tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14944324937140949732024-02-20T06:53:01.134-08:00COGITO, ERGO SUM !I think, therefore I exist!Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-56134542778349173162019-11-09T00:10:00.000-08:002019-11-09T00:10:22.441-08:00Book Review - Disciples of Trikaal (✩✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Varun Sayal, I can't thank you enough for these review copies!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Disciples of Trikaal is a prequel to the first book of the Time Traveller series. However, after reading it, I would say that one could read it even as a standalone or at the beginning of the series. The story is a short and crisp one. Due to paucity of time, I took a few days to finish this, but it can be easily read in one sitting. For me, it worked as a short story.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Story: The story follows the life of two young men - Nemi and Aru, the two Disciples of Trikaal, and how their venturing on two completely different paths shapes the world as we see in the other two books. There is a very clear protagonist and antagonist, so it is easy to side with characters. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If one has read the other two books, they well understand how the choices made in this book form the basis for the other two books.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The narrative: The story is gripping from the word go. Since I read the other two books in the Time Traveller series before I picked up this one, I was very keen on knowing how the characters/storyline were connected. While there are no big suspense reveals in the book, it surely keeps you hooked </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">on. That's because Disciples of Trikaal is one of those books which move so fluidly that the small events make for a bigger plot.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The Language: Like Varun's other books, the language is lucid. There is no unnecessary jargon. At the same time, the author manages to paint a picture with the use of descriptive yet simple language, which is quite a feat.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">I think the book, very subtly, gives out some really good messages. These are some of my takeaways:</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">> With absolute power comes absolute corruption.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">> Greed and selfishness have no limits.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">> Karma bites back. What goes around will, definitely, come around.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">> With power comes responsibility.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">> Sometimes we have to make big sacrifices for bigger good.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">> No good deed goes unpunished.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Like his every other book, I would recommend this book. If you haven't read any other book by the author, this would be a great place to begin (along with Time Crawlers, of course). It will give you an insight to the world of mythology meeting sci-fiction.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">*****</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Follow my reviews </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" style="background-color: white; color: #b87209;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" style="color: #b87209;" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></span><br />
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-47062861599574769702019-06-02T03:59:00.000-07:002019-06-02T04:17:24.344-07:0010 days in Italy on a Budget!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In this post, I will give a general introduction to my 10-day solo trip in Italy, starting and ending at Torino, where I am presently living.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Knowing that I'd be in Italy for almost 6 months, I was fairly sure that I won't visit it again anytime soon, not for tourism at least. Hence in my ten days of spring break, I decided to cover most of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This was my tentative itinerary: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 1 Torino - Florence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 2 Florence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 3 Florence - Pisa - Florence</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 4 Siena</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 5 Naples</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 6 Ercolano and Pompeii</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 7 Capri</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 8 Vietri sul Amare, Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 9 Baia</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 10 Naples</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Day 11 Torino</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The entire trip cost me around 650 euros, including all my travel, stay, shopping, eating, etc., basically from door to door.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(However, since I was living in Italy for a couple of months already, I didn't spend a lot of money on food. I mostly carried my sandwiches and wine from supermarket, and had them in parks, squares, etc. In Naples, which was my base from Day 5 onwards, I stayed in this wonderful hostel, where I access to a full-fledged kitchen. I carried a homemade sandwich and wine for all my day trips.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tips and tricks for this trip:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Since I was covering many places, I was wary about lugging my backpack everywhere. To deal with this, I decided to base myself in Florence and Naples. That way, I had to book only two hostels and didn't have to move from place to place with all my stuff. This, in my opinion, was a very practical and convenient choice. It also saved me from pre- booking everything, especially for the places I traveled to from Naples.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. April in Italy is mostly warm, but not always, especially since you may catch rain in parts of your trip. Luckily, I managed to get almost no rain for ten days, apart from a couple of hours in Sienna. I carried mostly dresses for my trip and one warm jacket. I had to buy a poncho in Sienna because of the rain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. For day trips, I kept a pair of leggings in my handbag, just in case it got cold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. If you're traveling alone, hostels are a pretty convenient and affordable option. I'll be posting details about my stay in the following parts.</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. Absolute essentials- sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, umbrella/poncho, some cash (I managed in less than 20 euros cash).</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have further divided my ten days into several mini-trips:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Florence in 3 days on a budget</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Florence to Pisa and back in a day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Sienna in a day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Naples in two days</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Naples Day Trip 1 - Ercolano and Pompeii</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Naples Day Trip 2 - Capri</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Naples Day Trip 3 - Amalfi coast</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">> Naples Day Trip 4 - Baia</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Happy reading!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">x</span></div>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-24004169984570637012019-05-20T06:08:00.000-07:002019-05-20T06:08:23.418-07:00Book Review - Demons of Time: Race to the 7th Sunset (✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even though I finished reading this book more than a month back, it is only now that I got the time to pen down my thoughts. Varun, apologies for this terrible delay!)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD8pWfkQY33RUMqgeIdw3DraxsRSiCNsBt6-vwbzVRAuElHRTalLpDCrgKPlYatwbHDhv0SH4vobXVJ6QR8eL_JqGi1xyJN9-YDHzbdqYWR_yHU3Zg5IP3lRtTmL95mIFc8nhZFQYqp4/s1600/IMG-20190520-WA0015-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD8pWfkQY33RUMqgeIdw3DraxsRSiCNsBt6-vwbzVRAuElHRTalLpDCrgKPlYatwbHDhv0SH4vobXVJ6QR8eL_JqGi1xyJN9-YDHzbdqYWR_yHU3Zg5IP3lRtTmL95mIFc8nhZFQYqp4/s320/IMG-20190520-WA0015-01.jpeg" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When one thinks of the sci-fi genre, we mostly end up thinking of foreign authors, Varun Sayal, in my opinion, is here to change that. The first book that I read by him (Time Crawlers), which also happened to be his first book, fascinated me so much that when Varun approached me with his second book, I just could not not accept the offer. In fact, it was an honour to be able to read the ARC of Demons of Time. Thank you, Varun, both for letting me read the ARC and mostly, for writing this wonderful book!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Plot: If I had to summarise the story in one line, I'd say it is a race against time story, topped up with fight between the good and the evil, with a slice of sci-fi, garnished with a squeeze of Hindu mythology - in short, a perfect recipe. (Even though that would be majorly simplifying the story-line.) While I am usually a fan of blurbs that do justice to the content of the book, for a masterpiece like this one, I do not think there can be any blurb to prepare you for the roller-coaster ride you're in for. In short, what I am trying to say is that the story has layers and layers that a reader will enjoy discovering right from page one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Language: The language is the star of this book. If you have read my reviews, you would already know that I am a fan of simple language. Demons of Time is definitely one of those books. The language used is simple, yet very descriptive, and it surely paints a picture for the reader. There is no unnecessary jargon or use of random flowery language, just a crisp narrative that I enjoyed a lot. Further, the science part of the sci-fi has been broken down very well, for the ease of understanding of the readers. And the way the same has been blended with ancient Hindu mythology is commendable. Reading the intricate details of the blend of science and mythology is what set this book in a different league for me than most others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Characters: Most of the characters have been well-developed, especially the main ones of Tej, Rigu and the 'evil' brothers. However, there were still certain characters that I would like to know more about. I would like to read a prequel from the point of view of Tej's mother, for example. I think it would be interesting to have different takes coming together in one story. That is something I think the author can explore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Climax: For me, the reason why I have given this book four stars and not five is the revelation that comes towards the end of the book. For me, even though the same was very predictable, it did not leave me very justified. As a reader, I would've wanted more juice towards the end. Since the plot was developed so well since the beginning, it ended up in me expecting much much more at the end. Since this is the first book in the series, I am looking forward to what happens next, and maybe that'll make me feel differently about the ending of this part.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves sci-fi, time travel, fantasy fiction, mythology - in short, anyone who enjoys reading beyond the realm of reality as we know it. You will not be disappointed. I, for one, am eagerly waiting for the next part!