Book Review: Minced Bits by Maneevak

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Author's Ink Publications (2017)
• Language: English

My Review: 

Precision is the order of the day. Brevity is a trait to be revered. Succinct descriptions and crisp endings are attractive to a reader pressed for time.
Haikus are all the rage.
It is the era of nano tales and micro tales and flash fiction.

And with that point in mind, as the book blurb says too, "In this fast paced world where no one seems to have time to read a book with a precious tale, here's an anthology of micro tales for all types of readers. In a few words these tales will feed your soul in the modern way.", the book acts like a Social media page on paper: A Terribly Tiny Tale, or a Scribbled Stories.

A lot of the micro tales have been laced with that wit that makes it endearing to the reader. For instance, the book begins and ends with these tales, respectively:

My mind suffered from indigestion, writing was the only antacid available for me. And thus began my pen, spilling ink...

and

And my pen pauses, the indigestion I talked about is cured. 

It is this sort of attention to words and thoughtful messages that make such a book worth reading. There are many tales that have a surprising twist, leaving the reader emotionally evoked.
That said, there are an equal number of stories that are predictable too. There's an equal number of witticisms that seem forced as there are the ones that appear fluid.

The best micro-tales are the ones that end in a cliffhanger. But even the ones with a natural conclusion are sweet and palatable.

She told everybody, except me, that she loved me 

I told everybody except her that I loved her.

Both spent sleepless nights thinking about each other,

Until a cupid helped us.

What makes this a good read, is the fact that after an overdose of this genre on social media, it was surprisingly refreshing to read this on paper.

Book Blast: The Conspiracy at Meru

The Conspiracy at Meru (Vikramaditya Veergatha # 2)

 Book Trailer At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5EaT0ypBX8

VICTORY IS TEMPORARY. THE BATTLE IS ETERNAL.

Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine have fought valiantly to repel the rampaging hordes from Devaloka and Patala – but Avanti has been brought to its knees. Ujjayini lies battered its citizens are scared and morale is badly shaken. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are gathering on the horizon and cracks are emerging between the allied kingdoms of Sindhuvarta.

The only silver lining is that the deadly Halahala is safe. For now.

Bent on vengeance, Indra is already scheming to destroy Vikramaditya, while Shukracharya has a plan that can spell the doom for the Guardians of the Halahala. How long can the human army hold out against the ferocity and cunning of the devas and asuras? And will Vikramaditya’s love for his queen come in the way of his promise to Shiva?

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The deadly Halahala, the all-devouring poison churned from the depths of the White Lake by the devas and asuras, was swallowed by Shiva to save the universe from extinction.

But was the Halahala truly destroyed?

A small portion still remains – a weapon powerful enough to guarantee victory to whoever possesses it. And both asuras and devas, locked in battle for supremacy, will stop at nothing to claim it.

As the forces of Devaloka and Patala, led by Indra and Shukracharya, plot to possess the Halahala, Shiva turns to mankind to guard it from their murderous clutches. It is now up to Samrat Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine to quell the supernatural hordes – and prevent the universe from tumbling into chaos!

A sweeping tale of honour and courage in the face of infinite danger, greed and deceit, The Guardians of the Halahala is a fantastical journey into a time of myth and legend.

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About the Author

Door-to-door salesman, copywriter, business journalist & assistant editor at The Economic Times; Shatrujeet Nath was all this before he took to writing fiction full-time. He debuted with The Karachi Deception in 2013, followed by The Guardians of the Halahala and The Conspiracy at Meru, the first two books in the Vikramaditya Veergatha series. At present, he is writing volume three of the series. Shatrujeet lives in Mumbai, but spends much of his time in the fantasy worlds of his stories.

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Book Review: The Bestseller She Wrote by Ravi Subramanian

About the book:

Title: The Bestseller She Wrote

Paperback, 392 pages
Published October 28th 2015 by Westland

Genre:  Romantic Thriller

Rating: 4/5

Blurb: He was a bestseller She wanted him to make her one.

Paperback king, Aditya Kapoor life is straight out of a modern man's fantasy. His literary stardom is perfectly balanced by a loving wife and a spectacular career. With everything he touches turning to gold, Aditya is on a winning streak.

Shreya Kaushik is a student with a heart full of ambition. Young, beautiful and reckless, Shreya speaks her mind and obsessively chases after what she wants. And what she wants is to be a bestselling author.

