Review - Where Do You Go in the Dark, My Love? by Isha Singh

Title - Where Do You Go in the Dark, My Love?

Author - Isha Singh

Publisher - HarperCollins

Pages - 176

Blurb:

Your understanding of the occult is about to change. There are no vampires here, no werewolves. These are stories of life interrupted by forces unknown: energy flowing dark and silent from unspoken fears, repressed desires and small-town secrets. Set in hauntingly beautiful hill-stations, the sleepy lanes of Lucknow and breath-taking Rishikesh, these stories explore cities and the characters they coil around: whether it is a waiter disillusioned with the world around him, a school boy followed everywhere by a pig, a lawyer who wears a tiger claw at his neck for virility, or a young woman as much in love as she is in mortal danger. Here, in these eerily quiet worlds, are stories of horror that come from the most familiar of places, where nothing is ever as it seems.

Review: 

Where Do You Go in the Dark, My Love? by Isha Singh is a collection of 19 horrifying stories with unexpected twists and ends present in this book which will surely entertain you. Stories of life interrupted by forces unknown: energy flowing dark and silent from unspoken fears, repressed desires and small-town secrets. Set in hauntingly beautiful hill-stations, the sleepy lanes of Lucknow and breathtaking Rishikesh. It has a stories of waiter disillusioned with the world around him, a school boy followed everywhere by a pig, a lawyer who wears a tiger claw at his neck for virility, or a young woman as much in love as she is in mortal danger.

Author has done a very impresive job by peening down these stories, every story has great characterisation and plot.

Writing style of the author is very impresive which helps to connect with the stories.

I would recomend this book to the readers of Horror or if anyone wants to start with this genre this book will never disapoint you in any manner you will surely enjoy reading stories presnt in this book.

Lastly I would like to appreciate the work of cover designer, hence I also design cover and I really liked  the cover.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4.5/5

Blurb: 4.5/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author- Isha Singh is a research scholar, currently working on Trauma and Memory in Holocaust literature. She has previously done her Bachelors from Miranda House, University of Delhi.  

Review - My Little Epiphanies by Aisha Choudhary

Title: My Little Epiphanies

Author: Aisha Choudhary

Publisher:  Bloomsbury

Pages: 84

Blrub: Aisha Chaudhary was born with S.C.I.D (severe combined immune deficiency) and underwent a bone-marrow transplant when she was six months old. She lived in New Delhi, where she was born. The year 2014 was brutal for Aisha as her disease progressed, and her lungs started giving up on her. The last few months of the year felt like a roller-coaster ride, one that seemed to be mostly going down. Spending almost all her time lying in bed, Aisha wrote down her thoughts to get some relief, to get them out of her head. Aisha’s life was not anything like the average life of an urban teenager, but she had experienced a lifetime of emotions; life and death, fear and anger, love and hate, the depths of utter sorrow and the happiest one can be. In my Little epiphanies she took a hard look at her own feelings and what it was that gave her a sense of hope and control. This book gave her life purpose and meaning, something to hold on to. Sometimes, Aisha’s little epiphanies had morphed into doodles that capture what was going on in her mind as her destiny played itself out. Through the book she wanted the world to understand her unusual life and she hoped that it will inspire others, going through similar hardships, to find peace.

Review: My Little Epiphanies by Aisha Choudhary is a beautiful book 

Thanks to Bloomsbury India for publishing such beauty.

Thanks to Aisha for this book and inspiring us through her story.

Its a story of Aisha Chaudhary was born with S.C.I.D (severe combined immune deficiency) and underwent a bone-marrow transplant when she was six months old in London. She lived in New Delhi, where she was born. The year 2014 was brutal for Aisha as her disease progressed, and her lungs started giving up on her.  Aisha wrote down her thoughts to get some relief, to get them out of her head. The doodles in this book that capture what was going on in her mind. You will feel an emotional attachment while reading her thoughts. 

Sadly Aisha passed away on of January 24th, 2015 after fighting with immune deficiency disorder and Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Her story will teach you about life how everyone has the potential to fight with a problem until your body starts giving up, never give up so easily. You will also get to know why she had chosen this title for the book.

Note: The Movie "The Sky is Pink" is based on Aisha's story do watch it.

Thank you, Bloomsbury India for the copy.

 Ratings

*This Book does not need any ratings.