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">*****</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; text-align: left;" /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Follow my reviews </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" style="background-color: white; color: #b87209; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; text-align: left;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" style="color: #b87209; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-18533601717173070372019-05-01T07:57:00.000-07:002019-05-01T07:57:15.569-07:00My Solo Travels in Italy - Tips, Tricks, Hacks (Part 1 - Venice)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Venice 02/03/2019</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICTMQw32xXbsd92ShyLjSoxuo0qF_16Kmd4mEhGFNlKSwoaHhL_F36VHKXbWneggW-7J8w-w63oCORHg2kVsx43nNpb-qijNLnKYdUXgUP9mD-kJOOlGBxtkWydhwF19VVf81yIdj9Go/s1600/IMG_20190302_114223442-EFFECTS-EFFECTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICTMQw32xXbsd92ShyLjSoxuo0qF_16Kmd4mEhGFNlKSwoaHhL_F36VHKXbWneggW-7J8w-w63oCORHg2kVsx43nNpb-qijNLnKYdUXgUP9mD-kJOOlGBxtkWydhwF19VVf81yIdj9Go/s320/IMG_20190302_114223442-EFFECTS-EFFECTS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Sight @ Venice</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span>Vezenia was my first almost solo travel in Italy. What initially started as a group trip ended up being me in Venice with just one more classmate. Nevertheless, Venice was remarkable and I am glad I started with this. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8g_ZBmSX25zv0BBSts-iAGLc2PDsaz87DtskpDCrslmYiR8qJYQs4crJ1r75SePzpjwvTIx8GMGUhXECY1VtXGrrMKmGbTefOIEO1LqBRPmp-GOS_BFfCHyBncLrx_yfVPgYtLnajOA/s1600/IMG_20190302_112204238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8g_ZBmSX25zv0BBSts-iAGLc2PDsaz87DtskpDCrslmYiR8qJYQs4crJ1r75SePzpjwvTIx8GMGUhXECY1VtXGrrMKmGbTefOIEO1LqBRPmp-GOS_BFfCHyBncLrx_yfVPgYtLnajOA/s320/IMG_20190302_112204238.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ferry Stop at Venice</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Venice hosts a masked carnival every year from mid February to beginning of March. On initial enquiry, most of my European classmates, especially the ones from Italy, discouraged the idea of going to Venice during Carnival time. The reason being - it'll be too crowded! Well, I have lived in India all my life, so crowd was a challenge I was totally up for. In fact, it was barely a challenge!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I was out for a party on Friday night, which ended around 3am. My bus was scheduled at 4am, so I walked from the party place to the bus stop. The journey to Venice took about 7 hours, and I was in the land of Shakespeare by 11am. My first stop was Burano. My sister and brother in-law had been there a couple of years back and swore by it. Needless to say, I absolutely had to visit it. And Burano didn't disappoint! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Burano is a very small island located 40 minutes away from Venice. One can easily catch a ferry and reach there in under an hour. I had my breakfast (sandwich that I'd packed a day before) in the ferry, brushed my teeth and got all set to discover Burano.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;">Burano was not only spectacularly beautiful but the fact that it was small and compact made it even more charming. I could really cover the entire island on foot in 1-2 hours. I took a short wine break at the port before heading back to Venice.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burano!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">By the time I arrived in Venice, the scene was even better than what I had seen when I had first arrived in the morning. Everyone was dressed up elaborately, even the dogs! (Nope, I am not kidding!) The whole city was like a Gatsby party, maybe even better, I'd say. The colours and the carnival in play made everything brighter and better. For lunch, I had another sandwich made by yours truly. (Yep, totally on a budget!)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95HVic59vmK3HaTPx4EDwb1txOMEHjE4dw-b6wz9NOaUgX5CZRVtxgjtkKm6blruXSo1DmTkY5QBJ5V0pNWxaBiPMvyJAamz_z-vmjJxJPi1_OA0zAZc1UAqiNfXCE1Rb73UCmzwzt-s/s1600/IMG-20190304-WA0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95HVic59vmK3HaTPx4EDwb1txOMEHjE4dw-b6wz9NOaUgX5CZRVtxgjtkKm6blruXSo1DmTkY5QBJ5V0pNWxaBiPMvyJAamz_z-vmjJxJPi1_OA0zAZc1UAqiNfXCE1Rb73UCmzwzt-s/s1600/IMG-20190304-WA0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95HVic59vmK3HaTPx4EDwb1txOMEHjE4dw-b6wz9NOaUgX5CZRVtxgjtkKm6blruXSo1DmTkY5QBJ5V0pNWxaBiPMvyJAamz_z-vmjJxJPi1_OA0zAZc1UAqiNfXCE1Rb73UCmzwzt-s/s320/IMG-20190304-WA0035.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By evening time, I was in the main square (San Marco's) where a live band was playing. It was like attending a concert, minus all the crowd. But don't get me wrong, Venice was crowded, but not like what I am used to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />After a long walk in the city, I headed for dinner to this one pasta place recommend by a dear friend. If you know anything about me, you'll know that I'm absolutely in love with pasta. So much so, I end up having pasta even in places where you'd know for sure it'd be shitty. (Side note - I'd been craving pasta in Torino for over a month now, so my expectations were pretty high. Dan Moras, this little hole in the wall pasta place, finally came to my rescue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pasta there was exquisite, so much so that my mouth is watering as I'm writing this! I had the regular white sauce penned with garlic and extra olives ad I swear I saw heaven when I took the first bite. Whether you're in Venice for an hour or for a month, you absolutely have to go to this place. The best part? It was relatively very easy on the pocket. I paid 7€ for my dinner, but the portion was so big, I packed some to eat later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I headed back to the main square to enjoy the rest of the evening, which kept getting better with each passing moment. Finally, around 10pm, the concert ended. However, my bus was not leaving for the next two hours.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-quM3aOAU8w1TVL_nDXgrKWwfw973tobmBqpKk-YsIvred7Wk7wm5hcG8FlsnYBY3rSk0joQ2L-GHftPNR6wiQQNW-EAn7t3hV6YZqZF1NmZovuWzl2MXIN8EdmMIK-Sv96knRyVgvI/s1600/IMG-20190302-WA0094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1152" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-quM3aOAU8w1TVL_nDXgrKWwfw973tobmBqpKk-YsIvred7Wk7wm5hcG8FlsnYBY3rSk0joQ2L-GHftPNR6wiQQNW-EAn7t3hV6YZqZF1NmZovuWzl2MXIN8EdmMIK-Sv96knRyVgvI/s320/IMG-20190302-WA0094.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />I followed the crowd and ended up reaching Hard Rock Cafe, where a full-power (Delhi slang) was taking shape. I spent the better part of next two hours dancing to random Italian (and English) songs. I was in a room full of strangers but I had never felt more at home (at ease?) at a party. Good vibes and smiles all round is sometimes all you need. Finally, at around midnight, I headed back to take the ferry to the bus stop. The next morning, I was back in Torino.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tips:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Must attend the carnival in Venice if you can.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take the day pass for the ferry. It's totally worth it.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Go to both Lido and Burano if you have the time. Lido has excellent beaches, I've heard. However, since the weather was cold, I didn't make an effort to go there in my time there.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Venice has no watering holes. Carry your own bottle, preferably a big one.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You have to pay to use the restroom, so either use them in the ferry or while you're having coffee/eating.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For Burano, every place has a cover charge, called coperto (2-3€). That's the money you pay JUST to sit in a restaurant, irrespective of what you order. Look for it in the menu before deciding on a place. If you're a big group, you could spend a whopping amount just on the cover charge</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tricks/Hacks</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkizei5GUovR4jwDfdbbgmIX2UT_8re-SYvh2xieqKI0NzSMBRVY7BR7N7Ms80G2HEVR8m3pl1T9KkG_1nU83qpUPbH_PgHYMMrvlFpIKz0CSeOVm30mh-kcYbquL7ocqwmRRxM0O8kGg/s1600/IMG-20190302-WA0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkizei5GUovR4jwDfdbbgmIX2UT_8re-SYvh2xieqKI0NzSMBRVY7BR7N7Ms80G2HEVR8m3pl1T9KkG_1nU83qpUPbH_PgHYMMrvlFpIKz0CSeOVm30mh-kcYbquL7ocqwmRRxM0O8kGg/s320/IMG-20190302-WA0068.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carry your own food and wine and water. You'll save a lot, trust me.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Carry a light bag. There's only walking.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make most use of the washrooms on the ferry.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you want to buy magnets, don't pay more than 1€ for each. Anything more than that is stupid.</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Budget</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since I didn't spend much on food an drinks, I spent less than 40€ for food, ferries and souvenirs.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">*****************************************</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a href="https://mishikasingh.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-solo-travels-in-italy-tips-tricks.html" target="_blank">Introduction </a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 1 - Venice / Venezia</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 2 - Florence / Firenze</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 3 - Pisa</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 4 - Siena</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 5 - Naples</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 6 - Ercolano and Pompeii</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 7 - Capri</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 8 - Amalfi and Positano</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Part 9 - Baia</span></span></div>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-35060919918584916382019-05-01T07:23:00.002-07:002019-05-01T11:43:09.756-07:00My Solo Travels in Italy - Tips, Tricks, Hacks (Intro)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">I arrived in Italy on 25/01 for my masters that was due to start at the end of the month. Since the time it was decided that I'm coming to Italy, I'd made up my mind to travel whenever I could. However, what I didn't take into account was the amount of time I'll spend travelling solo. This series is a small snippet of my six months in Italy, when I was mostly from Torino to other parts of Italy. In the next few parts, you'll find tips, tricks, hacks and more for travelling solo in Italy on a budget. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Are you ready?</span><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">*****************************************</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://mishikasingh.blogspot.com/2019/05/my-solo-travels-in-italy-tips-tricks_1.html" target="_blank">Part 1 - Venice / Venezia</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 2 - Florence / Firenze</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 3 - Pisa</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 4 - Siena</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 5 - Naples</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 6 - Ercolano and Pompeii</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 7 - Capri</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 8 - Amalfi and Positano</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part 9 - Baia</span></div>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-73535338126275071942018-11-20T22:36:00.000-08:002018-11-20T22:36:29.191-08:00Book Review - Regular Porridge (✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gzTPCMUcJ2YsVIn3k2YYrVZvhRCfnMEQWAvaOeRACxzuQcrXYLrKhpquytqwOnto8VqRhLtyjYz-7SGy05ysKEfQDTMwriVUfKfrMuHHQ6XHi7Nk9Gyc367Ev6oUHmnS3RzKAftHjFk/s1600/High+resolution+bookcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1003" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gzTPCMUcJ2YsVIn3k2YYrVZvhRCfnMEQWAvaOeRACxzuQcrXYLrKhpquytqwOnto8VqRhLtyjYz-7SGy05ysKEfQDTMwriVUfKfrMuHHQ6XHi7Nk9Gyc367Ev6oUHmnS3RzKAftHjFk/s320/High+resolution+bookcover.jpg" width="200" /></a>I got an epub of this book as a Review Copy from the author.<br />
