Solitude and Books

Blood on the Sands by Sujata S. Sabnis published by Amarllis is an engrossing murder mystery that will keep your attention captured in the story till the end. The riveting contemporary fiction takes up few sensitive topics about such evil acts and crimes that lurk beyond the surface and devastate the lives of  common people. She is quite and beautiful! Mankor is her name.  With her two children Samar and little Ranu, she live in Kuran which is situated in the desert land of Rann of Kutch known for being the last Indian Village on the Indo- Pak border.  Samara's father Virender is a BSF tracker stationed at Rapar HQ, known for being an Harappan excavation site. Virender visits them during festival seasons of Navratri and a series of unfortunate events start to take place introducing life wrecking twists. With a child missing case, horrific murder devastating a common family, terrorist group plotting a dangerous attack, a commender trying his best to...

I find science fiction movies very gripping specially the ones which revolve around a space exploration plot. Now a days I have started to develop interest in books as well towards this genre. Indeed Apophis by Raj Anand will keep you engaged with its riveting story!  Well researched it starts with the declaration that events mentioned in the book are all true. An asteriod has fixed it's monstrous path through the solar system.  It can destroy the Earth's civilisation. Is it a conspiracy from extraterrials? To save humanity from this two headed fireball from the unknown 'Apophis' and stop the sinister, five extraordinary philosophers come together. What is so extraordinary about them? They are intelligent, coming from five different nations and yes reincarnated! They have received the knowledge to tackle this apocalyptic event from generations and prepare for galactic battles!  With vivid descriptions of the celestrials,  myths dat...

The Making of a Lady Wife is an account of being an army's wife by author Jayanti Mukherjee. It is a memoir.  Sometimes we get to read books written by the army personnel themselves sharing about their experiences and hardships. But how commonly do we come across such books which have been written by a close family member or their  life partner describing their experience from.their end? Let's check the view of the army world through a wife's eyes and heart.  An army officers life is filled with arduous activities, packed with duties and many sacrifices. Their supporting family members sacrifice a lot and root for them each moment.  In this book Mrs.Mukherjee shares her thoughts, first time experiences of being the wife of an army officer, tackling her  emotions in the new lifestyle and juggling between different situations to give her bestas well. All these portrayal of lifestyle led by army families are shared with an amusin...

In the first book Ruby Moon , the story revolved around Jenay and her background with her struggles. It was filled with twists and turns.  The second book Blue Moon,  in this series talked about the dramatic story of the Gulet twin sisters and their family secrets around a child. Here in this story that can be read as stand alone as well which is set in a time of WWI . It is a war time historical fiction and once again the author will not disappoint you.  Jenny Knipfer's writing style has the quality to capture hearts. Emotionally capturing story alongside that it is full with intricate details. It is a story that gives another persceptive and value to the existence of love, hope and faith . It talks about the hardships faced during WWI . With sprinkled quotes and thoughts, it adds more depth to the fiction.  You may check the details here :  Shamed into joining the war, the tide turns for Luis Wilson when he is steered into the depths of...

BLUE MOON  Second in the series:  By the Light of the Moon Authored by :  Jenny Knipfer  After reading the interesting Ruby Moon that is part one of this series, I was thinking to read the next phase of Jenay's life. Author's way of presenting life lessons and deep thoughts within a historical fiction plot felt remarkable.  The story starts with little Luis, the ten year old for whom a big secret is waiting and hopes are there for his understanding. They embark on a travel across the lake.  Blue moon majorly revolves around other characters, mostly two twin sisters, an unborn baby and the father and the husband. They are related to the protagonist Jenay about whom the first book painted an intriguing picture. Here the extramarital affair of Vanessa takes the story in the path full of twists. More details about Renoult's got unveiled as well. When the twin sisters father decided the final destiny of the unborn child of one of the twins, it didnot...

Memorable Memoir is a book in which the story is written in a poetry format. That's unique is not it ? This is actually my second time coming across such a book. Mr. Mrityumjay's Memorable memoir starts with a literary fest where a famous author gets interviewed and his audience gets amused by his style of presenting the notion of love.  I actually like how the story flows inside the rhymic lines. The Chapters are actually poems which present to us each phase of the protagonists early adulthood from getting selected in JEE till his heartbreak. His happy moments and sad phases are written in short poems.  The moments of stress while results came out, to remember someone's worth, time spent with friends and hostel Life, finding someone and developing feeling and later on understanding the real essence of love. It can also be called a collection of reminiscences of sequence of events. There are few grammatical typing mistakes if taken care of this book ...

