The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello!  This last week has been nice. Restful and fun. I read a lot. Watched a lot of TV shows and I got my spring cleaning on...a little in the day buy Hey! better late than never! I also got some books in the mail, which is always a nice thing. My parents made some travel plans and even made plans to come see us in a few months. :) I also played with some paints and really enjoyed myself. I am looking for some nice colour pencils...don't know what brand but I am going to do some research and order them online.  A good week. Nothing fancy! But very, very pleasing all the same!  Let's see my week in pictures.  Day 113: I love things from Forest Essentials . I love the brand but I especially love how everything from them smells divine. So good. Give their Mogra and Jasmine scented things a sniff and you'll thank me later! :) I've been trying their Kashmiri Saffrom and Neem Facial Cleaner for a bit now and I love it. It cleans my face really well ...

Book: The Strings of Murder Author: Oscar de Muriel Pages: 407 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me to Read: 2 days Plot Summary:  Edinburgh, 1888. A violinist is murdered in his home. The dead virtuoso's maid swears she heard three musicians playing in the night. But with only one body in the locked practice room and no way in or out the case makes no sense. Fearing a national panic over another Ripper, Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Frey to investigate under the cover of a fake department specializing in the occult. However, Frey's new boss, Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray, actually believes in such supernatural nonsense. McGray's tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond reason. And once someone loses all reason, who knows what they will lose next. General Thoughts: Historical fiction + murder mystery + occult! I heard these three words and wanted this book! Things I Liked...

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...

Book: The Blue Umbrella Author: Ruskin Bond Illustrator: Archana Sreenivasan  Pages: 64 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me To Read: 1hour Plot Summary: 'The Umbrella was like a flower, a great blue flower that had sprung up on the dry brown hillside.’ In exchange for her lucky leopard’s claw pendant, Binya acquires a beautiful blue umbrella that makes her the envy of everyone in her village, especially Ram Bharosa, the shop-keeper. Ruskin Bond’s short and humorous novella, set in the picturesque hills of Garhwal, perfectly captures life in a village, where both heroism and redemption can be found. General Thoughts: A few years ago this book was made into a movie. I saw the trailers but for some reason...I never felt like watching the movie. This book however caught my eye a few months back and made it to my wishlist and when it got ridiculously cheap, I had it have it. A read in an hour and it was utterly charming! Things I Liked:...

Book: Pashu Author: Devdutt Pattanaik Pages: 184 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 day Plot Summary: A unique feature of Hindu mythology is the key role played by animals, or pashu. The Puranas, ancient Hindu story chronicles, reveal that Brahma, the creator, had a son called Kashyapa, whose many wives gave birth to different types of pashu: Timi gave birth to animals who swim Vinata gave birth to animals who fly Kadru gave birth to animals who crawl Surabhi gave birth to animals with hooves Sarama gave birth to animals with paws Surasa gave birth to animals who defy classification This book retells their stories. With over 75 gorgeously illustrated anecdotes, Devdutt Pattanaik reveals how our ancestors imagined the animal kingdom and the key role animals played in human lives. General Thoughts: I have read a few books by this author and I've found each of these books very interesting and incredibly educative. This book sounded l...

Hello!  Another Monday is here and another brand new week is upon us. I figured what better way to kick-start this week than with a gentle reminder to both you and me to Choose Joy Today. A simple statement but oh-so-diffcult to follow through. :) I wish was as easy as it sounds. To pick Joy and Choose Happiness every single day and in every single situation. But life is hard and people even worse. You might want to focus on the lighter and brighter side of things but people/situation/ life have other agendas.  Yet I try to find my own joy. And Choose Joy in every single situation.It's hard and sometimes being cranky and negative comes more easily but it's so much more fulfilling to have Joy in your heart.  So let's see The 10 Reasons I am Joyful this Monday morning.... 1. First of all I am joyful and grateful and beyond thankful for my parent's safety. My parents live in our hometown (the same place I spent two months in the beginning of the ye...

Hello!  Hope the weekend is treating you well.  My plan for the weekend is simple enough--- Read, Cook, Bake, Blog and Sleep...and maybe dare to step out in the summer heat. But honestly, I am content to stay indoors and hide from the heat. I have my books to keep me company. :) These are the books I plan to read this weekend.. The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel --- I am currently reading this book and it's premise really interests me. This is a pretty hefty book, around 400 pages. So it's possible I won't finish it over the weekend. If I do manage to finish it..I want to get to Collected Stories by Raja Rao .  So that's the plan.  Have a nice weekend guys.  Happy Reading!

