The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Hello Loves!  :)  Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope you've had a good day and some cake and maybe even a present or two under the tree.  :)  I have some beautiful presents underneath the tree and like any true blue bookworm, I, of course, have a book haul. Because why wouldn't I buy books? This book haul is full of books that have sat on my Wishlist for absolute ages. So since it's the end of the year I decided to just bite the bullet and myself some amazing books.  Let's see my lovely Christmas Book Haul.  A stack of books I am 100% certain I'll love.  A low-risk book haul, if you will.   Some of these books were kinda pricey but 'tis the season to treat yourself.  Ah!  And some of these book are so big and juicy and perfect.  :)  A Ruskin Bond book is a thing of joy. Got this beautiful book which has all glossy pages and some beautiful illustrations. I cannot wait to read these stories and be enthralled by the go...

 Hello Loves!  How is this Monday treating you? Can you believe this is the last full week of 2021! Where does time go?!  Well, let's kickstart this week with a list of my favourite kidlit of 2021.  I love reading Children's Books. They are my idea of comfort, joy and something to read when life seems a little too sad, when I want to read something simple yet profound and comforting I turn to Children's Books. A hallmark a good Children's Book is that it works for both kids and grown-ups.  :)  Here are some of my favourite Children's Books from 2021.  1. The Railway Gang by Ruskin Bond: Of course we kick things off with Ruskin Bond who is a forever favourite. This little book was a thing of joy. Stray dogs living in a railway station and the kind people they interact with. Sweet, wholesome and a great way to show kids how life is for strays animals in our country and teach them how to be kind to the animals on the street.  4/5  A quick little...

 Hello Loves!  Time for a book haul.  :)  I love book buying.  And this is a little of a less guilty version of book buying because I got all used books and got them at great prices from Book Chor.   Yay!  :)  I ordered these books the day my new laptop arrived. I was seeing how browsing felt on my new laptop and lo and behold I had 10 books in my cart and was celebrating a new gadget with a spot of books. Pretty much how I celebrate things in my corner of the world.  I have picked such a wonderful bunch of books and all of them arrived in such great condition. Most of them look brand new and the rest are ever so slightly gently used.  Perfect!  Let's just jump into it shall we?  A stack of loveliness.  I think I'll read most of these books in the new year..apart from maybe the Christmas book. Let's see.  This book sounded so good and it's won a bunch of awards and I had never heard of it in my life. I like, really li...

 Hello Loves!  For today's Blogmas post I want to share my most recent book haul. I have not been sharing my book hauls on the blog this year, not because I haven't been buying books but because for some reason or another, I tend to forget to photograph said books!  :(  That sucks because who doesn't love a book haul?  This year my book buying has been sedate-ish. I have bought alll my books online, 2021 will go down as another year where I didn't step into a single book shop. Not one. But...but my small town is about to have Boi Mela in a couple of days so maybe my dry spell is about to end and some joyful book buying shall happen.  Another new thing in my book buying behaviour this year is my open mindedness towards buying used books. I am not a used book person. Not in the least. I am not one of those people who wax eloquently about the joys of old and used books. I prefer my books new and shiny and smelling pristine. Plus this behen has a serious case o...

 Hello Loves!  My reading wrap-ups have sadly fallen off the radar in the last few months. I think I did my last wrap-up in May and then June came along and I read some 26 books and there was so much to talk about and I just didn't!  Odd! But it's always been bugging me, this whole not sticking to doing wrap-ups. So maybe, just maybe I'll do a manic catch up at some point or maybe not...it's a lot of books to talk about!  But for today I want to do a mini catch-up of sorts and at least talk about my reading in the last two months.  So here I am talking about the books I read in October and November of 2021.  :)  BOOKS READ IN OCTOBER OF 2021.   October was a good reading month. I read a mix of two genres primarily and it was my reading goal going into the month, to read some Bengali lit in honour of all things Durga Pujo and then get into the mood for Halloween with all things spooky and creepy. And to a large extent I managed to do just that....

  Book: The Shadows of Men  Author: Abir Mukherjee  Pages: 341 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  Calcutta, 1923.  When a Hindu theologian is found murdered in his home, the city is on the brink of all-out religious war. Can officers of the Imperial Police Force, Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee track down those responsible in time to stop a bloodbath?  Set at a time of heightened political tension, beginning in atmospheric Calcutta and taking the detectives all the way to bustling Bombay, the latest instalment in this 'unmissable'  (The Times)  series presents Wyndham and Banerjee with an unprecedented challenge. Will this be the case that finally drives them apart? General Thoughts: This is the fifth book in Abir Mukherjee's Sam Wyndham and Surendranath Banerjee series. This is a  series  of historical crime fiction books set in India in the 1920s wherein Wyndham- a detective with the Imp...

  Book: Still Life Author: Sarah Winman  Pages: 464 Publiser: PenguinRandomHouse  Read in: ~5 hours Read on: Kindle  Plot Summary:  1944, in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa, as bombs fall around them, two strangers meet and share an extraordinary evening. Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner is a sexagenarian art historian and possible spy. She has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the wreckage and relive memories of the time she encountered EM Forster and had her heart stolen by an Italian maid in a particular Florentine room with a view. Evelyn’s talk of truth and beauty plants a seed in Ulysses’ mind that will shape the trajectory of his life – and of those who love him – for the next four decades. Moving from the Tuscan Hills and piazzas of Florence, to the smog of London’s East End,  Still Life  is a sweeping, joyful novel about beauty, love, family and fate. Things I Liked:  1. I enjoy well written histori...

  Book: Murder at the Mushaira  Author: Raza Mir  Publisher: Aleph Books  Pages: 358  Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  3 May 1857. India stands on the brink of war. Everywhere in its cities, towns, and villages, rebels and revolutionaries are massing to overthrow the ruthless and corrupt British East India Company which has taken over the country and laid it to waste. In Delhi, the capital, even as the plot to get rid of the hated foreigners gathers intensity, the busy social life of the city hums along. Nautch girls entertain clients, nawabs host mushairas or poetry soirees in which the finest poets of the realm congregate to recite their latest verse and intrigue, the wealthy roister in magnificent havelis, and the drinking dens of the city continue to pack in customers.   One morning, Kallu, a retainer at a Delhi haveli, cleaning up after a grand mushaira, discovers a poet stabbed to death with a polished agate dagger. Gr...