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*****<br />
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Regular Porridge is a short, decent collection of poems. While the content starts very strongly, with <br />
powerful emotions being put forward in the harshest forms, the narrative quickly dwindles down. The initial poems on war and life are prose, each one telling a compelling story, or at least a part of it. 'Chottu' and 'Twinkle's Gone' were the other two pieces that held my attention.<br />
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However, post Life's Medley, I quickly lost interest. The number of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes also multiplied significantly, contributing to the loss of interest.<br />
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The content is good but deserves to be polished. There are some interesting pieces and concepts in there, but they are hidden by the lack of general proofreading which, for me at least, is highly distracting.<br />
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Recommended one time, but you could wait for the edited edition to enjoy it more.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-3918706642274296522018-09-26T04:42:00.002-07:002018-09-26T04:42:37.386-07:00Book Review - Tarikshir (✩✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LnQMHsk2l3c7SJnuP4yjPhyphenhyphenoWoe1wPtmiYIBrwY11sLX6pEqRbv1WJwVBJ72B4YJiu91Lwgfp0kzb7e3DTJFU24pl1ARXFrXzOHj_LJfQnRg3hnKZtbQZEN3RNRAOiHP-IzJAo929GU/s1600/Tarikshir.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="421" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7LnQMHsk2l3c7SJnuP4yjPhyphenhyphenoWoe1wPtmiYIBrwY11sLX6pEqRbv1WJwVBJ72B4YJiu91Lwgfp0kzb7e3DTJFU24pl1ARXFrXzOHj_LJfQnRg3hnKZtbQZEN3RNRAOiHP-IzJAo929GU/s320/Tarikshir.PNG" width="239" /></a>I got the book as a part of the review program in Outset.</div>
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https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in</div>
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Took me a while to decide on the rating but I think I will
stick to 5 because the book was, indeed, amazing!</div>
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When I read the blurb, I definitely did not anticipate what
I am in for. The narration, the storyline, the execution of the plot - I loved
every bit of it! And (bless the author!!) the book was edited. If you have read
my previous reviews, you will know how this has been a big big big hindrance
for me in the past. Congratulations on this beauty! Aapke khayaal kaafi behtereen</div>
hain. :)<br />
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The cover: The cover design is beautiful. It is different
and crisp and not screaming for attention, like sometimes cover illustrations
do. The quality of the image is what makes the reader want to dive in the
beauty, head first.</div>
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The blurb: I was a little disappointed with the blurb. While
it is not inaccurate or lacking per se, it could have been made more exciting.
The book is one hell of a roller-coaster ride and, for a reader who relies
heavily on the blurb before picking up the book, the blurb does not do justice
to what lies ahead. Spice it up, I'd say.</div>
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The plot: The plot is fresh and detailed. The story is, as
the blurb says, of one Rudra, a newly crowned prince faced with the daunting
task of saving his empire from the British army. In the process of unearthing
secrets that led to his father's death/murder, Rudra uncovers some deep, dark
ancient secrets that have the potential of reshaping his entire world. What
follows is a nail-biting war between Rudra and dark powers, between the good
and the bad, between peace and power. </div>
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There is an element of mythology in the book which gives it
a unique flavour, a flavour that, in my opinion, should be introduced in the
blurb as well. The fight between good and bad is age old, and placing this book
contextually in the frame of Hindu mythology has rendered it a notch above your
average good vs bad literature.</div>
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The execution: The plot had been executed commendably well.
The author has left no stone unturned to make this book a definite page-turner.
The editing is crisp and keeps the reader always on the edge, eager to know
what's next. There are layers and layers to the book that keep uncovering every
now and then. All the loopholes have been neatly tied the end, making this one
satisfactory read.</div>
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The writing style: The author's got style (if you know what
I mean). And damn, that style is thoroughly enjoyable. The imagination that the
narrative is able to ignite in the reader's mind is commendable. The writing
flows, along with the story, gently moving forward but still journeying like a
bullet (geddit?). Oh, and the splash of humour here and there made me smile
quite many times.</div>
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The characters: The characters are well-etched. The
protagonist, Rudra, has been sketched fairly well, and is relatable. Burdened
with the daunting task of running an entire kingdom under extreme
circumstances, the young king is often faced with the same dilemmas we face in
our lives. The choices may be difficult, but they still have to be made. There
is a long list of supporting cast, who have been given their due place and time
in the narrative.</div>
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The climax and end: The climax is exactly like it should be,
unexpected yet plausible. This is not one of those "what the hell just
happened?" kind of stories. Everything eventually makes sense, you just
have to dig deeper.</div>
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The end is open, both in terms of interpretation and in
terms of content. Maybe the end is an indication for a sequel, maybe it is a
satire (that's not the most appropriate word but my vocabulary is failing me
terribly in conveying what I want to say without giving any spoilers), a general
remark on how the world functions. Read the book now to know more!</div>
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Definitely recommended! Looking forward to reading more by
the author, and soon.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-87432560140703636272018-09-10T02:12:00.001-07:002018-09-15T00:56:42.636-07:00Book Review - DareDreamers (✩✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I got the book as a part of the review program in <a href="https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Outset</a>.<br />
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I absolutely loved this book!<br />
People who follow my reviews must certainly know how strict I am with my ratings. Hence when I give this book five stars, trust me that it certainly deserves it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cMJmIgWcB5nJ_SBv3ti6KJ-u6BDwLkCppNp8CrZWwUS9a8_W7AhvYHSwTntV2WEae2qNGL7NhvKgIVJSkCRZOFNhY5DINFNCTmG-dct4uhgAAsJemZ8NdIg7kHtbTfB_TJRSYKWWJ7w/s1600/DD.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="521" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cMJmIgWcB5nJ_SBv3ti6KJ-u6BDwLkCppNp8CrZWwUS9a8_W7AhvYHSwTntV2WEae2qNGL7NhvKgIVJSkCRZOFNhY5DINFNCTmG-dct4uhgAAsJemZ8NdIg7kHtbTfB_TJRSYKWWJ7w/s320/DD.PNG" width="288" /></a>The book came to me as part of a review program, and I am very glad it did. I am certain that I would not have picked this up otherwise. And am also certain I would've definitely missed out on something great!<br />
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The story: The story is of one Rasiq, and his journey from being an MNC slave to being a part of a start-up of daredevils. The narrative opens with Rasiq's first day in Bombay, the city where dreams come true, as an investment banker. While the first part of the book discovers the struggles faced by Rasiq in an extremely hectic job, it also discovers the changes that money can bring in a man's life. The struggle to balance work with the rest of his life has been portrayed beautifully, along with the struggle of being in a difficult and unrewarding relationship.<br />
In contrast, the second part of the book shifts gears as Rasiq decides to quit his job and invest in a start-up of super heroes. While the blurb details why exactly 'DareDreamers' a start-up of superheroes, the readers will also understand in the pages of the narrative that the service offered by the start-up is no less than that of heroes. Amidst competition and cheating and cunning competition, will the start-up survive? Will the dare-dreamers' dreams be crushed under the weight of politics and treachery? The narrative is one hell of a roller-coaster ride, leaving no time or space for the reader to get bored.<br />
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The stunts were OTT, but I think that was the fun part. They truly lived up to the description of 'superheroes'.<br />
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The language: The biggest plus point of the book was the fact that it was edited! And it is a shame for me to admit it, but most new books authored by Indian authors lose majorly on this ground. It was nice to read a well-edited, proofread book. The language is flowy and simple. No unnecessary fancy words thrown here and there for the sake of it.<br />
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The characters: Most characters are sketched well. The character of Rasiq's father is extremely endearing. He was my favourite background character. Even the character of the main villain had shades of grey to it, making him more believable. Narad Money, of course, was a man without any conscience.<br />
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The end: The end was satisfactory. This book made me feel quite happy.<br />
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Definitely recommended. The father-son duo have done a wonderful job and I hope more and more readers get to enjoy their work.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I am participating in the Thursday Thoughts challenge by <a href="http://www.vidhyathakkar.com/" target="_blank">Vidhya Thakkar</a>.</span></span></div>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-80545304502325502492018-09-07T23:26:00.000-07:002018-09-07T23:26:33.376-07:00Book Review - Chennai to Chicago (✩✩.5)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I got the book as a part of the review program in <a href="https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Outset</a>. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1TCiPbW6_iE4XGW8lS5wG-uBs3o1W1AaHLDpYW3ZziCDbvFNNeDEpaiirlk4Pnjm3Sfhl6MvE5VsHREu26oWdyqdoSdFtZQuZe3HtL1OdHBgvAIfZHmd59oWiupBEkzLcC6K7iZ7hVZg/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="219" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1TCiPbW6_iE4XGW8lS5wG-uBs3o1W1AaHLDpYW3ZziCDbvFNNeDEpaiirlk4Pnjm3Sfhl6MvE5VsHREu26oWdyqdoSdFtZQuZe3HtL1OdHBgvAIfZHmd59oWiupBEkzLcC6K7iZ7hVZg/s320/Capture.PNG" width="202" /></a>I am very conflicted in my rating for this book. While it
was definitely better than 'ok', I am not sure I can commit to the statement
that I liked it. So, for me, this would be a 2.5.</div>
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The story is of one Sriram, and his journey across nations
and his journey within himself. While I did not enjoy the first half of the
book at all, there was something about the second half that held my attention.
