Book Review: The Book of Colors by Raymond Barfield

About the book:

Title: The Book Of Colors

Published by: Unbridled Books

Published on: 2015

Pages: 211

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

Blurb: How can a 19-year-old, mixed-race girl who grew up in a crack house and is now pregnant be so innocent? Yslea is full of contradictions, though, seeming both young and old, innocent and wise. Her spirit is surprising, given all the pain she has endured, and that's the counterpoint this story offers—while she sees pain and suffering all around her, Yslea overcomes in her own quiet way. What Yslea struggles with is expressing her thoughts. And she wonders if she will have something of substance to say to her baby. It's the baby growing inside her that begins to wake her up, that causes her to start thinking about things in a different way. Yslea drifts into the lives of four people who occupy three dilapidated row houses along the train tracks outside of Memphis: "The way their three little row houses sort of leaned in toward each other and the way the paint peeled and some of the windows were covered with cardboard, the row might as easily have been empty."

About the author

Dr. Raymond Barfield is a pediatric oncologist at Duke University School of Medicine and an associate professor of philosophy at Duke Divinity School. He also works with the Institute on Care at the End of Life at Duke Divinity School—the Institute’s work crosses disciplines and focuses on the intersection of spirituality and medicine. Ray has a book out from Cambridge University Press, The Ancient Quarrel between Poetry and Philosophy, and he’s working on a nonfiction trade book that explores the intersection of spirituality, philosophy and science. He also has a book of poetry that was just published in October.

It’s his work with low-income African American children at Duke University Hospital and his previous experience in the ERs of Atlanta and Memphis inner-city hospitals that make him so familiar with the protagonist in The Book of Colors. Ray says he has met Yslea many times and her voice is embedded in his head

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My Review:

One unquestionable truth about the book is- it is the kind of book you pore your eyes over, dig the deeper meanings of and let the story and characters grow on you.

Faintly reminiscent of The Color Purple, partly because of the narration style and partly because of the characters and situation which form the basis of our reading. Even so, this book is nothing like what you'd have read ever before.

As is obvious, it is not a fast paced read, and letting the characters' lives hijack your own is the most deeply fulfilling experience. Yslea's perspective on live and everything for that matter is so shattering and overwhelming that you'd pause everytime she says something, reflect upon it and then let her grow on you. Not just Yslea, you'll let all the characters grow on you, get under your skin and make you feel the irony, cruel game of fate and pain- all at once. Through her guilelessness and innocence, Yslea shines throughout.
The Book of colors has a beautiful metaphorical meaning too!

The author has done a great job with the plot- it is coherent and structured, with the characters that are all well-etched and with the story- that never fails to move the reader.

Links to the book:

Giveaway:

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Quotes from the book:

It's not having money that makes a lot of things hard- The book of colors, Raymond Barfield
Posted by So many books, So little time. on Friday, August 28, 2015

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Source of the review copy: Author

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When your favorite book turns into Damon Salvatore

Does the title of this article make sense to you?

Let me explain- I personified our favourite thing in the world- books. 

Books have now taken the identity of the sexy Damon Salvatore. 

Read on for a sarcastic banter and an exchange of witty dialogues!

1. When you sleep with your book, with the lights on. The next day you wake up cuddled with it, drooling all over it!

Image credits: teen.com

2. When you find a book at a street shop, or a garage sale - dog eared corners, that rusty smell, yellow pages. 

Credits: tumblr

3. The book just took a really, really unbelievable twist. And you just feel like your whole life was a lie. Think "We were liars" or "Everything, Everything"

Image: tumblr.com 

4. You still feel deceived. The book had been playing you throughout its plot- and you do what is the natural response in this situation. You throw the book away while you wait for the tears to dry. The book doesn't like how yooutreat it, and it blackmails you or it might just throw another cruel revelation.

Image credits: rebloggy.com 

5. Your favourite character dies. It's over. It's all over. But the book isn't over yet. While you are doing your job of being a burrito of sadness, here's what your book says

Image credits: pinkymccoversong.deviantart.com 

6. You are re-reading THIS book for the nth time. Maybe its your book boyfriend, maybe its the quotes, maybe the story.

Image credits: theodysseyonline.com 

7. It's either a mystery/thriller. Or this is a major cliffhanger in a series. 

Image: peress2.skyrock.com

8. The sequel was nothing you expected it to be!

Image Credits: wifflegif.com

9. You've tried to forget it, but that's the thing about pain- it demands to be felt. Your reservoir of tears refuses to dry up. The book is all drowned in your tears. And it just can't take it anymore.

Image Credits: Giphy.com

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Smelly to smiley: How I spray it away

So it struck me when I was sitting in a cafe, where, given a chance, I'd spend my life. Reason? The ambiance! It is so fresh, full of energy and enervating always. By my third visit, I realized it was because of the pervasive smells and sights.
It was a book cafe. Now I am a bibliophile, and my life revolves around my bookshelf. No kidding, My room has closed shelves and open books, and it is adjacent to kitchen.
I realized soon enough that the infrastructure cannot be redone, and I have to make do with this.
However what I couldn't put up with was the variety of odours haunting the room. T
That was when i got the Ambi pur room freshener. Now prior to this experience I wasn't a fan of bringing some new odor to the room, but the freshness that ambi pur left was totally worth the challenge to my pre-conceived notions.

