November Haul

I’m sure most of you reading this can relate to the feeling of not having enough books to read which keep you company every other day, having become a vital part of your being and to go through a phase of the hoarder syndrome every now and then (guilty pleasures I say!)

The month of November has been that way for me off lately. Finally got my hands on some interesting reads, some of which have been on my wish list for quite a long time and some of which have been recommendations by fellow bibliophiles.

The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky are of the genres I’ve always wanted to acquaint myself with. And then comes Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which I figured would be the best one to start exploring Nietzsche’s work.

The next set of books which I have wanted to read for a long time but haven’t been able to and therefore haven’t got myself to sit through the movies either are The Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. It has seriously taken me quite a lot of effort to keep myself from watching this particular thriller though. And talking about thrillers there’s In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Having gifted a copy of it to a friend of mine (thanks to her staying away from the city, I didn’t fall prey to the urge of keeping it to myself but ordered two copies instead), this story has always got me fascinated and I’m waiting to read it all.

Murakami’s The Wind up Bird Chronicle is the next one, and yes thanks to another friend of mine, an intense blogger and bibliophile, I was introduced to Murakami’s work with the Norwegian Wood after which it’s no stopping to get your hands on his novels. Albert Camus’ The Stranger, which I finally did add to my library after reading A Happy Death, had me thinking for a couple of days about his call of the meaning of life (This post is a little too late since the review of The Stranger is going to be up soon).

Then there’s my first travel novel On The Road by Jack Kerouac and lastly Mottled Dawn by Saadat Hasan Manto which is a collection of short stories revolving around the Partition. Gripping right? So that’s the deal for the next couple of months to come.

Be awesome. Be a book nut!

Bookhaul - September 2016

Yes, we are well into October, am late in posting this one! Better late than never right!? Considering the growing piles of unread books in my room, I really need to stop buying books (No, am just joking!). So , here is my very loved September haul!

Firstly, I decided to try and buy books around the theme for The Biblio Box, as it helps me organize my book buying. This time around the theme was Classics, and so I decided to buy Vinegar Girl, which is a retelling of one of Shakespeare’s books. Apart from this, I bought the entire series of books that feature Anne, of Anne of Green Gables. This  set of books by Puffin is simply adorable and was on my list for a very long time!

The month of September also brought to me some lovely used books from UK, sent by a very dear friend. Harvesting the heart, Rebecca, An impossible Marriage were some among them.

The biblio box had  Elligible (I already had one of the books they had in the box, hence I replaced it with this), Hemingway in Love and I upgraded it with The Great Gatsby- another book that I’ve been wanting for a while now!

Apart from these, I received some interesting titles like Dark Matter, Rau etc for review from the Publisher,  which have been getting amazing reviews from the readers. I also received two books from the authors themselves. One being, The Memory of Lost Dreams which is a dystopian novel  and the other is The Morning tree- a retelling of a fairytale. Lastly, I finally WON A GIVEAWAY! (do the capital letters show my excitement enough!?)  hosted by a friend and fellow blogger, I won the giveaway he hosted and got Shattered Dreams, and All yours, stranger.

Overall, September has left my room with a little hurricane of books that I am only too glad to clean up.

June Book Box from The Biblio Box

I had never been a part of any book box earlier. This was the first time I subscribed for one. And it did not disappoint me at all! Here are the things I received in the box.

 

A Hardback copy of 'In other words' by the amazing Jhumpa Lahiri. I had read some passages by the author but never a book. This is going to be my first book. Can't wait to read this!

A hardback copy of 'Ghachar Ghochar '. This is a bestselling book by Vivek Shanbhag. I have already started reading the book. Such beautiful writing. It has got a certain vernacular whiff. Let me tell you more once I finish this. 😊

A coffee mug which says 'books be BAE'. We can't get enough of bookish mugs, can we? This one is a beautiful white one with black writing and little hearts! Good one to start my collection with!💕💕

Two book marks by the amazing doodler friend. I plan to Color these with pop colors! Such joy!