The narrative, however, was not very fluid and jumpy at many places. It was
because of these reasons that I did not read the book in one stretch. Plus,
this was a kindle copy, not my most preferred mode of reading.</div>
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The story: The narrative was slightly jumpy for me. There
were too many things in one plot. While initially the blurb made me think that
the story would revolve around the journey for an Indian from a city in south
of India to the land of dreams, 'Merica, the beginning of the plot was quite
different from my expectations. There was a flavour of heartbreak and romance
in the initial chapters. And the detailing of the same, in my opinion, was very
amateurish. Also, the romance (or the lack of it) between the characters named
'Sriram' and 'Madhuri' instantly made me think of Madhuri Dixit (a popular
Bollywood actor) and her husband, Sriram Nene. What are the odds!</div>
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The story then moved on to the life of the protagonist in
terms of his career and the set-backs he faces in that arena. This part was
mildly attractive. The struggle that the protagonist faced in terms of his
professional life is detailed but comes across as a diary entry/venting rather
than a flowy narrative. The other area that the book explored was
soul-searching. There are flashes of it throughout the narrative but it is
mostly focused on towards the end.</div>
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My problem with the narrative was there was a mix of too
many things, with no satisfactory conclusion to any part. Maybe there was a
deliberate attempt on the part of the author to transition from romance to
career to soul searching, but that transition did not work for me. When I pick
up a book, I like to know what part of someone's life am I going to be privy
to. Too much happening in too little always leaves me with a taste of
dissatisfaction. The same was the case here. I would have, I think, preferred,
if the story was categorically written in parts, or at least divided that way.</div>
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The language: At the very best, the language is poor. I am
all for simple language. I firmly believe that the simpler the language is, the
more the reader will enjoy it. However, the language used here seemed like an
exact production of the thought process of the protagonist, with no effort made
to add to the character of the narrative.</div>
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The book has not been edited. It is riddled with grammatical
mistakes and spelling errors, so much so that I had to keep the book away for a
few days as initially the bad editing was all I could focus on. The backbone of
any piece of literature is the language used to narrate the story. This book
lost out majorly in this criterion.</div>
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A major part of the book is on the lines of this happened,
that happened and then that happened, with very little to portray the
feelings/thought process of the character.</div>
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The characters: Apart from the character of Sriram, no other
character is developed. May be that was deliberate, but a story (even of it is
of a certain person's life) is wholesome when there is an interplay between
characters. That was missing from the narrative.</div>
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All in all, the book has major potential if only someone
would spend time editing and proofreading it. There is a story in there if you
dig deep. In my opinion, the book needs some solid editing and, maybe, a bit of
rewriting as well. Recommended if you want something light to read, probably in
between books.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" style="font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-23564234021839029932018-08-29T23:17:00.001-07:002018-08-29T23:17:55.772-07:00Book Review - Table for One (✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiOz09tFZelqje03WH-5y7PDR_A8ZTfJ1j5HHizGkTFEAZ2Zr0HmRk1DE_DR5c4YDDbqVMLvw0hHlDjk51rtovcjk2MUFJfGaxX9ABxV2884Iwa_lBQZQinTiNildz7VhwoO2-EP_IaI/s1600/Table.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="479" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiOz09tFZelqje03WH-5y7PDR_A8ZTfJ1j5HHizGkTFEAZ2Zr0HmRk1DE_DR5c4YDDbqVMLvw0hHlDjk51rtovcjk2MUFJfGaxX9ABxV2884Iwa_lBQZQinTiNildz7VhwoO2-EP_IaI/s320/Table.PNG" width="255" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">(I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the author.)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When I picked up this book, I was hoping to read something different and something new. However, I was pretty disappointed. And the lack of proofreading and editing only made it even more cumbersome for me to read this book in one flow.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The story is of one Taara Maheshwari, dejected in her love life and not sure about what she wants from her life. On an impulse, she decides to quit her job and take a one-month Euro trip (not in the same sequence). However, she barters the 'permission' to go on this trip with her father on the condition that she will come back to India to marry the boy her parents have zeroed down for her.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Destiny, however, has other plans for her. While on her trip, Taara meets some very interesting people, starting right at the airport when she is about to board her flight from India. All these people, at every given point in the trip, manage to shape her journey in a certain way. How does Taara survive alone in a foreign land? What is in store for her? Will Taara be able to find what she is looking for? The book explores all these ideas in a short, 171 page read.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The thing that I liked was the detailed description of European cities. The vivid imagination of the author almost compelled me to pack my bags and board a flight right now!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The story: The story was not what I expected it to be. The blurb does not give it away, but the book (especially towards the second half) is essentially a cliched romance. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The protagonist: I can't find words to describe how much I detest the character of Taara. She is not only portrayed to be extremely immature for her age but also seems very superficial in her approach to life. Throughout the book, the reader can see how Taara has always looked for a man to be the anchor of her life. Now, per se, this may not be a bad thing, but this cannot be the only thing that defines a woman and her life, and her life choices and decisions. The constant need to have someone to fulfill you is, in the very least, dangerous to one's emotional character. I see a lot of 'Taara' in many people around me, and my opinion of them is the same. Be your own anchor - that is the advice I would give Taara if I had a chance to meet her. The clinginess is apparent on the face of it. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I usually like books with the portrayal of a woman as a strong individual. This book, in my opinion, failed to do that. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The language: The language was alright, but the book has definitely not been proofread before being published. There were glaring grammatical mistakes, punctuation missing, etc. right from the beginning. Even the blurb is not error free.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Also, the constant focus on body image, the reference to 'blacks', the reference to consumption of alcohol as being 'cool', reference to most women being neutral to politics, the shock on discovering someone's orientation, and such typical stereotyping threw me off. (Pretty inappropriate, in my opinion.)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The book, all in all, is an easy breezy, light read and can be finished in one sitting. There is no 'wow' factor in the book. Recommended for those who are looking for a light read between books.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-19020401687633343622018-08-09T05:01:00.001-07:002018-08-29T23:16:31.656-07:00Book Review - Let You Be My Puppet Once (✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2j61CMWUz3ceJQw0I0Is6TSd8pYxKntqw-9i8bujK7NrNjNlyMD5geQtZnMzajp5JC_ndSbvRPPa_z_d1h9_VQ1jitTJcgHGgZTmV1z_XHq3Q6F0P216VVGU13140XGX6PcysFnPVB14/s1600/Puppet.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2j61CMWUz3ceJQw0I0Is6TSd8pYxKntqw-9i8bujK7NrNjNlyMD5geQtZnMzajp5JC_ndSbvRPPa_z_d1h9_VQ1jitTJcgHGgZTmV1z_XHq3Q6F0P216VVGU13140XGX6PcysFnPVB14/s320/Puppet.PNG" width="202" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">I got the book as a part of the review program in Outset.</span><br />
<a href="https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Quite a good break from some very poorly written and edited Indian authors I have read recently!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Congratulations to the author for writing a pretty gripping first novel.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Title - The title befits the story-line. Based in India, where every citizen at some point or the other feels manipulated in the hands of the Government, the reference to being a 'puppet' is apt. However, what happens when the tables turn and it is the political leaders that are being puppet-ed by those who have suffered under their reign is reflected well in the title.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Story line - The blurb explains the story perfectly. Unlike many books that I have recently, the blurb is not misleading and the reader knows exactly what they are in for.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The story is of four friends avenging the wrongs done to them by corrupt and criminally motivated political leaders. The backgrounds of the characters have been dealt with beautifully and one can easily connect the pieces and clues included sporadically in every chapter. How the four manage to manipulate the top Government agencies and survive against all odds is something that the reader will know only once they pick up the book. Every chapter leaves the reader on tenterhooks, and that is one of the reasons why I finished the book in one-two sittings.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Language: The language is flowy and gripping. No unnecessary jargon and irrelevant musings (which seems to be the trend these days) has been included, just for the sake of making the prose more flowery, and I am very happy about that! The narrative is easy to understand and is a good, light yet gripping read. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Editing: The editing, however, much to my disappointment, is poor. The book needs some heavy duty editing before the next edition is out.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Definitely recommended. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Read it with an open mind, don't expect to be mind-blown and you'll enjoy the book. Hi5 to the author for being an exception to the rule of trashy romance books.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-2571391649335952142018-08-06T04:03:00.001-07:002018-08-29T23:16:45.160-07:00Book Review - The Secret of the Sculptures (✩✩.5)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">I got the book as a part of the review program in <a href="https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in/" target="_blank">Outset</a></span>.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3KzdGaujk_tkMRIxgOM-5Cw5lcpOp5gHIzzkTSt1vUzf1f2ufo1yrXfNgYe8J5G_YEmDa4vMEVocOuM2FALv5YxyZWwsDigU7aqiCDqA0ThDHj8UU3l7Z_zAesihXoR5h3PTu9BS0UE/s1600/Secret.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="238" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf3KzdGaujk_tkMRIxgOM-5Cw5lcpOp5gHIzzkTSt1vUzf1f2ufo1yrXfNgYe8J5G_YEmDa4vMEVocOuM2FALv5YxyZWwsDigU7aqiCDqA0ThDHj8UU3l7Z_zAesihXoR5h3PTu9BS0UE/s320/Secret.PNG" width="202" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While I had very high expectations from this book, this one just did not work for me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The story offers a fresh theme - the theft of an ancient sculpture, embroiling two young girls, a bunch a their friends, a dubious professor, a shifty mentor and a mysterious light-eyed man. However, the freshness was contained in the plot itself and did not manage to translate into the 236 pages.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The characters are immature and very poorly developed. I did not feel connected to any of them. Far from it, it was difficult for me to even imagine any of them. Also, at a point in time, I felt that there were way too many characters without any specific role to play. The numbers just added to the confusion and not to the plot.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The story-line was jumpy and the smooth flow that makes for a good book for me was missing. Also, the narrative was way too feelings-oriented. You will probably have to read the book yourself to know what I mean.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Not recommended. But may work for you.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-62493429339981008922018-07-18T03:29:00.001-07:002018-08-29T23:16:58.574-07:00Book Review - Seductive Affair (✩✩.5)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">(I got the book as a part of the review program by the author.)</span><br />