What happens when their worlds collide? Is it possible to love two people at the same time? Can real ambition come in the way of blind passion? Can trust once broken, be regained?

Master storyteller Ravi Subramanian, delves into the glitzy world of bestsellers and uncovers a risky dalliance between a superstar novelist and his alluring protege.

The Bestseller She Wrote is a combustible cocktail of love, betrayal and redemption.

About the author

Described as the ‘John Grisham of banking’, by the Wall Street Journal, Ravi Subramanian, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore, is the author of five bestselling commercial novels—If God was a Banker (2007), Devil in Pinstripes (2009), The Incredible Banker (2011), The Bankster (2012) and Bankerupt (2013), God is a Gamer—based on financial crime.

Having been a banker himself, he has a unique insight into the industry he writes about and a flair for spinning intricate plots that keep readers on the edge of their seats

His debut novel, If God was a Banker, won the 2008 Golden Quill Readers’ Choice Award and, more recently, The Incredible Banker won the 2011 Economist-Crossword Book Award in the ‘Popular’ category. He won the Crossword book award for The BANKSTER in 2012.

Ravi lives in Mumbai with his Biotechnologist turned banker wife, Dharini and his fourteen year old daughter Anusha.

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My Review:

The book revolves around a bestselling author, who is tempted to sin against the holy ties of matrimony and is demeaned to an infidel soon. The protagonist, Aditya, is double-timing his career with his banking job and his literary pursuits consuming him simultaneously, he pretty soon starts toying with his relationships in a similar fashion.
Aditya goes around, for book-reading sessions, book launches, networking with Bollywood directors aka potential buyers of his book's film rights, giving lectures to his alma mater.
He often talks at length about the quirks of social media, how the book's success is not ensured just by its content, and how important it is for an author to be influential.
Amid all of this, the trigger is set when Shreya, a student at IIM Bengaluru dismisses this approach, and with a right argument too. She implores him to see the book for what it is: a creative expression rather than a product.
Having seen the author active over social media, espousing how the author is also the CEO of his book, it is easy to conclude that the author has drawn inspiration for the character from his own encounters. The manner in which the book proceeds only confirms this conclusion, with many direct names from the publishing industry used and referenced as it is.
Honestly, it did get a bit exasperating at time, to think how little imagination had gone into all of this, and how all those references actually made this book a commercial product to be marketed.
 The book should be marketed, how else would people get to know about it? Fair point well made, and in doing so the plot/characters/essence of the novel should remain a commercial virgin, in my opinion.

The best part of the book is that it is paced just right, to be as much of a pageturner as much as it is substantial in its plot. The author has certainly worked hard on the plot, and it shows. How it all seems predictable till the time things take a turn for the unpredictable.
The first major twist occurs when the protagonist's wife finds out about his adultery, and the second twist is towards the end. Unputdownable is one word for it. I began reading early in the day and sat glued to it till noon when I last flipped the electronic page on my kindle.

The characters are amusing only for a person interested in studying them. To a casual reader, the characters won't leave a mark. Except maybe Shreya, who I was hoping would be a sensible part, when she first made appearance. She turns out far from the intellectual orator we were initially made to believe she was. She has a messed up life, and she messed up everyone else's who came into contact with her. I also felt that Aditya was being subject to copious adulation which was a little hard to believe.
Exploration of the characters isn't very entertaining. While their actions are revolting and rebellious, their qualities aren't very strong. he fun lies in how the author blends the plot with these distant characters in the end- when all the estuaries of romance, love, penance, a very Sherlock Homes-y unraveling of mystery, all drop into the sea of conclusion.

I cannot appreciate enough how apt the title sounds once you're through with the novel.
There were also some words and dialogues worth bookmarking. And of course, the tidbits of gyaan on the publishing industry are notes to take home.
Definitely more than a one-time read, but not a book that'd fill you with evangelical zeal, although worth telling the world that you've read it.

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Source of the review copy: Purchased on Kindle

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Book Review: #IAM16ICanRape by Kirtida Gautam

About the book:

Title:  #IAm16ICanRape

Published by: 

Paperback, 1 edition, 593 pages
Published August 22nd 2015 by Read Out Loud Publishing LLP 

Rating:  3.5/5

Blurb:

To destroy great EVIL, GOOD has to shed tears of blood. 

