The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello!  January is gone (nearly) and it has left me with quite a few books read and some pretty diverse reads at that. January was a very good reading month!  I hope the rest of my reading year matches January.  Let's jump into all of my reading that I did in January.  BOOKS READ IN JANUARY 2018!  1. The Mussoorie Murder Edited by Ruskin Bond: My first book read in 2018 and even the first book I bought in 2018. Truth be told, I got this book thinking it will all Ruskin Bond. It wasn't. It is an anthology of classic short stories. I quite enjoyed it.  3/5  2. One by Sarah Crossan: An incredible book. I loved it. Read it in one evening and I can't recommend it enough.  So good!  5/5 3. The Ten Dollar Bride by Sanya Runway: Another collection of short stories dealing with the myriad issues women in India face.  Compelling and moving. 3.5/5  4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J...

Hello!  Today I want to share a delightful book haul from Talking Cub books, a new imprint of Speaking Tiger Books.  I was recently, very kindly sent these books for review and I can't wait to get to them. I plan on reading them in February. These books seem to be full of joy and even have darling illustrations. They promise to be good, soothing, fun reads! Prankenstein The Book of Crazy Mischief Edited by Ruskin Bond and Jerry Pinto:   Is your school a hotspot for jokes? Do your family members regularly fall victim to pranks? Do ghosts and spooks get you into trouble? Find every kind of funny, crazy, impossible mischief in this book. Here you will find the girl who turned into a sloth just for her mother, the horse who went to the library and ate up some classics, the substitute teacher who saw dead people, the play where everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and many more amazing tales of pranks and troublemaking! Selected by Ruskin Bond a...

Book: The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die Author: Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay Translator: Arunava Sinha Publisher: Bee Books  Pages: 120 Read On: Paperback How Long it Took Me Read: 2 days Plot Summary: A joint family with dwindling fortunes. A dead aunt. A lingering ghost. A box of jewellery. General Thoughts: I watched Goynar Baksho, the film, when it first came out and I loved it. It is an amazing movie. Directed by Aparna Sen and starring Konkona Sen Sharma, Moushumi Chatterjee and Saswata- the film is a laugh riot. I knew it was based on a novella but since it was written in Bengali and an English translation wasn't available (back then) I couldn't read it. When I saw that there finally existed an English translation, that too translated by my favourite translator, I had to give it a read! Things I Liked: 1. The writing was great. I have read one other book by the author- Fun and Funnier and enjoyed it as well. This book was a wonderful mix of humour a...

Hello!  Hope your Sunday is going well.  For this last Sunday of January, I want to share some very delightful Stationery bits.  La Dolce Vita is one of our favourite stationery shops. Their art and aesthetic is so lovely.  We have tons of stickers from them and some washi tapes too.  This time we got two of their pencil cases, washi tapes and buttons and a reading girl stamp!  Let's jump into all the beauty.  First things we ordered were these two adorable pencil cases/ pencil pouches. Just love the adorable illustrations on both. The one on the left is mine and the one on the right is for my sister! A reading girl stamp! Just the perfect thing that every reader needs! Can't wait to use this in my journal and colour in her outfit and hair! :)  Bought two washi tapes.. one with stationery items on it and another one with illustrations of girls doing fun things- taking photos, reading etc.  A...

Hello!  I am here to share some books I recently hauled from Book Chor.   I got 4 books all new this time around. I got some books I've wanted for a while and had been on my wish-list for a while now.  I also got two super cute books with my package.  :)  I am so excited for all of these books and some of them are bound to be in my February TBR.  Let's see the books I've added to my bookshelves.  BOOKS BOUGHT///  The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes  History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund  Behold The Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue  Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel  A Harry Potter and a Friends bookmark. Perfect!

Book: Did You See Melody? (known in the US as Keep Her Safe) Author: Sophie Hannah  Pages: 336  Read on: Kindle  Read in: 3-4 hours  Plot Summary:  Pushed to breaking point , Cara Burrows abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can't afford. Late at night,   exhausted and desperate , she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied - by   a man and a teenage girl . A simple mistake on the part of the hotel receptionist - but Cara's fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can't possibly have seen:   the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving   life sentences for her murder. Cara doesn't know what to trust: everything she's read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody?  And is...

