The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

  Book: Tales from My Heart  Author: Ruskin Bond  Illustrator:   Sumouli Dutta Pages: 120  Publisher: Red Panda (Westland Books)  How Long it Took Me To Read: A couple of hours  Plot Summary:  Miss Kellner has a tin of biscuits that fascinates little Ruskin. And granny’s cat is just so full of attitude. Oh, and have you heard about the famous playback singer from Mumbai who sang for the ghost of the maestro Tansen? Ruskin Bond’s charming life has been anything but ordinary. In this wonderful collection, he scours through his memories to come away with tales that celebrate life, its myriad splendours and many lessons; spectacular wonders of nature; stories of ghosts; and the surprising friendships between animals and people.  Tales From My Heart , written in Bond’s inimitable style, is peppered with his trademark warmth and wit. Vividly illustrated by Sumouli Dutta, this is a gift for all readers, big and small—a family treasure to return t...

Hey, hey! Since it is a Friday night, thought I'd share some of my recently watched and loved web series and movies  that my sister and I have really enjoyed recently.  Let's get into it, shall we? 1. Home Before Dark Season 2 (on Apple TV+) We watched and loved Home Before Dark (Season 1) on Apple TV+ earlier this year and really loved the storytelling, mystery and the little intrepid student detective/ journalist protagonist. The show's second season came out a few months ago and it did not disappoint. A very relevant mystery, which also helped tie up all the loose ends from Season 1. Highly recommend.  2. Only Murders in the Building (on Hulu and Disney+ Hotstar)  A crime comedy-is series where an unlike trio investigate a murder that takes place in their Upper West Side building and start a podcast to document their journey. A great mystery, fantastic writing and brilliant performances by Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez and an amazing ensemble cast, whic...

  Book: The Night She Disappeared  Author: Lisa Jewell  Pages: 464 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  Mum, there's some people here from college, they asked me back to theirs. Just for an hour or so. Is that OK?' Midsummer 2017:  Teenage mum Tallulah heads out on a date, leaving her baby son at home with her mother, Kim. At 11 p.m. she sends her mum a text message. At 4.30 a.m. Kim awakens to discover that Tallulah has not come home. Friends tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a pool party at a house in the woods nearby called Dark Place. Tallulah never returns. 2018:  Walking in the woods behind the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started as a head teacher, Sophie sees a sign nailed to a fence. A sign that says:  DIG HERE . . . ___________________________ A cold case. An abandoned mansion.  A family hiding a terrible secret. Things I Liked: 1. We've read several books by Lisa Jewell and have had ...

  Book: The City of Palaces (also published outside of India as The Sleeping Dictionary )  Author: Sujata Massey  Pages: 488 Read: On Kindle  Read in: ~5.5 hours  Plot Summary:  An orphaned girl.   A cruel twist of fate.   A spectacular adventure. Bengal, 1930. Young Pom’s life changes forever when her family is wiped out in a devastating flood. She becomes a maidservant in a British boarding school where she discovers her gift for languages.  Amidst the drudgery of her duties, she finds unexpected friendship and experiences the stirrings of first love. However, tragedy strikes and she is forced into hiding.  Alone and desperate, she is recruited into a brothel for English officers. She hopes this secretive, decadent world will shield her from the demons of her past.  But fate intervenes, and our heroine is on the run again—to Calcutta, the city of palaces, where she finds herself caught up in the rising tide of Indian nationalism. ...

  Book: Local Woman Missing  Author: Mary Kubica  Pages: 352  Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  You’ll never find her. Don’t even try. When a local mother and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, suddenly vanish, their close-knit suburban community is rocked by fear and suspicion. How could such a terrible thing have happened in their small town? Then, eleven years later, Delilah shockingly reappears. Everyone wants to know what really happened to her. But there are secrets hidden deep in the past – and when the truth about those missing years begins to surface, no one is prepared for what they’re about to find out. Things I Liked: 1. The premise of the book and the first 30% of it were very interesting and gripping. Two missing women, one  missing  child from the same neighbourhood. Cases, which don't seem linked, but the events happened too close to one another for them to be ruled out as unconnected! Who has taken these wom...

  Book: As Good as Dead (Book #3 in the ' A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' Series)   Author: Holly Jackson  Pages: 464 Read on: Kindle  Read in: 4 hours  Plot Summary:  Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her:  Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?   Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars. Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle . . .and if sh...

