Klishmaklaver

Book Title:  T he Cheongsam Bombshell Author:  Aki Liao & Al McDermid Publisher:   Red Betsy Press My Rating:  **** About the Authors: Aki Liao  was born in Paris, France, but is a graduate of Yale University (1989) . He received his M.A. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1993). Al McDermid  was born in Michigan, where he spent most of his life until joining the U.S. Navy upon graduating high school. Remaining in Hawaii when his tour ended, he attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, receiving his B.A. (1990) and M.A. (1997) in History. Their debut novel penned together-   ' A Halo for Red Betsy' is the first book in this 'Frank Keegan Mystery' Series.  The author-Al McDermid, now my virtual friend, sent me a Proof copy of this wonderful book sailing across the seas to me. I am hugely thankful not only because the author has been extremely generous in pampering th...

Book Title:   # IAm16ICanRape Author:  Kirtida Gautam Publisher:   Read Out Loud My Rating:   ***1/2 About the Authors:  Kirtida is a clinical psychologist turned screenplay writer who completed her education from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, India. Her passion for psychology and writing inspired her into writing psychological thrillers.   This book has been the most unique read of all times. #IAm16ICanRape has been written by an author who seems to have a whole lot of spunk in her. Everything is gutsy about this book, starting from the subject to the style in which the prose has been rendered. I think writing an entire book in the present progressive tense is a mean feat. Also there are a whole lot of characters that are introduced with every new chapter. Each character gives us an in depth peek into their psyche by narrating their own story in the first person. This must definitely have been a b...

Book Title:  The Guardians of the Halahala Book 1 of The Vikramaditya Trilogy Author:  Shatrujeet Nath Publisher:  Jaico Books My Rating:  ***** About the Author: Besides exploring various business opportunities Shatrujeet Nath has written ad copy, and reported on business as a journalist and assistant editor at The Economic Times.  His first book, The Karachi Deception, was published in 2013. The Guardians of the Halahala, his second book, and the first in The Vikramaditya Trilogy series, was published in 2014. At present, he is writing The Conspiracy at Meru, the second volume of the trilogy.  Like a true blue Indian Mythology fan, one of the first few stories I grew up listening to and demanding of my mother to repeat every other day at bedtime, was that of the 'Sagar Manthan' or 'the Churning of the White Lake' as Shatrujeet Nath calls  it. I remember being enthralled by the story of how Lord Shiva of the Holy Trinit...

    Book Title:  Mashenka Author:  Agnia Barto Translated from the Russian by Avril Pyman Drawings by  Willi Trubkovich Publisher:  Progress Publishers 1976 Printed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics My Rating:  ***** 1/100 MASHENKA by Agnia Barto With this book my 6yo son + 3yo son (Together known as 'Udhishu'!) + I have set off to complete the  ‪#‎ 100bookpact‬ . This book is a Russian publication- a 1980 EDITION! So it basically means this book has been in existence even before I was born. The whole of December carries the mood of Christmas for me.(Its also my birthday and hence the celebrational mood is in an overdrive! Teehee.... ) So what better time than this to let my children-Udhishu, inherit this book? I clearly remember Pa gifting me this poetry book among a huge pile of other great books for my third or fourth birthday and then mum would pick out one book for me and read from it. *Nostalgia* I am immense...

Book Title:  Pradyumna- Son of Krishna Author: Usha Narayanan Publisher: Penguin metro reads My Rating:  ***** About the Author: Usha Narayanan is a gold-medallist with a Master’s degree in English Literature. After carving out an illustrious career in writing for teh Advertising Industry, she made a successful debut as an author with the novel- ‘The Madras Mangler’, a suspense thriller. Before I begin to tell you more about this- one of my latest acquisitions and favourite reads, I must warn you that I am a great fan of mythology. And to add to that I'm already sold on the book cover- illustrated by Jay Thakur.  A large part of my childhood memories include reading book after book and comic after comic on Indian mythological stories. These books were often full of colourful illustrations that aided my imagination but here's a book who's cover singularly provided more than enough fodder for my creative brain to conjure up images as Usha Narayanan un...

BIDDU- the POP music magnate who ruled our hearts in the 80s and 90s has published his AUTOBIOGRAPHY aptly titled MADE IN INDIA-adventures of a lifetime. ABOUT THE BOOK: Made in India by Biddu As a child, Biddu dreamt of going west and making it big as a composer. At the age of sixteen, he formed a band and started playing in a cafe in Bangalore, his home town, At eighteen, he was part of a popular act at Trinca's, a nightclub in Calcutta devoted to food, wine and music, At nineteen, he had college students in Bombay dancing to his music. In his early twenties, he left the country and ended up hitchhiking across the Middle East before arriving in London with only the clothes on his back and his trusty guitar. What followed were years of hardship and struggle but also great music and gathering fame. I finished reading his life story and reviewed the book last month. I'm a die hard BIDDU fan and his life story also gets a 5 Star rating from me. You can rea...

The Independence Day of 2015 gave me more than one reason to celebrate! On 15th August 2015 after a good gap of 24 months my work was published once again. This time my story was picked up for an E-mag named UNBOUND- compiled and edited by Neil D'Silva (author of Maya's New Husband fame) and Varun Vithaldas Prabhu (serial Authorpreneur). Happy to also share that the logo/symbol design of UNBOUND was designed by me. :D  Here's the  Smashwords link for the first issue of  the UnBound E-Magazine where you can read numerous other fantastic short stories and poetry written on the theme- FREEDOM. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/569765 FREE DOWNLOAD  ****************************************************************************** Rati arched her left eyebrow and brought both her palms up, gracefully bending her slender fingers, demonstrating the Sanjukta Hasta Mudra that was being taught. The light tapping on the tabla travelled to their ...