Archive | January, 2012

Author: Manjiri Prabhu
Publisher: Rupa & Co.

The theft of the precious mineral stone, the cavansite, from The Crystal Museum of Minerals has left everyone puzzled, more so because the modus operandi of the theft has uncanny similarities with an international bestseller, The Cavansite Conspiracy by Chris Carver. While the police and the curator of the museum are on the hunt, a spiritual group in Bangkok too is interested in acquiring it by any means.

Meanwhile, Koyal Karnik, a lecturer in communication studies working in Hamburg, Germany, arrives in Pune…

Title: In the Orchard, The Swallows Author: Peter Hobbs Publisher: Faber and Faber ISBN: 978-0-571-27927-2Genre: Literary FictionPages: 139Source: Publisher Rating: 5/5
In the Orchard, the Swallows is a subtle poem to beauty lost, innocence ruined and sometimes what it takes to find your place back in the world. When I received a copy of this book, I was intrigued by the plot and immediately started reading it. When I read books related to a particular territory that is no longer accessible to the general population or is not what it…

Many children these days have no clue about mythology and folklore. The best way for them to learn these stories is through books, colourful, fun and informative at the same time. ‘In Bon Bibi’s Forest’ is exactly that kind of book, beginning with a “Once upon a time” like everyone’s favourite fairytale and very detailed illustrations that capture the essence of each character.  This book narrates the story of Bon Bibi, lady of the forest, a goddess specific to the Sunderbands region. Where the land meets the sea lives the…

All-American Tom, golden child Nicki, and outsider Leila live in rural Spring Valley in the not-too-distant future, when oil production has slowed dramatically and the country is running out of oil. People can’t get to work because they don’t have gas; they’re being laid off because of businesses cutting costs; the price of everything is rising; and heat and electricity are increasingly hard to get. Nicki’s family is being torn apart by the crisis, and Leila is worried about how to survive the winter on her own. As winter progresses,…

Title: The Canyon of Souls (also, The Ascent)Author: Ronald MalfiPublisher: Silverfish-WestlandPrice: Rs. 225Pages: 303
 Coincidences in life are can sometimes be amusing, and sometimes a little spooky. It is due to a coincidence that the book ‘The Canyon Of Souls‘ hit off with me instantly. And this coincidence was a spooky one. I had undertaken a literary quest sometime back for understanding the deeper meanings of words like ‘Nature‘, ‘Providence‘, ‘Divinity‘ and ‘Man‘. Specifically, ‘Nature of Man’. More specifically ‘Insidious Nature of Man’. In Ronald Malfi’s The Canyon of Souls…

When you pick up a book of an author you have previously read and enjoyed, your expectation from his new book automatically increases. I had high hopes from this book – Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel. The previous book by the author, Life of Pi is one of my favorite reads of all times. But, all my hopes with his new book came thrashing down as I turned pages after pages of the book with having a clue what the story is all about and then it came to…

REVIEW BY CHITRALEKHA MANAHOR

Hot Tea Across India by Rishad Saam Mehta could not have had a more direct title. Written more like a story than a travelogue, the book features a series of engaging anecdotes of tea shared at India’s most picturesque destinations and its oddest in-between places. Moving backward and forward in time, the author strings together diverse experiences ranging from tea shared with a shepherd in a picturesque valley in Kashmir, to a Bollywood-style quick getaway from Kargil, to photographing un-cooperative wild asses in the Rann of…

 
Beautifully illustrated and exciting!
Enchanted Saarang and the six other stories are from the valleys and hills of Kashmir. The book offers an insight into the life in that part of the country through well written and beautifully illustrated stories. Based on morals and virtues, each story has a different feel to it. One can feel the adventurous Marmot’s pain when other Marmot ostracize him and children’s excitement when they receive Traamkhazaan’s gift. Karim is brave enough to take on two thieves while Gulal the pony proves a mother’s love by fighting a leopard.

The book brings alive the…

Image from here.
There is a genre of Indian movies with villains clad in dhotis, the hero in non-designer pants-shirt, kick ass music, dangerous looking gundas and cops- fun, fast and exciting.  Unfortunately, they don’t make many of these today- take Don 2 for example, the antagonist is surely ‘bad’ and  Hollywood, the locations nothing even remotely close to home(given they probably flew over the Indian Ocean from Asia to Europe) and the only ‘Indian’ element seems to be language.
The Newsroom Mafia, on the other hand has familiar aromas-A…

Tessa doesn’t believe in magic. Or Fate. But there’s something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied…