Reading Wrap-Up: January 2021.

Hello Loves! 

January comes to an end now and with that it's time to wrap-up my reading for this month. 

My Reading Life in January was rather nice. 

Slow. 

But nice. 

I read only 8 books and I say only because I read some 15 books in January last year. 

But this month I took my time with my reads and didn't rush through any of my books. 

Something I want to do through the rest of the year too. 

I read four physical books. 

&

Four ebooks. 

I read some kid lit. 

Some literary fiction. 

A spot of translation. 

Some world literature. 

Lots of short stories. 

Verse. 

Young adult. 

A very mixed bag and I hope and pray that the rest of the year follows suit. 

:) 

 

1. The Magic Moonlight Flowers and Other Stories by Satyajit Ray: I started my year right and with one of my favourite writers- Satyajit Ray. These stories were delightful and warm and a fun and full of magic and wonder and good people meeting happy endings. I cannot think of a better way to kick start a new year. 

4/5 

2. The Complete Adventures of Feluda Vol. I by Satyajit Ray: I continued my foray into Ray and picked up my favourite stories featuring my favourite Indian sleuth. Feluda is a Bengali staple, a hero, a sleuth and an all around renaissance man. I haven't read these stories in a while and I was really, really missing them. So I bought the ebooks versions of these books and got my reading started. I haven't re-read allll the stories in this volume yet and I am not rushing through them anytime soon. I want to read them all through February and enjoy myself thoroughly. 

5/5

I also watched, well re-watched a ton of the Feluda films this month and nothing makes me happier. 

3. French Lover by Taslima Nasrin: I took a long time to read this book. Like over a week and I occasionally strayed and read other stories here and there but I always came back to this story about a young Bengali woman finding her way in Paris. Navigating a less than perfect arranged marriage, making new friends, starting a new job and well acquiring a lover or two. Nila's journey and story had me invested and gripped and took me on a ride through her changing emotions and her unusual life path. I liked her for most part and this book was one I enjoyed too. It was quiet and full of angst but I was surprised by how much I liked it. 

4/5 

4. The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories by Nisha Susan: This book came highly hyped and like a lot of hyped books this one unfortunately fell a little flat for me. A lot of people seem to love it and I can see why, but as far as I am concerned this book felt a little try hard. Like it was desperately trying to be a bit more..a bit more edgy and bit more irreverent. Not bad. Just not nearly as good as I had thought it would be. 

2.5/5 

5. Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Wiengarten: Two best friends. 

Co-dependant. 

Slightly toxic. 

Estranged. 

Till one of them ends her life and the other is left figuring out the mystery of her death and life. 

Fast paced and engrossing and with a decent twist in the end. Perfectly enjoyable. 

3.5/5 

6. Unforeseen Desires by Anil Chopra: Set in Dehradun in the 1970s in the middle of the Emergency, this is the story of a young doctor coming of age amidst a tumultuous time. Office politics, love, companionship and worries about the future and an accusation of theft all come together to give us a vignette into an important time in our  main protagonists life. Heart felt and moving and sparse and real, this book was wonderful in many quiet and poignant ways. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I picked it up on bit of a whim and mainly because I found the cover very pretty. Glad the insides were just as pretty. 

4/5 

7. Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghosh: An Amitav Ghosh book is a cause of joy. This one, his first book in verse, expounds on the legend of Bon Bibi and Dokkhin Ray. I have a done a full review on this one so I won't go on now. Lovely in every which way. 

4/5 

8. Secret Son by Laila Lalami: A young man growing up in the slums of Casablanca is in for a shock when he finds out that his father, who he assumed was dead, is in fact very much alive and shockingly wealthy. So a reunion occurs between father and son and young Youssef's life is completely altered. 

This book really pulls you in and takes you along for a ride of chasing fortunes, shifting loyalties and class and wealth and a young man trying to see where he belongs. 

Well-written and moving. A good way to end the month. 

4/5 

What a good month it's been. 

A month with a lot of Ray and Amitav Ghosh too. 

Hope your reading month has been good too. 

