The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Book: My Life Next Door Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick Pages: 394 I Read It On: My Kindle I Read It In: 6 hours (across two days) Plot Summary:  The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? Thoughts and Review:  The main characters of this book- Samantha and Jase- are very cute. They are both good, kind and nice, especially, Jase. It was refreshing to read about teenagers who are port...

These sets of books were bought on two separate occasions in two separate bookshops.  The beautiful Fairy Tales and Aesop's Fables were bought at Om Book Store. I've been meaning to read Grimm's Fairy Tales. Children's books are just an easy way to re-visit memories of childhood.  The rest of the books were bought at Granth Book Store in Juhu. I had a hour to kill and ended up browsing and picking up these four books.  The Bridges of Madison County is for my sister, she read this book ages ago and really enjoyed it. So I bought her a copy of her own.  Between Shades of Gray is something I have wanted for a year, ever since I read Out of the Easy by the same author and really enjoyed it. I am currently reading this book and I am loving it.  Jobless, Clueless, Reckless seems like a fun little Indian YA read. I read a bit of this book in the bookshop and enjoyed it, so picked it up.  A Diet Of Treacle remi...

I have read 67 books this year..yes I am incredibly proud! But out of all these books, I've reviewed only 15 or so books. Not good, not good at all. Sometimes I might like a book but not have enough fodder for an entire review or not enough thoughts for a full review. You could always follow my on Good Reads to see my star review. But...I still want to do a better job of keeping a record of the books I've read and enjoyed. Thus, this new segment. Read and Loved. 5 books per post. Books I've read and enjoyed. Similarly, I am going to soon have a another new segment of books I've read but not exactly love..aka Hated. I always feel a little guilty doing negative reviews and hating on books. But there are some books that are just...well..terrible. So I am going to snap out of my silliness and talk about it. For now though, here are 5 books I've Read and Loved recently! What Really Happened by Banaphool:  Banaphool writes short, super-short stories, almost vig...

Book: A Tale for the Time Being Author: Ruth Ozeki Pages: 432 I Read: The paperback I read it in: 8-9 hours, across 2 days Plot Summary:  In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in a ways she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.   Full of Ozeki’s signature humour and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum ph...

Book: Me Before You Author: Jojo Moyes Pages: 369 I Read: The actual paperback I Read it in: 5 hours (in two sittings) Plot Summary:  Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. What I Liked: I LOVED  this book. LOVED! Lou and Will are such lovely, well-etched, beautiful characters. Lou is one of those people who live quiet,...

April 23 was World Book Day, so that gave me an excuse to go out and buy some books.  I went to two local bookstores- Landmark and Crossword and got these books. I could have just as easily ordered books online, and trust me, I very nearly did. There some amazing deals online. Flat 50% off on select books for World Book Day. But I wanted to go out and support an actual bookstore.  I got three of my books from Landmark for an awesome 3 for 2 deal. And paid 20% on both the Roald Dahl books at Crossword. I paid full price for only one book. So not bad at all!  I picked some interesting books and 2 new authors to try. I have heard amazing things about Mario Vargas Llosa and the Corban Addison book sounds amazing and is set in Zambia!  I have read Ru Freeman before and really enjoyed her writing.  I have more book hauls coming your way...like I've said before April was a very good month! 

Book: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Author: Alan Bradley Pages: 374 I Read it on: My Kindle I Read it in: 6-7 hours across 3 days (it was not very engaging!) Plot Summary: This book is the first in the Flavia de Luce series, which is about a 11 year old girl who lives with her reclusive dad and two sisters in an English village in the early 1950s. Flavia is the sleuth in these stories. (From Goodreads) Flavia de Luce 11 is an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. In the summer of 1950, inexplicable events strike Buckshaw, her decaying mansion home. A dead bird is on the doorstep, a postage stamp on its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man dying in the cucumber patch. His last words must save her father imprisoned for his murder. So, here is what you need to know- Flavia's mother has disappeared under mysterious circumstances whilst trying to hike up Mount Everest when Flavia was just a kid. So, she lives in this sprawling mansion with her sisters a...