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Title: There’s Something About You
Author: Yashodhara Lal
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins(July 15th 2015)
Genre: Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)

This is not your typical boy-meets-girl story. Okay, they do meet, but there are some complications.

Trish is twenty-eight. She’s unemployed, overweight, single and snarky. She knows all that. And if one more person – just one more person – tries to fix her, she might explode. Sahil is thirty-five. He has superpowers. Well, kind of. He seems to think so, anyway. He’s also hot (okay, in a geeky kind of way, but still). And he plays the guitar, helps the underprivileged and talks about his feelings. Aren’t guys like that supposed to exist only in fantasies?

When Trish and Sahil meet, magic happens. Real magic, you know, like fireworks, electricity, that sort of thing. But here’s the problem. Trish doesn’t want anyone in her life. She has enough to deal with – dependent parents, flaky neighbours, bitchy editors, the works. And yet, Sahil is determined to be in her life.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Indiblogger and Yashodhara Lal for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Bright and Eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Ebony & Ivory…

Readability, language: Easy on the eye and mind.

Why did I choose this book: Since I’ve read Lal’s first book and had enjoyed it, when TSAY came up on IndiBlogger for review, I grabbed for it. 🙂

Trish is an ordinary, regular, sarcastic, overweight girl who is trying to find herself while trying to make ends meet. She had been living alone for a few years before her parents turned up and she is now unable to readjust to living with them. She is all messed up or so, she thinks. Enter Sahil into this melee, he’s the rich boy who is lost and trying to run away from the family business, the one who wants to do his own thing. The rest of the book is about how it all untangles and unravels.

TSAY’s cover is bright, cheery, colourful and inviting. There is a clear connect between the story and cover. The title is one that would work for any romance but in this case, it is only way past mid-point that I made the connect of the title with the story. The blurb is captivating and does a good job of setting expectations.

TSAY is just another romance but with a little twist that makes it a refreshing read. Lal toes a good line when it comes to balancing romance and all others parts of Trish, the protagonist’s life. Her creation of various sub-plots to cover the various facets of Trish’s life makes the book much more than an out and out romance and more fun to read.

The story is set in present-age Mumbai and Lal’s research and knowledge of the city shows. Most of the story unfolds around the sea, Bandstand in particular. Lal’s description of the smell, sight and sounds of living by the sea feel real and believable. Especially the parts about living near Shah Rukh Khan. 😀

The book revolves around Trish or Trishna as her father calls her. Trish is an everyday girl with her problems of parents, lousy bosses, excess weight, and all that, that I as an everyday girl can empathise with. Sahil her love interest grows on you as the various sides to him are revealed. He turns out to be this lovable kind geek and you can’t help but love. And then there’s Trish’s parents, her neighbours, her co-workers and bosses; they all are well sketched and add masala to the story.

TSAY is structured well and the pace is good too. Starting out with describing who Trish is, Lal goes through the story introducing characters based on need and furthering the story, holding a good pace. The subplots add to the story and don’t derail it, there are also no loose ends except one, which maybe is best left to guessing. The build up to climax is great and the end well drawn out too. My only complain is the family secret which I felt was a bit too much and was an easy route out to explain all Trish’s troubles.

I enjoyed Lal’s style of writing or rather Trish’s style of writing. It was fun to read and I found myself laughing a lot of times at Trish’s sense of humour and sarcasm. Here’s an example –

Notice the numbering on the left? I loved that the page numbers were on the sides of the page in the center so it was easier to keep tabs of the page I was on.

The language of the book is mostly simple with a few rare words I didn’t know. Both the writing style and the language is easy on the mind and makes the book an easy read.

I would have given 4 stars except I felt there was too much drama at the end, and some of it unneeded.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it. It’s a good one to choose when you want a light read and you’ll especially enjoy it if you’ve known the struggle of finding the woman in you. Recommended for all ages and genders. 😉

About the Author:

Yashodhara Lal graduated from IIM-Bangalore in 2002 and has over 12 years of experience in Marketing. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband Vijay, and their three small children they call Peanut, Pickle and Papad. She blogs at www.yashodharalal.com.

