Rakhi Jayashankar's Blog, page 81

Review of Stupid Cupid by Ankit Sonthalia

Book Name         - Stupid CupidAuthor                  - Ankit SonthaliaPublisher              -Srishti PublishersNumber of Pages - 195Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     -144Buy books from Amazon,  Flipkart
Rating : 3.5
BlurbEngineer? Doctor? Chartered Accountant? Artist? Or something out of the box? 
Students at the cusp of passing out from the high school are often occupied with such considerations and choices. With Suhaan, it was different. He wanted to do nothing. “Go with the flow” had been the motto of his life and he had always given life a chance to make decisions for him. 
It’s only when he starts playing cricket for the college team that his passion is fuelled. He practices hard and gives it his all. But life is still keen on planning Suhaan's life. When he falls in love with Namrata, he is forced to choose one – passion or love. Will Suhaan make the right choice? Or will life once again call the shots for him? 
Stupid Cupid is a tug of war between dreams and love.
My Review
Romance fiction has been following the preset formula of boy meets girl,  falls in love, wooes her,makes out, gives surprises, fights, makes up and lives happily ever after. I was literally tired of this over worked formula but thankfully Stupid Cupid is a relief from the tiresome repetition. Suhaan Arora's love life reflects the life of most metrosexual guys that we come across these days. Having a stop gap relation seems audacious to many but fortunately or unfortunately it is not a rarity.
The story is not a mono dimensional puppy romance. Author has shown an academic side, though not prominent. It is good to see a protagonist who follows his passion instead of hovering around girlfriends aimlessly. 
The cricket line is narrated well but the detailed account of the IPL scenario could have cut short wherein the whole storyline in general seems rushed. Two people having sex within hours of their meeting is something beyond my comprehension may be because I am obsolete. Poor character craft is a major flaw of the book. 
Book cover design is good but the title could have been something else.

Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author

Ankit Sonthalia runs a construction business, something that he’s always had the passion for. He is married to Ankita Agarwal, his childhood love interest and lives with her in Surat. He is fond of travelling and exploring new places and does it often. He managed to write Stupid Cupid after scribbling many notes and articles in his personal diary.

Review of Climbing Rainbows by Sreelatha Radhakrishnan

Book Name         - Climbing RainbowsAuthor                  - Sreelatha RadhakrishnanPublisher              - Leadstrat PublishingNumber of Pages -122Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     -199Buy books from Amazon
Rating : 3.0
BlurbLearning the skills to cope with the hard things in life is a rich, learning experience. Climbing Rainbows, a collection of six stories, celebrates these brave moments of struggle for children. Sudha is shocked to hear of her beloved grandmother’s sudden demise. Why do people have to die? Where does death lead us? Little Keshav does not want to be uprooted from his school and move to a new city. He cannot imagine another life, other friends. Maya and Dev come to terms in their sibling rivalry by looking at things differently. Young Ashwin is torn trying to understand that his parents love him, but that grown-ups too, need their own space. Harsha, a chubby chunk of lard, fights a seemingly hopeless battle against obesity. Joshua, boldly faces the ravages of war to pursue his dream.
My Review

Grandma's stories are always kids' favourite. Climbing rainbows is a collection of Grandma's stories that are a step ahead. The stories depict the lives of kids who faced challenges and successfully coped up with several situations and evolved as different human beings with a unique outlook in life. The story are embellished with subplots. Every story loudly proclaims the importance of humanity. For a kids' the narration is a little serious and some of the subplots seemed unwanted distraction.  The book is overpriced but the messages conveyed by the stories cannot be valued in terms of money. Every plot represents the live in the current scenario. The book is an advice that we would want to give our children.
Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review of Why Not? by Latha Upadhyay

Book Name         - Why Not?Author                  - Latha UpadhyayPublisher              - Leadstart PublishingNumber of Pages -128Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     -199Buy books from Amazon
Rating : 4.0
BlurbWelcome to the real world, where superheroes live. They are no different from anyone—confronted with life’s turmoils and challenges. Like the young performer, Pandit Ravi Shankar - the sitarist who introduced Indian classical music to the West , in The Music Weaver. His heart tugs him to leave his cushy life behind for exciting but uncertain possibilities. The mountain porter, Tenzing Norgay - the first climber to top Mount Everest, alongside Edmund Hillary, in The Determined Dreamer.He can’t control his yearning for something more…bigger, better and greater. The number-whiz, Srinivasa Ramanujan - a one-of-a-kind mathematical genius, in The Mathemagician. He outshines his teachers even though he fails his high school exams. The aspiring pace-bowler, Kapil Dev - India’s greatest fast bowling all-rounder, in The Game Changer. His talent, passion and dedication are dismissed as building up an impossible dream. The US-educated engineer, Dr. Verghese Kurien - the father of India’s White Revolution, in The White Knight. He returns to India with stars in his eyes but lands his first job in a dusty small town in the middle of nowhere. These heroes do not share dreams or circumstances. Yet they have one thing in common. They do not look at what is and ask why. Instead, they imagine how they want things to be and ask … WHY NOT?

