The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello, hello, Another weekend and another 'what to watch' post on this blog :)  Today's recommendations are a nice mixed bag of true crime, horror and romance! So, let's get into it, shall we?  Nobody Wants This is a rom-com that is an instant throwback to the mid-2000s! Not only because it stars millennial heartthrobs Adam Brody and Kristen Bell but also it is, basically, a classic rom-com. Has several laugh out loud moments and all the formulaic, trope-heavy things that defined the rom-coms in the early to mid-2000s.  Messed up, commitment-averse heroine- check.  Stable, nice-boy hero- check.  He falls first- check.  She falls harder- check.   And, like I said, lots of LOL-worthy moments, mostly stemming from the hero's extremely Jewish family and the heroine's messy-chaotic family.  This is not a perfect show but it is one of the better rom-coms one has seen in a while. Plus it has six very short episodes which I like. I am so over 50 minute lo...

 Hello, hello, After absolutely ages, we are back with a 'What to Watch' recommendation post! Today we are recommending 5 True Crime Documentaries that we recently watched and loved!  Let's get into it, shall we?  1. Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter tells the heartbreaking story of birth mom- Kathy Terkanian- who had given up her nine-month-old daughter for adoption in 1975. She had heard nothing of or from her child (since it was a closed adoption) until 2010, when the adoption agency wrote to her asking for a DNA sample to match a set of female remains found in Wisconsin. It was then that Kathy, who even after receiving the letter had not learnt her child's name, learnt that her daughter has been missing since 1989! The two-episode documentary follows her tenacious search into the whereabouts of her daughter and the shocking revelations that unearth more unsolved crimes!  Very, very good! Absolute must-watch! Streaming on Netflix. 2. Worst Ex Ever: Who hasn't had ...

  Book: Murder in the Family Author: Cara Hunter  Pages: 470 Read on: Kindle Read in: ~5 hours  Plot Summary:  IT WAS A CASE THAT GRIPPED THE NATION  LUKE RYDER’S MURDER HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED  In October 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of the family home in London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw anything. Now, secrets will be revealed – live on camera.  Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence on Infamous, a true-crime show – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on? Or does the truth lie closer to home? Can you solve the case before they do?  The truth will blow your mind. General Thoughts: If there is only ONE Crime Fiction/ Thriller book you read this year, make it this one! :) Now, on to the review.  Things I Liked:   1. The premise had me at hello! A cold case, a murder of a much younger step-father, no solid leads, promise of a m...

Book: Bright Young Women  Author: Jessica Knoll  Pages: 384 Read on: Kindle  Read in: ~4 hours  Plot Summary:  January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home—a decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence—two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that’s captivated public interest for more than four decades. On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years o...

  It's another weekend and a hot one at that! Or a rainy one if you are in the path of Cyclone Mocha! Please stay safe!  So, if you are looking to stay in and binge a show, then may we suggest Dahaad on Amazon Prime Video.  We binge watched it today and here are five reasons why we think you should watch this show!  1. Loosely inspired by the notorious Cyanide Killer - a serial killer from Karnataka known for killing women with cyanide - Dahaad is, at a very basic level, a serial killer thriller show. However, it is not just that. It is a lovely, nuanced look at general misogyny, the role and place of women in society, issues of casteism and religious intolerance that are so prevalent in our society today. So, if you want to watch a great serial killer cat-and-mouse type show with some thoughtful and intelligent layers, then this is the show for you.  2. The casting is just stellar! Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah are pitch perfect in...

 Hello, hello, Shubho Noboborsho to any Bengali person seeing this! I hope the coming year is full of good health and happiness!  Happy Vishu, Bihu, Baisakhi and Pana Sankranti to all our friends from various parts of the country! Hope your coming year is full of good health and happiness!  Blessed Good Friday to everyone observing this day.  So, since this is a long weekend in many parts of the world, I thought I'd share some binge-worthy recommendations.  Let's get into it, shall we?  1. Kakababur Protyaborton Kakababu (the detective created by Sunil Gangopadhyay) is back! This time murder and mayhem find him and Santu during a vacation to Kenya! A good one to watch with kids or even without!  Kakababur Protyaborton is streaming on Hoichoi.  2. Abhay Season 3  Abhay returns for Season 3 and this time with a slew of interesting murders involving a cult! This season was so good! I really enjoyed it!  Abhay Season 3 is streaming on ...

  We just finished bingeing the Netflix documentary 'House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths' . For the uninitiated, in June 2018, 11 members of a multi-generational, typical joint family were found dead in their North Delhi home. There were no signs of foul play and this was a case that didn't fit neatly into any pattern that the cops had come across until then. A mass, multi-generational family, suicide was unheard of in India and the murder of 11 family members, mostly below 45 years of age, with no signs of struggle also seemed impossible to pull off! So, what was it? What caused the deaths of these 11 souls?  That is what House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths delves into and here are two reasons why you must watch this really interesting series!  1. At just three 45-minute episodes, House of Secrets is the perfect length to binge watch immediately. It'll only take a little over a couple of hours and you'll have the satisfaction of watching something genuinely interes...