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Giveaway:

 
This giveaway is open only to residents in India. To participate please follow instructions in the Raflecopter widget below.
The winner will receive a Paperback copy of the book by book post. This giveaway is not sponsored by the author.

May the odds be ever in your favour! 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to Manidipa on winning this giveaway! 🙂

Title: Choked!
Author: Bharath Sarma Rejeti
Paperback: 172 pages
Publisher: Partridge India(December 17th 2013)
Genre: Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Buy On: Amazon | FlipKart

Summary: (Goodreads)

What will you do when someone chokes you off?

It happened to him, a victim of a conspiracy. He was all alone, vulnerable, and pitted against the mighty and juggernaut, but being strong was the only option he had. He knew that it would be difficult to win, but quitting the fight would be devastating. He had too many things at stake – a non-negotiable promise, his land, life, and livelihood.

Unrelentingly, he began the revolt with just an indestructible desire to win. It was indeed a war between two unique men – one preferred to confront head-on, and another chose to be invisible. The war was also one of its kind – the victory was not in plotting violence but in terrorising the enemy.

This is the story of a small businessman who was pushed to fight with a corporate gorilla.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Bharath Sarma Rejeti for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Confusing!

Paper and font: Black and White

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes and mind.

Why did I choose this book: The premise of a fight of small businessman vs corporate gorilla sounded interesting.

One morning out of the blue, Aditya loses everything he and his father have built over two generations. His business is suddenly shut down and he is left on the streets. Like a bigger fish eats little fish, his business has been snatched from him by a bigger businessman. After a period of mourning Aditya decides to take up the fight and goes after the big shark to take revenge. Will he win and how will he do it is the story.

The title ‘Choked’ started to make sense after I had read the book. The cover confused me before I started the book. The smoke in the image along with the title had me thinking that the story was about factories and fires. But the blurb dispeled this misconception with a cryptic intro to the story.

The plot itself may not be new, a wronged hero taking revenge is an age old plot but set the old story in new Bangalore and things change. The conflict between the two businessmen is clear within the first few pages of the book, and the rest of the story revolves round the two adversaries.

Set in Bangalore for the large part, the story also moves around to Chennai, Mumbai, and Silluru to support the story. Rejeti’s knowledge of the layout and recent history of Bangalore city shows when he mentions and uses landmark establishments around the city in his story.

Aditya and Singhania the two adversaries of the story seemed true to what I know of business men. Aditya seems the type of man who buckles easily under strain but he comes back to fight with a vengeance. I would have liked to have got to know of more about Singhania. His character seemed really strong and colourful. There are other characters too, some taking an active part in the story while others like Aditya’s family made for good decor.

The story is evenly paced and builds toward the climax. Rejeti’s has put in some surprises and twists but none of them performed well enough to take my breath away. I also did not notice any sub-plots as such but neither did I notice any loose ends.

Choked is Indian and very Bangalorean in every way. The language of writing and the dialogues of the characters are very colloquial and local to Bangalore. It almost like you are reading a book translated from Kanada or Hindi to English. Rejeti also uses some Kanada and Hindi to add to the dialogue. All non-English dialogues in the book have translations though.

A short and fast book, Choked is easy on the mind. Though the book is readable by all ages, I think the younger crowd in the late twenties will enjoy it more. I would have liked the story to have been a bit tighter but over all it’s not bad.

If you like stories with business complications and conspiracies, you will enjoy reading Choked. Especially if you are Bangalorean or have lived in Bangalore for a while.

About the Author:
Bharath Sarma Rejeti is a marketing professional and works in a software company in Bangalore. Choked! is his debut novel. You can find out more on the book’s facebook page

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P.S. – Day Eighteen of the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.