My Review

Why not is an informative book for children. Biographies of five great personalities will inspire the kids and develop the importance of perseverance and optimism in their minds. The five persons do not have any common factors except for the fact that they have struggled in their lives before attaining success. The book is quite inspiring  and the narration is simple and easily comprehensible. The fact that the history is narrated concisely makes it easy for the kids to read. The book is one of the few informative books that incite interest in kids. The book cover could have been better.

Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review of 03:02 by Mainak Dhar

Book Name         - 03:02Author                  - Mainak DharPublisher              - WestlandNumber of Pages - 350Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     - 295Buy books from Amazon,  Flipkart
Rating : 5.0
BlurbAt 03:02 on a Sunday morning, the world as we knew it came to an end. Mumbai suddenly went black — no electricity, no phones, no internet and no working cars. It was as if someone had turned off the master switch of our civilization, turning us back hundreds of years overnight. We learned that it was not just Mumbai, but much of the world that had been impacted. We also learned that it was no accident. A deadly enemy was behind it. An enemy that was now in our midst, seeking to conquer us and destroy our way of life. This is how our war for freedom began. A war that was to be waged not on the borders or by the Army, but in our homes and streets, with us as the soldiers. This is our story. '03:02 celebrates fictional heroes who fight for our freedom, but to give back to the real heroes who do so every day, for every copy sold, a contribution from author royalties will be made to the National Defence Fund, which takes voluntary contributions to help armed forces service members and their families.'
My Review

Right from the title, 03:02 is a book full of surprises. By surprises it doesn't  mean that the book is full of pleasant incidents. Definitely not. Surprises are all about the freshness of the effortless narration. Being an author myself, when I read a book,  I used to imagine what the writer would be thinking while writing a particular sequence. But in this book not even once I thought about the author. All my thoughts were focussed on the protagonist(Adithya). What does he look like? What he would be wearing? What he would be feeling?  All in all, by the end of the book I started believing that there was indeed a person called Adithya who took  the responsibility of the nation during the imaginary black out. Sad part is that we cannot simply sit and think that this is pure fiction. Any time the nightmare can come true. 
After completing the book,  I rechecked it for praises but unfortunately I could not find any. I would like to presume that this is because I got an ARC. During the second edition,  there would be a back cover fully dedicated to praises.

A well crafted story. Perfectly executed.  Impeccable character portrayal. Only flaw I could find was the overdone formula of squeezing in a girlfriend and some making out sequences. Thankfully  author did not bore the readers with the details. Nevertheless I believe that it was unwanted. 

I recommend  the book to all thriller lovers. Mainak dhar proves that Indian authors can pull off thrillers with close knit storyline and with action sequences which are never overdone. I hope to see the book on silver screen soon. 
Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author

After finishing his schooling at Modern School, Barakhamba Road and his under-graduation at Hindu College, Delhi, Mainak Dhar graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He has spent two decades in the corporate sector starting with Procter & Gamble in India. He spent eighteen years with P&G, fifteen of them outside India across the Asia Pacific region. In 2014, he moved back to India as the CEO of the India operations of a major consumer products multinational. A self-described cubicle dweller by day and writer by night, Mainak is also the author of over a dozen books, some of which have been bestsellers in India and abroad. These books have been translated into Turkish, Vietnamese, Japanese, French, German and Portuguese. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Puja and their son, Aaditya. When not at work or with his family, he can usually be found working on or thinking about his next book.