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What I expected when I read the title and the blurb and saw the cover: An out and out thriller with a touch of seduction and dark romance and a surreptitious affair.<br />
What I got: A light and breezy read with mostly forbidden romance as the highlight.<br />
<br />
The blurb: The blurb does not do justice to the book.<br />
The desperation and urgency and the thrill in the blurb does not translate to the pages of the book. Prisha (if I were writing the blurb) is a girl-next door who 'thinks' she is ambitious and career driven, but is more romantic than pragmatic in her approach to life. (How else would explain her risking her first 'dream job' for a supposed investigative story and/or for a fiery romance that sets her loins on fire every time she thinks of it.)<br />
<br />
The story that Rajesh is trying to hide from the editor, Priya, is far from investigative. In fact, the entire plot of the book is based around this supposedly front-page shattering story, except there is nothing woah-I-did-not-see-that-coming about it. Also, there is no good explanation offered as to why the protagonist had to hide this story from the editor. None whatsoever. The blurb, again, over-hypes this part as well.<br />
<br />
Lastly, the blurb and the title makes reference to a 'seductive affair' that is absent in the entire book. The story is of a typical boy-meets-girl-and-instantly-falls-in-love one. Nothing 'seductive' about it. I can't say for sure whether it qualifies as an 'affair' either, which is often more scandalous.<br />
<br />
The story: As I have mentioned before, the book is mostly a romance with a dash of suspense; just a little, almost negligible.<br />
<br />
The language: The language is simple, flowy and easy to understand. There is no unnecessary use of jargon, but the author has also not managed to paint a picture with his words. The intimate description failed to incite even a pitiful tingle. Like I said, it is simple.<br />
<br />
The characters: The characters are sketched decently, but I failed to form a connection with either of them. I did not find the character of Prisha relatable either. The supporting characters are, well, just mentioned sporadically, and hence it becomes easier for the reader to guess a lot of things in terms of story-line.<br />
<br />
There are some things about the book that triggered my OCD and I am hoping the next editions will take care of these:<br />
1. In the blurb, the name of the protagonists is mentioned as Prisha Khatri and Rajesh Lagheri. However, in the book itself, the protagonist introduces herself a Prisha Lagheri. :/<br />
2. The editor informs Rajesh that his co-reporter would be unable to accompany him to Bengaluru. However, Rajesh and Prisha take the flight to Mumbai and the conference actually ends up being there instead. :/<br />
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Final views: The book is an ok read. The first 50 pages were quite interesting; there was a lot of build-up that falls flat as you proceed further. There is a love story, there is intimacy, but that is mostly all that there is.<br />
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One time read, if at all.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-47975938138714477102018-07-02T22:21:00.000-07:002018-07-02T22:21:11.936-07:00Book Review - The Last Attractor of Chaos (✩✩✩.5)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I got the book as a part of the review program in Outset. To know more, click: </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><a href="https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">https://rakhijayashankar.blogspot.in</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The Last Attractor of Chaos is a sci-fi thriller, very different from what I have usually read and definitely a first in this genre by an Indian author, and I must congratulate the author for doing a good job of it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In short - The prestigious and supremely powerful Kali.x has gone missing and the prime suspect is Shruti Rathore, an officer with a dark past, who is on a run from the Government agencies for a 'crime' she did not commit. Guiding her on a different dimension is her dead husband, Ashwin Rathore, who was killed in an attempt actually targeted at Shruti. Through a series of twists and turns, the mystery unfolds.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Language: The language of the book is fluid. One can easily read it in one go, if time permits. The scientific theories have been explained in detail and (should be) easily understood by a person with no background in science. (I cannot be completely sure as I have a decent background in physics). Apart from the first chapter, the entire book is from the POV of the deceased husband. However, there were some glaring grammatical mistakes that, hopefully, would be done away with when the next edition is out. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The characters: The characters have been etched out decently, although I do think a little more background into Ashwin's character was required. Factually, it is all there. Personality wise, a little more detailing would have been good. Shruti's character has a streak of darkness that contributes in creating an aura of mystery to the entire narrative. The supporting characters have been given adequate space to develop and showcase themselves.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The story: The story is unique. The combination of particle physics, thriller and an undercover operation make it a viable option for adaptation and I am hoping to see this book as a movie someday. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The ending/climax: I was a little disappointed with the ending. The climax seems to be a little rushed and the author could've spared a couple of more chapters to satisfactorily tie all the loose ends. The ending seemed abrupt and that took away the charm of the climax.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">One glaring problem I had with the book (which also is the reason why I finished the book in two sittings, instead of one) was the portrayal of romance between the two main characters. Not only did it seem ill-founded, whatever little bit of detailing that was given to their relationship only made matters worse. (Vague here to avoid spoiler.) The description of the approach of the male protagonist towards the female protagonist seems too bollywood-ish (and I do not say that in a good way). </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Also, there is a part where the author has described the female protagonist having a 'masculine confidence'. This description actually threw me off. Physical traits defined by gender, I can understand. But to deal with a non-physical intangible trait in terms of gender stinks of misogyny at some level, whether conscious or not. A big no-no!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Final thoughts: Recommended read. If one takes the above two points with a pinch of salt, the book is engaging. The USP is that the premise is new and refreshing.</span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-52505830629142397442018-05-30T23:56:00.000-07:002018-05-30T23:56:07.042-07:00Book Review - A Closetful of Skeletons (✩✩.5)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Two stars: It was ok.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The book is not bad. It is a decent one time read. But the entire onus of making a thriller/murder mystery a good one is on the climax, which failed to satisfy me. The end comes as a surprise, and I do not say that in a good way.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The story revolves around the murder of Ramola, a yesteryear's star, who decided to ruffle feathers of a bunch of (crooks) people from her extremely dramatic and tabloid-worthy past by announcing her autobiography in their presence on her 40th birthday. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I'll go over the things that worked for me first:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">1. The plot: It is simple yet interesting. The locked-room whodunit mystery with a bunch of characters related to the victim in convoluted ways added a flavour of drama to the book, and I quite liked it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">2. The treatment of characters: Most of the characters, in my opinion, were well sketched. I am particularly happy with the author's decision of placing the murder much after the initial character-building of the book has taken place. The clever placement gives the reader an insight to the protagonist's relationship with the various other characters, both in the present time as well as throwing light on the dynamics of their shared past.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">3. The flow: The language was mostly flowy and the book seemed to move as one fluid and racy narrative, even though there were plenty of characters to be dealt with, each having an independent backgrounds. (I will come to the negatives later.) </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">4. The build-up/suspense: When everyone has a motive, the whodunit becomes even more gripping. This book was definitely one of those that kept you on your toes (albeit only till the climax is revealed).</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">What did not work for me:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">1. The climax: Big disappointment. </span><a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="background-color: white; color: #00635d; cursor: pointer; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: underline;">(view spoiler)</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">2. The editing: I am extremely disappointed to report that like most Indian authors (I detest stereotyping but it holds true), even this book has not been edited properly. Problems with formatting, grammar, spacing - the book is riddled with one at least every ten pages. Being published by Harper Black, I expected the editing team to do a better job. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">3. Use of large words: Random big words, not used colloquially, are dropped in dialogues for no good reason. I am not a fan of big-word dropping in an otherwise simply written book. Cankerous, shindig, kowtow? Not my idea of sprucing up a narrative.