Review Diaries (Celebrating Small Victories by J.V.R. Prasada Rao)

 Name of the book - Celebrating Small Victories : My Journey Through Two Decades of AIDS Response

by J.V.R. Prasada Rao 

Stars given - 5 out of 5 stars.

My take on the book-

I started this on a friend's suggestion when I said I needed to take a break from fiction, I know that is so like me.

Standing in 2021 the words AIDS is still used in a very hush-hush manner. It's a taboo of epic proportions and many people are not aware of the situations but would rather just judge and be done with it.

The Author didn't just give us a story where he took on the world and lived happily ever after. He makes everyone aware and educates people. The data provided in the book is eye-opening in a very different level. The setbacks as we see him facing in the book are heart wrenching and I would love to send many virtual hugs to him for not giving up.

Read this one, it's bound to make you a better person.

Review Diaries (Name Place Animal Thing)

 They say Old Is Gold.

They are telling the truth.

I am part of the they...

I started this book in the middle of a strenuous work day. I wanted a little break and gosh I got my wish.

I was an only child and my Ma used to keep me occupied with tons of indoor games.

This one was played during the hot summers when going out and playing wasn't really an option.

The book brought back tons of old memories and I had fun. I even tried my hand in reading the book to my Mom, lost my voice in the process but I have absolutely no regrets.

The book combines this age old game with certain life lessons.

This is where the book makes it's mark.

Review Diaries (The Venus World)

 I started this one on my friend's recommendation.

It talks about a world where women have taken over.
Needless to say I finished it all in one go.
Very effective use of the plot by the author to show that anyone with too much power will end up in being bad over the time.

The characters had their own complexities and most of them had shown many facets of themselves irrespective of how much time they were in the story line.

It was fraught with so much lust and betrayal yet love and compassion that one can clearly take a clear lesson from the book that there are no good or bad people it's people's circumstances and where they stand with you or against you.

Review Diaries (Man Behind The Missing Machine)

 Imagine a book...

Now imagine a movie...

Now put them two together...

What do you get?

It's a book movie, not a screen adaptation of the book but a legit movie for your brain and that is what you get with this one.

It started with a bang, literally, only this one wasn't heart just felt deep in the heart. I love fast faced stories, they make my heart go pitter patter and K K was like the man to make it happen. There was love, romance and desire but also dark lust, betrayal and hated. So many different kinds of friendship and compadre were seen that it's bound to make you a tad bit teary eyed. Every page took story to a different height all together.

One thing I would have thought different was the whole old ahem flame coming back to backstab but it's wasn't true. May be my bestie is right, I am reading way too much mystery that everything looks ready to jump out and try and catch me.

Give this preeeeeeety a try, you are bound to love it 

Review Diaries (The Bitter Half by Simon)

 Name of the book - The Bitter Half by Simon

Stars given - 5 on 5 stars.

My take on the book-

This one was a major eye opener!

It made me sit up and take notice.

Many a times we hear things in the news but sometimes there is more to the story, that's for sure.

I am not one for giving out spoilers so I am going to just tell you what my feelings were after I was done with the book.

I was outraged with a few characters, their attitude, their audacity. I went to my Mimi to vent out my feelings and Baba heard me so he gave me an information that made my head spin. My father is an ex police officer and on hearing that I read a book about false statements and GD he said that this kind of cases are horrible and has greater aftereffects that many don't realize. A country like ours, where we still into victim blaming and shaming, many cases are not registered cause the family doesn't want any type of scandal and all that "Log Kya Bolenge". Then comes these people who are blackmailing families and making a quick buck out of innocent people which in turn makes people distrust other victims.

At the risk of sounding like some agony aunt moral police some things are just too sacred to be floundered away, trust, promise and commitment are such things. Do not abuse, be it with your words or your actions, be it someone's trust or situation.

That's all from my side.

Ps this book is very well researched.

Review Diaries ( Retrace Love by Malini Amaladoss)

 Name of the book- Retrace Love by Malini Amaladoss

Stars given- 4 on 5 stars.

My take on the book-

The story starts with an incident, one that is later explained, and this gets your mind to understand that this is bound to be an interesting read for sure.