Happy Reading folks! 

Haul: Knitted Woollen Hairbands from Oony by Anab.

 Hello Loves! 

Today is so cold in my corner of the world. 

A cold wind has been blowing allll day and I am bundled up in a sweatshirt and under two shawls. 

Brrrrr. 

So today's happy mail came just at the right time. 

I ordered a few goodies from Oony by Anab, things that are pretty as peach and things I needed this winter. 

I got two  knitted headbands and one floral hairband which they call the Bahaar hairband. 

Love the cable knit patter and the yarn is so soft and smooth and so comfortable to wear. 

I wore mine- the sunshine yellow- headband the moment it arrived and it's helped to keeping the cold at bay. 

We got the  Handknit Headbands in Sunflower and Fuchsia. 

Sunflower for me and Fuchsia for my sister. 

Every single thing is beautiful and well-made and perfect in every way. 

:) 

They make a host of handmade things: 

Beanies. 

Headbands. 

Scarves. 

Booties. 

Scrunchies. 

Earrings. 

And then some. 

:) 

Do go check them out and treat yourself to something warm and handmade this winter. 

Monthly Favourites: January 2021.

 Hello Loves! 

Since Janaury is almost over, this Friday instead of listing some random favourites, I am going to list my monthly favourites. 

January usually feels so longgggg, but this time around I don't know...it felt oddly swift and hopeful. 

Funny really how so many people think that the pandemic is magically over now that we are in the New Year. Must be nice to just snap out of the worry, wish I could too. 

:) 

January was a good month. 

I didn't read a whole lot, like 8 books in total. But I read slowly and took my time with my books. 

I wrote a little. Started a new story. One I am hoping to finish soon and publish soon. 

I spent so much time with my family. 

Hung out on the terrace. 

Watered our plants. 

Watched so many Feluda films. 

I think I watched some 25 odd things! 

So net-net this was a good month. 

Here are my favourites for this month. 

1. Book Buying: I bought a few books this month. A couple of my old favourites were re-purchased- Jhumpa Lahiri's books and a few others bought during the Republic Day sales. Haul coming soon. Felt nice to buy books again. 

2. Pouches Galore: A new year meant new pencil case and a new pouches to hold my planner and things. I love pouches and some of favourites this month are ones from Chhoti Si Asha and iTokri. 

3. Silver Loves: I also bought some silver this month, my first silver purchase in forever. I got two pendant from Chandi Studio and I got them to wear on a daily basis. I love how dainty and lovely they are. The elephant one has my whole heart. 

4. Brooches from Vastriyan: Love these floral brooches from Vastriyan by Bidisha we got to decorate my sister's planner. They are so lovely! 

5. Gratitude Journaling: I got back to Gratitude Journaling this year and it makes me happy and it feels so good to focus on things to be grateful for at the end of the day. I love this journal I got to use as my gratitude journal, it's floral and lovely and it has the perfect space to jot down things I am grateful for. 

6. Reading Journal: I love love love how I set up my reading journal this year. It's aesthetic AF and I am soooo pleased to use it and write about the books I read in 2021. 

7. Buttons: I got a whole bunch of gorgeous buttons from Chica Being Me and I love how adorable they are. 

8. Brooches from Naksha Art: More brooch love. This time from Naksha Art and this sunflower one is especially my favourite. 

9. Genda Phool: I love seeing these flowers bloom on our terrace. Bright and happy and always looking at the sun. 

10. Plants:  I am so grateful for these plants that live here. I love looking after them and watering them and seeing them thrive. 

11. Pressed Flowers: Got these pressed flower pendants from Rooh and Flowers and it's so pretty and has my favourite bougainville flowers pressed to perfection. 

12. New Kindle Cases: We've had our Kindles in the same case since September! Which is pretty unheard of in our world. We forgot to carry our spare cases when we came here, to the hometown, and we were bored and needed some new outfits for our Kindles. We got these blockprint covers from Amazon for pretty reasonable prices. 

