Write-ups and book reads of our members in February, 2024
Our members have covered a wide gamut of genres and authors in February 2024. From classic literature to contemporary fiction, from mystery to memoirs, they have explored a diverse range of books. Some notable mentions include Katherine Rundell’s Roof Toppers, Adam Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, and Kazu Kibuishi’s Waverider: Amulet Book 9. Make Epic Money by Ankur Warikoo and Karmic Marketing by Joe Vitale were also among the popular non-fiction reads. Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series was a favourite among Fizza Younis’ picks while Poonam Vaze delved into horror with works by Dean Koontz and Stephen King. Dhruva Nalla explored Russian literature with Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground while Mahboob Hussain focused on personal development with Donald Miller’s Building A Story Brand and Angela Duckworth’s Grit. Some other notable reads from our members in February 2024 include The Legend Wolf by Andaleeb Wajid and The Secret Wish List by Preeti Shenoy, both of which were enjoyed by Vaishnavi. Syed Shakeel Imdad also delved into non-fiction with In the Shadow Of The Sword by Tom Holland. It’s clear that our members have a passion for reading and an eagerness to explore new genres and authors. We can’t wait to see what they’ll discover next month!
- Roof Toppers by Katherine Rundell
- The Song Of The Sky Tree by Nandita Basu
- The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz
- The Case Of The Vanishing Gods by Mallika Ravikumar
- Until The Road Ends by Phil Earle
- In A Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz
- Three Women In A Single-room House by K. Srilata
- Sundarban Lo Oka Roju by Tannaz Daver
- Kala Jaaripoindi by Sashi Sablok
- The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz
- Akashaganam by Bandi Narayana Swamy
- Banisalu — Bhagavanuvacha by Dr. Keshava Reddy
- Minka And Curdy by Antonia White
- The Cooking Of Books: A Literary Memoir by Ramachandra Guha
- Missing Number by Madhubabu
- Ishwar Aur Bazar by Jacinta Kerketta
- Waverider: Amulet Book 9 by Kazu Kibuishi
- Jarugutunnadi Jagannatakam by Aripirala Satyaprasad
- An Inky Parade: Tales For Bibliophiles by Pradeep Sebastian
The Cooking Of Books
This is a memoir; it deals with author and his bond with his editor Rukun Advani.
An Inky Parade
He is a book collector. This is a collection of stories about world of books mostly dealing with book collection (rare books).
- Make Epic Money by Ankur Warikoo
- At Zero by Joe Vitale
- The Fifth Phrase by Joe Vitale
- Karmic Marketing by Joe Vitale
At Zero
This book is a continuation of Zero Limits by Joe Vitale and Dr. Hu Len. It is about a Hawaiian method of healing called Hoopponoponno.
The core philosophy of this method is that they say everything happening in the outer world is a reflection of inner world. Literally everything is happening because of your inner world. Dr. Hew Len treated mental health patients in Hawaaii and he did not give them electric shocks or any other methods. All he was did was cleaning. This cleaning has 4 phrases that you need to repeat and that is it. You will clean your subconscious mind of the negative beliefs.
This book is all about the amazingly simple yet powerful method of cleaning. One story that I loved is that of how Joe Vitale kept on having problems until he cleaned on himself and how divinity gave him clear way of overcoming the problem. I personally loved this philosophy and have started this practice. Very powerful practice this is.
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
- The Outlaw Demon Wails #6
- White Witch, Black Curse #7
- Ley Line Drifter #7.5
- Black Magic Sanction #8
- Pale Demon #9
- A Perfect Blood #10
- Ever After #11
- The Undead Pool #12
- The Witch With No Name #13
Other authors
- A Bone To Pick by Charlaine Harris
- They Call Her Monster by Jordan Elizabeth
- The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
- Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
- Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amelie Wen Zhao
- Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by Amelie Wen Zhao
- Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris
They Call Her Monster
It is a little too dark for my taste, but the story is engaging enough that I kept reading. It starts slow and then picks up the pace, which is good because it gives you time to connect with the characters. And in this case, it is much needed. I’m unsure if it is the genre (which isn’t my preferred) or if its characters are difficult to connect with. Once I did, though, it became hard to put the book down. The story is interesting, and filled with twists and turns that will keep you second-guessing everything. And the ending is a surprise, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Overall, a good read. I’ll only recommend it if you don’t mind dark and messy stories where the main character isn’t exactly likeable. As the title suggests, the protagonist is indeed a monster. And she will go to any length to save what’s hers.
- The Legend Wolf by Andaleeb Wajid
- The Secret Wish List by Preeti Shenoy
The Secret Wish List
Does true love really exist? Can a kiss change your life? Do women don’t have any wish-list a part of the roles she plays in her life as an individual? At 16, Diksha, like any girl her age, finds her life revolving around school, boys and endless hours of fun with her best friend. But one day, all that changes .
Eighteen years later, she finds herself in a dilemma. Urged by a twist of events, a wish list is born. But can a wish list help her piece back her life together? Will she succumb to the tangled mess of an extra-martial relationship?
Heart ! We will forget him!
You and I — tonight !
You may forgot the warmth he gave -
I’ll will forget the light!
When you have done,pray tell me
That I may straight begin!
Haste ! Lest while you’re lagging
I remember him!
-Emily Dickinson
I felt Diksha should have given a chance for the mistake she committed at the age of 16 in the school, kissing a boy named Ankit i.e too person who loves her, isn’t a mistake or not a sin but her parents and school administration made it like a big scene as they both caught in the another school ground. When they went for project presentation.
