The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello!!!  My TBR pile for July is all set and ready for me to dive in. And I am excited to get to these books.  As of today, 4/7/17...I have already read 3 books!!! Yay me. I've read all of these books on my Kindle and I haven't included them in this pile.  This is my TBR for the rest of the month.  A lot of books in this pile are Re-Reads. I am really feeling re-visiting some old loves of mine.  My TBR for July is.. The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam  The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman  Footsteps by Katharine McMahon  Every Boy's Got One by Meg Cabot  Indigo by Satyajit Ray Rain in the Mountains by Ruskin Bond  Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver  The Liberation of Sita by Volga  Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami  Politics and The English Language by George Orwell I have had this book since 2013 and I still haven't read it!  What! I was definit...

Book: When We Were Friends Author: Tina Seskis Pages: 350 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days Plot Summary: Six old friends. One annual reunion. Countless feuds. How do friends stay friends for more than 25 years when there is so much to feel aggrieved about? Juliette and Renee have never got over one of them sleeping with the other's boyfriend. Sissy secretly blames someone for the death of her husband. Natasha knows one of them is having an affair with her partner. Siobhan annoys everyone. Camilla desperately tries to keep the peace. So when their picnic in the park goes horribly wrong and one of them ends up in The Serpentine, who knows what really happened? And just what secrets from the past are about to unfold, changing everyone's lives forever? General Thoughts: I randomly found this book while browsing in a bookstore an the premise sounded intriguing enough for me to pick it up.  Things I Liked: 1. The writing was p...

Hello!  My plans for reading this weekend were simple and slow. I have had a busy weekend with chores, errands and even some socialising with visiting friends. So reading has been on the back burner this weekend.  Thus my reading goals have been simple too.  Flip through Miss Vogue ...I didn't even know we had a Miss Vogue/Teen Vogue in India! When did this happen?! I picked it up on Friday evening and I have done a cursory flipping through and it's nice...a little to chaotic for my liking...like too many pictures in one page and to many elements in one glance. But it's nice.  And on to serious reading...I plan on finishing an ARC- Advanced Reader's Copy- book I have on my Kindle and then perhaps read something light and fun.  I bought some ebooks on my Kindle last night and I may get started with one of them...I haven't decided which one yet. But Two Fates- The Story of my Divorce by Judy Balan seems fun and light and quick. So I mig...

Book: The Geography of You and Me Author: Jennifer E Smith Pages: 352 Read On:: iPad How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days Plot Summary: Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor. Owen lives in the basement. It's fitting, then, that they meet in the middle -- stuck between two floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, Lucy and Owen spend the night wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is back, so is reality. Lucy soon moves abroad with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and to San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland, Lucy and Owen stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and phone calls. But can they -- despite the odds -- find a way to reunite? Smartly observed and wonderfu...

Hello!  This tiny book haul was my--need to feel better right now--book haul. I had a crappy start to a day and I desperately needed to feel better. And nothing, nothingggggg makes my frown turn upside down like browsing in a bookshop and buying some books.  So on a crappy day that was what I did.  I spend sometime at Crossword Bookstore and came home with four books and some other assorted bookish things.  Let's see shall we? Two notebooks--- the paisley one on the left is for my sister and of course the floral one is mine.  Crossword has some seriously cute stationery that they stock. A happy surprise.  Books Bought:  The Weight Loss Club- Devapriya Roy  Strangers on the Roof- Rajendra Yadav  One, Two Buckle my Shoe- Agatha Christie  A Pocketful of Rye-  "  A new Indian author to try + A Penguin Modern Classic+ 2 Agatha Christie books!  I am excited...

Hello!  A few days ago I posted a belated review of Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan , a book I read some two years ago and loved. And lo and behold, I get a mail from Westland Books about her new book! What's even better, is that it's the sequel to Those Pricey Thakur Girls (TPTG)! The book is called The House That BJ Built! If you've read TPTG then you must have read the blurb for this book in the last few pages. I was hella excited and wondered when this new book would hit the stands. That wait is now over! The book is ready for release and up for pre-order. Now. the folks at Westland Books need some help from all of us readers in deciding on the cover of this new book. There are two options...see below....and YOU can go to their Facebook Page and vote for your favourite cover there, the cover with most votes will be final cover of the book. The voting closes April 17th! So rush on over now!  Now here are the covers.. A  And now B...