Hello!  I am a big fan and a supporter of Indian Arts and Handicrafts. But if were to ask me about my favourite of all Indian Art forms I may pause for a minute and tell you is was Madhubani.  There is something so deeply simple yet divine about Madhubani Art. This renowned style of painting originated in the Maithili village of Bihar. The painting is done with fingers, twigs, matchsticks and of course brushes and nibs. The subject matter is pretty diverse- people, portraits, Gods and Goddesses and even nature. Honestly, all things Madhubani are gorgeous.  You can read more about Madhubani Painting HERE.   My family has had ties to Madhubani too.  My Thamma's family lived in Mithila for a few years and my father spent some of his childhood summers here. A place that is full of happy memories and nostalgia for him. He remembers seeing local women who would paint their homes and walls and even sarees in this style.  Oh! What I ...

Book: Sindoori Ranng  Author: Gargi Saxena  Pages: 42  Read On: Kindle  How Long it Took Me To Read: 20 minutes  Plot Summary:   A simple Indian girl's life falls in jeopardy when she discovers that she is being stalked. Everything in her world goes topsy-turvy as the anonymous stalker creeps into each aspect of her life slowly uncovering her boyfriend's real nature and her own desire to soar high in spite of her conservative family. This short and fast paced story is a thrilling take on an average Indian teenager's life. General Thoughts: This book was sent to me by the writer for an honest review. I read this book in one sitting (it is a short read) back in December and quite enjoyed it.  All opinions are my own and not influenced by other factors.  The book is available on Kindle Unlimited for free, if you are a subscriber of the service.  Review:   1. Though this is a book about a teena...

Hello!  Sharing some journal and notebooks that I love.  I am a stationery hoarder and I wouldn't have it any other way!  :) I can't resist a beautifully made notebook and the prospect of filling up empty pages with thoughts and musings is a very pleasant feeling!  A fabric dori from Lyra and Co, which was my Bujo for November 2017.  An utterly gorgeous leather notebook cover.  This is the Mr. Darcy in A6 Buttered Rum from Chic Sparrow .  I got this notebook for my sister on her birthday. She has a thing for all things birds.  I adore the illustation and the very old, retro feel of this notebook.  I got this from iTokri.   I love how my sister sets up her doris!  This beauty is from Zenkraft.  It is a Field Notes Pro-Sleeve.  :) A set of turtle notebooks from Fabindia.  Bought simply because they were too cute to be left behind!  :)  ...

Hello!!!  For today's Monday Moods I want to share some of my favourite things in the world.  Silver Jewellery. &  Black and White Pictures.  From Top to Bottom:  -Mirror Work Earrings from Jaypore.  -A simple bracelet/cuff/bangle from Amber, Colaba.  -Gorgeous dangly filigree earrings on my sister from Amber as well.  -Pearl drop earrings from Narayana Jewellers in Commercial Street Bangalore.  :)  Today is Saraswati Pujo, a day to worship the Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge.  A day away from books and writing.  A day I cherished as a child but I am going crazy with trying to find ways to entertain myself now!  Damn!  Happy Saraswati Pujo to my fellow Bengalis.  Hope you are enjoying your bhog, pandal hopping and kul.  :) 

Hello!  My birthday is exactly one month away!  And like my childhood self I like to get a little bit excited and do a little countdown of sorts. Nothing nearly as major as my childhood where I just couldn't wait for my birthday to arrive. Now, I am a whole lot chiller.  :)  To kick off my birthday countdown, I want to share some seriously beautiful customised pouches from The Color Life by Krishna Patel. I spotted her shop on Instagram and was blown away by her talent. She makes these generously sized pouches with darling designs and even names embroidered on it. Plus, it is entirely customisable. You get to choose the colours of our own pouch as well as the colours of the embroidery. The pouches are silk-ish and the design is a mix of fabric paint and embroidery.  We got two.  The one with Llamas for my sister, she is using it to hold her Personal Sized Midori Traveler's Notebook and a Hobonichi- that she uses for daily journaling. It ...