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">4. Use of brackets: To expand acronyms, to explain some remark - they just seemed very ill-placed. A dialogue is not spoken in brackets. I don't see why it should be written in that way either.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Recommended for the writing, not for the suspense.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Just about alright.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">(This book could have easily been a 4-4.5 star for me had the climax managed to excite me even a tad bit.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-55121988781673150742018-03-12T05:12:00.001-07:002018-03-12T05:12:24.662-07:00Book Review - The Last Chai (✩✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXK68UmlGUEiPrzYXA-OXIT8dRTh9O4dBpfqTQOxb7FTyslqfNpTQAV1iv3Bm8ODtwKqPVGEEepab4PRbS7NM9juuR2Y4DfQnUdjBGdcVI7lZaIQahm8s3ZSrplL4zXYo1z7LcNaz7u4/s1600/Capture1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXK68UmlGUEiPrzYXA-OXIT8dRTh9O4dBpfqTQOxb7FTyslqfNpTQAV1iv3Bm8ODtwKqPVGEEepab4PRbS7NM9juuR2Y4DfQnUdjBGdcVI7lZaIQahm8s3ZSrplL4zXYo1z7LcNaz7u4/s320/Capture1.PNG" width="267" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I seldom give books five stars, but this one deserves a six!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The story is set in 2019 India, right before the elections. The author has named the main political leaders inspired by our leaders today, making the story more relatable.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The book is an eye-opener for everyone, and makes you question everything you know and wonder how much of it is it that you have absolutely no idea about.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Ripe with conspiracy theories that make so much sense, I read most of this book in one sitting, unable to keep it down once I was 50 pages into it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">At times, the book gave me a very 'Ek tha Tiger' feel, but I say that in the best way possible. The missions, the plans, the foiling of plans and overthrowing downright selfish aspirations of other countries and the role played by 'Rohingyas' (you'll know why I have put this in quotes once you read the book) are the highlights of the book.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">For most part, I was curious about the character of Poorvi Acharya, the ruthless journalist out to get the government, and did not really understand her significance in the entire plot. But the last few pages summed up her role so perfectly, I almost wanted to hoot and clap for the author.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Take a bow, Author Varun. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I am extremely impressed with this tight, crisp and ripe with conspiracy theories narratives.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Highly recommended.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">You are missing out on a lot if you haven't read this yet. And there is absolutely no way you should think of skipping it!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-16546775512784177622018-03-01T03:35:00.000-08:002018-03-12T05:14:40.974-07:00Book Review - The Temple Bar Woman (✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcNwKiicDUbJRGsUYgQRkCkZU3kAZ81in3B1VuzTQYvEiUHLQrP9mfZ4e3yy_vKA54wyrLpCkyZdEB2eXmExZadljTp5_UqJwg8kqdngi4gvlmZvg6oympLxwHgYoyFwpHsPmozs4moU/s1600/Captureg.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="598" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcNwKiicDUbJRGsUYgQRkCkZU3kAZ81in3B1VuzTQYvEiUHLQrP9mfZ4e3yy_vKA54wyrLpCkyZdEB2eXmExZadljTp5_UqJwg8kqdngi4gvlmZvg6oympLxwHgYoyFwpHsPmozs4moU/s320/Captureg.PNG" width="319" /></a><span id="freeTextreview2311498907" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">Received this review copy from </span><a href="http://www.writersmelon.com/wm/" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">Writers Melon</a><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;">.</span><br /><br />This book had all the qualities of being a 4 star, save the ending.<br />But I will get to that later.<br /><br />The Temple Bar Woman is a story of a young, innocent Radha aka Rani aka Radhika Chaudhary who struggles to avenge her honour by punishing her rapist - Vikram Pratap Singh, a young politician and a spoilt brat - and his friends who gang-raped her for standing up to their shenanigans. The narrative traces the protagonist's journey from 1999, when she was just another girl ready to embrace life with open arms, till 2017, when she has become the Chief minister of Agria Pradesh.<br /><br />Radha, a teacher in her father's school, is brutally gang-raped by three men and thrown at the mercy of Habiba Bi, the wicked and shrewd 'malkin' of the brothel - The Temple Bar. What follows is a series of incidents which makes Habiba Bi and Radha/Rani come together as an unparalleled force to overthrow their common enemy, Vikram Singh, and his father, Bharat Singh. Since both men are powerful and devious politicians, the women have to resort to lies, treachery and deceit in order to achieve their common goal - punish the men for their mis-deeds. In their path to seek justice, the woman step-over and lure the recently widowed Rakshit Singh, another upcoming politician of the opposition party. Over the course of years, Radha, now Radhika Chaudhary, uses her charm and her sharp-wits to make a place for herself in the party.<br /><br />In the end, as is predicted, Radha manages to achieve what she was set on - the rapists are punished. That's pretty much it. Not kidding. (Maybe now you can understand my disappointment.)<br /><br />What worked for me:<br /><br />1. The first half of the story is realistic. Woman standing up to man ridiculing her being 'taught a lesson' is the reason why we read about so many rape and molestation cases worldwide. Somehow, one gender has to take the onus of showing the other its place, and what better way to do it than defile them mercilessly and suck the soul out of their living bodies. (*rolls eyes*)<br />The narrative was, hence, very plausible.<br /><br />2. The Temple Bar - Coming from someone who volunteers her weekends at brothels, I can credibly say that the author has managed to highlight some very important and realistic scenarios that are a part of such places today. Yes, there is illegal trafficking. Yes, women are sold in sex trade against their will. But these is also a more humane side to it. These women, brought together by their collective ill-fates, have seen and experienced more life than us. Hence, when they consider you family, they will NEVER let you down and always have your back, come what may. I like how the author has managed to put that across, albeit very subtly.<br /><br />3. The Character of Habiba Bi - I need to especially mention this as her character was the one that was the most honest, in my opinion. Portrayed as a selfish and cruel woman initially, it is almost gut-wrenching to see Habiba Bi in a sorry position after her son's tryst with Vikram. It was in this part of the book that I found the most honesty. The fragility of human emotions, the strong thread of relationships, and the soul-stirring fear of loss - all were portrayed perfectly.<br /><br />What did not work for me:<br /><br />1. The End - As I have already commented earlier, the end was such a 'thap'. There is no other way of putting it. What started as a powerful tale seemed extremely rushed towards the end; and the fact that it was a little too dramatic for my taste didn't help the case either.<br /><br />2. The Suicide - The book starts with Radhika/Radha attempting suicide, so there is no spoiler here. The spoiler is that the reason is so, pardon me for using this word, stupid, it is almost comical. The suicide has absolutely no relevance whatsoever. Utterly disappointing.<br /><br />The end result is that what started as an utterly promising story ended up being a cliche of sorts.<br /><br />However, I am glad that the author is talking about a subject that needs more attention. And that's reason enough for me to recommend this one-time light read.<br /><br />P.S. Special mention to the cover image which I, for the life of me, couldn't understand. It looks like that of a sadhu/sant; no relevance to the plot whatsoever. (Unless the person who designed it only read the word 'Temple' in the title.)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-81990835417058665072018-02-25T21:55:00.000-08:002018-03-01T03:35:13.403-08:00Book Review - 8 Hours (✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSg27K4q4JW7fSyPqLlKyb2pSEJ3uLJLoak2wVWoR0BDL2jF3jYiO4unc9Dt4IFb9sIyjPIzi0MMr9IhI7nzI072J-jPKyRclo-EHx2eQWTSLhOxSvz8emaXPAaWfwQKe4gZaidoydf4/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2018-02-26+at+11.38.21+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="973" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSg27K4q4JW7fSyPqLlKyb2pSEJ3uLJLoak2wVWoR0BDL2jF3jYiO4unc9Dt4IFb9sIyjPIzi0MMr9IhI7nzI072J-jPKyRclo-EHx2eQWTSLhOxSvz8emaXPAaWfwQKe4gZaidoydf4/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2018-02-26+at+11.38.21+AM.jpeg" width="243" /></a><span id="freeTextreview2299688153" style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">(Review Copy received from <a href="http://www.writersmelon.com/wm/" target="_blank">Writers Melon</a>.)<br /><br />Disclaimer: The views presented are only my own perspective of the book and should not discourage anyone from reading it. You may prefer apples, I may like oranges. Doesn't say much about the fruits, only about our choices.<br /><br /><br />8 Hours is officially my most difficult read of 2018 (yet). I could not, for the life of me, get through this book. Every chapter seemed repetitive, every hour felt like a lifetime. In fact, even though I was buddy-reading this with two of my other bookstagrammer buddies, none of us could motivate the other. Much contrary to that, I think we all just pulled each other down. This book, no matter how much I tried, just did not work for me.<br /><br />The story explores the fate of a family-owned company, Arya, on the verge of its demise and the protagonist, a shareholder in the company and the daughter of the founder, Aratrika, is on a mission to save it anyhow. The book is titled 8 Hours, which is reflective of the last 8 hours of the company (from 1am to 9.22am, to be precise) before the said empire crumbles in its own mess, but it took me more than that to get through the book. While the first few chapters of the book are intriguing and did excite me initially, the boredom that overtook me subsequently enveloped me like nothing I have ever experienced.<br /><br />I am not going over the storyline. You can read the same in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36463473-8-hours?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">blurb</a>.<br />I will just quickly go over what did not work for me.<br /><br />1. Too many characters - It was, after a while, difficult to keep a tab on who was doing what, and related to which other character and how, and what they were up to and why. You get it? The entire book was as big a struggle as this sentence. I initially thought that once I got a hang of the characters and their relations, things would be easier (and maybe interesting?). No such thing happened.<br /><br />2. Repetitive - If I had a penny for every call that each character made and received, I may be able to buy back my weekend that I spent on this book! Every chapter sounded the same, every 'plan' and 'trick' was same as the previous one and the plot just REFUSED to move forward. In short, nothing, absolutely nothing happened for the entire duration of 8 hours. (To be honest, I was only able to read till page 115; I mostly did not - could not - pay attention after that.)<br /><br />3. The end was good only because it was the end. I had to suffer no more. (I would've apologised for being so harsh but I need to vent right now.)<br /><br />Did not work for me, may or may not work for you.<br />The plus point is that the writing is decent and lucid. One of the very few error free books I have read in a while.