The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

1. Cute handmade plushie dolls. I don't think that there will ever be a time where I will not love cute toys. I am a full-grown adult but I still melt at the thought of cute dolls and things. I refuse to grow-up! These two sweeties I got from Etsy a couple of years ago from a girl in Australia who makes adorable things! 2. A cute little notebook that I honestly don't have the heart to write in.  3. Bombay Local Trains are a beast. Crowded but fast. Full of people but the best spot for some uninterrupted people watching.  I took local trains daily for 7 years of college and then Grad school. I loved it. I know how strange that sounds but I really did... 4 & 5. Scenes from a book-shop. The Tidal Waves book-shop in Bandra. I don't go here very often but when I do, I like to browse for a bit and then get some coffee at read and decide on which books I want to bring home with me.  Sadly, I left the Bukowski book behind! Silly me! 

Another happy haul. I got these books in the mail sometimes last week. This was a my first set of books as a Flipkart First member...similar to Amazon Prime I guess. All these books arrived in one day flat! Joyous!  Most of them are Indian books..what can I say? I love reading books from my country.  Rajmohan's Wife- Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay  New Girl- Paige Harbison  The Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer- Cyrus Mistry  Fasting and Feasting- Anita Desai  Home and The World- Rabindranath Tagore  The Missing Queen- Samhita Arni  The Awakening- Kate Chopin  The Good Earth- Pearl. S. Buck  Happy Friday, you guys. Have a lovely weekend. I am re-re-reading Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince this weekend. If I finish that I might pick up a classic. I am really in the mood to read a classic.

Book: Blasphemy Author: Tehmina Durrani Pages: 229 How Long It Took Me To Read: 3 hours Read On: Paperback Plot Summary:   Set in south Pakistan, the novel inspired by a true story, is a searing study of evil; an uncompromising look at the distortion of Islam by predatory religious leaders.   In prose of great power and intensity, the author tells the tragic story of the beautiful Heer, brutalized and corrupted by Pir Sain, the man of God, whom she is married to when barely fifteen. But the nightmare she is locked into is not hers alone; it affects the entire clan that owes allegiance to the pir. In the Pir's haveli, unspeakable horrors are perpetrated every day and every night, all in the name of Allah. Sucked into the fetid hell of her lord's making, Heer loses her dignity, her freedom, even her humanity, till a terrible resolution gives her back to herself. General Thoughts: If books on sexual violence, domestic abuse and cruelty in general is upsetti...

Book: Beautiful Thing Author: Sonia Faleiro Pages: 214 How Long It Took Me To Read: 2-3 hours ( I couldn't put this books down!) Read On: Paperback Plot Summary:   Sonia Faleiro was a reporter in search of a story when she met Leela, a beautiful and charismatic bar dancer with a story to tell. Leela introduced Sonia to the underworld of Bombay’s dance bars: a world of glamorous women, of fierce love, sex and violence, of customers and gangsters, of police, prostitutes and pimps. When an ambitious politician cashed in on a tide of false morality and had Bombay’s dance bars wiped out, Leela’s proud independence faced its greatest test. In a city where almost everyone is certain that someone, somewhere, is worse off than them, she fights to survive, and to win. Beautiful Thing , one of the most original works of non-fiction from India in years, is a vivid and intimate portrait of one reporter’s journey into the dark, pulsating and ultimately damaged soul of Bombay....

I got all of these books from Kitaab Khana on a fine Friday evening. I browsed the shelves for an hour and came home with these gems.  I am especially excited to have found the lovely Vintage War books.  The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter  The Pigman by Paul Zindel  Mirror City by Chitrita  The Wish Maker by Ali Seth  The Collected Works of A.J, Fikry  All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks  The Dark Room by Rachel Saiffert A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie 

Book: Don't Look Back Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout Pages : 375 How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 hours ( I read it in one sitting.) Read On: My Kindle Plot Summary:   Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all-popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.   Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took "mean girl" to a whole new level, and it's clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She's getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she's falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash. But Cassie is ...

Book: Notes on a Scandal Author: Zoe Heller Pages: 258 Time It Took To Read: 4 hours Read: Penguin Ink Paperback edition Plot Summary:  Schoolteacher Barbara Covett has led a solitary life until Sheba Hart, the new art teacher at St. George's, befriends her. But even as their relationship develops, so too does another: Sheba has begun an illicit affair with an underage male student. When the scandal turns into a media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defense—and ends up revealing not only Sheba's secrets, but also her own. Why this book is AWESOME: 1. The writing is brilliant. BRILLIANT. It's efficient and evocative all at once, which is a tough, tough thing to do and Ms. Heller pulls it off!  2. This is a story of, essentially, two characters and both the characters- Sheba and Barbara- are beautifully etched. They are layered and multi-dimensional and you get to go under their skins and understand what drives them and makes...

Book: The Garden of Burning Sand Author: Corban Addison Pages: 445 How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days Read On: Paperback Plot Summary:   Lusaka, Zambia: Zoe Fleming is a young, idealistic American lawyer working with an NGO devoted to combatting the epidemic of child sexual assault in southern Africa. Zoe’s organization is called in to help when an adolescent girl is brutally assaulted. The girl’s identity is a mystery. Where did she come from? Was the attack a random street crime or a premeditated act? A betrayal in her past gives the girl’s plight a special resonance for Zoe, and she is determined to find the perpetrator. She slowly forms a working relationship, and then a surprising friendship, with Joseph Kabuta, a Zambian police officer. Their search takes them from Lusaka’s roughest neighbourhoods to the wild waters of Victoria Falls, from the AIDS-stricken streets of Johannesburg to the matchless splendour of Cape Town. As the investigation builds to ...

Book: Isobel Journal Author: Isobel Harrop Pages: 208 How Long it Took Me to Read: 2 hours Plot Summary: There isn't a plot here really. This is pretty much the journal of a young girl, her thoughts, feelings, first love, heart-break and her views and the things she loves. General Thoughts: I have been trying to read more graphic novels. I really enjoy the art and unique story telling format. I came across this book on Tumblr or something and the art looked like fun. Luckily, I found it for cheap. That's the thing with graphic novels they usually cost more than regular books. Ah! But the art and paper quality justifies the price. Review: I really enjoyed this book. I read it in bed after a particularly crappy day. This book cheered me up and was exactly what I needed. It was a happy, pretty and a fun read. The art isn't spectacular. But it is real and reading this book and flipping through the art is just like reading someone real's jou...

Book: Tell The Wolves I'm Home Author: Carol Rifka Brunt Pages: 360 How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days Read On: Gorgeous paperback. Plot Summary:   1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart. At Finn’s funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, t...

The Pickwick Papers- Charles Dickens  Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair- Pablo Neruda  Anti-Social Network- Piyush Jha  Revolutionary Road- Richard Yates  Hollow City- Ransom Riggs  A Young Doctor's Notebook- Mikhail Bulgakov  The Savages- Matt Whyman  Rooftoppers- Katherine Rundell  The Isobel Journal- Isobel Harrop  I got these 9 lovely books from Amazon. And if you follow me on Instagram, you know I had some book delivery drama. I don't want to get into it again but basically this whole experience has made me go off Amazon. I am done and won't be ordering books from Amazon henceforth! So done!  But moving on, I am so excited about these books! So many lovely new books to read.  I've already read Isobel Journal. and enjoyed it immensely! Review coming soon! :)