The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello!  Can you believe February is over already?  At least we got an extra day this year.  I love Leap Years. There is something so special about having one extra day in February. :) It's my birthday month so I like having it a little longer.  Leap Day is an extra day in the year and so it's a good day to do something special.  Making it count.  The last Leap Day, I had just moved back to Bombay from Bangalore and I spent my Leap Day unpacking three boxes of shoes.  Managed to make all my shoes fit but my poor Baba (dad) was horrified with the amount of shoes I had/have. :)  This time around my Leap Day included.. Watching the Oscars first thing in the morning and seeing Leonardo DiCaprio win.  I made Saboodana khichdi for the first time ever and it turned out so nice. And it's so simple to make!  Watched some more episodes of Fuller House --which I quite like. It's funny and sweet and...

We recently ordered some Washi Tapes- for the uninitiated, washi tapes are decorative tapes made out of thin paper and are perfect for a variety of craft and journaling purposes- from a store called ' Washi Wednesday ' . For those of us in India, there are not too many options to buy Washi Tapes from and so, we usually tend to buy ours from Etsy. Washi Wednesday is based in Singapore and so, shipping to India is relatively cheap (compared to several Etsy stores that are based in the US) and the package is sent via Registered Mail, so you can track it. Peace of mind! Here are some pictures of what we ordered. Here are all of them. A mix of some pretty florals and stripes. The floral tapes are from the brand- Dailylike (a Korean stationery brand) and the stripes are from MT (the most prominent makes of washi tapes).  A closer look at some of the floral tapes we got.. the topmost one is from MT and it has a lace and embroidered effect... while the other thre...

Hello!  I couldn't manage to get up my post for last week on time and so this week I am clubbing together the two weeks worth of recapping.  Week 7 was super special.  It had: Saraswati Pujo. Valentine's Day.  And.. My Birthday!  So I feel especially crummy for not being able to get the post up on time.  But better late than never.  Let's see what Week 7 of 2016 looked like in my world.  Day 43 of 366/// Something sweet. Actually a lot of sweet things at Le Pain Quotidien.  I had a delicious Chocolate Eclair.  Day 44 of 366/// Maa Saraswati in all her glory.  It was Saraswati Pujo, a day to celebrate The Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge.  There was a proper pujo and bhog at our home in the hometown.  This is just the altar in our flat in Bombay.  Day 45 of 366/// Valentine's Day. And my Valentine of choice would always and forever be Sherlock..or if...

Hello!  This week has flown by me.  This was one busy one. Full of grown-up chores and home needs.  I've also read some wonderful books and had yummy meals.  Now for some of me new/recent loves.  1. Pages of my sister's journal/// My sister has been doing an amazing job journaling and art-journaling in her Hobonichi Techo 'Original' A6. She made this little quote page with some black and white Washi Tape and wrote a quote she loves.  2. Strawberry Compote/// Simple as can be and delicious to boot. Perfect to layer over your pancakes and waffles and even over oats.  All you need is Strawberry and Sugar. Add them to a pan over low heat and them reduce and form a thick and sweet syrup. I had mine over some Banana pancakes I whipped up on a Sunday.  3. Anchor Necklace/// I picked up this darling little pendant from Accessorize a few weeks ago. Love the colours and the anchor symbol.  ...

Book: Find Her Author: Lisa Gardner Pages: 416 Read: On the   Kindle Read in: 2 days Plot Summary:  Flora Dane is a victim.   Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure. Flora Dane is a survivor. Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home. Flora Dane is reckless.   . . . or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her ...

Book: Alphabet Soup for Lovers Author: Anita Nair Pages: 200 Read On: Hardback copy How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 day Plot Summary:  Lena Abraham knows that love can end in only one way - disappointment. Her marriage to KK is perfect precisely because she is not in love with him, and their life on a tea plantation in the picturesque Anamalai hills is idyllic. Then, one rainy morning, a man arrives to take up temporary residence in the homestay they run. Shoola Pani is south Indian cinema's heartthrob, an actor in flight from his own superstardom, and the last thing he is looking for is emotional entanglement. But when Lena and he meet, something flares between them that neither could have anticipated. She becomes his Lee and he her Ship, and the place they inhabit Arcadia. Told partly from the point of view of Komathi, whose own relationship with Lena is fraught with buried truths from the past, this searing tale of unexpected passion and adultery reaffirms the magi...

Hello!  My birthday was last Thursday and I thought I'd share a little bit of my day and some of the goodies I got/acquired on my birthday. I think it's a good way to kick off the week with some of my birthday shenanigans.  Also thank-you everyone who wished me on my birthday, both here and on my Instagram.  Let's get started.  Birthday Outfit and Shoes. Both from Forever 21. Birthday jewels-- all silver and some of my favourite pieces. The necklace is an old favourite which I wear only rarely since it's so big and statement-y. Love it to pieces. It's from Fabindia. The rings are new editions to my wardrobe and are from a silver shop in Colaba called Amber. Bag of the day- a tartan satchel from Accessorize. Love it. It's super soft to the touch and fits a reasonable amount of things. This was a pre-birthday buy and I intended to use it on my birthday and I did. :) And now for some things I bought on my birthday.. Som...

Book: The Fishermen Author: Chigozie Obioma Pages: 300 Read On: Paperback copy How Long it Took Me To Read: 2-3 days Plot Summary:   In a Nigerian town in the mid 1990's, four brothers encounter a madman whose mystic prophecy of violence threatens the core of their close-knit family. Told from the point of view of nine year old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers,  The Fishermen  is the story of an unforgettable childhood in 1990s Nigeria, in the small town of Akure.  When their strict father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his extended absence to skip school and go fishing. At the ominous, forbidden nearby river, they meet a dangerous local madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact-both tragic and redemptive-will transcend the lives and imaginations of its characters and its readers. ...

Hello!  I got of these books in the mail lately from Amazon . I got books online after ages and honestly I was a little out of practice.  :)  It had been so long since I bought books online that I had forgotten how to browse and do the online book buying thing :)  I got 10 books in total. But I am sharing only 8 here. One book was very damaged and I sent it back.  Another came a day or two later so I didn't photograph it. I got all of these because I genuinely want to read all of these and I wanted some of them for very long.  Let's look at new books on my shelves.  Books Bought:  Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin- I have never read Baldwin before and this being Black History month, it's  good time as any to amend that.   Alphabet Soup For Lovers by Anita Nair- Currently reading this now and loving it. I love Anita Nair's writing and this is a slow and languid love story. Really enjoying it and...

Book: Pretty Baby Author: Mary Kubica Pages: 380 Read: On Kindle Read in: 2-3 hours Plot Summary:  She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can't get the girl out of her head... Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal—or worse. But despite her family's objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home. Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow's past begin to surface, Heidi is forced to decide how far she's willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a stor...