Rudransh Kashyap is a self-made billionaire and man of high moral fiber. His life is shattered when he returns home one day to find that his prodigy, his 16-year-old grandson, Aarush, has been arrested and accused of a brutal gang rape. It is easy to say, “Kill the Rapist” but what if the accused is your child? 

This case takes an unprecedented turn when Aarush’s identity is made public on social media. Rudransh finds himself living a nightmare as he fights against tremendous odds to get justice for Aarush, to save him and to bring him back home… But what if the unthinkable is true? Can Rudransh save his grandson, or will he end up fighting a different battle altogether?

About the author

Kirtida is a clinical psychologist turned screenplay writer who completed her education from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, India. Her passion for psychology and writing inspired her into writing psychological thrillers. While the readers are reading this introduction, the next thriller is in the making...

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My Review:

First off, one cannot just read this book and not commend the author for the stand that she has taken.
She has not just discussed and deliberated the issue on the surface, but through her carefully etched plot and characters, she has managed to bring an entire gamut of secondary and primary issues related to the crime into the big picture. I really cannot commend her enough.

It is a long book, but a simple one, and with the resonance of December 16 in its plot, it creeps the goosebumps out of you. Reading the book, you realise it is your moral responsibility to give a little more thought to all of this than you do now, to make this world a better place.
The story follows many themes and explores a lot of relationships, between a teenager and his domestic help, between him and his estranged parents, etc. And it makes you think that maybe we should care more about how dysfunctional and broken  families have larger consequences than we ever thought.
It shows that a lot of effort has gone into the alternate narration given to multiple characters. Keeping up a plot of this intensity, and twists is really an arduous task well done in this case.


And, it also emphasis a point that has me in complete agreement: that we can never fully understand a human mind, and questioning should become a habit. Individualism is the truth and we cannot really make conclusions about a family based on one person.

I do feel that the book could have benefited a lot from a little more editing that could've made it seamless and racy, but the effort that has gone into it shows.

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Yet Another Dream by Dharmendra Tolani: It's different (Book Review)

About the book:

Title: Yet another Dream

Published by: 

Published on: April 24th, 2015

Pages: 115

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 2.5/5

Blurb: He is from Sindh, sort of.
She is from Tibet, almost.

He is clueless.
She is determined.

He can't cry.
She can't stay put.

They meet.
She disappears - leaving behind a mess of contraceptives and lingerie.

Who will clean it up?

Welcome to Yet Another Dream. A story about a serial dreamer Kataaksh, who would sell anything to succeed. Be it condoms or voting machines. Along the way he meets Lhakpa. Is she a dream too? Or a nightmare? Find out in this labyrinth of dreams.

About the author

Dharmendra Tolani has spent 11 years in the wilderness called real
world after graduating from IIT Bombay in 2004. He counts the experience of
selling condoms online for a year as his best ever. He has also taught
in slums and engineering colleges. During this time he has also been
able to dupe MNCs and startups alike in hiring him as a programmer.

Social media:

            

My Review:

It is difficult to say right away if the book is a thriller, historical fiction, or suspense. It is in fragments all of these. It begins as the story of Kataaksh leaving his job for an uncertain future. He approaches his friend Varun and they try their hands on selling voting machines.
Thereafter he meets Lhakpa, and the story, as depicted in the blurb begins.

Lhakpa and Kataaksh make a good team, and the reader figures this out in no time. The story idea and plot is unique. It has never been discussed from this angle before, which is what makes this book important. Apart from lending a sense of significance to the plot, this also makes it an intelligent informed read. Lhakpa and Kataaksh are trying to figure out the logistics of selling condoms and related stuff online.
Their conversations are almost enlightened. The talk about everything taboo, but this only goes to explain how we are depriving ourselves of some choices just because of artificial societal constructs. Well, there are many thinking points in the book, too.
The book also contemplates the crooked histories of some communities, and their helplessness in the same.

The book could have been made more interesting though- there is scope of giving details, and more witty conversations- I can sense potential there.
The ending is reached after few twists, and that makes the whole reading worthy. The suspense and mystery crops up suddenly and the urgency that rises in the reader is matched by the pace of the story.

The reader is more aware after reading the book that he was before.

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Source of the review copy: Author himself

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