 
Title: Warrior
Author: Olivier Lafont
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books India(November 24th 2014)
Genre: Mythological Fantasy
Read: eBook
Stars: ****/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)

In Mumbai, driven to its knees by a merciless blizzard, Saam the watchmender is cornered into an intolerable position. As Shiva’s only earthly demigod child, it falls upon him to stop his indomitable father. Bred to war, son of destruction, Saam rides with six extraordinary companions into the horror of a crumbling world to face Shiva. He is forced to join hands with Ara, his half-brother he can never fully trust and take with him his own mortal beloved, Maya, on this desperate attempt to stop the End of Days. But his path is littered with death, danger and betrayal. Interweaving mythology, epic adventure and vintage heroism, this enthralling novel will change the way you see gods, heroes and demons.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Olivier Lafont for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Easy on the eyes.

Readability, language: Fast read with some big words.

Why did I choose this book: A demigod story based on Indian Gods and set in India was a must read, no?

The world as we know it is coming to an end. Shiva the destroyer has started the process of the End of Days. But the Gods have human children or demigods and Saam who is Shiva child has the potential to save the world. Can he and how he does it is the story.

The title doesn’t really say much about the story, however the blurb does catch the eye and sow a seed of interest. The cover reminded me of samurais and such, but not bad I’d say since it caught my eye.

The plot is new but very clearly inspired by Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. However there are a lot of elements that are different and new too. The main storyline is about saving the world but there are a lot of sub-plots too that explore Saam and his six companions past to build a complete jigsaw.

The story starts in present day Mumbai and then moves across India, across dimensions and between worlds as Saam and his party try to follow clues and undo the unravelling. Lamont has done a good job of describing the each location both real and fantasy and it is easy to visualise as your read.

Saam and his half brother Ara are the main characters of Warrior. They have a love-hate relationship and a past with many a story. Lamont explores the siblings relationship as the story unfolds unveiling their past a little bit at a time. There are a fair number of other characters too who are also well-fleshed and rounded to support the story and take it forward.

The objective of the story is clear within the first 10 or so pages of the book. Lamont then goes ahead through the tale to attain it. Though there are many sub-plots in the story, Lafont ties them all up well with the main storyline and leaves no loose ends.

He builds the narrative well and ups the pace towards climax, such that I was hooked to the book after a point. Warrior starts out really slow and then picks up pace and gets action-packed. If you can hold out for the first 20 or so pages, you’ll be stuck till the end.

Though the style of writing is somewhat inspired by Percy Jackson, the story is too Indian to hold on to Percy for long. Intwined intricately with Indian mythology and Gods, Lafont has done his research well and paints a vivid picture.

A very good effort for a debut novel. I’m going to be looking forward to more books from Lafont. Suitable for all ages except maybe kids, due to the blood and gore. If you are someone who loves mythology, especially Indian mythology and likes action-packed thriller type books, you must read Warrior.

About the Author:
Olivier Lafont is a French actor and author living in Mumbai, India. He has acted in Hindi films as well as over 80 television commercials. Apart from acting Lafont has also written the screenplay for the film Hari Om and is a regular columnist for MW and Men’s Health magazine. You can find out more on his website

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Title: The Simple Truth
Author: David Baldacci
Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (November 1st 1999)
Genre: Mystery-Thriller
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)

Twenty five years ago, Rufus Harms was convicted of a murder he believes he committed. But when his memory is jogged by a letter from the army, he has a shocking realization: he’s not guilty. From prison, Rufus secretly files an appeal with the Supreme Court, unaware that the real killers are onto him. But the long-time convict knows he’s running out of time when his lawyer and the Supreme Court clerk–the first person to see Rufus’s appeal–are murdered. Escaping with his brother’s help, Rufus must now elude capture long enough to expose a shocking cover-up and save his own life.

My Review:

Note: This review was first written way back in 2000, for a website OyeIndia.com that existed way back then. 😀

Cover: Simple Cover…

Paper and font: Good.