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-13410370258048002202018-02-18T19:48:00.004-08:002018-03-01T03:34:48.289-08:00Book Review - Hell! No Saints in Paradise (✩✩✩✩)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Received this review copy from <a href="http://www.writersmelon.com/wm/" target="_blank">Writers Melon</a>.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">I was very confused about this book in the last 24 hours, so much so that I couldn't commit to giving it 4 stars, but 3 seemed too less and hence I have decided to stick to 4.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrTD7efguLseVZiNxwV4jEIWS-tzSIau6JmyjSUdg-eckQNr5LD6wJcueKUzpDqWtM6vflaRCL-h84eIAt_3ICxbe4NkEMGaAM0HyCsClAO5uV2xSN2wkoq1JgrTGPLxiH9pDjwpy164/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrTD7efguLseVZiNxwV4jEIWS-tzSIau6JmyjSUdg-eckQNr5LD6wJcueKUzpDqWtM6vflaRCL-h84eIAt_3ICxbe4NkEMGaAM0HyCsClAO5uV2xSN2wkoq1JgrTGPLxiH9pDjwpy164/s320/Capture.PNG" width="265" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The story, set in 2050, is of a 30 year old Ismael, a Pakistani-American doing his thesis on Hell and Paradise (or rather aiming to refute the existence of both through his study). In a chance meeting with a girl named Petra, Ismael is convinced to try the hallucinogen Ayahuasca, which will set him on the path to discover the secrets unknown to the real world.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">What follows is a divine intervention in a drug-induced state that further convinces Ismael to take an unplanned trip to Pakistan, reunite with his estranged father and convince him that he is a 'firm believer', and help the 'higher beings' in their 'mission'. Unknown to the level of his mission, Ismael lands in Pakistan and finds it in a condition that shocks the soul out of his living body. The entire country is in a frenzied state to attain 'paradise'!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Isamel's journey through heaven and hell is painted so vividly by the author that one can almost, almost, imagine actually being there, experiencing everything first-hand. A series of ups and downs finally leads to the revealing of the mission to Ismael, who is already so much in shock with what all is happening that the extent of the mission doesn't surprise him anymore. The climax is detailed and leaves the reader satisfied (even though the end did not come as a big surprise to me).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">The characters of Chacha Khidr and Pir are well etched and are bound to make a space for themselves in your head. The language is flowy, without being too full of jargon. The book is sprinkled with Urdu words but the author has done a good job of explaining the same in simple lucid language, making one feel in sync with the story-line at all times. The satire and mockery and the interpretation of the Quran were the highlights for me.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Definitely recommended.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Read it in a couple of sittings, preferably on a weekend when you have time to spare. The book will be far more enjoyable then.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">P.S. The cover is one of the most beautiful I have seen and own. The texture, the print, the quality, everything is spot on!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">*****</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Find out more about this book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260023-hell-no-saints-in-paradise?ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my reviews <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/63530836-mishika" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Follow my bookstagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-9237700463809086502018-02-16T03:35:00.000-08:002018-02-16T03:35:02.855-08:00About Time!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello Lovely People (some of you are still reading this, I hope?)<br />
Anyhow, realising how my efforts for reviving this blog have failed miserably over the last few years, I have decided to make this platform more than just a personal blog. I plan to post my book/movie reviews from hereon.<br />
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WHY?<br />
I managed to read 41 books in 2017 and have already read 13 in 2018.<br />
I have become supremely active on my bookstagram and goodreads page.<br />
I am reading and reviewing books like a pro!<br />
Makes sense to use that impetus to revive this dying soul?<br />
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That's it for now.<br />
I will be uploading reviews every 2-3 days from now on. Hopefully that will motivate me enough to keep this blog alive even otherwise.<br />
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P.S. This July/August will be the 10th anniversary of this blog. :D<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/quotecopypaste/" target="_blank">Click here to have a look at my bookstagram page.</a><br />
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And <a href="https://www.instagram.com/box.of.tales/" target="_blank">here to have a look at a cute Book Subscription Box</a> I run!<br />
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Love<br />
Mishika</div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-62202885641077692872017-05-23T10:29:00.000-07:002017-05-23T10:29:14.406-07:00"Committed"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No, I am not sharing my views on (not) being committed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, this is one of my (vain) attempts to keep this blog alive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No, I have not made any effort of writing in the past few months even though I had all the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, that is certainly not a very good thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, this is a book review.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, not really a review, just a few words here and there since I finally managed the onerous task of finishing reading this mostly boring book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just a few things that will stay with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ok fine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, this is a book review.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9805465-committed</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="freeTextreview1913906310" style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">A brief background about how I came to read this book. My dear friend for almost six years now gifted me this this Valentine's Day (much to my surprise as I did not expect him to actually take into consideration my all-time love for Eat, Pray, Love) and hoped this would give me some insight on our 'future'. Marriage was always on the cards albeit things have been extremely rocky lately. This was supposedly my anchor to rough the high seas. And I must admit it did serve its purpose. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">And so I began-</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Nothing quite like its prequel, Committed did not manage to hold my interest for long. It was, therefore, quite a task to get it over with. I had dropped it almost altogether after February, but managed to pick it up again a couple of days back. Apart from the chapter on Marriage and Infatuation (and a part of Marriage and Women), the entire book seemed like a crystallized educational thesis on marriage. The narrative is mostly drab and, for the lack of a better word, seems educational. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, I very much related to the narrative on infatuation. Fortunately or unfortunately (one can never be sure since even this marriage of Gilbert, after all her issues, her phobia of getting married, her extensive research, has fallen apart, and how!!), I see a lot of Gilbert in my own life. I understand what it is like to lose yourself completely to another person, to not be able to see where they end and you begin, to not be able to understand, as she aptly puts it, that sometime 1 plus 1 has to equal 2. So while her love story with Felipe does give me hope that I may eventually grow up to not always get so swayed by another person that I lose myself completely, I am very skeptical about how long it will last (considering, well, you know what), or how it may eventually end.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The book does have some good parts. I have earmarked those to get back to them later. What I do understand now, and I quote - ...anything that the heart has chosen for its own mysterious reasons it can always unchoose later-again, for its own mysterious reasons.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pick it up for the love of Gilbert, if nothing else.</span></div>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-7473954734230797002017-01-05T22:30:00.001-08:002017-01-05T22:30:44.320-08:00Gyaan and Geisha <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Happy New Year?<br />
<br />
Not really. It's a new year, alright. Not all that happy though. Hoping a bad start leads to a better end.<br />
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Anyhow, it's good to be back after a year. I think this has become more of an annual ritual for me now which, to say the least, is extremely disappointing. And since even this post is rushed, I will only say the things I absolutely want to.<br />
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A dear friend gifted a copy of 'Memoirs of a Geisha' to me for my 26th birthday (yes, that happened :/) and needless to say, I am thankful to him for more than one reason. Firstly, it took away the most tedious task of choosing what to read, which is what takes (wastes?) most of my time. I ABSOLUTELY cannot make up my mind about what I want to read. End result? Piles of unread dusty books. Since that was taken care of, all I needed to do was be diligent enough to find time to read it. And I did! In less than a week! You see, that's the thing about a good book, you just cannot keep it down till you're done. But the tragedy is that once you're nearing the end, this irrational fear of your life losing meaning once the book is finished floods your mind with so much intensity, it's hard to explain. And hence the last 50 pages of this book were rationed by me very carefully, so that I could delay seeing the end of it for as long as possible.<br />
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And now secondly, because the book is such a wonderfully written, beautiful beautiful book! Safe to say, it was the best book to have reignited my voracious reading habit. Not only did the book transport me to another time, another place, the narrative is so honest, it teaches you so much about life and more!<br />
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And hence this post. Just sharing my favorite quotes and thoughts from the book. :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsymmTvhGwrVOQnMJT671NEspRV5jSw97TNFgHLHv_NY_qA3b_tlrbn3ds_OkuywxNrBZQ3rQECcFOppxi_DGnL98g4P4GJmwRith251NB6YaWanqQjeUCrNkpjgAbR_aBjUmGNhYnEA/s1600/Capturem.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsymmTvhGwrVOQnMJT671NEspRV5jSw97TNFgHLHv_NY_qA3b_tlrbn3ds_OkuywxNrBZQ3rQECcFOppxi_DGnL98g4P4GJmwRith251NB6YaWanqQjeUCrNkpjgAbR_aBjUmGNhYnEA/s320/Capturem.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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"This is why dreams can be such a dangerous thing: they smolder on like a fire does, and sometimes consume us completely."<br />
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"Grief is most peculiar thing: we're so helpless in the face of it. It's like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less; and one day we wonder what has become of it."<br />