Available on Amazon
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Review - The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

Title - The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural

Author - Agatha Christie

Publisher - HarperCollins

Pages - 368

Blurb - From the Queen of crime, the first time all of her spookiest and most macabre stories have been collected in one volume. ‘From behind the curtains there still sounded the terrible high long-drawn scream – such a scream as Raoul had never heard. It died away with a horrible kind of gurgle. Then there came the thud of a body falling…’ for lovers of the supernatural and the macabre comes this collection of ghostly and chilling tales from Agatha Christie. Acknowledged the world over as the undisputed queen of crime, in fact she dabbled in her early writing career with mysteries of a more unearthly kind – stories featuring fantastic psychic visions, spectres looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, eerie messages from the other side, even a man who switches bodies with a cat…
This haunting compendium gathers together all of Christian spookiest and most macabre short stories, some featuring her timeless detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Finally together in one volume, it shines a light on the darker side of Agatha Christie, one that she herself relished, identifying ten of them as ‘My own favourite stories written soon after the mysterious affair at styles, some before that’. contains 20 stories.

Review - The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie is a collection of short stories. I was damn excited to read this book but when I picked I was disappointed. The first story itself is not that interesting you can predict what is going to happen in the very next moment.

I can only say that never judge a book by its cover as I did while choosing this book. This book has around 20 stories but only a few of them are good.

You will also see a few familiar faces, as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple make appearances in a few of the stories if you have read Agatha Christie's previous books.

I liked only four stories present in this book which are -  

The Dressmaker's Doll - Stories with dolls are always scary and this is one might be the scariest and most unique of them all.

The Flock of Geryon - Hercule Poirot aids an heiress in bringing down a dangerous religious sect.

The Blue Geranium - The wife of the Kenite the strange case of Sir Arthur Carmichael the call of wings the Red signal

Wireless - An elderly lady hears a message from her long-deceased husband through the newly-installed wireless.

You will also read about haunted houses, mysterious characters. If you want to read some of the stories written by Agatha Christie which have not published before you can pick this collection of short stories to read those.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author - 

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Review - A Ticklish Affair and Other Stories by Sunil Kapoor and Sudhir Kapoor

Title -  A Ticklish Affair and Other Stories

Authors - Sunil Kapoor and Sudhir Kapoor

Publisher - Rupa Publications

Pages - 224

Blurb - 

A man is blackmailed for a past he never had. An unrequited love story binds two lovers. A man waits for his lover, only to be killed at her hands. A girl takes back her life from her tormentor. From the bestselling authors of the peacock feather comes another delightful offering, ticklish affair. This collection of short stories has all the ingredients of an unputdownable book. Taken from the daily rigmarole of ordinary life, The stories are given extraordinary twists and turns, leading to fascinating climaxes. The dark undertone of ‘blackmail’, the power of belief in ‘Spark of the divine’, the forbidden romance in ‘ticklish affair’ or the eternal power of love in ‘rickshaw faridabadi’, this collection of stories is sure to move readers to tears of sadness and joy at the same time.

Review - 

A Ticklish Affair and Other Stories by Sunil Kapoor & Sudhir Kapoor is a collection of 10 (Ten) Unique short stories, both the authors highlighted many important issues like Sexual Abuse, Smuggling, Corruption and many more in this book.

I am glad that I got a chance to read this beautiful collection. The illustration used in the cover looks just awesome. 

I never read any books from these two authors before. Its a collection of 10 short stories and I personally like 3 stories which are - ‘A Ticklish Affair’,  ‘The Kikar Tree’ and ‘Blackmail’,  there are other 7 stories present in this book which are also good for reading.

Some stories are already made into a short movie, The language used by the author is simple, Every story has some special element, language used in this book is simple and

both the authors succeed in engaging the reader with their storytelling style, looking forward to reading many more from this duo in future.

Thank you, Rupa Publications for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon
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About the Authors - 

Sunil Kapoor:

Sunil Kapoor, co-founder at Zenith Global, is a Delhi-based financial consultant and taxation advisor. He has almost four decades of experience in guiding national and multinational clients with their tax obligations, strategy consulting, real estate transactions and financial structuring. He has had the honour of serving the ex-president of India and various Bollywood actors. Sunil is also actively involved with many NGOs and has been awarded by Khushii (an NGO) and Lions Club of Delhi for his contributions. He has also been awarded for his contribution to the field of music by the President of India and performed at live shows in India and Singapore. His hobbies include rendering piano recitals and reading books, especially autobiographies. 

Sudhir Kapoor:

Sudhir Kapoor is a chartered accountant and a renowned financial consultant with around 30 years of diversified experience. He is an expert in the field of business controls advisory, audit & assurance, and financial risk management. His clientele mainly consists of public and foreign companies. Sudhir is an FCA from the Institute of Chartered A ccountants of India and a commerce graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University.

