The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Hello Loves!  My reading wrap-ups have sadly fallen off the radar in the last few months. I think I did my last wrap-up in May and then June came along and I read some 26 books and there was so much to talk about and I just didn't!  Odd! But it's always been bugging me, this whole not sticking to doing wrap-ups. So maybe, just maybe I'll do a manic catch up at some point or maybe not...it's a lot of books to talk about!  But for today I want to do a mini catch-up of sorts and at least talk about my reading in the last two months.  So here I am talking about the books I read in October and November of 2021.  :)  BOOKS READ IN OCTOBER OF 2021.   October was a good reading month. I read a mix of two genres primarily and it was my reading goal going into the month, to read some Bengali lit in honour of all things Durga Pujo and then get into the mood for Halloween with all things spooky and creepy. And to a large extent I managed to do just that.  :)  Here are my October R

 Hello Loves!  Hope this Monday is bright and beautiful and not blue at all in your corner of the world.  :)  My Monday is off to a good, very good start! I got a new laptop in the mail first thing today, and it's come right in time for Blogmas season. I blog every single day in December and it's perfect timing to have a laptop and get serious about my blogging and writing again. Oh in case you were wondering I got a Chromebook from Asus. And this is my first post from it and it's quite a nifty little device.  Yay I am so happy!  :)  So here are some cozy and happy things in my world.  Well, the memory of Durga Puja is always more than enough to make me happy.  This year I am so glad I at least got to go out and see some pandals in my city.  This one was a new to us pandal.  And the protimaa was in a classic and simple style. Blooming beauties.  Our terrace garden is full of these aparajitas in full bloom.  There is nothing better in this world that getting cozy under a qui

 Hello Loves!  Long time no Stationery Sunday, so let's change that. Today I want to share some random but recent-ish stationery favourites of mine.  First up is this absolutely stunning stunning sketchbook from Paramita over at Akibuuki . This is our third or fourth sketchbook from her and we are big big fans.  The sketchbooks are so well-made.  The paper quality is perfect and water colours go on smoothly and the paper holds up really well.  I highly recommend.  Look how pretty this woman with a lal paar shaada saree is!?  We are so happy with how this turned out.  This is an older one we got back in June.  So lovely!  My sister is already using this and is very happy with it.  Go check her out and maybe get yourself something lovely.  Another new discovery and favourite is Dola Art Corner from whom I've bought some lovely bookmarks.  See the beauties below.  Love the bird one. The art is so lovely.  And the colour so vivid.  The alpona range she does is also wonderful and ma

 Hello Loves!  I don't know what it's about November that makes me slow down and lose a little steam. Maybe it's winter making it's presence felt. Or maybe I take a break in anticipation of December and some marathon blogging.  Whatever the reason maybe, I slow down glacial come November.  I have blogged only 4 times all this month and it makes me sad to ignore this space.  So let's do a little bit of a catch up shall we?  Here's a little glimpse of what my November has looked like.. I hope you guys had a happy and safe Diwali.  Ours was warm and cozy.  We stayed in.  Lit lights and diyas.  Cooked up a storm.  Watched some films. It was allll good.  A little Reading Update.  Reading has been good. Really quite good so far this month. Earlier this month I made a TBR and you know what? I am actually kinda sticking to it!  What even!  I have also managed to incorporate some non-fiction reading into my reading for Nonfiction November.  The nonfiction I've read t

  Book: The Shadows of Men  Author: Abir Mukherjee  Pages: 341 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  Calcutta, 1923.  When a Hindu theologian is found murdered in his home, the city is on the brink of all-out religious war. Can officers of the Imperial Police Force, Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee track down those responsible in time to stop a bloodbath?  Set at a time of heightened political tension, beginning in atmospheric Calcutta and taking the detectives all the way to bustling Bombay, the latest instalment in this 'unmissable'  (The Times)  series presents Wyndham and Banerjee with an unprecedented challenge. Will this be the case that finally drives them apart? General Thoughts: This is the fifth book in Abir Mukherjee's Sam Wyndham and Surendranath Banerjee series. This is a  series  of historical crime fiction books set in India in the 1920s wherein Wyndham- a detective with the Imperial Police in Calcutta- and Banerjee- his  se

  Book: Still Life Author: Sarah Winman  Pages: 464 Publiser: PenguinRandomHouse  Read in: ~5 hours Read on: Kindle  Plot Summary:  1944, in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa, as bombs fall around them, two strangers meet and share an extraordinary evening. Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner is a sexagenarian art historian and possible spy. She has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the wreckage and relive memories of the time she encountered EM Forster and had her heart stolen by an Italian maid in a particular Florentine room with a view. Evelyn’s talk of truth and beauty plants a seed in Ulysses’ mind that will shape the trajectory of his life – and of those who love him – for the next four decades. Moving from the Tuscan Hills and piazzas of Florence, to the smog of London’s East End,  Still Life  is a sweeping, joyful novel about beauty, love, family and fate. Things I Liked:  1. I enjoy well written historical fiction because it  brings  to ligh

  Book: Murder at the Mushaira  Author: Raza Mir  Publisher: Aleph Books  Pages: 358  Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  3 May 1857. India stands on the brink of war. Everywhere in its cities, towns, and villages, rebels and revolutionaries are massing to overthrow the ruthless and corrupt British East India Company which has taken over the country and laid it to waste. In Delhi, the capital, even as the plot to get rid of the hated foreigners gathers intensity, the busy social life of the city hums along. Nautch girls entertain clients, nawabs host mushairas or poetry soirees in which the finest poets of the realm congregate to recite their latest verse and intrigue, the wealthy roister in magnificent havelis, and the drinking dens of the city continue to pack in customers.   One morning, Kallu, a retainer at a Delhi haveli, cleaning up after a grand mushaira, discovers a poet stabbed to death with a polished agate dagger. Gruesome as it is, the murder appears to be a

  Book: Spooky Stories  Author: Tanushree Podder  Illustrated By: Kaveri Gopalakrishnan  Pages: 133 Read on: Kindle  Read in: 2 hours  Plot Summary:  A writer's journey turns into a nightmare when he disembarks from the train to catch a thief and misses the train. Anirudh is forced to spend the night in a tiny railway station with barely anyone in sight. A power failure adds to his woes.  Guided by the flashlight on his phone, he finds his way to the waiting room. There, he finds thirteen chairs and a dozen passengers seated in the room. The next train is due at dawn, so they decide to pass time by swapping ghost stories... Uncover the mysteries of an ancient Egyptian tomb, travel to the ruins of an old fort and meet the ghosts of China's Forbidden City in this unusual set of eerie, spine-tingling SPOOKY STORIES! Things I Liked:  1. A group of strangers sitting around in a derelict railway station's Waiting Room swapping ghost stories. Did I need another reason to pick up a