The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello Loves!   November is coming to an end and the last month of the year is here.  What a year huh?  And it's almost over.  And not a moment too soon.  While it's easy, more than easy to shit on this year, I think it's important to focus on the things we have to be grateful for.  I try to focus on the silver linings, it's not easy, but it's something I try very hard to focus on.  These are somethings I am very Grateful for:  1. Books. 2. Stories.  3. Writing.  4. My health. 5. My family being safe.  6. My hoarding habits: clothes, stationery and everything else that I hold on to and that has meant that I don't have to buy anything unnecessary this year or the next. I am pretty sorted.  7. Being able to cook my meals.  8. Films.  9. OTT platforms.  10. Comfort found in food, sweets and naps.  Always grateful for lights.  Loved that this year Diwali was all old-school and full of diyas.  Grateful for books and leaves.  Joba phool in full bloom.  Love that I am h

 Hello!  Honestly, this year weekends and weekdays have all been pretty much the same thing.  Yet. every time the weekend rolls around, I feel like really getting down with my reading and finding something good to binge.  This weekend my reading life looks a something like this:  A Killer Among Us by Ushasi Sen Basu: First up, sister and I are buddy reading this thriller book that we found via Kindle Unlimited and we are both quite engrossed in.  I am only 14% in and I can't wait to get back to it.  Plot Summary:   What can strip away the polite veneer of an apartment complex and lay bare a world of secrets and lies? The discovery of a stranger’s body on its premises. Ira Dutta is an ambitious journalist who dislikes the ‘middle-class stagnation’ of Panorama Apartments. Nandana Roy is a stay-at-home mom, in the throes of an early mid-life crisis. Mrs Ghoshal is an octogenarian whose life revolves around television soaps. Just three, among many, seemingly unconnected lives―until th

  1. Floral Notebooks from The Ink Bucket.  Things of beauty and perfect pocket sized journals.  2. Two Great Books I Read Earlier in the Year.  Both set in cities I've called home,  Bombay and Bangalore.  The Alchemy of Secrets by Priya Balasubramanian is set in Bangalore in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid Demolition and how communal tensions can effect even the most peaceful neighbourhoods and change lives forever. It was a moving read and so relevant in these times. I really enjoyed this book, the writing was lovely and it brought to life the simmering tensions that we all felt in the aftermath of the riots of 1992 and that we occasionally feel every now and then.  4/5  Bombay Balchao by Jane Borges: This is one of the best things I've read all year.  Bombay back in the day and a wonderful sense of community and a host of charming characters.  So good!  5/5  3. Pouches from iTokri: I recently got these two embroidered pouches from iTokri. I love the NGO that makes these

Hello, hello! Hope you've been doing well!  It has gotten cold in our corner of the world and I am loving these colder wintry days- perfect to sip on hot beverages and watch cozy thrillers or feel-good movies!  So, here are some movies and TV series from various OTT platforms that we've enjoyed lately:  Truth Be Told  Adapted from Kathleen Barber's book Are You Sleeping (review here ) , Truth Be Told tells the story of a journalist turned podcaster- Poppy Parnell, who, 19 years ago, had played a peripheral yet key role in the sentencing of a 17 year old boy to life in prison for the brutal murder of an author. The reveal of some new evidence in the case makes her question her original stance on the case. So, now, Poppy decides to reinvestigate this case on her podcast in an effort to exonerate the accused.  Starring the fabulous Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul, this Apple TV show is truly gripping! Would highly recommend!  Big Sky   Just one-episode old, Big Sky (available

 Hello!  Gosh! It's been far too long since my last post. Yikes! I have no real clue as to why I've let things slide on here. I wrote and released my Short Story and quickly started work on the next one, which is up on Amazon by the way.  You can find it here.  It's called A Girl Possessed and it's a 90s ghost story set in Lucknow.  It's spooky and nostalgic and even funny in parts, if I say so myself!  :)  Here's the little cover I made for the book, featuring Lucknow's iconic Imambara.  :)  OK.  Now to other things.  The last few weeks have been kinda busy.  I've been writing, which makes me sooooo happy and I am so grateful to everyone who bought my books and have said such kind things to me about them.  Thank-you so much.  Lights at home.  We only put up diyas and tea lights this year.  There is nothing quite like the classic diya for Diwali.  Apart from that I was a little busy with Diwali, it was spent at home. I didn't even go out to go see t

  Hello, hello!  I did a brave (for a shy writer like me) little thing earlier today!  I self-published a short story on Amazon via Kindle's Direct Publishing service.  For the past 8 weeks or so, I have been sharing real-life ghost stories via a series on my Instagram Stories called 'Scary Stories'. These are stories of real-life paranormal experiences and have been pretty well-received by my community on Instagram. This has given me a much-needed boost of confidence and so, I decided to flesh out the next story in my series and share it via Amazon.  Here is the link to my little book . I've priced it at INR 50, so that everybody, who wants to read it can!  If you'd like to read my short story, click on the link above and you can read it on your Kindle or the iOS or Android Kindle app.  Thank you, as ever, for reading my blog, sharing your kind words on Instagram and for just being all-round lovely people! 

  Book: A Man Called Ove  Author: Fredrik Backman  Pages: 337  Read: The paperback copy pictured above  Read in: ~3.5 hours  Plot Summary:  A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.   Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him  the bitter neighbor from hell , but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cr

  Hello November!  Hello Winter!  Hello Celebrations Big and Small, thanks to Diwali and my Sister's birthday.  I am so happy November is here.  :)  It's on of my favourite months of the year. Though I can't quite believe we are already in November!  This year, while trying and plain mean, does seem to be chugging along nicely.  I started my month on a bit of a sad note.  Today is my Thakurda's death anniversary and like every year, this month begins on a sombre note.  Also I had this horrendous experience with an Instagram shop and have spent most of last night and today pissed, annoyed and disappointed. Seriously, as much as I love buying from small shops and supporting indie brands, this heartache of mismanaged logistics and incompetent shop owners is just too much to stomach.  Ugh!  But let's focus on the good and ignore people not worthy of a second of my time.  I've been savouring Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie today.  It's a short story that is j