Review - Postscript by Cecelia Ahern

Title:  Postscript

Author:  Cecelia Ahern

Publisher:  Harpercollins

Pages: 400

Blurb: 

We desperately need your help Holly. Were running out of ideas and…’ she takes a breath in as if Summoning the energy, ‘all of us are running out of time.’ when Holly Kennedy is approached by a group calling themselves the PS, I love you club, her safe existence is turned on its head. Inspired by hearing about her late husband gerry’s letters, the club wants Holly to help them with their own parting messages for their loved ones to discover after they've gone. Holly is sure of one thing – no way is she being dragged back to the grief she has left behind. It’s taken seven years to reinvent herself, and she’s ready to move on with her life. But Holly comes to realize that when you love someone, there’s always one more thing to say.

Review: 

Postscript by Cecelia Ahern made me emotional while reading it, like the prequel (PS. I Love You) as expected.

Postscript is a Sequal to PS I love you (One of the much-awaited books of the year). If you are planning to read Postscript I would strongly recommend you to read "P.S. I Love You", first to know Holly's story.

Postscript will make you emotional. There is some magic in Cecelia Ahern's books which you will feel while reading. The Cover looks just amazing.

Seven years have passed since Gerry’s death, and Holly is moving on with her life She is now working in her sisters Ciara’s second-hand shop. Holly has found someone with whom she is thinking to move on.

One day she agrees to do a podcast on "How To talk about Death" for her sister Ciara, and after doing this podcast her life changed, In that Podcast, she shared everything that happened with her after losing Gerry, how He planned everything before his death, How helped Her in moving on after His death. 

A group of strangers have formed the P.S I Love You Club. They approach Holly in the hope she will help them, they are all terminally ill and, just like Gerry. 

Holly doesn't want to recall those painful memories by helping them. 

Will Holly help them? 

If yes how she will deal with those painful memories by recalling it?

Read the book to know.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4.5/5

Blurb: 4.5/5

Plot: 4.5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author: 

Cecelia Ahern

Cecelia Ahern was born and grew up in Dublin. Her novels have been translated into thirty-five languages and have sold more than twenty-five million copies in over fifty countries. Two of her books have been adapted as films and she has created several TV series. She and her books have won numerous awards, including the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction for The Year I Met You. She lives in Dublin with her family.

Review - First Love by Sheeja Jose

Title : First Love

Author : Sheeja Jose

Publisher :  Fingerprint!

Pages : 272

Blrub : Tina is seventeen. Wonderful! Fell in love at thirteen. Amazing! She is no longer a virgin. So cool! But she is still in love with her first love. To say that Tina has the perfect love story will be no exaggeration. But her love loves her back only in her dreams. In real life, he is busy skirt-chasing every single girl except her. Years pass, and Tina finds it impossible to get over him. She is determined to make her first love her last, even if she gets hurt again and again. Will Tina get the happy ending she so desperately wants? A passionate love story, first love journeys through the love of two youngsters as they get hurt, suffer heartbreaks, and love with an unending passion.

Review : This book tells you the story of a passionate love story of one sweet girl Tina, who is happy with the people around her including her small group of friends.

and her life changed so dramatically when Aditya enters into her small world Tina felt something for him, Tina falls in love with him but Aditya who is busy in flirting with other girls, and chasing them, never understand her love for him. 

Aditya who has dated many girls in his life never approved her love though they have been involved physically with each other.

TIna's life gets more complicated when Rohit falls in with her, a guy who plays tennis with her. And story takes a major turn in the form of love triangle.

Will Tina succeed to get her first love as she wants?

Will Aditya approve Tina's love?

What will happen to Rohit's love for tina?

Will Tina get the happy ending she so desperately wants?

The narration of the story keeps you engage and help you to connect with the character. We all have experienced something called "Love at First Sight" in our school days or college days. Book comes with the beautifully desgined cover.

The story keeps shifting between two different timelines - 2016 and 2012. The book is very well written. 

The readers those who loves to read Young Adult Romance Novels can pick this book. 

Thank you, Fingerprint! for the copy.

Ratings:

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author: 

Sheeja Jose

SHEEJA JOSE is the author of two bestselling crime thrillers—Goodbye Girl (2015) and Gone with the Bullet (2016). She was the creative director of some of the successful TV shows such as Adalat before she found her calling in writing. A fan of Tarantino and Christopher Nolen, she enjoys studying psychology and physics. She believes that the best learning happens by travelling and strangers are the best teachers. Sheeja lives in Mumbai and is currently pursuing her Masters in literature. To know more about and to connect with Sheeja Jose, 

You can reach her at:

sheejasthoughts@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/sheejasthoughts 

https://www.facebook.com/sheeja.jose.96 

https://www.facebook.com/Sheeja-Jose-302087689998420 

Insta: @authorsheejajose

Review - Operation X by Captain M.N.R Samant & Sandeep Unnithan

Title - Operation X

Authors - Captain M.N.R Samant & Sandeep Unnithan

Publisher - Harpercollins

Pages - 256

Blurb - In April 1971, the Indian Navy's Directorate of Naval Intelligence set up a covert maritime warfare unit - Naval Commando Operations (X) (NCO[X]). This black unit's existence was known to very few even within the navy. Its covert operation aimed at disrupting the maritime commerce lines that sustained the Pakistan Army in its eastern province. 