Book Review: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

 

Book: The Marlow Murder Club 

Author: Robert Thorogood 

Publisher: HQ 

Pages: 347 

Read On: Kindle 

How Long It Took Me To Read: 2 days 

Plot Summary: Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. 

One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar.

Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.

When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape.

Things I Liked: 

1. We are BIG BIG fans of the Death in Paradise series, both the TV show and the books. We enjoy those stories immensely and Robert Thorogood's writing as well. So when we found out that he had a new series of murder mysteries, we simply had to get ourselves a copy! What a good decision that was too! A new series of books with three intrepid crime solvers! 

2. I liked the setting of this book almost as much I love the setting of the Death in Paradise series (which is a LOT!)! The little village of Marlow, set on the Thames, makes for a perfect backdrop for the three brutal murders that happen during the course of this book. The little shops, the fairly tight knit community and even the three women, who end up solving these crimes fit perfectly with the setting. A village where nothing of this sort happens is just the kind of place where secrets of all kinds are revealed when a brutal crime occurs- as we know from multiple Agatha Christie books! 

3. The murders themselves are interesting in the sense that each of them seem very obviously connected to the other while the victims have no connection with each other. There are just enough clues to seem like reasonable leads, but those leads don't seem to go anywhere. So, there is enough intrigue and not an abundance of clues for our three amateur detectives to go on, still, they manage to uncover new leads before the police with the connection and ingenuity of people who have deep roots in the community. 

4. The way in which the three woman- Judith, Becks and Suzie connect and get together to solve these murders is very organic and not at all contrived. I loved all these three characters, but Judith is easily my favourite! Judith is 77 and single (well, widowed) and she is living her best life as a crossword setter for major newspapers. It was Judith, who witnessed, or rather heard, the first murder taking place whilst she was swimming in the Thames on a hot summer afternoon. She felt personally compelled to solve the murder. Then, of course, two more murders happened and it is during the course of those that Judith bumps into Suzie and Becks. 

5. The murder solving process in this book is engaging and quite fast-paced, but not at all contrived. Our three detectives use good, old-fashioned interviewing and looking up of old news archives to glean information that is not readily available and they join the dots to figure out the reason behind these murders and, ergo, the identity of the killer. 

6. This book is a good, fast-paced read with great characters and an interesting set of crimes. Highly recommend it! Also, highly recommend the Death in Paradise book and TV series- all very good! 

Rating: 5/5 

Book Review: Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghosh.

 

Book: Jungle Nama 

Author: Amitav Ghosh 

Illustrator: Salman Toor 

Publisher: Harper Collins 

Read On: Hardback Edition 

How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 Day 

Plot Summary: Jungle Nama is Amitav Ghosh's verse adaptation of an episode from the legend of Bon Bibi, a tale popular in the villages of the Sundarban, which also lies at the heart of the novel The Hungry Tide. It is the story of the avaricious rich merchant Dhona, the poor lad Dukhey, and his mother; it is also the story of Dokkhin Rai, a mighty spirit who appears to humans as a tiger, of Bon Bibi, the benign goddess of the forest, and her warrior brother Shah Jongoli. 

The original print version of this legend, dating back to the nineteenth century, is composed in a Bengali verse meter known as dwipodi poyar. Jungle Nama is a free adaptation of the legend, told entirely in a poyar-like meter of twenty-four syllable couplets that replicate the cadence of the original. 

Thoughts:  A new Amitav Ghosh book is a cause of serious celebration in my corner of the world! When  this book arrived I legit did a happy dance, it made my day. I read it pretty much in one sitting. I started reading it the moment it arrived. 

Thank you to the publishers for sending this my way. 

The review and thoughts are all my own. 

Things I Liked: 

1. Let's get the obvious out of the way:  any and all of Amitav Ghosh's writing, whether prose or verse is always brilliant. He could write in Limericks and I'd probably love it just the same. He is one of my favourite writers and I adore everything he writes. This book was no different. I loved the word play and the cadence this folktale is told in immensely. It was a delight to read from start to finish. 