Readability, language: Easy.

Why did I choose this book: I used to be a big fan of Baldacci. But haven’t read any of his new work in years!

25 years later a letter arrives by mistake only to trigger an avalanche of memories. Rufus Harms recalls the events that led to the murder of a little girl that fateful night. He files an appeal in the Supreme Court and now his life is in danger.

Written by David Baldacci ‘The Simple Truth’ is a gripping novel. After graduation with BA honors in political science he attended law school and worked as a trial lawyer and even as a corporate lawyer. He has also written Absolute Power and Total Control.

The book is about the experiments the US army did using the soldiers as guinea pigs without them knowing. About how people used the experiments as a cover to take revenge on the people they had a grudge on. It is also about the racial prejudice that exists is America and even in the Army!

The people involved will do anything to keep their 25 year old secret. Now most of them are in pretty high places and so can pull a lot of strings and stunts. Two people have already lost their lives and 3 more are in grave danger.

The book is an eye-opener to the workings of the Supreme Court, and the politics involved.

The book is an interesting read but only if your going read it once.

About the Author:
David Baldacci published his first novel, Absolute Power, in 1996. Since then David has published 28 novels. He has also published four novels for children. While David is involved with several philanthropic organizations, his greatest efforts are dedicated to his family’s Wish You Well Foundation® established by David and his wife, Michelle. David and his family live in Virginia. Find out more at his website davidbaldacci.com.

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Title: One
Author: Richard Bach
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Dell (October 2nd 1989)
Genre: Philosophy
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)

Under the spell of quantum physics, Bach and his wife Leslie are catapulted into an alternate world, one in which they exist simultaneously in many different incarnations. First they encounter themselves as they were 16 years ago on the day they first met. In this version of their lives, they do not marry, and never achieve the happiness Bach assures us that their real union has produced. Bach once again displays an inventive imagination and inspirational zeal that will have readers examining their own lives.

My Review:

Note: This review was first written way back in 2000, for a website OyeIndia.com that existed way back then. 😀

Cover: I loved the cover. THe blue and the simpleness gets me every time.

Paper and font: Smell-worthy!

Readability, language: Easy on the eyes, Deep on the mind.

Why did I choose this book: After ‘A Bridge Across Forever’, this one just had to be read.

I gave my life to become the person I am right now.
Was it worth it?

‘One’ deals with the choices we make in life and where they take us. The choice we make today, the turn we take, the idea we implement or even the stranger we smile at will affect our lives years from now.

Written by Richard Bach, One is a journey of self-exploration. Some of Bach’s outstanding works include Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and A Bridge Across Forever. Bach’s writing is usually about himself and his experiences.

One is not an adventure story, thriller or suspense novel. It is a journey Bach and his wife Leslie make into their life, the past and the future. They go back to meet Atila and forward to meet a robot that’s trying to protect the earth. It is a trip down life’s twists and turns to see what would have happened if you had taken a different turn.

There will be a lot of times you will stop to contemplate and think for a lot of reasons. You may find a situation parallel with one in your life or maybe pleasantly surprised that someone can think so much like you. Essentially it is a journey into your self.

It is a thought provoking book and so obviously for the thinkers. It is not a book for light reading, read it only if you have the time, I suggest you take this one to bed.

About the Author:
A former USAF fighter pilot, Air Force captain and latter-day barnstorming pilot, Richard Bach is an avid aviator-author-philosopher. He enjoys the joys and freedom of flying and writing about it along with delving into deep philosophy and thought experiments. You can find out more about him at www.richardbach.com.

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Title: The Edge of Reason
Author: Helen Fielding
Paperback: 422 pages
Publisher: Picador, Macmillan Publishers Ltd (November 18th 1999)
Genre: Chick Lit
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)

The Wilderness Years are over! But not for long. At the end of Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget hiccuped off into the sunset with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. Now, in The Edge of Reason, she discovers what it is like when you have the man of your dreams actually in your flat and he hasn’t done the washing-up, not just the whole of this week, but ever.

