The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello Loves!  January comes to an end now and with that it's time to wrap-up my reading for this month.  My Reading Life in January was rather nice.  Slow.  But nice.  I read only 8 books and I say only because I read some 15 books in January last year.  But this month I took my time with my reads and didn't rush through any of my books.  Something I want to do through the rest of the year too.  I read four physical books.  & Four ebooks.  I read some kid lit.  Some literary fiction.  A spot of translation.  Some world literature.  Lots of short stories.  Verse.  Young adult.  A very mixed bag and I hope and pray that the rest of the year follows suit.  :)    1. The Magic Moonlight Flowers and Other Stories by Satyajit Ray: I started my year right and with one of my favourite writers- Satyajit Ray. These stories were delightful and warm and a fun and full of magic and wonder and good...

 Hello Loves!  Today is so cold in my corner of the world.  A cold wind has been blowing allll day and I am bundled up in a sweatshirt and under two shawls.  Brrrrr.  So today's happy mail came just at the right time.  I ordered a few goodies from Oony by Anab , things that are pretty as peach and things I needed this winter.  I got two  knitted headbands and one floral hairband which they call the Bahaar hairband.  Love the cable knit patter and the yarn is so soft and smooth and so comfortable to wear.  I wore mine- the sunshine yellow- headband the moment it arrived and it's helped to keeping the cold at bay.  We got the  Handknit Headbands in Sunflower and Fuchsia.  Sunflower for me and Fuchsia for my sister.  Every single thing is beautiful and well-made and perfect in every way.  :)  They make a host of handmade things:  Beanies.  Headbands.  Scarves.  Booties.  Scrunchies....

 Hello Loves!  Since Janaury is almost over, this Friday instead of listing some random favourites, I am going to list my monthly favourites.  January usually feels so longgggg, but this time around I don't know...it felt oddly swift and hopeful.  Funny really how so many people think that the pandemic is magically over now that we are in the New Year. Must be nice to just snap out of the worry, wish I could too.  :)  January was a good month.  I didn't read a whole lot, like 8 books in total. But I read slowly and took my time with my books.  I wrote a little. Started a new story. One I am hoping to finish soon and publish soon.  I spent so much time with my family.  Hung out on the terrace.  Watered our plants.  Watched so many Feluda films.  I think I watched some 25 odd things!  So net-net this was a good month.  Here are my favourites for this month.  1. Book Buying: I bought a few books this month. A ...

  Book: The Marlow Murder Club  Author: Robert Thorogood  Publisher: HQ  Pages: 347  Read On: Kindle  How Long It Took Me To Read: 2 days  Plot Summary:   Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper.  One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might neve...

  Book: Jungle Nama  Author: Amitav Ghosh  Illustrator: Salman Toor  Publisher: Harper Collins  Read On: Hardback Edition  How Long it Took Me To Read: 1 Day  Plot Summary:   Jungle Nama   is Amitav Ghosh's verse adaptation of an episode from the legend of Bon Bibi, a tale popular in the villages of the Sundarban, which also lies at the heart of the novel   The Hungry Tide . It is the story of the avaricious rich merchant Dhona, the poor lad Dukhey, and his mother; it is also the story of Dokkhin Rai, a mighty spirit who appears to humans as a tiger, of Bon Bibi, the benign goddess of the forest, and her warrior brother Shah Jongoli.   The original print version of this legend, dating back to the nineteenth century, is composed in a Bengali verse meter known as dwipodi poyar.  Jungle Nama  is a free adaptation of the legend, told entirely in a poyar-like meter of twenty-four syllable couplets that replicate the caden...

Hello Loves!  Happy Republic Day to my fellow Indians.  Today is a reminder to value our constitution and uphold everything it stands for.  So on this Joyous Day, I want to list something that have brought me this month.    Tea. Books. Buttons. Bookmarks.  :) All perfect companions on cold mornings.  A new Feluda webseries to binge and love.  Find it on Adda Times.  I quite loved it.  Plus it's shot in my corner of the world.  Genda Phools on the roof.  Cozy mornings.  Art. Illustrated Books.  Reading on the roof.  Perfect days. 

Hello Loves!  My Monday was off to a marvellous start thanks to some very happy mail from The Chandi Studio.   I came across this shop on IG last week and decided to treat myself to some my first silver jewellery of the year.  I was in the market for some small pendants to wear on the daily, my everyday pendent if you will.  The little elephant was love at first sight and I needed it in my life.  :) The little flower with these shiny shiny stones was also perfect to wear everyday.    Their packaging honestly blew me away. What a nice little box!  :)  Love the design and illustrations on the box.  The many moments of Jaipur, where the studio is based out of.  These are the pendants.  A little elephant. & A flower.  So perfect. 