Review of Hawk Hunters by Pushpenra Singh

Book Name         -Hawk Hunters Author                  - Pushpendra SinghPublisher              - Leadstart PublishingNumber of Pages - 288Publishing Year   -2015Edition                  -PaperbackPrice                     -198Buy books from Amazon,  Flipkart

Rating : 4.5


Blurb


Were Guru Gobind Singh's raw, ill-equipped sparrows able to hunt down the mighty Mughal hawk? Set in a turbulent pre-Independence Punjab, 'The Hawk Hunters' is a action-packed saga as well as a tender love story of great courage, nobility and supreme sacrifice. Above all, it is a celebration of the triumph of the human spirit over ruthless brutality and personal tragedy.
My Review

History, action, romance,  loss, pain, despair- Hawk Hunters is a book that can be categorized into multiplicity genres. Set in background of Sikh-Mughal battle, the story takes the readers to a beautiful world of love between Sammi and Naaz. Tremendous level of hard work and preparation is evident throughout the book.  There are no loose ends in the narration inspite of a complicated storyline. History and fiction are seamlessly interweaved with spicy juicy sub plots which are constructed with finesse. 
The romantic moments between Shammi and Naaz are depicted subtly yet effectively. The battle field and the detailed account on how an army of inspired men fighting for a cause galvanizes the conscience of readers. The story conveys a great message of secularism and humanity. The history of Guru Govind Singh and hjs followers is enlightening and informative.
Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author
Maj General Pushpendra Singh is a retired Army officer who lives at 'Harshabadpuri' in Panchkula (Chandigarh). He was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar and St Columba's, New Delhi and has a M.Sc. from the Madras University. A national- level horseman, he is also keen on wildlife. He is married with children and three grand-children. In 2012 he teamed up with his artist-wife to publish "The Magic Degh" (KW Publishers, Delhi) a book of short stories for children. During one of his tenures in J & K he happened to visit the birthplace of Banda Singh Bahadur in Rajouri. Fascinated with this hermit's success in liberating most of present Punjab and Haryana from the Mughals, he decided to delve deeper into this brilliant military feat which "The Hawk Hunters" portrays.

Review of Parenting in the age of Sexposure by Vandita Dubey

Book Name          -  Parenting in the age of SexposureAuthor                  - Vandita DubeyPublisher              - Rupa PublicationsNumber of Pages - 174Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     - 295Buy books from Amazon

Rating : 4.5

Blurb

Parenting in the Age of Sexposure approaches the thorny issue of sex and sexuality in the lives of children, at a time when the media and the Internet bombard kids with countless sexualizing, explicit messages ‘Thin is good’; ‘Having sex is “in”; ‘Sex has nothing to do with commitment’.
How do parents bring up children when the media overwhelmingly portrays girls and women as sexual objects, encourages boys to form superficial relationships and reinforces gender biases? How do they secure their kids’ emotional wellbeing, while admitting that sexuality is an integral part of the human experience? Equally, how do they deal with the ugly realities of sexual violence and abuse and safeguard their children’s interests?
Parenting in the Age of Sexposure attempts to address these questions and offer ideas for conscious parenting.


My Review

Parenting is a stage in life full of excitement and pleasure  but accompanied by equal amount of stress, anxiety, dilemma and confusion. Every parent might have been asked questions like Where did I come from? Situations like discouraging one's child from touching  his/genitals, preventing them from using abusive words etc are also not unheard of. Many parents even have to deal with different sexual orientations and also cyber exploitation. While some situations can be prevented or diverted with smartness, some other need to be faced and dealt with patience. 

Parenting  in the age of sexposure is a pointer to such situations and provide feasible solutions which are equally educating and emboldening. The chapter  'The different expressions of Gender and sexuality' in  the book makes itself it more than worth the money. The identity crisis faced by LGBT community is primarily due to lack of support from  family. Author says how to face your child if he/she reveals their sexual orientations and how to accept them and encourage them in revealing the inevitability.

This book is one of the most relevant one in the parenting series. Every parent should read this  
Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author

Review of Beauty and Truth in love by Dipankar Sadhukhan

Name                    - Beauty and truth in love
Author                  -  Dipankar SadhukhanPublisher              - Cyberwit.netNumber of Pages - 83Publishing Year   - 2016
Edition                  - Paperback Price                     - 170
Buy books from Amazon

Rating : 3.0

BlurbBeauty and Truth in Love' is my third anthology of seventy one lovely amorous lyrics. Since my childhood, I have been deriving much pleasure from literature, especially from poetry. So poetry is my love and passion. Poetry is my soul. The poetry of the English poets (from John Milton to T S Eliot) has influenced my life so much. I am very impressed by the poetry of the Indian poets (from the Sufi poets to Rabindranath Tagore). I can t think of my life without poetry. The world of poetry is totally different from reality. It is filled with beauty, love and happiness. It gives me aesthetic pleasure and infinite joy both of which are not possible to gain in this mundane world. I can easily transport myself to Paradise on the wings of imagination which is the key to my creativity.
My Review


Love is a feeling that will never tire someone. It is an emotion which will never lose its relevance. Let it be towards your spouse ,friends, siblings, parents or offsprings, love is divine. Even dreams are given their share of love. Poet, through a collection of poems dedicates his poetic musings to love. The poetry collection is divided into several parts. Most of the poems are sonnets with seamless rhyming. The poems are simple, yet enchanting. 

