The Untold Stories

by Manali Desai

About the Book Have you wondered about the events that happen around us? Do you think about the kind of lives people we come across everyday lead, and how they came to be what they are today? Our life is our story, but what about those little everyday incidents which create the anecdotes filling up the chapters of our life story? 'The Untold Stories' shares tiny anecdotes from people's everyday routines which go on to make remarkable chapters in their life stories. These anecdotes range from incidents around contemporary social issues and events such as terrorism and environmental imbalance to those circling around relationships. About the Author After completing her MBA (as any good child should) and working in Marketing, Manali would jot down her thoughts (the ones about her boss, the traffic, or the solace she found in a piece of Kit-Kat after a long day) Soon, bored by her job, she decided to study the written and spoken word as it gave her the most pleasure! So, she did her MA in English Literature and taught English for a while, sharing her love for language with eager recipients. Still, something tugged at her heart strings. That's when she took the plunge and decided to go into fulltime writing. Currently a freelance writer and a blogger, she is a regular contributor to various national as well as international blogs and webzines and alongside these, even runs her own blog. A published poet with her poetry collection titled A Rustic Mind (available on Amazon Kindle), Manali enjoys spending her free time poring over books and pondering about life, alongside some good music and a cup of hot chocolate. Manali is a wanderlust by heart and travelling is her biggest muse which inspires her to write travel stories. A flamboyant wordsmith who passionately captures candid moments, Manali, on the path to follow her passion, has whipped up colors that have painted the town colourful.

112 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2019

Reviews

[Suruchi]

This is a great book which can help you very much if you don't feel like reading anything. Because it will take you out of your reading glitch. I mean for me it worked as it has pictures along with tales.
"The Untold Stories" is a collection of microtales that involves every aspect of human life. Day to day chores are presented in such a manner that you wait for a moment and appreciate the beauty that life brings about even in the smallest things. This book strikes a chord of realisation as to how we ignore the little pleasures of life, the little things that wrap us. On the other hand it talks about some grave issues, some microtales gave me goosebumps. A picture tells a lot more than words can and this is true in the case of this book. The illustrations are very cute and appropriate and I think this is an amazing book that proves that less is more.

[Jhalak Khandelwal]

Beautifully put down thoughts. Its amazing that the author in few lines is communicating so much. Very well written and an easy read. I personally could relate so many of the tales and I must say they very creatively put forth.

[Surbhi Mishra]

This book, The Untold Stories, is an anthology collection of micro-stories about everyday life. This is a perfect book to read while having your evening cup of tea. Read on to know more about this book.

Now, this article is classified into four sections.

• Ratings And Info About The Book.
• About this Anthology.
• The Writing Style.
• My Views On The Book and recommendation.

Ratings And Info About The Book:

⁃  Title: The Untold Stories.
⁃  Author: Manali Desai.
⁃  Rating: 
 ↪  Botopsy rating: 4/5⭐
 ↪ Goodreads: 4.2/5
 ↪ Amazon: 4.4/5
⁃  Length of the book: 112 pages long.
⁃  Series: Standalone.

About this anthology

This book consists of over 130 micro-stories speaking on diverse subjects, each story consisting of about 50-80 words. Each story also includes an eye-pleasing image to augment the tale. The subjects addressed stretch from love to friendship to patriotism to brutality to climate, there's no aspect from normal life that is left out in this book.

Writing Style

The writing is warm and lucid, conveying exact emotion in each of the 130 micro tales. Though at some points I felt that better words could have been used but, as this book has targeted mundane topics of everyday life the words used are also simple.

My Views

I liked the author's idea of addressing multiple issues and also talking about the warm and colourful aspects of our lives. A few stories left me awed, reading some I felt painful and I laughed my heart out after reading some stories. Though I felt some of the stories should've been longer and elucidative.

Although I love traditional big novels with crazy plot lines and wonderful character arcs, I think that micro tales and anthologies are becoming the new trend and I think we should welcome it while not forgetting the traditional novels.

We live in such a busy world that we don't even have time to eat and reading being the most important part of our lives, these micro tales or anthologies help us catch up with it. In addition to it, this book encourages us to respect every little moment in our life. I think this is the strongest characteristic of this book.

Recommendation

⁃ Pick this book if

1. You are a busy person yet you want to catch up on reading.
2. You'd like to read and think upon some of the very basic aspects.

⁃ You wouldn't pick this book if

You like long descriptive novels and look for plotlines and characters that can inspire you.

All in all, I liked the idea of this book to cover every insignificant aspect of our lives. Every story is presented in such a way that the reader has to stop and appreciate the value of life. Being a long novel lover myself, I enjoyed this short read. This book got me out of my reading slump. Pick this book and cherish all the mundane things of your life.

[Ankita Khataniar]

Delightful

"𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐔𝐋"
#📖𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘📚
𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆: The Untold Stories: Stories from every day life
𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓: Manali Desai @a_rustic_mind
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: Contemporary/Realistic
𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓: Ukiyoto Publishing
𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕: Kindle
𝑷𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔: 112
𝑴𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘: As you can see in the second image, the book is a collection of over 100 micro tales about every day life including events that had a impact on society. Each tale is accompanied with simple hand drawn images that is suited to each theme. The tales pinpoint the epicenter of the bigger story attached to each micro tale. I think there is no situation in human life that the author has left untouched.
The tales have been written in simple words which I find is the most efficient when it comes to microtales. Because while reading them, readers are also compelled to think about the past and present associated with it. The stories show us that even the mundane things that we consider part and parcel of life, are significant for the person who is living the situation at that moment.
The emotional range of the stories is diverse. And I am all for a book that encompasses a myriad of emotions as they make me feel more involved with the book. Although the stories are impersonal, I am left to think what if that happened with me. There are even some instances that I have experienced personally or witnessed somewhere.
I believe that microtales have the potential to be a good source of impact through books as they can cater to a wider audience, and even to those who are just beginners in the reading experience. As we share memes and quotes, we are already leaning towards shorter lines with impactful meanings. And such books definitely are a good way to pass the time without investing much energy and yet they compel people to rethink their values and societal norms.
The best part of the book is that you can read them at any time, stop and resume again at anytime, without worrying about the read pages. Even if you are inclined to read long descriptive novels, I recommend you to give this book a read.

[litwithneha ( Neha Modi )]

Crisp and imaginative snippets !!

I loved these little untold stories from everyday life. The illustrations were beautifully supporting the crisp stories. A good read !!

[Manali]

In just a few sentences the author has managed to narrate stories which not only make us enjoy the reading process, but make us think about our actions and spoken words. In a world which is becoming increasingly impatient when it comes to anything and everything, Manali has managed to combine 'going with the trend' + 'sticking to the thought provoking base of writing'.

All in all, a highly recommended read for one and all