Lurching through a morass of self-help-book theories and mad advice from Jude and Shazzer, struggling with a boyfriend-stealing ex-friend with thighs like a baby giraffe, an 8ft hole in the living-room wall, a mother obsessed with boiled-egg peelers, and a builder obsessed with large reservoir fish, Bridget embarks on a spiritual epiphany, which takes her from the cappuccino queues of Notting Hill to the palm- and magic-mushroom-kissed shores of …

Bridget is back. V.g.

My Review:

Note: This review was first written way back in 2000, for a website OyeIndia.com that existed way back then. 😀

Cover: In keeping with the theme of the first book…

Paper and font: Good.

Readability, language: Easy and fun…

Why did I choose this book: I’d read the first, there was no way I was missing the second.

This is surely a brilliant piece of work. Helen Fielding’s ‘The Edge of Reason’ is a sequel to her earlier Bridget Jones Diary. It may not be better then the first but you will find the same style and flow here.

The book is based on a fictional character Bridget Jones, a modern woman in the modern world. She has her set of problems, men, jobs, friends, parents, etc. and has one hell of a screwed up time solving them. All women are sure to see a parallel here. She’s someone you can relate to, she feels so real.

The book is in the form of a diary and is as if she is speaking and being herself. So different from the usual detached form of writing a diary. There are parts where you will be rolling with laughter and times when you’ll be set thinking. At points you will be like ‘Oh My god! How stupid can someone get?’

I find the book beautiful. One anyone can read, simple language and so much fun. The style is so different from the usual. Her life feels like its mine and it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with those problems. The views of Bridget and her friends on almost everything are exactly what I feel but can’t put across so well. The definitions and terminology used are just too perfect and great to use.

This is a book that is “not putdownable”. It’s a must read for all and a must must read for all women.

About the Author:
Helen Fielding was born in Yorkshire and is the author of four novels. She worked for many years in London as a newspaper and TV journalist. She now works full-time as a novelist and screenwriter and lives in London and Los Angeles.

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Title: Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India
Author: Pankaj Mishra
Paperback: 276 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia (December 31st 1995)
Genre: Travelogue
Read: Paperback
Stars: **/5
Buy On: Amazon

Summary: (Goodreads)
In Butter Chicken in Ludhiana, Pankaj Mishra captures an India which has shrugged off its sleepy, socialist air and has become instead kitschy, clamorous and ostentatious. From a convent educated beauty pageant aspirant to small shopkeepers planning their vacation in London, Pankaj Mishra paints a vivid picture of a people rushing headlong to their tryst with modernity. An absolute classic, this is a witty and insightful account of Indias aspirational middle class.

My Review:

Note: This review was first written way back in 2000, for a website OyeIndia.com that existed way back then. 😀

Cover: So-so…

Paper and font: Good.

Readability, language: Big words…

Why did I choose this book: How could you not want to read something with that title!

Pankaj Mishra’s book Butter Chicken In Ludhiana is not a must read but you could call it a good read.

The book is a travelogue of Mishra’s travels in small (small he says, I would say somewhat small) towns of India. It is a good book in the literary sense, the language flows well but literary isn’t all that is important in a book.

The book is pretty entertaining but personally I didn’t find it very insightful. Mishra seems to have a problem with everything, you hardly find him appreciating anything. He has covered quite a few towns but somehow I felt he has left out North East India and quite a lot of the South. He has a lot of complaints about each town and its people, though some of the stories he recounts of people are entertaining and have a ring of truth to them. He hardly seems to look around the places he goes to. He just keeps meeting people.

Another thing I noticed is that he uses big words where small ones would have sufficed and maybe would have expressed what he wanted to convey better.

What I would give most credit to, would be Mishra’s interaction with people. He looks up someone or the other in almost every place, and his conversations are enlightening at times and ridiculous sometimes. Maybe he should have said ‘People in small towns of India’ rather than ‘Travels in small towns of India’.

