The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

  Hello Loves!  Time for my January Reading Wrap-Up.  January, for me is a month where I want to read the best books. To set the tone for the rest of my reading year. It's unfair to heap this sort of pressure on a month, but I am far too set in my ways to change.  I put a fair amount of thought into picking my reads, especially for first read of the year.  I want to read books that make me happy and books that I am fairly certain I will like.  I didn't make a TBR this month, I did have a rough idea of which books I'd read but I was also swayed by my mood and some new releases that jumped ahead in queue.  I read 20 books in total.  A classic, my favourite one at that.  A memoir.  A lot of kid lit.  Some picture books.  Some graphic novels which I loved. The first two weeks of January had me in such a graphic novel phase and I am so happy this happened.  A thriller, with a side of horror.  Some literary fiction.  I...

  Hello Loves!  So January is nearly over.  I love how January always manages to feel too long and too short all at once.  I had a good month this time around.  I did drive myself a little crazy in the beginning in the quest to do too many things and have the best possible month I could humanly have, had bouts of anxiety (after ages) and thankfully remembered ways to handle it.  I read.  I bought books.  Watched a ton of films and TV shows.  I journaled.  I went to my favourite book shop.  I walked around my favourite parts of town.  We had some actually cold winter days which was amazing.  I felt warm and cozy and so grateful.  Here are my absolute favourite things about January 2023:  JANUARY FAVOURITES:   1. New Planners and Journals~~~ Setting up my new planners and journals in the New Year is always a thing of joy. I love doing a little reset in life and so excited to start fresh new journals and set g...

 Hello, hello, January is almost coming to an end and before it does, I thought I'd share some of our most loved content- TV and film- that we watched this month! Without any further ado, let's get into it!  The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix)  A murder mystery featuring a young Edgar Allen Poe. Set in a military academy in New York, The Pale Blue Eye, deals with the brutal murder of a young military cadet. When the local detective (Christian Bale) is called in to investigate, he forms an unusual alliance with another young cadet- Edgar Allen Poe. An interesting and riveting murder mystery movie.  The Wonder (Prime Video) When a young girl in a little Irish village has not eaten anything for over four months, it is assumed to be a divine miracle of sorts. The local parish and some influential men (businessmen, local Lord) decide to get this miracle ratified by calling a Catholic Nun and an English Nurse to observe the girl day and night for two weeks. Is this really a miracl...

Book: Death Comes to Marlow  Author: Robert Thorogood  Pages: 387 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  It’s been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becks – AKA the Marlow Murder Club – since the events of last year. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey, to his nurse, Jenny Page. Sir Peter is having a party at his grand mansion on the river Thames the day before the wedding, and Judith and Co. are looking forward to a bit of free champagne. But during the soiree, there’s a crash from inside the house, and when the Marlow Murder Club rush to investigate, they are shocked to find the groom-to-be crushed to death in his study. The study was locked from the inside, so the police don’t consider the death suspicious. But Judith disagrees. As far as she's concerned, Peter was murdered! And it’s up to the Marlow Murder Club to find the killer before he or she strikes again....

  Book: Nine Liars Author: Maureen Johnson Pages: 457 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general. Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax. The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed...

 After 9 long years, my sister, finally, upgraded her Kindle Paperwhite!  Her old Paperwhite's storage was almost full and one day it just got hung and didn't start up until we kept pressing down on the on/off button till our fingers nearly fell off!  So, it was time for an upgrade! The new (11th generation) Kindle Paperwhite has a bigger screen and is also a bit lighter (feels that way) than the older Paperwhite that she had.  Here are some quick pictures. Here it is! The cover is a standard Kindle cover that can be bought from Amazon. It is very lightweight and doesn't add any extra weight to the Kindle.  The screen is nice and big, which is always a good thing!  As you can see, the newer Paperwhite is a smidge bigger than the older one but the screen width is significant.  Very excited to get reading on this!  If you're looking to upgrade your Kindle, now is a good time because the Amazon Republic Day sale is on and there are decent discou...