Books on friendship and love have always been something that I love reading but as I grew up I understood the importance of forgiveness and open communication.

Many a times we lose out on a great relationship because we are scared to put ourselves out there.

This book has an amazing friendship story for sure but it also shows us that we need to forgive and forget our past to move on with our lives in a healthy way.

Holding on to the past helps no one, especially one who feels they have been wronged or we're not heard in the relation.

Quick question- When was the last time you held a grudge?

My answer- Yesterday, when a bird pooped on my aloe vera plant. I meowed at it till it flew away and promised retribution in the form of getting a pet cat soon.

Review Diaries (A Love Fest by D. J. Syngai)

 Name of the book- Q Love Fest by D. J. Syngai.

Stars given - 10.5 on 5 stars… yes you read it right…

My take on the book-

Before anything else let me gush about this preeeeeeety book cause oh my heart it's soooooo amazing. Another reason I am so partial to this book is cause I have a sari of the same color, it's like the book choose me… it's fate. This is a Writer's Workshop book where this limited edition gold-embossed, hand-switched, hand pasted and hand-bound book was assembled.

Yes the book is very impressive and the poems make you feel so many emotions, just like a poem should.

My personal favorite, I know I shouldn't pick favorites cause it's not a very grown-upy thing to do, but #suchamanalithingtodo ,was Not Looking to Gatsby. This one resonates with me in a way that I can't possibly express in words, it's a feeling of knowing something is wrong for you and yet craving it after you yourself have pushed it away.

Oh my Lord!

I sound like a raving lunatic but love if a poem doesn't move you to madness did you even read one? Was it even a poem in the first place?

Ps one thing I personally would have loved even more was if instead of blank verses all of them were in rhymes…

Review Diaries (The Exit Game)

 I just finished The Exit Game and oh my Lord, it was amazing.

A few days back I heard a kid say that a book is a movie for your head, one that you can turn on any time you want to and that's what I got with this book. All the characters were well formed and so life like, wink*wink, see what I did there, play of words me so good at it.
Reading this book felt like watching science fiction movies where you needed to spin a latto to see if it's all real or if you are in a stimulation...
Cue in the goosebumps...
Trust me when I say this, I am so coming back to read this one again.
Ps eagerly waiting for book 2 though.
#suchamanalithingtodo

Review Diaries (Life Unknown- A passage through India by Kartikeya Ladha)

 Name of the book- Life Unknown-A passage through India by Kartikeya Ladha.

Stars given- 5 on 5 stars.

My take on the book-

Remember when you were young, like really really young and used to choose the prettiest covered books to be read as your bed time stories?

Did you ever ask why that pretty book always got read and reread?

Well, simple cause it made you happy!

Now this book too looks like tons of fun and laughter all rolled into one and boy did it deliver it all.

A travel journal that's a lot more than just that, it's like having a chat with an old friend about his travels.

There were times when I could almost smell the cold, thinning mountain air or even the salty spray of the ocean.

My parents are avid travellers and I, though a proud home body, have had her share of travelling and tons of stories as well. Finishing this book made me want to have a chat with the author and share my stories.

Read it for the travel stories,

Read it for the journey glories,

Read it for the charming lines and there are a ton

And it's guaranteed that you will have fun.

Review Diaries (The Guardians of the Halahala by Shatrujeet Nath)

 Name of the book- The Guardians of the Halahala by Shatrujeet Nath (Book 1).

Stars given- 5 on 5 stars.

My take on the book-

I totally blame my grandparents for my love for stories. My Nani on my Mimi's side and Dadu on my Bapu's side used to read my stories, be it the Bengali classics of Thakumar Jhuli or The epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. As a grown up I tried to fill that gap of epic story thirst by gorging on lores of other countries but now I have amazing retelling of the Indian mythologies and yeaps it's like a part of my childhood is back…

This book doesn't really build up, it starts running from the get go and bam!!! You are hooked…

I had a bad couple of weeks, wasn't feeling too well but this one brought up tons of good memories.

First book of the series ended and now I am dying to get my hands on the second one and hopefully it will be soon.

Ps turns out book 4 released a few weeks back so trust me you all are in for an awesome rollercoaster journey for sure.