Past Dwellers is a non-fiction by Mr. Samridh Seth. Available on Amazon as Hatdcopy. It talks about how to change your mindset to move forward from the past that you cannot really change but towards future which is in your hands. Visiting and remaining stuck in the memories in our complex mind is like childhood game of stuck in the mud.  Through different analogies between time, palm tree, pyramids, hunting, clouds, etc,  the chapters talk about how to transform your thought process and move towards an effective result in self transformation. The chapters are quite brief which makes the  reading time brisk. Moreover the narration is witty and presented in a way that makes the comprehension process easier.  Author advices that to come out of the clutches of the past you need to have the willingness and constant practice to make wise choices, judge your actions about utilisation of time, having a thoughtful company, observe the envir...

While treading through the ups and downs of life, many a times we come to a hault. The best thing one can do in life is to never loose hope. Few non-fiction books remind us to remain optimistic. The same way few fictions through their plot show us that path by talking about the struggles of a fictitious character and then reminding us the real essence of life. Samsara by Anush Rabindranathan's is a story that tells us the life of a young man who was in the initial stage of his entrepreneurship but his hardworks were not giving him equal returns.  This tired  hard phase also made his life partner walk out of their relationship leaving him misarable and broken.  When things become all crazy, fed up Kuttan cannot lost all hope and decided to end his life and that very day was his birthday.  His mind drenches with memories and there during his last moments he gets the opportunity to introspect his life's each  choices,...

Now a days I see poetry books come filled with abstract and catchy illustrations. I truly love this style of presenting one's heart's tales.  Here is another beautiful book that will definitely touch the strings of your heart. The author of this book, Sezal Khatri has poured her heart put.  Poured Heart from Dusk till Dawn is a collection of poems along with few one liners and proses. These contents are like bouquet of different emotions. Few are about heart breaks, healing process, unfulfilled desires, reminiscences. Some are about family life and friendships.  It is all about treading through life juggling between happy times and sad phases. Building one's own identity among the crowd and again going back to the reminiscences of the lost days and self. Few meaningful memories or feeling at a moment can be preserved within a page, illustration or poems.  These write ups by Sezal Khatri are thoughtful, carry melancholic...

Myself by SriKarthik Vasudevan is a thriller drama fiction written in a very lucid way that can make a good one time read for readers who are just thinking to start reading books. I think it's specially for people who are in teenage or early adulthood.  The protagonist in this plot is an eighteen years old boy, tall and handsome having a  dream lifestyle under his father's supervision. Being very naive his father requires him to man up. The father who is a business tycoon sets for his boy some concrete goals for life which the protagonist fulfills one by one to have self transformation. During the first goal though, things take a mischievous turn when he and the guide get shot in the forest.  The story starts to catch pace and create a suspense around why is he been targeted and what secrets lurk about their family business. After few more murders, kidnapping and his willingness to prove himself alongside his investigation, he gets to know the real...

Leveling Up, During a Pandemic by Diji Shujahi is a book inspired by true events. The Author shares her experiences while going through a very difficult phase in her life and the trials of leveling up to the state of mind and body which she aims for during this time of the pandemic.  Her marriage was arranged at the tender age of 21. Being intelligent she had a vivid career. Her  husband supported her in it but not for her wellbeing but for the perks of being the partner of a creative successful professional.  After being mistreated in her marriage by a manipulative bad tempered husband for 6 years, with her 2 kids she decided to walk out of it from Abu Dhabi. The emotional stress did make her feel less than what she was capable of.  In Manila, Philippines when she had an  official event, the world got stuck by Covid. Life's wheels took a slow pace, being away from her family, alone in her residence in a new city for weeks, he...

Whether you need a beach read, an airplane read or just something to peruse before bed, there’s one category you can always count on : suspense books. This book falls under the same genre that's full of enigmatic intrigue and shocking twists that had me enthralled.  The  tantalizing buildup of suspense till the end where all the answers which the protagonist tried to find out about himself and his past while going through regression of his memory after being into a criminal firing will keep the readers awake all night.  Screenplay by Mr. Henry has many element that make it an engrossing read with a sadist persona along side that the mystery that veils the case of Peter Lambert.  His trials to remember his own identity, his past life and what caused all that makes gives it all a mysterious turn.  The prologue gives us a hint that something is being recorded. Some mundane things to make a film but with some errie aura ...

The idea of death is a dreadful thing. Grief and loss follows it. All beings taking birth must perish and mix into dust one day. It is the inevitable truth. Scared by this reality, people try to avoid it, delay it by using different techniques, not want to accept it and live in a state of non-acknowledgement.  In between birth and death people are become unsure and confused about the purpose of life but more than that keep pushing hard to understand the unknown ultimate truth. Even all ancient world mythological  battles between the good and evil have  always were due the trials of becoming  immortal. Yama in Indian mythology is the known as the god who manages the souls after death. He is the ruler of  afterlife.  In MEETING YAMA by Manoj Jain There are three characters. Each one plays a separate and distinct role here. The story is presented as a fiction but the purpose is to present life lessons, thoughts and a space for the reade...