Read your way through the lockdown – Woohoo!! I made it to the OutlookIndia Blogzine
And indeed, this the best moment that has happened to me during this lockdown. So let us all rejoice the little happiness we get!
BOOKS, DREAMS AND BLUNDERS; CANDID CONFESSIONS OF AN AUTHOR – VAISHNAVI SANOJ
To talk about books is to talk about my dreams, and to talk about books is also to talk about my blunders. I was born into a family of publishers
Pebbles on Paper | A Book Review
Me being emotional, I get overwhelmed by emotions every now and then. So what do I do when I get wrought with emotions? Well, then I scavenge for words.
Words that I find on the pages of poetry books. Oddly enough, they have power to set my soul free and give shape to my unspoken emotions. I can then analyse and make peace with them. My emotions.
Story of Anne Frank, if she had lived
What if Anne Frank hadn’t died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp?
4 Netflix series that you will love to binge watch during Lockdown
Ah! The vicious cycle, we are stuck in. But never fear… I am here to recommend you 4 Netflix series that you will love to binge watch during Lockdown
Get Your Book Reviewed
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House of Earth and Blood | A Book Review
Okay, where do I start from? My thoughts are scattered here and there, freaking everywhere. And I am so pumped-up. It’s like I am struck with a bolt of Athalar’s lightning; the shockwaves of it have send my emotions on a tizzy so intense that I am still in a daze. And these are all just the aftermaths of reading the most electrical charged book ‘House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas. Just imagine, if the after effects of reading this tome of 796 pages was so potent. How was the entire experience? Let me tell you; it was a roller-coaster, that didn’t stop until the last page. And the last page was a promise for more adventures to come. Weirdly though, despite it being a fascinating read; I had this love and hate relationship with this book. Why, you ask? And I say the beginning of Sarah J. Mass’s book ‘House of Earth and Blood, was torturously slow. It took 200 pages to make sense of the characters and the imagery world building. But once past that biggest hurdle, it was the most exciting fantasy-slash-whodunnit book I read in a long, long time. And what’s more, it had both the genres, I love devouring. So yeah, I slowly started falling in love with this book. Each turn of page brought me closer and closer and closer to characters Ruhn, Hunt and Bryce. But it took time for me to fall in love with them. I found them a bit aloof. Cold, if I may say so. Bryce, especially. A snarky and a snobbish of a person. I seriously did not like her. Everytime she came into the scene, I wanted to bang some sense into her; tell her not to be so heartless. But then there came a moment in the book, that made me realise that she, after all is a human; shaped by the fear and experiences of the past. Thenceforth, I completely and irrevocably fell in love with Bryce and the book. And, and, and did I tell you about Danika? Ooo She is my most favouritest character. Though she had the minutest role, but the impact she had on me was earth shattering. I so wish, she had a bit bigger role. What’s more, cherry to this yummilicious cake is Sarah J Maas’s beautiful,beautiful writing style. I wouldn’t have ploughed further 50 pages in the beginning, if not for her writing style. And thanks the Gods, that I read this epic of a book, or otherwise I would have missed on something so amazing. Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood, is a book that should be read slowly with your eyes, heart and soul. It is a heaven for Fantasy and mystery readers.