  Book: Rock Paper Scissors  Author: Alice Feeney  Pages: 320 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. An anniversary they’ll never forget. Adam and Amelia are spending the weekend in the Scottish Highlands. The remote location is perfect for what they have planned. But when their romantic trip takes a dark turn, they both start to wonder – can they trust the one they’re with? Because every couple tells little white lies. Only for Adam and Amelia, the truth is far more dangerous. Things I Liked:  1. Marriage is a fascinating subject. There is so much that goes on in a marriage that is endlessly interesting. Couples keep secrets- they don't have to be big, life altering secrets- which can lead to lies, more lies and, sometimes, to deadly consequences. So, in this book, we have a couple that has a lot of secrets and who have lied a lot to each other. When the wife- Amelia- wins a raffle during her of...

 Hello Loves, the JCB Prize long-list was announced day before yesterday and has some pretty surprising books on the long-list. Some that I've had my eye on and some that I had never heard of before. Some I want to pick up and read and others which I have honestly zero interest in picking up. But I think that there is a little something for everyone to pick up and that is a good thing be.  This book that I am reviewing today has made it to the long-list. I was reading it when the list was announced and having had read it I can see why it would make the cut. I am glad I already had it and I am glad I read it.  I might read a few more books from the long-list and review them in due time.  Let's talk about this book first.  Book: What We Know About Her  Author: Krupa Ge  Publisher: Context Books (Westland)  Pages: 204  How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days ( I took my time with it)  Plot Summary:   Yamuna is adrift. A long-term relat...

Hello Loves!  For a stationery loving and hoarding Behen, such as myself, a pencil pouch/bag is of utmost importance. A place to carry all my pens and pencils and highlighter and other miscellaneous things and keep them all in one place and safe is very critical.  So I tend to get a lot of pouches for this specific purpose. I also really like pouches in general. Back when life was ordinary and one went out and about, I used a lot of pouches to keep my bag organised and neat. I also use pouches to store my stationery, make-up and bookmarks and even jewellery. So in my world I can never have enough pouches.  :)  I was recently getting a backpack and tote from Taaga by Reema, and Reema shared some of her new quirky fabrics with me, I guess she knows me well and lo and behold I fell in love with these two prints and needed something in them. I didn't want another tote or backpack, so I went a classic, a pouch!  Two pencils bag, one for my sister and one for me....

  Book: The Girl from Silent Lake  Plot Summary:  When single mother  Alison Nolan  sets off with her six-year-old daughter,  Hazel , she can’t wait to spend precious time with her girl. A vacation in Silent Lake, where snow-topped mountains are surrounded by the colors of fall, is just what they need. But hours later, Alison and Hazel vanish into thin air. Detective Kay Sharp  rushes to the scene. The only evidence that they were ever there is an abandoned rental car with a suitcase in the back, gummy bears in the open glove compartment and a teddy bear on the floor. Kay’s mind spins. A week before, the body of another woman from out of town was found wrapped in a blanket, her hair braided and tied with feathers. Instinct tells her that the cases are connected––and it won’t be long until more innocent lives are lost. As Kay leads a frenzied search, time is against her, but she vows that Alison and little Hazel will be found alive. She works around the...

  Hello Loves!  I have been writing morning pages (pretty much regularly) since July now. It feels so good to have a place to jot down some musings and thoughts and just vent if I need to. I used the same journal for July and August and used up all the pages come September.  So new month, new journal.  I picked this floral beauty for my Journal in September.  And did a little decor to get it started.  How beautiful is this journal?  This style of florals is my favourite.  I got this journal and another pink one, free with my planner this year. From The Inkbucket. So I figured I might as well put it to good use.  :)  This journal already comes with a front page and I decorated it using some simple supplies.  A whole bunch of stickers, some Washi Tape, a vellum paper and a scrap of brown paper.  I like how it's turned out.  A closer look.  Supplies from:  VnV Shop. Kimey's Corner  Ali Express.  &...

  Book: The Family Plot Author: Megan Collins  Pages: 382 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse is haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she is unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen. After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house, where the family makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax. Dahlia is quick to blame Andy’s murder on the serial killer who terrorized the island for decades, while the rest of her family reacts to the revelation in unsettling ways. Her brother, Charlie, pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister, Tate, forges ahead with her popular dioramas ...