Hello!  Another week has gone by..and what an amazing week this has been. I met my childhood friends for ages and it was just wonderful. We caught up, gossiped and laughed and laughed and were just silly..in a way that one can be silly with only childhood friends. :)  Other than that...I read like a woman possessed. I read three books this week. A huge improvement from my recent slow reading phase. It was nice getting my reading on. :)  There was also lots of home cooking, baking and donut eating :)  Oh...and I made some grape juice which was just out of this world good!  A very satisfying week!  Let's see my week in pictures.  Day 106: A quiet spot to read and relax. My darling little owl friend keeps me company and looks cute! I also adore this bedspread of mine. Vivid blue with very typical block-print. Intrinsically Indian. And just a bright pop of colour. My Owl is from Blue Mango . Day 107: More cute...

Happy World Book Day!  It's like Christmas for Book-Lovers...well almost. Last year, on this day I hit two bookstores and bought some books to honour the day of books.  This year I went the online route and ordered some books from Amazon , they had a 60% Sale on certain books and I got a few books from that deal and a couple others on 50% off. Yay! Yay! Yay!  Once those books come in, a haul will come your way. :)  I love books :) With all my heart and soul. And I have done so since I was a kid. Here are my Top 10 Reasons for Loving Books:   Books tell stories---about people, places, history, lives, kings, queens, heroes, villains, knights, farmers, magicians, murderers, mothers, love, loss, lust...the scope of stories is endless and that is a truly wonderful thing! Books are the cheapest way to travel. Books are a great way to step away from your problems and take a break from real life. They let you escape from your life. Books are ...

As you know I've been making a monthly TBR for over two years now. At the beginning of every new month, I draw up a list of all the books I hope to/ intend to read that given month. This helps me in a number of ways... It makes me think about what I want to read. It makes me pick books that have been on my bookshelf for a while. It give a system/ method to my reading life.  It makes picking my next read so much simpler.  It gives me a chance to pick books that either go well together (if I am reading a particular theme) or it helps in mixing things up a bit...if I want to read different books this helps me to do that.  Now I have loved making a TBR list. It doesn't limit me or restrict me in any way. It might seem like it at first, just having set few books on your monthly reading list. But it isn't, I promise. Plus, I like to be flexible. If for some reason I am not 'feeling' a certain book at a certain time, it's OK to skip it. Put it away and mov...

" Happiness held is the seed,  Happiness shared is the flower."  John Harrigan  " Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature."  Gerard De Nerval  Just some flowers I photographed earlier in the year.  Flowers will always, always being cheer to my heart. 

Hello!  How is this Monday treating you?  Let's start this week with some delicious shall we?  At some point in March, I had the pleasure of tasting blackberries and raspberries for first time ever. I loved them. Pricey (here in India) but so amazing. My sister, bought these for me as I was recovering from a bad bout of food poisoning. These helped. They cheered me up and healed my sick heart.  A had a couple of these and was struck by a bolt of genius...why not bake a pie?  This was right around Pi Day and Instagram and Tumblr were full of delicious Pie pictures and recipes. So why not bake one of my own?  God! Don't you just love being spontaneous and doing something out of the box?  I loving baking. But I mostly stick to cakes, cupcakes, muffins, puddings and the like. I have baked a few pies in my time but every single one of them had someone else make the dough/ pie crust. I am not, NOT a good dough kneader (is that a...

This is what I intend on reading this weekend.  Grazia India March 2015  The Skinning Tree by Srikumar Sen  Sula by Toni Morrison  What did you read this weekend?  Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Mine has been pretty nice so far!

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...

Book: Something Happened on the way to Heave. Author: 20 various contributors. Edited By: Sudha Murthy Pages: 224 How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 day Read On: Paperback Plot Summary: The inspiring true stories of the interesting people who inhabit the pages of Sudha Murtys books leave an indelible impression on us. But the books are able to chronicle the stories of only the men and women Mrs. Murty has actually come across herself in the course of her social work. There must be so many more wonderful stories that many others have to share. Something Happened on the Way to Heaven is a collection of twenty such memorable true life stories. Handpicked by Sudha Murty from a contest run by Penguin, they capture the hope, faith, kindness and joy that life is full of, even as we make our way through the daily grind. Moving and uplifting, this is an anthology that will engross and delight every reader who believes in the goodness of the human heart.  Gene...

Hello!  I am back with another week in pictures.  Last week  was a serious mixed bag. A lot of good and as well as a lot of stress and heartache.  If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that last Thursday I had a lizard scare...I know..go ahead roll your eyes! It might be a small deal to most people but to those us---lizard phobes---it is a mighty big deal. Then on Friday we had a bit of bad behaviour from our downstairs neighbours. They are generally very good people but they acted liked assholes and very un-neighbourly. Gah! Rude and petty and uncouth people really, really bother me!  So after that my mood was at a low.  Luckily the weekend was nice and come Monday things were good again.  I got my first every Cloth Dori (I am going to do a whole post on this, so stay tuned) this week and I love it. My sister is a massive fan of the Midori Traveller's Notebooks and has a little bit of a collection going, but I've never...