The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Hello Loves!  Today let's look at some amazing literary fiction reads of mine from 2021. Some amazing books you need to read! And all of these books, in spite of being Literary Fiction they are all very, very accessible and very easy to read and love.  Let's just jump in shall we?  1. The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai: This book just...broke my heart and these people, these characters just held my heart and will always stay with me. So so good. Seriously this might be the best thing I read all year.  Set in Vietnam  for nearly a century this powerful novel is a family saga and a swift lesson in Vietnamese history and everything they've had to survive. I am so so so happy I read this book and  I implore you to pick it up if you haven't already. This is something I will definitely re-read in the future. Absolutely luminous and amazing! But go in knowing there will be tears involved.  2. Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri: I mean..of course Lahi...

 Hello, hello, I am for most part a fiction reader and a fiction lover. I have always been drawn to fiction more than any other genre under the sun. Lately, in the last few years I've tried to branch out and read and incorporate more non-fiction in my life. I don't think there will ever be a time when the scales will dip towards non-fiction in my life but I would like to read more from this varied genre.  Non-fiction books are interesting because they tell real stories about people from different walks of life. This year, I read some really interesting ones across sub-genres and I thought I'd share my favourites here.  Let's get to it, shall we?  1. Childhood Days by Satyajit Ray: This year was Ray's Centenary and a lot of things went Ray themed. I started my reading year with Ray and read a lot of his work. So of course I read his childhood memoir too. Full of stories from his earliest years, some memories of his father and his childhood home up to his early years ...

 Hello, hello, This has been a year of great international TV shows! We've had some really good ones streaming even in India and so, without much ado, here is our list of favourites from 2021.  1. Only Murders in the Building: Oh my God! Hands down my absolute favourite show this year just so so so good. It's equal part funny, warm, goofy and a solid mystery. I love everything about this show and am currently re-watching it because it's just the thing to binge this time of year. I love these characters and I can't wait for season two and be reunited with these darling people. Please watch it if you haven't, it's streaming on Disney Hotstar.  2. Wanda Vision: Some MCU to save the day and give us a much needed revisit with out favourite people. This show is a whole other ballgame, very different from what Marvel has done so far. A hat tip to sitcoms from the golden era of American sitcoms and so enjoyable and kickass. Brilliant, this is streaming on Disney Hotst...

 Hello, hello, Today I'd like to share my favourite Hindi OTT shows/ series of 2021. Let's get into it, shall we?  1. The Family Man (Season 2): The action moves to Chennai this season where some erstwhile members of the LTTE attempt an assassination and our team of TASC officers race against time to stop them. The second season is as full of thrills, humour and edge-of-your-seat moments as the first. Plus, a lot of loose ends from Season 1 were also closed. The Family Man is streaming on Prime Video.  2. Your Honour: A judge will break all laws to save his son from a terrible fate. A fast-paced, thrilling series about the extent to which a parent will go for their child. Your Honour is streaming on SonyLiv.  3. Candy: A boarding school in a hill station. A pervasive drug problem. A teenaged boy brutally murdered. A mythic creature hunting young people in the woods again. A teacher with demons of his own struggling to stop this brutal killer. A really good web s...

 Hello Loves!  I feel like 2021 has been the year of the short story for me. I read a LOT of short story collections this year. Which in itself is not out of the ordinary, I have always enjoyed short stories but this year I have found more comfort in short stories than before. Maybe some of it has to do with after Covid effects, when my attention was easily muddled and I preferred reading a short story instead of diving into a full length novel.  So here are my absolute favourite short story collections from 2021.  1. Immoderate Men by Shikhandin: I picked this book on such a whim. I thought to myself, well you only seem to read about women and their stories, won't it be nice to read about men for a change? I am glad I had this fleeting thought and that lead to this book and I am so glad I read this little gem. The stories here are about men in all sorts of shapes and forms. Good, creepy, sad, lost and so incredibly real and flawed and beautifully written. I loved th...

 Hello, hello, Today we bring to you the Top 10 thriller books of 2021.  As a genre, thriller/ crime/ murder mysteries is a big favourite of ours and today we will be sharing some of our absolute favourites of 2021! Let's get into it, shall we?  1. 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard is the perfect thriller for 2021! It tells the story of a couple that meets at the beginning of the lockdown in 2020 and move in. At the end of the lockdown, after 56 days, one of them is found dead. A twisty, gripping book this one! The full review can be found here . 2. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave is an interesting story about a woman whose husband just takes off one day leaving her a cryptic message to "protect her". Her being his sixteen-year-old daughter. Why did he take off? What does the daughter need protecting from? The full review can be found here .  3. The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood is a fun and interesting, nicely done murder mystery. A 77-year-old woman...

