Book Review – New York to New You by Manoj Gupta

It’s a one of it’s kind when it comes to self help books genre. I’m completely in awe of the plot of this book. The title goes so well and in sync with the content. The cover however could have been better.

Nevertheless, the way the author has taught the readers, the ABCD to leading a life full of contentment without any regrets, the exercises shared, and most importantly the gripping plot, which by the way kept me hooked till the end, has all worked so harmoniously for this book.

As a reader, when it comes to the genre of self help, we mostly presume it to be the most boring genre as compared to fiction, thriller, rom com, fantasy and what not, but this book changed my perspective of self help books! I was honestly hesitant at first to even pick it up, but then I did and I couldn’t put it down. Although the author suggests to read it one or two chapters at once, probably to absorb all that it has to offer, I could just not resist!

Big thanks to the author, Manoj Gupta Sir, for penning down this wonderful book and sharing a part of his knowledge with us.
It’s a must read book for the young generation as we’re so immersed in social media that we forget to reflect at our insides and rather focus on the outsides.

This book truly deserves a 5 star rating.

Book Review – Pokhran by Uday Singh

Pokhran proved to be a completely unexpected book from my initial judgement of it, in a good way.
This book started off as expected, with the description of the nuclear test at Pokhran introducing all the characters involved, and soon enough it transformed into a fictional story of the main character, Chaitanya, a disabled person. The connect between these two incidences is so subtly described by the author, nothing ever seems forced. While the reader sympathises with Chaitanya’s condition, the character of his father makes him so strong willed that nothing in life ever deters him from his goals, which was a treat to read about!
Another extremely important thing this book offers is the social message about a Paracratic society, I’ve never heard or read about this theory anywhere, being an architecture student myself, it was so good to explore this theory through this book by author Uday Singh. Special mention for that.
Not wanting to give out any spoilers, I’d like to leave it upto the readers to read and interpret this theory but as for my opinion on this, a major drawback that caught my attention was, in a paracratic society, there would be no place for the values of a “legacy” since it propagates citizens not bequeathing their inheritance to the next generation to promote a level playing field. As we know, India is a land of diverse cultures and traditions and values, having a paracratic society would greatly harm the values of legacy instilled from generations and generations altogether. I’d love to know the author’s thoughts on this and if there’s a solution, then this could be the best possible ideal situation for humanity.

Another thing that bothered me throughout the reading was the editing errors, at many a places, the words have not been spaced properly, and one or two lines were repeated. Hoping for the author to look into this and get this rectified in the next print since editing a book can make a huge difference to the readers.

Book Review – Three nights and four days by Shilpa Jain

The best part about this story was that despite being a rom com, it wasn’t clingy or cheesy at any point. It is a mature storyline and I loved reading it all along. The plot is extremely gripping, I covered it in one go!

If you like mature romantic comedies, this is your go to! The author has done a commendable job on the plot as well, it isn’t a usual plot, even though there are a lot of characters, the plot is never too confusing for the reader.

Coming to the story, my favorite part was when the 4 characters go for their vacation and are joined by unexpected acquaintances. The role and characterisation of Pari is amazing! Kudos for that.

As for the title and cover, I’d say the title is apt but the cover could have been better. I personally didn’t like the cover much. Had it been a paperback I spotted in a bookstore, I’d never pick it up, but after reading the blurb, I decided to give it a shot and I really liked it. But as for a reader, the book cover plays a major role when the readers spot the book at a glance. I hope the author will take care of it for her upcoming titles, gladly looking forward to them.

Book Review – I owe you a goodbye! By Pooja Khandelwal

I owe you a goodbye is the perfect title and gives s an idea of the basic plot and storyline. It’s a romantic fiction written with a generic plot.

The author has done a fairly good job at the execution of the story and that’s what I liked about it, it is a light read for whenever you feel unloved, to remind you of what selfless love means.

The climax was expected but still it was a touching story and I really liked the built up. Recommended to all romantic lovers.

Book Review – Short Stories by Ashwini Malhotra

Short stories are usually my go to!
They’re quick to read and finish and usually impart such knowledge to us which we can’t find elsewhere.