Some of the poems are repetitive. The poems bring a smile on your face. The poem dedicated to his daughter brought tears in my eyes because I could see my own daughter in his verses. Read this poetry collection if you love someone, if you had loved someone, if you will love someone no matter how deeply. After reading the poems we will fee only one emotion - Love and love only

Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author

It is said oft that a poet is someone who is a blessed soul. Dipankar Sadhukhan, a teacher and a poet friend is definitely a blessed one for he has been doing what many people find it very difficult to do in our modern hedonistic world. He is searching for Beauty and Truth through his poetic endeavour. But then poetry can never exist without that pursuit. Finding Beauty and Truth and Love is the quintessential element of poesy. Reading his book 'Beauty and Truth in Love' is like understanding various facets of life. While in poems like 'O My Dear Angel, the Source of My Mirth', 'O My Little Princess, Next to Deity!' one finds father's love for his daughter, poems like 'True Love Doesn't Alter with the Course of Time', 'Love Isn't Love When It Wears....' bring out the pains and sufferings of a poet seeing the world being corrupted everyday by forces which are inhuman and ruthless. Interestingly, as a poet can never lead his generation to despair, so Dipankar moves on to uphold the true Beauty of love through his poems which celebrate nature's bounty and abundance. Poems like 'Autumn Has Appeared with Fragrant Flowers' bear testimony to the poet's insatiable romantic quest which tends to be spiritual and rightly so! Wishing all the success to his endeavour.

Review of impulse by Reekrit Serai

Name                - ImpulseAuthor                  - Reekrit SeraiPublisher              - Rumour booksNumber of Pages - Publishing Year   - 2014Edition                  - Paperback Price                     - 70
Buy books from Amazon
Rating : 3.5

Blurb
Impulse Stunning, powerful stories of modern India from a talented young writer. Love is the most common of human affections. Yet, when it comes to love, nothing is as it seems. In modern Delhi, a young man woos a girl from Chandigarh who is totally out of his league, and a college girls life changes dramatically after an encounter with a classmate. In love, people can become objects of infatuation, or means to happiness, such as a partner whos immortalised in her husbands photo album, and two entirely different people who are more than friends, but less than lovers. In these short stories, Reekrit Serai touches upon subjects that shape our urban lives, such as an entrepreneurs ambition, an interns unconfessed affection for his boss, the realisation of the hardships of being a parent by an impatient son, and the suffering and death caused by communalism. With humour and subtlety, Serai introduces us to a very new India, where love and happiness go hand-in-hand with hardship and chaos.

My Review

Impulse is a selection of touching short stories with characters that haunt you even days after reading. Every story is one different in its own unique way. Not even once will, the reader feel like reading a repetitive rendition. Author took the stories to another level setting a benchmark on how to pull off variations in characters and emotions.
The first story 'twenty seven', was adapted as a short video which was viral all over the virtual world.Love, loss, pain, desperation, revenge, dreams, nightmare- Each story is emotionally rich and emphatically attached to reader's heart.

Only short coming that I noticed was in the design of the book. Overall look of the book as well as the cover design is not as appealing as the book. Even if we say that we should never judge a book by its cover, it is a human tendency to do so. Hence a little more care on that front would have made the book more appealing.

Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author

Reekrit Serai (born October 1, 1991) is an Indian entrepreneur, columnist, educationist and author. He grew up in London, England. His debut novel, “As i Turn Twenty” was published to excellent reviews when he was just 19. He has been covered by major Indian media houses, such as The Times of India, Hindustan Times, India Today, The Tribune, Mail Today, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala and Aaj Samaaj. Presently, he lives in Chandigarh, India with his family.You can connect with him on his facebook and twitter pages, or send him an e-mail on inforeekrit@gmail.com.

