Reviews & Musings

About the book Do you know what you really are? Or has life not tested you yet! 8 stories 8 situations 8 emotions 

Source: Goodreads.com Blurb 1998. Twenty-two-year-old Mina is moving to the US from Bangalore to begin a new life with her husband. Then there’s a horrific murder and her life is turned upside down. Mina’s best friend Neelu helps her out of the abyss. Mina gradually leaves her past behind and settles into a new life in the US. Years later, she is forced to return to India and is confronted by the demons from her past. In her fragile mental state, she is unable to support Neelu in her time of need. Their friendship hits rock bottom. Mina goes back to the US and faces further hurdles, this time on the work front. She tries to make amends with Neelu, but their friendship ends with Neelu accusing Mina of something unimaginable related to the murder. Something, that deep down, Mina knows is true... Will Mina redeem herself? Will the people she loves forgive her for what she did? Alternating between flashbacks and the present day, What Mina Did explores how one...

Someone had once told me, ' Debut novels are always inspired from real life. It is only much later that we get better at camouflaging reality with fiction. So if you want to know an author, always read their first ever book and you will never be disappointed .' Long after finishing Supernova, I kept thinking about these words. Was I reading a real life story or was I reading a deadly combination of reality and fiction where it was difficult to decipher which was what? Still trying to find an answer, but as of now let's talk about how the book made me feel.

I read this somewhat peculiar quote recently that goes like: "Sometimes you need to push the water down to keep the boat afloat". It was quite bizarre at first if I am being honest, but as moments lingered and time took its usual due course to thrust some sense into me, I was made to see what I so boldly chose to ignore previously- you often need to undertake the unconventional stuff, possibly impossible and maybe sometimes even illogical, to keep certain things running in their infallible order. Moreover, you are never out of options and I feel like knowing that just gives you some kind of satisfying hope to lodge on.

Introduction Source: Goodreads.com ASIN:  B076ZGGNH8 Genre: Fiction/Contemporary Publishers: Amazon Price:  Rs. 60/-  ( I got the book for review from the author )

Introduction ISBN:  978-9380925615 Genre:  Fiction / Thriller Publishers:  Bee Books Price:  Rs. 150/-  ( I got the book for review from the  publisher ) “There is another city right under our city and it comes up only when you and I are together. Only you and I know about it and only you and I get to experience it. It keeps itself hidden from the rest of the world. And that is where I live.” He said “And what happens when you’re not with me?” She asked. “I evaporate.” He smiled. "Laced with the unimaginable and yet the possible, White Noise makes for a compelling read." - SUHEL SETH Behind the Book Source: Amazon.in

Source: Entrepreneur The Inimitable Chaos of Life is my debut solo work of fiction. The book is a collection of 14 short stories, which deal with the multifarious emotions that rule human lives. There are stories that highlight the intensity and sheer melancholy associated with despair and stories that celebrate jubilation; there are stories that uphold the importance of hope and stories that woefully narrate the misery associated with hopelessness. There are stories of friendship and of love; there are stories that thrill you and stories that leave you shocked. As the author of this book, I expect the readers to take an undeniable journey through the stories, so that by the time they reach the end, they would have accepted and applauded the countless number of emotions, incidents and experiences that make our life what it is; however chaotic they might seem.

Today at Behind the book, we have none other than the wonderful author Ms. Faiqa Mansab. To tell you a bit more about her : Faiqa Mansab received the MFA in Creative Writing with Distinction from Kingston University London, in 2014. Her short stories and an excerpt from her novel were published in The Missing Slate in 2013. She has been a teacher and school administrator for ten years. She has also published in academic journals, and newspapers. Faiqa conducts creative writing workshops when she is not working on a novel. This House of Clay and Water is Faiqa’s debut novel and she is currently working on another one. Let's hear her story of bringing alive this house of clay and water :

Introduction ISIN:  978-8192982229 Genre: Fiction Publishers: Black Ink Price:  Rs. 139/- ( I got this book from the BecomeShakespeare.com  for a review ) Eighteen-year-old Neha Ranade is perfectly content with her life—a singer boyfriend, a group of loyal friends and with the college annual festival around the corner, her days are full and exciting. But when her father’s Canadian colleague arrives home, Neha’s grand plans are uprooted. What could be the intentions of this curious guest’s sudden visit—for better or for worse? Behind the book Source: Amazon.com

*~* Release Day Blitz *~*

Today we are in conversation with Manan Kapoor the author of   The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky .  Read on to know more about him as an author and as a person. Source:  linguistics-research-digest.blogspot.com

Introduction Genre: Fiction/ Thriller / Suspense / Mystery Publishers: Westland / A Bloody Good Book  [ I got this book from A Bloody Good Book as ARC ] Brutal is the debut novel of Uday Satpathy. Two ace journalists—Prakash and Seema stir up a hornet's nest as they chase the story of a schoolteacher who murders 11 of his students. Their pursuit of the truth takes them to the ominous forests of Bandhavgarh where an eerily similar incident had occurred 8 years ago. One by one, their leads end up dead and they soon realise that they're pitted against forces more evil and powerful than they could have ever imagined. Behind The book Source: Goodreads

Introduction ISIN: 978-93-84030-65-0 Genre: Fiction Publishers: Westland Books Price: Rs. 395/- (I received the book for review from Writer’s Melon) He looked at his gun once more. The helplessness left him, in its place was a hardened resolve that he would still have the final say. A third option. The middle-finger to the middlemen who had driven him to this. A few moments later, Major General Iqbal Qureshi fired the shot that shook the nations conscience. The death of a decorated war veteran, one of India's foremost military officials, triggers a chain of events that threatens to spiral out of control. The democratically-elected government is overthrown and a new one is formed in its place.A fierce and pure regime that promises it's people the kind of governance they have been deprived of. Just. Fair. Unyielding. Operation Kalyug has begun. Caught in the middle is Bala Murali Selvam, a writer who is still tormented by the memories of his persecution at the ...