The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

1. I adore having fresh flowers at home. It instantly cheers me up and makes me happy.  2. Buttons- I have a slight obsession with buttons. I love and quirky ones best and recently added a set of Shakespeare insult buttons to my collection. I love how buttons perk up simple tees and totes.  3. This is Pepper the Dog, he sits in a quiet corner of home and watches the world go by...or something like that!  4. Cute little Rabbit coin purse. The sister uses it to store a iPhone headphones. She is too pretty to have dirty coins soil her.  5. A nifty little set of drawers to hold jewellery pieces and a darling little fish friend.   

Book: Mumbaistan Author: Piyush Jha Pages: 239 How Long it took me to Read: A couple of hours Plot Summary: Mumbaistans three explosive crime novellas unravel the secrets of maximum city from the slums of Dharavi and the bylanes of Kamathipura to the swank high-rises of Bandra. A prostitute, her lover and a policeman play for high stakes in BombDay. Injectionwala exposes chilling medical malpractices and a lovelorn vigilantes twisted game plan. In Coma Man, a man awakens from coma after twenty years, and sets out in search of his wife and himself. Gritty love stories, manipulative cops and hard-boiled slumlords form the backdrop of this unputdownable thriller. Its MUMBAISTAN all the way. Mumbai, a city of dreams for many. But for others, a nightmare. Behind the façade of lustre and glamour churns a seething underbelly of squalor, corruption and crime. Mumbaistan’s three explosive crime novellas unravel the subterranean secrets of maximum city—from the

After the 34 books I bought in June, July was supposed to be my month of no book-buying! Well...clearly that didn't work. Not one bit. But to be fair, I held off buying books till pretty much the end of of July and then all hell broke loose. But compared to 34 books of June, my 13 July books aren't all that bad. Right?!! Sorry my monthly book haul is two months late. I had misplaced my camera's  memory card!  What books have you bought lately?  Also..do book buying bans work for you?  I am terrible at book-buying-bans! Even if I succeed at not buying any more books, I have elaborate wishlists which I indulge in once my ban ends. :)

Book: The House of Silk Author: Anthony Horowitz Pages: 389 Time it took me read: 2 days Plot Summary: Sherlock and Dr. Watson are back! And this time they face one of their toughest challenges ever. The book blurb says- It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Holmes and Watson are enjoying tea by the fireplace when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221B Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks. Intrigued, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious 'House of Silk'.. The story starts with an art dealer- Edward Carstairs- who comes asking for help as he is being stalked by a supposed member of the Boston (Irish) mob. 'The Flat Cap' case is what Watson refe

Book: The Hindi-Bindi Club Author: Monica Pradhan Pages: 426 How Long it took me to Read: 1 day Plot Summary:   For decades they have remained close, sharing treasured recipes, honored customs, and the challenges of women shaped by ancient ways yet living modern lives. They are the Hindi-Bindi Club, a nickname given by their American daughters to the mothers who left India to start anew—daughters now grown and facing struggles of their own. For Kiran, Preity, and Rani, adulthood bears the indelible stamp of their upbringing, from the ways they tweak their mothers’ cooking to suit their Western lifestyles to the ways they reject their mothers’ most fervent beliefs. Now, bearing the disappointments and successes of their chosen paths, these daughters are drawn inexorably home. Kiran, divorced, will seek a new beginning—this time requesting the aid of an ancient tradition she once dismissed. Preity will confront an old heartbreak—and a hidden shame. And Rani w

Book : Custody Author: Manju Kapur Pages : 432 How Long it Took me To Read: 2 days. Plot Summary: The plot revolves around the legal tussle for custody once the marriage of Raman and Shagun falls apart following Shagun’s affair with Raman’s boss Ashok. The children- Arjun and Roohi- become mere pawns in their parent’s divorce. The book basically looks closely at the end of a marriage it’s after effects. Characters:   There is the family at the centre of the drama. Raman and Shagun, a seeminly well-adjusted and happy couple and their two children Arjun, 10, and Roohi, 2, at the time of the divorce. Raman- is an all-round good guy, he loves his wife and he loves his kids. Bright, with a promising future in a famous multinational company he is a good catch for Shagun. He loves his wife and clearly smitten and taken in by her good looks. He is a regular, guy-next-door sort of man, the kind of man who has a nice arranged marriage to a good-looking woman

  Book: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Author: Robin Sloan Pages: 288 How long it took me to read: 5 hours (with several breaks) Plot Summary: Clay Jannon, recently down-sized from a New Age Bagel business, finds himself wandering around the streets of San Francisco looking to find inspiration and employment. He finds himself near the highly intriguing bookstore called ‘Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore’. Never seen a 24-hour bookstore, he stepped in to respond to the flyer, which said they were looking for a night clerk to manage the bookstore. He meets the charming and mysterious Mr. Penumbra, who hires him to manage the store at night. In the very first week, Clay learns that the ‘bookstore’ is not what it seems. To start with, it does not stock the usual bestseller and the typical ‘vampire’ and ‘wizard’ type of books. More importantly, all it seems to stock are very ancient-looking books full of codes. These books and their coded messages are sup

In no particular order, here are the Indian books we've (the sister and I) loved over the years. The Interpreter of Maladies- Jhumpa Lahiri (one of my favourite books of all times.)  The Namesake- Jhumpa Lahiri  The Shadow Lines- Amitav Ghosh (A great novel to start with if you haven't read any Amitav Ghosh before.)  The Glass Palace- Amitav Ghosh The Hungry Tide-        " Sea of Poppies-           " River of Smoke-           "  Midnights Children- Salman Rushdie  Love and Longing in Bombay- Vikram Chandra  Red Earth and Pouring Rain-         "  Riot- Shashi Tharoor  The Great Indian Novel- Shashi Tharoor  Arranged Marriage- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni  Sister of my Heart- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni   The Adventures of Feluda Vol. I and II- Satyajit Ray  Indigo- Satyajit Ray  The Inscrutable Ameircans- Anurag Mathur  Ladies Coupe- Anita Nair  Difficult Daughters- Manju Kapur  The Zoya Factor- Anuja Chauhan (this author writes the be