The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

 Today felt like a blur. A good blur.  Finished a good book. Had some coffee.  Cleaned up my space. And started a new book! 

 Hello my loves!  Happy Day of Love to you and yours.  Whether you love Valentine's Day or not, it's a good excuse as any to indulge in some reading and finding something that works for you.  Here are some book recommendations for Valentine's Day...Books to read if you love Love or books to read if you want a good crying session.  There's something for everyone.  1. Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay: This one is a family favourite. This was my Thamma's favourite story in the whole wide world. Because this story was sorta like her love story with my grandfather. She found a lot of similarities between her love story and that of Lalita and Shekhar. A timeless, simple and enduring story about childhood sweethearts, misunderstandings and love.  2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows: Juliet- a budding writer/ journalist receives a letter from a pig farmer called Dawsey from the island of Guernsey...

 Hello Loves! Life’s been busy in the last few days, so I haven’t been reading all that much. This morning I picked up two adorable books and smiled my way through them.  Both have a common theme, they are about life lessons from our furry friends!  One from cats and the other from dogs!  🐶🐾🐈🐕🐈‍⬛🐩🐱🐾🐶 Here’s a look at some of my favourite pages from both books.  Eat. Play. Love. Life Lessons from my Dog by Emma Block: This book is pure love. Adorable, wise and so so beautiful. I read this with a big smile on my face and my heart full of joy, I gave this 5/5 stars and I highly recommend reading it. Now on to the book about cats.  This one has more sass (because cats) and is just as adorable!  Life Lessons from my Cat by Jamie Shelman: This one was sassy and funny and cute as hell. If you love cats, pick this book up, you’ll love it. 

 Hello Loves!  Happy Hump day 🎀 Here's what I did today~  Finished a great book. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix was such a wonderful and scary and moving book. Set in America in 1970, in a house for unwed mothers. We meet a host of teenage girls about to have babies out of wedlock. It's infuriating and important and has some witchy moments. I loved it.  Caught up with an old friend.  Ate delicious tuna sandwiches.  Ordered a few things 😁 my birthday month is coming up and I believe in treating myself.  Spoke to my Mom.  Chilled.  A good day.  Sweet treats.  Journal pages this week.  Three amazing books I read earlier in the month.  Two kid's books.  And one a handbook for memory keeping. 

 Today I woke up feeling a little sick.  So I just read, lay down and felt a little better. It's this darn weather, cold one day and hot the next.  Ugh.  Here are some glimmers from my day..  Coffee. Always bringing me comfort.  &  Finishing up my current read: Thorns in the Crown by Tanushree Poddar, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It's historical fiction set in India starting off in the 1920s till the 70s. Three people from very different backgrounds and how their lives and destinies are shaped in this tumultuous time.  I am planning on eating a simple salad for dinner and watching a spooky film.  Here's hoping tomorrow is better ♥

  Book: The Three Lives of Cate Kay Author: Kate Fagan  Pages: 304 Read on: Kindle Read in: ~3 hours  Plot Summary:  Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now. As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again. Things I Liked:  1. This is a very atmospheric, well-written  and int...

 Hello Loves 🌷📖📝🌻📖📝🌷 Hope you’re having a lovely New Year's Eve. 🌸 Last evening of the year and time to talk about My Year in Books and list my Top 24 reads of the year.  I’ve had a very good reading year.  I read 235 Books and a majority of them were good. There were some duds; but for the most part this was a very successful reading year.  I read loads of Indian Books. Read translations. Read books from all corners of the world.  Read some new to me authors and fell in love.  Tried new genres.  Read some delightful children’s books. Read so many beautiful picture books. Read a fair amount of nonfiction.  Bought a few books but was able to very successfully do a whole book buying ban from May to November.  Annotated some books.  Read physical books.  Read a ton on my iPad. Read very little on my Kindle (she’s getting old).  Found so much comfort and solace in my books.  I am so grateful for my books and for storie...

 Hello Loves!  You know I love and adore Indian Books. I'd say nearly 60% of the books I read in a year are Indian Books. In April and August, I read only Indian books and honestly, I could go a whole year just reading books from the Motherland. I love Indian books. And anyone who thinks Indian books are not that great or only think of those.."popular" books as Indian Fiction..well..do better. Look around and find yourself some great books  from India. Whether written in English or translated from regional languages, we have such brilliant books to offer.  Maybe this list will help you.  So let's jump into my favourite books of the year.  TOP 10 INDIAN BOOKS OF 2024 (FICTION & NON-FICTION) :  1. The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction Vol. I & II: I love detective stories and this beautiful boxset with two volumes full of the best detective stories from the country was a treat. I loved the curation and collection here. We have stories ol...

 Hello Loves!  2024 is nearly over and I read some incredible books from around the world.  Truly, one of the best things about reading is the ability is to read, learn and spend time with people from a different culture than mine and walk a mile or two in their shoes see a whole other side of the world.  So here's my Top 10 Books from around the World. We have books from Argentina,Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Iran and Palestine.  So let's jump into it.  1. Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh: Set in Nigeria, this is a coming of age story of a young queer boy. We see his life unfold in the changing landscape of his country. Him being outed and the repercussions and pain and healing and finding himself and love in a world were the odds are stacked against him. I loved this book, even the parts that broke my heart. An incredibly well-written and stirring debut.  2. This Motherless Land by Nikki May: Set partially in Nigeria and in par...