Today I am attempting to review three different books of three different genres... God bless me! First things first... Disclaimers. So, why three reviews clubbed in one? Why not individual book reviews? Etc etc... For the barrage of questions here go the disclaimers!
1. Considering my own laziness in reading all the book reviews coming through... Well, I am just not able to. So, if I extrapolate my laziness (shamelessly) to others... Most of them are reading just their own book's review. So, in clubbing three book reviews in one post.. May be you get introduced to two more books :)!
2. My blog my rules !! (someone had once told me this line... badly wanted to say this sometime or the other... Wasn't getting the chance ever... So, well one bizzare wish fulfilled :)!)
So, here we go :)! Just posting the reviews in the order in which I had read the books (you can chalk out the disclaimer in this yourself :))
Blossoms And Foliages (Genre Poetry)
Even though the book's cover page says it all.... Let me still elaborate.... Are you a nature lover? Even if you are the kind that just feel fresh taking a stroll in the nearby park or woods amidst the greenery...this book describes that surreal experience in the form of poetic verses. You might be surprised that how such a surreal experience can be even described... But you read the poems in the book and you will know... Yes, someone has that god gifted talent to actually be able to word them.
Till date I always felt that photographs do more justice in capturing nature's beauty than words but after reading this book I really couldn't decide which did more justice. The photographs are as beautiful as the imagery created by the poems. You just get transfixed and transferred to that very place in the lap of nature and enjoy drinking it sip by sip through the poetic words woven around them. The author has painstakingly even described each of the pictures for the visually impaired.
My favourite poem is 'Walk your path'...quoting a few lines
"A wise soul has quoted
A journey of thousand miles
Begins with a single step
Determined, Walk the less trodden path
And walk alone if no one else follows you"
And last but not the least... When I picked up this book and started reading... I just couldn't help marvel at the literary richness of the poems. What beautiful usage of words. I would really want the author to guide me as to how can I improve my English to such an international level!
The link to download the book is here (free for limited period).
Trapped In Heaven And Other Stories ( Genre Fiction Short Stories - Romance)
I generally tend to pick up books on romance when I want a light read. When I don't have too much time and still want to do some time pass reading types. And that was precisely my thought before I picked up this book of short stories on romance... But I was in for a pleasant surprise.
This isn't such a book like the lovey dovey types which you can read and forget with time. The stories are deep and some of them explore some deep rooted vices in our society. And the way the stories bring them out is hard hitting and leaves you touched and thinking.
My favourite two stories from the book are '#No Filter' which just left me teary eyed and 'The Devil's Bride' for which I am short of words and can only applaud.
Erotica as a genre is niche in itself and it requires great amount of talent and craft to make it aesthetically tasteful. And this author has this brilliant ability to do so. The way she has narrated the stories and woven erotica with romance and explored the depths of relationships is simply amazing.
Somewhere, while reading I also felt that the book even subtly explored through the portrayal of the relationships the various aspects of womanhood.... Her weaknesses, gullibility, strength, girlishness, vices etc. The book even has a dash of humour... 'Bullet in the heart'...such a hilarious story!
And the narrative skills of the author is definitely going to leave you spellbound. It makes you feel like you are reading some international bestseller. I remember when I was reading this book I had actually pinged the author and told her specifically that I can't believe that my debut book is actually placed along with a master piece like yours that too of such a talented author.
Link to download the book is here (free for limited period).
See Through Words (Genre Spirituality/Philosophy)
There are very few books which you tumble upon and keep them aside to read and re-read and re-re-read multiple times. This is one such brilliant book.
I had picked up this book to read because of it's cover. I had read a bit about Zen philosophy earlier but had read only in bits and pieces and was very happy to find a book on this in the carnival. This book came to me just when I had lined up to read the book 'Siddhartha' by Hermann Hesse. You can say I was in that phase when I needed such a book and I am so glad I found this one :).
The very first thing that really grasped me was the 'uncopyright' in this book which gives the permission to anyone and everyone to copy or use the contents of the book in any manner. And it leaves the decision on you if you want to give the credit to the author or not as it says 'morality cannot be forced'.
The book beautifully delves into the world of Zen and imparts subtly the knowledge on Zen way of living which in the author's words isn't about 'What you do' but about 'How you do'.
Apart from speaking about the origin of Zen 'the artless art of living' and difference between 'Dhyana' and 'Meditation' (which was an eye opener to me!) the book touches upon various other aspects like 'state of no mind', ' Experiencing nothingness', 'language of mindlessness', 'accepting polarities' in which the mind is restricted, 'Conscious state','unattachment vs detachment','state of no thought', 'state of egolessness', 'state of desirelessness' etc. The book also gives examples in the form of stories explaining the meaning of these states and on how to reach these states... Through laughter, sudden jerks, emptying of the mind, surprising the mind.
Some of my favourite lines from the book are:
"One who chooses will always be incomplete , less than the whole because the part he chooses will continue to delude him and the part he denies will continue to pursue and haunt him. "
"A door is always in the middle, between the opposites - the extremes"
"Ever desireless, one can see the mystery. Ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations"
This is one such book where every line of the book leaves you in a multitude of thoughts that linger on. And my review in words just can't do justice to that feeling.
Link to download the book is here (free for a limited period).
Link to my own book 'Dots And Streaks' is here (free for limited period).
6 comments:
Reviewing a book or anything is an interesting job....it paid me to feed by college bills when I needed both the most...interestingly it ruined my sense of appreciation as I had to abide by the rules of the game and the Editor was too strict on that....I left the Sunday page quickly and switched over to writing notebooks for aspiring students...money was the only motivating factor those days for such job....now the world is affluent...people have moneyless choice of pursuing life...so it carries much flavour and generosity than some four five decades ago...nevertheless, as I started with, reviewing any literary piece or music or any creative composition is an interesting job, whether you are paid or not, whether you are bound by the rules of game or not; as it offers one to an exalted state of learning...knowing what more the world has to offer than what I have so far explored...the wide field of exploration is always a bonus for that...I now regret having quit the job so soon without getting into it...
I love reading your review for it always carries the sparkles that have awed you...the sense of awe in reviewer is the essence of reviewing---in whatever form of review...and I respect your review for this simple reason; it is immaterial whether I shall love to read the book or listen to that music, but it enables me with an interesting choice...that's the sacred job of the reviewer and you have so honestly done it....regards
I have read Mayura's book and bits of Ravish's and I absolutely agree with you. Your reviews do them justice. :D I think I'll also do clubbed reviews in my blog now.
Thanks so much again sir for all your encouraging words... They are so encouraging that sometimes I end up reading your comments multiple times just to soak in the appreciation :)
As you said sir, I think anything once monetized somehow does lose it's initial mirth that you started with...and rules and regulations on something done with passion kills the creativity. Reading books have their indescribable charm but yes, now I am able to enjoy the charm of reviewing them as well. It sure is an exploration with multiple depth levels to be unfolded. Thanks once again for your appreciation sir... Hope you will enjoy reading the books as well :)
Thanks so much Darshana :)! The books are so good that any number of adjectives I use for them I feel I fell short :) Yup try with the three different genre book reviews... It's great fun!
I have read only Ravish's book which I did enjoy. Look forward to reading the other two. You do justice to them, I'm sure.
Thanks so much Sir... Ravish's book was indeed a brilliant read.. I read it multiple times and have actually kept it to read again in future. I am sure you will enjoy the other two books as well. Each a gem in their own genres.
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