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Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi #1

The first part of Orisha trilogy, Children of Blood and Bone by debutant author, 24 year old Tomi Adeyemi, who  has studied West African Culture and Mythology, is worthy of our time and effort that it takes to read through the 600 pages of this adventure. ********************************************************************** This is one of the very few books that I have read from the  # YA  category so I did not have much of an idea as to what to expect and so I dived right in soon after getting the book. The fact that I have always wanted to read African literature and never got much around to it, also prompted me to pick this book before a few others. Add to this, my interest in mythology and can imagine me rubbing my hands in glee as I started Children of Blood and Bone. First in the Orisha trilogy by debutant author Tomi Adeyemi (@tadeyemibooks ) the book starts off with a young girl looking forward to her graduation ceremony from a training school where an old seer teach

Of new resolutions and newer authors

The year has started on the right note. I have already read two authors whom I had not read before falling hard for the one being hailed as Japanese Steig Larrson- Keigo Hagashino. That is what got me thinking about new year resolutions  (I know we are done with the first quarter) which I haven't made in years. So here is a list of authors that I would like to sample this year. - 1. Manu Joseph 2. Pico Iyer 3. Anthony Horowitz 4. Margret Atwood 5. Toni Morrison 6. Chimamanda Adichie 7. Jo Nesbo 8. Neil Gaiman 9. Terry Pratchett 10. Alice Munro/  Walker But I also realise the futility of making a list like this as there are just so many authors, poets, writers and just so many works coming to fore everyday. A book group might help, you would think but let me tell you that it complicates things further. New recommendations, fantastic and not so fantastic reviews, pictures, blog posts and what not really makes matter well,complicated. All said and done, it is

Book Review: The Devotion of Suspect X by Kiego Higashino

The title of the book is enough to let you know that this is not a book belonging to the romantic genre.  It is not even a murder mystery per se because by the end of Chapter 1 the stage is set for murder and in the very beginning of Chapter 2 the deed is done right infront of your eyes and you, the reader, for sure knows who did it. But then I don't think it is right to not label The Devotion of Suspect X as "not" a thriller or a mystery. So where do we put this part suspense and part philosophy novel by the Japanese writer Keigo Higashino? The story revolves around a single mother,  Yasuko Hanaoka, an ex-night hostess now working in a  shop selling boxed lunches,  and her next door neighbour Ishigami, a high school maths teacher. The book begins with him leaving house to go to the shop to buy lunch. Here we are introduced to the city they live in and quietly to an other important character in the book- the surroundings. This is also where the author's immense ta

Book Review: Faraway Music

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An engaging novel which hardly sags or ebbs. Beautiful, lyrical and warm, it makes for a perfect weekend read.  ******************************************************************** (I met Sreemoyee Piu Kundu recently at a Women Writer's Fest organised by SheThePeople  at the Saturday Club, Kolkata. I asked her what would she recommend out of her three published works. She asked me what genre do I like and then went to to recommend this as well as Sita's Curse, an erotica. After she left for the podium for her talk, I bought Faraway Music.) Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, an ex journalist, debuted with Faraway Music in 2013. Partly biographical, Faraway Music is the story of acclaimed writer Piya Choudhury. It meanders through the bylanes of Kolkata, soaks in the rains of Mumbai, rubs shoulders with the Dilli ki Sardi and races towards end via a posh NY penthouse before finally coming home to Kolkata. Piya tells her story to another journalist on a long flight and this play o

Book Review: Tell Tale by Jeffrey Archer

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These 14 stories make for an easy read and with their twists and tales are sure to keep you engaged for a good while. ******************************************** Jeffrey Archer's latest offering of short stories comes after the seven part series called 'The Clifton Chronicles'. This collection of short stories bear all the hallmarks of an Archer short story. They are simple and intriguing. I think what makes Archer tick for me is that very fact. The engaging stories take you from one place to the other at times on their own and on others through the sheer word power of the author. I was waiting to read this book from the time Pan Macmillan India sent me the cover and a nugget of information that the book had a story with a Calcutta connection. Later through The Telegraph, I got to know that this story (Double or Quits) was told to Archer by his friend, erstwhile tennis player Naresh Kumar. Getting back to the boo, I have always liked most of what Jeffrey