After that incident her parents changed her school, even after she pleaded them. She even lost in touch her with best friend Tanu. At the age of 19 Diksha got married and was never been happy with her husband Sandeep, an insensitive person and selfish who always thinks about his needs and wants. His is a workaholic and weird. He always searched for his self satisfaction. He never spent proper time with Diksha or his son Abahay. Suddenly Diksha’s cousin Vibha visits her on a work purpose and started questioning about Diksha’s life: What life you’re living? Is this life you deserve? Diksha you work like a maid in this home, never Sandeep appreciated your work, neither a compliment for the food you cook nor helps you in the chores in the house and you solely handle Abahay helping him in his studies and everything. After months of visit by Vibha they started talking through mails and calls. One fine day at late night, Diksha received a call from Vibha saying that her husband Mohan passed away with cardic arrest. As Sandeep got disturbed by a sudden call being insensitive that who the heck calling you at this hour of time, Diksha told him that it’s a call from Vibha regarding her husband’s death. As Diksha’s parents can’t travel from Dubai so Rohan, is attending the funeral on behalf of his parents. Diksha had to travel to Hyderabad and after the funeral finished, on Vibha’s request, Diksha stayed back and handled all her insurance, accounts and bills. Later that night both cousins started talking to each other about how they got busy with their own lives. Vibha missed spending time with Mohan and a day after, in the night they started talking about their unfulfilled wishes and then the secret wish list of Diksha’s were made i.e 6 wishes. Vibha enrolled diksha on friend’s website, Diksha enrolled into salsa classes that being the 1st wish since her childhood. Days later she got a mail from Tanu, her best buddy. That too after 18 years. The memories got fresh, those times they spent in school and Ankit and everything. Now Diksha got a chance to meet her years’ old love with Ankit and her 1st kiss with him. Diksha enquired about Ankit and to Diksha ‘s surprise its Ankit who’s behind the meet of Tanu & her. One fine day Tanu and Diksha meet. After days Diksha got contact of Ankit from Tanu. They both started meeting secretly. Even Abhay was happy with Ankit. Diksha felt to end the relationship with Sandeep, wants to go back her 1st love Ankit. Diksha with the help of Tanu took divorce from Sandeep. After months everything got set, but terms with Vibha and Diksha haven’t set yet.
The book made to think as individual women and being forced by your parents to full fill their dreams, trying to meet their expectations behaving accordingly to them and family and what not; as women we completely forgot we do have a life as an individual & human being!
- Whispers by Dean Koontz
- The Black Cat — short story by Edgar Allan Poe
- The Mist by Stephen King
Whispers
It is a psychological thriller. It is the first book I read of Koontz and it was an excellent read, hooked me till the end.
This page turner is about Hilary Thomas, a well-known script writer who is stalked by someone named Bruno Fyre. One night when Bruno enters her house and tries to assault her, she kills him with a kitchen knife. But Bruno comes back from the graves to haunt her again. Hilary falls in love with Tony, the investigator of the case. Tony is the only person who believes that Bruno has come from the dead. Together the couple try to solve the mystery of the person who has come out of the graves. Is he a living dead, a doppelganger or what?
Deep down, Whispers talks about the childhood trauma each character of the story has faced which has moulded their adulthood. I loved the novel.
The Mist
It is a mixture of horror and sci-fi. After a bad storm, the small town of Bridgton gets engulfed by a mysterious and unnatural mist.
David the protagonist gets stuck in a supermarket along with his five year old son, Billy. The alert is that some strange creatures are lurking in the mist and once the person gets into the mist, he or she never comes back. The terrifying situation is the horror of the novel as the gossip among the people stuck in the supermarket starts getting scary and weird. What will the people do? Stay quarantined in the supermarket and wait when they will fall prey to the creatures of the mist or go out in the mist to die a bad death?
The Mist deals more about the human monster a tense situation can create and about how much faith you have that you will survive? The Mist brings the best of Stephen King’s narrative with an incredible end to the story.
- Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky
It’s a story about a man unable to like or connect with people in the outside world. The first half of the book is more like an inner monologue where the protagonist’s thoughts about himself, the world around him, about history, politics and so on is written. While the second half of the story is about his conversations with his friends and a prostitute. The book may not have a proper plot as such but the character is very powerful and feels real. The story tries to convey how a main character’s pride seems to be in the way of his growth and happiness. Dostoevsky, as always, takes us into mind of his main character and haunt us without any ghosts.
- Victory City by Salman Rushdie
- In the Shadow Of The Sword by Tom Holland
Victory City
Not the typical Rushdie in terms of narration and language. Plot strength is okay, at times feels dragged. Fast paced and chronological. Thematically addresses life, death, victory and defeat with many philosophical debriefs from the desk of the protagonist. Also provides a well crafted glimpse into the history of the Vijaynagara Kingdom, albeit with multiple-layered artistical/fictional liberties.
Bottomline: okay, worth reading once.
In The Shadow Of The Sword
An exhilarating read. Rarely have I read history being written in the vein of a unputdownable thriller. Circuitous and not following a definite chronology and yet capable of conjuring a mental map of the life and times of late antiquity in the mind of the reader — this work is a culmination of superlative research, courage to venture into uncomfortable narratives and thesis, and an indomitable flair for the language.
Endorsing and recommending this to anyone who harbors interest in the rise of Islam and the Arab empire but more importantly is interested in the context and circumstance of its founding and propagation.
It is not for the dogmatic — be warned. Requires an open mind to absorb and comprehend.
- Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