I found Mishra very superficial, if he had just looked beyond or below the surface he might have found something’s that would have touched him and things he would have liked.

On the whole this book is one you can repeatedly read, and you will always find something you missed out last time. This book is for a select lot, it isn’t what everyone can read.

About the Author:
Born in 1969 somewhere in North India, Pankaj Mishra went on to complete his MA in English Literature from JNU, New Delhi. In 1992, he moved to Mashobra, a Himalayan village, and has been writing from there since then. He is an author of 4 books and many literary and political essays. You can find out more about him at his website pankajmishra.com.

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Title: The Arithmetic Of Breasts and Other Stories
Author: Rochelle Potkar
Paperback: 79 pages
Publisher: Amazon(November 1st 2013)
Genre: Fiction, Short-stories
Read: eBook
Stars: ***/5
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Summary: (Goodreads)

This cluster of 7½ literary short stories presents to you the romantic-sexual facets of:
Narain who lusts for Munika, hypnotized by her bosom in The Arithmetic of Breasts, and old Jaganlal who wants a favour from young Dia in The Room with a Sea-view.
Jackie who is in love with Nic in Sky Park, and the surgeon in Dr. Love who is changing much more than Sneha’s hairline, nose, lip and chin.
Shonali and Neel who are realizing that infidelity might not be such an easy thing in The Scent of a Conscience, and a woman who walks the tight rope between tradition and sexual exploitation in A place they call Scary.
And, Sunil who meets the woman of his desires in What Men Want through an adult dating site.
Through these stories, Rochelle Potkar explores the intensely personal ‘unrelationship’ that exists alongside its conventional and socially articulate twin, the relationship.

My Review:

Note: Thanks Rochelle Potkar for offering me your book to read and review 🙂

Cover: Simple and Sensuous

Paper and font: So-so…

Readability, language: Fairly Simple…

Why did I choose this book: ha ha, when I first saw the book I read the title as ‘Arithmetic of Beasts and Other Stories’, it was only when I was half-way through the first story that I noticed the ‘R’ in the title. 😀

This is a collection of 71/2 stories about the love lives of men and women, their lusts, amorous adventures, sexual quirks, and such. What all the stories have in common is the exploration of relationships and couplings outside of marriage.

The title is an interesting one even though I missed the ‘R’ 😀 and it’s the same as the first short story, though that one isn’t too short and is most probably the longest in the collection. The cover is a simple one yet sensuous. There seems to be a newer cover too with a mix of sculpture, books, spectacles, an apple, etc. but I liked the older version more.

The stories are interesting and well written. This book is not a fast read as each story leaves you with thoughts to mull over and absorb.

I’m not a great fan of erotica so, some bits of the book had me blushing pink and making sure I didn’t have an audience but over all there isn’t too much of it. I’d say it’s more sensual that erotic.

Most of the stories are set in Metropolitan India, when illicit affairs a fast becoming common place. I also felt some sarcasm from Potkar (or I hope it was) when her male characters talked about women. Their attitude, thoughts and approach rankled and raised anger as the feminist in me wanted to shake and throttle them.

The characters across the stories seem well thought out, at least from the perspective of short stories. There’s Narain the mathematician who sees geometry in anatomy, Sheha who agrees to change her identity for the man she loves, Neel who wants to cheat his wife but does not like being on the receiving end, and Sunil who finds ‘the’ woman on a dating site. There are others but these are the ones who stayed with me even after I closed the book.

Like I was saying before, the stories are thought provoking. I hadn’t expected this when I took up the book but I’m glad to report that the book came as a nice surprise. I found myself shushing Che when he disturbed me in the middle of the stories, and I don’t do that very often.

