wedding. With guests surrounding her, she is conscious of her presence but also of all the past memories that rush towards reminding her of a previous love. She is happily married now with a child and moved to Hyderabad soon after and have always avoided travelling to Vellore for this very reason. What if she spots him here? Would all her emotions burst out of her deep well of a heart and show? The Nikah is a short story, all of 21 page...

Buy from Amazon.in Title:  Half Pants Full Pants: Real-Life Tales from Shimoga Author: Anand Suspi Genre: Fiction, Contemporary Pages: 221 Publisher: Hector Beverages India Private Limited Rating: 4.5/5 Paperboat always sends books and stuff, but what I look forward to are the cute little notes that come along! It adds a personal touch and is truly humbling. Thank you Paperboat for sending me this treasure of a book! I'll get to the review and you'll know what I'm talking about. Half Pants Full Pants   is a collection of childhood reminisces by Anand Suspi (the author), set in the town of Shimoga in Karnataka. The book begins with a short introduction of Shimoga before getting along with the stories. The author shares some unique experiences from his childhood such as inventing capris, making magnets, kung fu with mosquitoes and eating blades. I do not wish to indulge you in detail as it will take away the fun out of it. All I would...

Buy From Amazon.com Title:  Chalk Dust : Stories Author: Pedro Freire Costa Genre: Fiction, Short Stories File Size: 1777 KB Print Length: 107 pages Publisher: Editorial Bizancio Lda ASIN: B01HQ3JPZ4 Rating: 3.8/5 This is an e-book that I received from the author for a review. Chalk Dust: Stories  is a collection of seven short stories based in Portugal.  The stories describe the typical way of life of the Portuguese with great detail and effectiveness. They are set in different time periods and the focus is on how the slow, laid back life of the villagers can sometimes have an interesting turn of events, some sad and some fascinating. Particularly, stories namely The Private Life of Ilda Gomes , Loyal to the End , Chalk Dust and The Honour of Gamblers showcased a  fine combination of humor and sentiments. But the other stories were a tad too detailed and persistent for my liking.  Altogether , the book is a good read for most of th...

Have you heard about the Write India initiative by Times of India yet? If not, then let me tell you that it is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring writers to have their stories read and selected by some of the celebrated authors of today, and get published. The contest is for 11 months. One short story will be selected each month as the winning story and at the end of the contest, they would be published by TOI! Isn't that just awesome?!? I have submitted my story for Chetan Bhagat's preface. It seemed doable at first but boy, was it tough! It took me days just to create the story line and more days to edit it! But I must say, it was an exciting challenge. Eagerly awaiting the next one. The contest begins on the 7th of every month and closes on the 30th of the same month. So, visit the website, follow it on twitter to keep a tab on the updates. For more details on this initiative, click  here . Happy Writing!

Rating: 3.5/5 Title:  Falling In Love Again Author: Ruskin Bond Genre: Fiction, Romance Pages: 208 Publisher: Rupa Publications ISBN-13:  9788129120434 I have always associated Ruskin Bond with ghost stories and haunted houses in the hills, but a romantic book? I had to try this one out! The books contains several short stories of romance and love. The emotions bared by the author are surprising to someone like me because, as I said earlier, I have never come across this  other side to him. All stories expose the colorful sentiments of a lover. Sometimes as a forlorn one waiting for a glimpse of his girl and at times as a passionate boyfriend stealing a kiss. But in all, he is the sincere lover. One who, when loves, does so wholeheartedly. And when there are the Himalayan hills, the oak trees, the little knolls and streams of clear running water in the background, these tales get even more amusing. Well, I am pleasantly surprised and glad that I chan...

Rating: 4/5 Title:  A Face in the Dark And Other Hauntings Author: Ruskin Bond Genre: Fiction, Supernatural Pages: 216 Publisher: Penguin Books ISBN-13:  9780143067863 I had read ‘A Face in the Dark’ in school and I instantly fell in love with Ruskin Bond. The simplicity of the narration is what attracts me. His stories emphasize on creating an eerie setting for the reader rather than making it gory and horror-packed. There are several other good short stories in the book, the first one being ‘A Face in the Dark’. Since this was the story that introduced me to the reverent writer, it is special. Mr. Bond’s tales follow a pattern consisting of old fashioned haunted houses, witches, graveyards and wandering ghosts waiting to avenge their misdoers. His way of thrilling readers in the means of stark oak tree branches in the moonlight or howling dogs and hooting owls rightly manages to do its job. And, personally, it excites me every time I read ...

Rating: 3/5 Title:  And Thereby Hangs a Tale Author: Jeffrey Archer Genre: Fiction Pages: 273 Publisher: Pan Books IS BN-13:  9780330453141 An excellent collection of fifteen short stories by Jeffrey Archer. Again, some of them are inspired by true incidents. But this time, the stories are a step more interesting and refreshing maybe because they are from various parts of the world. There is one based in India too. Some of my favorite stories are ‘The Queen’s Birthday Telegram’, ‘High Heels' and 'Members Only'. While a couple of stories are predictable, the greater part of the book is definitely worth a read. Last word – my favorite short story collection by Archer.

Rating: 3/5 Title:  Cat O'Nine Tales Author: Jeffrey Archer Genre: Fiction Pages: 255 Publisher: India Book Distributors ISBN-13 :  9780330449625 Cat O’Nine Tales is another set of twelve interesting short stories by Jeffery Archer. As with his previous short story collections, this book too has a few stories he picked up during his prison days. Some good ones include ‘Don’t drink the water’, ‘Maestro’, ‘The Alibi’ and ‘In the eye of the Beholder’. It is a good read although I found a couple of them too lengthy for a ‘short’ story collection. Nevertheless, Archer gives us an engaging set of stories once again.