The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Hello, hello, We are halfway through this week and barely 10 sleeps away from Christmas!  Wanted to share the books my sister and I are currently reading because they are really good and, also, they are by the same author- Manohar Malgonkar.  Both of these are historical fiction (from our perspective) and they were originally written in English as well.  These are the two books... My sister is reading A Bend in the Ganges, which I have already read and really loved! It is based in the years between 1939 to 1947 and documents the lives of two friends/ peers/ college batchmates- one a revolutionary and the other a Gandhian- as they navigate Kala Paani and the rising communal tensions once released.  I am reading 'The Princes'. A really interesting book about a fictitious princely state in modern India, the impact of our independence on the princely state- them having to merge with the Republic of India. This is not a topic that is often written abo...

 Hello Loves!  Hope this weekend is proving to be a time of rest and joy.  I am a little worried about the health of a close relative, cooking for my family and reading to keep myself sufficiently distracted.  Here is what me and my sister are Reading this weekend.  In Plain Sight by Mohamed Thaver: This is what my sister is reading.  Mumbai. Murder.  And an investigation.  She is a little bit in and quite enjoying this book. It's a past paced and simple read. Perfect if you, like so many of us, are finding reading and focusing on things a bit much lately. It's a good book to pick up and breeze through over the weekend.  The  review for this will be up once she's done reading it.  Plot Summary:   When the rapes and murders of three minor girls remain unsolved for months, a frustrated DCP Sawant calls in Police Inspector Waghmare. Renowned as Mumbai police's 'investigation machine', Waghmare is rumoured to solve crimes in his d...

 Hello Loves!  & A Shubho Nobo Borsho to You.  Also a Happy Vishu, Ugadi and Gudi Padwa and Baisakhi to everyone. (Albeit belated!) I love this time of year.  All of us have something or the other to celebrate.  New Year.  New Beginnings.  Ramzan.  And we could all do with some joy right about now!  New Year plans are quite sedate this year, which is no surprise.  I mean given how things are...there is no going out or celebrating with people.  I am grateful to be home with the family.  Maa has cooked some delicious food and I'll be making us some dinner.  :)  Now on to what we are reading today.  Well, I have been celebrating Nobo Borsho all month long through my books.  Reading only Bengali Books in April.  Currently I am somehow reading 3 books at once!  Something I never ever do!  Ever!  Here's what I'm Currently Reading:  The Restless Waters of the Icchamati by Bibhutibhushan...

Hello!  Do weekends even count anymore?  Most days I wake up not knowing what day it is, it is only when I am journaling or using my planner do I even glance at dates.  Well!  I guess we are all in the same boat.  Even though everyday is now like the weekend, we like to do a little something special to commemorate the weekends.  A break from washing clothes.  Cooking something special.  Afternoon naps.  &  Reading something good.  This is what my sister and I have been reading this weekend...well mostly today, yesterday was a bit of a TV and film day. Today has been a day full of reading.  My Mother's Lover and Other Stories by Sumana Roy: I bought this book and two other yesterday since Bloomsbury India is having a weekend long sale on select titles. This one was on my wish-list since it cam out a couple of months ago. A collection of short stories, some set in my corner of the world ...

Hello!  I hope your weekend is off to a good start.  My plans for this weekend are to cook delicious meals and read good books.  Here's What I am Reading///  Baluta by Daya Pawar, Translated by Jerry Pinto: I have been meaning to get to this book forever. One of the first ever Dalit autobiographies, this book is set in the 1950s and 60s Mumbai and parts of it in the author's village. Dealing with his childhood, caste, discrimination and family, this book is a powerful and sadly still just as relevant and needed. It's horrifying that even 50 years later not much has changed when it comes to our (India's) cruelty and caste bias. A book that is in parts hard to read but so important.  Plot Summary:   Baluta caused a sensation when it first appeared, in Marathi, in 1978. It quickly acquired the status of a classic of modern Indian literature and was also a bestseller in Hindi and other major languages. This is the first time that it ha...

Hello!  Just wanted to share some reading plans for the weekend.  My sister and I both intend to do some reading this weekend. We have plans with a friend but we still have ample time to get some reading done.  First up, a book we both read on our Kindles today. A buddy read of sorts.  Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman/// Man! This is one of these books that is super-duper hyped right now. It's the psychological thriller of the summer, apparently!  Here's what I say- Meh!  A big fat meh!   I got to the 41% mark and was bored out of my mind. It's not poorly written or anything, it's just the premise was not what I went in expecting. The crime was just not my cup of tea. And some of the things that happened were just so improbable it made my head hurt.  My sister didn't enjoy it either.  Just not for us.  2/5  I plan on reading Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut . A book based on EM Fors...