2. The legend of Bon Bibi is one that I heard of when I was little, but I re-introduced to it through the works of Ghosh himself, first in The Hungry Tide and then again in Gun Island. It is a delightful myth about a fearless protector of Sunderbans, who keeps it people safe from the elements and the dreaded Dokkhin Rai. I was happy to go back to this world and learn more about Bon Bibi and Dukhey. 

3. The art in this book is stunning and perfect for this story and it's mood. It's dark and menacing and gritty. 

4. This tale of greed and avarice and is perfect for readers of any age. And honestly will work well for kids and  at the same time it was thoroughly enjoyable for an adult too. 

5. It's theme isn't dated at all too, these themes are sadly just as relatable and relevant as its always been. 

6. The experience of reading this book was an immersive one, the words and art and the mood of this book all blend together wonderfully and keep you invested and hooked. 

Rating: 4/5 

Wonderful all around! 

Vignettes: Joys of January.

Hello Loves! 

Happy Republic Day to my fellow Indians. 

Today is a reminder to value our constitution and uphold everything it stands for. 

So on this Joyous Day, I want to list something that have brought me this month. 

 

Tea.

Books.

Buttons.

Bookmarks. 

:)

All perfect companions on cold mornings. 

A new Feluda webseries to binge and love. 

Find it on Adda Times. 

I quite loved it. 

Plus it's shot in my corner of the world. 

Genda Phools on the roof. 

Cozy mornings. 

Art.

Illustrated Books. 

Reading on the roof. 

Perfect days. 

Monday Moods: Silver Pendants from The Chandi Studio.

Hello Loves! 

My Monday was off to a marvellous start thanks to some very happy mail from The Chandi Studio. 

I came across this shop on IG last week and decided to treat myself to some my first silver jewellery of the year. 

I was in the market for some small pendants to wear on the daily, my everyday pendent if you will. 

The little elephant was love at first sight and I needed it in my life. 

:)

The little flower with these shiny shiny stones was also perfect to wear everyday. 

 

Their packaging honestly blew me away. What a nice little box! 

:) 

Love the design and illustrations on the box. 

The many moments of Jaipur, where the studio is based out of. 

These are the pendants. 

A little elephant.

&

A flower. 

So perfect. 

Stationery Sunday: A Glimpse of 2021 Planner- Inkbucket & Review.

Hello Loves! 

Today I want to share a little glimpse of my main planner for 2021. 

My place to plan and make lists and keep my life organised. 

:) 

This year I went back to an Inkbucket Planner, I had used their planner in 2019 and was very happy with it. 

Let's see some glimpses of it shall we? 

 

A Fresh Start!

Exactly what we need in 2021! 

Words to live by! 

My precious. 

In a year where I didn't want to take a chance and needed something that would make me smile everyday, I went with a pink planner. 

I love pink.

I know, I am a cliche. 

But I honestly do not care. 

As I've gotten older there's been this silly need to be more mature and forsake my love for all things pink.

But when I saw this planner on the website I was like I am going to get a pink planner because I love it and to hell with being a grown up!

The planner comes in this gorgeous floral box that keeps it safe and sound. 

Since I've been using this planner for almost a month now, time for a little review: 

1. It's pretty good. I can wholeheartedly recommend this planner to anyone. It's aesthetic AF and pretty well-rounded and useful for a desk planner. 

2. Paper quality it decent, but not ink pen friendly, but if you are a regular gel pen user or ball pen user you should be fine. 

3. The stickers are good quality but not nearly enough for 365 days. 

4. There are many sections and layouts to help with all your planning needs. 

5. The overall quality of the planner and the planner box is amazing. 

4/5 

I am sure as the year goes by I'll have more to say about this planner, but one month in I am quite pleased with it. 

No complaints! 

Weekend Reads: What Me & My Sister Are Reading This Weekend.

Hello Loves! 

How is your weekend going? 

Mine is fulllll of books. 

My day started with some very happy book mail and I spent my morning reading on the terrace with my sister. 

My sister finished a book this morning and started a new book too. 

This is what we are reading this weekend. 

:) 

 

A stack of our Weekend Reads. 