 Hello Loves!  Since I listed my favourite Children's Books yesterday, today we look at some of my favourite Young Adult Books I read in 2021.  I really like the list I have curated here. A mix of India and elsewhere.  Amazing books, good for teen and great for not-teens.  Let's get started.  1. The Truly Devious Series by Maureen Johnson: OK this is a little bit of a cheat since it's three books instead of one, but this whole series was read, well binged in pretty much one swift week. Three books all great.   This series revolves around a cold case from 1936. Iris Ellingham and her daughter, three-year-old Alice, left for a drive on a  spring  day in 1936. They never returned home. Iris' husband, industrialist and millionaire, Albert Ellingham, left no stone unturned to find his wife and daughter, but to no avail. Ellingham Academy, the special school for gifted children and home to the Ellinghams, which is still open after a...

 Hello Loves!  How is this Monday treating you? Can you believe this is the last full week of 2021! Where does time go?!  Well, let's kickstart this week with a list of my favourite kidlit of 2021.  I love reading Children's Books. They are my idea of comfort, joy and something to read when life seems a little too sad, when I want to read something simple yet profound and comforting I turn to Children's Books. A hallmark a good Children's Book is that it works for both kids and grown-ups.  :)  Here are some of my favourite Children's Books from 2021.  1. The Railway Gang by Ruskin Bond: Of course we kick things off with Ruskin Bond who is a forever favourite. This little book was a thing of joy. Stray dogs living in a railway station and the kind people they interact with. Sweet, wholesome and a great way to show kids how life is for strays animals in our country and teach them how to be kind to the animals on the street.  4/5  A quick little...

 Hello Loves!  Today I am back with part-II of my favourite journals of 2021. I earlier shared my favourite art journals of the year and today I want to share my Journals..my writing/musing/thoughts/feeling journals.  I have journaled more this year than ever before. Especially in the second half of the year I took to daily journaling in a big way and never looked back. This spurt mainly came from my darling friend Meenakshi sending me some 8 new journals as a gift and I took to writing my morning pages with a passion. Thank you M, for inspiring me to get to write more and unwind and de-stress.  :)  Now my journals are a thing of joy.  And these guys are some of my absolute favourite!!!!  Let's just jump into it shall we?  1. Ekatra Handmade Journal: This was my main 'journal journal' as where I documented little and big things in life. A place to vent and rant and put my feelings in. This one is a block-print cover journal I got from Ekatra Hand...

 Hello Loves!  Historical fiction is one of our favourite genres to read and an easy way to travel back in time. This year we read a wide variety of books set across various periods of time. Apart from literary historical fiction, another historical sub-genre we indulged in this year were historical thrillers.  A crime caper set in the world from long, long ago.  We are doing this as a separate list because we had enough books to merit a Top 5 list and if you like thrillers but maybe haven't delved into historical fiction, these books might just be the ticket to get you interested and, hopefully, be a gateway to read more books from this genre.  So here are our TOP 5 Historical Thrillers of 2021 .  1. The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey: Perveen Mistry is a woman we've grown to love. It's always a delight to step back in time and visit her in a Bombay very different from the one I live in. Her stories have been a favourite since the first book in the series...

 Hello, hello, We are kicking off our annual countdown of the 'Favourite Books of 2021' series with a genre that is, usually, engaging and interesting- historical fiction. Who doesn't like a trip down memory lane or to a past that one has not lived through? Who doesn't enjoy reading about people navigating ordinary and extraordinary life and global events during an era that one has only read about in history books? Historical fiction as a genre is so interesting to me and I usually tend to pick up several books of this genre in any given year. This year I bring to you 5 of my absolutely favourite historical fiction books. These books are set across different eras and in different parts of the world. They will take you on a journey of love, longing, loss and so much more!  Let's get into the list, shall we?  1. Still Life by Sarah Winman tells the story of multiple characters through the almost 30-year span between the end of World War II to the mid-1970s. It is a st...

 Hello, hello, We interrupt our regular list-making and end-of-the-year wrap-ups to bring you some bougainvillea joy! Our garden is full of these vibrant blooms and we can't help staring at them or clicking pics every single day!  I love how these flowers start out by being coral coloured and then morph into vibrant purple blooms!  I love looking at these colours against the bright, clear blue skies.  Ah see!  See? So lovely! I hope you are having a good week and are excited about the weekend!  See you tomorrow with the first of our annual reading favourites list!   

 Hello Loves!  For today's post I want to quickly talk about my new pen pouch, which is an unexpected Christmas present...see my sister ordered herself this pouch to keep all of her journaling supplies in one place but while it was on it's way to us, she found some beautiful patchwork and minimal pouches that she loved more. She meant to cancel her order but it was already shipped and once she arrived she gave it to me.  So yay!  :)  It's a nifty little spacious pouch that is perfect for keeping a ton of pens and it even has some slots and pockets to keep other bits and bobs.  I haven't stuffed it too much but it currently holds a lot of my most regularly used pens.  So here's a look at it.  I love how clean and minimal she looks.  I might just put a button or brooch over the tag...but even without a cover up it's quite nice looking.  You can find it here .  I was using three pouches to keep some of my supplies in order.  Now, ...