AutHer Awards 2020 declares its top winners
It was an exhilarating evening at Taj Palace, New Delhi that saw a heart-warming celebration of women on Women’s Day. Times of India and JK Papers joined hands to celebrate women authors who have added value and creativity to the literary space. The AutHer Awards 2020 was attended by the who’s who of the town and the hall jam packed with authors, academicians, publishers, bureaucrats, politicians, artists and book lovers, cheering at the winners was a sight to behold. And the awards went to…….. The awards were handed over in 4 categories and consisted of a trophy and cash prize worth Rs 1 lakh each. There was a Lifetime Achievement award and a Popular choice award too. In the category Fiction the award went to Madhuri Vijay for her book, The Far Filed (Harper Collins Publishers India)-(Literary Fiction) and Sutapa Basu for The Curse of Nader Shah (Readomania)- (Historical Fiction). The Best Author Non-Fiction award went to Saba Dewan for her book Tawaifnama (Westland). The Best Author Debut award was split between Rudrakshi Bhattacharjee for This is how it took Place (HarperCollins Publishers India) and Rehana Munir for Paper Moon (HarperCollins Publishers India). The award was given to Rudrakshi posthumously who passed away at the young age of 16. It was an emotional moment for the entire gathering when her parents Debasree Bhattacharjee and Ratnadip Bhattacharjee received the prize on her behalf and said how happy and incredulous she would have been to receive it. Bijal Vachharajani was given the Best Author Children’s award for her book A Cloud called Bhura (Speaking Tiger). The Popular Choice Award went to Sutapa Basu for garnering maximum number of votes online. Legendary author Nayantara Sahgal was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award that was received by her daughter who read out a soulful message by Nayantara, thanking TOI for giving her an award that she had never received earlier-a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution as a woman author. Times Group CEO Raj Jain who graced the occasion with his presence, emphasised on the need of focussing on the contribution of women and said, “Since times immoral women have always played an integral role in all aspects of life and indeed have been at the forefront of the creation and origin of existence. Sadly though, they have always been praised out of fringes and have never been a part of the mainstream social and historical narrative.” The journey of the awards The books were chosen, post multiple layers of screening, out of a whopping 850 entries submitted by both publishers and individual authors for the coveted national award, the first of its kind in India. The jury considered books by women published in India between December 2018 and November 2019. Eminent writer and politician Shashi Tharoor who was the Chief Guest of the event, said: ” Of course, things have changed very much, but the fact fundamentally remains that too much of our history, too many of our stories have been written simply by men and if you look at the global picture, the vast, vast majority of published writings have not just been written by men but by white men. Therefore the literate public have looked at the world or have been shaped and conditioned by perspectives of these men.” The jury The chairs for the AutHer Awards jury consisted of author Ashwin Sanghi (Fiction), actor and author Sonali Bendre (Non-Fiction), columnist and author Shobhaa De (Debut), and author Bulbul Sharma (Children’s books). The other jury members were author Jaishree Misra (Fiction), author and former Deputy Secretary, Sahitya Akademi Gitanjali Chatterjee (Fiction), author Yasser Usman (Non-Fiction), author and journalist Manimugdha Sharma (Non-Fiction), author and comic writer Arjun Gaind (Debut), Co-founder of ScoopWhoop Rishi Pratim Mukherjee (Debut), actor, compere and Director of The Study School Shivani Wazir Pasrich (Children’s books), and author Ramendra Kumar(Children’s books). Vinita Dawra Nangia, Literary Director, AutHer Awards beautifully summed up the need for having a special award for women authors, “Why should there be an award for women authors? This is to encourage them and recognise their talent because men still seem to have a disproportionate advantage in the field of publishing. It was 174 years ago that Bronte Sisters wrote under the pseudonym of a man because it was felt women writing fiction would not be acceptable in men and although a lot has changed after that, but women continue to use pseudonyms and initials and men dominate the bestselling lists. We need to change all that.” The AutHer Awards was hosted by popular stand-up comedian Papa CJ who interspersed his conversation with humorous anecdotes and added a lively nuance to the gala evening.
Stifled Oneling | A Book Review
Stifled Oneling by Dr. Stifled Oneling Books are born out of the tragedies and stories that surround us. Writing itself is a cathartic process that helps us deal with our demons. “Contemporary happenings” in the life of a Stifled Oneling !! by Dr. Oneling, is one such book born out of the woes. Over 150 pages long, this book is divided into ten chapters and an epilogue. Each chapter caters to different social evils from monetary issues to redundant religious superstitions to feminism, education and taboos, this book questions almost everything and leaving us rattled in the process with more questions in its wake. The book presents to us these woes of society but doesn’t get preachy. The author maintains that the aim of this book is to educate the masses about these issues and she knows that the change doesn’t come overnight. The concepts are all etiological factors – fear, society, and human ego – the three factors that cause the social struggles, the author discusses at length in this book. When I talk about the writing style of the author, it is quite lucid but hard-hitting. The author’s words drive home the point it harps on. The book is a quick read and one can see it more as essay-esque writing. I loved reading the author’s thoughts about the on-going issues. It gives the readers a vision to view these social norms that are sometimes forced upon us traditions. In my view, this book deserves to be read and understood, if you consider yourself a responsible citizen of this nation. This book pursues a solution and the ranting of the author comes out as a cry to wake us up. And halfway through reading the book did I understand, why did the author titled the book Stifled Oneling. Overall, this book give its readers a new dimension to think and contemplate our so called societal norms that ranges from religion, money, taboo, feminism. Kudos Dr. Oneling.