Our current reads. 

My sister is reading Daura by Anukrti Upadhyay. 

Unforeseen Desires by Anil Chopra: It is the 1970s and the Emergency is at its peak. Arun, an idealistic young man, is a medical intern in Dehradun whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is accused of losing a senior doctor’s wedding rings. As he begins his search for the rings, he meets Victoria, an older English missionary, who has made India her home. Arun persuades her to rent him a room in her compound, and, slowly, over shared meals and games of Scrabble, the two form an unlikely bond. In Victoria, Arun finds a patient listener and a spiritual anchor, while he reminds her of a long-lost love. 

Amidst the increasing tension regarding the lost wedding rings and his ambiguous relationship with Victoria, Arun is forced to choose between Sujata, his fellow intern who is engaged to be married and Trishna, a nurse who loves him in spite of his indifference towards her.

Seeing Arun struggle, Victoria offers to help him compensate for the rings and find a job and it seems like Arun’s troubles have come to an end. But when the government changes with the end of Emergency, both Victoria and Arun must decide whether they can continue living in the country.

A charming, often poignant, novel that captures the lush beauty of Dehradun, Unforeseen Desires is a bittersweet coming-of-age story.

I started reading this book yesterday and I am quite enjoying it. Glimpses of The Emergency and life in a small town and an ill-equipped hospital and a young doctor finding his way in the world and growing up. It's slow, soothing and makes for interesting reading. I am a little bit in and can't wait to sit down and focus and read more of it. 

Daura by Anukrti Upadhyay: A journey into the dark heart of the desert.A young District Collector is posted to one of the furthest outposts of rural Rajasthan, and finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the lives and troubles of the common people there. Then one day, with the help of a mysterious musician, the Sarangiya, he has an encounter with beauty in its purest, most absolute form - an encounter that precipitates a dangerous descent. The pages from the journal he keeps are combined with the narratives of various people around him to create a compelling account of his slide away from reality. 

Half real and half fable, and redolent with the songs and myths, the beauty and mystery of Rajasthan, Anukrti Upadhyay's Daura announces the arrival of a powerful new literary talent.

My sister is currently reading this beautiful book and quite taken by this world and it's people. 

I am hoping to read it soon too. I've read the author's other works and enjoyed them too. 

Jungle Nama by Amitav Ghost, Illustrated by Salman Toor: This is my happiness for today. A new book from my favourite writer and such a beauty too! 

Jungle Nama is a re-telling of the legend of Bon Bibi from Sunderbans. Beautifully illustrated and gorgeously rich and with words of Amitav Ghosh. A whole lot of magic. I am trying to not rush through it and savour this book. I started reading it the moment it arrived. 

I hope your weekend is going well too. 

Chalo, I am going right back to my books! 

Have a good one folks! 

Happy Reading! 

Friday Favourites: Backpack + Bookmarks + Brooch + Pouch.

Hello! 

Another Friday. 

Another set of new favourites. 

:) 

 

1. A Backpack from Chhoti Si Asha: Love these happy faces on this drawstring backpack. I haven't had a drawstring backpack in ages. And this one is so well made and sturdy and will hold a whole lot of stuff. This is my second time ordering from Chhoti Si Asha and I am so impressed with the quality of their things and how sensibly priced everything is. 

2. Pressed Flower Bookmarks from Artoverted: I cannot get enough of bookmarks and pressed flower beauties are the best. Look how beautiful this is?! Artoverted makes such beautiful things. 

3. Botanical Bookmark: Some more bookmark love. These are the first things I ordered this year. Botanical prints are so pretty. I love how minimal yet stunning these are. They are from Painted Petunias. 

4. Fish Brooch from Needle by Sompi: Brooches are such an easy way to dress up an outfit or even a bag or pouch. This embroidered brooch is a thing of beauty. Sompeedle makes some excellent jewellery, scarves, brooches, coasters and a whole bunch of gorgeous stuff. 

5. Elephant Pouch from iTokri: This is my new pencil bag. It holds my pens and highlighters and some stationery supplies. I love these little elephant and the gentle embroidery. Simple and lovely. 