Book: This Is What Happy Looks Like Author: Jennifer E. Smith Pages: 416 I Read it on: My iPad I Read it in: 6 hours, across 2 days Plot Summary:  When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.   Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? What I Liked: I really liked the premise of this book- two people (from diametrically different worlds) falling in love over email. Sounds familiar? That's You've Got Mail for you, but, but, but, since You've ...

Book: Maybe Someday Author: Colleen Hoover Pages: 367 I Read It On: My Kindle I Read It In: 4 hours (one sitting. It is that good! ) Plot Summary:  At twenty-two years old, aspiring musician Sydney Blake has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her good friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter cheating on her with Tori—and she is left trying to decide what to do next. Sydney becomes captivated by her mysterious neighbor, Ridge Lawson. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the daily guitar playing he does out on his balcony. She can feel the harmony and vibrations in his music. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either: He seems to have finally found his muse. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one… Thoughts and Review: Let's get this out of the way- this is...

Book: My Life Next Door Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick Pages: 394 I Read It On: My Kindle I Read It In: 6 hours (across two days) Plot Summary:  The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? Thoughts and Review:  The main characters of this book- Samantha and Jase- are very cute. They are both good, kind and nice, especially, Jase. It was refreshing to read about teenagers who are port...

Book: Me Before You Author: Jojo Moyes Pages: 369 I Read: The actual paperback I Read it in: 5 hours (in two sittings) Plot Summary:  Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. What I Liked: I LOVED  this book. LOVED! Lou and Will are such lovely, well-etched, beautiful characters. Lou is one of those people who live quiet,...

Book: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Author: Alan Bradley Pages: 374 I Read it on: My Kindle I Read it in: 6-7 hours across 3 days (it was not very engaging!) Plot Summary: This book is the first in the Flavia de Luce series, which is about a 11 year old girl who lives with her reclusive dad and two sisters in an English village in the early 1950s. Flavia is the sleuth in these stories. (From Goodreads) Flavia de Luce 11 is an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. In the summer of 1950, inexplicable events strike Buckshaw, her decaying mansion home. A dead bird is on the doorstep, a postage stamp on its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man dying in the cucumber patch. His last words must save her father imprisoned for his murder. So, here is what you need to know- Flavia's mother has disappeared under mysterious circumstances whilst trying to hike up Mount Everest when Flavia was just a kid. So, she lives in this sprawling mansion with her sisters a...

Book: The Rosie Project Author: Graeme Simsion  Pages: 295  I read this in: 3 hours (in one sitting)  Plot Summary:  Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver. Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological f...

Book: In the Woods Author: Tana French Pages: 429 I read this in: 5 odd hours (in one sitting) Plot Summary:  As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadow...

Book: The Vanishing Author: Wendy Webb Pages: 304 I Read This In: 4 hours- in one sitting. Plot Summary:  Recently widowed and rendered penniless by her Ponzi-scheming husband, Julia Bishop is eager to start anew. So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired…and who the world believes is dead. When she arrives at the Sinclairs' enormous estate on Lake Superior, Julia begins to suspect that there may be sinister undercurrents to her "too-good-to-be-true" position. As Julia delves into the reasons of why Amaris chose to abandon her successful writing career and withdraw from the public eye, her search leads to unsettling connections to her own family tree, making her wonder why she really was invited to Havenwood in the first place, and what monstrous secrets are s...

Book: The Light Behind The Window aka The Lavender Garden Author: Lucinda Riley Pages: 544 I Read It In: 7 hours across 2 evenings Plot Summary:  The present: Emilie de la Martiniéres has always fought against her aristocratic background, but after the death of her glamorous, distant mother, she finds herself alone in the world and sole inheritor of her grand childhood home in the south of France.  An old notebook of poems leads her in search of the mysterious and beautiful Sophia, whose tragic love affair changed the course of her family history. As Emilie unravels the story, she too embarks on her own journey of discovery, realising that the château may provide clues to her own difficult past and finally unlock the future.  The past: London 1943. A young office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is drafted into the SOE, arriving in occupied Paris during the climax of the conflict. Separated from her contact in her very first hours in France, she stumbles into ...