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you'll know that my sister and I, we, love crime/ mystery/ thriller as a genre. Not only do we read a lot of crime/thriller books, but we also listen to several popular true crime podcasts . So, it was a no-brainer when we read that Unsolved Mysteries, a popular true crime investigative documentary style show, is being revived on Netflix this month! We couldn't wait to watch it! Long story short, we binged all six episodes quite rapidly and we LOVED it! Here's why we think you'll love it too! 1. The Cases : The cases featured in this Volume/ Season of the show (yes! There is hope that we'll get another volume/ season eventually!) were varied, mysterious, puzzling and gripping! They ranged from missing persons to homicide to hate crimes to even some paranormal activities and each case will make you wonder how it happened and, in some cases, who the perpetrator is and how he/ she managed to get away...

I always intend on reading more non-fiction but truth be told I am primarily a fiction fiend. I enjoy an occasional foray into non-fiction. And I am so glad I read some really good non-fiction books this year. So let's jump into my favourites from this year. My favourite non-fiction reads of 2019 are: 1. I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara: The true story of a journalist's obsessive search for the Golden State Killer- a serial rapist and murderer linked to over 50 cases of sexual assault and murder. Michelle McNamara interviewed as many victims as she could, tracked objects stolen from the crime scenes that were taken as mementos, worked together with other amateur detectives to try and track down the Golden State Killer. This book is a true labour of love and a must-read for all true crime buffs. 2. At Home in Mumbai by Chandrima Pal: A great little book about the different kinds of homes and the people who live in them. From apartments to heritage b...

I've been trying to explore Netflix a bit more in an effort to find new and interesting shows to watch. In that process, here are five new (to me) crime thrillers that are totally binge-worthy! In no particular order: Mindhunter  If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you'll know that we love Criminal Minds- the TV show set in the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI. So, when we learnt that Mindhunter is the story of the actual Behavioural Sciences Unit started interviewing serial killers to learn more about their psyche and what triggers them to commit acts of brutality that were so new, scary and unimaginable! The show is absolutely fantastic! The build up of the narrative, the little parallel glimpses that we are getting into the genesis of one notorious serial killer and the actual re-creation of the interviews with convicted serial killers themselves! Highly, highly recommend! Marcella Marcella is a police detective just getting bac...

Hello!  Time to throw it back to some glorious books I bought in the month of March.  March overall was a good month, book wise and other wise. I read a ton of good books and even bought a handful of great books.  I've already shared my Faber Stories book haul before, these are the other books I picked up, all of them Indian books.  Some Chughtai.  Some true crime.  A memoir.  A text in translation. A masala read.  A good mix!  Let's see some of the beauties I've added to my shelves lately.  Chughtai has been one of my absolute favourites for years now. I first read her when I was 14 and she blew my mind. So far though, I've only read her short stories. So when I saw some of her full length novels had been translated, I jumped on it. There are a few more I'd like to eventually get my hands on. But these two are a good place to start. Both of these are set in the Bollywood of the 40s and 50s and I can't wa...

Hello!  The weekend is here and is there a better time to unwind with some TV shows.  I realised it had been a long, long time since I shared my favourite TV shows on here. And I know so many of you love these posts of mine, so without wasting anytime let's jump into some shows I've been loving in recent times.  Most of these are on various streaming platforms, mainly Amazon Prime and Netflix and Zee 5.  1. Abhay /// A cop drama based on true crimes. Edgy and hardcore, this is a cop show that exceeded my expectations. There have been 4 episodes so far and I have immensely enjoyed all of them. The acting is good and it's so nice to see Kunal Kemmu in a serious role.  Highly recommend.  2. Fyre /// This one was oddly satisfying and engaging. I knew very little of the whole Fyre festival debacle when it happened and it's aftermath, yet I was hooked to this documentary. It is so good and so sad and an inside look into a great con. ...

Book:  The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch Author: Sanam Maher Publisher: Aleph Book Co Pages: 272 Read On: Hardback How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days Plot Summary:   Bold’, ‘Shameless’, ‘Siren’ were just some of the (kinder) words used to describe Qandeel Baloch. She embraced these labels and played the coquette, yet dished out biting critiques of some of Pakistan’s most holy cows. Pakistanis snickered at her fake American accent, but marvelled at her gumption. She was the stuff of a hundred memes and Pakistan’s first celebrity-by-social media. Qandeel first captured the nation’s attention on Pakistan Idol with a failed audition and tearful outburst. But it was in February 2016, when she uploaded a Facebook video mocking a presidential ‘warning’ not to celebrate Valentine’s Day, that she went ‘viral’. In the video, which racked up nearly a million views, she lies in bed, in a low-cut red dress, and says in broken English, ‘They can sto...

Hello!  Time to share some of my newest bookish loves. So far, May has been a fantastic month for book buying.  I got all of these books from Amazon in the very beginning of the month and I got mostly a bunch of translated regional fiction. I found some great books and I am so excited to getting to them soon!  Here's what I added to my bookshelves recently... BOOKS BOUGHT///  The Greatest Urdu Stories Ever Told by Muhammed Umar Memon  The Story of a Brief Marriage by Anuk Arudpragasam Diwali in Muzaffarnagar by Tanuj Solanki  Murder in the City by Supratim Sarkar  Karmachari by V.P. Kale  This book sounds so interesting and I am so happy to be reading some Marathi tales in translation. I also adore the cover illustration, a Mumbai local in all of it's glory.  My current read which I am enjoying a lot.  12 Cases from the Kolkata Police case files.  Short stories set in Muzaffarnag...