Hello Loves!  Today I want to share a little glimpse of my main planner for 2021.  My place to plan and make lists and keep my life organised.  :)  This year I went back to an Inkbucket Planner, I had used their planner in 2019 and was very happy with it.  Let's see some glimpses of it shall we?    A Fresh Start! Exactly what we need in 2021!  Words to live by!  My precious.  In a year where I didn't want to take a chance and needed something that would make me smile everyday, I went with a pink planner.  I love pink. I know, I am a cliche.  But I honestly do not care.  As I've gotten older there's been this silly need to be more mature and forsake my love for all things pink. But when I saw this planner on the website I was like I am going to get a pink planner because I love it and to hell with being a grown up! The planner comes in this gorgeous floral box that keeps it safe and sound.  Since I've been using this p...

Hello Loves!  How is your weekend going?  Mine is fulllll of books.  My day started with some very happy book mail and I spent my morning reading on the terrace with my sister.  My sister finished a book this morning and started a new book too.  This is what we are reading this weekend.  :)    A stack of our Weekend Reads.  Our current reads.  My sister is reading Daura by Anukrti Upadhyay.  Unforeseen Desires by Anil Chopra: I t is the 1970s and the Emergency is at its peak. Arun, an idealistic young man, is a medical intern in Dehradun whose life takes an unexpected turn when he is accused of losing a senior doctor’s wedding rings. As he begins his search for the rings, he meets Victoria, an older English missionary, who has made India her home. Arun persuades her to rent him a room in her compound, and, slowly, over shared meals and games of Scrabble, the two form an unlikely bond. In Victoria, Arun finds a patient listener and ...

Hello!  Another Friday.  Another set of new favourites.  :)    1. A Backpack from Chhoti Si Asha: Love these happy faces on this drawstring backpack. I haven't had a drawstring backpack in ages. And this one is so well made and sturdy and will hold a whole lot of stuff. This is my second time ordering from Chhoti Si Asha and I am so impressed with the quality of their things and how sensibly priced everything is.  2. Pressed Flower Bookmarks from Artoverted: I cannot get enough of bookmarks and pressed flower beauties are the best. Look how beautiful this is?! Artoverted makes such beautiful things.  3. Botanical Bookmark: Some more bookmark love. These are the first things I ordered this year. Botanical prints are so pretty. I love how minimal yet stunning these are. They are from Painted Petunias.  4. Fish Brooch from Needle by Sompi: Brooches are such an easy way to dress up an outfit or even a bag or pouch. This embroidered brooch is a thing...

  Book: Murder in the Caribbean  Author: Robert Thorogood  Pages: 326 Read on: Kindle  Read in: 3-4 hours  Plot Summary:  DI Richard Poole is hot, bothered and fed up. He’s stuck on the tropical island of Saint-Marie, forced to live in a rickety old shack on a beach, and there isn’t a decent cup of tea to be found anywhere. When a boat explodes in the harbour, Richard and his team soon realise there’s a new murderer on the loose. But who is it? And why did the killer leave behind a ruby at the scene of the crime? As the police dig deeper, they uncover secrets that go back decades, and a crime from the past that can never be forgiven. Worse still, they soon realise this is only the beginning. They’ve got to catch the killer before there's another death in paradise.  General Thoughts: We are big fans of  Death  in Paradise , the BBC series, which follows a team of detectives on a little island in the  Caribbean  called Saint-Marie. Th...

Hello Loves!  Bidisha of Vastriyan fame makes the most magical and beautiful things.  I got a whole bunch of brooches from her last month and recently my sister was in the market for some tinier brooches to do up her Traveller's Notebooks, as in to use them as charms to decorate her dori.  So she got these slightly smaller brooches from Vastriyan.  We got flowers galore and all of these are so absolutely stunning and they make me so happy.  I've been wearing a brooch on on sweater every now and then to play dress up and not feel so dowdy while stuck at home.  :)  I will share now my sister styles her dori and how good these little darlings look on a MTN.    Aren't they just lovely?  I cannot recommend this shop or it's owner enough.  All sorts of loveliness. 

Hello Loves!  I added a few more beauties to my burgeoning bookmark collection recently.  My second batch of bookmarks from Shrutii Kartikey .  The first batch of bookmarks from her were painted and these are prints.  :)  I love love love the floral beauties and the moonlight.  So pretty!  I seriously cannot have enough of pretty bookmarks.  They just make my heart happy.    Aren't they just stunning?!  Flowers forever.  Do check out her work and get yourself something beautiful.