A card with some amazing colorful graphics by 'the biblio box'. It's also designed keeping in mind the theme 'India'. It goes directly on my tac board.😊

A peacock feather! Yes a beautiful long peacock feature to go with the theme! I use it as a book mark. It's gorgeous! ❤️❤️

And finally a note from TBB. It says 'We hope you enjoy your biblio box! Team TBB.'

Well, thank you TBB! I absolutely love the box!

Don't forget to check out July box. It revolves around the theme 'magical realism'.

King Of Hearts by Prassant Kevin

We, the readers, are required to raise our expectations. Unless we raise our expectations we are going to be fed all the written, unrefined words that are the result of a stunted imagination and dwarfed expression. These are more or less the words of the author Prassant Kevin. It makes us, the readers, proud of what we do. It places us on a pedestal where we are superior to many others, where we are honored with a responsibility to decide what we want to read. Not only decide, but also be outrageous and demand it. The author has set himself apart from others who never ask readers to challenge what they are biting into. Respect. 

But as far as his own book goes, the author has lost the game. The expression that I would use is “duck out”. 

That’s the biggest problem with the alcoholics, she thought, as they always assume that alcohol will find them a solution, which never happens. The solution of the problem comes afterwards, when they wake up with shitty breath and look at their wasted self in the mirror. Its when they find a real reason to get their shit back together and find a way to work it out. And when they do, they thank alcohol again as it helped them to get back to the track and to celebrate it, they all drink again.

Cover page

On the cover page, is a suit and the cityscape fading. The color blue overpowers everything. So, someone who has a stunted vision is going to see an ocean of blue with a few sparkling lights here and there. The typography and the color combination makes the cover as unappealing as it can get. It also does not relate to the text inside, misguiding anyone. 

Characters

Ayan Kapoor is a struggling writer, who appears to have a gift. He has got a chiseled body and a special talent. He can recite the alphabets in reverse order. Apart from these two characteristics, the author has failed miserably to give a personality to the lead character. The author goes on talking about the gem of the writer Ayan is, but there is no textual evidence supporting it. A chiseled body is not required of a writer, a good thought process is. Which again is lacking in Ayan. He thinks like any normal testosterone induced twenty-something in the city. 

Misha is the lady love here. She is blunt, aggressive, protective, brash and a true blue friend. Again she can be any girl you meet anywhere. Being the love interest of the author who rules over million hearts, Misha was not given enough character. 

Content

Misha and Ayan meet at her uncle’s bar. Ayan just found out that his girlfriend was sleeping with someone else. Misha while filling in for the bartender does not try one bit, to console him. She instead offers him a full bottle of alcohol, on one condition. And thus, they become friends. 

The content of the book is everything the author does not want to see in “Indian literature”. It is the usual boy meet girl, fall in love, break hearts, get back etc. I was reading on and on and praying that there was more to the story, but sadly there isn’t. 

All we have to do is to wait with hope and patience because our job is not to find love, our real job is when love comes to us, then to protect it from going away.

Language

The story keeps shifting its POV. It is not even third person narration, as it looks at certain parts. The author has got the grammar terribly wrong. The book is filled with colloquiums. The readers are going to find the SMS language repulsive! The narration is terrible. At one point I was just reading the words and thinking of what I would like to have for dinner! 

Good points

The book has a good message about the literature scenario in India. We, the readers, are slowly settling down. We are very comfortable with what we are being fed. Unlike an era where the sages used to put their life into writing a book which is going to enlighten the entire humanity, the writers today are feeding entertainment between the pages of the book. 

Bad points

Everything. The cover page is unappealing as a frog. The shallow characterization and the cliché story line make it difficult to finish the book. The book is more like a cinema script narrative than a piece of literature. 

Overall

Overall, the book is a shabby attempt. This is the second book by the author, which makes it twice unforgivable. 

Who do I recommend this to

As of now I do not recommend this to anyone. The book needs too many refinements.

* I recieved this book from the author on goodreads giveway. It has not influenced the review at all.