Over the next few months, this irregular unit, comprising Indian naval officers, divers, and former Pakistani submariners, set to work. They transformed over 400 Bengali youths from East Pakistan into combat swimmers, trained to assault merchant ships. The gunboats of NCO(X)'s naval wing mined shipping channels and harassed shipping entering East Pakistan. 

The ferocious campaign waged by this tiny unit was without precedent in the annals of naval warfare. They sank and disabled over 100,000 tonnes of shipping in the province , in support of the government of Bangladesh in exile. Their actions contributed towards India's ultimate victory in the eastern theatre of the December 1971 Indo-Pak war. Revealed for the very first time, here is the explosive authentic account - co-authored by a key NCO(X) member - of the guerrilla operation that went for the maritime jugular of Pakistan, and facilitated the birth of Bangladesh.

Review - A gripping narration of Operation X which highlights the very important behind scenes which are truly interesting.

We indians don't need any description to admit how brave our soldiers are, And when this kind of book which highlights something of which we are not aware of is the point of my attraction.

The initial part which Highlights the history of India and East/West Pakistan is very informative to understand the whole picture. 

We all know or heard about the 1971 war for the liberation of Bangladesh but none of us probably know about the covert operations that the brave jawans of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force undertook quietly.

 This book tells you about each step of covert operations from start to end, this book also contains the interviews and classified records and the background, 

The book beautifully describes how Indian Nave had contributed in the covert operations that helped liberate Bangladesh and how Indian Armed Forces and Mukti Bahini assault against very formidable and cruel Pakistani forces.

A perfect read for those who love to read about historical wars and those who are interested in the Indian defence system.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

Review - Sidney Sheldon's The Phoenix by Tilly Bagshawe

Title: The Phoenix

Author: Tilly Bagshawe

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Pages: 400

Blurb:

Thrilling and nail-biting, the Phoenix has all the trademark glamour, suspense and unexpected twists of a classic Sidney Sheldon novel. A deadly enemy will rise again… Ella praeger has always felt like an outsider. So when she is called to join the ranks of the group, a force for good operating in the shadows, her world shifts. She is gifted a purpose – and a dangerous legacy. Years ago, the group rid the world of one of its most powerful criminal masterminds. Yet when a child washes up on a beach in Greece, a mysterious symbol tattooed on its heel, it is a clear warning: impossibly, Athena petridis has returned to reclaim her empire. Ella’s connection to Athena is deeply personal. Thrown into an underworld of treachery and corruption, and haunted by the tragedies of her own past, Ella is reborn as an agent, chasing a villain risen from the ashes. But only one of them can fulfil their destiny….

Review:

I never had read any books of Sidney Sheldon or Tilly Bagshawe, The Phoenix is my first book from Tilly Bagshawe.

I must say Tilly has done a great job by portraying this kind of thrilling story and presented to her readers to enjoy.

I enjoyed reading this book, a truly nail-biting story.

The story is about Ella Praeger and her connection with Athena Petridis a most powerful criminal mastermind. Ella Praeger lost her parents while they were on a secret mission of The Group. 

The story becomes more grippy when Ella got a call to join the ranks of The Group, a force for good operating in the shadows. 

Ella joined that group to know about her parents and to take the revenge of her parents death.

Athena Petridis also declared dead in a helicopter crash but the reality is something different.

Ella got to know more about Athena when she was on a mission in Greece.

What is the connection between Ella and Athena?

The reality of Athena death?

Will Ella succeed to take revenge?

There are many mysterious questions remains unanswered until you pick this book.

Waiting for next book.

Thank you, HarperCollins India for the copy.

 Ratings

Cover: 4/5

Blurb: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

Available on Amazon

About the Author:

Tilly Bagshawe is an internationally bestselling author. A teenage single mother at 17, Tilly won a place at Cambridge University and took her baby daughter with her. She went on to enjoy a successful career in The City before becoming a writer. As a journalist, Tilly contributed regularly to the Sunday Times, Daily Mail and Evening Standard before following in the footsteps of her sister Louise and turning her hand to novels. Tilly's first book, Adored, was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic and she hasn't looked back since. She is married to Robin Nydes, an American businessman and former investment banker, and the couple have two young sons as well as Tilly's daughter Sefi. The family divide their time between their home in Los Angeles and their beach house on Nantucket Island.