Each story had depth and needed my attention so I didn’t miss the crux for it all. Potkar’s style of writing is what I call simple-complex. Simple language, complex thought. 😀

I still had my favourites though. I enjoyed reading Dr. Love, Room with a Sea-view, What Men Want and The Arithmetic of Breasts. My least liked one were Sky Park and A Place they call Scary.

Ok, this has been a rather long review for a collection of short stories. So, on to verdict. Over all I enjoyed the book. I wish some of the stories had had more to them but if you are someone who likes sensual stuff and stories that make you think, this book is for you.

About the Author:
Rochelle Potkar is a fiction writer and poet. She lives in Mumbai and is working on her next book Dreams of Déjà vu – a speculative novel. She can be found on Twitter at @rochellepotkar

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This is an odd review but WTH, it’s still related to books. 😀

Two weeks ago I received an email from the Westland Publishing team asking me if I’d like to participate in solving the mystery of Amish Tripathi’s new book. Is there any way I could have said no. 😀

Anyway to cut a long story short, after a long wait my surprise arrived two days ago. Here’s what I saw when I opened the carton. A pretty little treasure box.

Inside the box there was an instruction leaflet, a bottle with stuff that looked like mud and a scroll.

The leaflet is the usual type with a welcome message and instructions on how to make entries in the contest.

The scroll however has some interesting clues…

The scroll reads – “A blazing torch in the dark, the city I come from is that of knowledge, and knowledge shines through. Hold me with reverence, good people. I am a bigger clue than I might appear to be. Speaking of rising from the element, as opposed to letting it eventually consume you, the history of my place of origin is as colourful as the traditional art it is known the world over for. A city with a productive present, its yields in the past went on to change the face of ancient India.”

So what’s this all about? Basically this is Amish and WestLand promoting Amish’s next book and doing it in style. I’m glad to see stuff like this finally happen in India in the book space. WestLand is sending 150 or so fans clues that will lead to the subject of Amish’s next book. 5 winners will get gift vouchers worth Rs.500. The prize isn’t compelling enough, I’d have preferred early editions of the book or such but just using the mind to solve the clues in the reason for why I’m participating.

Now on to solving the clue… At the end of the Shiva series I remember having a feeling that his next book would be based in the South of India, I even mentioned it in my review of the Shiva Trilogy but I can’t seem to wrap my mind around the clues.

And this isn’t the only clue. There are two others sent out to others participation. Here are all three…

Most people seem to be of the opinion that it will be either Ramayana, Mahabharata, Buddha or Ashoka. Most weightage is being given to Mahabharata since Amish mentioned it in the second book of the Shiva Trilogy.

But as of now I’m inclined to think his next story will be based in Kancheepuram. If you ask me why, I don’t have all the perfect answers. I started out with the feeling that his next book/series will be based in the South. With that in mind I went hunting for learning centres in the South and came upon Madurai and Kacheepuram as probables. But Madurai does not have any world famous art, Kancheepuram on the other hand does. So.. That’s my guess. How the other two clues fit in I can’t figure out. 😀

Two other places I have on my shortlist of three guesses are – Madurai and Tanjore.

Amish will reveal his next book’s teaser trailer on 23rd January at 6:00pm at the Jaipur Lit Fest and that’s not to far off, it’s just a couple of hours away. Let’s see what comes up…

Back to why this fits into the review category… This is a review of the promotion of Amish’s next book and I am impressed by what the WestLand Team is doing. It’s a well planned event that is causing the right amount of hype in the right circles. Kudos and 5 stars for their efforts. 😀

Update: Amish revealed the title of his next book. It’s Scion of Ikshvaku. I’ve kicking myself coz I have another book on the same topic on my reading list right now. 😀 But really I’d never have guessed that and reason is that I’d thought Amish would be more, that he would not take up the same old ghisa pitta Ramayana story and rewrite it. Maybe he make that fun too. Who knows, time will tell. For now, here’s the teaser trailer…

Additional Info: The book is expected to be released before October 2015 and there will be 4 to 5 books in this Ram series! 😯