Review of The man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag

Book Name         -   The Man-eating leopard of RudraprayagAuthor                  - Jim CorbettPublisher              - Rupa PublicationsNumber of Pages - 184Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  -PaperbackPrice                     - 140Buy books from Amazon,  Flipkart
Rating : 5.0
Blurb

An exciting narrative of a leopard that spread terror through five hundred square miles of the hills of the United Provinces, The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag also takes a detailed look at life in the Garhwal region of India. Apart from Corbett’s hair-raising pursuit of the leopard for almost a year, the book talks about the superstitions prevalent in the region, the beauty of the landscape, what turns a leopard into a man-eater and many other, often surprising facts and anecdotes, all told in Corbett’s inimitable style.
A worthwhile read for all ages, The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag is also an ode to the people who inhabit the hills and the resilience with which they face the hardships that assail them.
My Review

The Man-eating leopard of Rudraprayag cannot be reviewed as any other book. It is already proved that the book is a treasure for all book lovers. Nevertheless, as a blogger I ought to provide my opinions about the book. What surprised me the most was the humility of the author. His magnanimity in providing equal credit to Ibbotson and other supporters in attaining a seemingly impossible task swept my mind.

More than an account of leopard hunt, the book provides us the priceless lesson of life about not giving up even after repeated failures. Jim corbett is an excellent writer. Chapter after chapter, readers will be hooked to the book. Author maintained the suspense throughout the book even though the climax was known to everyone.

We get to have a sneak peek into the lives of people of Rudraprayag. The anecdote of something that happened in 1926 still entices the readers due to the literary brilliance of the author. It need not be asserted that Jim Corbett is a legend, not only of the woods but also of literature.


Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author
Edward James ‘Jim’ Corbett (25 July 1875 –19 April 1955) was an Anglo-Indian hunter and tracker-turned-conservationist, author and naturalist, famous for hunting a large number of man-eating tigers and leopards in India. He played a key role in creating a national reserve for the endangered Bengal tiger in what is now Uttarakhand. In 1957 the national park was renamed Jim Corbett National Park in his honour.

Review of A Broken Man by Akash Verma

Book Name         - A Broken ManAuthor                  - Akash VermaPublisher              - Srishti PublicationsNumber of Pages - 240Publishing Year   - 2016Edition                  - PaperbackPrice                     -195Buy books from Amazon,  Flipkart
Rating : 4.5
Blurb

Take a deep breath before you are born here, my child! You take birth in a land where I struggled; Gave it my sweat and blood. A land that I thought belonged to me..… Unbridled, uncompromising.
Krishna is a Dalit boy from Bihar who struggles too overthrow the chains that hold him back. Chhavi is a high caste Brahman girl fighting for the rights of others, propagating equality in a politically charged Lucknow University campus. After Krishna saves Chhavi from getting torched during a protest against reservation, love slowly blossoms, only to be ruthlessly crushed by a society that thrives on divisions of caste and religion. From student politics in Lucknow to the interiors of Bihar, from the corridors of power to the glitz of media and the film industry in Mumbai.
A Broken Man is the quest of a deprived Krishna to redeem hope from despair, love from separation and success out of repeated failures. From the bestselling author of It Happened That Night and Three Times Loser, this is a story that reinforces our faith in what love can accomplish as it pushes us to achieve the impossible, making us tap our true inner potential.
My Review
Broken man is an excellent and unique story of the live between Krishna and Chavi. Krishna is a Dalit born and brought up in a village in Bihar whereas Chavi is an out and out city girl who hails from a rich Brahmin family with high political influence. The story shows us that love is not only blind but beyond all boundaries. 
The depth of love between Krishna and Chavi touches the deepest cords of the reader's heart. The pain of separation will melt even the strongest person. A lot of issues of social relevance are addressed in the story. Issues like reservation, corruption etc are addressed with the deserving seriousness. 

The n egligence, discrimination and the taunts suffered by the oppressed sections of the society depicted in the story is sure to change at least a few readers who think low about the low caste section. Rendition is excellent and poetic. The poems of Krishna which were originally written by the author is a bonus. A translation of the same could have been included.

The making out scene between Krishna and Chavi was unwanted. It seemed like an eyes sore in a beautiful poetic story. Chavi's life after separation with Krishna was not convincing enough. It seemed like author was rushing to the end.
All in all the book is an excellent one with a strong deep storyline. But for a few glitches, the book would have scored a five star rating.
Reviewed for the publisherDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book as a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
About the author

Akash Verma is an entrepreneur. His work has taken him across the country and he finds this experience very relevant while giving shape to his stories. He has published two bestsellers till now. Akash is currently based out of Gurgaon, India. He is fascinated by Cinema, Literature, History and Travel.