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"We human beings have a remarkable way of growing accustomed to things."<br />
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"A woman living in a grand house may pride herself on all her lovely things; but the moment she hears the crackle of fire she decides very quickly which are the few she values the most."<br />
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"Nothing is bleaker than the future, except perhaps the past."<br />
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"Sometimes we get through adversity only by imagining what the world might be like if our dreams should ever come true."<br />
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"I don't think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it."<br />
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"Sometimes,' he sighed, 'I think the things I remember are more real than the things I see."<br />
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On that note, Happy New Year! :)</div>
Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-39556120533021039912016-01-24T21:14:00.000-08:002016-01-24T21:14:08.673-08:00New Year and All That Jazz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had a brilliant opening to the year, less clutter, more positivity and definitely more happiness.<br />
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But the last two weeks have left me thinking about the point of all the momentary pleasures which make us give on the permanent ones. After all, what's the point of all this? After all, the moment will pass and we will be left with nothing, nothing at all.<br />
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I read about the death of Rohith Vemula. I had no, or probably very little, knowledge about the events that let to his suicide. But his last words struck a chord with me. Rohith talked about the feeling of emptiness that we all have, every once in a while. He talked about things that I think about. Few seconds, minutes, hours before he decided to take his life, this is what he had to say:<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4014px; font-style: italic; line-height: 11.2011px;">Our feelings are second handed. Our love is constructed. Our beliefs coloured. Our originality valid through artificial art. It has become truly difficult to love without getting hurt.."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">The more I think about it, the more I understand it. Life has to have more to it than temporary decisions based on temporary emotions. It can not always be about living in the moment, especially moments that may destroy the future that could have been.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">A lot of this doesn't make sense, a lot of it doesn't make sense to me either. My actions are not guided by clarity of thought but mostly because I apprehend what will happen if I do, actually, think things through.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">As of today, all I know is that decisions are best taken when you are fully conscious of the consequences that will follow. If you are not aware of those, or choose to be denial about them, they will come back and haunt you in the long run.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">You can run, you can hide (and although you may be able to escape someone's love), you can't escape from life. It has a way of catching up with you are reminding you of all that you've done, and all that you could've done.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">Memories are a bitch, seldom do we realise that they'll last a lifetime. Must be very careful about making them. They'll come and haunt you too.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">tornintwo</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: proxima-regular1, roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.4014px; line-height: 11.2011px;">Mishika</span></span><br />
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-91144032908937717972015-12-09T21:30:00.000-08:002015-12-09T21:30:34.689-08:00Excerpts <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Whatsapp group chats can be the most annoying thing at times. It's not surprising that most of us have almost all the groups on 'mute'.<br />
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However, every now and then, some really interesting conversation happens, and that is what I'm reproducing below, with just the initials of the people who sent them. Some thoughts are mine, some are not.<br />
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It started with this early morning message from one of us: ('A')<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJr6enanGJFt9mFIZqkFtZ-SqUTIoMCTl9N54aK6AM7ZqWUOnSpe6TDfEqRkmNXj8y9c32S-tkZ5pgq7D2N5IJv8Rkwtbf_ZlDXFuBFugawyeSVbUjcwb1X_8eozbz-hyBhwrly0wnH4/s1600/6a2278c3-9e86-4d29-bf64-f3615fb909e6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJr6enanGJFt9mFIZqkFtZ-SqUTIoMCTl9N54aK6AM7ZqWUOnSpe6TDfEqRkmNXj8y9c32S-tkZ5pgq7D2N5IJv8Rkwtbf_ZlDXFuBFugawyeSVbUjcwb1X_8eozbz-hyBhwrly0wnH4/s320/6a2278c3-9e86-4d29-bf64-f3615fb909e6.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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P: I think the biggest mistake people do is to attach love to happiness. The last line of this is guilty of that. Detaching happiness from everything else is the only key to happiness. Love, on the other hand, is another Pandora's box all together!</div>
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A: Morning gyaan part 2. So true.</div>
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M: Second that, P. And a Pandora's box should never be opened</div>
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A: Pandora box full of love should never be opened.</div>
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M: It's Pandora's box, you can never be sure what you're signing up for, love or all kinds of evils and miseries.</div>
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A: #heavymornings lol</div>
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K: But happiness is temporary. Love is more prominent even if we don't understand it. One can be happy if he knows he is loved. When have you heard someone being happy while he is hated by everyone ?</div>
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P: K, tum bache ho abhi. Zindagi nahi dekhi. Happiness is ONLY in your control, and love is one of the ONLY emotions not in your control.</div>
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M: The opposite of love is not hatred, it's mostly indifference. And it's easier to be happy when people are indifferent towards you, lesser people to disappoint, lesser expectations to meet</div>
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S: Omg guys</div>
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M: Happiness is most definitely in your control. Couldn't agree more. The day you stop looking for happiness in love is the day you may actually find it, my friend.</div>
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S: Shut up</div>
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M: Hi S! Welcome!</div>
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S: Kaafi unhappy hai log. Baaki pyaar mein</div>
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M: Yeh last wala gyan on point tha, M. Kaun unhappy hai?</div>
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S: Jo sab itni happiness ke baatein kar rahe hain</div>
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M: S ne kuch padha hi nahi😂😂</div>
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S: Naaahhiinn. Itna gyaan</div>
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M: Gyaan is good</div>
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S: Apna hi zyaada pad jaata hai</div>
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A: Hahaha. I am loving this</div>
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I have very recently learnt to dissociate happiness from love, especially love that is built only on reciprocation from the other side. More than learnt, it's an art that I have developed over the last few months. I am a hopeless romantic, and by hopeless, I mean really really hopeless. I have lived in a fantasy world which is fueled by love. (Un)fortunately, I have had to finally get out of this bubble, more like kicked out of it and shaken to face things as they are. Luckily for me, things have only been better post that realisation. I'm less anxious, less dependent, less *insert other negative things*. </div>
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25th birthday did some really beautiful things for me. This was one of them. (More about birthday in the next post.)</div>
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Silver lining on silver birthday. :)</div>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1494432493714094973.post-28594124324914105972015-11-24T23:13:00.003-08:002015-11-24T23:13:27.806-08:00Silver<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'll be 25 in another two weeks, and for some unfathomable reason, I am pretty excited about this one. My birthdays are not really something I look forward to, and that's because of a lot of reasons- you keep building the hype for months and weeks and days and everything is over in just 24 hours, just like that, phoo; some calls never come, and you keep waiting till the end of the day, this thing constantly ticking at the back of you head; some unsaid expectations are not met, even though consciously you are not aware of these, but your heart shrinks when 'these things' don't happen.<br />
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That being said, this year has been quite a roller-coaster ride already, and there is not much to lose at this point in time. Hence the excitement. I've also made a special effort to clear the clutter, from my mind and physical space around me, just to make sure there is only good energy around my silver. And there are some little things that I have in mind to do for myself this birthday and in the year that follows. The best part- since my only expectations are from myself, it is only me that can disappoint me.<br />
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Silver Wishlist:<br />
> Laptop<br />
> Watch<br />
> Bicycle<br />
> Birthday dress<br />
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Silver resolutions:<br />
> More sleep<br />
> Less beer<br />
> Lesser green tea<br />
> More workout (more? more than nothing, atleast :/)<br />
> More drawing<br />
> More writing/blogging<br />
> More cooking<br />
> More saving<br />
> More travel<br />
> Turn down temper<br />
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Two more weeks with this subtle current of excitement that I am really hoping not to get jinxed, and bam! I'll be 25, quarter of a century.<br />
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*fingerscrossed*<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUuswl-0CzhibdbLrFAyGB_eOkQozveLKQ6cpH22Kx-kLYuQ3_8Vmyv1xhFYmBdeI0YpDACIa_gKqaxKRQut2tGcs7ULpNj0PhJ4GVmjWg_fiuJcvtu80xsxoteoNpGDa3VZXlxFlF0E/s1600/20131209_210711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUuswl-0CzhibdbLrFAyGB_eOkQozveLKQ6cpH22Kx-kLYuQ3_8Vmyv1xhFYmBdeI0YpDACIa_gKqaxKRQut2tGcs7ULpNj0PhJ4GVmjWg_fiuJcvtu80xsxoteoNpGDa3VZXlxFlF0E/s320/20131209_210711.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">23rd</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoAwMAK6y2m1IW7byEqnV6KS-GnZUwySzLiCzZHZPNUIE7QzFKozhKlRDQgMGhwKaCvhvOJhn6aKvxVux4i1muAwNUloEbuKzpM0oARx58oDFWYUP2Hp-wuXuqk9CdDhOT8qY1E8FdO8/s1600/20141209_001620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoAwMAK6y2m1IW7byEqnV6KS-GnZUwySzLiCzZHZPNUIE7QzFKozhKlRDQgMGhwKaCvhvOJhn6aKvxVux4i1muAwNUloEbuKzpM0oARx58oDFWYUP2Hp-wuXuqk9CdDhOT8qY1E8FdO8/s320/20141209_001620.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24th</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Mishikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03492504122111641025noreply@blogger.com3