The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

July was an OK reading month for me. I read a fair amount of books and even some good books. But I didn't fall madly in love with any book I read. But I like that I read a mixed bag of books. There is a classic, some young adult, Indian writing, ghost stories, steamy romances and several re-reads. So in that sense it was a pretty good month.  I finally read Northanger Abbey and it was amazing! Simply brilliant. Loved it. If you haven't read it, read it now! Reading it began my reading all six Austen novels this year. Next on the list is Sense and Sensibility..which I intend to read in August..maybe.  I also enjoyed Jacob's Hill (review coming soon), After Dark (also to-be reviewed shortly) and Morality for Beautiful Girls.  Currently I am re-re-reading the first Potter book just in time for Harry Potter's birthday. A good way as any to end the reading for the month.  For next month's reading I might t

Book: The Cuckoo's Calling Author: J.K. Rowling written under the pen name of Robert Galbraith Pages: 509 How Long It Took Me to Read: 2 days. Plot Summary:  On a cold, snowy London winter night, beautiful and successful supermodel, Lula Landry, dives off her penthouse balcony to a sticky end. Her closest friends cannot believe that Lula, who sounded excited and happy earlier that evening, could ever take her own life even though she had battled drug abuse in the past and was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. More than anyone else, Lula's brother- John Bristow- simply cannot believe that his sister would take her own life just when she had signed a multi-million dollar modelling contract with a top designer that could jettison her career to even greater heights. It is armed with this conviction that John reaches out to a down-on-his luck private detective- Cormoran Strike. Cormoran Strike is an ex-military man, who had served with the Royal Military Police and

General Thoughts: Something about this book made me plain mad. Not that the book had anything wrong with it. The thing is this whole meet a cute boy on a plane thing is the biggest and worst lie ever told. I've been flying alone since I was 13 years old, and not once...not one single time have I met even a semi-decent guy. The only men I find next to me on flights are old, balding, snoring and once even drooling. i kid you not, once on a flight the man next to me fell asleep and started drooling!!!! For a moment I seriously thought the man was dead and poked him in the arm and shrieked when he woke up with a start.  So as much as I wanted to enjoy and love this story, I couldn't help think of all the flights and all the disappointments they've brought. On my last flight, the guy next to me kept fighting with me for the arm rest! He only budged when I elbowed him sharply in ribs. Romantic..NOT!  The only time I saw a cute guy was while waiting for three hours a

June was a good month- full of rains and full of books! I had the most satisfying book-buying month. A little too satisfying if you ask me! I bough over 30 books in June and most of them were bought severely marked down. Yay!  These books were bought during Flipkart's Monday Sale..where they had really great deals on books. I have read 4 out of the 9 books shown here and I have read The Help when it first came out but didn't own a copy. I had borrowed it from my library in Bangalore and absolutely loved it and wanted to own a copy for my collection.  I had decided that July was going to be my Book Buying Ban, and I was happy with it...till I cracked and bought some more books online :( That is coming up soon. 

1. Cute little things around the house. Especially Little Miss Naughty in her many avataars. I have a full sized one and this mini bag dangler thingie. I also have her as a bookmark and a coffee cup. Clearly I am a fan.  2. I have to say I am not a fan of Starbucks coffee, their coffee is just not my cup of tea...if that makes sense. I am a CBTL girl through and through, but this marshmallow brownie things at Starbucks is simply amazing. I usually get this and a Hibiscus Iced-Tea Lemonade.  3. Bombay sunsets...nowadays the rains make glorious sunsets like this a thing of the past, but I am not complaining I love Bombay rains just as much. This picture was taken a day after my birthday, I was sitting at the Carter Road promenade with my mum. :) 4. Oh Scrabble! I love board games but Scrabble is my absolute favourite! I am pretty ruthless when I am playing and the mere idea of a triple word score gets my heart racing.  5. My MAC eye-shadows are my absolute fa

Book: Sarah's Key Author: Tatiana de Rosnay Pages: 293   How Long it took me to read: 2 days. Plot summary: July, 1942, Paris France: ten year old Sarah wakes up to a nightmare. The police wake her family up and want them to pack a few of their belongings and accompany them, as they go door to door arresting Jewish families. Sarah in an attempt to save her four year old brother Michel locks him in their secret hiding place, assuming they will be back soon and there was no need for him to go through the ordeal. She promises to come back for him as soon as they are released. 60 years later: Julia Jarmond is an American in Paris, a journalist she is working on an article about the round-up of the Jewish families sixty years ago. She stumbles across Sarah’s story and can’t help but find out more about the girl. Did she get to come rescue her brother? Did her family survive the Holocaust? Where is Sarah today? The stories of these two women collide and connect

Book: Looking for Alaska Author: John Green Pages: 231 How Long it Took Me To Read: 3-4 days. Plot Summary: The book takes off when Miles Halter decided to leave his home in Florida and transfer to a boarding school called Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama in hopes of making a change in his life. Miles is a loner, he doesn’t have a single friend in his present school and his main interest in life is to find out and memorise the last words of famous people. Miles hopes that moving to Culver Creek Academy will make his high school experience a better-rounded one. At Culver Creek, Miles meets and befriends an odd-ball group of people. There is Chip Martin aka The  Captain, his roommate and closest friend who loves reading and memorising world capitals. He is a scholarship kid who has a huge chip on his shoulder. There is also Takami, who remains a secondary character at best. Then there is Alaska young, a cigarette smoking, cigarette selling, strawb

