Books and Musings

  📗BOOK: Dead Trees and A Nightingale 📗AUTHOR: Ujjwal Sharma 📗GENRE: Poetry 📗THEME: Musings and Reflections 📖RATING:  ⚡Poetry: 4/5  ⚡Literature- 4.2/5 📝CONTENT: This book consists of a collection 51 poetic compositions shedding light on the author's predicament while he was in London. The poems induce a sense of nostalgia of the relationships, once beautiful, that are now broken. Dead Trees and a Nightingale give a context of the autumnal feel where we try to shed our residual or mentally taxing emotions with the hope of blooming anew. ✒VERDICT  🥇Pros: 1) I would like to compliment the author for writing such a genuine piece of poetry that seems unadulterated and unedited. It seems like the author has directly let his pen do the talking about what was stored in his mind and did not dare edit the final draft lest it tampers with the beauty and the sadness of his words. 2) I have a soft corner for rhyming poetries which the author has put in abundance in this bo...

  📗BOOK: The Last White Man In India 📗AUTHOR: Subhati Anand Waight 📗GENRE: Contemporary Fiction 📗THEME: Transitioning between British Raj and Last White Man in present-day India 📖RATING:  ⚡ Storyline- 4.2/5  ⚡Literature- 4.5/5 📝PLOT: The story revolves around the present day idea of India- a progressive nation which is still deeply rooted in traditions and superstitions.  Stephen Pankhurst,  a 'white man' from England, has an inexplicable attraction for India. Even when his IT career was in doldrums in India, he was trying his best to strike a deal with Mr Arun Patel, an Indian Business Tycoon, to stay afloat in this country and not go back to his hometown in England. Things started becoming interesting and dangerous when he got involved with the gorgeous Mrs Sakshi Patel, wife of the Arun Patel. Sakshi introduced Stephen to the world of 'tantric pleasures' which were hidden in the annals of Indian cultural history. Somehow, Stephen's involvement in India ...

📗BOOK: Scrabble Babble Rabble 📗AUTHOR: Bruno Beaches 📗GENRE: Contemporary Literary Fiction 📗THEME: Prison Stories 📖RATING:   ⚡ Storyline- 4/5  ⚡ Literature- 3.9/5 📝PLOT: When we hear the word 'prison', we imagine a place housing criminals within a restricted world; the criminals who do not deserve the societal empathy; the criminals who don't have the right to be given access to a better life. However, Mr Blanchflower, a noble soul and a committed teacher, wants to bring out the best out of the prison inmates and hence mentors them on the topic of communication and English Language. He has devised a game of scrabble wherein the participants have to create a word and narrate any incident that comes to their mind related to that word. What started as a game of scrabble, turned into a cathartic experience for the prison inmates who recounted their ordeals, emotions and backstories. ✒VERDICT  🥇Pro: 1) I have recently read some of the works of Bruno Beaches and I w...

  📗BOOK: Shuttler's Flick 📗AUTHOR: Priya Kumar, Pullela Gopichand  📗GENRE: Nonfiction,  Autobiography  📗THEME: Making of a champion, Pullela Gopichand 's journey so far 📖RATING:  ⚡Content- 4.6/5  ⚡Language- 4.5/5 📝CONTENT: "Those who rise to the pedestals of champions don't sit on their talents. They take full of doing what needs to be done to give their talent their best." This book is a tale of raw grit and resilience that forges a champion who stops at nothing to rise to the zenith. This book is a tribute to the badminton great who put India on the world map during the early 21st century for dethroning the world champions of badminton during All England Series.  The one and only Pullela Gopichand! 🌟Highlights of this book: 💫 Priya Kumar has hit the bulls-eye while enumerating the virtues of a go-getter and gave the perfect context to show that 'Only Talent Doesn't Maketh A Champion'. 💫 Personally, I was always intrigued by the life and stor...