  Book: Spare  Author: Prince Harry  Ghostwriter: J. R. Moehringer  Publisher: Random House  Pages: 518 Read On: iPad  How Long it Took Me To Read: 8 hours or so, I read this in a day.  Review: I want to start this off by saying clearly that I am not a fan of Harry and Meghan. Not at all. I am also no Royal fan. Them and their shenanigans make no difference to my life. Yet for the last five or so years all of this noise about H and M and their mistreatment at the hands of the Windsors and of course the very problematic and cruel media and tabloids is something I couldn't tune out. Especially since 2020 and the infamous split in the Royal family, every single statement and conversation made by these two has somehow made it's way to me and I am sure a lot of others who weren't even seeking this info out.  It's like the damn Kardashians, I don't follow any of them, yet through IG I often know what they're up to. This whole Royal scandal is so...

Feeling a little wistful and missing "real" winter and the various flowers from our garden back in West Bengal.  Not much of a post today, just a wee walk down memory lane.. Hope you've had a good week and yay! it is almost Friday! 

  Book: The Hidden Palace Author: Dinah Jefferies  Pages: 528  Read on: Kindle Read in: 5+ hours  Plot Summary:  A rebellious daughter 1925.  Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer’s job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets. A sister with a secret 1944.  Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before. A rift over generations Betrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence’s only clue, the war an immovable barrier – and time is running out.  Things I Liked:  1. Dinah Jefferies writes historical fiction books set in different parts of the world  during  World War II. The first book in th...

 Hi everyone! Sharing some pictures of the set up of my reading journal of 2023.  If you're wondering what a reading journal is, it is a notebook where I write down my thoughts about books that have made some kind of an impact on me. It is a way for me to put down my thoughts, write down what the book made me think, feel etc.  For my 2023 book journal, I am using this notebook from Kaagazi (no point sharing a link because the store is now shut).  The first page looks something like this. Just decorated it with some of my favourite bookish stickers and supplies. These are from a couple of Instagram shops such as Shop ABC, Kimmay's Corner and so on.  This is what the first inside page looks like. Just some cute stickers!  Hope you liked this little peek into the set up of my reading journal. If this is something that interests you, then I can share a peek into book journals of years past!  Have a great day! 

  Book: How the Mango Got its Magic  Author: Sudha Murty  Art: Priyanka Pachpande  Publisher: Puffin Books  Pages: 44  How Long it Took Me To Read: Half an Hour  Plot Summary:   We all love the sweetness of mango and how it quenches our thirst on a hot summer day, but have you ever wondered how the mango got its magical sweetness? The tale of how such sweetness came into existence is a fascinating one indeed. India's favourite storyteller brings alive this delightlful tale with her inimitable wit and simplicity. Bursting with captivating illustrations, this gorgeous chapter book is the ideal introduction for beginners to the world of Sudha Murty. Review: We all love mangoes. The king of fruits has all of us looking forward to the harsh months of summer. On it's own, or in pickles or chutneys, in milkshakes and ice-cream- Mangoes work in every which form. To have story about how the Mango got it's own special taste and sweetness just made me ...

 Hello, hello! I hope you've been having a lovely weekend!  I spent mine reading, doing a spot of planning, journaling and watching a movie on Netflix. A nice, lazy Sunday.  I wanted to share a quick look at the tote bag I am using to carry my planners and supplies currently.  This is the tote bag that I am using to carry around my planners, journals and supplies. It is from La Dolce Vita and I've had it since 2019 and hadn't really had a chance to use it! Fully blame the pandemic for that!  Here is what it contains- my planner, gratitude journal and my folio, which houses some of my supplies and, of course, my pencil case.  The folio (light blue) is actually a Hobonichi cover, which I am using as a folio to carry around my supplies.  Here is the bag! I love the whimsical outfit of the girls!  The pencil case I am currently using is also from La Dolce Vita and I love their illustrations!  Have a great week ahead, folks!   

  Book: Five Survive Author: Holly Jackson  Pages: 389 Read on: iPad Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Her best friend - the older brother - his perfect girlfriend - a secret crush - a classmate - and a killer.   When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead. With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or figure out which of them is the target. But is there a liar among them? Buried secrets will be forced to light and tensions inside the RV will reach deadly levels. Not all of them will survive the night... Things I Liked:   1. The premise was very interesting! I have read and immensely enjoyed the  Good Girls trilogy by Holly Jackson and so, this book, set over a night during a road trip where six high scho...