Book: Wedding Night Author: Sophie Kinsella Pages: 368 How long it took to read: 2 days Plot Summary: Lottie is a successful HR professional who has been in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend, Richard. She thinks they've been together a while and now it is time to take things to the next level. So, when Richard books them a table at an exclusive restaurant and hints that he has something important to speak to her about, Lottie assumes the obvious and sets out to buy him an engagement ring. You know, in case he gives her one, she should have something to give him in return! When the "romantic dinner" does not quite turn out to be what Lottie had imagined, she becomes distraught and decides to make some big changes in her life. Lottie's sister- Fliss- is scared to death that Lottie will do something stupid. Fliss, a recently divorced single mom, is going through the trauma that a divorce brings and is getting used to being a single parent; she jus

Book: Banquet on the Dead Author: Sharath Komarraju Pages: 276 How Long It Took To Read: 2 hours Plot Summary: This book is a whodunit based in a small town in Andhra Pradesh. The story revolves around Kauveramma's family. Kauveramma was the matriarch of a large, influential family. One hot summer afternoon Kauveramma is found dead in the family's well. No one in that bustling household saw or heard anything. The only sounds heard were that of a splash and a scream and that too by the two workers working outside the gate of the house. The police almost rule her death as accidental, given her advanced age and the fact that she was found in the well without her glasses, without which she simply couldn't get around. Her grandson- Dr. Koteshwar Rao-however, is not convinced. Kauveramma was petrified of water, so much so that taking a bath everyday was a chore and washing her hair almost gave her panic attacks. Why then would she venture anywhere near the well?! Dr.

I am a list maker. At any given time, I have five lists I need to tick things off of. It might seem chaotic but it's my way of maintaining order in my world. When it comes to reading, I like to start every month with a TBR list. This is done to make sure I read older books and I remember to read books that aren't in my sight. I've been doing this for a few months now and it's helped me with reading old and new books alike. I also love, at the end of the month, ticking off books I've read. So far I've read all books on my TBR list only once. That was March, it was a good month. I read not only books on my TBR, I also read some 5 extra books. March was magnificent. Now, I do believe that reading is entirely mood based. And sometimes, even if something is on my TBR list I don't feel like reading it, then I don't. It's OK...no one should read something they aren't in the mood for. Now for my July TBR... 1. Indigo by Satyajit Ray- a collection

Book: 172 Hours on the Moon Author: Johan Harstad Translated by: Tara F. Chace from Norwegian to English. (duh!) Pages: 368 How Long it Took To Read: An afternoon. A rainy, dark afternoon...perfect for a book like this. Plot Summary: The book starts in 2018 (very slightly in the future), some senior folks at NASA are discussing the possibility of going back to the Moon, even though no one has gone back in decades. But going back isn't as easy as it seems. Funds are a big issue. Also, the new generation doesn't quite care about man on the Moon as the older generations did back in the 70s. With this obstacle in mind, the NASA folks decide to hold a world-wide lottery for kids between 14-18 to stand a chance to go the Moon. They think, with kids getting all excited and the attention that the lottery will get, multinationals will pour in money to sponsor this hugely expensive expedition.  So the lottery is announced and there is world wide excitement. And in d

Book: The Thing Around Your Neck Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Pages: 240 How Long it Took to Read: A little over a day. Some of the stories were really intense and I had to pause and think and take it in. Plot Summary : There isn't one really, this is a collection of short stories based in Nigeria predominantly. The stories cover a vast array of subjects, from the experience of two very different women stuck together in the middle of a bloody riot. In another, a young woman moves to America after an arranged marriage and is figuring out if the man she has been married off to, is indeed the man she thought he was. There is a heart-breaking story of a mother who has lost her son due to the so-called heroics of her journalist husband. There is a coming-of-age story of a spoilt young brother, told through his sister, who sees him grow up and mature during his time in prison. My favourite story in the collection is one with a slight dark twist, about a cold blooded c

  Book: Lola and the Boy Next Door Author: Stephanie Perkins Pages: 338 How Long it took me to read? A day or so. Chick-lit if good moves along nicely :)  Plot Summary: This is the story of Lola Nolan, a truly original and quirky girl. Lola doesn't believe in fashion she believes in costume! She dresses in elaborate costumes and wigs and get-ups and lives her life dressed as one enchanting character after another. Lola's life is going great- she is being raised by her 2 loving dads and even has a rocker, older boyfriends (her dads are not too happy about it!) but Lola is happy and life is finally looking good. Enter the Bell twins moving back in next door. Calliope and Cricket, were her childhood friends turned strangers and even though it's been a couple of years since she last saw them, seeing the shy, smart and intrepid inventor Cricket Bell is making Lola's heart flutter all over again. Will Lola fall back in love with the boy next door???

1. Road-trips! Blue skies and the open road are good for the soul. This is a picture from a recent road-trip to Pune.  2. A little collection of cute little erasers that I can't resist. Also little cupcake lip-balm, the lip-balm is not that great but the little containers are too cute to be kept in hiding. They sit in my living room and add to our quirky decor.  3. Chocolates! Always make me happy.  4. I have slight deep..abiding love for satchel bags. Some might call it a slight addiction, but I choose to look at it as a fond love for satchel bags. This one is deep orange colour. I also love traditional/ old school notebooks like the one in the picture. I write stories in this one.  5. Music boxes are such magical old worldly things of joy! This one was a gift from my dida (maternal grandmother). It's from someplace in London and has a dancing ballerina inside. I love it. I store my gold toned rings in it.  6. An armful of colourful bang