I have my quirks: I hate the strong spices that are so typical to Indian kitchens: anything from a clover to a cinnamon is enough to put me off. Whenever I sit down to read, and mom is in the kitchen, I used to be perennially troubled with the smells and flavors emanating from there. Using the exhaust fans sometimes backfires, because other kitchens emanate the same smell. then there's another ingredient: garlic, which I love, but which degrades the atmosphere like nothing else can. I never bring my friends home when the cooking is going on- it's plain embarrassing to be coughing all around them.
And then there is this clandestine variety of unbearable smells: their source remains unknown forever but the level of discomfort they cause is beyond compare.
The time when I used the room freshener spray must have been the most confident time: the moment I smell something foul, I spray it away. Almost like a superhero movie. Ask my hostel friends, and they'll tell you how this indeed IS superhero-ish.

Now, Just a spray and my reading continues in the same favourite reading nook- uninterrupted.
Otherwise the skirmishes with mom whenever she cooks were bad, really bad.
Similar things happen in the car
Just imagine, Lavendar spa or vanilla bouquet..... the fragrance is so enticing, so much a treat to our senses!

Here's how I also used the feature of ambi-pur fragrance to increase the fragrance when required.

I am blogging for #SmellyToSmiley activity atBlogAdda.com in association with Ambi Pur

Book review: Antique Forgery by Eileen Harris

About the book:

Title: Antique Forgery

Published by: WingsPress

Published on:  August 1st 2012 

Pages: 269

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4/5

This second book in the series takes the reader further into the life of Alicia Trent and her friends. Magic, forgery, betrayal, and fabulous jewels surround Alicia as she struggles to find the reason for her friend's death.

About the author

From living off the grid in the Arizona desert, Eileen has moved to the woods of
upstate New York. She has authored a standalone adventure novel called Desert
Shadow. She is also the author of Alicia Trent Series. The Black Cane : Dowager
Diaries Book 1 is her latest release.Find the author here: 

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My Review:

The second book in the Alicia  Trent series, Antique forgery continues where Antique Magic left off. Ali has a couple predictions as given by the magic objects in the first installment, and now that she has been called to the place of the prediction, she is sure it will come true.
Her childhood guardians, more of a family, consisting of Arthur and Janice, have called her because Olivia, one of the sisters has died and Ali is needed for appraisal of the jewellery that Olivia, who was a spinster, had hoarded.
All the detritus of her life might go to the strangers, because Janice doesn't even want to look at her sister tenderly, even though she has left for heavenly abode.
The plot is no less twisted-knotted, what with personal issues, and materialistic tendencies, playing the prime players. The love for art, which is a constant in magnitude, even though different in the presentation, is beyond comprehension,
When she arrives, and they manage to get though the jewelery room, it appears as if there was a robbery, yet it is obvious that it was disheveled in a fit of rage, a tantrum.
The time for the prediction to come true is near, and to her utter dismay, it does come true. Another inexplicable murder follows and Ali now becomes a prime suspect. Kendra, her friend has been gruesomely murdered and she was the one to find out. Grief and shock and trauma were overridden by rage at being suspected . Detective Barton arrives and they start off on the wrong note. The circumstantial evidence makes her a suspect, and of course does not elicit a friendly disposition. later on, Nick arrives, and it turns out he has a secret too. He asks Barton to go easy on Ali. Ali still thinks he is either a jerk or is coping up with the stress of the job.
She has made other discoveries but then with an unfriendly authority at work, she refrains from revealing the discoveries to the Detective.
Barry's character is as always the sweetest person who knows what to say to make her feel better.
However, I felt quite irritated with the remark that murder follows Ali around. The reason is simple: the very nature of her job requires her to stay at places which have riches and precious stuff, which has been inherited, death is inevitable and certainly a mystery, and although Ali has her curiosity going at full velocity, still this was a forced observation.

There are different characters: a woman inhabiting the guestroom. the helps, the chef etc.
Then comes a twist: Janice and Arthur, who have a knack for paintings weren't at the auction they were supposed to attend on the day of the murder.

The revelation in the end, was worth the reading. I think there hasn't been so tasteful an ending to a crime/mystery novel.
It wasn't an acrimonious or vengeful goal that had perpetrated the murders, but a helpless situation.
I enjoyed reading the mystery and it was gripping just like the previous book.

Links to the book:

                                         

Quotes from the book:

Currently stuck on this series. The protagonist seems to want to get embroiled in murder mysteries. Antique Forgery by Eileen Harris. #bookish #bookfeels #books #reading #quotes #qotd #booksarelove #blog #brunchbookchallenge #bookblog #booklover #bookstagram #mystery #novel #booktour #antique #magic #booksaremagic #reader

A photo posted by Kritika Narula (@kritika.narula) on May 26, 2015 at 12:30am PDT

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Source of the review copy: B00kR3vi3w Tours @ http://b00kr3vi3wtours.blogspot.in

I thank DDS for having me on tour.

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