Hello!  I started the month of April with a bang! With regards to my book-buying. I didn't mean to but on the first day of the month, I found myself in the vicinity of a bookshop and did what I do in bookshops- browse and buy.  I love these bunch of books. Two delightful children's classics in gorgeous editions. I got a 20% discount on two books and got the remaining two on a buy one get one half off deal. So I got four books on a discount and I picked up four books I hadn't really heard of before. All good things! That's why I love bookshops. Wander in. Take your time. Look at the books and pick up titles you didn't know about.  I got these books from Om Book Shop in  Highstreet Phoenix.  Let's look at the books.  6 books to read. Not the biggest haul but all of these books make me very happy.  The Patience Stone- Atiq Rahimi Karma and Other Stories- Rishi Reddi  Delhi Anything Goes- Anita...

Book: Half Love Half Arranged Author: Itisha Peerbhoy Pages: 288 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days Plot Summary: Rhea Kanwar is thirty, unmarried and tending to fat, who one morning realizes that it is high time she did something about her life. She despises her mom’s best friend, Bubbles Auntie, who always has something nasty to say about poor Rhea, and to top it all up she is invited to all the family functions. To avoid further questions from the rest of her family, Rhea decides to plunge into the marriage market. She meets several guys and every new guy she comes across seems perfect to her for the initial few days. But after a while she starts finding them weirder than the last. Vyash, one of her prospective suitors, freaks out when he realizes Rhea is not the pill, Jay has a super cool tattoo, Mazher is a perfect gentleman and Sid is atrocious in bed, but almost perfect on the outside. But Rhea has been in love with her best fr...

Book: Eleanor and Park Author: Rainbow Rowell Pages: 285 Read On: Kindle How Long it Took Me To Read: 4 hours Plot Summary:  Two misfits. One extraordinary love. Eleanor ... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor. Park ... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park. Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. General Thoughts: I am no fan of Rainbow Rowell. Let's get that out of the way. I have read two other books by her and I was incredibly underwhelmed by them. In fact, I quite hated them and ...

Reading might not be a priority during the festive season but I thought I'd share a few book recommendations that go well this time of the year. 1. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle: This was my Christmas read lat year. I read this book on Christmas tree as I snacked on some delicious snacks. Good times :) This book consists of three inter-connected short stories that all take place on Christmas eve/ Christmas day. It was a fun read and absolutely perfect read for Christmas. Romance, fun and feels.  2. The Tale of Beedle The Bard by J.K. Rowling: Fairy tales with a dollop of magic. A short little book and a perfect read. Not to heavy so it's perfect to read while you are surrounded by friends and family and don't what to be distracted from the on going festivities. Harry Potter is generally a great series to read/re-read during Christmas time and this little book is a great read for Christmas time.  3. The Perks of Being a W...

Book: Nirmala & Normala Author:  Sowmya Rajendran and Niveditha Subramaniam. Pages: 202 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me to Read: An hour and a half Plot Summary:  Nirmala and Normala are twins separated at birth *dramatic music*. While one goes on to become a heroine, the other goes on to become a normal person. Yes, we know we should put ‘normal’ in quotes. We also know that we should issue a disclaimer that there’s no such thing as normal, but really, let’s talk about that later. If you’ve ever sat through a movie wondering why in the world the heroine is playing with street children or why she seems so daft despite being Harvard-educated, you should listen to Nirmala’s story. As for Normala, well, we all know her, don’t we? General Thoughts: I saw this book mentioned in a magazine and i mmediately  put it on my wishlist and then sorta forgot about it! Then last week while browsing on Flipkart, I spotted this and pretty much immediately ...

Two weeks ago, on a rainy evening, I found myself with an hour and a half at my disposal and a bookstore to browse through. :) Basically my idea of a perfect evening. Better still, I had a 200 rupee discount coupon sitting heavy in my wallet. :)  I bought these gorgeous books, some of them I had never heard of before but chanced upon them on the shelves and brought them home.  I am super excited about The Little Friend and of course the new Agatha Christie!  The Monogram Murders- Agatha Christie, Sophie Hannah  The Secret Children- Alison McQueen  The Little Friend- Donna Tartt  Collected Stories- Raja Rao  The Book of Fate- Parinoush Saniee Vivien's Heavenly Ice-Cream Shop- Abby Clements 

My second book haul of September.  I got all of these books on Flipkart. I got a nice mix of books. I finally treated myself to Why We Broke Up, a pretty book full of gorgeous illustrations and I stocked up on some Agatha Christie books. Plus the lovely new Murakami. All good things!  Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage- Haruki Murakami  Why We Broke Up- Daniel Handler and Moira Kelman  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society- Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows  Pippi Longstocking- Astrid Lindgreen  Death on the Nile- Agatha Christie  They Do It With Mirrors- Agatha Christie  I've already read 2/6 books and might read two more before the month is up.