And this book successfully fulfilled this one aspect of short stories. The book is curated of 8 perfectly woven stories taken from everyday usuals but the details are such that we tend to focus on those aspects which we otherwise don’t.

My favourite was undoubtedly the one based on history. It shows that even for a short story the author has taken the pain to research and has included so many interesting facts that made the book a treat to read.

The language was lucid and to the point. Perfectly edited. However the cover could’ve been better. And the same for the title.

Book Review – Myla by Arjun Rao

Considering the patriarchal society we live in, the female is usually considered as the weaker sex when compared to the male in any household. This book completely defies the above mentioned.

What a treat it was to read this thriller! Myla, a female lead character, is from the special forces. The beginning of the story is itself so intriguing and curiosity arising, that one cannot help but stay glued to the book. She returns home to get the biggest shock of her life. Her family has been ruthlessly been a victim to a heinous crime by the underworld goons.

Being the strong, bold woman from the special forces, she puts up a strong face and gets on to hunt down the criminals. It’s one hell of a storyline and gives you chills down the spine.

I love love love the cover design! It’s been so meticulously curated that it complements the plot of the story perfectly but doesn’t give out too much at the same time.

The narration is crisp, perfectly paced and gripping.

This was totally worth my time and I’m absolutely looking forward to reading more from author Rao.

Book Review – Faith and Beloved by Kochery Shibu

As I started reading the book, I realised how poorly edited it was. However, the plot was really intriguing. Two parallel stories, just like the author’s debut book, which I got a chance to read last year. Storyline is that of a thriller but it could’ve been better, character development was on point, but there were quite a many characters which I felt was uncalled for.

But regardless of these factors, the overall experience turned out to be quite decent. The story did surprise me at a lot of points which was unexpected. Of course in a good way!

The only thing I’d like to point out for the author is that a better edited script would’ve made the reading experience ten times better. The spelling errors and grammatical mistakes break the flow which is quite a setback for a thriller like itself.

Book Review – Adventures of Poorna by Mayur Kalbag

It is very rare to come across such well researched books these days. Adventures of Poorna is one such book where it reflects the amount of effort put in by the Author for the extensive research on the subject of the book.
The plot is very well framed from beginning till the end, just that the book could’ve been a little less long but it still is a wonderful read.

As the title perfectly suggests, the main character of the story is Rudra aka Poorna, who finds himself stuck in the cold Himalayas right in the beginning of the story and soon crosses paths with a “Rishi”, a yogi who addresses him by the name Poorna, and there begin the adventures of Poorna.

At times it’s a fun read, at times it got a little slow but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Eighty chapters full of adventure, thrill and mystical feels! The book will enthral you. A must read for all thriller lovers

Book Review – SEVEN by Prashant Kaul

A short and crisp review for a short and crisp book

SEVEN by @prashantkaulauthorstoryteller “Seven” is a quick read of seven short stories. They’re horror at first, will make your adrenaline rush, and right when it’s at the peak, when you know that something bad is going to happen, just then it’ll turn into a funny story, or something so silly that’ll make you laugh.
At first, I couldn’t understand the abrupt ending of stories so I retread them and that’s when I caught the essence of this book.
A good one

Book Review – Polity Tricks by Dr Vinay Bansal

What attracted me here, was the bright Yellow cover! Though science says red is the color which catches your attention the most, I believe yellow is the color which subtly attracts one’s attention whereas red is quite pinching to the eye.

Anyhow, so the yellow cover of the book, strategically designed to attract the readers was what I loved about this book. But, I was in for a bigger surprise, when I saw how there’s been a use of mnemonics and riddles in the book. Extremely smartly, the author has turned such a bore subject into an interesting one! Super subtle there, author!

The book talks about Indian Polity, the constitution, the preamble, all civic subjects, but it’s so not like your school civics book, that big fat book with quite a few jumbled up alphabets that we all crammed up for our exams. Oh, how this makes me wish we had such authors back then. So yeah, the book is all about Polity tricks as the name suggests where the author has again, very smartly used the word tricks to give a slight hint of the use of mnemonics and tricks in the book to help us remember what the Indian polity is all about.
My favourite was the preamble part, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

If you wish to go for an unusual, unconventional read during the leftover time of this lockdown, pick this title up and enjoy it.