Other than these some of my favourite things this week have been: 

Sitting on the terrace.

Sunning myself silly. 

Watering our plants. 

Mysore Pak.

Talking to my various uncles from the roof. 

Late night hot chocolates. 

Hope you've had a good week and have good weekend . 

Book Review: Murder in the Caribbean by Robert Thorogood

 

Book: Murder in the Caribbean 

Author: Robert Thorogood 

Pages: 326

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: 3-4 hours 

Plot Summary: DI Richard Poole is hot, bothered and fed up. He’s stuck on the tropical island of Saint-Marie, forced to live in a rickety old shack on a beach, and there isn’t a decent cup of tea to be found anywhere.

When a boat explodes in the harbour, Richard and his team soon realise there’s a new murderer on the loose. But who is it? And why did the killer leave behind a ruby at the scene of the crime?

As the police dig deeper, they uncover secrets that go back decades, and a crime from the past that can never be forgiven.

Worse still, they soon realise this is only the beginning. They’ve got to catch the killer before there's another death in paradise. 

General Thoughts: We are big fans of Death in Paradise, the BBC series, which follows a team of detectives on a little island in the Caribbean called Saint-Marie. There are four cops in the island's police team and they must use all the minimal resources at their disposal to solve murders. The cases on this show are quite decently complicated and so fun! So, anyway, we've read all the books in the series as well, which, please note, are different from the stories on the TV series. I don't know how I missed out on this book! As soon as I saw this was out, I immediately got it and devoured it in one sitting! Here are links to the previous books that we've reviewed- The Killing of Polly Carter, Death Knocks Twice. 

Things I Liked: 

1. This story is about a twenty-year old case, which was not fully solved back then. So, essentially, it is a cold case and there are fewer things I like reading about than cold cases! So, this book's premise was immediately interesting to me. 

2. The book is well written and very fast-paced. There is never a dull moment in the book, even with the usual fun, bickering and banter going on between characters. The events move fast and new murders happen and new clues are found. So, this book is really gripping. 

3. There are some good red herrings in this book, something which I really appreciate in the murder mystery genre. There are a few people with strong motives for the murders and the team of cops look into each of these motives, trying their best to drill down and find out about the events from 20 years ago! 

4. The events of the past- a jewellery store heist in London- and its connections to Saint-Marie are also nicely established. The events of that day and the murder that took place are revealed bit by bit as the police are able to find the members of the original gang of thieves. 

5. The final reveal was also nicely done. Richard and team set up a trap to catch the unexpected real killer and that person walks right into it! 

Things I Didn't Like:

1. The killer was easy to guess, but I don't hold that against the author because there was some very good red herrings! 

Rating: 4/5 

Haul: Brooches from Vastriyan by Bidisha.

Hello Loves! 

Bidisha of Vastriyan fame makes the most magical and beautiful things. 

I got a whole bunch of brooches from her last month and recently my sister was in the market for some tinier brooches to do up her Traveller's Notebooks, as in to use them as charms to decorate her dori. 

So she got these slightly smaller brooches from Vastriyan. 

We got flowers galore and all of these are so absolutely stunning and they make me so happy. 

I've been wearing a brooch on on sweater every now and then to play dress up and not feel so dowdy while stuck at home. 

:) 

I will share now my sister styles her dori and how good these little darlings look on a MTN. 

 

Aren't they just lovely? 

I cannot recommend this shop or it's owner enough. 

All sorts of loveliness. 

Haul: Bookmarks from Kartikey Shrutii.

Hello Loves! 

I added a few more beauties to my burgeoning bookmark collection recently. 

My second batch of bookmarks from Shrutii Kartikey. 

The first batch of bookmarks from her were painted and these are prints. 

:) 

I love love love the floral beauties and the moonlight. 

So pretty! 

I seriously cannot have enough of pretty bookmarks. 

They just make my heart happy. 

 

Aren't they just stunning?! 

Flowers forever. 

Do check out her work and get yourself something beautiful.